Home safe and sound, and exausted

We made it home, all safe and sound.  We all were very tired and ready to get home into our own beds.

 

There to greet us at the airport were Grandma and Papa and our friends Nancy and James and Soojin.  It was nice to see everyone.

 

We all went to bed around 6:00pm and then were up again at 2:30am.  We ate tacos that Grandma had made earlier and they tasted so good after 2 weeks of Chinese food.

 

The girls were wide awake so Grandma got up with them so Mom could go back to bed.  My bed never felt so good!!  Summer stayed up until 4:00 pm and finally took a nap. We went to bed at about 10:30 and then slept through the night until 5:00am.  So I think we are getting back to our time zone.

 

Molly is doing great, she seems to be happy in her new house and is very curious about her 2 big sisters (Kelly and Libby, the dogs)

 

We are hoping to get a Christmas tree this weekend.  Summer is very excited for Christmas and wants to decorate a tree.

 

So all in all, we are doing very well.  Happy to be home and a family of four.

Photos of Guangzhou

Here are a few pictures of Guangzhou

Pictures of Nanchang

Here are a few photos of Nanchang

Last Night in China (Daddy's Blog part II)

Last day and full night in China.  It is about 8:30pm our time on Tuesday night and we leave the hotel in the morning at 6am for the airport.  After breakfast this morning, I skipped the fish but did get told not to take pictures at the building that houses the American Consulate for Visa Processing.  In the morning, we walked around Shamain Island where the White Swan hotel is located and visited the local shops. They all cater to the adoption crowd of Americans with clothes, shoes, etc.  I did get a book of the quotations of General Mao for 10 Yuen about $1.50.  We then went to the 2nd floor of the hotel for the "red couch" photo of Molly Sue.

 

At 2:45pm, two full bus loads of us adopting Americans loaded up and drove the near 60 minute ride to the American Consulate.  It is in a multistory highrise business building on the 5th floor.  We had to match are faces to the photos and then a little after 4pm all familes said and oath, we collected the final paperwork in a special brown envelope and went back to the hotel.  I was able to get the telephone number to Papa Johns Pizza so we ordered a pizza and breadsticks for the room.

 

Molly has done very well and contiues to be a happy baby and Summer is ready to come home.  In a shop today, the girl had to have her photo taken with Summer.  Holly has almost everything packed up ready to go and the girls took a bath together in the tub.

 

Thanks for everyone keeping track of the blog.

Brad, Holly, Summer, & Molly

Daddy's Blog

Today with only two more nights left until we leave was a not very exciting day.  This morning after breakfast, I too summer over to see the Coy fish (very big) in the hotel next to the breakfast area.  I brought Summer sum pieces of bread to throw them and of course they came in numbers but since they were so large, I decided to pet their heads and the guard came over and told me not to pet the fish.   Later Holly and the Molly went to some of the local stores while Summer and I hung out in the room watching a Lifetime movie on HBO.

 

Holly took Summer to the outdoor pool in the afternoon but the water was very cold eventhough the outside air temperature was near 80 degrees today.  On the way back we went to the hotel's Mattel room that has toys for kids to play with sponsored by the Mattel corporation.  (I don't know if any had lead paint).  We then headed back to the room where I saw part of another Lifetime movie about a parent who lost her daughter and was so devastated that she went to spend time with her close friends and boyfriend in a house and gave them all a hard time until she found out in her own child's diary that her daughter thought she was overbearing and looked forward to the day she was gone.

 

Anyway, we then made it out the streets to search for dinner, checked out a few local menus and decided to go back to LuLu's near the hotel.  Molly was excellent and ate everything up and Summer was full of energy so we headed out to the local park.  A small boy grabbed Molly's stroller while we were at the park and was going to town so Holly had to take back control and take her away.  Summer was able to play a while.  We got back to the room a little before 8pm. Also today all of our paperwork should have been submitted to the US embassy for Molly's US Visa and tomorrow we head over late afternoon to perform the citizenship oath and collect the passport with a visa.

Brad

Only two more days until we head home!

Today we went on a tour of the Chen family Temple.  It was beautiful and very interesting to see.

 

Poor Summer succumbed to her car sickness again, twice.  We all took a nap when we got back and then went out for more shopping.  I got Molly several little outfits and a few pair of shoes.   Summer got a few outfits and a pair of shoes that light up when she walks.  She thinks she's pretty cool.

 

We had a nice dinner and then took another nice walk around the island and ended the evening with ice cream.

 

We have started to pack already since we are so excited to come home.  Tomorrow is a free day for us and then we go to the American consulate on Tuesday to get Molly's visa.

We're almost done!!

 

We got several DVDs at the electronics mart today.  Our guide knew where to take us.  We went into a very busy mart, into one of the stores and led out the back door, down the ally and then into the "back room" where they keep the English language DVDs.  We got some good ones for a little over $1 a piece. It was fun, it felt like we were doing some very serious back room trading.

 

Molly is still doing great, she is really funny and we all have fun trying to get her to laugh. She got a new hat today and looks adorable in it.

More Photos Than you Need

We have posted 200 photos on the Walmart Shared folder.  Goto http://photos.walmart.com/groups/mollysuesims and use Room Code 01162007 to see them all.

A good day for the Sims family

Another good  day for us.  Molly had her medical exam and did great.  She weighs 18 pounds and can hear a rattle shaking next to her head.  That's how they check the hearing, it's kind of funny.

 

Mommy did lots of shopping this after noon while the girls stayed in the room with Daddy.  When I got back, Daddy took Summer down to the deli for her favorite, chocolate ice cream.

 

We took a walk through a park before dinner and then went to another after dinner with several children playing.  Summer was excited to play and I explained to her that the children all speak Chinese and they might think she can speak Chinese too.  It didn't stop her from running right up to the play ground and joining in the fun.  She was talking to me a lot, so I think the other children knew she spoke English. They all played together and had a good time.

 

Molly had her first french fry and loved it.  She and Summer took a bath together tonight and Molly had fun with big sister washing her back.

 

Tomorrow we are doing a little touring and more shopping.  Should be a good day!

We're In Guangzhou!

HALLELUJAH!!  We're here in Guangzhou!  We got into our room at12:30 last night and we were all exhausted.

Molly had a scream fest on the plane because she was so tired, she didn't know what to do... but Mommy did.. I got out a cookie and she quited right down. She fell asleep in the van on the way to the hotel.

 

Summer was a trooper, getting in so late.  We all went right to bed and then early this morning Summer fell out of bed and hit her head on the night stand, poor baby was so tired she only cried a little and fell back to sleep on my chest.

We got up and had a great breakfast this morning and then took a nice walk out to get some bottles water.  The weather is nice here and Summer is hoping it warms up enough today to go swimming this afternoon.

This morning we have to go to Molly's medical check up and have her immunization chart translated so we know what sh will need when we get home.

 

It's nice to see so many American faces here.  There are a lot of adopted babies everywhere.

 

Molly is doing better and better everyday.  She's such a good little eater, just like Summer.  She loves her fruit!

 

I can't wait to go shopping!!!  I already saw things in store windows on our walk this morning. 

 

We will post pictures later.

Another day

Well we had another good day today.  We went to a local park and took a long walk around.  It's very smoggy here so you can't see very far but it's pretty.

 

Poop info below, beware....

 

 

Molly has been constipated and the poor thing grunts and sweats and is lucky to push out a hard nugget and then cries big tears.  It's enough to break anyones heart.

So of course I have been giving her apple juice and Jarred apples and pears and squash.  Well we still didn't have too much luck so last night I gave her some whole prunes that I had brought for us to snack on.  I broke them into bits and she loved it.  And then this morning she still had trouble but was able to "produce".

When we got back from the park this afternoon, I thought I smelled something and took a look and HOLY COW we had a huge mess!  Up her back, down her legs and all over the bed and the pillow she was leaning on.  It took all three of us, Summer handing me wipes, to get her cleaned up.  It was gross, but oh so worth by baby not to have to have so much trouble.

 

I took Summer to the pool this afternoon, it's indoors but still very cold and her little body started shivering in no time so we didn't stay long.

 

We're looking forward to getting to Guangzhou tomorrow.  WE get in very late though, 11:30pm.

 

There won't be an up date tomorrow since we'll be traveling but we will send more pictures as soon as we can.

Another day in China

We went on a tour of a famous pavilion today.  There was a music show with dancers and Summer really liked it.  Molly slept in the hip hammock the whole time.  She takes her morning nap at 9:00 sharp.  Doesn't matter where she is.  She also takes an afternoon nap which is nice, I hope that keeps up for a bit after we're home.  She has slept through the night every night so far.  She loves her bath and Summer loves to help with it.  She ate really well again today.  She had mashed sweet potato, scrambled eggs and watermelon for breakfast.  The breakfast buffet here is OK, but we're getting tired of it.  I do like the boiled sweet potato and braised cabbage.  The funny thing is the translation for sausage links is " fried intestine".  UMMMM, well  I didn't have any.

We had Pizza Hut for dinner at Brad's request, but tomorrow we're going back the the restaurant across the street where the Chinese food is really good.

 

Molly's personality has blossomed even more today and we are all in love with her.  Can't wait to get her home.

 

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes. We love reading them every morning!

It was a Wal-Mart day

Today was a quiet day for us.  All we did was go to Wal-Mart for baby supplies.  It was very much the same as the ones at home, except way more loud and crowded.

 

Summer is doing great with her sister, she kisses her all the time and seems to really love her.  We haven't seen much jealousy but there have been a few times that I have had to carry them both at the same time!  I am going to have some pretty strong arms.

 

Molly is amazing!  She is so much stronger today and can sit up without falling over already.  She eats most anything I give her.  I was able to make a bottle the consistency that she likes today. 

 

We went to a Chinese restaurant last night and it was great!, very spicy, but very good.

 

We are going to tour a bit tomorrow.  Only 3 more days until we fly to Guangzhou.  We can't wait to come home.

 

Brad is still getting some hives, but not as bad.  He is still not feeling well with a cough and is tired and groggy from the Benadryl.

 

More tomorrow......

Here's the scoop!

Our little one is doing great.  She is sleeping her  crib right now.

 

We got here yesterday morning and had a few hours before we went to the adoption affairs office to get Molly.

We got there a little early and had to wait a bout thirty minutes.  When the Nanny walked in with her, we knew right away it was her, by her cheeks.

She was alert, looking around and seemed happy.  Summer went right to her and was kissing her hands.  She came right to me and didn't cry at all.

 

We came back to the hotel and I fed her and changed her and got her out of her 4 layers of clothes because she was sweating.  Summer helped me put her pajamas on and we all went to bed.  After a good night sleep we all felt much better this morning.  We went down and ate breakfast and then had to go back to the adoption office to finish all the paperwork for the adoption.  Molly fell asleep and stayed that way most of the time.

 

The scoop on Molly:

She loves Cheerios, shovels them in one after the other.

She can sit up by herself, but needs help sometimes ( much improved today, not so many clothes on)

She is short and fat.  Has very chunky thighs. Wearing size 9 months and 12 months.

She is much more of a "baby" than Summer was.  She babbles and Summer taught her to blow raspberries last night.

Her face lights up when she sees Brad.

She has only cried when I change her and lay her down.

 

I'm haven't been able to make a bottle to her liking yet.  She is a good eater though. She has eaten rice cereal, baby peas and sweet potatoes.  This morning I gave her bits of bread at breakfast and she loved it.  I'm glad to see she ha the dexterity to put food in her mouth and can bang her cups together.  I don't feel she is much delayed except physically, which will come.

 

We are thrilled with her. I kept thinking the whole day today, " what did I do to deserve 2 special babies?"

 

Molly has a cute little personality and is just adorable.  I can't wait to get her home to meet everyone.

here are a few photos from today

Molly is here and she is adorable!  She is alert and a happy baby.

Enjoy the photos, we will post more later.  We are extreemly tired.