TB check and Shamian island

Before heading out this morning we met in the lobby for our group picture. Just as I'm typing this I remembered that we never took one of just the kids but we did get one of the entire group!

We then headed back the the medical building to get the kid's TB shot checked. I was a bit worried because Caleb's is red around the area and raised a bit. The nuse quickly looked at everyone's and then when it was our turn I saw her reach for a ruler to measure it.....ugghhhhh! Well I'm not sure what the measurements need to be to be considered positive but his wasn't a large enough area and she said he was fine!! Yay! I did not want to have to deal with a x-ray plus meds. So quick and easy. We all loaded back in the van and headed to a memorial, I believe it was called. It was beautiful but honestly I can't give you any history lesson on it. I wasn't really listening, instead I was people watching :-). I could sit for hours and do that.

 

He fell asleep right after getting checked. I tell you this boy can sleep anywhere!

Finally we headed to the island to do some shopping. Many of us wanted to pick up some items to give the kids when they get older. Our first stop was Jordon's and we ended up staying there until it was time to leave. We want to see more of the island so we are all heading back tomorrow and having dinner there. I will try to get more pictures of it tomorrow because it is just beautiful.

love these statues and let me say Ben gets lots of looks carrying Caleb on his back!

She was selling pineapple.....yummy

Jordon gave us a lesson on the island. He explained that at one time it was split down the middle by an electric fence. France controlling one side and England the other.

 

Here are some random pictures......

He loves books and we are still working on him learning how to suck and get something out of the sippy :-) we've been having to take the stopper out so the liquid just flows out.....sometimes I think he is just stubborn and doesn't want to work at it.....lol

Tomorrow we will be applying for his visa and taking the oath. We are not sure what oath we are taking but we'll let you know tomorrow!

 

 

Haven of Hope Visit (Caleb's most recent foster home)

Yesterday we embarked on a 1.5 hour ride to Caleb's 2nd foster home, Haven of Hope, located in Dongguan. Check out their website for more information http://havenofhopechina.com/.

Josh, Jenny, and Caleb

Josh, Jenny, Ben, Juli, and Caleb

We had lunch when we arrived with Jenny and Josh. Jenny is the director of the foster home and Josh teacher at a school right next to the foster home. While at lunch, so many people stopped in to say thier good byes to Caleb. It was so touching to see so many people stop by to show their love for him. He also recognized most of them as they stopped. After lunch we ventured to the foster home. As we've gone on these visits our joke to each other is, don't get too attached to the kids...

The foster home was great! We met the caretakers and two interns (one was from Pound, WI... Like 40 minutes from Peshtigo, how does that happen?) were also there while we visited. We got to see all the children and love on them as we visited. It was so neat to see Caleb interact in his natural environment. Seeing him there gave Juli and I even more encouragement when we get home and his interaction with our kids. He loves to wrestle (Nate don't get too excited), loves to laugh, loves to love, and loves to interact with others. Remember the joke I mentioned above, well it's so difficult not to get attached to these sweet kids. Remember the picture of me with the one child back at Caleb's first foster home, well there was another here that just tugged at my heart. I don't remember his name, but his special need is a strawberry birth mark. Did you read that, a strawberry birth mark. His parents were supersticious so they gave him up... yes supersticious of a mark on the body, how sad.... Well before we knew it our time was up and we had to board the van to make the 1.5 hour treck back to our hotel. Before we left, Jenny gave us a scrapbook of Caleb during his stay at Haven of Hope. Contained in this scrapbook were also letters written to him from each of the caretakers! So special and thoughtful. We are forever grateful to the Haven of Hope staff for the care they provided to Caleb!

 

One of the play rooms.

 

A sleping room...

Just precious....

Nap time....

Here is the boy with the Strawberry birthmark.

 

Playtime...

 

 

 

 

You are OK buddy....

Let's wrestle...

How can you resist me?

 

The caretakers and kids.

 

The interns with Caleb...

A couple pictures of the market as we left.

Well that's all for now... We are heading to get Caleb's TB test read today and then off the Shamien Island to do some shopping....

Stay tuned....

Medical done!

So I'll let you know that I'm super tired so this is going to be quick ;-)

We headed out this morning for all the kid's medicals. For those coming be aware that they are no longer on Shamien Island ( I think that is how you spell it...lol). Then next year the consulate will also be moving across the street from where the medical now is. Once we arrived it went fairly quick, about 2 hrs and our entire group was done.

 

Heading over

the line for visa pictures. This new building was so clean but a bit unorganized. They were still unloading boxes and setting up computers since they had moved buildings just yesterday!

just being his cute self

We started by getting his visa picture done and then while waiting for his 1st part of the medical to start, he feel asleep. When we were called in and Ben handed him over he was like a sac of potatoes. They lady's looked at each other like.....what in the world is wrong with this child. I explained that he was sleeping. They just laughed and then so quietly finished what they needed to do. He stayed asleep the entire time.

 

Being weighed .....too cute

Next up was the TB test. Yep, no go on him staying asleep for that one. I can't blame him. I make them put a bandaid on mine when I get them. And yes all you nurses out there I know it's a no no but it is that or I pass out....lol. He was such a trooper though and quickly calmed down after it was done. Last we headed back downstairs and had the physical exam. He was too keen on the lady checking out his lungs or taking off his diaper but he was such a big boy. He just kept looking at me and when I would reassure him it was ok he would relax a bit.

After this we were finished. Simple, easy and so happy it is done. We will go back on Monday to get the TB read but as of tonight it looks good.

 

We did head out to the local wal-mart tonight and we caught some pictures of the meat area! Also Ben tried to take a picture of a large ad outside the store and a worker came running out yelling about how he couldn't do that. It was quite funny.

 

 

You grab a net and fish for your dinner

I have no idea what all was there...ears, tongues who knows but I do know it stunk!

Local lady carrying fruit

Need to go get some sleep. Tomorrow we head to the last foster home Caleb stayed at! Very excited!

Love you Nathan, Katie and Ana!! 5 more sleeps and we will be home!! Be ready for lots and lots of hugs and kisses from us!

 

In Guangzhou!

Well we are in the last city before heading home!! Today we flew from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou and I think it was bitter sweet. I will miss ZZ because that is first where we received Caleb and The Henan province is where he was born but at the same time we were ready to move on. We are so ready to get home to our other kids and are looking forward to enjoying some warmer weather.

We woke up bright and early....5am! I have to say that was the first night I was not wide awake at 2am unlike Ben who hasn't had a day of jetlag and sleeps until the alarm goes off. So up and at it we go. Shower, finish packing and then down to the restaurant for breakfast. I have to say we will miss those omelets they make there! We then met our guide at 8:40 and off we head to the airport. Once in Cindy helped us check in and then lead us to the security line. She explained just give them your passport and ticket and you will be good. Sounds simple, right!?!? So I give Ben the carry on to take because it is only suppose to weigh 11 pounds and if I had to lift it onto the x-ray belt you would be able to tell it was definitely more then that! Caleb and I are first to head through. I hand the lady his adoption papers and my passport. She starts looking at them and then laughing asks the lady next to her something. It was clear there was something she didn't know what to do, then she calls over another employee. He looks at it and says to me......you go to check in. Ben and I both say....no we already checked in. He says......no check in. Me: no we want to bring these bags with us. I don't understand you. He looks at the other worker and rolls his eyes and tells us to follow him. Now I start to sweat. I'm carrying Caleb, have my jacket on and Ben and I are trying to following this annoyed guy while pulling our luggage along.....fun, fun! Next he takes us over to a desk and behind it I see one of our bags. He points over to it. At this point I'm thinking, serious why did our guide need to leave before we made it through. We look at him and tell him...no we don't want that. I just kept saying I want to get on the plane please! Finally we realize he needs my ticket that had a sticker on the back which he scanned. Ok we are good and he walks us back and away we go through security.....oh my word. I think I sweated off 10 pounds! We still aren't sure what happened but think our luggage was pulled for an inspection.

Once through all was good. We got some coffee and then waited at the gate. The airport was so nice and clean! While sitting there there was a little old lady who kept looking at us. I figured it was because we didn't have 5 layers on Caleb. We of course didn't learn our lesson 2 days earlier when we got yelled at on the street by 2 women. I of coursed just smiled. Well when we were in line to get on the plane the same little old lady was in front of us in line. She looked at Caleb and then pointed at Ben's jacket to put over him. I smiled and did it even though he had a onside, long sleeve and winter jacket on, remember we are in a heated building!

We head onto the plane and guess who was in our row!! Oh yeah and she watched me like a hawk to make sure I was doing everything right.

See her in the background. While he slept she checked him every couple minutes. Too funny and cute!

The flight went well. There was a lot of turbulence and I hate flying, combined with being homesick led to some tears and me begging the Lord to just get me home safe and get this plane landed. After we landed and exited the plane Ben looked at me and says....Did you really cry!??? He's lucky I love him.....what a snot!

This city and our hotel are going to make this week enjoyable. It is beautiful here and for those coming next, we are at The Garden and it is only $70/ day. It is actually cheaper then our 70s hotel in ZZ :-). Also we are loving the location. There are tons of shops and restaurants along the road.

Here are some pictures of the hotel. There is a living room area and a separate bedroom....we are on the 16th floor and love our view

 

 

The view out our window

Here are some other pictures from the day.....Enjoy! Tomorrow we head to his medical.

 

 

 

 

Ben was excited to see a little Milwaukee love here in Guangzhou

There are beautiful flowers and everything is green!! How's the snow looking out the windows there in Winneconne!?!?

 

Ok I'm not going to lie. We may be a bit bias to the city because this awesome cafe is right across the street. Any guesses Ashley :-)

We really are so blessed to be able to enjoy this trip. Caleb has been amazing and going with the flow on where we take him. When we started this our prayers were always that the Lord led us to the child He had for us. We could never have dreamed for a better fit. He just amazes us. I know once home this boy is going to just blossom and learn so many new things from his brother and sisters (Nate dad told me to remind you they better be all good things...lol). Thanks again for all your continued prayers. We are so grateful to everyone.

 

Updates!

So sorry for not updating yesterday.

We started out the day waiting for our guide to stop by the hotel with all our notarized papers. When she arrived we asked if we could head over to the aquarium instead of the museum. We thought Caleb would enjoy it more and he did! He loved all the fish, that is after he realized the big ones wouldn't hurt him ;-)

 

 

We got to bottle feed the fish.....so fun!

 

So this is the shark tank and right over the top of the rope guard is open water. There was maybe 2 feet between the rope and the tank. If you wanted you could put your hand in the tank.....crazy, nuts!!

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for Guangzhou. We did some laundry in the tub :), packed up as much as we could and then headed to meet 2 other families for dinner. It was so nice to have families around to just talk and laugh with.

Well the boys are bugging me to finish and go eat but I want you to know we are here in Guangzhou safe and sound. We are staying at The Garden and it is amazing!! It's just what we needed to finish up this last week. I am hoping to post about our flight over and the hotel tonight.