Pictures of Celia - She is fitting right in!

We Are Home!!!

Hello All, 

We are finally home.  Celia did pretty well on the plane ride home.  She didn't sleep very well because she likes to stretch out and she couldn't do it very well in our laps.  We had a great turn out at the airport to welcome us home.  We were exhausted but glad to see our family and friends.  It is so good to be home.  We are trying to get her on Tennessee time but it is not going very well.  She was sitting in the high chair this morning and fell asleep.  We are exhausted.  The jet lag is horrible.  We have had a few visitors and she seems to be doing well in meeting them.  When people get around her she tends to seek me out and I smile reassuringly to her and she will smile back.  She is doing very well in the attaching process.  Even when people talk to her she will continuously look at me to make sure that everything is okay.  She is so cute!  I will try to keep this blog updated in the days to come.  

Our day at the American Consulate

This afternoon we had our appointment at the American Consulate for the swearing-in ceremony. Well there could have been a lot of swearing if Dana and I were that type. Our perfect, beautiful, not well-mannered girl yelled, squirmed , and did everything except pull her hair our (cause she is like her daddy...she aint got none). After the ceremony we received her passport and visa stamp which confirms when she gets to American soil and through immigrations she will be an American citizen. That will happen in Newark, New Jersey. I guess some good things can happen in the North. Dana is asking for everyone to start praying now for our looong plane ride home with Celia and a plane with several other babies also. We were not allowed to take pictures of the ceremony so we are sorry about that. I dont think that we will have many more pictures of interesting stuff like to market, so I will post one of the last ones I took. We may not be able to post anything tomorrow untill after we get home. So untill then we will see everyone when we get HOME!!!-picture of Dana and Celia napping Greg

Winding up

Well we are winding this trip up today. We just got back from the street market and eating a Subway sandwich. The street market was very interesting. You can get anything from mushrooms, cats, dogs (pets on the cats and dogs?), birds, scorpions, snakes, fish, herbs, fresh pork meat, to a hair cut. There were people everywhere buying and selling. This market was very spread out on several streets. This afternoon we go to the consulate to get sworn-in. This is the last major thing that we do. Tomorrow we leave to start the trip home. We fly from here to Shanghi then catch a connecting flight to Newark and another flight home. We get home tomorrow night at 10:30 PM Nashville time. We will be leaving at 8:30 Thursday night Nashville time. So you can imagine how tired we will be. We are hoping that Celia will sleep on the plane so that we can also. We will be glad to be home. I will attach some pictures for you enjoyment.#1. Need a haircut?#2. Dried sea-horses.#3. Snake wine. None of the group wanted to even try it. Greg

Big Red Couch

We just got back from having the babies pictures made on the Big Red Couch. It is a tradition that all adoptive families that stay at the White Swan Hotel do. They were so cute but of course Celia wouldn't smile. Here are some pictures. First picture is Celia, Maron, Lily and Olivia. Second picture is our whole group. Of course, I could not get Celia to look at the camera. Third picture is Veronica and Celia. Celia loves Veronica just like we all do.

American Consulate

This morning Celia got up at 5:00 AM. She took a bottle immediately and drank it in about 2 minutes. She doesn't waste any time when it comes to eating. After we got dressed we went down to the breakfast bar at the hotel. All she would eat was tater tots. After breakfast Danielle, Lily, Celia and I went for a walk around the island. We went to the riverfront and watched the people doing Tai Chi and singing songs. It was very peaceful and beautiful there. The guys stayed in the hotel room to wait for Veronica to call and say that everything was okay at the American Consulate. She had to take all of our paperwork to the American Consulate this morning and get us registered in. After a little walking and shopping, we headed back to the hotel, got on our swim suits and headed to the pool. Greg came to the pool around 11:20AM and said that Veronica had called and said that everything is fine. All we have left now is to go to the American Consulate tomorrow and be sworn in. After that we are free to return home. Yipee!!! We are ready. This has been a wonderful trip but we are ready to come home. This afternoon, after the girls take a nap, we are going to the second floor and getting the girls pictures made on the red couch. We have bought Celia a little blue Chinese dress so we are going to dress her up in that to get her picture made. First picture is Celia making a face like me. She mimics a lot. Second picture is Celia and her friend Lily at breakfast. Third picture is Celia and me in front of a Bonsai tree in the hotel lobby. They have beautiful Bonsai trees here.

Buddhist Temple and the Pearl Market

This afternoon we went to a Buddhist Temple and then to the Pearl Market. Some of the families wanted to get their babies blessed by a Buddhist Monk. We, however, did not participate. It was a very beautiful temple. The architecture was pretty and there was a hugh Pagoda in the middle. Afterwards, we went to the Pearl Market and did a little shopping. Now that was fun! At least I had fun. I don't know about Greg. First picture is Greg and Celia sleeping before heading to the temple. They were sawing some logs. Greg more so than Celia. Can we say SNORE!!! Second picture is the Pagoda at the Temple. Third picture is the Pearl Market. Five floors of jewelry. It was amazing!

Medical Exam Appt

We finally found something that Celia is scared of. THE DOCTOR!!! We all wondered how their last doctors appt was because all of the babies cried. All we have left now is to be sworn in at the American Consulate here in Guangzhou and we will be ready to return home as a family of 3. We are looking forward to coming home now. We are having a hard time sleeping because the beds are made of concrete, we think. First picture is Celia before seeing the Doctor. Second picture is Celia getting her ears checked. The third is Celia after the doctors appt. I just wanted to show you all that she did survive. Sorry I cut Greg's head off but who is the trip about anyway, right?

Pic of Celia throwing a fit

Here is Celia throwing a fit. And you all think she is an angel. She does have her moments. LOL

More pictures of Yuntai Garden cont..

The second picture is Vivian blowing bubbles for Celia. She loved them.

More pictures of Yuntai Garden

Yuntai Gardens

Today we went to Yuntai Gardens. It was absolutely beautiful. Veronica said that it was voted as the #1 place of beauty in this area. We could not get over the flowers. Greg and I decided that Granny Brake would have had a fit in this garden. The rose gardens were incredible. Here are various pictures of us in the garden.

Pics Ceila/ Vivian/ White Swan Hotel

We took a few pictures at the White Swan Hotel and a few night time pictures around the hotel river walk. This is Sunday evening and we are going to try to keep Celia up late tonight (9:00), so we can sleep in tomorrow (5:00). We were up at 4:00 this AM because she got up and would not go back to sleep. We got to the breakfast bar this 6:30 which is one good thing about getting up early.
1st picture Celia checking out flowers.
2nd picture Celia playing with her friend Vivian (child of another adoptive family)
3rd picture on the river walk.

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Pics Chop/ Finger Painting

We had this chop done at the Jade market 1st picture. The end result after he was done with the chop. 2nd picture. This man made this picture with ink and his finger. It was amazing. 3rd picture. The end result of his painting.

Pics Veronica/Vols Fan/Chop

1st picture is Celia and Veronica. I love Celia's facial expression and we LOVE Veronica!! Sorry about cutting the top of Greg's head off but the glare was too much. 2nd picture, who would have thought of us running into another Vols fan halfway across the world! 3rd picture. We had Celia's name carved into a chop. Both in English and in Chinese. She will be able to stick it into ink and then stamp paper with it. It only took the man 5 minutes to carve it.

Sightseeing tour to Chen Family Temple

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Today Celia decided to get up at 4:00 AM. She was a very happy baby. The parents, not so happy! We went to the Chen Family Temple today. Veronica said that back in the 1800's it was made by 17 different Chen Families. It was put together for the children to go to a private school. It later became a place of worship but now it is more of a type of museum. The wood carvings are phenomenal! The first picture shows some of the wood carving. The second is more of the wood carvings. The third picture, look at those teeth, and I am not talking about Greg's.

Celia's first plane ride

Celia had her first plane ride today. We flew to Guangzhou. It was an experience to say the least. Greg said that she did a 180 somersault in the tuck position with a 1 and 1/2 twist. We've decided that she will be an excellent gymnast. There was a really sweet Chinese girl sitting next to us and she managed to knock her peanuts off of her tray and she tried to take off with her purse. I bet I grabbed her arms 30 times in one hour. I just kept telling the girl that I was sorry but she just smiled and said that Celia was really cute. We are getting prepared for the long ride home. Greg even bought earplugs for the surrounding passengers on our plane. He said that he will gladly be passing them around. After getting to Guangzhou, we took a 2 hour nap and then headed to a restaurant called Lucy's that served American food. It was really good. Greg and I both had fish and chips. The first picture is Celia and I waiting at the airport to get on the plane. The second is Celia and her friend that she attacked on the way to Guangzhou. Third picture is Baby gone wild! She did not behave at the restaurant.

More Pictures

The first is a picture of us with one of the villagers. She was a very sweet lady with a beautiful smile. They love getting their picture made with Americans. The second picture is where we visited a Dao Temple. This was Greg and Celia. I took it just because Celia looked so cute with that cheesy smile. She is a real character. The third picture is Celia in deep thought. SCARY!!!