Consulate Appointment- DONE!

Hello from Guangzhou!

I think it has been a day or 2 since our last post.  Charlotte continues to be such a sweet, tender, introspective little girl.  She sleeps well through the night, and we often have to get her up in the morning.  I didn't realize that we had adopted a teenager trapped in a 2 year old body!  We've spent our days touring various places, or just exploring the various options at the hotel.  Also, we ventured out of the hotel to find a fun Thai restaurant where the staff stops every 15 minutes to sing and dance with the guests.  You can guess that Charlotte did NOT want to be taken from Maran to participate in the dancing, but she was very interested in all of the activity.

Bonding is still going well for Maran, and she tolerates me only occasionally.  That is to be expected, and it is truly a blessing since Maran is greatly equipped to meet the needs of a 2 year old.  Occasionally Charlotte will let me feed her, or hold her for a minute while Maran dashes off to a restroom-- but mainly it is Charlotte and Mama, with Dada bringing up the rear- -holding items, passports, money and paperwork.

This morning (Monday morning), we loaded onto a bus and went back to the same office complex where we had our medical checkup on Saturday.  Upon arriving, our guide went upstairs to collect the completed reports- and then we walked across the street (and through 1,000's of Chinese nationals who were queued up for their own non-adoption business) to the US Consulate building.  It is fascinating that our guides know just the right way and place for us to go- as routinely we navigate what at first appears to be an interminable wait, with little or no issue.  Once in side, we took an oath that basically said we knew what we were attempting to do (that is, bring a child from China to the USA to raise as our own), and then we presented our file of paperwork and were fingerprinted.  It was nice to speak to the agent who worked there, as he spoke fluent English-- something we haven't heard from folks other than the families also staying here.

After a quick lunch, Maran and Charlotte are grabbing a nap, while I am off on an adventure to find sunscreen at a local drug store.  After they wake up, we will lube Charlotte up and put her in a swimsuit for the first time to see how she likes the hotel pool.

Tonight we plan on heading back out to an Italian restaurant that is just a block away for pasta or pizza.  Tomorrow is another site seeing outing in the morning, and then we start to organize and pack our bags for the trip home on Wednesday morning.  We have had a great time over here, but I for one and ready to get back.

Prayer- Please pray that our paperwork is processed smoothly and they give us back Charlotte's completed visa tomorrow afternoon (we are supposed to get it at 4:15PM local time).  Without that, we can't get on the flight on Wednesday- -so this is a key and final piece to this paperwork puzzle.  Also, please go ahead and start praying for Maran as we approach "flying day", as well as for Charlotte traveling for that many hours in a plane.  This is the part of the journey where we will be asking the most of her.  As we've said, she has been a real trooper with all we've asked her to endure so far- -but this will be the biggest ask so far.

Have a great day.  We love you and miss you all.

Wade and Maran