Wednesday

Okay, I promised some more pictures! We're having a good day so far! Vivian paid us back for the pumpkin and rice/spinach this morning -- WHEW, gross. She's a little congested, but still feeling okay. Today we're going to the police station to apply for her Chinese passport, and then we'll go shopping at Shamian Island. We'll be able to buy a little stroller there and some clothes and souvenirs. Jason and I are loving every minute of this; even though it would be great to be home we're enjoying the constant time with Vivian. She is a joy, and we can't wait for everyone to meet her. :)
More later!! Have a good day/night.

It's Official!

Today's highlights:

We are finally, officially Vivian's parents! We went back to the adoption center today to finalize the paperwork, and it went smoothly. CHI (our agency) is fantastic, and they've really made everything easy. We had our picture made together, answered some questions and signed some paperwork. Vivian was a doll, and slept on the bus a little bit.
After that we went to a local Supermarket (kind of like a multi-story WalMart) to get formula, rice cereal, etc. It was really different than Super WalMart; especially the "deli" section, which was on the 3rd floor. At one point I just had to hold my breath and walk quickly to avoid the smells. Lots of fish and weird things lying around in tubs, although I guess it looked clean?
Our arms were really tired, so we put her in the shopping cart for a little bit -- big girl! She liked it okay and didn't cry. After we were finished shopping Jason sat outside to wait on the rest of the group while I ran in for something we forgot. When I came out he showed me his wet shorts and her wet sock -- she peed all over him! HAHAHA He's really a dad now. :)
When we got back to the hotel she played and played and then finally sacked out for a nap. We followed suit, and felt MUCH better. Tonight we went to dinner at a local Sichuan place with our guides. It was SPICY food!! Vivian ate Gerber graduates (of course), and she ate some rice with spinach and sliced boiled pumpkin...so far she's a good eater.
After dinner we came back to the hotel and tried to bathe her. Notsomuch tonight. She screamed and cried with real tears and hurt feelings face. It was terrible! We skipped washing her hair tonight and just wet it quickly because she was wailing so much. Oh well...we were due.
Jason gave her a bottle and we danced and rocked, and she's out like a light. Hopefully she'll have another good night's sleep tonight.

We're finally starting to see little glimpses of her personality, and we had a couple of little smiles today. It was wonderful, and it almost catches my breath to love her this much. Nothing feels better than holding her and feeling her little face against mine. She loves her daddy a lot, too, and discovered his earring today! She's one of the few babies in our group who will go to mommy and daddy just the same. Jason has been a real trooper with the diapers, although I did get the gigantic poop one today, but he examined it to be sure all was well. YEP, we're gross!

Okay, we're tired and going to watch some TV. We love you and miss you, and the prayers are working -- she's an angel!

BTW, I promise more pictures soon!!

A family!!

We have our sweet Vivian!
Today was a whirlwind, but here we go:
After arriving at the local adoption center, we immediately were given our babies. Jason took her first (I stood there for a split second in shock?), and she didn't make a peep. She looked worried, and has for most of the day, but she was great. After having her for a few minutes she settled in on my shoulder, sucked her thumb and went to sleep!! While others' babies were screaming ours had just snuggled in for a nap. Somehow the CCAA knew we loved to nap, and would appreciate a sleepy one! Actually, the babies had traveled 6 hours this morning, and they didn't nap on the way, so little Vivian was pooped.
We went to another big room to have time to get acquainted with the children and talk to the nannies (with translation help). Vivian did cry a few big tears there, but nothing we couldn't handle. Miraculously the 2 sets of first-time parents got very easy babies! WHEW.
On the way back on the bus she fell asleep again in my arms, but woke up once we got off the elevator and came into our room. She whimpers a little, but has only really cried once. We've snuggled a lot, and Jason fed her Gerber graduates. Then we bathed her - we're total rookies and didn't know what we were doing, but she was pretty patient. So far no poopie, but we're expecting it soon. Tonight we made her bottle as instructed (powered formula + rice cereal), and she ate the WHOLE thing! Actually, we did have to cut big holes in the nipple, but once we did she pigged out. After eating and trying to burp, we laid her in the crib with her toy and she went right to sleep.
She's a big thumb sucker - we may have trouble with this later, but for now it's very cute. :) She's REALLY tiny - the 9 month pajamas are too big. She has lots of hair, as you will see, and she has TWO teeth (on the bottom)! She seems really healthy, and doesn't have any major scars or boo-boos. Most of the babies have a couple of little sores/scabs on their heads, and Vivian has a little bump on her arm and her neck. BTW, her eyelashes are BEAUTIFUL! They're so long and very black, and her eyes are beautiful and dark. She is very curious and watches everything you do.
The nannies couldn't remember exactly when she got her teeth, but they did say she is trying to walk and has taken 2 steps. They said she is a good baby and doesn't cry all the time. YEAH! They also gave us a little book with more photos of her at the orphanage.
Okay, we're tired and are going to rest. We have another big day tomorrow!!
We love you and hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Guangzhou!

We made it to Guangzhou today! Early this morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel in Beijing, then went to sightsee. It started pouring rain, so we weren't able to sightsee long, but we did get pictures of Tianeman Square and Forbidden City.

Highlights from breakfast:
The coffee was bitter and strong! It did the trick, though.
So it was a buffet with little signs for things. 2 that cracked us up were: Fried Greed (which was actually boiled broccoli and leeks), and "Non-Muslim Food."
I tried Congee this morning, since apparently all the babies love it. Picture plump grits that are very watery. And that's about what it tasted like.
They had some black egg yolks on a spoon - we didn't try that - and baked beans.
The bacon was good (Kozmo), and the potatoes were wonderful!

The flight to Guangzhou was on China Air, and it was about 3 hours. On the plane we discovered there are Chinese versions of our friends! We saw a Chinese John G, a Chinese Summer, and a ringer Chinese Alana.
Guangzhou is another large city in China - about 10 million people. Flying in we went over lots of crop fields - rice, maybe? - with little villages that seemed very poor. Once in Guangzhou we drove across the city, and there are tons of highrise apartment buildings that look New York-ish, but with laundry hanging on the balcony.

The Westin is incredible - definitely the nicest hotel I've stayed in! It's VERY modern, and our room is beautiful. The best part was walking in and seeing Vivian's sweet little crib all ready to go! We also have our Going Home Barbie - a white barbie with a little chinese baby. I'm not kidding!

Tomorrow morning we'll go to the bank to change some money, and we leave at 1:45 to go to the local adoption center to get the babies! So while you're sleeping Sunday night we will meet Vivian for the first time. :) After we get the babies we will go to the store for formula and diapers, and then Tuesday we'll do more adoption paperwork.

Our travel group is very nice, and our guides/coordinators are super helpful. Tonight we went to a Chinese restaurant nearby that was authentic. I saw lots of hooves and strange things going by. Our guides ordered for us, so we didn't have anything too weird. BTW, we have met Jason's long lost paparazzi twin! He's in our travel group, and he and Jason are the documentary film crew.

This morning we both woke up and realized it's our last day as DINKs (dual-income no kids), but more importantly, it's Vivian's last day without a family. I hope she realizes soon how much we all love her.

One last thing: there are 3 nurses and a doctor in our travel group, so I feel good in case she's sick when we get her tomorrow. There are also some experienced parents with us, including one with a little girl from China, and they're back to get her sister.

Pray for us a lot as we are in the final hours of bringing Vivian into our lives!!

We love you!

Beijing!

DISCLAIMER: I'm trying to up date this typing in English, but all the prompts and buttons are in Chinese! Hopefully this will work.

Good morning from Beijing!
We got in on time, and the coordinator and driver for CHI met us at the
airport. They took us to the Great Wall to meet our group, and we
spent about an hour there. The Great Wall is beautiful, and really steep!
It took almost 2 hours to get back to the hotel on our group bus. The
people in our group seem nice - we just got to talk to those sitting
near us. There are 6 families (I think) going to Guangzhou tomorrow.
The others have babies in other provinces, and they'll come to
Guangzhou later.
We were so tired and dirty from flying and doing the Great Wall that we just took showers and
ordered room service. The food was good!
This morning we're up really early to go to Tianeman
Square and the Forbidden City. Then we'll meet our group and go to
the airport to go to Guangzhou.
We woke up this morning and realized we get Vivian TOMORROW! It's like Christmas Eve, but way better! :)
Okay, we'll check in later when we get settled at the Westin.

The Griswalds go to China and God Bless Kate Clark & FedEx

So I thought I had married out of the Guess-Griswald connection, but apparently not. Little background: Trips/vacations in the Guess family usually involved all varieties of setbacks including speeding tickets, driver throwing up in a coffee cup in downtown Atlanta traffic (thanks, Laura), torrential rain while hovering in a tent, broken toe at Disneyworld, almost dying grandmother causing lateness to Sugar Bowl (priorities, people), bathing suit bottoms stolen from hotel balcony, etc.

Let's just say Jason and I have spent a little more time in Newark, NJ than we expected. This will be funny one day, but not right now. Anyway, Newark is an armpit. If you're from here, I'm extremely sorry, and I can't believe you made it out alive. Everything looks like an old Bruce Springsteen video. And I took a $30 cabride to Walgreens that was probably 2 1/2-3 miles away. Seriously?

I guess you're waiting for the story on WHY we spent extra time in Newark? Let's just say we forgot something very important, and had to enlist the stork, Kate Clark, and FedEx to get it to us. THIS is when you thank God for your friends....and rapid international shipping.

Okay, more later! Bye!!

Countdown!

And here we are...less than 48 hours from departing for China. We are excited, overwhelmed, unbelievably happy, and scared. We're going to do our best to blog and post pictures daily while we're in China, but please forgive if technology or tiredness wins!

By the way, we will be 13 hours AHEAD of you when we're in China (for those on Central Time).

Just a few more details on our travel:
We leave Nashville Thursday, August 23 at 6:30 am (YUCK, thanks Shane for taking us to the airport so early). After a layover in Newark, we'll fly to Beijing, and will arrive there Friday, August 24 at 1:45 pm. Jason and I plan to get our bearings, walk around a bit, settle into the hotel, etc.
Saturday, August 25 we have an organized sightseeing trip with the rest of our travel group from the agency. We'll see the Forbidden City, Tianeman Square, and the Great Wall.
Sunday, August 26 we'll fly to Guangzhou, arriving at 3:55 pm.
Monday, August 27 is GOTCHA DAY!! It's also my parents' wedding anniversary, so it's even more special for us. :) From what we've heard, it's quite surreal when you're handed your baby, and it happens very quickly. We're preparing ourselves for Vivian to grieve, fuss, shut-down, etc. for a few days, so extra prayers are needed during this time of transition.
Tuesday, August 28 we'll be starting the adoption paperwork, and will sightsee and have some free days between then and September 5. Hopefully we can enjoy the city and spend our time bonding with Vivian.
Thursday, September 6 we have our American Consulate appointment.
Friday, September 7 we take the official oath as Vivian's parents, and we receive her Visa to travel.
We leave Guangzhou Saturday, September 8 at 9:00 am with a stop in Beijing. From Beijing we'll fly to Newark, and will arrive in Nashville on Saturday at 10:09 pm.
How tired do you think we'll be upon arriving to Nashville???!!!

A special thank you to our families, who have showered us not only with money, supplies, diapers, etc., but with the support and strength we've needed along the way. We love you all very much!!

Look for an update Friday or Saturday from China!