“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
I love Guangzhou! The day started with an *amazing* breakfast. No Chinese diner type breakfast food here! It’s all American! So I had my beloved delicacies like donuts, pancakes, hashbrowns, and chocolate muffins. Sounds like desert! All of our travel group families were down there. We had fun meeting the rest of the kids and seeing them come out of their shell a little more (since they were all so tired last night when we met them!)
After breakfast, we put AnnaClaire in the Ergo and got on the bus. AnnaClaire likes the Ergo! We got on the bus and headed to Shamian Island where the medical exam takes place. All adopted kids have to go to the medical exam in order to come to the U.S. It’s not much of an exam though. They weigh and measure, shake a rattle and play a key on a keyboard to see if the child can hear, and look them over. Very simple. AnnaClaire was SUCH a good girl. The only time she cried was when she got her throat checked. I would be scared if a lady was coming at me with a huge popsicle stick too! We then headed over to the shops. Well, after Bekah and AC enjoyed a cracker... hehe. It is So nice to be in Guangzhou. I am LOVING it. The shopping is great. Lucy’s is amazing. The sky is blue. The food is a taste of home. What more could I ask for? We got AnnaClaire 3 pairs of squeaky shoes today. We are getting many more in the following days. Why not, at $4 a pair, we might as well stock up in every size and color they come in! (they only run to 7s?) We put them on her right away but she didn’t get to try them out until we were back in the room. She LOVES them. Absolutely LOVES them. Who wouldn’t like squeakers every time the walked? We got a few sets of beautiful chopsticks and I think that is it! Not much today… We hardly shopped at all. I’ve saved my money for Guangzhou and we are shopping everyday... Get ready, Dad! We ate at Lucy’s with the Ds. It was soooooo fun. Bekah and AnnaClaire slept in their baby carriers the whole time. Sweet babies! We enjoyed some good ol’ American food. I LOVE Lucy’s! It was so nice sitting outside and was absolutely beautiful! We then went and found a grocery and got water and AJ for AC. We were the last people on the bus (what a surprise). We planned to have a play date with Rebekah and her mama and AnnaClaire and us. Shortly after getting back to the room, we went. The girls had a blast! They caught bubbles, and stacked toys, went down the slide, played with the ring stacker things, ate, and ate, and ate. They are SO cute together. They ate some Chinese teething biscuit that they both seemed to love… We then went on the playground outside. AnnaClaire experienced her first real slide! I went down with her. She LOVED it. Sadly, my camera was out of batteries and Mom didn’t capture the moment. Our hotel is beautiful! I’m disappointed we aren’t at the White Swan Hotel which is walking distance from all the shops, but this was is nice. AnnaClaire started getting tired, so we came back to the room. Mom put her down for a nap while Dad went to do paperwork. Will and I went to Starbucks. We came back and chilled awhile until AnnaClaire woke up. We played with her for awhile. It was so fun! We then decided to get dinner. We tried calling a local American place that most adoptive people have heard of, Danny’s Bagels. The Dagenbachs were also ordering from there so we decided to get together. We never got a hold of Danny’s Bagels. Pizza Hut. They didn’t deliver. We finally decided on McDonalds. McDonalds is right next to the hotel, so our family and the Dagenbachs walked over there. It was nice to have more American food… Ahhh. We ordered AnnaClaire a happy meal~chicken, corn, and apple juice. That’s right, no fries for this baby! She has a healthy Mama and sissy! Maybe you think we are mean, but she LOVED her corn! Mama took the breading off the chicken~no fried foods! But we weren’t the only ones; Bekah had breadless chicken as well! AnnaClaire also loved her apple juice! Of course, I forgot my camera so didn’t capture the first McDonalds… not that big of a deal considering we never even go there!!! We went back up to the room and right as we got out of the elevator, we hear a door open and SQEEK SQUEEK! We turn around and it was little Sarah Lu! The 3 girls started a party. They had so much fun and were darling with each other. AnnaClaire was shy at first but warmed up to Sarah and was all smiles in a matter of minutes. I ran to get the camera and when I cam back, Kenzie and Claire had joined! 5 little girlies! Sarah, Bekah, Claire, Kenzie, and AnnaClaire were SOOOOOOO cute together. They were all smiles and had a little squeaky show party (they all had them on except Bekah, Mrs. D, she NEEDS some!) We took tons of pictures of the sweet girls. They were just darling together!!! It was hilarious. We finally got yelled out for being to loud and the party ended with a daddy daughter picture. We got back to the room and the princess had a poopy diaper. Madame Emily changed it and bathed the princess. She was so good for me. I wrapped her up in a towel and put her in some pjs. We played a bit before Dad, Will, and I went to Starbucks and let Mom get AnnaClaire to bed. (We LOVE our Starbucks! Yes, 2 times in a day!) We came back and AnnaClaire was fast asleep. Whew, I’m ready for a big day of shopping in the G tomorrow! WOOHOO!
Love to all,
Emily and the rest
P.S. The beloved hairbrush has gone missing!!!!!!!! YIKES!
P.S.S. AnnaClaire and I both have bad colds! Please pray we’d feel better soon!
P.S.S.S. I have TONS more pictures too add, but this benadryl to help my cold is knocking me out. I'm out for the night, but check for more pictures tomorrow! I added some more to yesterday's post earlier today so if you haven't seen those, check to see them as well.
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Guangzhou was amazing. It was beautiful, warm, fun. It was awesome to be with our group again. A year ago, AC had her medical exam. She of course passed easily. At the time, she was 20 pounds and about 28? inches. She didn't cry at all. All the other babies screamed... but not Miss AnnaClaire! She was so interesed in the doctors stuff. We did lots of shopping it was so fun. We ate at Lucys with Bekah and later that day, AC had her first playdate... with Bekah! It was such an awesome day. Guangzhou was amazing. I think the best part was just being with our travel group again. We were pretty lonely in Hunan. AnnaClaire and Bekah were precious together. It was so cute to see the interact! AnnaClaire also got her first pair of squeakies! I remember how cute she was when she first tried them on. She would stomp her feet just to hear them squeak. I remember we went to McDonalds that night and you ate lots of corn... but no french fries for you!! Then afterwards we had a squeaky shoe party with lots of your little friends... Sarah, Bekah, Kenzie, and Claire. It was so fun. I love my AnanClaire so much. God picked the perfect AnnaClaire for us! God is SO good!
AnnaClaire, a year ago we enjoyed a beautiful day in Guangzhou! You had your first play date, got your first pair of squeaky shoes, had your medical exam... It was a great day. You started really opening up to the rest of us, although you were still a complete Daddy's girl then. I love you so much. I cannot believe it's been a year already. Time has flown. You mean the world to me, precious girl.
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