Lilymei & her First Doctor Visit

I know many of you are looking for more pictures so here is an assortment of shots taken while we were in Hohhot and Guangzhou, China.  

Jean and Lilymei in the park in Hohhot, China.  It was a beautiful day and the park was very large with lots of shady areas. 

First family photo taken in the lobby of the Phoenix Hotel, Hohhot, China.  Notice the table behind Scott with various Olympic items for sale.  Nate is holding the Crocs bag containing a new pair of Crocs for Lilymei.  They have a little American flag in them which she wore to the American Consulate.  

Nate has taught Lilymei how to hold the TV remote.  

Lilymei looking at her swim diaper.  Too bad she doesn't like being in the water!

The gang with our favorite shop keeper, Jordan, of Jordan's Gifts & Souvenirs.  We visited with him several times.  He allows his customers to shop in peace.  That's one of the reasons we like him so much.  If you are in Guangzhou, check his shop out.  He is very near the Starbucks Coffee Shop.  Notice Nate's yellow rip-stick near him and Drew holding his.  

Our three beautiful children!!!

Here Lilymei is smirking while we are eating our last meal at Lucy's in Guangzhou before leaving the next morning.  We had just come from our American Consulate appointment.  

Here our girl is so glad to be out of that plane from Guangzhou to Tokyo!  She loved relaxing on the chairs in the terminal and proceeded to help Nate eat all of his McDonald's french fries.

Lilymei had her first visit to the pediatrician on base yesterday. Let's just say, from outside the exam room you would have thought we were cutting off her limbs.  She hated it!  We have collaborated with the doctor and it has been determined that Lilymei will have to have a few tests done at the navy hospital.  She will have blood drawn tomorrow (Wednesday), and then she will start the immunization process all over again.  We will keep you all updated once we know the results of her CT scan and x-ray.  It looks like we will be making a trip to Trippler (in Hawaii) for an MRI soon too!  Please keep praying for Lilymei's test results to show exactly what will need to be done for her continued progress in her health and well-being.   

We did it and now we are heading south!!!

We thought this was a fitting sign to post as we truly feel blessed by God! (for those Olympic fans out there, this is the slogan of the Chinese workout gear provider)
We visited a great park today and Lilymei's finding place. We were all touched and had a great time visiting the park which had some amusement rides for the boys.
Cooler than a cucumber in Hohhot!

Laughing for Gaga Nate, as usual. Lilymei had a good day and is fast asleep already.



Well this is a short post because we have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to catch our early flight to Guangzhou. We finished all of the Chinese paperwork and Lilymei is officially our daughter. She received her Chinese passport today and is good to travel. We are all looking forward to getting to Guangzhou and having more of what life has to offer!

Just Chillin'

Today was a free day for us.  We slept in, ate a leisurely breakfast, and played in the room.  It rained for most of the day so after lunch Lilymei and Baba took a nap and the boys watched a movie.  I spent a little time reading a book (haven't done that since before packing for China).  

Good Morning Sweet Pea!

We took a taxi to one of the shopping areas in Hohhot.  Scott was on the hunt for a few bargain polo shirts.  He scored 2 nice shirts for @ $7 total.  Here Lilymei is sharing her first Oreo Blizzard from DQ. Another hit!

Downtown Hohhot.  Notice Lilymei's new shoes.  The 2 pairs we brought are too big!  This area reminded Scott of New York City.
Lilymei's first time in a highchair.  We had dinner at Pizza Hut.  Last count, that makes 3 times in 8 days we had Pizza Hut.  It is such a bargain and a more gourmet restaurant than our American version.  Lilymei ate 2 pieces of pizza herself.  She tied with Nate.  In this photo she is having her appetizer of crackers.  At this rate, we know she will add a pound or two on before the doctor visit in Guangzhou on Monday.

The smiles and laughter were much more commonplace today.  Daddy has found her tickle spots.    
Lilymei loves to play with the boys.  I think she has figured out just how goofy they really are!

Tomorrow we will receive Lilymei's Chinese passport. We are also planning to visit the area where Lilymei was abandoned.  Pray for good weather for us.  We have only had 1 sunny day here since we arrived Sunday afternoon.  

We will be leaving Hohhot on Saturday morning very early.  We are sad to leave Lilymei's birthplace but we are excited to be one step closer to home.  

New Baby Picture of Lilymei

A couple of days ago I left a post on one of my yahoo groups stating that we were getting ready to travel soon. An adoptive mother of a son who also was adopted from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, contacted me. She had checked out our blog and was quite surprised to see that Lilymei is now in the same foster home that her son was in last year. She forwarded photos of her son to me and sure enough, her son was being held by Lilymei's foster mom and was on the same couch as in Lilymei's photos. What luck! Holly was able to give me the names of the foster parents and their phone number. (There may be a chance that we can meet them!) She also told me to contact New Day Foster Home and ask if Lilymei had been in their formula program. This afternoon I sent a quick email to them and tonight I received a couple of emails from them with information dating from Oct to Dec 2007. How exciting to get a little bit more info on our sweet baby girl. We also received a new baby picture!

Lilymei with her foster mom, photo dated October 23, 2007. We are so excited to have another baby picture for her baby book. Thanks for the tip Holly!

Lilymei Day and Missoula Children's Theatre

We have just received confirmation that we will pick up Lilymei one day earlier than we thought!!! We are flying into Hohhot around noon on Sunday, July 27th and we will meet Lilymei later that afternoon! We were wondering if our travel itinerary was correct and this morning we awoke to an email from our travel coordinator, who received word from Beijing, that we will have Lilymei with us Sunday night. Oh my goodness! Less than 3 weeks away! Scott is home from work today, trying to get ahead on some of his MBA coursework so he won't have to worry about it while we are gone.

The boys are busy this week with the Missoula Children's Theatre. This is Nate's 3rd year participating in Missoula. The first summer we were on Guam Nate was cast as a farmer in Jack and the Beanstalk. Drew did not want to participate that year. Last year Nate was the lead character of Rumpelstiltskin. Drew was a gnome. It was a great show. This year the crew will perform Robin Hood. Nate has been cast as the Sheriff of Nottingham while Drew is one of the guards. (He really just wants to have a sword!) Rehearsal runs from today through Friday, with the performance Saturday morning. What a great organization this is. I hope the next base we move to also has this program available to the kids. It is amazing what 2 traveling professionals can teach the kids in such a short amount of time.

Photos from Father's Day Lunch at the restaurant RED:



Days until we travel:15
Days until we hold Lilymei:19