Star spangled baby

The last two days have been a blur. I'm posting from the lounge in the Guangzhou airport,three hours away from taking off,and I'm feeling pretty emotional.

Makena was babbling away on the bus, looking out the window laughing, and it struck me again, the way it did in Chongqing, that we were taking her away from her country. I know a lot of Chinese people look at her and think "What a lucky baby" and we feel so lucky to have her because she is our beautiful ray of sunshine but I also know that to some, watching their countries' daughters be sent away to be raised by foreigners across the four corners of the globe, is an embarrassment.

The China Team took us to the airport and acted as our interpreters and assistants, making sure that all the "i"s were dotted and the "t"s were crossed and when it finally came time to say goodbye to them at the security checkpoint, I was overcome with tears and cried my way through inspection. As soon as we settled for the wait, my husband headed for the refrigerator and cracked open a Tsingtao for me. So, yeah, I feel better, certainly calmer.

Yesterday was surreal. We started out the day by taking the kids in our group, bowling. About twenty of us piled into taxies, in the pouring rain, and headed to an alley about ten minutes drive from the hotel. It was a blast. The look on the bowling league's faces when these "May Gwans" with their Chinese daughters unloaded on their spot and took over was funny . We had a blast and Jack got better at bowling because he didn't have any bumpers to cushion him. He bowled a 35 the first game and a 44, the second, and I know he's headed for bowling glory. He loves it.

We hurried home to get the babies dolled up for their swearing in and headed off to the the Consulate. We brought Makena up to Window 9 and the girls behind the bullet proof glass double checked that her photo on her visa application matched the baby before them, then they handed us back our paperwork and we waited for the short vice-consul to come out and make us swear something (I can't remember what). All I know is that when we land on the 26th and Makena's papers are stamped, that she'll be an American citizen.

We ended the day with a group dinner party to celebrate and Jack danced the night away, literally, I left him on the dance floor with the Puerto Rican family and headed home with the baby. Jack came home with them an hour later, sweaty and deliriously happy. It was very nice way for him to end his adventure in China.

I've got the Benadryl ready, hoping for a smooth flight...

Thank you for following our adventure. I'll post more thoughts and photographs when I get home.

Isabelle