Look....she's already reading:))

Day 14 and she finally enjoyed her bath time!!


Taylor showing me how frustrated he's been! Change is hard!

I used to have one little monkey that liked to watch daddy mow the grass, now there are 2!

Cool little lady!

eating her favorite....eggs

15 days ago~

Rachel could say:

mama, by-bye, and woof woof

avioded eye contact

wouldn't let Taylor within arms reach without a smack

hates a bath

demands to sleep in crib without snuggling

eats everything in sight

Today~

Rachel can say:

mama, by-bye, woof, woof, baba (daddy), hi, hey, uh-oh, TayTay, ayi (aunt Traci), night night, no-no, & light...oh yeah and she says 'ss ss' meaning to say shay shay which is thank you in Chinese (I am not even sure how to spell shay shay, but that is how it sounds)

she doesn't avoid eye contact

let's Taylor get right beside her

gives kisses alot

likes a bath (actually for the first time last night)

wants to be snuggled and held all the time

still eats everything in sight!! This girl can eat!

Birthday Girl

This is their first night home, Taylor is sleeping in a typical 'man' position...too funny! And isn't Miss Rachel sweet in her bed?

We were trying to teach Rachel how to blow out the candle...but she just let us do it!

Liking her chocolate cake!

Our little princess!

We had Rachel a little family birthday party today! She has been fussy as she didn't sleep very well last night, but the party went good. We got her a little basket of play food for her kitchen and I think that was her favorite. She knows how to play kitchen. She and Taylor are napping now. We are all still suffering from the dreaded jet lag!! It stinks! I think I will go now to the couch and see if I can get a few winks!

Home

Just getting on the airplane, checking out the music selection. Rachel has figured this flash thing out on the camera....just close your eyes.

This is us boarding flight #2...the big one...13 hours. Note the fact James is smiling!

12 hours later and James with NO sleep...he not happy!!

Rachel checking out the toy room! Bad mama had buttoned her sweater wrong!LOL!

Playing kitchen at about 11:30pm!!

What more do I need to say.....Home!!

Yes.....we are home and it is the 27th...Miss Rachel's 2nd birthday! Our flights were anything but enjoyable....just being honest. Let's see, flight #1 to Shanghai, Rachel puked and I wasn't expecting it and so I had her in my lap and am cupping my hands and holding her puke. Taylor and James were several rows up and totally oblivious and luckily some of the people near me started helping. So that was fun! And I forgot to pack her any extra clothes...duh!! So her clean shirt now has puke stains down the front. In Shanghai I did find a store and bought her a clean shirt. Then onto the big flight. The good part is, Rachel went to sleep and slept about 8.5-9 hours!! The bad part is Taylor the one we weren't worried about kept waking in screaming fits...and I do mean fits...about every 30 minutes. He was thrashing and kicking and screaming and holding his leg. We think he was having leg cramps and really wasn't completely waking up. It was horrible!! We would get him calmed down and back comfortable, only it wouldn't last. This went on for about 3 hours solid. Finally he woke up and we had our sweet boy back, but then when he is awake, well, so are you! Rachel woke up about 1 hour before we landed and decided to have diarrhea that leaked out of her diaper!!! And no, I didn't have more pants. And have you ever tried to change diarrhea diaper in a airplane bathroom??? I washed the pants the best I could and she just kind of didn't smell fresh for the rest of the trip. Then our big flight was 45 minutes late landing in Chicago which gave us 1hr 45 min. We had to claim luggage, go through the foreigner immigration line which was long, then an extra line for something due to the adoption, then customs, then recheck bags, then ran...yes ran to our gate....2 kids, stroller, 2 bags (carry-ons) and 2 back packs and we were literally running and yelling as they were closing the door at our gate and if we had been 15 seconds later, we wouldn't have made our flight. Then we get on board and they had given our seats away and wanted Rachel to be a lap baby and I just about had a come-apart. Rachel was screaming, and she needed her seat....which we paid dearly for. So, we got our seats and had a good flight to Nashville. Then get to Nashville and no luggage! We made it but luggage didn't. It is still in Chicago, but hopefully on it's way to Nashville this morning. Once we got to Nashville, our family was there to pick us up and we had a 1.5 hour drive. We made it home around 11:15 to 11:30 and got Taylor to bed, then Miss Rachel seemed awake so we stuck her in between us in our bed turned on the t.v. and out with the lights. I promise, probably 1 minute later, I was asleep and I woke up at 1:15 am due to very loud snoring and saw Rachel was asleep and put her in her bed. I woke up and got up at 4am, could not go back to sleep. Very tired, but couldn't get back to sleep. James got up at 7:30 and now it is 9:30 and the kids are still sleeping. I thought with Rachel sleeping so long on the flight that she might not sleep and that hasn't been an issue, she is a good sleeper! So now the test....I have to stay awake today, so I can sleep tonight!!

Thanks for all the prayers and following along to Miss Rachel. We are excited to have her home and show her what being a part of a family is all about! Once again we have been blessed and we are very thankful. And if anyone wants to come visit today or tomorrow, just call, we need some help staying awake!! (no kidding)

Last night

The pigeon we had at dinner last night....tasted like dove.All that was left...the Chinese probably would've eat that too!

after bath tonight

Big bro

On Shamian Island where we are staying they have beautiful sculptures all over and nice pedestrian streets that are park like.

They have what looks like a playground but take a closer look and you will see it is exercise equipment for adults. They have these all over China....I think we could use these in the US!!

Treadmill above!! It is hard to stay on it.

We have just finished packing, which was not a easy job. I think I shopped more than I realized :)) We leave for the airport tomorrow morning at 7:30 and after 26 hours of travel we will arrive at the Nashville airport at 8pm. What's weird is we leave on Thursday morning in China and get back to Nashville on Thursday evening, even though 26 hours will have passed. Rachel has been doing great with us. She is all giggles and jibber jabber in our room and walks around. As soon as we step foot outside our hotel room door she demands to be held, won't walk for anything and is very serious. She is so scared of everything. Taylor has taught her something really great LOL......mine! And she says it with a purpose, as she jerks away whatever she doesn't want him to get. She has said night night and yesterday we showed her how to give kisses and she will give kisses now...only when asked but it is sweet! Initially when it was time for nap or bedtime, she would get sleepy then point to her bed and if you didn't put her in it she was furious. She didn't want to be rocked or held or looked at for that matter. Now she demands to go to sleep in our bed and she is usually having so much fun she doesn't want to go to sleep. She lets me rub her face and hands as she goes to sleep. Tonight she rolled right over head to head to me and just looked at me...it was very sweet.

Well, we are off to bed to get ready for a early morning and a very very very long day! Please continue to pray for safe and smooth flights and that Rachel and Taylor and well me and James too handle the long travel day well. Thanks for all the comments and prayers...we really appreciate it! We are so excited to get our girl home....and I can't tell you how many times Taylor has asked to go home!

Traditional 'Red Couch' photos

Last night right after bath.

5 precious kiddo's

5 new families!

We have had a quiet morning and now the kids are napping. We had to stay in our room until 11am, because our guide was at the US Consulate on our behalf having all our paper work cleared. At 11 we were finally free and walked around and then met our group for the traditional red couch photo at the White Swan Hotel. As you can see the kids were none too happy about being placed on this red couch and having lots of photos taken but we did it none the less. Rachel doesn't like any of her new shoes and just cries if you put a pair on her. We all slept well and had a good breakfast. Rachel has had 4 diarrhea diapers over the last 3 to 4 days now, but her tummy doesn't seem to hurt and it hasn't stopped her from eating or drinking. It's hard to know which of many things it could be that has caused it. Could it be a round of antibiotics, 5 immunization shots at one time, a whole new diet....or stress? I don't know maybe a mixture. It will be so great to be home and have a routine to our family again. I think Rachel will just blossom in our family!!

GZ day 3 part 3

Taylor's new trick!
Giving mommy's arms a rest!!

At the Thai restaurant called Cow and Bridge....soooo yummy!

Not happy that she was taken away from Madagascar to model.

OK that's better, I can see my movie now!

When we went back out I got some famous squeaky shoes!! For these 4 pair I paid a total of

145 yuan which equals $22.00, not each but total!!

So after nap we did a little more shopping and then let Taylor play at a local park that is close to the hotel. There were alot of kids from a nearby school there when we went. After that we ate again at the Thai restaurant that is sooooo good. We are now back at the room and I just tried Rachel's new outfit on her and she got really mad....I took her away from Madagascar 2 and she is really enjoying watching these movies. You will see, as soon as I put her back on the bed where the movie was she quit crying. We also had a little breakthrough today, she actually let James carry her while we were out shopping. Yeah for mommy's muscles.