Red Couch pics & Consulate appt

Today was a crazy, jam-packed today. This morning was our consulate appointment, at which Zhilu’s visa paperwork was submitted. We didn’t attend the appt (our agency reps handle it), but we did have to stay in our room from 9:30 to 10:30 to be available if they called with any problems. Doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but when Mama decides to press the snooze button for nearly an hour, I was then left with 30 minutes to shower, dress, run downstairs to the breakfast buffet to grab yogurt and bananas, then race back up to wait by the phone. It was a bit harried.

Once we got our “all clear” call from our agency rep, we then had 10 minutes to walk to the other side of the island to their hotel to have our departure meeting. Yay… departure! We got the details of when and how they would coordinate getting all 16 families to the airport at the required times, and other tips for leaving. CCAI definitely has the most amazing in-China staff ever, and they take such good care of us, telling us everything we need to know, every step of the way. After the meeting, we all rushed to change our children into traditional Chinese clothing, and then headed down to take the classic “Red Couch” pictures. These are a long-standing tradition for adoptive families, to take photos on the red couches at the White Swan hotel.

Zhilu was not amused by the picture taking, but I was able to snap a few good ones before he went into full meltdown mode. Poor kid… we had very little time in our day for play, which just doesn’t bode well for an energetic two year old. The best photos were the ones with all the babies… I just couldn’t stop laughing at the idea of trying to get 16 young children to all pose for a picture. Poor kiddos! But we got the pics!





After photos, we headed for a quick lunch at Lucy’s. There we said goodbye to two of our dear friends from our group… they are heading for home late tonight. We have been lucky to have such a wonderful group of families traveling with us, and we’re going to miss them all so very much.

After lunch, we had to head to the US Consulate to take an oath swearing that we had submitted true and accurate information on our children’s visa paperwork, and then sign one last piece of paper. Its now official! Zhilu’s visa has been approved, and once he lands on US soil at JFK, he will officially be a US citizen. It was an emotional moment, I think mostly because this marks our final step in this journey, and it means that we are so close to being home. My heart breaks for Zhilu leaving his homeland, and for our time being nearly over here, but I’m so ready to get home to my girls and be together as a family once and for all.





We got back from the consulate around 4:30 and then it was time for another round of goodbyes… for two more of our dear friends from our group. A majorly emotional day! I tried to cheer myself up with some shopping, but Zhilu wasn’t having any of that. We had dinner at Lucy’s again. A family who has an older son with albinism who looked just like Zhilu when he was little saw we were alone for dinner and invited us to sit with them. However, the tiny table did not allow for the 3-4 foot radius I need around Zhilu in order to prevent him from grabbing, throwing, knocking, kicking anything… so they had an eventful dinner helping me stop him from destroying the dinner table. Not sure they’ll invite me to a meal again, haha! But it was really nice to have the company and get to chat with them.

I love this picture from dinner cause he looks like he's giving the peace sign... just like all the cool kids in China do for their photos. :)



After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to do bathtime and bedtime. He’s now sleeping peacefully thank goodness… this mama was ready for a break from the “toddler-ness”. Here's a pic of one of his favorite past-times, when mama forgets that the latch to the bathroom door doesn't work so well...


And here's a pic of an Angry Zhilu, after I took the camera away (the camera that he had slyly swiped from the desk, right under my nose, without me even noticing)


Looking forward to a fun day tomorrow as we are heading to the Safari park, which is supposed to be amazing. We can’t wait. Two more nights until we begin our journey home!!!