Back on track....and in Guangzhou!

Well, hello world from Guangzhou! It's like we found a paradise!!!! Sorry we haven't been in touch, yesterday was a very long day and I wasn't feeling well at all so we crashed soon after we got to the White Swan!

We spent the morning packing and met Frank at noon to go for some lunch. It was another one of those crazy lunches in a crazy crowded restaurant with a lot of yelling going on. We had some lunch which was pretty good, but it's hard to eat when you have no idea what you are eating and someone else always orders for you! Thank goodness that part of this is over!

We then started the drive to our airport, which was not the Beijing International Airport. Because of the Chinese New Year, all flights were booked and they had us fly out of a hole in the wall airport in the middle of nowhere! Frank got lost a few times on the way, but we were still there 3 hours ahead of our flight time, and there were NO English speaking people in the TINY airport! Chris said some of the planes looked like those on a Navy base that were preserved and historical now (not funny!) We asked Frank to please stay with us until we at least got through security which we did, but we couldn't even check in until 4pm. And you should all be proud, our luggage was underweight with just 2 bags checked! Woo hoo, and that was only 44 pounds allowed for each person! So, yes I learned some packing tips on this trip!

Matthew was awesome through the entire day and he ran around for a while before the flight which we we happy about thinking it would tired him out for the 3 hour flight. Everything was perfect on the flight and he took his bottle during take off and fell asleep in my arms for about 25 minutes in the 100 degree flight(yes, very hot!). They then started serving dinner and he woke up. He ate well, and played like such a big boy. Chris and I had an extra seat next to us, so he sat there and emptied his little backpack out and was so happy. We started the descent into Guangzhou, and then he got "the look" and the next thing we knew we were covered in throw up! Welcome to parenthood! Thankfully my hands caught a lot of it and the flight attendants were great bringing warm washcloths over to us helping us clean up. Poor little guy was airsick!

Once our flight landed, we could tell we were on the verge of a mini meltdown and we didn't even fight him when he kicked his shoes and socks off and just let him go. It was warm here and we didn't worry about people looking at us funny scolding us for him having bare feet! At this point, we were exhausted, Mommy felt lousy, and we just wanted to get to the hotel.

We got to the White Swan hotel around 10pm and it was like walking into a paradise compared to where we had been! Wow! People understood us, and were so kind! What a blessing! Our guide Lucy came and met us in the room and what a sweetheart she is!!! She talked about a plan for the next 11 days, and I think we are going to do sightseeing things every other day. She is going to take us up a mountain in a cable car and see peacocks, go to the zoo, a folk museum, a children's amusement park, a Buddhist temple, and go on an evening river cruise next week! All of those things sound so wonderful! Plus, the other days we get to just hang out, enjoy the beautiful weather, and our baby!!!!

After Lucy left, we needed some drinks so Chris ventured downstairs and he came back with cheeseburger and fries and a club sandwich at 11pm! I looked at him puzzled and he said he found the restaurant Lucy's on the island that is an American type restaurant! The food was delicious. When he was gone, I had bathed Matthew and an interesting thing happened. This is the first place we have been together where this is a crib. He walked over and checked it out and just kind of looked up at me with a questioning look. Each night, he has not wanted to go to bed at all because he has been having so much fun. Well, I gave him his bottle and he actually crawled up on the king size bed, laid right in between the 2 pillows where Chris and I would sleep with his blanket and teddy and went to sleep. It was as if he wanted to be sure he got up on the bed before we put him in the crib.....very interesting. We didn't argue and curled up with him around 1 in the morning after we got settled somewhat and headed off to sleep.

Every slept until almost 9 this morning which was great. I felt so lousy and have awful cold sores all in my nose and lip from this darn cold, sinus infection, stress, etc....Darn it for me thinking I'd be fine and not get sick at all. I also had very red irritated eyes that started 2 days ago and had pretty severe pain in my left eye this morning. We got dressed quickly and went to the breakfast buffet which was unbelievable and we ate great food!!! We were in heaven! Matthew also sat in a high chair for the first time which was exciting and he ate like such a big boy! It is amusing though that he picks up his plate and tries to eat right off the plate! We are working on that :)

After breakfast, I could barely open my left eye and another family we met during breakfast told us about a western clinic here in the hotel and we called Lucy to see if it was safe and she said it surely was so we headed down there. It turns out I do have an infection in my left eye, so the doctor prescribed 2 different eye drops for my eyes and said everything is probably because of the other symptoms going on. I also asked for the English name of the medications and checked with my dear medical student sister before putting them in my eyes and they were the right thing to be prescribed! You never can be too sure!!! They actually feel better already with only putting the drops in once, plus I am continuing my Cipro I brought along - thank goodness we brought all of this stuff with us!

Now, we are just washing some clothes and hanging out in the hotel unpacking a bit letting Matthew get used to things before we venture out this afternoon and check out the island and the rest of the hotel! We are excited to be here in the beautiful warm weather in a lovely hotel! More adventures to follow soon I am sure! We are meeting Lucy at 0945 tomorrow morning and heading up the mountain so we aren't going to do too much today, but we we can't wait to get out and explore with our little handsome man!

Sorry there aren't too many pictures...it wasn't the safest yesterday in the airport to shoot pictures, but we did get some with the hotel staff in Beijing that did love Matthew very much and of course a shot in the new hotel today! Also, he would rather be in a diaper with no pants on.....love those little legs!

Well, we will be in touch soon with new adventures from the Roslevege's.....but know how happy we are to be here in Guangzhou starting the next part of our adventure. For those of you that are wondering about why we are here so long, this is what happened:

Beijing changed their adoption policy as of January 1st this year and the process is MUCH longer than other areas of China. There is a 48 hour harmonious period required before processing the adoption. Then, you have a day of paperwork, notary, and applying for Matthew's passport. His passport then takes 5-7 business days to process. His won't be ready until Feb. 13th. One of the other guides is picking it up in Beijing for us on Friday and bringing it here to Guangzhou. The US Consulate is closed on Monday, for Presidents Day, and there were no appts. available on Tuesday, so we are doing that on Wednesday. Then, we can finally come home next Friday! It's much longer than we ever expected, but we are thankful to be here in Guangzhou now and be with Matthew!!!!

Have a great day everyone, and we will post more fun pictures after our first adventure on the island! Kristi - we wish you were here to hang out with us too. I think Caleb, Kylie, and Matthew would be great friends!!!!