Pretty as a picture!

We took Ellie and Katie for their first portrait together, and they did great! Considering we had to wait an hour past our appointment time... Thank you Grandma Lanigan for the dresses! How lucky we are to have two beautiful, sweet girls! Ellie continues to show more personality each day! She is rolling all over the floor to get where she wants to go. We're still working on the crawling, but it hasn't come yet. I've been in contact with a local program that is offered through Gwinnett county called Babie's Can't Wait. They took our info. and will get back to me in a week or two. We just want to make sure her delays are lack of opportunity, and nothing more. We are in our routine now of dropping off and picking up Katie from school. Ellie looks confused when she gets out of the car, and breaks into a huge smile when we pick he up! I think she loves her big sister, and the feeling is mutual with Katie. She loves to make Ellie laugh and is very gentle with her when they play. So sweet!

How Time Flies!

Wow! I can't believe I haven't added anything since the third! Well, since we've been home, Ellie has made a lot of progress! She has learned to roll (on command, too), she can scoot backwards, but not forward yet. She is finally sleeping through the night (I'll probably jinx this by putting it in writing). Last night she slept 13 hours! This is fine as long as my parents are here, but after they leave, I'll have to wake her up when we take Katie to school. She has learned to enjoy the bathtub. As you may recall, this was a tramatic event the first time! As we speak, she is learning to beg for ice cream! Funny how they know you have something good! She is quite a picky eater. So far some favorites are baby oatmeal with banana, sweet potatoes cantelope and saltines. She'll eat about 5 bites of something, then she'll begin spitting it out!

We had our First Friday group this past Friday. Ellie got to meet many new friends who have children or are waiting to have children from China. The girls we thought were so small now seem very big compared to our little peanut!

She is a happier baby than when we first brought her home. We're thankful for that! Katie is doing well as a big sister. She enjoys playing with Ellie for short amounts of time, then she goes about her business. We're taking the girls for their portraits on Sunday. Let's hope for smiles!

Home Sweet Home!

We arrived home on Thursday evening, and boy was it nice to come home! Our friends put balloons on the mailbox and a banner across the garage door. How sweet! The thought of sleeping in our own comfy bed was wonderful! The beds in China are extremely hard, and after a while it really got to us! Getting to sleep for any length of time, however, has not been easy! Ellie and Katie are still both adjusting to the time change. I think Scott and I could sleep all night if the girls would let us! Ellie still thinks she's taking a nap at night, so we've been up quite a bit. Katie was up at 3:00 this morning eating soup! I told her if she wanted to go to school today (which she did) that she had to go back to bed! We'll see how far into the day she makes it! Ellie was quite a hit at school today. I had to reenroll Katie, so we had to go in. She's adjusted very well to people oohing and aahing over her. She still won't let too many people hold her, but she likes the attention. No new pictures right now, but we'll put some more up soon!

Hong Kong Disney

The Hong Kong Disneyland was a lot of fun! We went with the Cryer family, one of the families we traveled with. The park was a mini version of the Magic Kingdom. Glad we went! It was nice to have a day of fresh air and relaxation before getting on the very long flight for home! We stayed about 8 or 9 hours, and as you can see, the babies were all worn out!

Ellie and Katie both did a great job on the flight. Sleeping is always a challenge, but we made it through!

Red Couch Pictures

Anyone who is familiar with China adoption knows about the famous Red Couch Pictures! The White Swan Hotel has a red velvet couch where the families put the children in the adoption group for a picture. As you can tell, getting that many babies/toddlers to sit and look while you try to take a picture is quite a challenge! It was also nap time for some (including Ellie), so she was not happy about it! The pictures of the six girls are the friends Ellie had at the orphanage.

More shopping!

Today was a "free day", which means no appointments. So.... we went shopping! Today we took a trip to a pearl market. We got strands of pearls for Katie, Ellie and Mommy! Katie also got some fancy hot pink pearls! After that, Scott, Katie and Grandma took a walk with some of our group to an outdoor market. There were lots of interesting things to see! Scorpions, turtles, snakes, frogs, these cute puppies (pets, not dinner!) and some beautiful flowers. Katie put on a fashion show with her new Chinese dress. Ellie has one, too, but since she can't stand by herself yet, she couldn't join in! Tomorrow we do the red couch picture. This is a tradition for adoption groups. Ellie will show off her dress then! We shopped today at a store whose proceeds go to helping older children in oprhanages. I could have bought one of everything! Much nicer quality than the local stores, and just slightly more expensive. We got some wonderful souvenirs!

Tomorrow is our consolate appointment, and we have to pack to leave at 5:30 the next morning for Hong Kong, so this may be it until we get home on Thursday! We're going to Hong Kong Disney on Wedsnesday, so if the hotel has internet, I'll post again. If not, it will be a few days!

Thanks for checking in with us!

Guangzhou Day 2

We had a rainy day today, so we didn't do a whole lot. A bit of shopping, of course! Katie loves pulling her coins out of her pocket and saying "This is all I have" to get a good bargain for her purchases! It works! Who could say no to such a sweet face!? We played in the playroom at the hotel for a while. Katie found a friend named Katie who is getting her sister Ellie tomorrow! We ate at a Thai restaurant tonight for a bit of a change. We'll be heading to a pearl store tomorrow. That's where I want my souvenirs to come from!