Hello Guangzhou

We made it to Guangzhou.  We checked into the China Hotel about 9:30 on Friday night.  The hotel is really nice.  It was fun to walk in and see numerous families checking in with new little ones in their arms.  It is so amazing to think that just six days ago all these little ones were orphans.  Praising God for a new life for each of them.

After we got settled Eric found some take out and brought it back to the room.  We got settled and were all ready to crash for the night. Little Miss Ellie had a rough night and was up for a good chunk of time and was pretty restless.  The poor little thing's tummy seems to be getting a little better but she is also dealing with cutting some new teeth.  One is now through but the other is just starting to push through.

We were up bright and early thanks to our brown eyed little sweet heart!  Those big brown eyes looking up at you make it a little easier to be awake.  We were off on time to meet the rest of our travel group to head to the Medical Check.  It was fun to meet all the families and their little ones.  There are 10 Holt families here this week.  It has been fun hearing their journey to their son or daughter and then just how much these little ones have come in just days.

The first stop was for Ellie's Visa picture.  They warned us they wanted them happy and awake for these pictures.

Next we moved on to the Medical Check.  Every adopted child needs to go through this medical check and the only way to describe it is crazy chaos.  There are three stations that you need to hit with your child.  So many of these little one cry their way through each station.

Ellie's first stop was the ENT.  The looked at her ears, nose and throat and she was not a fan.  We figured there would be many tears by our little girl as she is still not a fan of having her diaper changed or clothes off.  

She then moved on to height and weight which wasn't too much fun for her either.

Her final stop was the general screening.  We gave them our referral paperwork and they need to match  the special need with the paperwork.  The doctor said she was slim because of her heart and she needed it fixed in the US.  We are anxious to see Ellie's cardiologist the week after we get home.  

The poor little thing was exhausted and nestled her way into her daddy's chest and fell asleep!

Everyone was glad that we could check that off the list for this leg of the journey.

The rest of the afternoon we just chilled and finished getting settled in our hotel room! Ellie took a nap in my arms.  She is no longer a fan of her crib and I don't really blame her.  She has quickly learned how nice it is to snuggle with mom and dad.  She also has started reaching up to us to be picked up.  Her favorite thing to do is take the back of her hand and rub in on our faces or reach it to our lips for kisses. She is such a little honey!

She can be pretty serious ....

but also makes the best faces.  

We decided to make sitting a little more entertaining with some towers. 

In no time she figured out how to knock those towers over.

She thought it was a pretty fun game.

We finished the evening with dinner with our travel group from Holt.  We had four large tables full of families.  Little Josie had a birthday so we all sang "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed some cake with her.

It was great spending time with these families.  We all have a bond that is pretty powerful ... our sons and daughters.  It is amazing to see families being formed right before our eyes.