Day 14

Well, our final day here in Guangzhou, China is officially coming to a close.  It is 9:00pm here, 8:00am for many of you there.  Brian is putting Lucy to sleep, and then our big adventure home begins tomorrow.  But before I jump ahead of myself, a little recap of today's events… Lucy woke up much happier today, as she got her full 10 hours of sleep last night.  Brian and I continue to be amazed at how she sleeps all the way through the night, considering she still has a cold and that there have been so many changes for her recently.  I do have to say, however, that getting her to sleep has become more and more challenging.  She wants to play and talk, and has no interest in going to bed.  We know she is tired, but she fights going to bed.  I hope that once we get home and get into a regular routine it will get better.  For now, we don't force it too much as any schedule we get into here will only be changing once we get home.  After breakfast at our hotel's lovely buffet, we all filed on the bus for an outing to a Buddhist temple.  It was very beautiful and full of worshipers, as you can see from the pictures.  In Buddhism they believe in past, present and future lives.  So in the picture of the 3 Buddha's you see that each of them has their hands opened differently.  The hands on the left Buddha represent the past; they are closed symbolizing the past is done and there is no need to look to it.  The one in the middle-- one hand holding the knee—represents the present and holding onto it (being in the present).  The one on the far right represents the future; you can see his hand is opened and waiting for what may come.  I thought that this was all very interesting and wise.  We were told that these Buddha's are made out of bronze and that each of them weighs 10 tons.  Our guide asked one of the chanting monks in the temple if he would do a traditional blessing for our children.  We felt very grateful to have this blessing done; our guide told us that he prayed for long and happy lives for our children. Next we went to a folk art museum.  There was a porcelain exhibit with a theme of tigers, since next year is the year of the Tiger in China.  There was also an embroidery exhibit with the most amazing artwork.  This framed art looked like photography, but was actually embroidery!  You couldn't believe it unless you saw it.  Our guide told us that it takes the artists up to 3 years to complete one piece.  Throughout all of this, Lucy was a gem!  She talked, laughed, slept and observed…Her smile will melt your heart.  We can't wait for you all to experience this. Tonight our guide brought us Lucy's visa and the "sealed brown envelope."  We now have everything we need to complete the final stage of our trip.  We have been packing and getting ready for the big flight home.  I just have one question:  how do you change a baby's diaper in those tiny plane bathrooms?  I don't see how it is possible.  I guess like everything else with being a first time parent, we will figure it out as we go. Tomorrow is a very long day, consisting of three different flights for our little peanut.  I imagine it is going to be trying for her.  We start at 7am, flying to the Beijing airport at 10am.  From there we have a 4 hour layover; we leave at 5pm (4am Thursday morning for you all) for our 14 hour flight to Newark.  We are due to arrive in Cincinnati at 10:30 Thursday night.  All in all, it is going to be about 28 hours of traveling.  Please keep all of us in your prayers, particularly that Lucy will adjust okay to all these changes that are about to occur. Since this is our last post in China (I will be sure to post when we get  home, to let you know how everything went), I just want to thank all of you for your kind thoughts, words and prayers during this time that we have been here.  We have heard from so many of you (either on the blog or through email), and I must say that your support and prayers have been felt and treasured.  Being so far from home has been difficult, but communicating with you through this blog has helped us feel connected and loved.  I know that years down the road when I am able to show this to Lucy, she will feel the same way.   Thank you so very much! So, after a 4 year "pregnancy" and a 2 week "delivery" we are finally bringing our daughter home!  See you in the states!