Tuesday!

** I will have to post photos tomorrow.***

Today, our alarm was supposed to go off at five. We all had to get ready, eat breakfast, come back up to get our folder of papers, and head to the lobby to meet Elsie by 7:40. Ezra awoke to the phone alarm and pushed it off without realizing. Today wasn't touring... it was our consulate appointment to get your visa (we should get it in a couple of days). This is a huge day that we couldn't miss. We woke up at 7:20. 😱😱😱. We threw on clothes and rushed out. I only had minimal make up and brushed my hair as I was putting on your diaper. Multi-tasking. We were walking out the door at 7:40 and Elsie called us worried because we are never late she said. That made me pretty proud to hear! We got on the bus with wacap, small world and lifeline families that were all headed from our hotel to the Consulate. Nice! We arrived and saw the long line, just like June 2015 and it humbled me. All these people were trying to come to our beautiful nation... and we got to just pass them all and walk in. It is hard to watch their faces. They want to come and have the freedoms we have, thank God. So you played well in the play area and climbed the stairs (2 flights) without any pulling or collapsing. We swore to the oath and gave them a lot of papers and told them your special need. It was very touching... another step to become a citizen as soon as we land. Since we missed breakfast, we rushed back to the hotel because they quit serving at 10:30... and it was 10:30. You were starved and we were all hungry. We got to get to go boxes and take tons of goodies to the room. Oh, the freshly grown mandarin oranges are so good. The kids love them because they're so small and cute! We put our snacks in the room for later so we wouldn't have to buy so many for the next couple of days. We headed to Subway and enjoyed club sandwiches. You downed a banana, a small bag of chips, a yogurt and a piece of bread. After lunch Justin took a long nap ( only 5 hours) and we had our friends over again.. Brandon and Dani kay along with their new sons Jett and Henry. They call us "Justin and Alice." lol I was always called Alice when I met new friend in elementary school, so I'm used to this. Dani Kay told them my real name and they didn't like it, so Alice am I! We went to the same restaurant as we did the other night near our hotel. We had a great time and it's been an honor meeting their family. Those boys have my heart.. they got the best two boys in china! We went to McDonald's for ice cream afterwards and headed to the gardens at our hotel. The kids ran and played and played hide and go seek, watched the fish, and learned a little about each other. It was hard to tell the goodbye! Yuck! We ended the night with some facetiming and laughing until we cried. All the fun is happening, but adoption is so hard. You would walk away with anyone at this point and you grab every Chinese person that you can. It is hard to watch. I trust that one day, you will truly know what a Mama and Baba is and that it is forever. You have no idea what a family is yet.. you just think that we have a lot of fun together and then fuss and get cranky together. Haha. It's about much more.. and you will learn, baby girl... you will learn with time and consistency! We love you so much! I can't believe that God chose us!

Love you forever, Mama