Consulate Appointment

Cate slept great last night and didn’t take nearly as long as she has been to go to sleep. Praying this trend continues! We had to wake her up early for her U.S. Consulate Appointment. She wakes up really happy - even though it takes her a minute and even when she’s not ready to get up. 

Breakfast is always interesting - at home - I love to have fruit - but they told us here that the orphanage only gives them fruit after nap - because if they get the choice it is all they will eat (which is what we experienced the first two days). Today she ate sautéed eggs (which are basically not all the way scrambled eggs), a boiled egg, a few bites of chicken congee, a banana and a few bites of watermelon - she also usually likes cantaloupe and yogurt. She is the first one at the table to start eating and usually we are cutting her off because we are out of time. So far - eating has been her jam! 

We got her all dressed up and ready in her red white and blue outfit for her appointment and headed out to the bus. All of the families had been given a packet of paperwork and were told to bring our passports and whatever we might need for our babies. We loaded the bus and headed out. As we arrived to our drop off spot to pick up our medical report results (completed on Friday) we unloaded and sent the bus back for the second round of people waiting at the bus. Everyone is in the lobby checking their bags when Nate exclaims - “MY MONEY BELT FELL OFF! OUR PASSPORTS ARE IN IT!”  A little tiny piece of me died in that moment. All the other mommas and daddies sprang into action checking the bag he was holding and another momma says “let’s go make sure it’s not in the street” (it wasn’t). Nate was positive he had it on the bus and was semi-positive it must have unclipped when I asked him to scoot over so I could sit beside him. [I was avoiding an extra handsy baby this morning which is proving to be a battle we will have to fight with Little Miss Thing.] Someone ran upstairs to ask our guide to call the bus driver to see if he could turn around and in a matter of under ten minutes (which I know felt like 700 to Nate) he was on and off the bus again with passports in hand. Basically, all of my activity points on my Fitbit today came from thinking I might not be able to go home on Friday if they were really lost. I’m not sure if the color copies I have of our passports would allow us on the plane - but I am also thankful I won’t have to find out.  

The visa interview was way less formal than I anticipated. We took an oath swearing that we to the best of our ability filled out our children’s applications, and then were called up one by one to review our children’s file and their “medical history” - a term used very loosely since nobody seems to really have conclusive anything...and then our fingerprints were taken again and matched with the ones submitted months (or in our case over a year) ago in the middle of the process.  

After the interview - since we were first in our group - we walked to Starbucks where I attempted to order a cold chocolate milk for Cate and a frappachino (again) for myself.  Instead I received a frappachino and very hot chocolate (for the baby) each labeled “miss” which we have concluded is what they label all of the drinks for the white girls who don’t speak mandarin. It’s actually very funny. 

We returned to our hotel, attempted a family picture while we were dressed up since they confiscated our cell phones at the consulate, also attempted another friend picture (Sarah and I unintentionally matched again today when we met in the lobby) none of which our girls participated in together - had a cheeseburger from McDonalds for lunch (have I mentioned how ready I am to be able to eat raw food?? Can a girl get a salad??) and then napped. 

After naps our plans to walk around and explore were rained out and instead we ended up playing in the play area of the on-site restaurant. Nate is about to crawl out of his skin he is so stir crazy. 

We ate at the Cantonese restaurant in our building again to avoid going out in the rain. Cate ate broccoli (which is the BEST here) , rice noodles, beef, beef broth and a different noodle out of Nates dinner dish and a piece of a steamed pork bun.  I don’t know how she does it! By the end of dinner she was over sitting still - so we bailed quickly. 

We decided a pool bath would be acceptable - honestly hoping to wear her out and make bedtime super easy tonight. She loved the pool and it gave her and Nate some quality time together - but it did not help at bedtime, unfortunately. I know I am so ready to get home and get on a good routine - and that probably magnifies the bedtime difficulty - but goodness gracious it is hard to see. And double goodness gracious it makes me nervous for bedtime at home. 

When we finally were able to get her to sleep - praise Jesus - we sat in the bathroom to talk and call her doctor to schedule appointments since we are 12 hours different. I think the homesickness is really really setting in for me - and I also feel emotionally exhausted from so much happy, so much sad, so much uncertainty and so much excitement. Hoping the good cry I had tonight can hold me over until I see my babies on Friday at the airport and hoping even more we all survive the reverse jet-lag! 

Overall we have had several really great days. She is definitely warming up to Nate. She is understanding a LOT of what we say “let’s go! Get your shoes! Sit down. Want to eat? Get your stroller. Want a snack? Where is mama? Where is dada? Who is your sister/brother? Let’s change your diaper. It’s bath time. Night night. Bye bye! Blow a kiss! Say hello! Pick it up. Bring it here. May I have one? No thank you. You eat it! Yay! Good girl! Give a high-five. Come here.” all of these and probably some I am forgetting. We just talk to her like normal and she goes with it. She also repeats almost everything that comes out of our mouths. She loves to high-five and loves to clap for herself. She is super feisty and definitely is not enjoying boundaries we are setting up. There have been lots of “no no” and lots of “gentle” “say please” etc. Manners are going to be tricky - and even just today I think we have thank you down - but as resident princess in her room at the orphanage - she was not required to do much of anything but scream or hit to get what she wanted - so its proving to already be our big challenge. 90 percent of the time she is all smiles and giggles - but that 10 percent - woah, buddy! She also is definitely calling me “momma” and starting to call Nate “baba or dada” she has used “momma” for several days now - even on the orphanage visit day - but I wasn’t sure if she was just saying it - or actually calling me by my name. It’s very obvious now - anytime I leave the room or visible line of sight without saying something to her first “momma? MOMMMAAAA!” So sweet to hear those words and also a reality check that in a couple days (who’s counting?) I’ll have three of those “momma” calls to respond to. Help me, Jesus!  

We are going to turn in early tonight - hoping to rest up. Only a few more days before we start our trek home! Can’t wait!