Monday and Tuesday Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Hello this is Rob. It is Tuesday night here 9:45 p.m. and 9:45 a.m. for you all on the east coast USA. I know all of you are working hard!!

We have had a busy two days, and sorry we did not post on Monday. Sunday night, Piper came down with a nasty cold. We have been giving her some baby dimetapp for treatment. Monday we woke up and had to get ready to head to the airport to fly to Guangzhou. She was feeling really bad. Lots of snot and a low grade fever which we treated also.

Anyway, we got to Guangzhou no problem other than she felt really bad. She was not happy most of the day and Monday was a bad day. We landed and our guide in Guangzhou took us immediately to McDonald's which was the highlight of the day! We then headed over and got checked into the White Swan Hotel. This hotel is also very nice. It is on Shamian Island adjacent to the Pearl River. Very beautiful here, and the hotel is quite amazing.

Once we got checked in we had to go get Piper's visa photo taken. She did not take a good photo because she felt bad, but it was good enough. Then we had to get her medical checkup (not because she was sick, but because it is required for adoption). It was also very hot and muggy outside. Then we finally got back to the hotel and she took a nap from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Then dinner and bed for all of us and we were glad Monday was over. We also made the executive decision on Monday night to start her on anitbiotic just to be safe. Our pediatrician wrote one for us before we left.

Monday night I had to go to a paperwork meeting with our group and we got all of our docutments together for the US Consulate office which we will go to on Wednesday to get her travel visa stamp for her China passport. That was not too bad. Our guide Dave helped us fill out the forms and is handling all of the paperwork for us.

Today (Tuesday) was a MUCH better day. She is one tough kiddo. She felt 80% better today. Still a little runny nose but the medicines are kicking in and she was all about laugh and smiles again all day! The weather has gotten unusually cool for this time of year here. Yesterday was in the 80's and today rainy and in the 50's.

We had to wait in our room from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in case the US Consulate had to call with questions. They did not call so all is fine with our paperwork for the travel visa for Piper.

Wednesday we will all go to the U.S. Consulate here in Guangzhou as a group for the swearing and visa pickup at 10:30 in the morning. It should only last 30 minutes and then we are DONE!! We will do some shopping Wednesday afternoon and pack up. We leave the hotel Thursday morning at 5:30 a.m. for the start of our 29 hour journey back home.

We are ready to come home now. China was good to us and we had a lot of fun, but it is time to come home. We want all of you to meet the new member of the Pressly family. You are going to love her!

I think this will be the last post in China. Thank all of you for reading about our journey and for sending us e-mails. You made our trip very memorable and I hope it was fun for all of you to follow our journey.

All our love,

Rob, Laurie, & Piper