A Lotta Rain, A Little Homesick

It's Tuesday in China, a week since we got our sweetie. She's such a sunny, funny addition to our family that it's already difficult to imagine our life before her.

The past couple of days have been very rainy. We're a bit weary of being couped up in the hotel room. Every time we venture out though, we get soaking wet. Our umbrellas (and hair care products) aren't much of a match for the torrential rain. It'll be comforting to get back to our gentle Seattle soggy rain.

Before the onslaught, we got in a visit to Yuntai Garden. It looked like the backdrop for Teletubbies, but was pretty to stroll through. Below's a picture of our travel group. Going left to right are the Larson family (Todd, Wendi and their daughter Alanna), the Graubergers (Kevin, Tonya and their daughter Natalee -- Ryan's been desperately waiting for the rain to let up so he and Kevin can go play hackey-sack in the park), us, and David. Their babies came from the same orphanage as Lilia, so the girls are all "sisters" in a sense.



Lilia is happiest in her carrier, on the move.



Ryan is happiest getting undressed. With the humidity here, it would feel SOOOO good to emulate him.

Yesterday was Lilia's medical exam. The clinic was crowded with Chinese patients of all ages and dozens of babies being adopted. Basically, the babies are run through three stations like an assembly line, 1: Weigh in/temperature, 2: A quick exam of the body, 3: A ENT check. Each station took about two minutes. Lilia went ballistic. They said she weighs 17.7 lbs and is 71.5 cm long. Another appointment checked off our list. Next steps are the US consulate on Thursday and then the US visa/swearing in on Friday. Saturday, we return home!