Catch up on the last two days

The last two days have been pretty uneventful. Mainly a lot of downtime to help me get to know my little girl. Yesterday our guide took part of our group to do some shopping at the "pedestrian street". This turned out to be a bit disappointing as we were pressed for time and never hit the "pedestrian" part of the street at all. We shopped inside a mall that mostly sells pearls and jade. I bought all I need as far as jewelry last time I was here, so, I was not really interested. I did get a few cheap pairs of pants for Evie, since most of the ones I brought were falling right off her.

When we got back, we went across the street with another mom and her lil' guy to have lunch at Banana Leaf. This is a Thai restaurant and the food was delicious. We ordered so much food (because it was so cheap) that we had a pile leftover. There were these green beans that were to die for, and I don't typically like green beans (the other mom ordered them).

After that we came back to the room (it was around 3 pm) and stayed in for the rest of the day. We had some nice bonding time, doing watercolors and making candy necklaces, and just relaxing together. We hadn't had an extended time of just kicking back like that, and it was SO nice. I got Evie in the bath nice and early so that she would have plenty of time to play, since she loves it so much. I let her take one of her balls in there and she seemed shocked that she could do that. She bounced it around the whole time giggling like crazy.

Today there was nothing on our schedule. We started off by hitting the hotel's indoor playground after breakfast. It is just a little room with a bunch of Little Tykes toys, legos, and the like. It was just us and two of our friends so it was very quiet in there. Evie grabbed on to a little ride on toy they had, and did not get off it the.entire.time. I think she was afraid her little boyfriend would steal it. She even drove it into the Little Tykes castle with her!

This afternoon we ended up taking the subway back to Shamian island with three other families. Taking the train was definitely an adventure but a lot cheaper and easier than taking a cab. I was very grateful to have friends there to help carry the load, though. I definitely could not have made it with Evie and a stroller plus her backpack, purse, etc.... if I didn't have a little help from my friends...... We hung around the island for a bit (yes, Leila, I scored you that dress) and then had dinner at Cow and Bridge. Another Thai restaurant. Yes, I do really like Thai food. And it is just dirt cheap out here. We are eating restaurant meals for peanuts. I guess the fact that there is only two of us and one only weighs about 30 lbs. might have something to do with that...

Evie was a little sassy today. She is definitely starting to test her boundaries and try to push my buttons. It takes a lot of testing to wear down a mom of six. I have to admit it is difficult to be firm at a time when you really don't want to be butting heads; all you want to do is bond and have nice feelings towards each other. My heart finds it difficult, but my brain knows better. Evie really is a good girl, and she listens well (especially for a 3 year old who has a mom speaking to her in a completely different language). She does this pouty thing that really is cute but I have to tell her is NOT. Oh, and 3 out of the 4 moms today but their kids Pleasant Goat (a popular cartoon) phones that play the theme song over and over and may or may not accidentally get left behind in our hotel rooms.

Tomorrow we have to be up bright and early, because we need to get through breakfast and ready to go to our Consulate Appointment at 7:50. This is the final step to making Evie's adoption complete in the eyes of the U.S. After tomorrow, she will be able to become a citizen when she steps on U.S. soil.

Night-night