The adoptions were finalized on Tuesday, but there was a lot left to do before we could bring the boys home. That is one of the things that is very strange about adopting internationally. It is a very odd feeling to know that you have adopted a child under Chinese law, and as far as China is concerned, that child is now your responsibility, but at the same time, the U.S. has not yet given you permission (i.e., a visa) to bring your new son or daughter back home. And the U.S. visa is by no means a rubber stamp. In fact, there are many things that can go wrong after the adoption is finalized and hold up the issuance of a visa. The biggest hurdle is the medical exam. So you pray your new child's TB test comes back negative and they do not get sick and start running a fever. Fortunately, Pryor's and Boone's medical exams went fine and they stayed healthy.
On Wednesday, Mike and I each was off to the Chinese passport offices in Jiaxing (Boone's city) and Guangzhou (Pryor's city). I had to pay extra to "expedite" Pryor's passport, but I'm not sure why because we received Boone's first, even though it was delivered from Jiaxing to our hotel in Guangzhou. After Mike applied for Boone's passport, Mike's guide, Bing, took him and Boone to the Hangzhou airport to fly back to Guangzhou. They arrived back in Guangzhou about 6:30 Wednesday evening. It was good to have the four of us all together. Things seemed a little more like a "normal" adoption trip after we were all back in the same place and going through the remaining steps together. Plus, I was able to let him do it all. He is a lawyer so why should I have to think? Unless of course it is something I care about and then we do it my way. LOL
We hadn't really done much in the way of sightseeing yet, because we had spent Monday - Wednesday getting the adoption and passport process done. On Thursday, the more adventurous part of our time in China started. More to come on that.
Sigh... here he comes and he is even cuter than I thought he would be!!
The brothers are also meeting for the first time. Going back to the hotel Pryor and Boone sat together in the back of the van. John told us they were talking about their pasts and how Boone's airplane ride was. LOL
After Mike and Boone got in from Hangzhou Wed evening, we went out to dinner with Teri and Mike.
And guess what the restaurant John took us to specialized in??? Eel. I didn't have any, but John said we were the most boring table there, because we didn't order it. We all paid for John's dinner and Teri told him to go ahead and order "himself" some, but he didn't. I know he wanted to. : - )
Teri, Mike and Lincoln coming back from the restaurant.
So, they say we're brothers?
Good night bro.
Remember how I blogged how horrible Boone acted the first 3 days Mike had him? Mike had me a little nervous when we talked on the phone and then I got even more nervous after I met Boone!! I blogged while we were still in China about the first morning I had him. It was not like Mike at all to say this, but he said something about waiting until we got home to straighten Boone out. It didn't take long to figure out that wasn't going to happen!!!!!! So, my first breakfast with Boone I purposely told Mike to take his time coming down to breakfast, so I could set to work on teaching Boone some manners. Just little things like-stop screaming, stop jumping around, stop eating with your fingers and how to use utensils. I have never used this word on my blog and hope to never do it again, but I had to teach him to stop farting! Yeah, I just said that, but it was a big problem along with some others issues. They all made me laugh, but that didn't mean Boone was going to keep the habits.
I also blogged before about how I first made the boys sit there while I drank coffee for 15 minutes. By this time, Pryor was picking up Boone's bad behavior. How did that happen? Pryor is the oldest and they told me he makes straight As? They did tell me several times that Boone is clever, and let me tell you, he is!! Now that we are home, all the kids think he is the greatest thing ever and he is quickly becoming a crowd favorite with other people as well. Tonight we went to our favorite restaurant. The owner met Boone for the first time. He told us he was back in the restroom with Boone. He said Boone is such a funny and good little boy and then went on to tell us how Boone pretended to bite him. Huh?! Yep, Boone can do things that might otherwise get on your nerves, but the way he does them and then then flashes his BIG smile and giggles just leaves you laughing too (except the farting--oops, I said it again--that is the last time).
I did not pick out this food! Boone did except for the egg. He was mad, because I told him he had to eat the egg.
The only part that bothered me about cracking down right away was a couple of evil eyes I was getting from strangers. Oh well. You're darned if you do and darned if you don't. LOL
