goodbye fujian

It was a bittersweet day as we took our last walk in the beautiful park adjacent to our hotel. It feels sad to leave the place where Joya is from and has been all her life. A policeman came to the hotel to double check our adoption certificate and our passports so that he could hand over our daughter's Chinese passport and we could fly to Guangzhou to start our journey home.

Joya had a really good morning, but our travel through airports and a short plane ride were not fun at all. We also had a little scare when we had fast food in the airport for dinner. Her paperwork said that she was allergic to seafood, so we have, of course, completely avoided it. Well, the chicken we were eating must have been exposed to seafood offerings at the restaurant because as soon as she had a piece in her mouth (but never swallowed) her face immediately broke out in a rash.

Our guide had already checked us in and said goodbye. My Benadryl was in our checked luggage. In my head, I was urgently making a plan for a medical emergency without a translator. (Angie, if you're reading this, our experience in Mexico 15 years ago prepared me for this!). Luckily, soon after it was out of her mouth, the rash started getting better.

Crisis avoided.

She hated the travel, the airplane, and the overall change. She was so overtired when we finally got to our room that her Baba could not snuggle her out of her crying. I figured out that if I put the edge of her blanket by her mouth, she will suck it and pass out.

I feel like a dope for not doing it sooner because her foster sister mentioned something to me about her sucking on a towel at bedtime.

Slightly longer learning curve baby girl. So sorry!

I'm so tired, so even though there are many topics I want to write about, I simply can't do it tonight. So, I'm honoring the request for pictures (i need to get many more off the camera tomorrow) and hopefully I can transform bullet points in my brain into interesting reading for you over the next couple of days.

We love hearing from you all.