Another update because..

I am a loser and cannot stay off the computer. Also, Maggie and David are napping so I needed to find something quiet to do. Today went well. We headed over to the Civil Affairs office, which was the same one that we went to yesterday. I wore Maggie in the hip hammock. It's sort of uncomfortable. Maybe I'm not wearing it right. Who knows. She seems to think it's okay, though. I was jealous of another mom's Ergo carrier. Anyway. On the way to the office, my stomach started to feel kind of icky. We got to the office and we herded into the same room that we met the babies in yesterday. We were going to get a family picture made and have 2 interviews. Amy and Lineker, our two guides, explained everything very carefully. They are GREAT. I cannot say enough good things about the guides we have had here in China. Each family got a big beaded bracelet with a number tag hanging on it to let us know what order we would go in. Mine was sparkly pink and clear beads. Very cool. Maggie liked it a lot which was good because she about ripped my silver Maggie bracelet off along with my hand. We went back to have our picture made, handkerchief in tow. We had to put Maggie up on a high chair with a pillow on it and then get our faces very close to hers. She was not happy that she had been put down but the photographer jingled a little tambourine and she was good to go. After that, we went back to the room and waited some more. Then, my stomach started to hurt some more. I found the bathrooms, which were squatties only. Let's just say that I am now a PRO at using a squatty in ANY situation. No more Western toilets for me! David made me wipe my brow off when I returned to the room. HA! Then we were called back for the first interview. We had to tell our ages, how long we had been married, and if we were satisfied with the baby. Um, YES! We also had to promise to never abandon her or abuse her. We signed some papers, gave our gift and went back to the room. By this time, Maggie was getting kind of fussy so David fixed her up another bottle which she sucked down. She finished it off during our 2nd interview where we also had to tell our ages and when we had gotten married. The notary also wanted to know why we wanted to adopt from China, our occupations, and how much money we made. 2 more signatures and another gift and we were done! Maggie is our legal daughter according to China's laws. After everyone finished, we had a picture made at the entrance to the civil affairs office.

Our next stop was the Guangzhou Friendship Store which is run by the government so prices are fixed. It was HUGE. I think it was 6 stories high. It was very much like a department store but the entire top floor was devoted to baby stuff and it also had a grocery store in it. Maggie fell asleep in the baby carrier on the way over there. We went up to the top floor where we found a plastic ball with a chime inside it that Maggie likes a lot. David also bought her a Chinese New Year Barbie! He got a bright pink Barbie bag for that purchase. The way Friendship Stores work is you find what you want to purchase and give it to a salesperson who writes you up a ticket. Then you take the ticket to the cashier and pay and you go back to the salesperson and they have your merchandise all wrapped up for you. When I read about this before we came to China, I thought it sounded really confusing but it's really easy and not a bad way to go about doing business. There are SO many employees there that are so eager to help you find things or show you other stuff that you might like. We bought some little washcloths and a pack of cloth diapers in the event a hankie is not available! Plus Maggie is not the best at keeping all the formula in her mouth when she's eating.

Then we went downstairs to the grocery store where we bought diapers, formula (our orphanage's formula is not very nutritious at all), water, soda and Gatorade, and some noodle bowls and chips and cookies for David and me. We also bought Maggie a few jars of baby food fruit to see what she thinks. One of the women helped me find the right kind of formula because it's hard enough to find some without it being in Chinese! The cashiers were making faces and waving at Maggie because she decided to wake up about that time. We had about 20 more minutes until the bus was coming back to pick us up so we went outside to wait. I took Maggie out of the baby carrier because I was about to combust it was so hot. David took Maggie back inside to walk around a little and I sat outside and ate a granola bar and drank some water. While we were sitting there, a policeman (I think) came up to Jeff Weiland and told him to move over because Emma's legs were in the sun. He was really nice about it and seemed honestly concerned for the baby. The Chinese people obviously love babies very much. You can hear all the "oohs" and "ahhs" when we walk into the lobby or another public place. This one lady was totally staring at us outside the Friendship Store. She was an older woman and you could tell she was thinking, "What are all those white people doing with Chinese babies?" We have a little card in Chinese that AWAA gave us that explains why we are here but I had forgotten it back at the hotel. Then the bus came and we started getting on. My first "bad mom" moment of the day occurred when we got to our seats. I bonked Maggie's head on the luggage rack above the seats. She didn't even seem to notice but I felt so bad! Then "bad mom" moment #2 occurred shortly after that. I realized it had been a while since I checked her diaper so I laid her down on the seat to take a look. She was, of course, fussing because she does NOT like her diaper to be changed. Her diaper wasn't wet but when I opened it up, she started peeing all over the place! Argh! Pee everywhere! I managed to contain it for the most part and got another diaper on her. Then I realized that she had peed all over the back of her dress and had gotten it on part of her white sweater. UGH. Then I realized that I had sat in something because my butt was all wet. Gross. I was glad to get back to the hotel.
Once we got back here, I changed Maggie's outfit and played with her a little bit. She was getting REALLY cranky and kept crying these gigantic tears and poking her lip out. Y'all are going to DIE when you see it. It's the cutest thing in the world. It's also hilarious and it always makes me laugh. David discovered she likes to be held sideways kind of laying on your arms to go to sleep so I held her and rocked her. David went down to Food Street, a restaurant here in the hotel, and got us some lunch. When he got back, I still had not gotten her to sleep! Well, she kept falling asleep but then she would scream if I put her down. David held her and rocked her and whispered to her and finally finally she went to sleep for good. I ate lunch while he was working on her. Yum--wonton soup and steamed dumplings. I think it cost about 5 bucks. And now I'm sitting here, typing this and David and Maggie are still snoozing away. We requested to have our room next door to Brooke and Jeff and I just heard Emma awaken with a bellow.
Only a few pictures to include this time. That's Brooke and me with Emma and Maggie, Maggie eating, and Brooke and Jeff and Emma. I'm so glad they are here too. We are having a lot of fun together. The nannies said that Maggie and Emma were friends in the orphanage. How cool is that?




Edited to add that I have realized that my profile is HIDEOUS! I hate it! David took this cute picture of Maggie yesterday but y'all will never see it because in it, there's my profile and it looks like I am sneering at Maggie. NOT attractive.
Also, Maggie sucks her pointer finger. So cute!