OOOOOOHHHHH!!!! I want to HOLD HER!!!!!

I don't know who is more excited that the paper chain is dwindling...Hopie or Mama. I simply cannot wait to have them home.

Hope is showing the strain...she's not napping...she's irritable...she just wants her Daddy home. She says she wants her "baby sista" home too...we'll see how she feels after Claire has been home for awhile! ")

Her daily presents from Daddy and Claire have been a big hit. Every night, after she is asleep, I choose one from my secret stash and "hide" it somewhere in the house. She has an absolute blast each morning searching for her gift. She was explaining to me just how they get to her...

"Daddy makes them in China then Claire holds them. After Daddy wraps them he sends them down while I'm asleep so I can find them in the morning." Ahhhh...to have the innocence and faith of a three year old! I am beyond envious.

She also can't wait to see the pictures that Daddy emails, or Zhou posts, or Kristian posts. Come to think of it, neither can I. " )

Garry and Claire had a very productive Sunday. He said that he's almost finished with my list! What a MAN! It appears that both Zhou AND Garry were right about Sunday's itinerary...two day's activities were combined into one. They spent the morning at the art museum in Guangzhou. We visited there with Hope and really enjoyed it...the museum shops were good too. Our girls...well...let's just say we now have a picture of BOTH of them sleeping there. He said it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day with just the slightest breeze. While they were walking through one of the courtyards he heard sparrows. He immediately took out the video camera and took some video so I could hear one of my favorite sounds in the universe. Crying again...here he is, stressed out of his mind, separated from his family, worried about baby number two...and he's still thinking of me. Is it any wonder why I love this man?

After the art museum they went to the jade market. None of the vendors were interested in bargaining. If you told them no to their first offer they ignored you. Hey, as far as Garry and I were concerned, who cares?! That place was SCARY! LOL I remember it as being dark and smoky and scary...like an old black and white movie about opium dens! ::shudder::

From the jade market they walked to the pearl market. NOW WE'RE TALKING! He did some serious damage there buying gifts for our girls and others. Then he tells me that he chose a strand and had them string a bracelet for Claire, a bracelet for Hope, and the remaining pearls into a bracelet for me. Crud...I guess I'm just going to keep crying during this post.

The group had lunch at Pizza Hut. Again, Garry and I wouldn't be caught dead near a Pizza Hut in the states, but in Guangzhou, it's good enough to roll in! LOL Kristian posted a picture of Garry and Claire at Pizza Hut. He looks so tired...I'm starting to worry.

After lunch, back on the bus and back to the hotel. Zhou told them he needed one member from each family to meet him for paperwork. Ok...what about Garry? He told him to put Claire to sleep in the stroller and bring her. That wasn't happening. Rick, like the sweet, sweet man that he is, came to Garry's room and sat with her while Garry was finishing paperwork. She's bonding with her Daddy so well! She wouldn't take her bottle from Rick...and when Garry returned she put her arms out to him to be picked up. Need more Kleenex!

While doing paperwork Garry was told that the forms the agency had told me to fill out two days before he left, were not needed. Garry kept asking Zhou, "Are you sure? They told me she HAD to fill these out and get them notarized." Zhou said, "Yes, sure! Garry, I do this all the time! I no make mistake!" After forms were passed out there was one rather long and complicated one...and Garry's was already filled out! He said, "Umm, Zhou? Mine's done." Zhou says, "I know. I feel sorry for you. I do it. I no know Melissa's maiden name. You do that."

For those of you who have never dealt with Zhou, he is the best. I would NEVER want to be in China without him. However...and you know the problems we've had with the agency...while the group was waiting for Zhou to join them, one of the fathers said, "We'd use this agency again just so we could have Zhou." Almost in unison, FOUR of the other families said, "He's good but that's not enough." Sad but true. I guess it's good to hear that it wasn't just us...but how sad that four out of seven families in one group had a horrible agency experience. And it was horrible...they shared their stories.

Tomorrow they have the entire day to themselves. Zhou has to go work his magic at the consulate and they have the day to bond...and shop!

More later!

You know, and I'm going to mention God here, so run if you wish...

Apparently I've gotten too far from God's side lately. I know this because He's allowing the evil one to poke and prod at me. As I said to a friend of mine, "Satan is playing fast and loose with my family." God's done this before...you'd think even a stupid human like myself would've learned by now. DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO AVOID THE PAIN. He pulls me back in one of two ways...my stomach goes haywire, or one of my cats goes haywire. Last Friday it was my stomach...this Friday it was Humphrey. I'm not going to go into any details...if you want to know and you don't already, just email me. In any case, I'm about as stripped bare as I can be and still function...so all of His messages are coming through loud and clear!

Right now, He's blessed me with the most perfect peace. I don't know how long it's going to last, and I don't have the words to tell you just how sweet it is.

I miss Garry so much it hurts...we talked for over two hours this morning. Garry and I are "Binars"...pronounced "by-narz". Again, if you don't get that reference and you want to, email me. If you do get it, you watch too much TV just like I do. We function as one...when we are separated we start to weaken.

You know what? I don't even have to GO to China to lose weight! It's just like being there! I'm about 8 pounds lighter than I was when he left. And no, I haven't hit danger weight yet. I've got 3-4 more pounds before I need to worry. Today I took Hope to McDonalds for lunch. I figured it will either cure me or kill me! I ordered a cheeseburger and when we got home it was a double cheeseburger. I devoured it. I think it was from Him...I think I was SUPPOSED to eat it! LOL I've had a lot of good burgers in my life, but this one was fabulous...even from McDonalds. I just kept thinking about Ali when we got back to Chicago from our first trip to China. She hit the airport McDonalds as soon as she could and sat there cooing, "This is the best hamburger I've ever had!"

What's tomorrow going to bring? I don't know...and right now I don't care. This is a feeling I would LOVE to hang onto. God can worry about tomorrow. Today, I'm going to lay on the floor with my oldest daughter and put stickers in her Lilo & Stitch sticker book. Maybe we'll play Princess Dominoes...or Go Fish. I'm going to write in Claire's journal and tell her how much I love her even though I've never even held her yet. I'm going to curl up and read The Chronicles Of Narnia. I'm going to let the housework pile up and NOT worry about it. And I'm going to thank God for taking such good care of my family.

So what's going on on the other side of the world? They are safely in Guangzhou...shopping like fiends! LOL That part...I miss! Garry said Claire screamed the entire hour and forty minutes on the plane. Please pray she does better on the endless flight home! The babies had their medical exams this morning and their visa pictures taken after that. I believe Garry said they had their pictures taken at 10:20 this morning, and by that time, the total number of baby visa pictures just for that day was FORTY? After that shop, shop, shop! He's doing such a phenomenal job...I am so blessed to have him in my life!

He hit Sherry's Place with a vengeance. Take note first timers, DO NOT MISS SHERRY'S PLACE! She greeted him as soon as he entered and said she remembered him from our first trip. Now, I have no idea if she did or not, but what a wonderful thing to say! She is an absolute treasure...and her shops are FULL of even more treasure! I had sent him there for wedding boxes, so on top of everything else he bought from her, he asked her for wedding boxes. She showed him what she had and even talked him out of a couple different styles as "They not make the trip home!" There were only four of the other kind...and I wanted five. She said she could get it no problem. Then she told him to go back to the hotel and she would bring the fifth one to him...and she did. He's also having a zodiac chop and a granite etching done there. He says she calls him, "Garry with 2 r's!" LOL She asked to see a picture of Hope and me, said she remembered me as well. Again, just a genuinely sweet thing to say.

While in Guangzhou the group is staying at The Victory Hotel. This is the "old" Victory...the "new" Victory is around the corner and that's where you go for breakfast. The "old" Victory has had quite a few renovations and additions since we were there in February of '04. Everything is brand new...a coffee bar in the lobby...and a faucet for DRINKING WATER in each room!

Claire is doing MUCH better. She's had I believe two days in a row with no barfing! YAY! She's still just a laughing, giggly, gorgeous coconut. Ohhh...I really want to hold her!

Tomorrow is confusing to me. Zhou's intinerary says one thing, Garry says another. I'm going by Garry right now. Tomorrow is a museum and then the pearl market. OOOOO! I LOVE THE PEARL MARKET!

Until next time y'all!