Ninth Day

Her new outfit and shoes she picked out before she fell asleep

My Wednesday-

Looking at the birds in the lobby

Kate woke up around 7:00 AM and I was in the bathroom getting ready when she woke up.  I heard this adorable voice saying “mommy” like “where are you mommy?  I’m awake now”.  It was so sweet and made me so happy!   Brennan would have slept in…however we needed to meet Peter in the lobby for our consulate appointment at 7:40 AM and had to eat breakfast before then.  He was a very tired boy! 


We went with two other families for our consulate appointment at 8:30 AM.  We had to wait in the security line for about fifteen minutes, but once we got through security the rest of the appointment went quite fast.  We all took an oath and then individually met with an officer to go through the paperwork.  Everyone’s paperwork was in order and complete and we were done!  We got back to the hotel around 10:00 AM and had Peter take a few pictures of us.  We’ll get Kate’s visa and passport back tomorrow evening, and then we’re free to go!  I got a little teary eyed saying the oath just because it took me four years to get there and now I have this precious little person that God trusts me to care for and love for the rest of my life!

When we got back to the hotel we hung around our room for about an hour and the kids ate some noodles and other snacks.  Then we headed out to Starbucks so I could get a delicious Caramel Frappacino.  The Starbucks is so cute with a big patio out front and comfy chairs.  We sat there for awhile and Brennan drew pictures and Kate sucked on her lollypop (another new favorite).  We did a little souvenir shopping on our way back to the hotel, which is always fun!  Kate fell asleep in her stroller so we let her sleep for awhile in our room- she was still sleeping about two hours later!  We decided to go to the pool after about two hours and took Kate in her stroller hoping she’d still sleep, but she woke up.   She was a little fussy at the pool but only because she was still so tired! 

We stopped in our friends' room to see if they wanted to go to the pool.  Lee (the mom) had to go to one more appointment but asked if I could watch her two older kids (Aiden and Jessica) at the pool for her.  I agreed and Brennan was so happy!  So I went to the pool with three super excited and energetic older kids and one super tired four year old…  we stayed for about an hour and half and I was exhausted!! Aiden the youngest couldn’t swim very well, Brennan and Jessica kept rough housing a little too much, and Kate was just not a happy camper.  Whenever she cries and has a moment, afterwards she touches my face and gives me a ton of hugs as an apology.  It is really sweet!  Thank goodness there was another family there with a ten year old son and a great dad (Bob) who helped play with the kids in the pool.  I talked with this family a little bit and found out that they are also from North Carolina!  They are a super nice family!

Our group that went together for our 8:30 appointment (the lady on the left is from Raleigh)

She's ready for the consulate appointment

Yum!

We actually stayed awake until almost 9:00 PM- a true record for the Ranheim family in China!

Being Silly

Lollypop!

Kate in her very comfy highchair

Lee and their new baby

In the lobby after the consulate appointment