Pearl River Cruise

On Monday morning we walked around Shamian island and did a little shopping together. After lunch, Christy went shopping with Ann of Red Thread. That was so much fun. Ann was wonderful and helped get a lot of deals. Monday night was the group outing on the Pearl River cruise. We ate Papa John's pizza on the boat. The cruise was very beautiful and relaxing. We enjoyed visiting the other Holt families. Austin continues to make progress each day. We feel the prayers. We are looking forward to progress we can make at home with his sisters. Photos will be posted soon. I cannot get photos to attach to posts.

Sunday in Guangzhou

Austin loves ice cream.

7-11 is a daily stop for us.

This was a gift basket from the hotel.

We took a walk in the park across the street from the hotel.

Austin eating his first Mexican food. We took a taxi over to this restaurant. We wanted to try it.

Austin is doing much better today. He now lets Mama hold him. Mama carried him to breakfast and he sat in her lap the whole time. He is now more trusting of us and he is showing us smiles more often. He is even babbling more today. We do not understand much of what he says but we are happy he is trying to talk to us. He also seems to understand some English already. We are very blessed to have him and we are so thankful he is opening up to us. We cannot wait to introduce him to his sisters. We miss the girls so very much and we will be so happy to be together again. It is so much harder than we expected to be separated from our girls. We are counting down the days. We are very glad we experienced China and would love to come again one day with our girls. This is Austin's birth place and very special to us. We are so thankful China allowed us to adopt Austin. He completed our family and we are over the moon excited. Only better thing will be to have him home in Tennessee with the rest of our family. Girls we miss and love you more than you will ever know.

Visa Medical Exam Day

This was a doorman at our hotel in Changsha. He was very friendly and spoke some English.

This was our last time leaving our room in Changsha.

Here we are checking in at the airport to head to Guangzhou.

This was our guide William. He helped us complete the adoption process in Hunan.

Austin was happy a little while on his first plane ride. He then cried until he fell asleep.

Austin did not like having his physical exam for his visa.

Austin weighed 11 kg at his visit today.

Outside of the physical exam building. We left the exam and walked around the island for a little while. We did our first shopping for gifts for home. We bought the girls fans as they have requested.

Here we are inside of the White Swan Hotel. The hotel is closed for overnight guests but the lobby is still open. The hotel has been adoption central for many years and they are now renovating guest rooms. They have decorated for Christmas since many adoptive families still visit the hotel.

Austin enjoyed looking at the waterfall inside of the White Swan.

Austin did not like to sit still. He wanted to stay on the move.

After we visited the White Swan, we headed back to our hotel. Mama had a paperwork meeting for the adoption process. Austin took a nap in the room with Daddy. After the meeting, our adoption group went to eat dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. The restaurant had a lazy susan in the middle of the table and they fed us family style. We got to visit other familes with our agency. It was nice to share a meal with people we had emailed before we left the USA. We had a lot of noodles and vegetables, but only a small amount of meat. Daddy left hungry. After we got back to the hotel, Mama decided we should go to McDonald's and have ice cream. Austin has never ate ice cream. Austin loved the ice cream and ate most of Mama's. After ice cream, we headed to the hotel for a bath and bedtime. Austin has still been upset when Mama carries him. We are hoping the ice cream and other special treats from Mama will help. Austin is very secure with Daddy.

Hello Guangzhou

We packed up and left Changsha around lunch time. When we got on the plane Austin screamed and cried. We sat on the runway for awhile and Austin kept screaming until he fell asleep. He slept most of the way. I was very glad he slept for the hour long flight to Guangzhou. We checked in to China Hotel. We walked over to McDonalds next door to the hotel and had dinner. Austin decided he likes fries but did not like hamburger. We left McDonalds and headed to 7-11 to restock our snack and Coke supply. We headed up to the room for early bedtime. Austin is tired and we have a busy Saturday ahead. Austin still does not want Mama to hold him outside of the hotel room. We pray he continues to feel more secure with us so Mama  can hold him more. We are taking it one step at a time. He has gone through a lot of changes in his short life.

Pictures part 4

Sorry there is a lot of posts today, we could only put so many pictures on each post. There is an actual post with words below all the pictures, and the pictures are in reverse order....lol.

Pictures part 3