A Day of somethings and nothings

Today was our consulate appointment! I was mistaken and said in the previous email that Peter would need to sign something today saying he wanted to be adopted. He actually did that in his province. (Thanks for the help Wendy!) He did have to sign one piece of paper because of his age but it was no big deal. Thankfully we were the third family to be called because Peter was getting a little tired. He was also dealing with being car sick. We are hoping to get something for that tomorrow. It was neat being in the room with so many other adoptive families and saying our oath together. It was not an adoption oath but it was still neat. After our consulate appointment we headed to a huge bookstore. Miko was with us so she was able to tell us where to go which was very helpful. I found some great books to use in school that are Chinese and English. (29 books in all!) One is a phonics book and the others are historical figures with activities in the back. Having these will be helpful because we can "read" together and learn at the same time. We found some Charlie Brown books in Chinese and English for my nephews. The younger ones may not really get it but one day they will really like it. We bought some other books for Peter (Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Stacey, I remember you saying that Caden likes those) Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte's Web, and some comics) and looked for the Great Book. No such luck. I was very sad. We came back to the hotel and did nothing for a long time. It was so nice. We closed all the curtains and put in some movies while everyone napped on and off. After that we went and fed the fish in the garden then came back to get ready for our dinner cruise. We met up with Miko and one of the other Lifeline families to go to the dinner cruise. We had a wonderful surprise waiting for us. Miko had found a Great Book for Peter. What a gift! We put it back in the room (under Miko's suggestion) and headed to the dinner cruise. Peter fell asleep on my lap on the way. :-) The boat was very nice and the buffet dinner was very good. We all stuffed ourselves then went on the deck to see GZ. It is such a pretty city. There are so many big buildings here that it's crazy. They had a clown for entertainment and the kids loved that. We came back to the hotel and now we are all laughing at Peter as he tells Eric different things as he showers, mainly OK! LOL He just came out with his shirt tucked in his boxers, made a super hero stance, then attacked Abi with a balloon sword. Never a dull moment... Peter made a point to sit with Rebecca, one of the Lifeline guides, at breakfast this morning so he could ask her all about coming to the US. He seems very excited and ask every day about when we are leaving. He is also very excited about seeing Chelsea when we land. We are thankful she is coming! We can't wait to see her. She is also bringing our luggage carrier which we forgot and we are coming home with LOTS. We will not have room in the car for everyone. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this but we would like to have families to welcome us home. So many of you worked so hard and prayed so hard for us and we know you are anxious for a glance. We are unsure of the time but it will be Friday afternoon. We will post it on FB when we know more of a time. We are hoping to give you a 2 1/2 hr. warning. We are thinking between 1 -3. We know he would love to see Welcome Home signs! We would love to see our family and friends also. We have missed you all! Now we do ask that you do not hug Peter. This is not against you whatsoever. It's just part of the bonding. He is still figuring out who we all are. If you slip and hug him, no big deal! He is so cute you will want to. ;-) We just want a quick meet and greet, a picture with everyone, then we will bid you farewell. Only family in the house! ;-) For now...We hope to see you there!!! I'm not sure if we have mentioned this or not but Peter has told us he is 10, as did his caregivers. He was also in grade 4. This is pretty consistent with what we are observing. We will not make a final decision until we visit the Dr and dentist but if he is indeed 10, when we re-adopt him in America (to obtain a US birth certificate) we will change that on his paperwork. We were assured it's not big deal. Tomorrow we visit the island and then we pack! I can't believe we are coming home! Please start praying for flights to go well and be on time. Pray that Peter does well on the flights and with the transition. He gets over stimulated easily so we try to keep it low key for him if we can. If we can't, we make sure we are holding his hand and reassuring him. Pray that I do well also. I am not be the best person to fly with and I really struggle with it. I do not sleep at all and struggle with getting sick very easily. We are coming home on a 777 so we are hoping for more leg room! Not much longer!!! I will try very hard to do a picture post tomorrow. Loving Him, Aimee for the Akin's