Consulate Appointment

We had our consulate appointment yesterday, which is basically the US saying it is ok for Jaden to come in the country.  At this point it seemed a little anti-climactic.  :)  We got to the US Consulate, which all US adopted kids have to go through, and went through crack security ("You have any electronics?  No? Keep moving."), then hung out with about 20 other adopting famiies until we all swore in together that we haven't lied on our applicaton and then went up one family at a time.  They reviewed our paperwork, stamped our paper and said "Congratulations, you can leave now."


The hardest part of the whole thing was that we were again in a setting with lots of other famiies with bored/scared/mad kids.  Jaden seemed very worried and when we finally left, he let go of all that anxiety in temper.  He SCREAMED for about 10 minutes straight in the van.  Wow!  He has some lungs!  The guide said "Lots of thunder without rain means just temper."  and then, "when no rain and the thunder moves out, the weather is pretty again."  He was so right; when we got back to the hotel, Jaden's mood was back to normal.  

We had made plans to go to Shamian Island with some of the other families today but with Jaden's meltdown, Tim thought a quiet afternoon would do him some good.  I went ahead and the left them to have some guy time.  I was "Ayi" for the afternoon.   We ate at a place called "Cow and Bridge" and were offered fried intestines.  Sadly, I had to decline and stuck to fried rice and spring rolls which were delightful.  I got to experience the subway system at rush hour.  Whoa, I think there were literally more people in the subway station than Okmulgee's entire population.  It was organized chaos.  Very clean and people were generally great.  I was being Auntie since I hadn't bought much and my hands were free.  The benefit there was that on every leg some polite gentleman gave up his seat for me and my little friend Evie.  :)  I was exhausted and ready to get back to the hotel by the end.  I was welcomed home with a giant grin, a loud "Mama!", and a running hug when I walked in our room.

Jaden continues to test boundaries but most of the time accepts re-direction well.  He has the cutest, "I'm about to do something that you probably don't want me to do" smile.  Even when he was buzzed by the liquid crack of some chinese kids-drink (our fault not his--I should have known that anything good enough to suck down 2 containers in 2 minutes flat was probably sugar filled) he went to bed when asked.  

We'll be glad to get home.  I think that Jaden will settle in just fine but prayers are gratefully accepted.  

Blessings!