Almost done ...

Pictures from the next-to-last day in Guangzhou.  We head to Hong Kong tomorrow and to Chicago the next morning.

Hello from hot and sunny Guangzhou!

Sorry we have not blogged much.  We are just having too much fun to stay in the room and blog.  We flew to Guangzhou on Friday night and are enjoying our time here very much.  It's so nice that we have been here before and know some things to do and how to get around by ourselves.  We have been hanging out on Shamian Island quite a bit since it is such a nice place to walk and shop.  Today we borrowed a stroller from one of the shop owners to give my back a break and provide some new entertainment for Miss P.  It was a hit.  

We have discovered that Miss P has some interesting talents, one of them being this strange noise that you can see on the video link below.  We don't know where it comes from or how she does it, but it sounds like E.T.  The video also shoes her with the quirky thing that she does with her thumb while she is eating.  

So, there you have it!  An easy and adorable baby and a very nice, well, shall I say...vacation?  We stand amazed.

Today's video:

http://micahsteele.net/Videos/PhoebeAdoptionVideo2.wmv

Micah & Jamie

Princess P

 

Micah & Jamie

Hello from rainy Fuzhou!

I just thought I would update you a little more on whats going on.  Just for fun, and because I am bored.  It has rained every day so far and so between the rain and the sweet baby slumbers we are spending loads of time in the room.  This trip is so much different.  Knowing what I know now about Levi now makes this trip so much easier.  I am tempted to worry about things regarding Miss P but remembering God's faithfulness concerning everything with Levi puts me at ease, ya know?  Anyway, more things about Princess P as I like to call her...She is very quiet so far.  Her eyes are piercing and she takes everything in very quietly and you can tell she is really sizing you up.  She hardly makes much noise but she does crank up the squeaks when we go outside or when Micah sits down to play with her. She thinks that Daddy is the most fun toy.  She lets him tickle her and plop her on the bed and crawl around chasing her and she throws her head back and cackles out loud.  She sucks her thumb.  When she is eating her baby cereal she puts her thumb in her mouth in between each bite.  It's pretty adorable.  She lets me snuggle her by laying her head down on my shoulder and being very still for a long time.  She lets me rock her and rub her back.  She lets me rock her to sleep and then she is very easy to lay down in her crib.  At night, she does not make a peep until morning.  

We visited her orphanage yesterday.  She has been in foster care since December but we can't meet the foster family.  Then we visited a famous Buddhist temple and it was like a huge pretty park.  We had a nice stroll around and took some pictures while Miss P slept in the carrier.  I wanted to get some pictures of the city to show her one day.  Here are the best pics of the day.  These are of us at the Temple and also a couple of the princess in the suitcase which she likes to climb in and then find stuff to chew on.

 

Jamie Steele

micahsteele.blogspot.com

"Fix your attention on God.  You'll be changed from the inside out."   

Romans 12:2

She's officially a Steele!

Today we finalized Phoebe's adoption at the Civil Affairs office.  She is officially a Steele!  This morning was very busy and she conked out during all of our errands. After doing our official paperwork,  we needed to go to Walmart to pick up a couple of things and also go to the pharmacy.  We were able to get some medicine for her as I suspect that she may have an ear infection that is bothering her.  She finally ate a decent meal today at around 3 pm.  I don't know if she is not eating due to not feeling well, or the fact that a stranger is trying to feed her, or both.  Probably both.  She has such a sweet and gentle personality and she seems fairly easy going so far. She definitely seems more like an 8 month old than a 14 month old.  Anyway, things are very quiet around here.  We are just enjoying our new baby girl and each other.  I can't wait for you guys to see how stinkin' cute she is in person!

We've uploaded a video you can download to watch.  Click on the link below.  It's a fairly large file, so sorry in advance for those with slow connections.  YouTube is blocked by all Chinese internet service providers, so we can't use it to share videos.

http://micahsteele.net/Videos/PhoebeAdoptionVideo1.wmv

 

Micah & Jamie

Phoebe Day

What a blessed day.  Everything went so smoothly.  When we first saw and held Phoebe, she stared so intently at us but was very quiet and calm.  She has been calm and content most of the day and has taken 2 naps, played with toys, smiled, babbled to us, and even has given us a couple of laughs.  She is pretty smitten with Daddy, but then what girl wouldn't be?  She crawls all over,pulls herself up on things, and is curious.  She drools a lot and is pretty snotty with a cold right now.  She is very tiny.  I gave her a bath and put on a 9 month outfit and the pants are big around the waist.  She seems to be a very easy going and content little one!  Eighteen pounds of pure sweetness.  :)

 

Micah & Jamie

Packing...

Well the suitcases are getting rather plump and my list of things to do before I leave is getting shorter.  Tonight  I was sitting on the floor by the luggage trying to decide how much to take.  Isaiah gave some advice about how two weeks is a long time and so I should take lots of stuff.  He said he could see that I am excited about packing for phoebe.  And then he mentioned how he bet I wish I had a time machine so that I could make time go faster so I could hurry up and leave.  We giggled.  It's so true.  

I can't wait to see that smile for myself.

Travel Schedule

Here is our travel schedule for those of you who have asked.  Micah left for Shanghai on the 4th and I will meet him in Phoebe's birth city.  We will be 13 hours ahead in case you are wondering.

April 14- Arrive in Fuzhou
April 15- Meet Phoebe at 4:30p
April 20- Travel to Guangzhou
April 24- U.S. Consulate visa appointment
April 25- Visa issued
April 26- Arrive home!

Dear Phoebe Glenn-

I got precious pictures of you in an email today.  I took the computer by myself and went to the couch and savored every moment of looking at your face.  I cried tears of joy at the work of the Lord's hands.  That you are so adorable.  That He would plan for us to be your family and give us all that we need to bring you home.  That this is the last time that I will receive a picture of you and wonder what you look like, smell like, and sound like.  I won't need to ask someone else what your personality is like or what you like to do, or eat, or how you sleep.  Your Daddy and I are so amazingly excited to meet you and we are so pleased that God has chosen us to be your parents!