the wall.

Yep, we’ve hit it.  We really want to come home.  We are tired of shopping, tired of spending money, tired of eating strange food, tired of living in a hotel room.  We are just tired.  We can’t wait to get on that plane.  It is sort of like labor – by the time you get to the awful part you are so ready to have that baby it doesn’t matter how much it hurts!  So it is with us, we are loving the idea of 24 hours of travel if it means we get to see our friends and family and bring Lydia home. 

Tonight after dinner we went to starbucks and had a wonderful piece of blueberry cheesecake.  It was a piece of heaven.  Anything that tasted remotely American was what both of us wanted and it fit the bill! Sitting in starbucks you would never know you were in china – it looks exactly like it does in the states.  Amazing corporate marketing!

We did nothing today.  Eric played with Lydia in the room and I worked on our shutterfly picture book (it is going to be so cool!)  Lydia loves to sleep so she didn’t wake up until 10:00!  Of course, she didn’t go to sleep until almost midnight but she does seem to like to sleep in.  we are keeping really weird hours on this trip.  We go to bed around 11:00 and wake up around 9:00.  a little vacationy I would say – its back to the real world come Saturday morning and a 7:00a.m. swim meet!  But I can’t wait to get back to real life and see my sweet family!

Lydia has done much better today.  She is responding well to some popage and is getting the point loud and clear I would say.  She continues to come out of her shell a little more each day – today she was jabbering in Chinese for a majority of the morning when eric was playing with her.  Until then she has only talked to her babydolls.  She generally shuts down when she gets around a crowd (sounds like her mom!) so I am not sure what to expect the first little while home – we have a crowd and a loud one at that! 

We kept her up today and didn’t give her a nap to see if she would go to sleep early.  A practice round for tomorrow when we need to go to bed early for a 4:30a.m. wake-up call.  She was great and laid down with eric around 7:30 and I think it may have taken her 2 minutes to fall asleep, maybe.  It could have been more like 1.  amazing.  I wish I could go to dreamland  that quickly!  Like I said, she has been much better today – no tantrums!!!

Tomorrow is the consulate appointment to get lydia’s visa and passport.  She will remain a Chinese citizen until we touch ground in Detroit at which point she is an American.  She will have to forfeit her Chinese citizenship as china does not allow dual citizenship.  I hate that we are leaving her heritage and all that she knows but boy will I be glad to be in the USA!  Chili’s, Detroit airport, chips and salsa, and a HUGE glass of ICE and TEA!

I would ask for your prayers.  Eric and I are both at the end of our ropes.  We are tired – physically and emotionally.  Please pray that God would give us an extra measure of patience and ability to push through.  He is by far the better handler of it all – today I was way grumpy and tend to take it out on him.  I had to say I was sorry and ask for his forgiveness.  He has been the most amazing husband and father you could ever imagine.   But we are all ready to go.  Pray for us if you think of it.  We want to arrive home a happy and loving family, albeit tired.

36 more hours!

**this picture is just one of the reasons why I am really excited about seeing American soil!  In case you can’t tell…snakes…your choice of dinner entrée.

And one more fun fact, tonight when one of the shopkeepers we have been dealing with saw eric coming he ran inside and hid!  Eric has quite the reputation of bargaining on this little island!!!  We are on night 4 of trying to get some Christmas presents at a certain price.  I don’t know if we will come home with them or not!  I think I might have to remind him that we can’t ask for a lower price at Home Depot.  He has way too much fun haggling with these people!