A couple of at-home pics and a video

Andre being the biggEST brother (not just the big brother, mind you.)

 I took advantage of a chilly day to dress up Violet in a cozy outfit that probably won't fit in the fall!

The littlest Easter bunny.

                                               Just hanging out (literally) and having fun.

Busy, busy

Well, I have a few pics I want to post and a video or two as well, but have not had a chance yet. I have to do it on a different computer than this one, so my goal is to do it tomorrow.

Yesterday the boys had off from school since it was Good Friday. Today was Andre's 7th birthday, and as you all know tomorrow is Easter. So, it is a weekend of fun here - and presents - and treats. You know what that equals - a whole lot of crazy.

Violet really enjoyed watching other kids in China and it is no different here with the boys. She will hang out at the table or in her bouncy swing or in the car, or wherever, sooo much longer (and stay happy) if the boys are around her. And they pick up the toys she throws down over and over. (Mommy and Poppy tire of that much more quickly. :)) She seems to be a pretty happy camper. Yay!

Goodnight!

Home!

We're home and everyone's good!  V's trying to get used to the new sleep schedule :)  Thanks to everyone for your support!

3/29/12

Our Consulate appointment was a success! Yay! We have such great in-country staff getting everything ready for us, telling us where to go, when and what to expect. Everything has been such a breeze!  We really have had a wonderful, easy and fun trip! We feel so blessed to have had such a great experience!!

We are, though, really looking forward to being home. We miss our boys – we wonder all the time what they are doing! We think we have done enough and seen enough in China now. The hotel room is feeling small and dull. We are ready to be home. (Notice I have not said that we are looking forward to traveling home, but being home. We are not looking forward to the 7am to 4pm in-country travel day before even getting onto our 13 hour flight. Ugh. The cramped seats – a squirmy baby. Please pray for us!)

We finally got Violet to keep a hat on long enough to get a picture! (Notice her hands are busy.) This is a little strawberry hat that her Mema made for her. You can’t see the stem part, but it is super cute.

Tonight we went to our last dinner with Lilly. (Ken got a beer that ended up being super-sized.) She is going home tomorrow. We really enjoyed our time with her.

Tomorrow is our last day in the hotel.  We are going to bed early tomorrow night because we have to get up around 5 am on Sat. to get to the Guangzhou airport to get to Beijing. So, this will be our last post.

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments and your prayers for everyone in our family during this journey!  We look forward to seeing you all again and to introducing you to our little Henrikson pumpkin!

3/28/12

Today our young friend, Lilly, took us to the Guangzhou Sculpture Park. It had some amazing sculptures of things of importance to the Chinese culture, of people of importance, etc.  We were talking with Lilly about how great it is that it is open to anyone free of charge. She said it was a national park so the government ran it. Then we started to see the McDonald’s signs in rocks… hmmm, the government and McDonalds seem to be co-sponsors…

We ended up walking all around – up a mountain and then back down again. We had quite a work out – especially since Violet only rode in the stroller for about a quarter of the time.  Then finding a taxi was another adventure added on at the end. However, we all ended up safe and sound in the hotel a few hours after the start of our outing.

Violet was so cute after her bath in her tight, pink, leopard print pjs that I had to snap some more pics.tonight.

She was not ready for bed tonight for some reason, and kept working through all of her tricks (raspberries, singing, talking, rocking as if dancing, clapping, etc.), in the dark, as we were trying to lull her to sleep. It was so cute to hear her so happy that it was hard to be frustrated with the lack of sleepiness. Happy baby sounds are the best!

We need to get up bright and early tomorrow for our US Consulate appointment.

3/27/12

This morning we went to the zoo. It was quite nice. We got to see giraffes up close and personal (their long, black tongues kind of grossed me out, though, when they were eating the leaves people were feeding them.) We saw 2 pandas. One was just slouched eating something and one kept walking around the grounds and then into the enclosure. It was still nice to see them, though. There were elephants and hippos, monkeys, lions, tigers, etc. 

We discovered tonight that Violet is getting a tooth (front bottom right). It is poking out a bit. We (mostly her – just kidding) had a bought of screaming tonight, but once she got her bottle she calmed down. She must be a tough little pumpkin going here and there and all around and staying happy as a clam all the way until bedtime!

Sorry for the short post, but I think we all are ready for bed! (I am wiped out from carrying Violet around. Even with the sling it is hard work!)

Giggling V