Day 2 in Guangzhou

Good afternoon from the hottest most humid place I have ever been. Oh my goodness we can barely stand it to even walk outside. It isn't even the type of heat that makes you sweat but rather the type of humidity that makes you feel sick to your stomach within seconds of leaving the hotel. So we have really been enjoying all the benefits of our hotel. They have a great play room that the kids have enjoyed and of course swimming is always on the top of Amber and Joeys list. This morning we attended the Christian Church down the street from our hotel. It was a Chinese/English service. I loved hearing the songs I am familiar with sung in Mandarin. By the time we got to the English songs I was in tears. I am so ready to come home. You can only live out of a hotel for so long. I miss my bed, my house, my friends and most importantly my cooking. haha I could just go for a big glass of cold milk right now. haha They pulled the milk off the shelf here due to the recent contamination. Today Mark ordered a drink from Starbucks. They used Soy milk as a substitute. He took three sips and threw it away. It was so nasty tasting. Jacob continues to amaze us with his adjustment. He is just very happy go lucky and picking up English and sign language very well. All the shop owners today held conversations with him to try to figure out if indeed he was 4 or younger. They felt based on their conversations he is 4 because he talks very well with them and he kept insisting he was 4 when they would ask him if perhaps he was younger. They all said he is very smart. He is sleeping through the night and takes a 2 hour nap every day. He is still sleeping with his shoes on. He has a melt down if we try to take them off. It is all we can do to take them off for a bath every day. He is finally trusting us enough to know that if we take them off and put them right next to the tub he will get them back after his bath. He is finally starting to show some emotions when it comes to other areas. Tonight Mark was leaving the play room and he completely fell apart because he wanted to go with Mark. He also falls apart if Annabel takes something of his. I am sure that is not only normal behavior for his age but part of being in an orphanage. And we hope some of it is that he is finally starting to mourn the loss of his foster family. He still carries his photo album around and shows us his "China mama's" photo. We affirm him and tell him she is so pretty and loved him so much. I will have to put her photo up in his room. I don't want him to forget how much she loved him. Honestly Jacob is not our biggest issue. It is totally Annabel. Poor thing is totally confused and is acting out so much because of her jealousy over Jacob. Please pray for her. We dont want her in any way to feel less loved but we also cannot allow her to hit and act out in some of the ways she has been. She is normally such a sweet girl (with a mean streak from time to time) haha but in the last few days she has really thrown some major temper tantrums. I am sure a lot of it is being in a hotel as long as we have. I believe she is more then ready to head home too. All we can do is love her through this transition and pray for her. The funny thing is that she acts exactly the way Amber acted when Joey was born. It is like we are reliving the past. haha By the way the pictures of the water are pictures from our hotel room. We have the most amazing view. we were able to get joining rooms with the kids so it has been fun being able to go back and forth without having to go into the hall. Well the internet connection at this hotel is not quite as good as we had in the past so I dont know how often i will post. But I will try to post when I can get on. Tomorrow is the big "medical appointment". That is at 9am and then we are free for the rest of the day. We did a little shopping here but the prices are not as low as they use to be. So it isn't quite as fun as before. But we have managed to find some fun things at some great prices. I think Amber is having the best time shopping. Thank you so much for following along. We would still love your prayers especially for little Annabel. Bless her heart. We can officially say we will be home at the end of the week. Praise God!!!!!!