Shopping with Mommy is so much fun!!!!

Tia May and Rauly playing with Mia.

Thanksgiving and Family Fun

We had our first Thanksgiving as a party of 3 at my Mom's house. Mia had lots of fun meeting new family members and playing with her cousins. She wont go to anyone but she'll happily play on the floor. She had her fair share or corn on the cobb and tried mashed potatoes and turkey. She doesn't really like mushy food. She'd rather chew her food.

We are very thankful for our beautiful, healthy daughter and all the wonderful love and support we receive every day from our family and friends.

Mia is finally getting back on a schedule and we couldn't be happier. She needs her two naps per day or she isn't very nice. She has even started to give us kisses. She puts her lips on your face and the she says "pop". It's pretty funny! Today we went to church for her first visit. She behaved very well and kept the whole back row very entertained.

Thank you for checking in on us. Sorry I haven't posted but she keeps me very busy and when she sees the laptop she wants to play on it too.

She met her Tia May and Tio Raul, Tia Chari and Tio Drew and her cousins Rauly, Xavier and Frankie too!!!

Mia is keeping me pretty busy these days. We still do not have a good schedule but today was the closest we've had since China. We've determined that she's just hungry when she wakes up in the middle of the night since her last meal has been pretty early. I tried to push her to eat and sleep a little later today. Let's hope it works!

She is doing fantastic. She had a fun day at grandma's house today and had her first visit to her Dada's job too.

Here is the picture of the day! I think she's going to like playing dress up .

We're Home!!!

The Welcome Sign waiting at home!

Playing in her new crib.

Loving the exersaucer! Mommy loves it too!

We finally made it and so glad we did. Mia did great! She slept 10 out of 13 hours on the Guangzhou to LAX flight and then she slept on and off on the other 2 flights. We tried to keep her up yesterday so we could all go to bed at 8pm. She did have a fussy night, but all things considered she did pretty good. We would play every time she'd wake up so she'd get tired and we'd go back to sleep. We finally woke up and had breakfast at 7am today. Thank goodness for Dada's cooking skills. Breakfast was yummy!

She thinks Zoey is pretty cool. Candy doesn't really come around yet. I'm just glad she's not screaming at the sight of the dogs.

She loves her toys and has been in her Baby Einstein exersaucer a lot. She looks at herself in the mirror and cracks up. She also likes to see herself in pictures. She also tolerates the car seat which we were concerned about.

Well we're home! Can't wait to continue her story as a Party of 3. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

Thank you for all the love, prayers and support!

Last Day in China! Farewell!

Munoz Party of 3

Our U.S.Visa was approved! We celebrated with McDonald's! How American!

Playing in the Park!

A puppy! You know mommy couldn't resist!

Farewell Dinner!!!

We've been very busy these last two days. On Thursday we had our US Consulate appointment and today we get Mia's Visa to bring her home. We had full day of shopping on Shamian Island which we loved and had our final lunch at Lucy's.

Today we had our farewell lunch with the group here at the hotel and now we are wrapping things up. We are heading out to the airport around 4PM. Our flight leaves Guangzhou around 9PM and we should be landing in LAX tomorrow at 5:50PM. I can't wait to be on US soil.

We were able to downsize to 3 suitcases. Yay!

Mia is doing fantastic. She copies most of what we do, she has a ready smile and can charm anyone. She loves her stroller too! I think she's gained another 2 lbs, or at least it feels that way. Thank goodness she loves her stroller. We are signing off for now. Our next post will be from the US.

Please pray for us that we have a safe and peaceful flight.

Mission Accomplished! God Bless!

Look I've graduated to walking with 1 finger now.

Pearl River Cruise

We went on a dinner cruise today. We had a great time and the babies really enjoyed it. I think this was Mia's first time on a boat and she did great. So far she loves the water and enjoyed the boat ride, she fits right in with this family. The next true test is fish. If she likes to eat fish, she's a keeper! LOL!

She likes music and music toys. I dance to "La Cucaracha" as she cracks up! She's a hoot!

We are going to the US Consulate today to take an oath and have our Visa interview. We should have our Visa to bring Mia home Friday afternoon before our flight.

We went shopping yesterday downtown. It was just the experience, there wasn't much we wanted although we did need to buy a camera. Our little one kicked the bucket the first week and the flash on my Nikon stopped working. Boo hoo! Most of you know how much I love my camera. We got a little Nikon for the rest of the trip.

Here is what you really came for...

Medical Check up and Shamian Island

We had Mia's U.S. Consulate medical check up today. She passed with flying colors and then charmed the doctor. This little firecracker is a riot. She weighed in at 21.6 lbs and 30" tall.

After her check up we had a fun day of shopping on the island and bought her squeaky shoes, a chinese dress, headbands and sweet buns. Oh my! I've never her seen her cry for anything like she cried for her sweet bun. We also bought our own stroller which will come in handy at the airports. We put her in and she pushed back and forth like saying "let's get this show on the road" LOL! She's so funny. She drinks out of a straw and insists on pressing the elevator buttons.

We ate lunch at Lucy's Bar & Grill that has American cuisine and she ate a whole bowl of rice noodles with steak. Oh they were so good!!! We had a really fun day on Shamian Island! The best part was STARBUCKS! I was so happy to have a caramel macchiato. YUMMMM!!!

On our way back to the hotel, as we giggled and tickled and all three of laughed, I fought back the tears thinking of her foster mom and how grateful I am for all the love she shared with our baby. Because of her she is such a well rounded, funny and loving little girl. Mia fits in perfectly with us. It's like she has been raised by us all along. She is such a blessing.

She still wont give us kisses, but we know she's in love too! She loves her daddy and cries for mommy when she needs comforting. It melts our hearts. She is so sweet!!!

Thank you for the continued prayers, love and support.

Here is some video of her squeaking around the hotel.

Shamian Island - It's beautiful there!

She's showing me her new squeaky shoes

The White Swan Hotel - Red Couch photo

Happy in her new stroller

One very happy Momma!

Dressed for dinner. This was taken in our lobby.

Guangzhou - Buddhist Temple

Our pizza party reunion

Silly bath time

The princess sleeps on our bus ride

Temple

Blessing

Our Group

Today we visited the Buddhist Temple - Six Banyan Trees Temple. All the families received a blessing. It was a nice ceremony for all of us. We also prayed to the Lady of Mercy who grants your wishes. It much hotter here in Guangzhou and sticky even in November.

Mia is blooming nicely. She loves her Dada and plays non-stop with him. She loves to run in the hallway holding your fingers and screams and giggles the whole time. Our bed time routine is working. She gets a bottle then all the toys are removed from the bed and then we lay beside her and hug her and caress her but we don't talk very much. She gets really goofy until she finally falls asleep. No crying, no tears. Yay!

We are still in awe that she is ours and that she is so perfect for us. She is an amazing little person. We finally put the bracelet on that my mom gave her for our pizza party tonight. At first she would shake her hand like saying "get it off" but we made a big deal about telling her how pretty it was so she ended up showing it off at the party. She would stick her little wrist out at people. She amazes us more every day.

Another thing happened today that amazed us too. I've been carrying her in the Ergo my sister gave us not thinking anything of it. To me it was just a means of transportation and a good safety restraint system in the bus, if I may add, since there are NO carseats in China. Well I had taken it off at the temple for pictures. I handed it over to Grace so she could hold it for us and Mia a had fit crying and pulling at it and taking it out of Grace's hands. It was so cute that she's become attached to her mommy pouch.

Daddy bought us jewelry today. We got a tiny jade heart for Mia to have a piece from where she was born and I got a strand of beautiful pearls as my Mommy present. Thank you Daddy!!!

I didn't realize how expensive jade is. Wow!

Here is our goofy girl pretending she's putting on hair creme... I don't know who she's seen put on hair creme but it was pretty funny. We put baby cologne on her and she brushes her hair. It's pretty cute.