Windy pretty day

Jay has the "dodger" up on his jogger stroller. He's cool.
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Asleep without a peep

Jay got pretty good sleep lastnight so I woke him this morning at 8am.  He went down for a nap at 12:30p without crying, just a little fussiness.  Then we went to the mall with Emmie this afternoon.  Dinner for him was late so daddy fed him as soon as we got home. Daddy also gave Jay a bath, I gave him a bottle and then tried to hold him on the sofa.  He was not happy about being held so I took him to his room, plopped him in the bed and stood by him for a few minuets.  My screaming banshee didn't have anything to say.  He fussed a bit, face planted and went to sleep.  WOW!!! That's a first.  Hopefully this means he's on Central Standard Time now and back on a schedule.  Only tomorrow will tell, in the meantime I'm going to watch the Trek movie with his daddy.  Awesome.
Followup:  He slept all night!  Until 8am! Sweet.

My Aunt Mitzi Luvs Me

We had a better night last night. He was only up for 2 hours before I finally got him back to sleep. I got him up at 8am. Hopefully this means he's finally adjusting to the time.
Gonna go out again today, this morning to Target and this afternoon with the realtor to see 3 homes. Busy day!!!
Nana and Grandpops (Manza) purchased a 5 drawer chest for Jay and it came yesterday. Now I have somewhere to put all his clothes. Thanks!
Later!
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Car ride happy

Jay likes the car seat and riding. (I'm parked in this photo!)
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

We're home and sooo glad

Jay slept on the plane a little bit. He only screamed a little!
Both our parents met us at the airport along with friends Kristi & Craig (Anna Mei & Alex). My sister's family from San Antonio and Pete's sister and husband from Phoenix came to town. My mom threw a little party at our apartment. Roast beef, beans, taters, rolls, birthday cake for Pete and a champagne toast in paper cups. Jay took it all in with smiles and genuine wonder of what was going on. Right after everyone left Jay crashed on the sofa in my arms. He's a sweet boy. He's in his new bed and sleeping good, we've got the monitor set up. We're going to bed soon too. We're about 14 hrs behind, or ahead, its already Saturday in China. I hope we all sleep good.
We'll see out of town Manza family tomorrow afternoon.
Its chilly in Austin now! Can't wait to take Jay for a walk on Town Lake though. :)

Thanks to our folks, family & friends! We love you all bunches. More pics will be added in a few days.
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Drool monster

Jay!
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Just landed in San Fran

The flight went real good. Jay didn't sleep but maybe 2 hours. He only cried (read scream) when we tried to lay him down to sleep. He busied himself but it also meant daddy & I didn't sleep either.
Off-load then immigration. :) yeah!!!!! Thank you Lord for a good flight. We're guessing he'll sleep thru the next one, we'll see in about 4 hours. Lex
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Wheels up HK

We're in Hong Kong on the flight to San Fran. Leaving in about 30 mins. Be home soon!
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Feels like "Groundhog Day"

The days are starting to feel the same. Its Thursday and our last full day and night in China. There is no scheduled activity. The agency rep picks up Jay's passport today, that's it.
We fly out of GZ to HK tomorrow (Fri) at 9:35a, transfer planes then straight to San Fran then on to Austin.
Have to get everything back in the suitcases this evening. It'll be a challenge! :). The hotel room looks like a tornado hit it.
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Oath appointment

We have the oath appointment with all the families today.
Right now I'm in a taxi by myself going back to that da*#d Carrefore store again. Need formula and jar food for Jay. Enough for the next few days and for the plane.
We're sooooo ready to come home. Two more nights!!!
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Pics added

07DEC09
Cute pic of my boys.
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Just hanging out

We have a couple of free days. We went to a huge park today where Chinese people were dancing and singing, even had music books. I have no idea if this is something they do every week or if it was special. There were a lot of people there. I have pics on the camera.

After a nap we went to the Carrafore (like a Wal-mart but much, much worse and crazy w/ a floor plan like Ikea). Wipes and powder were needed. And there is a mall like place right there too so Jay got another shirt and pants. Little dude likes to drool, spread food every place and sneeze dinner thru his nose. Will NOT leave his socks on.

I hope to get to the business center tomorrow (Mon) and upload some more to the website.

As you can imagine Jay requires a lot of supervision and there isn't anywhere we want him to roll around except the bed. So we hang out in the room.

Room service tonight, it's actually cheaper then the huge dinner buffet. Last night we went to a Japanese place here inside the hotel property. Its was good.

Its fun, we love him bunches.

The photo shows Jay in new PJs we got today. He only had one pair that fit and they needed to be washed.
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Sacked out again

We're at the White Swan waiting to meet with Molly our agency rep. Its nap time for Jay so he's sacked on the "red sofa".
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

GZ Starbucks

Well Jay passed his physical exam at the "Chinese clinic for adopted children". Since we're a I-600a family (grandfathered status from earlier process) Jay did not have to have shots and because he is under two he did not have to have a TB test. The rest of the families will be at the clinic for several more hours. We meet back up with them later. So for now we're all taking a break at a Starbucks on Shamiam Island. Dad and mom got a coffee (well I'm having a frapp) and Jay just had pureed bananas. Yummy goods all around. GZ, or at least the island, is very nice. Hugs...
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Guangzhou

We're here. Staying at a really, really nice Marriott called China Hotel. This room is snazzy. The city looks nice but it was dark when we arrived. The hotel was having a Christmas party with a tree lighting celebration. They had a small orchestra (15 pcs??), buffet lines, santa and place was packed with people and kids. Funny huh? We thought they were just happy to have us. Well the buffet was over at 8 so we ordered room service. :).
Jay likes this room better. He did pretty good on the plane. They had a 1 hour delay on the tarmac, eck! He did some crying but everyone survived and he's happy now. :) Blessings!
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Pics added

www.jfmanza.com
I can get your comments from that site too (fyi).
We're going this afternoon to see some "famous" elephant statues that Nanjing is known for. We're also getting Jay's name done in calligraphy chinese characters. Tomorrow we pickup Jay's birth certificate and Chinese passport. Then the afternoon we fly south to Guangzhou. There we'll meet all the other CHSFS agency families. More shopping, medical check, visa, oath etc... We're staying busy.
We've eaten Chinese food from the Red Lantern, tea from a tea shop, had breakfastses at the hotel and lunch at Burger King. We're trying lots of stuff and hoping not to get sick. We want to be adventurous but not too much so

Luv u all! Thanks for the prayers!
Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.

Chinese take out - old school

Alexa
...if the world decides to catch up with me, it's a little victory. Sent via BlackBerry.