Home at last!!

We made it back home on Monday and we are glad to be here. Audrey has taken some steps backward since we have been here which may be part of the process. Our adoption agency said this could happen. I know the little girl has been through a lot in her little life and especially in the past 2-3 weeks. We love her very much and it is hard to see her unhappy which she seems to be right now much of the time. I don't want this post to be a downer though and we believe that things will improve as she comes to more of a realization that we are not going anywhere and this is her forever home! Please pray and agree with us that she realizes it as soon as possible. Thanks everybody!

Kyle, Paige, and Audrey

We are back home!

After 20 hours of travel and waiting at aiports we are back home or at least to Nashville! Thank you Lord! We will always have fond memories of our time in China, but there is no place like home! We will probably still post things about our family from time to time, but probably not as often now. Hope everyone enjoyed it!

Audrey had her first meal in the US tonight with our friends, Joe and Lori Marlar! She likes Spaghetti!

A tribute to Peter

Another day has gone by here in Guangzhou China (Thursday). We just put Audrey to bed and it is 7:15 p.m. here. Not bad! She is doing well. We had our consulate appointment today which is where we applied for Audrey's visa so we can travel home. We will get that back tommorrow and then off to Hong Kong! It went very smoothly thanks to our guide Peter.

Speaking of Peter, we wanted to include a picture of our guide Peter in this post since we have referred to him a few times. He is very very good at what he does and he is on top of everything. He does not miss anything which is nice for us. I don't know how he keeps it all straight! He does everything fast and you have to be on your toes to keep up with him, but we completely trust him and that is nice to have when you are in a foreign country! He is also a gentle sweet spirit and even though we don't know him that well, we will never forget him. Here's to you Peter!

While we were at it we thought we would include another shot of Audrey! It is not real clear, but a good picture of her - Are'nt they all! See you soon!

Another day closer

 

Today is Wednesday here in Guangzhou China! We did not do a whole lot again today, but it was a really good day with family. We had a late breakfast and then came back to the room for Audrey's nap. Last night and today she has been going to sleep without as much fuss. She was fussy for a while this afternoon, but she had a really good evening. I guess that may be typical with a baby. She is more confident with us each day and it is really neat to see her becoming more comfortable. I think that is why she is going to sleep easier. We may have already said this, but she hardly would crawl when we first got her. Now she can easily crawl. She now loves standing on her feet and she just laughs when walking with our fingers in her little hands. She gets so excited and gets going so fast it is hillarious! Bath time was not near as difficult tonight either (check out the picture with the cool hair style). We took a walk around the area here this afternoon.

Tommorrow is our last appointment (consulate appointment) and then Friday it is off to Hong Kong which is a 3 hour drive from here. We will stay the night there and fly home on Saturday. We are very excited! Thanks for everyone for reading our blog and keeping up with us and praying for us. This trip has been challenging, but very good also. We are very blessed! We love all our faithful friends and family. God bless you all!

Kyle, Paige, & Audrey Fuqua

Audrey walking with Daddy

Tuesday evening in Guangzhou China

It is Tuesday evening here in Guangzhou China. We had a good day, but did not do a whole lot. We are getting to spend time with each other which is nice. Audrey is enjoying learning to walk! She is getting more brave each day and trying new things. She loves getting up on her feet and having us help her walk. She smiles and laughs almost every time! Bedtime is still a struggle to get her to sleep, but once she goes down she is sleeping pretty well. We are hoping once we can get back home and in more of a routine it will get even better. We are still ready to spend our time together back in the U.S.

This afternoon we went to this area called Shamian Island. It is very pretty there. We did a little more shopping for Audrey. We got several authentic Chinese things at a little shop called Jenny's Place (Thank, you Vicki Pierce). We also ate at a place called Lucy's for dinner which was pretty good. We are not very adventurous eaters. We have been eating some at the McDonalds next door and we ordered out some Papa John's last night. We are ready for some good food when we get back home. Our hotel is a 5 star Marriott hotel and the included breakfast buffet is very good.

Just a few more days and we will be home! Can't wait for everyone to meet Audrey!

Days of Rest

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday have been wonderful days of rest for us. The only downside to that is it makes the time go by a bit slower, and we are so ready to come home! :-) Saturday, we just hung out around the hotel. Sunday, we did much of the same, but we also got brave and took a taxi to a local supermarket to buy some things we needed. Today, we went to another store to buy some clothes for Audrey, and then we went for a stroll around Liuhuahu Park. It was huge! It is a beautiful park, and it was full of people today. I'm not sure if it's that way every day, but around every bend there were groups of people participating in different types of exercise/dance classes. People were also playing table tennis and badminton, and there were even exercise machines in the park!  Chinese people are definitely not lazy! There were also several different musicians and singers hanging out singing and playing their instruments. There was just so much to see, and Audrey slept through it all!

 
She loves to ride in the stroller, and falls asleep quickly. We are wishing we had one that would recline so we could just let her sleep in there at night! :-) As each day goes by, we can see her progressing more and more. When she first came to us last Wednesday, she couldn't even crawl very well. Now, she is walking while holding on to our hands! Amazing! We also see signs every day that she is bonding with and attaching to us more. How awesome it is when she reaches for us!

We have two more days of free time, and then our Consulate appointment is on Thursday. That is where we apply for Audrey's visa to come home to the U.S. We will get the visa on Friday, and then it's off to Hong Kong to spend the night. We'll fly home from there on Saturday!:-) We are looking forward to seeing you all!

Wait! There's more! BONUS VIDEO!

All About Audrey

Today is Saturday, and it's the first day we've had to just hang out and take it easy. Up until this point, we've had some type of appointment every day. I thought I'd help everyone get to know our Audrey a bit better. We are still learning about her, of course, but here are some things we've learned so far.

Audrey is a very curious baby. She is always watching other people around her, especially herself...she loves looking in the mirror! She also explores everything by touching it if she can. It's very sweet when she reaches out to touch our faces, clothing, hair, etc. And when she looks at us with those beautiful dark eyes and smiles...it melts our hearts!

Our girl is also very active. Lord help us when she starts walking! She wiggles all the time, even when sleeping. I think at home she'll need a king-sized bed because she rolls all over the place when she sleeps. She has also started throwing things, except she can't quite figure out how to throw them forward. She throws everything behind her head as though she has no use for it anymore. :-) Audrey is also babbling quite a bit. It sounds like baby babble, but it's possible there are some Chinese words
mixed in there somewhere.

She's been smiling and laughing quite a bit over the past couple of days, which is very fun for us. We do whatever we can to make her laugh. I've discovered that she is ticklish on her belly and her thighs. She also laughs whenever we kiss on the side of her neck. We are loving it! One thing she started doing on her own was making a motor boat sound with her lips. We've got to get a video of that because she spits quite a bit when she does it...hilarious!

Audrey loves to be held and carried around a lot. This is sweet, but becomes a problem at naptime and bedtime. If we put her down, she cries. That's why she's been sleeping in the bed with us. We decided that we'd do whatever we had to do to make sure that she gets the sleep she needs (us too!). Once she does go to sleep, though, it seems she could sleep through an F5 tornado! I would imagine that she had to be able to do that due to living over a year of her life in an orphanage. She also sucks her
thumb when she gets sleepy, which we think was probably a coping behavior that she developed while in the orphanage.

We are blessed to have this sweet little girl in our family! I've been telling her that she is famous back in Kentucky, and that there are so many people that want to meet her. We cannot wait to come home and show her off!

The Zoo, Market and the Passport

Today we spent the morning at the zoo with our guide and the other families in our group. It was nice to get to talk with them about how their kids are doing. After leaving the zoo we stopped by a market where we were able to buy lots of authentic Chinese things that we can give Audrey later in her life. Many people give their Chinese children one thing from their home country every year on their Gotcha Day until they are eighteen. We also went with our guide to apply for Audrey's passport. We are looking forward to having this weekend to rest.










Audrey seems to be getting more comfortable with us and us with her. We just need her to start sleeping more at night.

It's Official!

It was a busy day today (Thursday). Our guide Peter took us to sign papers to officially adopt Audrey. So as of today she is ours for good! We had to go to another place for the notary after that. Our guide Peter is super and he is very experienced in doing this, which makes it really nice. After that we came back to the hotel and while Audrey took a nap with Paige in the room, I worked on paperwork for 2 hours with the other adoptive families. We thought we were done, but then we went to do Audrey's medical exam which is standard procedure. She was fussy after that and I think we were all tired for a while. I also think we are all still trying to learn each other.

Tonight we had our best time of bonding with her yet. The pictures posted are from that time. She was laughing and smiling which she had not really done with us yet. It was a great time! Very sweet!

 

…And faith becomes sight

After 5 years and 3 months to the day we got our Audrey! It all happened really fast, but it was a good day for the Fuqua’s! Other than some mosquito bites on her face she is perfectly healthy. She has been very curious and she likes playing with toys. I still don’t think she has realized what has happened to her yet. We anticipate some grieving by her at some point, so please pray for her. There was a time tonight where she had kind of a scared look on her face. We found out she likes to be held when she is upset and we are happy to oblige!

Right after we got her today she took her first trip to this 12 story shopping center sort of thing. It was quite an experience, but we got some needed baby items while there like formula, diapers, etc. so it was good. Looking forward to everyone meeting her! We will take and send more photos later.

We get Audrey today!!!!

Last night we flew out of Beijing into Guangzhou China. Our guide Peter (not the same one as before) was there to meet us at the airport. We were very tired so went to bed. It is now Wednesday morning here and we are glad to be here. The hotel is much nicer here than our one in Beijing. The best part about today is that we get to get Audrey in about 7 hours! It still does not seem real, but it will soon! We will get her 2:00 p.m. here so it will be 1:00 a.m. Wednesday Kentucky time. We will post some pics as soon as we can!

A Day in Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

We spent the morning of Tuesday, October 12 in China checking out of
our hotel and touring Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We had our
own personal guide who picked us up, opened the doors for us, bought our
lunch at Pizza Hut in Beijing, and of course showed us all the sites of
Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The amount of patriotism to
country that you can see by the Chinese people is amazing especially
seeing them in a place like this. The place was packed and Peter our guide
said it was not that busy. I am so glad he was with us. The Forbidden City
is where the Chinese emperors used to live. I had no idea how large this
place was, it is unbelievable. We walked for what seemed like 2 miles and
we did not even get to the end.

Sightseeing in Beijing

Today (Monday, October 10), after a day of much needed rest, we went to tour the Great Wall of China.  Our guide, Peter, took us to the JuYong Pass portion of the wall.  All I can say is that it was awesome!  Petersaid the wall is about 4,000 miles long.  I think seeing the wall today made it hit home that we are really in China!  :-)  We were not in good enough shape to climb all the way up either side, but we did go about halfway up one side.  The stairs are extremely steep, so I was very thankful for the handrails.  We had Subway for lunch (ahhh...the comfortsof home), and then came back to our hotel to rest.

Tomorrow, we will tour the Forbidden City and see some other sights closer
to the downtown area.  Our flight for Guangzhou leaves tomorrow (Tuesday,
October 11) at 6:00 p.m.  We will arrive in Guangzhou about 9:00 p.m.
(that's Tuesday 8:00 a.m. KY time).  Then, on Wednesday, we will receive
our little girl!  We are not sure of the time yet or whether we will go to
her or if they will bring her to us.

The jetlag has been MUCH harder to get over than we had imagined.  We ask
for and are grateful for your continued prayers.  We want to be strong and
healthy when we receive Audrey!

 

We made it!

We made it to Beijing! The plane rides were long, but we survived. There have been quite a few adventures already and we may post more about that later. Paige and I are both experiencing some health issues already so please keep praying for us!

A few more changes... but they are good!

We received word last night that some of the dates we do things have changed. We are still leaving Nashville October 7 and returning October 22, but some of the dates we do things in between have changed. The biggest change is that we now get Audrey 2 days earlier! Now we will get her on October 11. I updated our itinerary that I posted 3-4 posts ago to reflect our new schedule. The one downfall is that after traveling for nearly 24 hours and getting to Beijing at midnight their time, now we have to get up the next morning and go sightseeing. We are looking forward to the great wall, but not on 4-5 hours sleep after traveling for 24 hours! We will make it though and we are thankful to get Audrey sooner.

Nesting

I've heard lots of people talk about their "nesting" process during pregnancy.  Our nesting has been on fast forward!  We've been spending a crazy amount of time in Audrey's room trying to put away all of the wonderful gifts we've received for her.  I've also been doing an insane amount of laundry, both for Audrey and to prepare for our trip to China.  Even though it has been and currently is very stressful, it's also been a lot of fun doing this together.  There are still some unknowns that can not be known until we receive our daughter, so I'm resting in the knowledge that our adoption is all God's design.  He will give us the wisdom to answer any question or overcome any challenge that should arise.  He's carried us this far, and I know that He will never leave us.   As always, He is so very good!