Things continue to go well here in Guangzhou.  We have really taken it easy the last couple of days.  Madelyn was under the weather one day, and Emme ran a fever for a couple of days, brought on by the air-conditioning I think.  So, we mostly stayed close to the hotel, did a lot of resting and playing.  Yesterday we hit the pool after naptime and Emme loved it.  She loves her bath, so we were hopeful that she would have the same enthusiasm for the pool, and she did.  We are heading back to the pool this afternoon after her nap.  We had our last official step for our adoption today with our U.S. Consulate appointment.  So, we will get her visa tomorrow and head home on Wednesday.  When we pass through immigration in Detroit, she will officially be a U.S. citizen.  I am more than ready to come home.  I hit the wall yesterday.  I miss my kids like crazy, and I'm ready for hotel and restaurant living to be a thing of the past.  Ido have some mixed emotions, though.  It's like Christmas in a way.  You wait so long for it to come, and then there is an odd let-down when it's over.   I have anticipated this trip for so long, and the visit to the orphanage, and it is odd that it is coming to an end.  Having been in Guangzhou two years ago, and for so much of the time this trip, we see the same local people every day, we know some of them by name and they know us, so it is strange to say good-bye. They are a part of our story.   And leaving the place that gave us our daughter….sigh.  I can't quite put that into words. Emme is doing well.  She has gone from the furrowed brow 90% of the time with the occasional small smile, to smiling most of the time and very rarely furrowing the brow.   Translation:  she's getting comfortable with us.  Her bravery and resilience  amaze me.  She loves exploring new things and oooohs and aaaaahs over everything.  It is so cute.  And she makes the funniest faces.  She loves shoes, sparkly jewelry and hair pretties, and today she walked right into a store, grabbed a pair of squeaky shoes and sat down to put them on.  Now she won't take them off.   It's amazing the effect that perpetual squeaking can have on a tired mom.  Have I mentioned that we're in love?  Well, we are…squeaking and all.