Pearls and Jade ... Oh and a Rolex

Today we made a trip to the Jade market and the Pearl market. Both were pretty cool, but very different. The Jade market is run by the government, which means the jade is very good quality and can be certified as real. Poor Brian spent lots of money on his girls today. He bought a circle pendant for me, and he bought her a jade rat, since she was born in the year of the rat. He also bought a beautiful jade bangle, which is for me to wear now, but it will be given to Hana on her wedding day. It is an old Chinese custom to pass the bangle from mother to daughter. He even bought something for himself to carry with him while he travels so he always has a small piece of our family with him.

The next stop was the Pearl market, which was very different from the Jade market. It was at least 6 floors of jewelery stores. Some stores had buckets and buckets of pearls, while others had silver, turquoise, amethyst, beads... you name it, they had it. Thankfully, we had a guide to tell us which stores had the best pearls for the best prices. I didn't really want a full string of pearls, so Brian bought a pearl drop pendant for Hana, and pearl earrings for both of us.

Of course, we got the real deal of the day after getting back to Shamian Island. Brian went to Jessica's, where his good buddy Jack sold him a "rolex" for 200 Yuan, which is $29.30 USD. I about fell out of my chair when he got back to the hotel with that thing. I guess he felt bad about not buying anything from Jack yet, or else Jack is one heck of a salesman. I told Brian that we will have to get his picture with Jack before we leave. That's what I get for sending Brian out alone, but Hana was ready for a nap, so I stayed behind.

Hana is still not feeling her best, but she is definitely a little better than yesterday. She is getting another tooth, which is making her a little cranky, but she is still very pleasant, all things considered. She also has a cold, which I think I am now getting. We did take her to the hotel clinic last night because she kept tugging at her ear, and after the 15 minutes of screaming, I needed to be sure the congestion did not move to her ears. Luckily, it was just a cold, and we have plenty of baby tylenol to help her through it. I just hope that we both shake it before the flight home because there is nothing worse than flying when you are sick.

This afternoon starts the beginning of the US part of the adoption. I will be heading down to our guide Kelly's room to give her all of our paperwork that she will need to take to the US consulate. Brian took care of the Chinese part of the paperwork on Monday, but Kelly had all of the forms for us. He just needed to fill in some of the details and answer some questions, sign the documents and then bring the packet up for me to sign. However, we had to bring the paperwork for the consulate with us, which I collected, so it will be easier for me to take care of it then to try and explain my insane method of organization. Kevin gets it, but I doubt any other sane person would. It's going to be a big moment for the new Daddy as well. Since Hana is still sleeping, I will be leaving her here with Brian for the first time. He's very good with her, but he's also been a bit tentative to go it alone since he doesn't have any baby experience. So, this will be the first time he's not had me to call in a pinch. He's also not changed a diaper yet, only assisted me. So we'll see if he gets that chance while I am out. I am sure he will do just fine, so I hope this afternoon builds up his confidence a bit.

After the paperwork, our whole group will be going out for a traditional Cantonese dinner, which Kelly arranged. We were going to do it last night, but the passport office took a little longer than expected, so we decided to wait an extra day. We will all be celebrating the beautiful new members of our family.