Going to the Chapel.........

I know it's been a long time since my last post but things have been more than a little hectic in our house. Our little Clara Beth is going to think that life is one party after the other. Since she arrived home we've attended a graduation, numerous bridal showers for Anna Kayla, the wedding rehearsal and dinner and the grand finale was the actual wedding and reception. In this picture she's just taking it easy on our front porch, even party girls need some down time!!!


Here's Anna Kayla, Greg and Clara Beth looking smashing in their matching outfits for the lawn and garden shower that they had. Land was too busy playing outside to take time for photographs so we don't have a picture of him except for when he was headed to the food table!

Here are my two favorite girls after the rehearsal dinner. They had both changed into something more comfortable. They looked gorgeous in there fancy dresses but I chose this cutie pie picture of the two of them sharing a moment at the end of the night. Clara Beth was headed home to bed and Anna Kayla was whisked away by her bridesmaids to a secret destination.

Oh it's so hard being the center of attention sometimes!! Here's Clara Beth playing on the floor with her cousins at the bridal brunch. The real star of the day was seated at the table enjoying her last brunch as a single girl!!!

Even a party girl has to take a few minutes for a diaper change, it doesn't matter if we are in the middle of a wedding reception! Some things just have to be taken care of. Stay tuned for more pictures of Clara Beth in her beautiful wedding attire, I'll even include her big sister, the bride!! Until next time...............

Hanging Out At The Lake and My Biggest Girl's Big Day

Sorry I haven't written in a while but life in the Cobb house has been very BUSY!!!! Here's Clara Beth with two of her cousins at her Granny and Papa Ty's lake house. She had so much fun playing in the floor with Haley and Andrew. The Cobb's have a tradition of gathering together every other Thursday for supper. It's always a good time with food and family!!!

This past weekend was one we have looked forward to for four years now. Our oldest daughter Anna Kayla, graduated from Wofford College on Sunday. It was a wonderful weekend that started on Saturday with her Baccalaureate Service. Of course Clara Beth made herself quite vocal during the service so her daddy had to walk her around behind where everyone was seated. Thankfully it was outside so he could still hear the service. Every few minutes I would glance back and see the two of them playing on the benches or walking under the trees. Here's a shot he snapped of her during that time. It looks like she is about to make a very important announcement!! This was so special to me because during our long adoption process I was so afraid she wouldn't be home in time for Anna Kayla's graduation. I can't even begin to express the joy I felt as I looked around and saw all of my children together for that special occasion. God's timing is so perfect!!!

I'm behind the camera this time, can you believe it!! Here's Paul, Clara Beth, Land and Greg, Anna Kayla's fiancee, before the service began. We had to sit at the back because we knew we were going to have to go mobile with little Miss Wiggles. She did last twenty (ahem, ten minutes)!

We did try several different forms of entertainment before Paul just had to get up and go with her. Here she is on her little mat with her ladybug. There was only one problem, she couldn't stand to touch the grass!!! She is looking up at her daddy, as if to say, I might get a little dirty down here please remove me from this mat!! Of course he did so immediately. Who could resist that face!!!!

Ta DA!!!!!!!!!!! Here is our family of five all on the big day!!! Everything was so beautiful, but there is just something about ten year old boys and shirts. They just won't stay tucked in!!!! My heart was so full on this day. Anna Kayla was able to introduce Clara Beth to two of her Chinese professors while we were there. They told her when she grows up she has to come to Wofford and study the Chinese language just like her big sister did. My mind raced ahead twenty years and I had to blink back the tears, because looking at Anna Kayla all grown up and graduated, I knew that that time would come so very quickly. Our time with our children is so very precious. We all need to spend it wisely. Before you know it they are graduating and getting married. Yikes, that big event is coming in less then nineteen days!!!!!! Stay tuned for more exciting times ahead................Until next time.
Robin

First Sunday and Together Again

Here's Clara Beth all ready for her first Sunday at church. I should say she had quite a good time there. First of all, she loved all of the attention. During the worship service she proceeded to jump up and down and up and down in my lap through most of the sermon. She is most certainly a foot stompin' Baptist!!

Thursday was a special day for us. The girls were all together again for the first time since we got home from China. We met at Lynn's house to take pictures for a story for http://gwdtoday.com/ This is a local news website in our county. It was so good to see the girls together again. All of them have grown and the mommies are adjusting very well to all the extra activity in our lives. None of us looked a bit tired!!! You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge so that you can get a really good look at everyone. This picture shows us with our girls and a some of our other children too. It was impossible to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time!!


Here we are just the mommies and our girls!! I have to say that Miss Clara Beth was very excited about this photo op. She kicked her legs and squealed every chance she got! She is quite the ham. Margie(the person doing the interview)said she won the Miss Personality award. I have to say we agree with that statement. She is such a happy girl!!

Here are all the little princesses on the swing. See Miss Happy Feet smiling away squeezing her hands in excitement! Look at all those pretty girls!!!!!!!!

This last picture is one that daddy took of us. Just me and Clara Beth. This Mother's Day is going to be so special. I will have all three of my children with me to celebrate this special day. I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sleep, Who Needs It......

As I type this my smiling little angel is sitting in the floor watching, as she has been since about 4:30 this morning. This time thing is slowly coming back to us. I have to admit that even in the wee hours of the morning she is still just soooooooo cute!! Things have certainly changed around the Cobb household. I now do everything with one hand because the other arm and hand is wrapped around Clara Beth. She loves to be held all the time and I am honoring her wishes. I know, I know I may regret it later but right now we just have to let her know she's secure. As a matter of fact, she's is now in my lap as I try to peck this out. Being home with her is wonderful. When we arrived home around 1:30 Monday morning, (thanks to our sweet Anna Kayla)we were greeted by a clean house,complete with fresh flowers in vases! Also, our awesome church family had provided us with goodies to eat and a freshly mowed lawn!!! Who could ask for more!!!! This is a picture of us standing beside the sign that someone from our church made to greet us. It has a picture of Clara Beth making one of her famous faces. For those of you who traveled to China with us that would be pronounced famerous!!


Monday morning, since we were up so early, we got ready and ventured out. First, we visited Dr. Michael's office for Clara Beth to have her first check up.(she's a little congested, please pray that this clears up soon) Then we were off to visit my kindergarten children at school. They were so happy to see her in person. They had been following along with our blog while we were in China. Several of them ask me if she could speak English. They were so sweet looking at her and she was amazed by all of them.

Having had our fill Of Chinese food ,we couldn't wait to get back to eat some delicious Mexican food. Here we are about to take Clara Beth in for her first Mexican fiesta, and guess what, she slept through the whole thing. Yep, as soon as I walked in the door she went out like a light. That was okay with me because then I could really dig into the chips and salsa!!

We've had lots of company to help welcome Clara Beth home. Here she is with Mrs. Paula and Mr. Jim. We kept Mrs. Paula busy notarizing documents for us through this whole adoption process. Because it took so long she had to do some things twice! Thanks Mrs. Paula you were such a big help to us in bringing Clara Beth home.

And here she is...................The one and only Clara Elizabeth De Min Cobb! Just taking it easy in our living room. Who could resist that face, even if it is only 4:30 in the morning and most of the world is sleeping. We're not at this house and we probably won't be for quite a while. That's okay with us we wouldn't trade this for the world!!! We are just praising God for this amazing little girl He has given us. Until next time...................We'll be playing in the floor!
Robin

Home Sweet Home

Saying good-bye to our hotel in Guangzhou. Richard did a great job taking care of us during our trip.

Trying it one more time in the Beijing airport. Hopefully today is the day we get home!!!!!!!!

Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!We made it to Washington D.C. The good ol' USA!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLy, after 50 hours of travel we are on our way to Greenville!!!!!! Then one more hour's drive and we will be home!!!!! Do we look tired????

Yes, we are HOME and there's no place like it!!! This is Clara Beth after her first bath in her room getting ready for bed. What a Day!!!!!!!!!!!! We're home, now the fun really begins................stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Until next time.
Robin

Stuck in Beijing

No pictures tonight, just a short note to let everyone know our flight out of Guangzhou was canceled. Our guide got us on a later flight but we missed our United Air flight back to Washinton,DC. Our group was actually put onto different flights out of Guangzhou. Ou flight was delayed over an hour and we figured the rest of the group made it to Beijing and was able to board the flight scheduled home. Imagine our surprise when we finally got to the airport hotel and they came off the elevator! We were united once again as it should be. Hopefully we will all be on the United flight home tomorrow!!! Please send up LOTS of prayers. until then..............Robin

Last Day And We're Headed Home

This is going to be very brief tonight because we must get to bed. We have a 6:00 wake up call in the morning and our bags have to be packed and in the hall by 8:00. We leave the hotel at 9:15 headed to the airport. Then we'll be traveling for the next 27 hours. Please start sending up the prayers for safe travel and that all goes well with our girls. Speaking of our girls, this picture is of my girl at breakfast this morning. She has mastered the high chair and loves to eat.We should all be so bright eyed early in the morning!

After we finished up breakfast some of us jumped into a taxi(another wild and crazy ride) and headed out for more shopping. No, we didn't do enough yesterday. Here we are with Clara Beth wooing the locals once again. She just eats up all the attention. This lady gave us the thumbs up sign which means she's very happy that we are taking her to America. Oh, I'm going to miss this place and the people here!

This was us right before we headed off for our swearing in ceremony at the United States Consulate's Office. There are no cameras allowed inside so we had to snap pictures before we arrived. Doesn't Clara Beth look cute in her new outfit and matching shoes! We walked in, showed our passports, raised our right hands and swore that everything we said was true and then we received her visa and she was ready to come home with us! We have waited for this day for a looooooong time.

Afterwards of course we had to walk down the street one last time for just a little more shopping. Here we are in one of the stores very close to our hotel.

And finally, all the paper work and waiting was over and we all celebrated with dinner at our hotel. The people that work here are so kind and want us to come back next year! Don't know if I'll be quite ready for it by then but I must come back to China again soon. I have fallen in love with the places and the people. Land said today as we walked down the street, "I think God might want me to be a missionary mama." I told him that might just be what God has in store for him. He loves it here too. This is my last post from Guangzhou. Tomorrow I get to board that plane wih the best carry on ever: Clara Elizabeth DeMin Cobb. Look out Ninety Six, we're coming HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Until we see you remember that, God is so faithful and He does keep His promises!!!!!!!!!!! Much love.......Robin

We Shopped Until We Dropped

Since we couldn't be at church on Wednesday night we had our own little service in Houston's room. Here are four of our girls all playing and watching Land cut up before we got started. Cooper was busy walking around playing with Legos. Other than our girls rolling around they are not as mobile as she is. We have all had such a good time together. I am so glad that God placed us with this group of people. This trip wouldn't have been the same without them. We have shared so much together. We have shared tears of joy and belly laughs that we will never forget. What an amazing trip and it's not quite over yet. Here's Clara Beth, Barbee Ruth, Rebekah Grace and Geordyn. That would be Land's mouth they are looking at, all but Clara Beth, she's already used to his antics!!! He has been great with all the girls, especially Clara Beth. He can always make her laugh out loud. She loves her big bubby.

Here we are at breakfast this morning. We had to eat a lot to gear up for our big day of sight seeing and shopping!!!!! That's Kathy and Rebekah Grace in the background. These girls love to eat. Meal time is so much fun for them all. Us too!!!

Here's the whole gang, with our facilitator Richard, in front of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's memorial Hall. He is said to be like the George Washington of China. The building and grounds were very beautiful. We walked around, took pictures and then we were off for the real highlight of the day...........SHOPPING!!!!!

Those of you who know me, know I can't pass up a good bargin, even if it's something I don't really need. Let's just say that this man with us should get a reward for the best sales pitch ever. He was selling Authentic Purple Clay Teapots. That were designed by his great grandfather. They drink tea everywhere in China. Do I drink tea in Ninety Six???? Only if it's ice cold and full of sugar but after hearing him, I just had to have one. So I called Kirby over to see his song and dance (literally). He even stood on top of the pot so that we could see how sturdy it was. Neither of us could resist, They were supposed to be twenty U.S. dollars each but the fun of shopping in China is talking them down. So Kirby offered up thirty U.S. dollars for two and we were in business. So now she and I are the proud owners of purple tea pots that will probably only be used at our houses to stand on because she doesn't drink hot tea either!!!!! Don't worry we made lots of other purchases too.

After this outing we headed back to our hotel for a little rest before we ventured out to shop even more. While we were there these young girls that work at the hotel stopped Paul at the elevator and wanted to see the baby. They came in and laughed and played with Clara Beth. The one in front spoke English very well, she was only eighteen. They stayed and visited for a while. They were so sweet. I wish Anna Kayla could have been here to talk with them. Well this was a big day for both of my girls. Clara Beth's paper work was turned in to the consulate's office so that everything in the adoption can be finalized and Anna Kayla is being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in about an hour. Oh, if I could only be in two places at once I would be with them both. Thankfully Greg and her Granny and Papa Ty will be there for her and we'll be headed home day after tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WhooHooo, we can hardly wait. Please start praying for safe travel and that all the girls will do well on the long flight. Until next time.........Good night from Guangzhou........Robin
P.S. check out John and Kirby's blog to see cute little Cooper:
http://www.nancycooperking.blogspot.com/

Medical Exam Day

We woke up this morning to pouring rain. But that didn't slow us down. After breakfast we boarded our two vans and went on the perilous journey to the babies' medical exam. I have never seen driving the way they do it here. There are no lanes and there doesn't seem to be a certain side of the road that they drive on. We have seen several cars coming straight at us. Today our driver hit a man on a bicycle pulling a cart. Thank goodness he only hit the cart and no one was hurt. Once again they both just continued on as if nothing had happened. All of this makes for a very interesting ride each day. After a ride through the city we arrived at the medical exam building. The babies had to have their pictures made first. Then we went in the building. Here we are right before going in.

Here we are inside the building in front of the entrance for adopted children to be examined. I could not believe it. I was finally standing in the spot that I had seen hundreds of times on other people's websites. I could feel the tears welling up but wait....no time for that, they ushered us in and we quickly got started. We were wisked into little rooms and the checking began. Clara Beth did not mind until they looked in her ears and mouth then she let out a wail! Thank goodness this was the last check point for us. Look at this sweet picture, see how Clara Beth has her little hand turned sideways. She does that when she's sleepy and she sucks on it. Look at how she's staring up at me, like she's saying, ah yes, you're still there. That's why I just love this little carrier. We can just stare and stare at each other.

Here we are geting our very high tech hearing test. She passed with flying colors. As soon as they cranked up the Christmas music, on this little toy piano, she quickly turned to see where it was coming from. Oh, she is certainly her mama's girl. She knows I love to listen to Christmas music all through the year and she seemed to enjoy it in April too!!

After the exams our guide, Richard took us to the pearl market, where we made quite a few purchases. Then we went to McDonalds for lunch. I have to say that the hamburger Hapy Meal that I had was delicious!! All of this was located in a huge mall. I could have stayed there all day. But no, we had to return to our hotel. When we got back we ventured out with the King's and their two year old Cooper. It was a great experience. It is truly another world here. This is a picture down one of the streets we walked. We laughed and nodded with the people(because we can't understand a thing they say)but it didn't matter, because a smile is universal. It's so amazing how God created us all so differently and yet all the same. We walked and we shopped and we marveled at what we saw.

After our outing we were back in the room playing in this little pool full of Legos, the hotel put in here for us. Clara Beth loves sitting in here, usually Land is in with her but he was busy so I had to take over!! Of course you know I didn't mind at all. Better run, time for bed.......Good night from Guangzhou!! Two more days and we head HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally Arriving in Guangzhou

Not going to post much today. we are very tired. This turned into a very loooong travel day for us. Our flight to Guangzhou was supposed to leave at 2:20 and was delayed because of thunderstorms so we didn't get to leave until 4:40. We were at the airport for a very long time with no lunch and a very late supper. This is a picture of Paul and Clara Beth before we left this morning. I love capturing these sweet moments.

Here we are in the lobby of the Dolton(great hotel) before we left. Now Clara Beth and I have a new best friend!!!!!! We are going to miss this place.

Here's the whole gang at the airport. People all around us just stared as usual. I don't think Changsha sees a lot of Americans.

Here's Land watching all the planes take off except ours!!!!

Here's Clara Beth and I finally getting on the plane to Guangzhou!!! It was her first plane trip and she did very well. We arrived in Guangzhou around 7:30 we were all tired and HUNGRY! We checked in and headed downstairs for some western food. We were not feeling to adventerous on the food front tonight. Everyone is asleep but me. Clara Beth and the other girls have their medical exams in the morning. So I better be off to bed. Good night this time from Guangzhou. Only 4 more days until we come HOME!!!!!!!! Have a great day while we have sweet dreams........Robin

Last Day In Changsha

Hello, for those of you wondering why it took so long for me to post today it's because I did, and somehow when I went to publish it everything was lost! So I'm trying one more time. Let me begin by praising God for this incrediable journey He has taken us on. It has truly been amazing!!! He has brought us together with a wonderful group of travel mates. We have had so much fun together. This is a picture of us enjoying a delicious breakfast before our last full day in Changsha. After all of this scrumptious food each morning how in the world am I going to go back to my daily bowl of oatmeal!!! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get used to not being in a five star hotel!!

After breakfast we headed out to the Hunan Embroidery Museum. Here we are in front of the entrance. Hunan is famous for their embroidery. Even President Bush visited here and took home an embroidered family portrait. We didn't choose anything that elaborate but we did purchase a round two way embroidered screen with flowers on it. This will be a keepsake that we will treasue because it came from the province where our precious daughter was born.

After our outing we went back to the hotel and it was lunch time. I am getting quite adventerous in my food choices. Can't you tell by my plate??? It's so neat here. You pick out your food and they cook it for you right then. There are lots of things to choose from: fish(whole body included), veal(delicious, by the way), even American chicken nuggets and french fries. I decided to pass on the saute'ed baby octopus and braised snake. Maybe next time........HA!!

When lunch was over Paul and I decided to take Clara Beth and venture out to the store on our own.(Land stayed with Ms. Lynn) On the way there we saw a man get bumped by the mirror on a car. Neither he nor the driver even looked at each other. They both just went on as if nothing happened! Here you can't tell the road from the sidewalk, cars and motorcycles use both!! While we were walking I just had to stop and take in the sights, smells, and sonds of Changsha. I want to remember everything about the province where my daughter was born. I want to be able to tell her so much. When we returned to the hotel we had a short rest and then we were off to an authentic Hunan resteraunt for dinner. Hunan is also famous for their very spicy food. It was quite different from what we had in Beijing. On the way back we saw performers getting ready for a show. We had to stop and take a look. Here we are with some of the dancers from the show. They were captivated by Clara Beth. We are too! She's just soooooooo cute!!!! Who wouldn't be???????????

Finally, after a long day, here is Clara Beth getting her last bath in Changsha. It makes me sad to write that. Tomorrow we receive the babies passports and then we are off to Guangzhou. I'll miss Changsha but this means we are one step closer to home. Please pray for safe travel. This is my last goodnight from Changsha. My next post will be from Guangzhou!!! Until then.............Robin