Today started off WAY too early. We had to be in the lobby at 7:30am to head to the US Consulate for our visa interview. Normally, that's not that early. However, Mitchell and I are both completely exhausted EVERY single night. We usually get a pretty good run of sleep as Priscilla has been a rock star sleeper, but last night didn't go so well for any of us. Poor Priscilla has been having some digestive issues with her drastic changes in diet. We thought it would be easier on her, but she spent quite a long time trying to poop before bed without any results. So she woke up once in the night because she was poopy and another time (we are assuming) because her tummy hurt. I brought her to bed with me because I was exhausted and not really thinking straight. She, of course, thought this was completely bizarre and "talked" to me for a while before she finally settled down and went to sleep. SIDE NOTE: she went to sleep tonight without sucking her fingers!! I'm hoping it's a sign she's getting more comfortable with me and doesn't always need her coping mechanism. However, I'm fully prepared for it to just be a fluke.

Once she was finally asleep again, I continued to toss and turn constantly afraid we'd over slept the alarm. At any rate, it was a bad night for all of us, but we rallied and were the first family ready in the lobby. 😊

Love when babies sleep with their bottoms in the air. So cute!! She was out cold when I had to wake her up in the morning.

Our appointment at the consulate was at 8:30am and we were told it would take no more than 90 min. It was nice to be at the consulate (you are on official U.S. soil), we were even serenaded with Christmas carols by consulate workers. However, they were SO slow. We didn't leave until 11am!! By that time Priscilla and I had both had enough and wanted to go! On the plus side, we passed our interview and she didn't even ask us about our current residence in Spain. It's a bit of a gray area as we are permanent residents of the U.S. Temporarily residing in Spain. It always seems a bit shady to say, even though it's 100% true. Our time in Spain may very well be numbered. Hopefully we find out soon. Anyway if all goes well, we should get Priscilla's passport with her U.S. Visa inside (along with all the papers needed for the immigration officer in Seattle) at 4pm tomorrow. This is the last piece we need so we can leave China and move on to the next phase of our adventure.

After the Consulate we headed to Shamian Island. Mitchell and I think it's an old consession area, much like in Tianjin. The houses are beautiful and nothing looking Chinese at all. We had lunch there and then did a little shopping and walked around. It was a beautiful cool day and it was nice to just be outside. I even had two Chinese ladies who asked if they could take their picture with me! It happened to the kids all the time, but never to me. Haha

This is the "adoption statue" at the entrance of the park. Mitchell and I got a kick out of this because it totally looks like grandparents and a child.

It's not every day that you get to feel like Hannah Montana. Right Ad? 😉

We stopped by the Starbucks on a recommendation from a friend. It was actually a Starbucks Reserve. We'd never heard of such a thing, but they had specialty coffee there. One of which was a pour over (5 options to choose from). Mitchell had one and thought it was pretty darn tasty!

I thought this was a cool map on the wall at Starbucks.

This afternoon we lounged a bit and then headed to a Tapas Restaurant near our hotel for dinner. Mitchell, of course, aided by Priscilla befriended the owner who by the end of the night has sent us a friend request on Facebook. 😂 Mitchell was giving her tips on how to improve on her menu and why Spanish food is like in Spain. The food was good, but he thought he could make it better (and she was all ears, taking notes!). She said when we come back next we will see changes made. Oh goodness!

"Spanish Sausages" OR a fancy way to serve hot dogs. 😂

I put Priscila to bed early tonight (8pm) and she sucked on her fingers to fall asleep again. Oh well, she'll get there. 😉