Today's The Day!!

Where to begin?! Today has been a day (so far) filled with many emotions.  First there was nervousness, then excitement, then some more nervousness, finally pure joy.

The morning started out meeting our group so that we could travel to the place where we would meet our children. We were driven to a government building about 15 minutes away from the hotel. In the lobby of this building was were the exchanges would be made. There were two other families with us from our group. When we arrived, the children were not there which only added to the nervousness. Since it was a nice day and the front doors to the lobby were propped open, we all paced in and out, watching intently as each car/van drove into the parking lot. About 15 minutes after we got there, the first child arrived. Not ours. It was a little hard to watch as this child cried a lot. Reality set in at this point for us, but the family handled it well as this was their second adoption. About 15 minutes later, another van pulled up. Again, not ours. This exchange went a lot smoother as the child didn't cry at all. This family was also on their second adoption. OK now our turn. Another 10 minutes pass and we get word that Q would be here in 10 more minutes. We went outside and prayed together. Right on time, an SUV comes whizzing in parking lot. Surely this isn't the vehicle carrying our child - they're driving way too fast. A young Chinese man hops out, goes around to the passengers front seat and pulls out a tiny toddler. He comes up to us and asks, "Liang Qi Ying"? He givers her to B and the waterworks begin (for both of them), but it was all good. After about five minutes, the crying ended as snacks were brought out and the eating began. Papers were signed, pictures taken and a quick bus ride back to the hotel - everything was good.

Once in the room, we broke out a few toys and started to see some smiles and hear giggles. A quick bath and new set of clothes made it even better. Tried to put her down for a nap, but she didn't sleep. I'll stop with the play-by-play for now and post some of the many pictures that were taken today. Just know she is doing well and the bonding seems to be going good too.

The only downer is she has a low-grade fever and cold so she needs cough medicine which she doesn't like. She knew exactly what it was when we tried to give it too her and fought it. One more thing, she is tiny. She weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs!!
Thanks for all of your prayers and comments on the blog & Facebook. Enjoy the pics.

God's Blessings to you!!
S & B

The new addition at the govt. bldg.

Q all prettied up after a bath.

Mommy's being funny.

Hi!!

Fun in the hotel play room.

I might be small, but I can do stairs (w/ daddy's help).

Ni hoa!

Greetings from Zhengzhou!

We made it safely to Zhengzhou a little earlier today.  We spent time getting
the room ready and taking a trip to the local Wal-Mart.  I'll post pics of that
trip tomorrow as we're wiped and need to get some sleep before the big
day tomorrow.

Please continue to keep our daughter in your prayers as tomorrow will
be a very difficult day for her.  We are prepared for whatever the day brings,
but please also pray for us that we get good rest tonight (last night wasn't very
good---up at 4 a.m.).

I'll post more pics of the outing to Wal Mart tomorrow.  Boy the things you can
buy here! :-0

Before we sign off for the night, I'll post one special pic and a bit of info about
our daughter.  We found out from the info provided by her foster family that she
loves cars!  Can you believe it?! :-)  We didn't bring any cars with us, so while out
at the store we found something we hopes she likes...it's on the floor next to the
crib in the picture.

Please forgive us for not posting any pics today but the days have now started
running together and it seems like we lose steam about 5-6 p.m. each night.
We're hoping that since we're not doing much sightseeing the next few days,
we can get caught up on pics/posting.

Goodnight from Zhengzhou!

J & D we love you and we can't wait for you to meet your sister!

Last Day in Beijing

Today we spent our last full day in Beijing.  Tomorrow we leave early for
our daughter's province.

We toured a jade factory, climbed the Great Wall, and visited a cloisonne
factory.  While at the cloisonne factory, we ate lunch at a resturant above
the factory.  The food was served family style and it was wonderful.

Travel Group 1713 ready to for the Great Wall.

Looking up the Great Wall.

Looking down the Great Wall.

Soldier's weapons at the Great Wall. 

Lunch at a resturant above the Cloisonne factory.

A Tour of Beijing

We had a wonderful day touring Beijing.  We toured a silk factory,
Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and did a Hutong Tour.

For the Hutong Tour (Hutong's are small regions or districts within the city),
we got to ride a rickshaw.  That was pretty cool.

It's almost 9 p.m. our time.  We're wiped.  Trying to stay awake during dinner
is difficult.  On another note, we've met all but one member of our travel group
and they are great!

So, please forgive that I'm not writing about each picture that posted tonight...I
just really can't put a proper sentence together.

Oh D, you didn't give me the low down on all the squatty potty's....found out
the hard way that the public bathrooms in one of our tours had both. 
Oh well....at least I can say that I've been there and done that. ;-p 
We also found that the public bathrooms are on a rating system similar to
hotels.  We saw one that was a 4 star...the bathroom I visited definitely
wasn't 4 stars.

Enjoy the pics.  Tomorrow the Great Wall!

P.S.  Captions provided by S, since B is incapacitated.

Two rickshaw riders in Hutong of Old Beijing.

S & the rickshaw driver (now BFF's).

Machine used to combine small silk threads into a usable-sized thread.

B and travel group members stretching silk layer out for filling in a quilt.

S & group members gives it a try.

Tiananmen Square

Walkway bridges within the Forbidden City.

We Made It

We finally arrived in Beijing after a 2 hr 45min car ride and
13 hr plane ride.

A shot of our ride. :-)

The flight was long but wasn't as bad as I had predicted.  Not too much

sleep for either as the seats weren't very comfortable.  We had three meals

while in the air and no, we didn't get burritos like our friends Deb and Steve.

Instead, we got a cheeseburger in the middle of our flight. 

It was neat to be able track your flight on the tv screen above your folding tray.

We flew out of NJ over Canada and Greenland.  We then flew over the Artic

Circle. Lastly, we flew over Russia and then into China.  I got to see the sun

rise over the Artic Circle.  Very cool!  Will need to get pics on the plane

ride home.

Tomorrow is a tour of Beijing.  Off to force ourselves to eat some dinner and
then hopefully get some rest.  J & D we love you and send hugs your way!

One More Day

One more day until we get on a plane to China!  It's already been
a busy morning.  J has been complaining of a sore and slightly
swollen heel since the weekend.  So, we went to the doctor
yesterday and for x-rays today.  Initially I was told the heel
did in fact have fracture only to be told sorry, it was a growth plate.
Talk about head spinning.  Just as I had accepted the fact that he
had a fractured heel and we would not be here to help him deal with
it, they came back in to say, sorry, our bad.  Totally not complaining.
I'm actually thanking God for watching over J and protecting him.

So, we're almost packed.  Finishing up last minute things to get ready.
In the meantime, we have guitar lessons, an orthodontist visit, and
Confirmation class this evening.  Whew, maybe the long plane
ride is just what I need!  ;-)

We would truly appreciate prayers for safe travels, and for our
daughter waiting for us.  We also ask that you keep the boys and
my mom in your prayers as well.

We look forward to sharing this journey with all of you!

The Plan

Here's the plan for our travels to meet our daughter.  5 days till we board
 the plane!!  Can you believe it?!!!



Wednesday, 4/6--Get on a plane for a very long flight to Beijing.

Thursday, 4/7--Arrive in Beijing around 1:45 p.m. China time

Friday, 4/8--Tour Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and Hutong Tour-
     Very excited as the boys have learned about some of these places
     in our History studies this year. 

Saturday, 4/9--Tour Beijing--Great Wall

Sunday, 4/10--Leave Beijing for Zhengzhou, Henan Province

Monday, 4/11--Gotcha Day!!!  We will meet her in the afternoon, sign
      guardianship paperwork, get registration photos taken, and prepare
      more paperwork.

Tuesday, 4/12--Appt. at the Registration office in the morning--our little girl will
      officially be ours!!  Free time in the afternoon.

Wednesday, 4/13--Free time

Thursday, 4/14--Free time.  Receive notary documents in the afternoon.

Friday, 4/15--Receive daughter's passport.  Fly from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou.

Saturday, 4/16--Adoption physical and visa photo, and TB skin test.

Sunday, 4/17--Prepare more paperwork for Consulate Appointment

Monday, 4/18-TB skin test read

Tuesday, 4/19--Free day

Wednesday, 4/20--Consulate Appointment, take oath

Thursday, 4/21--Receive visa paperwork, pack to come home!!

Friday, 4/22--Leave Guangzhou.  Fly to Beijing then home!!!