some thoughts

pics from Hong Kong

We arrived safely yesterday in Fuzhou. Fuzhou is a city with a population of about 2 million and is in Fujian province, near the East China Sea across from Taiwan. It is modern and prosperous, people here drive a lot of expensive cars. China does seem to be changing in many ways, at least it seems that way right now to me. Not the summers though, it's hot and humid, like a sauna outside. Jet lag seems to be kicking in for Grace and I. Dan never seems affected much by it. Today (Sunday am) I woke up at 2:30 am wide awake and ready to start the day! Yikes. I dozed on and off and thought about our day today until I got up at 6am. We meet our social worker at noon and meet our son at 3:30pm in the conference room of our hotel(the Lakeside). So far everything has gone quite smoothly, thank you for your continued prayers and thoughts for William. Next post will be pics of our little boy!

Hong Kong

Us right before takeoff.

We are here! After a long flight that was even longer after the flight was diverted to Anchorage, Alaska to let off a passenger with some psych issues (I'm not making this up). We arrived in Hong Kong about 7pm. With a 13 hour time difference that was about 23 hours of travel. Grace was a trooper on the flight and slept about 6 hours. This morning we've been up playing outside with Grace on a playground and are now ready for breakfast. As soon as we arrived here I could tell we were in China by the smells (different smells), the beautiful mountains and the friendly Chinese people. We fly to Fuzhou today and meet little William tomorrow afternoon!

Getting ready to leave

Very soon we leave for China and as I type this on the computer I can't believe how calm and at peace I am about all of it. VERY different from how I was before the trip for Grace in 2003. I'll just briefly say that there was a great deal going on in our personal lives with both of our parents' health and Dan's job that was very, very stressful. I'm at a different place in my life for many reasons, a good place and that is where I stand ready to meet our son. I know there will be lots of changes for us all. I also know we could have some hard times ahead with adjustments and transition, somehow we'll get through it. I ask for your help please by keeping us in your thoughts and prayers during this time period, that we travel safely, stay healthy in China and William Michael has a smooth(or as smooth as possible) transition. See you next from China, as always thank you friends for your support and good wishes!

3 Word Sunday

7 more sleeps!

It's pretty difficult for children to grasp the concept of time for quite a while. Since Grace was about 2 or 3 we explain time to her with 'how many sleeps' it is until the event occurs. Today it's '7 more sleeps' until we leave for China. Lot's going on here. Just have last minute things to add to suitcases (3 of them each weighing in under 44 lbs. per the in China rules for flights). Dan and Grace each are carrying on a backpack, me a small lightweight messenger bag. We will have our hotels do our laundry so we don't have to bring clothes for 2 solid weeks. I've received more pictures of William Michael from his foster home. These are him opening the package we sent. We sent a t-shirt from the movie 'Cars' on it and you can see that he loves it and decided to put it on immediately. He also is playing with Elmo and looked at the photo album we sent and I guess he showed it to his little friends there too. This all doesn't seem real to me sometimes but it sure will be next week when we take that 15 hour flight from Chicago OHare to Hong Kong. We leave Thursday July 17th, arrive in Hong Kong late afternoon the 18th. Sat. the 19th we fly to Fuzhou. Sunday we meet our son. In Fuzhou we will do some sightseeing and hopefully visit Will's foster home and orphanage. After his adoption is registered and notarized, we get his passport and travel to Guangzhou for his medical exam and then get his US visa on July 30 (my birthday) Can't imagine a better birthday gift!

Thank you dear friends...

I keep this little saying on my right sidebar of the blog. I've never met most of you in real life but through your blogs that you most generously share, I get to see a part of you and your lives. I've read about joys and sadness, highs and lows and all the in betweens of the roller coaster called life. You inspire me, make me laugh, cry and feel like I'm not alone. I read the blogs on my sidebar pretty regularly plus some other ones. Many of the blogs have adoption themes, some do not. In the last year of starting my blog I've 'met' amazing, supportive, incredibly strong, and kind people while I've waited to become a mom again. Our lives are about to change again pretty significantly with a 2 yr. old arriving very soon. I've read books to prepare myself, asked questions of friends and just generally observed and read some blogs who have adopted toddlers. I'm not sure what the future will hold with Will's transition but I know I'll get through it with your support and for myself a sense of humor at times. What I'm trying to say is that I may not be blogging as much as I was pre-William for a while, but I'll be reading yours when I can. Thank you for your support and kind words. And just like you've been there for me, I'll be there for you, right beside you on this journey.

China travel dates and some pics of our weekend

Lovin' the sparkler on the 4th.

Soaking wet and playing on the swingset.

Playing in the sprinkler with her friend Lydia.

Yum! Eating one of her favorite fruits...raspberries.

Well, we've received our travel dates for China and booked our flights. We receive a more detailed itinerary from our agency probably tomorrow. We depart Thursday July 17th and return 2 weeks later on Thursday July 31st! Our forever family day is Sunday July 20 at our hotel, the Lakeside in Fuzhou in Fujian Province in the late afternoon. So in less than 2 weeks we meet our little boy for the first time! I've been thinking more and more about the possible scenarios about this meeting, I'm not nervous yet...though I'm sure I'll be some on the 20th. It's just hitting me today that we leave for China in 10 days. Packing wise I'm pretty good, just have some last minute things to do with it. This really is going to happen!

Also, here are some pics of our very laid back, relaxed weekend. Grace had a blast in the sprinkler and with sparklers on the 4th...

My brown eyed girl

Make a wish....