Last post before we leave for China!

Well, my sister and her sweeties made it here safely, so we are enjoying some time together before Clint and I head off for China!

We've been going over everything she'll need to know to keep everything running smoothly. I know they are all going to be FINE, so I'm not worried at all. I'm soooo grateful to my sister for making this trip out here to stay with my most precious treasures- I know they're in such good hands and that is a wonderful feeling to have when you're leaving your children for the longest time you've ever left them. It's so apparent that my sister's #1 purpose in coming out here has been to bless us, and bless us she already has! She's been cooking, cleaning, uploading stuff on the computer, checking checklists, and packing for me-- just whatever I've asked her to do, she's done, and several things I never even had to ask her to do, she's done, because she's anticipated my needs before they ever arose! What an absolute jewel- I can't tell you how much it's meant to me.

We are getting so excited as it's coming down to the wire... everything is almost completely packed and we're almost ready to go!

Keep us in your prayers for safe travel, and that we'll remain healthy and well.

Thanks!

Lastly, I leave you with a link to our travel blog- I won't be updating this one during our travel, but if you click on the link below, you can follow along with us on our grand adventure to China as we bring our sweet baby girl home- FINALLY!

Much Love,
Jennifer


http://tochinaforkelly.blogspot.com/

China Itinerary!

This is the second time I've tried to post this... Blogger was not cooperating this morning and I lost everything. =(

This picture perfectly illustrates what my stomach has been feeling over the past 24 hours or so!

I'm sooo excited!!!

We got our China travel itinerary yesterday... we will meet Kelly Elise for the first time on June 10th, 2008-- my dad's birthday.

It will actually be June 9th here in the States, SOOO, to begin the official countdown... we will hold Kelly in our arms for the first time in JUST 10 days!!!

We will fly out of LAX for Hong Kong on June 5th at 12:56pm. We will arrive in Hong Kong at 6:45pm on Friday, June 6th. (China is 15 hours ahead of California time, so if it's noon here, it's 3:00 in the morning there, on the next day.)

We will spend Friday night in Hong Kong. Our agency booked us in a very nice hotel called the Regal Kowloon.

On Saturday, June 7th, we'll do a tour of Hong Kong with our travel group, then we'll spend Saturday night there. We have a free day in Hong Kong on Sunday, June 8th, so Clint's looking forward to exploring Hong Kong on our own, especially since he was there back in 1989.

He's feeling very nostalgic about the whole Hong Kong experience, so he can't wait to check out some of the old spots he visited back then.

He's making me very nervous to be quite honest! We are polar opposites when it comes to adventure! He is "Mr. Adventure" if ever there was one. He loves the unknown!

I, on the other hand, hate it! I like to know what to expect and to stay in control... I like to keep things simple and safe... but Clint loves to head out with no plan, no guide, and just follow the end of his nose!

Sooooo... pray for us!

Honestly, I love that he's like this. He stretches me and helps me to broaden my horizons. I trust him implicitly, so I know we'll be fine. It'll be fun to see Hong Kong through Clint's eyes, so I'm thrilled to see this part of the country with him.

We spend Sunday night in Hong Kong, then we fly out to Guangzhou at 10:20 on the morning of Monday, June 9th.

June 9th is "Dragon Boat Festival Holiday" in China, so no business is done on this day. (I need to research this holiday- I know nothing about it!) We will check into our hotel, the Victory, get settled, and prepare for the next day-- Gotcha Day!!!

I am so overwhelmed at the thought of Gotcha Day. My heart feels so full... I'm amazed and full of wonder that this is actually finally going to happen. This is the day that everything we have prepared for over the past 18 months has been building up to... this is what all this waiting has been about.

We are finally going to hold our baby girl in our arms. My eyes will feast upon her little person and every one of her beautiful features... her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her ears; her fingers and toes; her wrists, her cheeks, her chin, and her hair. I remember doing this with Caleb and Camrn the first time I laid eyes on them. I remember studying every one of their features. It's one of the most amazing and wonderous experiences for a mother.

I will hold Kelly and finally know exactly how big (or little) she is... I will finally know if she's teeny-tiny, like so many say she may be, or if she's really as healthy as she appears in her pictures. I will hold her and she'll be a real, three-dimensional person... no longer a one-dimensional picture, and a mystery to me.

I will begin to be a student of Little Miss Kelly. I will learn what she likes and what she dislikes... I will study her expressions and her body language and be attentive to every move she makes. I will try to understand the unspoken cues she's gives me, and reach out to her and attempt to begin to establish a relationship built on trust and love with her as I keep myself open and available to her for whatever she needs.

The best word to describe how I'm feeling is overwhelmed. That might sound bad, but it's not necessarily. Yes, in a sense, the overwhelmed feeling has hints of inadequacy attached to it, but more than that, this overwhelmed feeling is a feeling of privilege and honor, to be entrusted with this precious little life. I'm also overwhelmed with joy... humongous, monumental, indescribable JOY.

We're going to China!!!

Well, it's happening!!! It's really happening!!

We got confirmation of our Consulate Appointment for June 18th, so we were able to book our airline tickets!

We're going to China to get our baby girl... in 8 days!!!

We're flying United Airlines, leaving from LAX at 12:56pm on June 5th- arriving in Hong Kong on June 6th at 6:45pm. We'll fly home on June 20th, arriving to LAX at 10:19am. Our agency is still working out the details of our trip and what each day will hold- most importantly, GOTCHA DAY, so when we get that itinerary in the next day or two, we'll post it here.
We were able to get our airline tickets for $1168 per ticket, round trip, so that's not too shabby, all things considered. Kelly's lap ticket for the flight home was only $113, so that's good too!

Thanks for your prayers. They're being answered!

Proverbs 25:25
Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.

YAY for TA!!!!!

Yesterday...


Friday...


May 23rd, 2008...


We received what we've been waiting for!

We got TA!!!!!!!

"TA" stands for Travel Approval, (for those of you who are "acronymically-challenged" like me), and Travel Approval is what you need when you want to go to China to bring your baby home!

So now we know for sure we will be leaving for China on or around June 5th!

All we wait for now is confirmation from our agency of our Consulate Appointment (CA) in China, which is an appointment they must schedule with the CCAA to finalize everything for Kelly to get her Visa, right before we leave China to come home. Since your CA is at the very end of your trip, you plan everything else backwards from that date.

Our agency requested three different dates for our CA- first choice: June 18th, second choice: June 19th, or third choice: June 23rd. They say you usually get your first choice, but we have to wait for the CCAA to let us know before we can book our tickets, so the wait isn't quite over yet! EEK! Our agency says it can take up to 6 business days for the Consulate to get back to us- YIKES! BUT- they tell us they expect to hear back on Tuesday, so let's hope that's the case so we don't have to book our tickets with less than a 7-day advance notice. Whew- It's getting down to the wire!

As far as how everything works once we get to China- we will have a Rep from our agency (who speaks fluent Chinese and English) meet us at the airport. He or she will be available to us everywhere we go from the time we arrive to the time we depart. They usually give you two to four days from the time you arrive in China before "Gotcha Day." They try to schedule some fun touring and sight-seeing of the area during that time. This also allows you to adjust to the new time zone before you receive your child. I've had a lot of questions and people confused about how this all works, so let me try to explain "Gotcha Day. "

"Gotcha Day" is that blessed day when we will meet with the Adoption Officials at the Civil Affairs Office in Guangzhou, and they will place Kelly Elise in our arms for the first and last time! Once Kelly is placed in our arms that day, she will stay with us forever! Many people thought we might go to the orphanage to get her, or that we might only be able to see her and visit her, but have to leave her in the orphanage until everything is finalized. No, no, no! Once she is with us, she is ours! It becomes "official" a few days later, but she will stay with us from "Gotcha Day" forward, and she will never have to go back to the orphanage again.

Now, we do have an opportunity to go to the orphanage several days after "Gotcha Day", and it is a voluntary visit, so we can choose whether or not to go. Unless we're sick or having a really hard time with Kelly's adjustment, we do plan to visit the orphanage. I anticipate it to be the most difficult part of the trip, but we owe it to Kelly to see where she spent the first year of her life, and I'd like to personally thank the nannies for taking care of our baby girl.

I hope that helps you better understand how things go... feel free to post comments or ask questions, because I'm sure I'm forgetting some things!

I'll let you all know once we receive our CA and get a travel itinerary set in stone. I am going to start a Yahoo travel group so we can post to that from China and you all can follow along! I'll post pictures and keep you updated on how things are progressing via that group, since I've heard it's often difficult to access Blogger from China.

I'll keep you posted!

Prayer Requests:

1) That we get our Consulate Appointment confirmation on Tuesday, May 27th, so we can book our tickets asap

2) That we are able to get affordable airline tickets - around $1,000 per ticket would be grand

3) That we can get the rest of the "near-new" $100 bills we need for the orphanage child-rearing fee next week

THANKS!!!!

Packing!

Okay, so I know we don't have TA yet, but I'm still getting things organized and have even started some preliminary packing. Since I'll probably be working until right before we go, I just want to have as much ready as possible.

This is a section of Kelly's room- I tend to spread everything out as I'm going through it, so it's been a mess more than not. (I'm not done decorating either-- still need a window treatment and I'm still deciding on what to do with the walls! Thanks Nanna, for the suggestions! I like them!!!)

Here is phase one of packing her suitcase with her clothes.

Here's a spread of the majority of the medicines we're taking for Kelly, so that whatever may be ailing her, we can doctor her right up! I still haven't filled her RX for her antibiotics- I won't do that 'til right before we leave.
Phase two of packing Kelly's suitcase- I'm adding in some toys and her bathing suit.Some of the travel necessities I'm packing for all of us- mostly Clint and I though... there's cold meds, anti-diarrheal meds, gas meds, antibiotics, sleep-aids, throat lozenges, Kleenex, bug repellent, electric plug converters, and a WHOLE LOTTA ANTI-BACTERIAL HAND SANITIZER, plus Wet Wipes and Clorox wipes too! Can anyone say, "Germophobe!"?

Earthquake in China

Tragic news of the earthquake in China this week has left me feeling so sad for the people in that area. It's only getting worse as reports of deaths keep going up and the devastation continues to mount.

Our adoption agency, CCAI, who also operate as the NPO "Chinese Children's Charities" has organized a relief effort for all those affected in the area, especially children and orphans. The founder of CCAI, Joshua Zhong, is featured in this Denver news story about the effort, and I thought I'd share it with you all so you can see what a wonderful agency we are blessed to be a part of.

Once the link opens, this picture of Joshua is in the lower right-hand corner. The video right above his picture is the news story featuring Joshua. A portion of the interview takes place at the CCAI office. I've been in that hallway they were talking in, with all the pictures of the children lining the walls! It's an awesome sight! THOUSANDS of pictures of children and families, once orphans, now beloved sons and daughters with love, laughter and joy beaming from their rosy cheeks. You can't look at those pictures on those walls without getting chills!

http://cbs4denver.com/local/china.Centennial.earthquake.2.725440.html

Straggler birthday balloon picture for Kelly!

Here is Olivia, (Clint's wonderful aunt and uncle's darling granddaughter) sending off their birthday balloon for Kelly on her birthday.

The picture got to me late, but I still wanted to post it, because it was a very special tribute to Kelly on her birthday, and it meant so much to me to have everyone join in!

Thanks Olivia, for sending up the balloon for Kelly. They just might have been instrumental in bringing our LOA to us two days later!

(If you didn't see the original birthday balloon post, I believe it is dated April 29).

Travel Approval???

I spoke with our agency's travel department yesterday. I had heard on one of my Yahoo groups that people with the same LOA dates were getting their TA's this week. When I called and asked if I might be one of them, she said they had no word of TA's coming in this week, but that they anticipate getting it next week. I'm not sure where others got their information and why I didn't get the same story when I called, but anyway, it sounds like we should get them next week! She then went over a checklist with me to make sure I was on top of everything I'm supposed to be on top of (which I am =) and she told me that if TA comes next week, like they expect it to, that that means we will most likely depart for China around June 4th or 5th.

YIPPEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's sooner than I expected, so although it's not set in stone, it's still exciting to hear news like this from the Travel Department. It's got me a little spun, as far as my mind obsessing over everything I need to get done, but that's just me- whether I do that now or later, I'm still going to do it!

Other exciting news-- we got the crib set up in Kelly's room! It's sooo sweet. What is it about a baby crib? I just love them. I guess it's because baby cribs mean BABIES!

Once I had it all set up, I just had to stand there and stare at it. Then as the evening went on, I kept going back in there and looking at it adoringly, and dragging my family members in there to stare at it longingly too...

The only one who really indulged me was Camryn- guess it's a girl thing!

My sister gave me sheets and her adorable Pottery Barn bumper pads, and it looks so sweet in the room.

As you can see, we did polka dots in her room.

Funny thing- my inspiration was a note card, of all things! I just thought it would look so cute as a bedroom! HOWEVER, once I got all the dots up on the walls, I felt a little dizzy! I think it's a bit too much, so I think we're going to take the dots down from the bottom half of the room, add a chair rail, and maybe paint the bottom half of the room one of the coordinating polka dot colors... maybe pink...? Or I may go a shade darker of the brown...?

Any suggestions, peeps?

Aaagghhh!

I am going to be so late for work!

Oh, BLAH on work right now!!!

But look at the bright side!

Only 14 more days of school!!!

Silly me!

So I completely forgot to mention in my last post (of extremely random blurbs of information), that while we have decided to leave the kids here while we go to China, exactly WHOM we will be leaving them with!?!

Who else, but my WONDERFUL, DARLING, BLESSED, GEM OF A SISTER, of course! That's who!!

I can't tell you what enormous peace that brings me. To know my children will be in the care of someone who not only loves me very much, but would throw herself in front of a moving bus for my children if she had to!

And to know they will be in their own environment- plus, to have their cousins here to play with too. They are going to have a blast! Shoot- they'll probably be happy we're leaving!

So I am just so super grateful to my sister for making this long trip out here, once again, to be here for me in my time of need.

I love you so much, sissy.

Thanks a million.

Jen

P.S. I'll be sure to stock up on Nutty Bars and Paydays, okay?

Busy Times!

So much to do, so little time to do it in. Especially when you do stupid things like send your passports and visa applications to the wrong place! Yes, I was in a rush, and not really sure about how things worked with applying for visas-- I won't bore you with the details, but it ended up costing me an extra week of time and $32 in shipping fees to get it all back. I finally got it sent off to the CORRECT place yesterday. Phew!

Lesson learned: SLOW DOWN.

(Don't know that it's actually learned yet, but I'm working on it!)

My house is transforming! Here's a picture of a corner of my living room we've designated for toys for Kelly. My living room hasn't had a place for toys in... hmmmm... at least 8 years. Can that be right? Wow. It's weird... I do admit, I like to have everything in it's place, and I'm sort of anal about decorating... so I confess, having toys in the living room is not exactly my thing. I guess if it were up to me, we would either (1) have a closed off section in the living room where Kelly's toys could be kept (but not seen), (2) I would not have them in the living room at all, OR (3) all of Kelly's toys would be brown and turquoise! (tee hee ;)

But Kelly's room is the smallest room in the house, so there just isn't room in there for them- plus, the living room, dining room and kitchen are all one "great room," so this is where we spend most of our time. It only makes sense for her to have her toys out here, right? So I'm just going to have to get over my anal decorator side!

I don't know if I've formally announced it, but we have decided not to bring the big kids with us to China after all. More than anything, it's a budget issue, but as we discussed it, we realized there could be blessings in disguise to it that we just don't fully realize right now.

There are so many things to do to prepare to get TA. You want to get everything done you possibly can before you get TA, because things could go super fast and furious once it comes, so you don't want to stress yourself out leaving everything to do until the end.

Last week, I got prescriptions from our doctor for our trip to China- that was a load off! I still need to fill them, but at least I have them now.

We went shopping for luggage, and baby and travel necessities this past weekend too. You just can't imagine how much stuff you need for this trip- medicines especially. You have to cover all your bases, from lice to diaper rash to everything in between.

We bought a few toys for our trip too... here's a picture.

Also, Nancy has been shopping for Kelly! When she read how Kelly likes to rock, she got her a couple of rocking toys. Aren't they the cutest?!

The Piglet is especially cool because it can rock OR it can roll! You just push this little button and you can have the wheels up, to rock, or down, to roll. Oh, Kelly is going to have a blast!

We're off to an orthodontist appointment for Caleb. I have more to post so I hope to be back tonight or tomorrow, but no promises. You just never know!