We are here in Nanning....FINALLY!

After missing our flight to Nanning yesterday we are glad to get back on track! We felt so much better this morning after having gone to bed at 6:30 even though we were all awake at 4:00 a.m.! We had breakfast and then we were off to the airport ... again! I thought Ava might boycott another flight, but I do have to say she has been really great! She has caused quite a stir here. People crowd around and really stare. I guess they have not seen a great deal of people with really light hair. So I have learned to walk fast, really fast!

Despite us all feeling like we have been thrown in a paper bag and shook up, we are here in Pei's hometown! I can hardly believe that we have finally made it to this point! We have been loving this little girl for 9 months now. At times it seemed like this was never going to happen, but we are really here! We will have all day Sunday to rest and get ready for Monday. We will be meeting Pei at 3:30. We are so excited about finally meeting her!

I will leave you with some pics of Goldielocks at the Garden on Saturday and the Marriott in Nanning on Sunday!

We are here.....sort of!

We arrived in China just hours ago! We left our home on Wednesday and had two flights in our home state before we made our way to LA. On the way we received notice that our flight was going to be delayed a bit. Well it was scheduled to depart LA to Hong Kong @ 1:40 ... a.m. So when we were looking at our crazy itinerary I had a chilling thought. Our flight was scheduled to depart on California time not Texas. So that added an extra couple of hours of misery ! Did I mention that Goldielocks had only a 20 minute nap and I was praying that she was going to stay up till what her little body thought was 5:00 am! Well, she did really well. We only had a few meltdowns and I only claim two of those :)

So when I say we sort of made it, it was the flight delay in LA caused us to miss our flight to Nanning. So, we are in Guangzhou at the Garden Hotel, showered and all in bed! And yes it is only 4:00 p.m.! We will be up bright and early to catch a flight to Nanning!

Hang on Pei we will be there soon!

Go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, we are packed! And oh are we packed :) (No laughing about how much I packed!)

I have spent the last few days running around like a crazy woman and trying to squeeze in as much time with the boy's. I absolutely dread telling them goodbye today. So, with the impending dreaded goodbyes I spent the day yesterday balling! Ava came over and looked at me really sweet and softly said "Baby"! Yes, Goldielocks called me a baby for balling!!!! I have to agree with her I am a baby when it comes to my kids!

We will be posting our trip here on our blog via my friend Nikki !

When asked where Ava is going she proudly states "Peyton's"!!!! So ready or not Pei , sister is on her way and has already told me that she is going to hug you tight!

Please pray for safe travels for us ,safety for the boy's and a healed heart for Peyton as she leaves her foster family.

Set....

We have spent the weekend packing and getting ready for our trip! I feel like I am almost done but I do not know if I should say that I am ready yet. The first and biggest hurdle is leaving the boys. I am dreading this . And yes, I will ball like a baby when I leave my babies!My large family is moving in our home and taking care of everyone and everything while we are gone.

Now, really what should top this list of worry is taking the slow boat to China with Ava in tow!Our travel itinerary is insane! First ,we board a flight in our hometown to another city in our home state. Switch planes and then on to LA. Our flight then leaves for Hong Kong @ 1:40 a.m. (which Ava's little body will think it is 3:40a.m.) Are you feeling sorry for me yet? Then we get on a train to Guangzhou and then board a flight to Nanning. We arrive in Nanning on Friday . I am taking all prayers specifically ones that surround Goldielocks and be sure to mention the words "no meltdowns" or 'tantrums'! He will get the picture!

This sweet angelic child is defintely three and quite unpredictable :) So, if you see us on the plane I do not blame you if you act like you do not know us! Dad do not get any ideas this does not apply to you!

My head had really been spinning around with all of the random details of our trip but I have found myself on a count down. Not a count down of when we leave but a count down for Pei's foster family. I woke up this morning and said they now have one week left with this sweet child. My heart is really heavy for them. What a selfless act to take a child into your heart and home knowing that you will one day hand her to another family. I am grateful that the Lord has planted this in my head and I am stuck on this ! I pray that I am still thinking about this when we board that flight with Goldielocks!!!!!

Two more days !!!!!

Ready...

I keep asking myself this very question!!!!I have been walking in circles for the past couple of weeks. I have gone from the checklist ,then side tracked by the kids ,then back to the suitcase and then find myself standing in a room baffled by why I originally went in there!!!! I am glad I had the forethought to stay on task and glance through my suitcase...I forgot all my under garments!!!! That would have been just fantastic :)!

Amid all of the chaos of packing and planning this trip I took some time out to meet with a great group of mommas in the area. We are a group of seven ladies that are either in process or have adopted internationally. These 10 beautiful girls come from China, Russia and Ethiopia . We also have several home grown kiddos in our group too!It was so fantastic to get to share an afternoon with these woman who share a heart for these precious kids! We are planning to meet once a month for our little ladybug club!

Well ,back to my packing! Which BTW ALL of my bags are over the weight limit!!!

The above photo about sums it up! The old deer in the headlights but add a really fuzzy wig to this pic and that is me!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to both my girls!!!!!!!!

Today is both my girls birthdays. Ava is three and Pei is two! Ava's birthday is July 19th and Pei's is July 20th (and it is 3:00a.m.,July 20th in China right now!) ...

So, Happy Birthday to each of my baby girls!!!!!!

I love you both soooooooo much!

(Look at those faces.That is going to be double trouble!!!!)

Saturday Surprise!

I awoke this morning to the most wonderful surprise! On the Hope 4 China children blog was a post about Linda Greenshield's trip to Nanning SWI last year. It is a wonderful post about the difference foster care makes in the lives of these children. As I was reading along there she was!!! Not one picture BUT five photos of Pei ! These were taken nine months ago right before we locked Pei's file.
How blessed we are that Pei was so well taken care of and loved since she was an infant. Not all kids are this lucky.Someone cared enough to make a tremendous difference in our new daughters life.When we return home we will be "paying it forward" and sponsoring one of the sweet kids on Grace and Hope's website. I already have her picked out :)

Here is the link to Hope 4 China's Children:

http://hope4china.blogspot.com/2010/07/nanning-kids.html

Pei in in the blue jean dress on the back of her foster dad's bike!
Just 17 days till I hold my daughter :)

Breathtaking!

I woke up this morning to an email from X with my CA date. It is set for August 11th.
What a great way to start the day :)

But wait it gets even better!

You ask yourself what could be better than your CA date ...






a beautiful photo of your daughter at her 2nd birthday party surrounded by all of her friends!
She literally took my breath away!


~ Ladybugs n love from above ROCKS!!!!!!!

That little bird was right!

Our travel approval arrived today at our agency! We have requested a Consulate appointment for 8/4. But if that is already full then we will try to get our CA for 8/10.We should know something in a day or so.
Either date is really fine with us!
Hang on baby girl your momma is coming to China!

A little birdie told me ...

Our Travel Approval should be at Bay Area Adoption Services offices on Monday!!!!!!
Woohoo!!!!!

The Day We Met

Today is a day that is etched so deeply in my memory. Two years ago , we boarded a plane for Russia with no idea who was waiting on the other side. All we knew was there was a little girl waiting on a family and we were a family looking for our little girl.When the handed me this tiny girl, I was terrified. All of the planning ,waiting and dreaming was over. Sitting before me was a tiny blue eyed babe carefully studing each one of us. I felt like a deer in the headlights! My mind raced in a thousand directions. At that time Ava was nothing like I had exspected BUT everything that he had planned for us. It took me a few moments to wrap my head around all of the medical info and this tiny fair haired babe before me.





As I look back over the video of the day we met , I have to laugh because despite the fear that had knocked the breath out of me minutes earlier ,the moment you where placed in my arms I knew.




As you looked up in my eyes, I introduced myself as your mommy and I think at that moment you knew too.

We had been waiting on each other.


I look back and it is hard to believe that it has been only two years since we first met. Somehow it seems like you have been here with me forever. I think that is because God placed you in my heart long ago.



And there you will stay forever!
I love you sweet girl!

Is it July Already!?!?

Well, we are rolling into the month of July ! I am shocked at how fast the past few weeks have gone by. Over the course of the past few weeks , we have been busy getting ready for our trip, waiting for our TA ,and celebrating some of our summer birthdays!
This is what has been going on in our crazy lives:



Nick turned 16!!!!! And now is driving! YIKES!





The girl's room is still a work in progress but Ava is excited about her new shared space! This is the second bedroom the girls have in the house.The other room is upstairs and way to far away from this helicopter momma! Their second bedroom is the sitting area in our bedroom! Yes, it does look like a scene from Goldilocks and the three bears but there is going to be four bears :) I bet you can not tell how excited little Goldilocks is about her sister coming home! Long live the wave of pink that is slowly taking over our home!!!! Sorry fellas!!!
Ava also is transitioning out of Early Childhood intervention services in the next few weeks. We are so proud of the progress that she has made since coming home in September '08. Ava had global delays then and now some of those same areas she scored above her age category! The only delay that remains is articulation and we will continue to work on that via our district speech pathologist. I am so proud of this little girl! It is hard to believe that next week marks our two year anniversary of meeting this amazing little girl.What a wonderful change she has brought to all of our lives!
We received word that our TA's could be another week or two away. So, I am estimating that we will be traveling the last week of July through the first week of August.We are also putting together "The Little Ladybug Club" play group! We have the neatest group of ladies in our area that are all adopting from China. My hope is that we can get together once a month and these sweet girls will develop life long friendships!

So, in between all of that we are swimming, packing, shopping and dreaming of the day we get to bring our sweet ladybug home!
I can almost see that pot of gold at the end of this rainbow!