Itinerary

One week from today, we will be 2 hours away from landing in Beijing. Many people have asked for our itinerary, so I thought I would post it here.

3/5 - We leave from Newark and arrive in Beijing 13 1/2 hours later. We will spend a couple of days resting and touring before the "official" trip begins.
3/9 - Arrive in Nanjing.
3/10 - Cate joins our family!
3/11 - Adoption day.
3/16 - Arrive in Guangzhou to begin processing Cate's American visa.
3/20 - Back to Beijing and then on to Newark.

We will leave China and arrive home on the first day of spring, an appropriate and poetic starting day for our new lives together.

Thank you to everyone for the kind words, love and support. The excitement, emotion and enthusiasm for our journey to this little soul have been truly overwhelming and, we hope, will become a beautiful part of her life story. They have become a part of ours.

Sadly

Today, we mourn the very unexpected passing of Steve's uncle, Steve Campolatano. He was a loving, kind, funny man and a great cook. He will be greatly missed, and his loss keenly felt by his family.

Wo-men yao qu Zhongguo

We are going to China!! We are bringing home our daughter!! Our four-year-old (whose idea of a city is Cooperstown on a summer's day) is going to stand on the Great Wall!

Just wanted to share the fact that the first wave of anxiety (more to come!) is gone and replaced by excitement we cannot contain. We sat by the fire last night with our "Instant Chinese" phrase book and tried to learn. How I wish all those years of French class had been Chinese instruction.

After a day of watching Big Bird in China, potstickers, a language crash course, a check of the temperatures in Beijing, Nanjing and Guangzhou, gazing at Cate's pictures and standing in her room... we are ready.

T - 11 Days

Our flights are booked. After a long, crazy, snowy day, many phone calls and a very patient and helpful travel agent(who stayed well past the end of his work day to help us) we know the day and time we leave. I thought we would never know. Wednesday, March 5 at 12:15 we will fly from Newark, spend 13 hours in the air, and land on the other side of the world in Beijing. I am relieved that we will travel so quickly, not only because it means we are that much closer to meeting our daughter, but because it will give me just enough time to think about what I need to do and (hopefully) not enough time to dwell on the one million items that could cause me great anxiety (flying topping the list followed by the fear that something will happen to Alex, but in a way they are the same because if something happens while we are flying...). But that is where I stop myself and am even trying to erase those two dark corners. I am using every ounce of faith, yoga breath, mountain pose, and wine glass to make sure my mind does not go to that place. And I wonder why we (women especially) do this to ourselves? Why don't we lay awake at night and wonder at how amazing things will be when they all turn out okay?



All fears aside, in about two weeks, Cate will be with us and a part of us and I know once that happens, I will exhale the breath I have held for the past 22 months and begin to truly celebrate the wonder of it all.

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!

It's official!!! We finally have permission from the China Center for Adoption Affairs to travel and bring our little girl home!!! I think I may be able to breathe again soon. After all the agonizing days of waiting, of wondering, of hoping, of finally knowing and then staring at her pictures and watching and rewatching and watching and rewatching her sixty second video... she is finally almost here! A month from now, as winter turns quietly to spring, and Steve and I sit here by the fire, she will be upstairs sleeping in her room, just a few steps away from the little boy who has waited so patiently to be a brother, and our family will be safe and complete.

Chinese New Year

Here is a picture from our Chinese New Year Celebration... including the surprise package from our wonderful friends.

Our Timeline

June 2006 - Began paperchase
January 10, 2007 - Date to China
March 7, 2007 Login Date
September 19, 2007 - Our call!! Our first look at Wei Xi!
September 21, 2007 - Letter of Intent
January 22, 2008 - Letter of Seeking Confirmation!
Travel Approval - February 20, 2008
China Trip - March 5 - March 20, 2008

A Whole World Waiting

Dumplings are a theme this week. I just finished making a batch - my first. An hour of spitting water, steam and finally, neat little packages of pork and cabbage that are headed to school with Alex tomorrow for a Chinese New Year Feast. We love it when the outside world collides with our personal universe, and what could be better than a preschool draped in red and gold as we wait anxiously and absorb everything Chinese in preparation for our trip and our life as a multicultural family? We love that Ni-Hao Kai Lan premiers just as we struggle to learn a little of the language. What can be better than a soon-to-be big brother making his friend count to three in Chinese before searching for him in a game of hide-and-seek? I love that this year will be the Year of the Rat, according to the Chinese calendar, and I was born in the Year of the Rat. What can be better than a trip to China to meet your daughter in your very own year?

Yesterday, a wonderful group of friends held a Dumpling Baby Shower - filled with delicious dumplings and good wishes for Cate. What can be better than platters of homemade dumplings, tea sipping friends and a celebration for a beautiful little girl?

I can think of only one thing - having her here with us to share all these wonderful things.

This is Strange

Hmm... I am new to blogging and I think I have stage fright... like I am standing in front of a crowded auditorium and reading my diary aloud. I will use this as my practice session. I am attempting to create this blog on my own, before giving in and asking Steve to bail me out, so don't expect any great pieces of technology. I am about to attempt to find a way to have a clock showing the time in Beijing so that you can all have a sense of what we might be up to when we finally get to travel.

The end. I don't want to push this on my first try.