Sunday in Nanjing

Today was our getting settled in day.  I woke up at 3:30am and then fitfully dozed off and on until about 5:00.  Thankfully Ellie and Maddie slept until about 6:30 so they were pretty chipper all day today.

 

After talking with everybody at home on Skype, we went down to the buffet breakfast around 8:00.  Ellie and Maddie both ate well but I just couldn’t get much down.  Utter  exhaustion hit right as I sat down at the table with my plate of food.  As soon as the girls were done eating we came back to the room and they played quietly with their Nintendos and art projects while I got a couple of hours of good sleep.  That made a huge difference in my ability to function!

 

We met our guide, Denise, at 2:00 and took a quick taxi ride to Walmart for some essentials (diapers, formula, snacks, water).  After coming back to drop off our purchases, we headed out again and wandered through the Aqua City Mall that is attached to our hotel.  We then walked to the Confucius Temple area near our hotel.  While there we took a short little boat ride on the river.  Near the end of the ride Maddie kept asking when was the ride going to be over and when were we going to go back to our room.  That was my cue that she was running out of steam so back we came (but of course we just had to stop in the little shop with all the hair bows on our way!).

We ate in our room and the girls are now getting ready for an early bedtime.  My eyes are starting to see double too so I won’t be far behind them.

 

15 hours until we meet Lilyanne.

We Have Arrived!

We are safe and sound in Nanjing!  Our journey here had a few little “moments” but over all we had a pretty good trip.

 

Our flight on Hainan Airlines was very good.  The girls only started to get restless the last couple of hours or so.  Each seat had a little touch screen with dozens of movies and video games to watch and play.  That kept them so entertained that they didn’t even get out their DS games.  The food was not bad considering it was airline food.  For anyone taking this flight – the option of “sausage and noodles” is in reality ham and cheese tortellini – quite good.

 

Our one glitch was that the tickets indicate that the flight was supposed to arrive in Beijing at 4:35, with our connecting flight to Nanjing at 7:10.  A fairly short time to make the connection but I was confident that we could do it.  Well, in reality the flight was scheduled to arrive at 5:35!  That cut our connection time by an hour!!  I didn’t think that we would make it.  But, even though we actually got lost in the Beijing airport for a short time, we made it to the check-in counter with 2 minutes to spare before they closed.  And then the security guided us through a speedy check line so we made it to our gate as the last people were passing through the boarding process.  Since we were so late getting checked in the lady wasn’t able to give us seats together.  But two very kind gentlemen on the plane were willing to switch seats so that the girls and I could sit together. 

 

Ellie and Maddie were such troopers the entire time.  They slept great once we were finally in our hotel room and actually slept in this morning.  I, unfortunately, was up at 3:00am and not able to go back to sleep for any length of time.  I am sure we will all have naps later this afternoon.

 

We are supposed to meet our guide later this afternoon to go shopping for some baby essentials.  We are scheduled to receive Lilyanne tomorrow morning at 9:30 at the Civil Affairs office.

Attempting to E-mail Posts

Since blogspot is blocked in China I am trying to figure out the e-mail option for posting.  I have heard that the formatting might get a bit off and that photos all appear at the top of posts. But anything will be better than nothing I guess.

 

Tomorrow is the BIG day!  We leave bright and early for China!!  We will fly Seattle to Beijing and then on to Nanjing.  We are supposed to receive Lilyanne on Monday.  Woohoo!!

 

Countdown to Lily -- Three Weeks!

Three weeks from today I will finally be holding our precious Lilyanne Kate XiaoXue. Our travel arrangements are all set -- we leave for China on 2/18 and receive Lily on 2/21. Since I am a world-class procrastinator getting the plane tickets is about all that is done to get us ready to leave. Our suitcases have been pulled out of the closet but not much has been packed in them. This week will be spent running around trying to pick up the rest of the stuff we need, getting a bunch of appointments out of the way, and basically trying to keep from getting too stressed! Woohoo!! China here we come!!

Lily and her special nanny who obviously adores her

First Piano Recital

Ellie had her very first official piano recital this past weekend. She loves her teacher, loves learning to play the piano, and had practiced her piece so many times that I found myself humming it at all hours of the day. Her best friend Emily is taking lessons from the same teacher so they were scheduled to perform in the same recital. Both girls had nervous tummies full of butterflies. These two have a such a special bond with each other, beginning eight years ago in a little town in China and continuing here at home with their forever families. It was so sweet to watch them support each other, cheer each other on, and share their success together. Gosh, I am just so proud of both Ellie and Emily. It is amazing to watch these beautiful little girls blossom.

Ellie with her BFF Emily

Serious discussions before their performances

The Big Moment -- she played her piece flawlessly

Their teacher has chosen Ellie and Emily to play a duet in the Christmas recital next month. I can't wait to see what these two can accomplish together!!

Our Sixth Ladybug!

This morning we received the wonderful news from our agency that the CCAA has issued our Pre-Approval to bring home our sixth little ladybug. Our dossier has already been logged into the system in China so we are now waiting for them to review it and issue our final approval. After that there will be a lot more paperwork to do on the US side. If everything goes smoothly we should be able to travel to China in February or March to bring her home. Needless to say we are over the moon with excitement around here!!

So without further ado, we would like to introduce you to our newest daughter:

Lilyanne Kate XiaoXue
9 months old

waiting for us in Nanjing, Jiangsu

We are so in LOVE with this tiny little one!

Summer Retrospect

Summer went by so fast this year. The weather here in Western Washington didn't cooperate much, but on the few occasions that the sun came out we played hard. Our days were filled with trips to the beach and reunions with dear friends. Our family from California came to visit and we went to our adoption agency's picnic. We took a road trip to Eastern Washington and we spent many days at the zoo. Tomorrow we say goodbye to summer as we start our new school year. So here, in no particular order, was our summer:

Ruby at the beach on one of our rare very warm days.

Emily, Katie, and Ellie -- the Hubei "sisters"

U-pick strawberries -- so so sweet and they literally melted in our mouths!

This is what you get when you mix the beach, s'mores, long hair, and really strong wind.

The Washington Coast -- and, yes, this was in July.

Ruby loves the ocean.

Isabelle, Millie, Abby, and Shae -- the Spicy Girls from Loudi, Hunan. We have had an annual reunion with these families from our first travel group to China for eight years now.

One of our many trips to the zoo.

Maddie on the camel ride at the zoo.

We take a photo of Abby sitting in this snake sculpture every time we go to the zoo. She was born in the year of the snake and loves anything to do with snakes.

Our favorite animal on the carousel

Ruby LOVES riding the carousel -- and any other carnival ride for that matter!

With our cousins hiking at Hurricane Ridge

Visiting the Bloedel Reserve with friends

The Bloedel Reserve -- one of our favorite nature walks

Watching salmon jump up the fish ladder at Rocky Reach Dam near Wenatchee.

Most of the children attending the Lifeline/Small World Reunion Picnic in Spokane