PINCH ME!!!!

Jason and I made it to China. Friday morning we got up and headed out with my Mom and Tommy. My mom and Tommy were flying to Kansas City. We were planning on taking the Arvada shuttle. When we pulled in the parking lot, we saw the shuttle pulling out!! Luckily the driver turned around and came back for us (won't even get into not getting picked up in Beijing, which we pre-paid for).
Leaving Tommy was heart breaking. I tried my best to hold it together so he would not see me crying. The minute they got on their plane I broke down. (my mom reports he did great on the plane and is having a fantastic time with his cousins)
We flew from Denver to SFO, then SFO to Beijing. We stayed the night in Beijing then flew with our travel group to Chongqing. We could not ask for a better travel group. Their are 6 couples. Three of the couples brought their Chinese daughters. The girls are so adorable. They hold hands as we walk through the city. We actually have a doctor in the group, and she had to leave her 2 year old son. Everyone is really nice and fun to talk to.
I am a ball of nerves today. The babies are coming to Chongqing. I worry about the drive. I pray that they are safe and happy. This has to be very scary for them.
We have been waiting 4 YEARS for this moment and I think the long timeline adds so much more excitement along with other things to this day!
As I sit in this hotel room and write the blog, I just cannot imagine what it will be like to have our daughter right here with us in just a few hours, and in our lives forever. We have waited so long for her. We'll be posting pictures within the next day.

Care Package and Travel

The two things that are on my mind 24/7 are getting a care package out to our daughter and when on earth are we going to be able to travel to China.
We are able to send a shoe box sized package to China. I bought this cute little photo cube and some warm clothes for the care package. I am also going to send a disposable camera. The orphanage will take pictures and send the camera with our daughter when we meet her.
We are not sure when we are going to travel to China. The Hague has to approve our travel and there are all these confusing steps make that happen.
We are so lucky to have so many supportive friends and family through out this process. Someone in my MOPS group offered us a crib, numerous people want to throw a party, people have offered to care for Tommy and Scout (now that's saying something- Scout is a little spoiled and high maintenance!) We are very touched at the thoughtfulness of our friends and family. I appreciate all the emails about our little girl being in people's thoughts and prayers. The saying "It takes a village" seems to be right on in our case. I have friends of friends offering support and asking what can they do or sending positive messages about how delighted they are about our daughter.
My parents are coming for a visit today. I have been counting down the days until there arrival.
Tommy loves spending time with his grandma and grandpa. My mom and I are going to shop, see a movie, bake, do all kinds of fun things. My dad and Jason will probably work on the house and watch sports.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

How lucky are we ?!??!?!?!

We got the call today at 11 am! Our sweet little girl is 8 months old. She was born on June 26, 2008 and was found when she was just one day old. This has been such a surreal day. I took one look at her picture and was in love. Her name is Fu Wen. "Fu" is for the Fu in Fuliyuan (welfare institute and Wen means beautiful and decorative pattern of clouds.
The pictures were taken in late December. We are happy and are now counting down the days until we get to go to China. We hope to travel in about 5-6 weeks.

How are we going to sleep tonight?!??!?

CCAI just announced that the referrals for March 6 2006 came in this afternoon! They have to translate the information and will give us a call in the morning telling us we can come in and actually get to see a picture of our daughter.

I am planning on getting up and heading towards the CCAI office at 9 am. Judy, the child placement supervisor, gave me the great idea of having breakfast at a Village Inn nearby. Then when they call me I will just be a few blocks away!! I actually thought about hanging out at the office today to see if DHL had a delivery. I did not want the people at the agency to think I was crazy! I am already so excited and wound up and I have to wait 18 more hours! After waiting nearly 4 years you would think this part is a breeze-- but it is not! But it is the most wonderful kind of anxiety you could ever hope for.

I cannot thank the RQ parents for all the support and advice they have provided throughout the last few years enough!!! Thank you RQ!

waiting waiting and more waiting!

This is my first time to "blog" so be patient with me! We started to process to adopt in the summer of 2005. At the time the whole process was taking just over a year. Three years and nine months later we are still waiting. The CCAA has been matching at the end of the month. On February 26th, I was sure we would hear from CCAI (our adoption agency). I was on pins and needles all day. Now it is Monday March 2nd and still no word.
This is the equivalent to being pregnant and 3 years overdue. Maybe worse because, our all of our dreams and faith are in the Chinese government. It is 70* in Denver today, but there is a major snow storm on the east coast so we think our referral is delayed due to the weather. Some people with the same LID as us have already seen their babies face. There are no words to describe how it feels so close to being matched with a child that we have waited so long for. Anytime now our dreams will be coming true.