Here I am awake at 2 am. This is moving in the wrong direction!!

We had another fantastic and incredible day yesterday. First, we loaded back on the bus and went to a government run jade factory. We learned a little bit about how important jade is in the traditional Chinese culture. George described it as in America, we have a diamond culture, but in China, it is a stone culture. Traditionally, women would wear their jade jewelry all the time so that their bodies would absorb the beneficial minerals from the jade, and the oils from their bodies would improve the quality of their jade. If a woman had a bracelet that had become shiny and translucent over time, that was a sign that she was very healthy and would make a good wife.

Next, we headed to the Great Wall. It was so exciting to get our first glimpses of the mountains, and then our first views of the wall. When we got off of the bus, we could see mountains and sections of the wall in every direction. We had a limited amount of time, so George showed us where our climbing goal was and we began climbing. When Z got a look at the number of steps that he would have to climb, he was ready to turn around and run back to the bus. Luckily, however, he has become fast friends with another little boy his age, and soon climbing up together became great fun.

Our entire adoption group about to tackle The Great Wall!

In places, the stairs are very high, and in other places, the stairs are small and short. We all had a great time ascending the stairs and looking around to see how high we were. In a little less than an hour, we made it to our goal. Unfortunately, the air quality in Beijing is very poor. Everwhere you look is just kind of in a thick haze. Even at the site of the great wall, which was a little more than an hour outside of the city, it absolutely obscured the view of the mountains. Still, it didn’t take away from our experience, and it was easy to see how gorgeous everything would look on a clear day.

From there, we headed to lunch at another Chinese restaurant. This restaurant was very large, and obviously catered to large groups of tourists. Still, the food was quite good and we had a great time.

On our drive back towards the city, we stopped at a the Olympic Park, where we could see the Bird’s Nest and the Cube. We didn’t have time to go inside, but it was fun to see.

We ended the night by attending an acrobatics show. Parts of the show were similar to things we have seen at Cirque de Soleil, but there were some parts that were entirely new. Z was wiped out and slept through the whole thing. I hated that for him, because I think he would have really enjoyed seeing women balance themselves on a pole by their mouths, ten women on a bicycle, and 5 motorcycles in a cage.

Throughout these days of touring, our babies are never far from our minds. It has been wonderful to talk to other adoptive families and hear about their experiences during the wait. Today we will fly to Henan, and we will be so close to our Hannah Min. My stomach is definitely turning in anticipation and excitement. I can’t wait to hold her in my arms!!

Well, I have been awake since about 4am.  We have heard that it takes about 4 days to fully adjust to the time change.  Hopefully we will be in good shape by the time we get Hannah.

We had an amazing and PACKED day yesterday!  We started off on the bus, not really knowing where we were headed.  One of our guides, George (who is hilarious, and SO knowledgeable), talked the entire time we were driving, and cracked us up by referring to himself in 3rd person the whole time.  Finally he told us that George decided he wanted to take us to see a Chinese family.  We all unloaded the bus and each family got on a Rickshaw.  It was amazing!  We rode the rickshaws through areas of Beijing where we got to see where families live in China.  It was like a maze of alley ways, and families lived down each little corner.

When we stopped, we went to a courtyard that was surrounded by a building on all sides.  A Chinese woman came to talk to us and explained that it was her home that had been passed to her from her grandparents.  She lived there with her daughter and son-in-law and  her grandson.  Her son-in-law is a famous artist in China, and also likes to race pigeons.  She allowed us to walk through her home and ask questions.

Next we went on a tour of a government run silk factory.  It was so interesting to see how they took the cocoons of the silk worms and turned it into silk.  Z was somewhat interested in seeing the huge basket of worms, but that ended his interest in anything silk.

Next, we went to lunch.  We ate in “traditional Chinese style”, which meant sitting at a large round table and sharing dishes of food.  Our guide ordered everything for us and it was delicious.  We agreed that it really wan’t that much different from good Chinese food that we have had at home, but I do think they made the vegetables tastier.

From there, we walked a block down to Tiananmen Square.  We took pictures, and our 2 guides talked to us about the history, and showed us the building where the body of Mao Zedong is available for viewing for a few hours every day.  It was the last day of the Chinese National Holiday, so there were flowers and beautiful decorations all around.  One interesting fact was that while Chairman Mao was alive, he wanted to know how many years he would be in power, and how many years he would live, so he consulted a “psychic”.  The man told him  that he could not reveal the answer or he himself would not be allowed to go into Heaven.  He told him that he could offer him the number 8341, but could not translate to him what those numbers meant.  Chairman Mao became obsessed with those numbers, and had them in different places around him.  Still today, the guards have 8341 on their uniforms.  He was never able to understand what the numbers meant, but after his death, it became apparent that he died at the age of 83, and was in power for 41 years.

Next, we walked into the Forbidden City, or Imperial Palace.  It was amazing to walk on bricks that had been in place for over 500 years, and to hear some of the history of the expansive buildings and courtyards.  George explained that the city supposedly was built with 9,999 1/2 rooms, because it was thought that there were 10,000 rooms in Heaven, and it would have been arrogant to have as many.  We walked courtyard after courtyard, and it became obvious why it was called a city within a city.  It was enormous!  Enormous, and breathtaking.

By the time we got back to the bus, all 3 of us fell asleep on the short drive back to the hotel.  We walked to dinner by ourselves, where Z chose to have a chicken sandwich from “Fat Burger”.  Then we had fun exploring a Chinese grocery store, and fell happily into bed.

One thing that I was told before our trip was that the Chinese people would be very interested in Z, as they don’t see Americans very often, especially children.  I was told that they might try to take his picture, or touch him.  We got our first taste of that, as several times people did reach out to touch him, and asked to take his picture.  The people were always friendly and nice, and Z took it in stride.

Today we will go to the Great Wall, tour a jade factory, and go to an acrobatics show.  I can’t wait!

Love and miss everyone at home!  We have spotty access to Facebook, so please leave comments here instead if possible!!!!

Good morning from Beijing!!  I am so incredibly happy to be here, it is hard to put into words. All of the anxiety of the last few days has disappeared and I have moved to complete excitement and happiness.  This is absolutely an adventure of a lifetime, and I am so happy that it is here!!!

Our flights went really well, and thankfully for me (the terrified flyer), it was extremely smooth.  The seatbelt light never even came on for the almost 15 hour flight!  We had individual TV screens in the back of the seats of the airplane that had movies, television shows, and games.  Z was completely happy and occupied for almost the entire flight.  I wouldn’t say the food was fantastic.  Z got fish flavored chips in his kids meal.  I’m guessing that is just the beginning of our food adventures. None of us slept very much, but really I think that was for the best since we were able to fall into bed at the hotel last night and sleep through the night, so hopefully we are on our way to adjusting to the 12 hour time change.

We met several families from our agency last night, and should meet as many as 9 others this morning.  Several other families brought children, so I’m hoping Z will have some kids to play with at times.

Here are some pics of the beginning of our journey:

About to board the biggest plane I have ever seen!

Over a mountain range in Russia.  We also flew close to the North Pole!

A brief stop in the Seoul airport

Finally in Beijing!

Our first hotel room.  The beds are barely bigger than twin beds, but there was no complaining from us after our 24 hours of traveling!

This morning we head out to tour around Beijing!

We are about to head out for the airport.  Thank you all for the support and encouragement.  Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  We will check in from CHINA!!

Oh my goodness, 2 days!!  WOW!!  I can hardly believe that in such a short time we will be on our way to our girl!!  I am such a mix of pure excitement and incredible anxiety as it is getting so close.  Plus, I am having to say goodbye to D and K for 2 weeks, which is breaking my heart.  Today Z asked D if he was going to miss him while we are in China.  D responded, “Of course I am going to miss you.  I’m gonna miss you SO much, like one hundred twenty three!”.  I know I am going to miss those guys like a billion!

We had Chinese food this weekend with some of our family.  Here was my fortune.

Definitely praying for that!!!

Z with our count down numbers!

2 weeks from right now we will be on our way to China!!  Woo-hoo!!  It is definitely starting to feel real.  We got our itinerary yesterday.  Here is what it looks like:

Wednesday, October 5-  Depart for Beijing, China, through Seoul, Korea

Thursday, October 6-  Arrive in Beijing, go to hotel

Friday, October 7- Tour Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and see acrobatics show

Saturday, October 8- Tour Great Wall

Sunday, October 9- Depart Beijing for Zhengzhou, Henan, China

Monday, October 10- HANNAH MIN DAY!!!!!

Tuesday, October 11- Go to registration office to complete the adoption paperwork

Wednesday, October 12- Optional tours

Thursday, October 13- Free day/ optional tours

Friday, October 14-  Receive Hannah’s passport.  Depart Zhengzhou for Guangzhou, China

Saturday, October 15- Hannah’s physical and visa photo

Sunday, October 16-  Free day

Monday, October 17- The all important Consulate Appointment, where we will take an oath.

Tuesday, October 18-  Receive Hannah’s Visa to go to the United States!  Depart for Hong Kong.

Wednesday, October 19-  Depart for the U.S. through Seoul, Korea, and arrive home!!!!!!!!!!

During one of our free days, we may have the option of visiting the orphanage that she has been in for so long in LuoHe, or we might go to Puyang, to see her “finding spot”.  We really won’t know those exact details until we are there.  I think both experiences would be invaluable, but we will have to travel several hours to get to each place, and I don’t think we can do both.  I think I will just have to evaluate the situation when we get there.  I can’t believe it is really almost here!!

We tried calling the Consulate, but really had no luck.  After MUCH deliberation, I think we will be leaving on October 5.  Thank you to everyone who sent me messages with different opinions and viewpoints. I took them all very seriously.  So sad that we have to wait another few weeks, but I am trying to focus on the fact that this time next month, I will be writing my blog from China.

In the meantime, I am going to do my best to focus on my precious ones at home.  We had a wonderful meeting at Z’s new school tonight, and got to see his self portrait and read his autobiography.  Definitely gave us some needed smiles.

Well, our agency told us today that we will not be able to travel next week because they were not able to get our Consulate Appointment.  I am majorly disappointed.  Here are our 2 options:

Option 1:  The US Consulate assigned us an appointment date of Oct. 17.  Working backwards from this date, we would then be leaving on October 5.  We would have 3 days of touring in Beijing, followed by a week in Henan, where we will get Hannah Min, and then some time in Guangzhou, in the South of China, where the US Consulate is located.

PROBLEMS WITH OPTION 1: a)We will have to wait 4 weeks to travel.  b) October 1-7 is a major holiday in China, so we will be trying to visit the Great Wall and other sites in Beijing during peak tourist times.  In a country as populated as China, this is not a small detail.  c)The tail end of the trip will be during a major trade fare in Guangzhou.  Hotels are at least triple the price.  Many agencies don’t even let people travel during this time because it can be so crowded.

Option 2: The Consulate is open 1 day during the holidays, on October 6.  They will let us travel, leaving September 21, and returning October 8.  The good news is, we could meet Hannah 2 weeks earlier.

PROBLEMS WITH OPTION 2: a) The trip would have to be 3 to 4 days longer.  We are leaving D and K at home, so this is a major detail to me.  b)  We would essentially be ON OUR OWN from Oct. 1-6, without the benefit of our guide and planned excursions and activities.  I’m not sure that I am that brave. c) We will still have to pay hugely expensive hotel prices due to being in China during the holiday.

ARG!!  This is a bit difficult to swallow.  I am planning to call the Consulate myself and BEG for a late September appointment, but that is definitely a long shot.

If anyone reading this has traveled to China during China’s National Holiday, or during Guangzhou’s Canton Trade Fare, I would love to hear your input!!

I know I have been MIA for a while.  It isn’t because things were dull around here, because that is never the case.  Unfortunately, I just have not been in a good place about this wait for traveling to China.  In the past few weeks, it has really just gotten to me.  It has seemed like we are so close to meeting our new daughter, and yet so far.  Some days have just felt like an eternity as I have checked my messages a million times, hoping to hear about some kind of progress.   I have been discouraged watching my online friends who I have shared this journey with continue to go through the process and pack their bags for China while we have just been stuck.  Some days I have not really been able to think about Hannah Min herself, because it has just been too painful.  I want to hold her so badly I can taste it!

The good news is that we received our Travel Approval today.  It was a phone call that I have been imagining for weeks now, and I am so grateful that it came today.  Tomorrow we should find out when we will be traveling.  At this point, it all depends on when we can get an appointment at the U.S. Consulate at the end of our trip, to get Hannah’s Visa to travel to the U.S.  If we can get an appointment the last week in September, we will be leaving on Wednesday of NEXT WEEK!!  Unfortunately, there are holidays in China at the beginning of October, and government offices are shut down, so if we miss the September window, we will not be traveling for 4 weeks.  I am trying hard not to get my hopes up too high, but I definitely have knots in my stomach knowing it is possible that we could hold our girl in less than 2 weeks!

We are coming sweet girl!!!!

Last night, my wonderful friends threw a baby shower to celebrate Hannah Min.  It was truly an incredible night, and I am so glad that I will be able to tell Hannah how many people loved her, long before we even got to hold her in our arms.

We started the night having dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  Loved that.  :)  My fortune cookie read, “You will soon have a pleasant surprise”.  How true that turned out to be.

After dinner, we went back to my wonderful friend Julie’s house.  My first pleasant surprise was my mother, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law there to join in the fun.  (Have I mentioned what an incredible family that we have?? )

We played some games, had a toast, and I opened so many sweet, individualized gifts for sweet Hannah.

The last present was something that will be a lifelong treasure.  It was a 100 wishes quilt that my friends and family all contributed toward.  In China,there is a tradition to welcome and celebrate a new life by making a “Bai Jia Bei”, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. Traditionally, friends and family all contribute pieces of cloth for the quilt, along with a good wish for the baby. Part of the material goes into the quilt, and then a small piece goes into a scrapbook along with a note for the baby.

Words can really not express how moved I am by this quilt.  So much thought and love went into the pieces of material that are now all sown together to welcome this child from across the world.  It is an incredible treasure.  Thank you so much to everyone who shared a piece of yourselves for our girl!!

You can read more about our quilt here.