Itinerary!

We leave for China in 8 days!!! Here's our itinerary...

5/6 Leave Jacksonville at 5:42am!
5/7 Arrive in Beijing, China at 2:20pm
5/8 Sightseeing tour of the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tian An Men Square
5/9 Leave for Hefei City, Anhui Province
5/10 9:30am Meet Yue Lu at the Civil Affairs office...our Forever Family Day!
5/11 9:30am Family goes to Civil Affairs office for adoption paperwork; shopping for Yue Lu
5/12 9:00am Visit to the Hefei Zoo
5/13 Visit to orphanage
5/14 3:00pm Get Yue Lu's passport, leave for Guangzhou at 6:40pm
5/15 9:00am TB test
5/16 9:00am Sightseeing tour to Chen Family's Temple
5/17 2:00pm Medical Exam and Visa photo for Yue Lu
5/18 2:30pm Sightseeing tour to Yuntai Park
5/19 9:00am Guide goes to American Consulate to hand in adoption documents
5/20 3:00pm Family goes American Consulate for oath-taking ceremony
5/21 3:30pm Guide goes to AC to get Visa; leave by train to Hong Kong
5/22 12:25pm Leave Hong Kong for Jacksonville; arrive home at 11:00pm

China is 12 hours ahead of our time. We meet Yue Lu on May 10 in China, and it will be Mother's Day in the US!!!

Yue Lu's birthday party!

Happy Birthday Yue Lu!!!

It is 12 hours ahead of time in China, so it's April 23rd....Yue's Lu's 5th birthday! She is probably in her kindergarten class and will hopefully be receiving her birthday cake care package we sent some time today. A camera is included in the package, and a lot of times the orphanage will take pictures and send them to the adoptive family's agency. I really hope that happens and that we'll get some new pictures of her on her big day.

We will be celebrating Yue Lu's birthday in Guangzhou along with other families whose childrens' birthdays just passed or are coming up soon. Should be fun since several of them are Yue Lu's age.

I've been enjoying buying clothes for Yue Lu, and just hope that they all fit her. I really want to buy her some shoes, but will wait for now since I have no idea what size she wears. I asked the woman we're using for her care package to see if she can find out her sizes, and if we're lucky, we may have the them soon.

Surprise 'Daughter' Shower!!!

My awesome co-workers threw me a surprise daughter shower last night at Pepper's Mexican restaurant. This has become our spot to celebrate co-workers' birthdays. So, I walk in to partake in some margarita drinking, and was shocked to find out we were also celebrating Yue Lu! I was wondering why everyone was clapping when I walked in until I saw the boat load of gifts in the corner.

I was given some amazing fun gifts that I cannot wait for Yue Lu and myself to play with. My co-workers (and Pepper's) rock!!!

Travel Dates!

We are scheduled to leave for China on May 6, and our Forever Family Day (or 'gotcha day') is on May 10! Now, I'm pretty sure that is May 10 China time, which will be Mother's Day (the 9th) in the US! How awesome is that?!

We first fly into Beijing, and the following day we tour the Great Wall, Tian'an Men Square, and Forbidden City. After Beijing, we will fly to Yue Lu's province, Anhui, and she is in Hefei City. We will be there for several days for bonding, shopping, and to get her passport. Then we fly to Guangzhou, southern China, where it is hot and humid, for her medical exam, our Consulate Appt, and then the adoption ceremony.

We leave to come back home on May 22. So we will be in China for 16 days! Wow! I'm expecting some major jet lag!

Our latest picture of Yue Lu!!!

Our agency sent us a new picture of Yue Lu and an update on 3/31/10. She is getting so big! I just love her smile. She looks like such a happy, well cared for girl. She should definitely know at this point that she is being adopted. We requested updated measurements, but we received her picture and a brief update instead!

We received TA!!!

Our agency emailed me today saying TAs (travel assignments) have arrived for families...however we don't have our dates yet! They have to schedule our Consulate Appointment first, then book our travel. The earliest we can leave is April 21. Several families from different agencies received TA today and I've read dates on the 14th and 22.

After such a long wait, I can't believe we are this close to meeting Yue Lu!