The adventure begins . . .

Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go! We leave tomorrow morning and arrive in Beijing on Thursday afternoon. We plan on seeing lots of sights in Beijing, including the Great Wall. I checked the weather today and it’s supposed to be 104 on Thursday. We’ll feel right at home (well, at least weather-wise), and what perfect weather for sightseeing... We are scheduled to meet Journey at 3pm on Monday, which will be 3am Monday at home. She will be taking a 3.5 hour trip to get from her orphanage to us. We are praying that the trip isn’t too hard on her and she will not be unhappy when she meets us.

Thank you, as always, for your prayers. Please continue to pray for good health for all three of us and that the transition for Journey will be an easy one.

Next update from China.

China Bound

Tickets are booked, camcorder purchased (now to figure out how to use it), drawer and cabinet locks installed (almost), still trying to determine how to fit everything into two suitcases and still have room for our clothes (seriously)…

Our departure date is getting closer. We thought we would be leaving on June 23 but that date was dependent upon confirmation of a visa appointment on a specific date during the week of July 5. That didn’t happen and so our trip was pushed back by one week. We are now confirmed to leave on 6/30 and will return on 7/15. We will be flying to Beijing and spending a couple of days sightseeing before flying on to Nanning on Sunday, July 4th. That is where we will FINALLY be united with our girl. Our Gotcha Day will be July 5th. I think 5 has become my favorite number – we were logged in to China on 4/5/06, Journey was born on 2/5/09 and we will finally get to hold her on 7/5. We will be in Nanning (Guangxi province) until Friday taking care of the adoption process with the local government. On Friday evening we fly to Guangzhou where we will have various appointments for medical exams and finishing up paperwork to bring Journey home. Back to Beijing the evening of the 14th and then catch an early morning flight on Thursday to Dallas. I think the travel time to and from China is about 20 hours each way.

The past three weeks have gone by pretty quickly. Doug and I celebrated our 15th anniversary on May 26th and he surprised me with tickets to see Brooks and Dunn at an outdoor concert in Dallas. I’m not a big country music fan but I became hooked on this duo several years ago when I happened to hear their song ‘Neon Moon’ on the radio. The concert was very entertaining, including the performers. The amphitheater’s record-breaking crowd consisted of hundreds of beer-drinking, hootin’-and-hollerin’ rednecks (not meant in a derogatory way – after all, I am from Montana and I’m blessed to have several lovable rednecks in the family) who started the party early in the afternoon by tailgating in the back of their pickup trucks. Leaving the parking lot after the concert was an adventure, too, one I would liken to riding in bumper cars. Really, it was a pretty great time, sitting on the grass on a balmy Texas evening listening to some good music. Doug did suggest, however, that next time we just buy the dvd. ;o)

We had an opportunity to take a weekend trip to Albuquerque with some good friends the week before our anniversary and had a wonderful time sightseeing there and in Santa Fe. The weather was perfect for being out-and-about for two days and it was extra special for me to visit Albuquerque - I had spent some time there as a teenager after my best friend’s family moved there. It brought back some very good memories.

This past week or so we have been baby-proofing, booking tickets, getting together the paperwork we need to take with us, and gathering all the recommended items to bring for Journey, which are mostly medications. Lots and lots of OTC medications. I think we’ll almost be ready when it’s time to leave…

Thank you for all the prayers and support we have received from our friends and family. Please be praying for Journey – that she will have an easy transition and quick bonding to us, and that all three of us will stay healthy during our time in China

Still Waiting and Baby Stuff

We have done some paperwork, had our fingerprints taken, again, (do they change?) and received our travel visa to China. Now we are just waiting for China to give us some travel dates. It still appears that it will be in June.

Some great news, though. I was able to get some updated pictures of Journey, as well as updated weight and height. Her original pictures were taken when she was 9 months old, so I knew she had changed since then. Her new pictures show her at 14 months and they say she weighs about 21 lbs and is about 30 inches tall. She looks very healthy, although still very serious. I am really looking forward to seeing her smile.

We have been receiving lots of fun packages from friends and family ~ mostly clothing, although my mom did give her a sweet little doll with Asian features and my sister Robyn sent her a beautiful little bracelet from Hawaii. One of Doug’s friends is having a group of guys get together for a “guy baby shower” and everyone is supposed to bring a book that they either enjoyed reading to their kids or enjoyed themselves as a kid. I thought this was a great idea and a wonderful way to build a library for Journey. One beautiful book we received from a very special couple is titled “I Love You Like Crazy Cakes” and was written by a mom who also adopted from China. It will be a great book to help tell Journey the story of her adoption.

I am also starting to gather all the stuff we will need to take with us to China, mostly for Journey. It is amazing how much is required for such a little person, and, I have to say, very baffling to shop for many of these things. Just looking for diapers can be overwhelming! Fortunately, I have several friends who have little ones, even a few who have recently returned from China, and they have been a great help.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us and giving us words of encouragement. And a very special thank you to those of you who have offered to baby sit.

Waiting to travel and good friends

Our adoption agency's guess about when we'll travel is sometime in June.  Many families who received their referrals when we did will be traveling sooner, but because we are adopting under the new Hague convention it is taking longer to get our travel approval.  It's complicated so I won't go into details.  However, we are keeping busy doing paperwork, figuring out what we need to take with us, what we need at home.  Some friends are planning a baby shower so I need to get registered someplace.  I was wandering through the baby section at Target to get some ideas of what I might need.  Also, some new friends who are also new adoptive moms gave me some great suggestions (thank you, Deana and Becky!).  I've also been learning how to post to Blogger from China as it is apparently blocked there.  This post will be a test using email.
 
Our very good friends (and great next-door neighbors), Andy and Lauren, have been such an encouragement to us from the get-go.  Lauren had some prints from Journey's referral pictures made up and framed and they are now displayed in the living room so we can look at her often.  Lauren is also crocheting a blanket for Journey using the pink and orange colors of the nursery.  It is beautiful!   As you might guess, Lauren is a woman of many talents.  Sunday morning, at Doug's men's group, another friend, Jim, gave Doug a beautiful frame with a picture of Journey and a picture of us.  Our first "family" picture.  We have some great friends.
 
So, back to paperwork and all the other stuff.   We'll keep you posted.

A different kind of Journey

It can be a challenge to decide on a name for a child. I had a list of names that I liked ~ actually about 130 names. I love unique names; Doug tends to be a little more traditional. We would discuss names periodically but had not come to any decision. Then one day, as I was reading a book, I came across the name “Journey.” I liked it right away and thought how appropriate it would be for both the baby and for us. I planned to run it by Doug and see what he thought. That evening Doug came home from work and one of the first things he said was “I heard a really cool name today.” I told him I did, too, and asked him what name he had heard. His reply was “Journey.” I was so shocked and he couldn’t believe it either when I told him that was the same name I found.

Many cultures choose a name based on a characteristic or something external that may be relevant during the birth of a child. We’ve heard Chinese names that translate to Snow or Ocean. And it has been quite the journey for us and for our little one. So it is with great pleasure that we introduce our daughter, Journey Ming Le Logsdon.

FINALLY! The Call ...

It is with great joy that we announce the referral of our daughter, Lu Ming Le. She is almost 13 months old and is currently in the Luchuan orphanage in the Guangxi province. Lu is her last name and represents the location of the orphanage. Ming Le means “bright and happy”.

Monday, March 1, was quite a day. I had heard a few rumors on Friday that China had sent out referrals and the agencies would receive them on Monday. I really didn’t allow myself to get too excited for fear that the rumors weren’t true or that our referral would not be included. Our agency called at 2pm with the great news and emailed me a picture right away. It was amazing to finally see our daughter's face and know her name. I forwarded the picture to Doug’s work email and called him with the good news. Wouldn’t you know, he was in the car returning to work from an appointment. As soon as he arrived at his office, he called me back as he opened the message with her picture. His first comment was that she has the same hair style that he does.

We don’t know when we will travel to China to bring her home, but hopefully it will be in 8-10 weeks. We have mountains of paperwork to do before we leave, so I will be kept busy doing that. I also need to figure out what I need to take to China and how I can get it to fit in one suitcase. That is going to be tricky... I’m thinking Doug will need to share his suitcase with me. I have a feeling the time will fly by.

Misfiled. . .

Our adoption agency called today with an explanation for why we did not receive our referral on Monday. All dossiers go through a review process and then are either approved or rejected based on the information submitted. The dossiers for our LID were probably in review during the spring of 2007 and, because of my medical history, ours was pulled and China requested additional medical information from my doctor. The information was submitted and ultimately we were approved to adopt. Our dossier should have been refiled with the other 4/5/06 dossiers, but, unfortunately, it was put in the wrong slot. So when the 4/5/06 batch came up for matching, ours wasn’t part of the group. Now, my thought is that China would say “Oops, we messed up. We’ll just match you right now and send your referral off tomorrow (or at least in the next few days).” But that’s not to be. The good news is they did find our dossier; the bad news is they will just include it with the next batch of referrals. It is unknown when the next batch will come out ~ maybe sometime in March, or even April. So we continue to wait and hope that nothing else goes wrong in the process. Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement, especially during these past few days. We are so fortunate to have such great friends and family.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” Ecc. 3:1 (NIV)