I can hardly believe it has been 7 months 2 weeks and 6 days since we joined the children of promise program and here we are packing for China. We will meet our little boy in 6 days! It still feels a bit unreal actually. So much of this process has been one step forward 3 steps back that I keep waiting for someone else to say we have to wait on another form or approval. We have the supplies and then some. We have the love that has always been within us for our child. What more do we really need, except again the paperwork they ask from us. We will be able to celebrate mothers day and father’s day this year on a whole new level of JOY!! This journey has been so much longer than our “tickers” reveal to you all and it is amazing that it will finally happen. I think I’ll be in a bit of shock for a few days once we receive him. I keep praying it will be a smooth transition for him and not too traumatic leaving his home. I know there will be adjustments on all our parts as we get to know each other and learn to meet his needs.
I am sending love ahead of us to pave the way for easy transitions and lovely travel.
Thanks to all our friends and family for the years and years of support.
With loving kindness
Nancy & Gary
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Travel time is so close...
We will leave tomorrow to do a great wall of china tour before officially meeting our travel group. Excitement is crackling the air as packing does the same to my nerves. I will try to stay as close to China's lower weigh limits but we may end up paying a little in fees for overage. I'll know more of that tonight when it is all together and ditributed between 2 suitcases and 2 carryons. I confess to being a chronic over packer so this is really hard.
Gary is working today since it is tax season and hard to get away. I am off so all the last minute details can be taken care of.
Luckily our flight is not untill 12:15p tomorrow so our ride isn't coming at any ungodly hour to pick us up. Hopefully I will be able to sleep with all the excitement and nerves.
Our taxes are being mailed today. YAY. One less thing to be concerned about now. And hopefuly refund money soon to help with my unpaid family leave.
In an attempt to make sure we had what we needed for "gift" I probably over purchased. That is weighing down the bags too. Oh well better to be covered. And by Nanjing that will all be gone.
Everyone keeps telling me do laundry in country and we will most likely but ...I still like having what I need. Which has expanded now to diapers , wipe, bottles, toys and blankies for baby boy Ben!
I hope he likes what I have set aside since we will all be in a hotel room for 11 days together before that long pane ride home. 15 1/2 hours is how long that trip direct from Hong Kong is. This will be a crazy parenting challenge with a 16 month old.
So the travel goes like this we fly into Beijing China a day after we leave. We will be able to tour the Great wall and the forbidden city/Tianamin square before we receive Benjamin. We stay here until 3/28 when we transfer to his province Jiangxu, capital city: Nanjing. We receive Benjamin Rui 3/29 and stay here until he receives his passport for travel. 4/2 we travel to Guangzhou for the last of the governmental paper work and medical check. 4/8 we travel to Hong Kong by train and will be flying home 4/9.
Now that things from travel are out of Ben's room there is walking space yay! I can't wait till he is home with us. It will be such a joy to have our little boy home at last!!
We have taken a few classes in speaking chinese but sadly I think I will still be completely lost if someone start speaking fast and in long sentences. One of the women in our travel party speaks Mandarin and we will have guides from the travel agency which will bridge the gap in language.
5 other wonderful couples are traveling with us. Some of them are also receiving their first child. Others are more experienced parents and have gone to China previously for an adoption. All good resources I am sure we will become quite close during this trip. I hope the children can stay friends as well as the parents.
That is all for now I must finish the packing.
Thank you all for your overwhelming support and prayers for safe travel.
Blessings
Nancy
Gary is working today since it is tax season and hard to get away. I am off so all the last minute details can be taken care of.
Luckily our flight is not untill 12:15p tomorrow so our ride isn't coming at any ungodly hour to pick us up. Hopefully I will be able to sleep with all the excitement and nerves.
Our taxes are being mailed today. YAY. One less thing to be concerned about now. And hopefuly refund money soon to help with my unpaid family leave.
In an attempt to make sure we had what we needed for "gift" I probably over purchased. That is weighing down the bags too. Oh well better to be covered. And by Nanjing that will all be gone.
Everyone keeps telling me do laundry in country and we will most likely but ...I still like having what I need. Which has expanded now to diapers , wipe, bottles, toys and blankies for baby boy Ben!
I hope he likes what I have set aside since we will all be in a hotel room for 11 days together before that long pane ride home. 15 1/2 hours is how long that trip direct from Hong Kong is. This will be a crazy parenting challenge with a 16 month old.
So the travel goes like this we fly into Beijing China a day after we leave. We will be able to tour the Great wall and the forbidden city/Tianamin square before we receive Benjamin. We stay here until 3/28 when we transfer to his province Jiangxu, capital city: Nanjing. We receive Benjamin Rui 3/29 and stay here until he receives his passport for travel. 4/2 we travel to Guangzhou for the last of the governmental paper work and medical check. 4/8 we travel to Hong Kong by train and will be flying home 4/9.
Now that things from travel are out of Ben's room there is walking space yay! I can't wait till he is home with us. It will be such a joy to have our little boy home at last!!
We have taken a few classes in speaking chinese but sadly I think I will still be completely lost if someone start speaking fast and in long sentences. One of the women in our travel party speaks Mandarin and we will have guides from the travel agency which will bridge the gap in language.
5 other wonderful couples are traveling with us. Some of them are also receiving their first child. Others are more experienced parents and have gone to China previously for an adoption. All good resources I am sure we will become quite close during this trip. I hope the children can stay friends as well as the parents.
That is all for now I must finish the packing.
Thank you all for your overwhelming support and prayers for safe travel.
Blessings
Nancy
Friday, March 19, 2010
Oh, oh, oh, oh...my little China ... boy
Nihao!
So here we are, Friday night, March 19. The flood waters have receded and the basement is dry once again. It was not a good week in the water in the basement category. Okay, so we didn't get 18" like last time, or even four feet. With the pump we had, we managed to keep it to under 2". Why do I tell you this here? Because while all that was going on, we had to make some travel arrangements because ...
(drum roll, please...)
We're leaving for China on Wednesday, March 24. Holy cow and good God. That's right, kind reader, we are China bound! I'm moving ever closer to the moment of utter dadness. I've never been a dad before (at least not in this lifetime. If I was in a past life, I don't remember it), so this is gonna be (as they song) a whole new world.
There are four other families that will be in Beijing and Guangzhou with us, one of them from Harrisburg, PA. It'll be nice traveling with a small group of Americans as we make our way through a foreign land, the Middle Kingdom (between Heaven and Earth), as it's called.
Arrive in Beijing after a 13 hour, 45 minute flight from Newark (which I way prefer over JFK or LaGuardia). We have our orientation there as well as a trip to the Great Wall, Tienanmen Square, and the Forbidden City. We even get to see a silk factory.
Then it's off to Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu, the province where Ben's staying. Speaking of Ben, we are presented with him on March 29. The name of the city where the orphanage is, is Huai'an. I think we'll be getting a tour of the orphanage.
A few days later we're off to Guangzhou for all the bureaucratic stuff. Paperwork, medicals, visas, etc. I'm hoping we have a day to sneak over to the safari park. We're in China, we should see a panda or two, right? We have close to a week there to make sure everything's on the up and up. Ben needs to have all his papers in order.
Here's the cool part (one of the many cool parts): We leave China at 10:25 am on Friday, April 9th, fly for 15 hours, 30 minutes and arrive in Newark on Friday, April 9th at 1:55 pm. You do the math. Planetary rotation and time zones, and flying into the past. Does this mean that if we watch the news in China before we leave, we'll know what's going to happen in the US before anyone else does?
As Linus once said to Charlie Brown: Take consolation that the world can't end tomorrow because somewhere in the world, it already is tomorrow.
That's the travel plans. Plenty of writing time as we cross the country and the Pacific Ocean. I'll wave at you West Coasters as we go over ya!
I'm hoping to upload pix as we go, so you can all share our journey with us.
Talk to you soon.
Peace,
Gary . . .
So here we are, Friday night, March 19. The flood waters have receded and the basement is dry once again. It was not a good week in the water in the basement category. Okay, so we didn't get 18" like last time, or even four feet. With the pump we had, we managed to keep it to under 2". Why do I tell you this here? Because while all that was going on, we had to make some travel arrangements because ...
(drum roll, please...)
We're leaving for China on Wednesday, March 24. Holy cow and good God. That's right, kind reader, we are China bound! I'm moving ever closer to the moment of utter dadness. I've never been a dad before (at least not in this lifetime. If I was in a past life, I don't remember it), so this is gonna be (as they song) a whole new world.
There are four other families that will be in Beijing and Guangzhou with us, one of them from Harrisburg, PA. It'll be nice traveling with a small group of Americans as we make our way through a foreign land, the Middle Kingdom (between Heaven and Earth), as it's called.
Arrive in Beijing after a 13 hour, 45 minute flight from Newark (which I way prefer over JFK or LaGuardia). We have our orientation there as well as a trip to the Great Wall, Tienanmen Square, and the Forbidden City. We even get to see a silk factory.
Then it's off to Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu, the province where Ben's staying. Speaking of Ben, we are presented with him on March 29. The name of the city where the orphanage is, is Huai'an. I think we'll be getting a tour of the orphanage.
A few days later we're off to Guangzhou for all the bureaucratic stuff. Paperwork, medicals, visas, etc. I'm hoping we have a day to sneak over to the safari park. We're in China, we should see a panda or two, right? We have close to a week there to make sure everything's on the up and up. Ben needs to have all his papers in order.
Here's the cool part (one of the many cool parts): We leave China at 10:25 am on Friday, April 9th, fly for 15 hours, 30 minutes and arrive in Newark on Friday, April 9th at 1:55 pm. You do the math. Planetary rotation and time zones, and flying into the past. Does this mean that if we watch the news in China before we leave, we'll know what's going to happen in the US before anyone else does?
As Linus once said to Charlie Brown: Take consolation that the world can't end tomorrow because somewhere in the world, it already is tomorrow.
That's the travel plans. Plenty of writing time as we cross the country and the Pacific Ocean. I'll wave at you West Coasters as we go over ya!
I'm hoping to upload pix as we go, so you can all share our journey with us.
Talk to you soon.
Peace,
Gary . . .
Monday, March 8, 2010
We received our USCIS clearance today!!
So for all you who have been following along our USCIS clearance update has arrived For all those who can follow the alphabet soup of all of this, that is from the I 600process which is the I 171H clearance.
What this means is, once this form is received in China's consulate, we can make our consulate appointments and set our travel date.
We are a huge step closer to bringing home Ben!!
We will have Ben home before mother's day and Fathers day this year most likely. How excellent is that!!!
I am contacting the agency and sending the faxed copy off in the am so this can keep on moving forward.
There is so much to get done now and some serious packing and baby proofing needs to be moved up on the priority list here.
Keep up the prayers we need them.
Patience strength hope and love
Nancy
What this means is, once this form is received in China's consulate, we can make our consulate appointments and set our travel date.
We are a huge step closer to bringing home Ben!!
We will have Ben home before mother's day and Fathers day this year most likely. How excellent is that!!!
I am contacting the agency and sending the faxed copy off in the am so this can keep on moving forward.
There is so much to get done now and some serious packing and baby proofing needs to be moved up on the priority list here.
Keep up the prayers we need them.
Patience strength hope and love
Nancy
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Paiting my Baby
My painting for Ben
he is a sea of calm, spirit energy supports him and flows to him, with abundance following him.
Love Mom
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
China adoption process and information
for any one who has more questions about china programs and adoption
here is a link http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/folder?ID=121761&parent_id=121761 to a friends blog she has said it so well I feel it is silly to attempt recreating her information here.
Enjoy.
Nancy
here is a link http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/folder?ID=121761&parent_id=121761 to a friends blog she has said it so well I feel it is silly to attempt recreating her information here.
Enjoy.
Nancy
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