Miss Wesleigh Jane!

What an unbelievable day! We woke up at 3:00 am and left the hotel at 5:30. The plane was on time and the boys spent that time catching up on their journals. I have to say, reading those journals is so awesome. It is amazing to see the trip through their eyes. They were so unbelievable excited (and nervous). We checked into the hotel and got to get everything unpacked. The rooms are small and there are no drawers to put clothes in, so we have things everywhere. That's ok...minor details. We got to the Civil Affairs Office a little early and what do you know...Wesleigh came walking out of the back room with the orphanage director.. I was unprepared for that and started grabbing the cameras. The boys were the sweetest camera men ever. I don't know what the video will look like because they kept switching out so they could have time to play. Wesleigh was very nervous at first and didn't want anything to do with the toys...until, that is, we bought out the stacking cups! She started watching the boys and got more and more involved in the game of building the tower and knocking it over. She started to laugh at them when it fell and even clapped for herself when she built it back. She was adorable, and of course the boys were eating every second up. They just stared at her and would notice all the little details.

When we got back to the room. They all hovered around me to play. I gave her a bath which went quite well. They said she was used to sitting in a tub and I believe them. She is tiny. She seems to be tall, but super skinny! I've never had one of those before ;) She fell asleep sitting on my lap while the boys sat there and stared at her. They are smitten. We also saw that she sucks her second finger to go to sleep....SO CUTE. We all went, "awww" when she stuck it in her mouth. She is still sleeping, but I'll need to wake her up soon so we can sleep some tonight.

So far...so good. She looks like she was well cared for and everything has been great. She's not so sure what she thinks of Richard but she did let him put Cheerios in her mouth. Oh...and the big bow on her head.....I put it in and she never touched it!! She still has it in sleeping right now!! Yep...she's mine!!!!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments. Keep them coming!! It's a wonderful piece of home, and so wonderful to know we have so many family and friends praying for us. Wesleigh will see one day, just how many people were waiting for her to get home!

GOTCHA!!!!!!!

Here she is!!! God is good. She was timid at first, but soon the boys had her LAUGHING with the infamous stacking cups. Here are a few pics. More later!!

It's Almost Here!

We had a super full day today. We started at a Christian church service. The only reason we were allowed into the church is because we are foreigners. You actually have to show your passport to be able to enter. The service was emotional just knowing that the Chinese people are not allowed to worship like we do. The worship team was a very multi cultural group. I would love to know their stories and how the ended up in communist China leading a worship service.

After the service, we went to lunch and enjoyed the Chinese version of "western" food. Have I mentioned that the food is not my favorite part of China? I have to say, I am so proud of the boys. They have been so willing to try new things and have liked some and disliked a lot, (same as me :) ) They just find a couple of things that they can eat and have been fine. Cade did have his first gagging bout at lunch. Poor thing took a big bite of "chicken pizza" and then decided that he didn't think it was chicken after all. We made him swallow it, but didn't know if he actually could for a minute. We think it was some kind of mushroom. I had a very similar incident at dinner tonight with a boiled shrimp. I'll just say... we're not in south Louisiana anymore.

We then went to the Olympic park and saw the water cube and birds nest. It was fun to see and the boys were treated like celebrities. They had a couple of picture opps, and loved every bit of it. By the way... I'm a celebrity here too. Not because of the blond hair (though I do get lots of stares) but because I have 3 boys. I have gotten more than one hug from a young girl when she finds out that all the boys are mine. They say I am very lucky. I agree, but not for the same reasons!

Tiannemen Square and the Forbidden City were next. Bryce was so excited to see the Forbidden City. He has talked about it for 2 days. I have no idea why or even if he knew anything about it. I have to say... I think he is the only one that had a great time. It was a TON of walking and it was FREEZING!!! I don't even know what the temperature was, but you'd subtract at least 10 degrees for the wind chill factor! This Louisiana girl was pretty miserable. In fact, one of the moms came up to me and said, "Why are they punishing us when all we want to do is adopt a baby?" So funny, but very true.

The Pearl Market was next and that might have been my favorite thing of the day. I bought a beautiful strand of pink pearls for Wesleigh when she gets older. I wanted one for myself, but decided against spending any more money. By the way Michelle, you owe me some money!!

Dinner wrapped up the day. Yep, not such a fan. That's ok, we have plenty of snacks in the room. Right now, it's 8:00pm and we just finished packing everything up. We leave the hotel at 5:30am for the airport! We have an 8:00 flight to Nanjing. The day we've been waiting for all this time is finally here! I really don't know if I believe it yet. It's a lot of fun to see all the families so excited. I can't wait to see them all in Guangzhou when we all have our children. They say we'll have a little time to get checked into the hotel before going to the civil affairs office to get Miss Wesleigh. We are all so excited. The boys started fighting over who was going to get to hold her first. Of course, I set them straight and told them they better get in line.... behind ME!! I am so excited to see what tomorrow brings. I'll post a picture as soon as I can.

You can probably tell by the length of this post that I'm much more rested today. I think Diana has had to rewrite my posts so you can even understand them. I wasn't able to put two sentences together my brain was in such a fog. I'm still tired, but not exhausted like before.

Thanks for all the support and prayer. If you're not commenting...please do. I'm going to print them all as a keepsake for Wesleigh later, all the wonderful people who followed our journey to her. You can sign as anonymous if you want and sign your name in the comment. Thanks!...I love seeing them all!!

The next time I post, I will have my little girl....can't even believe it! Can't wait!! One more sleep!!

FIrst Full Day In Beijing!!!!

We just got back to the hotel after a very busy day. We went to the Summer Palace, the Jade Factory, The Great Wall, and then we had a Peking Duck dinner. We are exhausted!! I was so impressed with myself until about 5:00 when I completely hit a wall. I wasn't the only one... the boys fell asleep on the bus and just about everyone else did too. By the time we got to go to the dinner, all we wanted to do was go to bed!

The highlight, by far, was the Great Wall. We had a beautiful day, but it was FREEZING! The wind was whipping around a couple of times, I thought it might blow us over. The boys did better climbing the wall than I did. I had heard it was steep, but I could have never imagined that. It was really hard to climb. It was a lot of fun, and I'm sure my legs will be sore tomorrow! :)

We have another busy day tomorrow. We will go to church, the pearl factory, to Tianamen square and the Forbidden City. It will be our last day as a family of 5! It is so hard to believe. Even though we are here, I just can't wrap my mind around it! We're having a great time and enjoying getting to know the other families in our group. But we are ready for the next step, and the real reason that we are here!

Two more sleeps until Wesleigh Jane makes us a family of six!!!

WE MADE IT!!!!!!

Wow...what a day!! I haven't slept in over 24 hours and my boys are in the next room going crazy because they DID sleep on the plane. We have a big day tomorrow. We are going to the Forbidden City, and The Great Wall which we're very excited about.

Here are a couple of pictures from the plane. We lucked out and the gate agent in New Orleans upgraded us so we would have more leg room. It was much nicer and we had quite a few seats to ourselves to stretch out. Thanks for all the prayers and support. I will have a better update tomorrow when I can keep my eyes focused. :)

Here's a little tidbit for the boy's classmates: We actually flew over the North Pole! We looked for Santa, but did not catch a glimpse of him! :) The screen in the plane showed us a map as we flew and we could track our progress. At one point it was -100 degrees!!!!! Can you believe that? Crazy!!

Three more days until "GOTCHA!!!"

"Wan An" from Beijing (Good Night)

And...We're Off!!

I absolutely can't believe this day is here. We have literally been talking about this for about 10 years and actively pursuing it for 3. I guess after all that time, it's hard to believe that it's really going to happen. I really can't believe that they're going to hand her over to me and that's it!!

We're all packed. Every bag is about 49 lbs. I guess we'll see how accurate our scale is ;) I have already informed Richard that there will be NO shuffling things from bag to bag! If they're over...he'll just have to pay. I can't get them any lighter than they are, and if I open them up...I might not get them closed again!

Gotcha Day is Monday afternoon, so while you're sleeping Sunday night, we'll be meeting Miss Wesleigh!! Diana is going to help me with my blog to make sure the posts get there. I was really hoping to be traveling with Diana, but that wasn't to be. She'll be going next month, and I'll get to watch her get sweet Sienna.

Please keep us in your prayers...that we'll all stay healthy and safe, that Wesleigh will have an easy transition, and that we will be able to discern how to best meet her needs. Thanks for all of your support throughout this process. You're the best!!

I'm off to bed. We have to get up at 2:45 to make a 6:15 flight in New Orleans. I'm thinking it's not going to be a problem ;) The boys are so excited, they can't contain themselves. I am so glad we decided to take them with us (although I might feel differently when we've been together for a week!).

We're going to CHINA!!!!

5 more sleeps until we get Miss Wesleigh!!

One Wild Ride

I can't even begin to tell you what a roller coaster ride I have been on these past couple of weeks! I have never been this stressed out...EVER!! My jeans are so big on me because I drop weight when I'm stressed. (Not that I'm complaining about that...lol...) We finally got the word at 9:45 last night that the consulate was FINALLY able to see our 797C. It has been there since the 14th, but I guess they just wouldn't look hard enough. It's been EXTREMELY frustrating and maddening. Thank you all for your kind words and support throughout this whole fiasco. I have been well aware that God has been in control, and we have had many divine interventions throughout this whole process. We can't wait to see what he has in store for us next! It's gotta be good seeing how hard I've had to fight for it!!

So in honor of my house being a disaster and me running around getting everything together, I thought I'd list 10 ways you know you're going to China!

1. You've been to Wally world 10 times in the past 3 days!

2. Your bathroom scale is in the middle of your bedroom so you can weigh your luggage.

3. The boys complain of having no clean socks because they're all packed, and you tell them to wear dirty ones!

4. You dream about and wake up thinking about things you need to pack.

5. Every time you pick up a toiletry, you think about how much it weighs and whether it's worth bring with you.

6. You've chosen what you'll wear on the plane because it's the heaviest thing you want to bring!

7. You've given your blog address to everyone you talk to.

8. You've prayed more in the past 2 weeks than you have in your entire life.

9. Your computer is the last thing you see at night and the first thing you see in the morning.

10. You can't stop smiling!!!!!

If you think of some more, share them...I'd love to hear them!!!

Here's a picture for you. It's of this so soft and sweet blanket that my sister-in-law made for Wesleigh. Is it not the most adorable thing ever? Can you see her name monogrammed on it? I absolutely adore it. She also made a number of adorable dresses. If I have time, I'll share them before I leave, if not....you'll just have to wait ;)