We are here!

Whew! It is 6:20 on Friday evening here (6:20 am at home) and we just checked into our hotel room. We are pooped! Morgan slept a grand total of 2.5 hours and I even less. Mike, of course, dozed quite a bit off and on. We will be hitting the bed (if you call it that - the largest beds are slightly bigger than a twin). Neither one of us has given in to sleeping with the little monster as there is no way we could sleep comfortably with one another. We experienced quite a bit today - the public restrooms - long story for later and customs. The customs people were very much like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. No eye contact and no direction so, we just handed our stuff and slid on down. Morgan is excited as ESPN is in our current hotel room. Yes, he came to China to be excited about ESPN (we don't have cable at home). He did say that he wished he would get to see Rylee today and not have to wait. Big day tomorrow - 7:30 am til evening. Best go as our battery is running low. Good night!

Ready!

We leave TOMORROW! By this time tomorrow, we will be hanging out at O'Hare for our 4 hour layover. Got the call this morning that our paperwork is fine - except for one document that needs to get a new notary. Mike is taking care of that at work today. All that is left to do: my haircut, clean bedrooms/bathrooms, and pack our backpacks with last minute stuff. Yes, I can not leave a messy or dirty house. I know there will be dust after two weeks, but I just can not leave it otherwise! Okay, so there may be a bit of OCD there.... YEAH! We leave tomorrow!!! I just want to get on the road, I hate the time leading up to the trip - makes my stomach turn!! Bye for now...Until China...What in the world are we doing going to China? Eeek!

We have hit a glitch in our paperwork...We are hoping that we get the answers we need tomorrow. One of our documents had to be signed and notarized. Well, we did that back in August and checked it off of our list. I noticed as I was compiling all of our paperwork that the notary's commission expired yesterday. Now, we have to get another original document and have it notarized. The scary part is that all of our documents that received a notary for our dossier (paperwork that got us approved to adopt a child by the Chinese government) were by the same notary. So, we hope that not all of this paperwork has to be redone - there is no way that we could redo it in a few weeks let alone a day. YIKES!

Where is that straight jacket - Oh, I forgot, we packed it!!!

Prayer

1 more day! A letter was written back in October of 2002 letting family and friends know of our decision to adopt. In that letter it requested prayer and that God would show us His will. Can you believe it, three years later (5 days short of the exact day the letter was written) we know about the precious gift He had in store for us! We thank you all for your love, support, encouraging words, and prayers during our adoption journey. We hope that you will continue to pray for us as we now embark on our next adventure. The trip to China is going to be stressful as we are going to be immersed in another culture and everything is going to be so foreign (especially for Mike and Morgan). In addition, we (okay, it is more like 'I') are experiencing a range of emotions - nervous, scared, excited, etc. We hope you will pray for our safety, health (big one that concerns me), patience, Rylee's transition to us and her health.

This will probably be our last posting from the good ole' USA until after we return home. We hope to update everyone as much as possible from China so, stay tuned...

Guess who is one...

3 more days! Although we were hoping to have Rylee home to celebrate her first birthday, we are thrilled that it is not much longer before she will be in our arms! The birthday party will be postponed a month or so until we have settled in. By then, we will all be ready to really celebrate. A few renditions of "Happy Birthday" were sung in her honor today and there will be many more to come!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYLEE!

Preparing for Take Off

4 more days! Well, things have been a bit busy around here the last few days...I am still having a hard time believing that we are going to China and that in nearly one week we will getting our baby girl! We are feeling a bit anxious, excited and nervous. I am the one who worries so, I have done a enough of that for all of us.

Morgan wants to add some thoughts - he loves to type on the computer...
Message from Morgan (written by Morgan): I am exided ubout going to China. I want to see the Great Wall of China. I hope Rylee will be helthy and safe. And happy with us.

Today, we packed our bags...Being the planner, I wanted to have this done on Thursday so that I would not have to deal with it this weekend. Well, Mike laughed at the idea and thought I was crazy. Morgan, on the other hand, was ready to pack on Monday when he saw the luggage being brought in. Let's just say that packing took all morning and was quite the experience! Our carry on looks like a Rite Aid/Walgreens store - we have just about everything, "just in case"! We got everything in 3 suitcases and 4 carry-ons. Our family is still intact and is still looking forward to sitting next to one another on the plane :o) Not too bad!

Top Ten

7 more days! The other night I experienced something that I had never experienced before and that got me to thinking that I need to scrapbook a page for Rylee entitled "Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Living With 'The Boys' ". Amazing, that one close call can inspire a scrapbook page. Let's just say that I got up in the middle of the night and didn't turn on any lights so as not to disturb the boys...

So, here goes in the David Letterman fashion...

Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Living With 'The Boys'

10. In a few years you will understand the saying, Boys Will Be Boys!
9. When watching sports with the guys, you must yell at the TV. Afterall, the players and coaches can hear you.
8. PaPa loves a good salute.
7. Simply saying "Let's go shopping" will bring them to tears.
6. Cover your ears if there is a VW within a 1 mile radius as you will hear a shrill like you have never heard before.
5. Dinner out to them means a meal at Fazoli's.
4. The only mail that matters to them is the first Saturday of the month - Sports Illustrated arrives.
3. They love a good wrestling match!
2. Always check the toilet seat before sitting down, especially in the middle of the night.
1. They are great at spoiling us girls!