I cannot believe the day is finally here! I feel as if I am walking around in a fog and like a chicken with its head cut off at the same time. When we first saw Quinn's face, we were ready to hop on a plane the next day to get her, but after waiting, and waiting, and WAITING, it becomes difficult to imagine that you will ever hold your child that is on the other side of the earth. I have spent many nights dreaming about Quinn and many days pondering with Chris, the boys, family, and friends what she will be like and how we will be the best parents possible for our little girl. Now the waiting is over and we are heading to the other side of the world to meet our daughter!
I am a bundle of emotions right now and don't think I'll sleep much, which is fine. According to my well-traveled husband, it will be ideal if we can sleep from noon-8pm tomorrow on the plane to adjust to the new time zone. I am NOT good at switching time zones, so I am grateful for his expertise. However, I am still quite skeptical that I will wake up at 8pm feeling refreshed and ready to start my day:)
We have been bathed in prayer by so many wonderful friends over the past week, but we would still cherish your prayers for safe travels tomorrow. We will leave Charlotte 9am EST and arrive in Beijing 2:40am EST, 3:40pm China time. We plan to update the blog Thursday night once we're settled...we'll see:)
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
LEAVIN ON A JET PLANE...
but we DO know when we'll be back again:) We leave a week from tomorrow, Wed, Nov 30th and are due to return home Sat, Dec 17th at 11:30pm. The trip home, including layovers, will be over 30 hours long...YIKES! That would be bad enough with just the two of us, but with a 2 1/2 yr old in tow, we are petrified! Please say prayers for our sanity:)
We will travel to Beijing first, arriving 3:40pm Thursday (they are 13 hours ahead of us.) Chris and I will have a guide, Rocky, who will show us all the amazing sights in Beijing. Then, we'll hop on a plane Sunday, Dec 4th to head to Quinn's province, Guangdong, which is near Hong Kong. We will spend the next two weeks there as all our appointments and meetings happen to take place in Quinn's province, specifically the city of Guangzhou. Our guide during those two week will be Jack. Our official Gotcha Day when we will meet our beautiful daighter for the first time will be Dec. 5th!!!! We are over the moon excited and completely frightened at the same time. It's just like giving birth for the first time...you can't wait to meet your baby, but you have no idea what to expect the labor, delivery, and first days to be like. It's completely overwhelming and exhilirating at the same time. Needless to say, Chris and I (esp me) have been waking in the middle of the night loaded with thoughts...perhaps preparing us for sleepless nights to come. For now, we'd appreciate your continued prayers for Quinn as she is back in the orphanage and for a sense of peace for Chris and me as we prepare for the trip of a lifetime!
We will travel to Beijing first, arriving 3:40pm Thursday (they are 13 hours ahead of us.) Chris and I will have a guide, Rocky, who will show us all the amazing sights in Beijing. Then, we'll hop on a plane Sunday, Dec 4th to head to Quinn's province, Guangdong, which is near Hong Kong. We will spend the next two weeks there as all our appointments and meetings happen to take place in Quinn's province, specifically the city of Guangzhou. Our guide during those two week will be Jack. Our official Gotcha Day when we will meet our beautiful daighter for the first time will be Dec. 5th!!!! We are over the moon excited and completely frightened at the same time. It's just like giving birth for the first time...you can't wait to meet your baby, but you have no idea what to expect the labor, delivery, and first days to be like. It's completely overwhelming and exhilirating at the same time. Needless to say, Chris and I (esp me) have been waking in the middle of the night loaded with thoughts...perhaps preparing us for sleepless nights to come. For now, we'd appreciate your continued prayers for Quinn as she is back in the orphanage and for a sense of peace for Chris and me as we prepare for the trip of a lifetime!
Monday, November 14, 2011
TA IS HERE!
We received our TA (travel approval) on Thursday, Nov 10th! Yes, it took 3 weeks, the long wait as everything else has been, but IT'S HERE! We can't book our flights until our court appts in China have been booked by our agency. It can take up to a week to book the appts, but our case manager said we may actually (brace yourselves) get the appts TODAY so we can book flights TODAY!
Making us smile even more, we finally received a response from our update request ages ago. Quinn is right in the 18 month clothing range, petite for a 30 month old, but her head is in the 50%! A big-brained kid like the Pendergrast boys:) She's already potty training (guess I need to trade in the diapers I bought for a potty seat:) She's speaking 3-5 word sentences, loves cars and trucks to play with, and is a great sleeper and eater.
Now for the heart-breaking part...it is policy to send children back to the orphanage from their foster homes once the adoptive family's TA has been received. This means that Quinn may have already left her adoring foster mother (as evidenced from the amazing pictures we received) and gone back to the orphanage for what could be 3 weeks:( Please stop reading now to say a prayer for Quinn's comfort, safety, and care as well as her foster mother's sense of peace. I cannot imagine the grief that they both must be feeling right now.
We hope to update soon with our travel plans:) If you could say a prayer for that process to go smoothly, we'd appreciate it.
Making us smile even more, we finally received a response from our update request ages ago. Quinn is right in the 18 month clothing range, petite for a 30 month old, but her head is in the 50%! A big-brained kid like the Pendergrast boys:) She's already potty training (guess I need to trade in the diapers I bought for a potty seat:) She's speaking 3-5 word sentences, loves cars and trucks to play with, and is a great sleeper and eater.
Now for the heart-breaking part...it is policy to send children back to the orphanage from their foster homes once the adoptive family's TA has been received. This means that Quinn may have already left her adoring foster mother (as evidenced from the amazing pictures we received) and gone back to the orphanage for what could be 3 weeks:( Please stop reading now to say a prayer for Quinn's comfort, safety, and care as well as her foster mother's sense of peace. I cannot imagine the grief that they both must be feeling right now.
We hope to update soon with our travel plans:) If you could say a prayer for that process to go smoothly, we'd appreciate it.
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