Travel plans are made and we are ready for our baby!

After a long one year, one month and one week of receiving pre-approval to adopt Yuhe we are preparing to leave to add her to the family. In 9 days (July 24th) Adrian and I fly out of Burlington to Washington DC to Beijing where we will spend a couple days touring the sites and visiting Love Without Boundaries, the wonderful foster home where she has spent all but four months of her life. We have been granted the opportunity to pick her up from Beijing on the 27th and travel with her to her birth province, of which I am so grateful. This means she will not be sent back weeks ahead of time to her orphanage to live with strangers, only to be caused more upset to then be placed with us, more strangers. Now her caregivers whom she trusts will explain who I am and why she will be going with me. What a wonderful gift for me and her!

We will be arriving in her birth province, Anhui, on the 28th by 4 hour high speed train. Oh how I hope she is starting to accept me by then! I'm sure she is going to be confused and upset and being stuck on a train is never an easy way to deal with those emotions. And just as I thought before I left to get Ava- I hope she likes me! It will be strange not to have Aaron there to share through the transition as we have always done together. He is my rock and I will miss him a great deal. Adrian will be a huge help in so many ways though and I'm so glad I can share this experience with my oldest child. I just wish I could bring them all! 

On August 2nd we leave Hefei City to go to Guangzhou to finalize with the US Consulate on the 6th. In the meantime I will spend my 38th birthday on August 3rd in China as a mother of 6! We will arrive home on the 8th from Hong Kong after 15 hours and another 7 hour layover, this time in Newark. We will arrive in Burlington at 11:30 pm. Ugh. This is the only time I really do not like living in a small state without a large airport. I'm going to be chomping at the bit to rent a car and just finish the trip myself...

I've decided to announce her name to everyone when I pick her up! And no, I'm still not positive what it is! Although the family has voted and we've narrowed it down to a few favorites.

So a couple last pics from our most recent update before I go. The next time I post will be on our way to China!

My beautiful Yuhe!

  And my beautiful Ava anxiously awaiting her arrival!

  My two spicy but sweet girls! Love it! These two, I have a feeling, are going to be quite the pair! Sisters, and friends for life. I can't wait to bring them together!!