Leaving on a Jet Plane...

So the day has finally come. In less than 12 hours we will be on a plane to China. I'm feeling pretty good about it. Work is all set, house is all set, boys are all set, dogs are all set, and we are packed up and ready to go. Aidan gave me 30 cents, and told me to put it towards going to pick up Ava. I take that as giving his blessing. Adrian just walked by, squeezed my knee, and asked if I was all set, packed and ready to go. Given that he has turned into a typical teenager as of late the fact that he has even acknowledged me has made my heart happy. The other two boys have been giving lots of hugs so they may very well be expecting to miss me a little bit too. Asa wanted to stay home from football practice tonight to spend a little more time with us. Pizzas are in the oven and we're having dinner with all of our boys!

A big shout out and thanks to Grammy, Meme, Louis and Pepe for staying with the boys and keeping the house going. We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you all for always being so supportive. Ava is very lucky to be getting such good grandparents.

4:00 a.m. is going to come quick- signing off for now. Next stop- China.

In My Inbox... My Daily Meditation

Honoring Life Changes
The Wisdom of Fear

Anything really worth doing in our lives will always have some fear attached to it.

Anything worth doing will always have some fear attached to it. For example, having a baby, getting married, changing careers—all of these life changes can bring up deep fears. It helps to remember that this type of fear is good. It is your way of questioning whether you really want the new life these changes will bring. It is also a potent reminder that releasing and grieving the past is a necessary part of moving into the new.

Fear has a way of throwing us off balance, making us feel uncertain and insecure, but it is not meant to discourage us. Its purpose is to notify us that we are at the edge of our comfort zone, poised in between the old life and a new one. Whenever we face our fear, we overcome an inner obstacle and move into new and life-enhancing territory, both inside and out. The more we learn to respect and even welcome fear, the more we will be able to hear its wisdom, wisdom that will let us know that the time has come to move forward, or not. While comfort with fear is a contradiction in terms, we can learn to honor our fear, recognizing its arrival, listening to its intelligence, and respecting it as a harbinger of transformation. Indeed, it informs us that the change we are contemplating is significant, enabling us to approach it with the proper reverence.

You might wish to converse with your fear, plumbing its depths for a greater understanding of the change you are making. You could do this by sitting quietly in meditation and listening or by journaling. Writing down whatever comes up—your worries, your sadness, your excitement, your hopes—is a great way to learn about yourself through the vehicle of fear and to remember that fear almost always comes alongside anything worth doing in your life.
http://www.dailyom.com/


Fear almost always comes alongside anything worth doing in your life.

We are on the countdown to China!

Wow, have I been busy! This is a lot of work- arranging home, work and travel in the past two weeks. You think you can be all ready when the the call comes, considering you have known this was coming for 10 months, but it doesn't exactly work like that. But it will be so worth it when Aaron and I are finally on our way to pick up Ava. I keep daydreaming about us getting on the plane and just sitting, with no other worries, just waiting until we are dropped off in our daughter's homeland. This eagerness is intermixed with some sadness. Ok, a lot of sadness. I don't want to leave the boys. I'm starting to have little panic attacks about how I'm going to deal with being away from them for so long. I hadn't anticipated feeling so strong about this but as the time draws nearer I keep tearing up and thinking about more things I need to tell their grandmothers about. That's my way of dealing- make a list! I know they are in safe hands, it isn't that. I'm just going to miss them, everything about them, even when they act like the Wild Things. I really wish we had the money to bring them all to China because I know that I will be thinking about them with each experience I have and how much they would like it. I love to travel and experience new things but to me, the icing on the cake is watching and learning about the world through my children's eyes. I can only hope that someday they get the chance to visit China themselves. They are being very brave for us though and they know that their part in this is staying home and supporting us from there. So that's enough of my mixture of sad and yet still happy ramblings. Back to cleaning and packing. I only have 3 days left...

A peek into our hotel in Beijing...

We are going to start our journey by staying in this little authentic hidden gem in the center of Beijing, down an alley, where old Chinese men sit and play mahjong, chat and watch the foreigners dragging their rolling suitcases by to a little place called "Double Happiness Hotel". Where street vendors sell fried seahorses and scorpions (and no I will not partake in those type of snacks but Aaron says he will). It used to be a scholar's home and sits around a courtyard described as a quiet oasis in a huge bustling city. It is a 5 minute walk to the subway and we should be able to take that to most sights we want to see during our 3 day stay. Except for the Great Wall and the Summer Palace- those will require a driver and guide. I think the Double Happiness is a fitting place to start our adventure! This is the REAL thing but with real toilets- no squatty potties for me!


http://www.hotel37.com/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294212-d813642-Reviews-Double_Happiness_Courtyard_Hotel-Beijing.html

When in China...

Whenever I think that we are only 18 days away from flying to China it seems so surreal. I cannot believe that we are actually going to China and coming back with our daughter. Our daughter. Such a strange and wonderful feeling.
Our itinerary is all set...
Wed. Oct 19th- Fly out of Burlington at 7:45, connect in Chicago, fly to Beijing (13 hour flight).
Thurs. Oct 20th-Arrive in Beijing
Fri. Oct 21st - Rest and eat- do some light touring of the city- maybe take the subway to Tiananmen Square and Temple of Heaven. Did I mention rest and eat?
Sat. Oct 22nd- Tour- see the Great Wall and the Summer Palace
Sun. Oct. 23rd-Find Dongyue temple in the morning, checkout and take the bullet train to Taiyuan (capital of Shanxi Province)- this will take 3 hours- the train will go 155 mph. 155 mph!! (Yikes!)
Mon. Oct 24- Meet Ava!! The very thought of this makes my stomach do flip-flops. I hope she likes us!
Tues. Oct. 25- Adoption Registration and Passport for Ava
Wed. Oct. 26- Tour- See Ping Yao, Yangtze Park, Provincial Museum of Taiyuan, Jin Ce Temple
Thurs. Oct. 27- Shopping, Touring, Resting, whatever floats our boat!
Fri. Oct. 28- Fly to Guangzhou - Stay on Shamian Island in the Guangdong Victory Hotel
Sat. Oct. 29- Ava's medical exam
Sun. Oct. 30- Tour and Rest
Mon. Oct. 31- Tour and Rest
Tues. Nov. 1- Consulate Appt.! It's official!
Wed. Nov. 2- Pick up Ava's Visa
Thurs. Nov. 3- travel to Hong Kong by Train- leave Hong Kong
Thurs. Nov. 3 arrive in Chicago- 7 hour layover (yuck) and then arrive home in Burlington around 11 pm that night.

Aaron and I are both so excited. What an adventure!

Two Posts in one day- Is it Possible? Could it Be? Yep, that's right! We got TA!

Today I went to work early, and focused really hard on a huge project that has to be done before we travel. I didn't check Rumor Queen at all, and I didn't even think about anything adoption related. And, you know what? We got the call at 3 pm, our TA was received! I nearly fell over, I never expected to hear anything today. I started hyper-ventilating, dancing around the office and then wondered why I didn't feel as though I was in the least bit prepared for this. When did we want to travel again!? Luckily Linda here at the office helped me by pulling out the calendar and trying to walk me through the dates. We are requesting a November 1st Consulate Appointment. That will mean we will probably travel the 19th of October or thereabouts. I'm so excited, nervous, scared, happy- the next three weeks are going to go by fast- I've got to get packing!

Travel Approval is on the way!!

Our agency also expected our TA to come on Monday so they checked with China to see where it was. Although it was ready for signature last Thursday it did not get signed by the director until Monday. Sent Tuesday, and should be in Wasatch's hands on Friday. That's great news, right?!! So happy to know it is on the way.

That all being said, and really I am happy, but have I mentioned how much I dislike snail mail now, and how much the Chinese and US government seem to love it?

Wasatch needs that piece of paper to make our Consulate Appointment (the last step). If it comes on Friday it will already be the weekend in China and we won't be able to make our Consulate Appointment until next Thursday because of the holiday week. I'm still hoping it comes on Thursday instead but if not I will be patient (easy when you don't have a choice *wink*) and wait another week. It just would be so nice to be using the time next week to set travel plans, not just waiting again.

I know that we are right there, the end of this strange endurance test is in sight. We are almost in China with our baby Ava in our arms...I just still hold out hope that I will catch a break at some point in this process.

Some things I have learned in the past year:
Not everyone uses scanning, email and fax; it does not waste enough time- they still use the postal service.
I'm really not good with steps with erratic, undependable timelines.
I so appreciate lines.
I only understand first come-first served.
I have to rely on a logical order of things to keep my sanity in check.
And I continue to learn how to throw this all out the window and be flexible.

Hmm... Probably good preparation for our travel and for when Ava comes home...

She's losing it people....my day in summary...

Everyone in adoptive parent land knew that today was going to be the day for Travel Approvals. I've been waiting 17 days- the average for when one should be approved. There are about 10 people on RQ waiting for the good news. Last week, I think there was one approval. This day should have brought a landslide of them....Can you sense the anticipation? So, I woke up, got the kids ready for school and headed off to work. I'm plenty busy there. I should be able to keep my mind off this right? I actually thought to myself- I'm so cool and relaxed- I'm not going to check RQ or obsess about TA today, if I get it I get it and if I don't... (here, my friends, comes the downwards spiral) well, I may not get it all week, which puts us into the October holiday, which means TA would be at least two weeks away, and can I handle it if I don't get TA today?, maybe I better make a cheer up letter now to myself for after I don't get TA and I'll list all the good things about waiting to travel until November, I better check RQ and see if anyone else got TA, only two TAs from the same freakin' agency- what the hell? Is CC@AA trying to make us crazy? Is this some sort of endurance test? Well, I better call my agency and see if they heard anything. And I'll be casual about it, so they don't know I've turned into a momzilla (oh wait, my cover was blown along time ago)... nothing there yet, maybe tomorrow. Ugghh... Yep, I'm a freak. What's that phrase about whatever doesn't kill you?... oh yeah, it will make you stronger. I'm really strong right now- a really strong freak.

Waiting for Travel Approval

Today we are officially waiting for our Travel Approval. This generally has been taking 2-3 weeks. Our Visas came by FedEx yesterday and I've started talking to a travel agent. It is likely we will travel in October!  The previous post was straight from Shutterfly and it is an electronic version of the photo book I put together for Ava. It talks about her story and the journey we have taken to come together as a family. I want to take it when we travel so I can introduce her to her brothers and our home.
So here is a bit of trivia for you... which way would you think we would travel from New Jersey to China non-stop? Perhaps over the Atlantic, or west over the Pacific? This is how my mind works - east or west, right? Nope, neither!  In fact, we will be flying right over New England, Canada, over Baffin Island, over the North Pole, Russia/Siberia, Mongolia and into China. I found this to be so interesting! What an adventure!

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger