In One Week...

We are heading to China!

In 7 days we will be boarding an airplane to China (drink, please!).

In 12 days I will hold my daughter in my arms.

Surreal? You bet. I cannot believe it. My heart is ready. My brain is still having a hard time adjusting. I can tell by the fact that it will not rest long enough for me to sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Every night I wake up, fully awake, at 1-ish. Check my emails for an update on Junie that I've been waiting on since July 6th. Nothing. Check my favorite blogs. Check on people in China right now, adding to their family through adoption. Witness the miracles going on. It is, and always has been, so fascinating to me. Then I tell myself, "that will finally be you. very very soon". Then, for some reason, I cannot fall back to sleep. :)

Our Itinerary in China:

7/28: Board that huge machine that is somehow supposed to stay suspended in the air until we reach Beijing (with a layover in Tokyo- I LOVE JAPAN!)

7/29: Arrive in Beijing at 11:10 P.M.. Although the flight is not actually 24 hours or longer, the time change will make us lose a day.

7/30: Touring the Great Wall (Mutianyu) and Summer Palace

7/31: Tour Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City and Hutong Tour

8/1: Fly from Beijing to Guangzhou. Check in at Garden Hotel.

8/2: GOTCHA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8/3: Proceed adoption registration at Civil Administration Bureau.
Take picture with our child.

8/4: Applying for passport. Interview. Sign adoption registration.

8/5: Free Day. Sightseeing around Guangzhou and Shamian Island. (Shopping!)

8/6: Local sightseeing (probably zoo).

8/7: Take pictures for visa application. Physical exam.

8/8: Local sightseeing. Visit Yuntai Park. Finish Visa application forms.

8/9: Receive Junie's passport, adoption registration card, birth decree, adoption decree and abandonment decree.

8/10: Local sightseeing (Liu Hua Hu Lake)

8/11: Consulate appointment (we actually don't go to this. our guide goes and we stand by at hotel in case they are in need of any documents)

8/12: Local sightseeing (Six Banyan Temple). "Swearing ceremony" (I hope she doesn't already know cuss words!).

8/13: Pick up Junie's Visa. Take a train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, 6:20 pm.

8/14: Fly Hong Kong to Detroit to Atlanta. Smother our boys with hugs and kisses. Introduce them to their new sister. Cry. Hug. Begin our life as a family of SIX!

Again, I don't know why I'm not sleeping! :)