Pictures from yesterday...

The stuff.....

















The food.....

Where our van broke down.....

Day One – Thursday/Friday

Well it’s actually 1:40am on Saturday but I was way too tired to sit down in front of the computer last night to write anything. I should really be sleeping as I’m sure the day will catch up to me way too early but once my eyes opened a half an hour ago, there was no going back to sleep

Wow, where do I start…..

The flight to Vancouver was a little over an hour and was very uneventful. But let me tell you, when we loaded the plane to Beijing, all I can say is WOW. Business class is the way to fly! I had my reservations when I first bought the tickets as they were just about double in price but it was definitely worth every penny!!! What did we do to pass the time on the 11 hour flight you ask? EAT!!! I swear they fed us straight for the first 3 hours of the ride, a 6 course meal!!! Then we watched “Match Point” (good when I fist saw it, not so good this second time around), and then we were offered a personal DVD player to watch. Gary watched “Four Brothers” and I watched a drama (can’t think of the name) but fell asleep half way through it. During this time, we had tea and snacks (Mr. Noodles and finger sandwiches). Then about 2 hours before landing, they fed us a full meal again! I’ve never experienced anything like it…..it was definitely a nice treat!

As soon as we got off the plane, the heat and humidity hit me like a ton of bricks! I thought I was going to throw up until we reached the safety of the air conditioned terminal. We had to line up to get through customs and I think every plane coming in from every imaginable destination decided to arrive at the same time because the throngs of people just took my breath away…and that was only in customs! Nothing could prepare me for when we got out of the baggage claim area….there were literally hundreds of people waiting with signs. We managed to spot ours but people were pushing from every which direction to get to the other side of the ropes that it took us a bit to find her on the other side. We pushed our bags to the parkade where cars literally driving inches of other were fighting to get out. One thing I’ve learnt so far is that there is no such thing as line ups or waiting your turn. If you have the tiniest of room to squeeze by, go ahead, butt in. There is no need to make eye contact or to say excuse me, whether you’re in a car, or in line at the airport. I don’t think they’re being rude, that’s just the way it’s done here.

So then, we’re driving to the hotel and our guide is telling us all about Beijing….when suddenly, the driver pulls over to the side of the road because the van decided to quit on us. We waited a whole hour for another driver to pick us up. The heat was starting to stick to me like bees to honey and I was getting crankier by the minute (so Gary pointed out to me). What was supposed to take us 20 minutes took us almost 3 hours. We were exhausted. I told Gary that we should try to stay up later so that we could acclimatize to the time change but we could only hold out until about 8:00pm……that’s why I can’t sleep anymore! And the booming thunder is no help either.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with some pictures I’ve taken so far….most of which is our meals on the flight…….I’m all about the food baby!

(I can't seem to view my blog here but I have no problem adding posts.....)

(It seems I also can't post any pictures at this time....I'll try again later!)

Oh. My. Gosh. It is now down to one more freaking sleep and I just can't believe it. Yesterday was a horrible day, a day I'd rather have slept through but I did manage to get a lot accomplished. It's been about 28degrees here the last couple of days and it's been quite difficult packing suitcases on the second floor with no air conditioning in the house. I think I may have lost a few pounds just from the heat alone. I would really just like to get on that plane and away from all of our luggage so that I don't have to keep worrying and checking over them every time I walk by. I figure once I'm on the plane, if I've forgotten something......OH WELL, the 3 of us will survive! It's quite amazing how much stuff you need for such a little girl....good heavens! She alone has about 2 suitcases and the husband and I are sharing one for ALL of our clothes. I guess I have to get use to the fact that, from now on, it's ALL ABOUT HER!!!

This will by my last post from home...me and my dear laptop will be separated for 2 whole weeks!!! How, oh how will I ever make it through. I was contemplating taking it with me but since the husband needs his to do work while we're down there, it would be silly for 2 new parents to lug 2 laptops half way across this world, cuz, like we'll have time for work and surfing the net right??! I will try to update the blog daily with pictures and updates of Jenna, but there are no promises. It will probably take a day or two to get use to this new Mommy gig so be patient. Also, I will be checking my emails daily so, please, I would love to hear from you!

For the family and friends who are asking if they can come greet us at the airport, please do. (Friday, July 14th @ 4:55pm on Air Canada Flight #242). I figure Jenna will be use to all the different faces right when we fly in so it will be the perfect opportunity for everyone to meet her for the first time. I would just ask that there be no lunging, grabbing or stealing of the baby (Mom, that means you).....and if she looks at you strangely or the lip starts to quiver when you speak to her, don't feel badly, she'll probably do that to us when we first meet her!

Hold on tight our little miss Jenna.......Mommy and Daddy are finally on our way!

Goodbye my dear friend....

Today we made the painstaking decision to put our boy to sleep. As hard as that decision was, we knew that he would suffer no longer.

In the 11 years of his life, I've not known a more loving, faithful dog, and we will miss him terribly.

Sleep well my friend, mommy and daddy will never forget you. Until we meet again.....

4 MORE SLEEPS!!!!!

It's so hard to imagine that in 4 more sleeps, the "Journey to Our Sweet Jenna" will finally begin. Everyone asks if I'm excited, and of course my answer is yes. But quite honestly, I would of thought I'd be more excited. I guess with all the loose ends left to tie up, my mind has been completely focused on paperwork, buying supplies and making sure I don't forget anything. I know that I'm bringing more than enough with us to China, and I also realize that things can be purchased there, but I guess I'm just on super-extremely-anal mode right now. I guess, at the end of the day, I have to stop and realize that it doesn't matter what outfits I bring her to wear, or whether or not the shoes I bought her are going to fit, or if we have enough medication for all the just-in-cases. What matters is that we're going there to pick up our daughter and finally bring her home where she belongs.

Am I excited. Sure. Am I nervous? Hell yah. Am I packed?...........not yet.

My darling nieces.....

Family

Just testing out my one and only video I've made so far of my nieces. I need to make sure I know what I'm doing before leaving for China!!!

Jenna-Day confirmation.....

We now have our long awaited itinerary!!!! Here are the details:

June 29
Leave Edmonton to Beijing via Vancouver

June 30
Arrive Beijing, guide to transfer us to International Hotel

July 1
Rest and wait for other families to arrive

July 2 ( Jenna-Day!!!!!)
Fly Beijing to Nanchang, transfer to Gloria Plaza Hotel
Go to the Civil Affairs in the afternoon to meet the babies and sign the adoption agreement

July 3
Go to Civil Affairs again for registration, notarization and applying for passport

July 4
Guide will bring families to local department store to buy some daily necessities for the babies

July 5
Visit the Temple of Teng Wang Ge

July 6
Visit the resort for Ba Da ShanRen

July 7
Pick up passports
Fly Nanchang to Beijing, transfer back to International Hotel

July 8
Medical Exam and take photos for babies

July 9
Sightsee the Great Wall

July 10
Go to Canadian Embassy for visa appointment

July 11
Visit Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City

July 12
Rest day

July 13
Hutong Tour
Pick up Visas
Beijing Duck dinner

July 14
RETURN HOME!!!! (Arrive in Edmonton on Flight AC242 @ 4:55pm)

So there it is folks, only 17 more days until we have Jenna in our arms forever!!!! I just can't believe this is all hapenning. I've gotten a little further with the packing. I now have 1 large suitcase filled with just things for Jenna, not including the toys and clothes I plan to bring for her. It consists mostly of medication, diapers, wipes, etc. I don't know how I'm going to fit everything into 4 suitcases! I guess there will be some packing, unpacking and re-packing to be done in the next few days! Wish me luck!

Blogger doesn't want to co-operate!!!!

So this is the picture I was trying to insert in my last post but blogger wouldn't let me. Bad Blogger, bad!

This is our official "Bring Jenna Home" card. There she is, all black and white on the bottom of the sheet. I'm sure she's changed so much since this picture was taken, I hope I'll still be able to recognize her.

We are still waiting for our in-China travel itinerary which we were suppose to have the beginning of this week but probably won't get until next week. Also, our passports and other travel documents will be mailed out next week sometime and then I think we have everything we need. I'm doing a wedding cake this weekend so this week was a complete write off for any packing or sorting out of Jenna's room but the next 2 weeks will be devoted to getting ready for the trip.

20 more days!!!!!!

It's coming together.....S L O W L Y

I feel like I'm in the shopping Olympics and I'm in contention for the Gold! (Like there was ever a doubt!). Our wonderful travel mates have all been busy with the emails on what to pack, what not to pack and lists, upon lists, upon lists, that I have found completely invaluable. My list sits beside my computer and it gets updated everyday with new things that I would have never thought to buy and bring with us on our trip. We have a list of tasks that we've all been busy assigning volunteers for within our group. Tasks such as buying gifts for officials, nannies and orphanages as well as coordination of luggage tags and paperwork. Well I've signed up for purchasing nanny gifts for families with daughters' from the Wanzai orphanage. They recommend things like candies, chocolates, makeup and local Chinese goodies that are NOT "Made in China" so I went out today and bought what I thought fit that description. Since Canada Day is just around the corner, there are a lot of Canadian treats and memorabilia in the stores. I bought these:

Now, I'm not sure if the nannies would understand or appreciate the humor in this but I thought it was a cute idea. We'll see what the group thinks....I may have to consume these little poo poos all on my own, which wouldn't really be a bad thing! (BTW, that IKEA frame has been sitting picture-less since we moved into this house 3 years ago.....I digress!)

I did buy some other things like Canadian Maple Leaf cookies and chocolates shaped like the maple leaf so it wasn't a wasted shopping trip. I plan to get other goodies like makeup, lotions and LIQUOR (now we're talkin'). I am also bringing a little gift for Jenna's foster parents but I'm not sure if we will be able to meet them or not. We haven't received our in-China itinerary as of yet so I'm not even sure what day or where we will be receiving our daughters. We should know when Jenna-Day is by the end of week. Either way, I wanted to include a little album of pictures of the husband and I, the house, her room, Shelby and a few other treats. Just a little something to let them know that Jenna will be taken care of as they've been with her since she was 3 months old.

Things I've bought...so far:

• enough medication to stock a school infirmary
• sleepers with feet, sleepers without feet and most importantly, sleepers that say "I Love Mommy"
• dresses....oh the dresses
• baby Mum Mum (gluten free, egg free, cholesterol free....TASTE FREE!) I was told the kiddies love 'em though
• diapers (I even opened up the package and put them away in the closet....I know, it's a new-mom thing!)
• toys, toys, toys
• table and chairs for the basement, table and chairs for the main floor, chairs for her room!! My baby will always have a place to park her rump!
• strollers, high chairs and car seats (I went for color rather than durability....love BROWN!)
• and the list goes on and on and on.....

Another thing we received the other day is our "Notice of Coming". This is essentially the document we need to take to China to receive Jenna. No paper, no Jenna.

23 MORE DAYS........