Guess where we are ???

Well its not China and its not in the air on the way to China. We are stuck in the Newark airport! Our flight has been delayed until 10:15 PM. Yep we have a 7 hour delay. Such fun! Luckily we have met up with my internet friend of four years and we finally get to meet in person! Lets hope our flight gets here tonight on time. We should now get to China at 2:00 AM. What fun!

Twas the night before travel.....

Ok so we are leaving tomorrow! I cant believe we are finally to this point. We will have Jaden in less than 4 days! We packed last minute and are now ready to go. Next time I post it will be from China!!!
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Also please keep my wonderful friend Amy and her family in your prayers as they left today but have been delayed in Detroit due to plane problems. They are now scheduled to get to China 1 hour after us. I know it is stressing her out and I wish I was there to calm her down!
Ok see ya on the other side of the world!!!

Our Itinerary

Ok here is our Itinerary for our two weeks in China!
 
7/30- Leave Columbus for Newark at 11:15AM (CO3043)
 
7/31- Newark to Hong Kong arrive in China at 7:05PM(CO99)
        Go to Regal Kowloon Hotel
 
8/1-   Hong Kong Tour
 
8/2-   Leave Hong Kong for Nanchang on China Eastern (MU5018)
         Go to Jinfeng Hotel
         We will receive Jaden at the hotel today!!!
 
8/3-   Paperwork and trip to department store for baby supplies
 
8/4-   Rest or optional city tours
 
8/5-   Wait for Jaden's paperwork to be completed
 
8/6-   Receive adoption documents
 
8/7-   Receive Jaden's passport
 
8/8-   Leave Nanchang for Guanzhou on China Eastern (MU5231)
        Go to White Swan Hotel
 
8/9-   Free time, Rest, Shop
 
8/10- Jaden's physical and visa photo
 
8/11- Paperwork
 
8/12-  Consulate appointment
 
8/13-  Take the oath at the US Consulate!
         Leave right after and catch the train to Hong Kong(2 hour ride)
         Go to Marriott SkyCity Hotel
 
8/14-  Fly from Hong Kong to Newark (CO98) 10:25AM  Jaden becomes a US Citizen!
         Newark to Columbus (CO3231) arrive at 7:30 PM!!! 
 
I can't believe after 4 years and 3 months we are finally going to China!!!

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Jaden's first party!!!

Well I got pictures from another adoptive mother of her daughter's birthday party and little miss Jaden just happened to be a guest! Jaden is next to the party girl LuLu. Jaden is in the pink and Yellow and LuLu is in the white and light blue. Thank you to LuLu's mom who sent all the pictures to me even when she is getting on a plane today to her girl!!!

More new pictures of our girl!!!

Well we were shocked tonight to get three more pictures of Jaden! These were taken in the last two days. Ann at R*d Th*ead had to send someone to Jaden's orphanage for a party for another one of the babies and Jaden was there! She also gave me the email address of the party girl's mom because she has some group shots of the party which Jaden was in! I have emailed her and hope to get a response. She looks so ready to come home! Just a few more days!

Tickets are booked!!!

Well I am now sitting here enjoying my night (with lots of wine) after a very stressful evening booking tickets! But guess what, they are booked! We leave on 7/30, arrive in Hong Kong on 7/31. Then we leave Hong Kong on 8/14 back to Columbus! It was crazy trying to book tickets. Just seconds after I finished paying for my tickets my friend on North Carolina tried to get the same flight and the tickets went up $2000 per ticket in those few seconds. The airline must have caught wind of all the people who had to fly to Ch*na at the last minute. I hope everyone gets good deals. Its not looking to good in ticket land right now! Just a little while longer Jaden!

Well we went from TA to CA over the weekend!!!

Thats right folks we have CA. We can now make those wonderful plane reservations! And when do we leave you ask? Well how about 9-10 days! We have to meet our guides in Hong Kong on 7/31. Little miss Jaden will be in our arms on 8/2!! And finally we fly home on 8/14. So now I am running around like a crazy person looking for tickets. Wish me luck!

Holy Crap our TA's are here!

Yep you read that right. Our agency posted on their site that our TA's arrived today and they have already requested our CA. The plan for us to travel the last week in JULY!!! I am unsure of the date some of us were told 7/29 and others were told 7/30. We will know concrete days by the first of next week. We are looking at leaving in LESS THAN 14 days! Hold on Jaden, Mommy's on her way!!!

New Pictures!!!

Well I had almost given up on getting new pictures of Jaden but today our agency came through! These pictures were taken 6/26/09. She looks great. She looks so happy to be in that walker and the car again. She looks like she spends alot of time in them which is probably not the case. I love the Mickey shirt she is wearing too! Its so good to see her smile. And I just love her mohawk, gotta get that girl some bows!
We also found out that she is now sitting by herself. She still has no teeth. She is 28.3 in and weighs 17.6lbs! I gotta big girl! She is definitely being well fed. Then again she does eat 8 times a day!!!
We also found out that Jaden is not in the orphanage. She was only in the orphanage for 2 days and then was moved to a foster family! That means she is getting one on one care in a family. We also learned that she actually sleeps in the same bed as her foster parents! That is going to have to change! Our bed is so high up that I will never sleep for fear that she will fall off the bed!
I wish I could thank her foster parents for all the love and care they have given her. You can tell by looking at her that she is loved already not only by our family but theirs also and we will be forever thankful. I know it will be hard for her when Jaden is brought to us.

2nd Care package to our girl!

Well we sent Jaden a 2nd care package! We sent it through Ann at R*d Thr*ads. She actually lives in Ch*na and has a business which can send care packages. She can also get updated pictures from the orphanages. I decided to use her not just because I wanted that picture but she translated a letter from me to Jaden's caregivers into Ch*nese! I was able to thank them and ask them to care for her and I also explained to them that Jaden and Sophia would grow up together and that was special because they are in the same orphanage. Ann also sent another camera, candy for the nannies, and a little giraffe that plays music. Jaden should have it in 3 days, the package we sent was going to take 15 days. She is also going to let me know when Jaden gets the package. Yhea!!!

The waiting is still going strong!

So we are still here and still doing the thing we have learned to do best. WAITING! We are no longer waiting for our referral but now we are waiting for our TA. The TA in the adoption terms is travel approval. We are hoping it comes in this week! We are also hoping that we get an updated picture of Jaden this week.
We did get some more info today. Just the basic stuff about her daily routine, likes and dislikes, etc. We also found out where she was found. We have decided to keep this to ourselves. That is Jaden's story to tell not ours. If she chooses to tell people she can. I will say we do have the name of the person who found her. I would love to go to her finding spot while we are in Ch*na to take a picture and maybe find this person. It also hit home today in seeing that and knowing someone had to place her there and how hard it must have been.

Now that we have a picture I really need to get over there and bring my girl home! It was not hard the first two weeks after referral because I was so in shock but this past week has been hard. I just want to hold her. Please, please let that TA come this week!!!