Thursday travels

Well, I can't believe it's already Tuesday. Man. Time flies fast when you sleep so much! Rachel has been taking a 3-6 hr nap every afternoon. I've been napping about 2-3 hours every day. Yesterday, neither of us napped. Rachel fell asleep at 4:30pm and I couldn't wake her to skype with her friend, L, at 7pm. She ended up sleeping all night. I fell asleep on the floor about 6:15pm, I just could not keep my eyes open! I did get up and skyped L to say Rachel was not waking up, even though I tried multiple times. L was very disappointed (as was Rachel this morning!), but I think her parents helped her understand that we are still recovering from traveling.

Okay, to let me start with getting up Thursday about 6am (China time...5pm Wed home time). I had worked on most of the packing the night before, so I was in pretty good shape to meet our guide at 10am. In fact, we got out of the room a little early as I was hoping she would be there early (but she wasn't). We loaded up and headed to the airport. I again asked the guide to explain to Rachel what was going to happen...that it was going to be a VERY LONG day of traveling. She was very excited to meet DH and Megan. We left Guangzhou a little late, so it was close to 1pm. Of course Rachel kept telling me that she was hungry. I could do absolutely nothing about it as she did not want a clif bar. They finally were able to serve lunch around 2pm or so. By then Rachel was famished. We got to Seoul about 5pm local time. Our flight didn't leave until 8pm, so I figured we needed to get Rachel something to eat besides she said she was hungry. We got some KFC (which was an interesting experience as well as it was upstairs several gates down from ours), but she didn't hardly to eat anything. I was not hungry at all, and we ended up throwing most of it out (unfortunately). We got to the terminal for our departing flight and Rachel was so nervous we were going to have a seat as the flight was full and she kept seeing all these people lined up to get on the plane yet we were not lined up yet. I don't know how many times I had to say "its fine. We will have a seat." I had gotten some water for the flight (you can never have too much water!), only to find out after we went to get on the plane that we had additional security to go through and we could take no water on board. Man, a never opened bottle of water went into the trash. What could be more frustrating???

I should back up and tell you that when we checked in at GZ, we found out that Rachel & I were not seated together. The attendant suggested I check at the gate to see if they can move one of us and get us together. Well, they could not. There was not one seat open on the flight. As we were getting ready to board, I started praying that someone would be kind enough to switch with one of us so we could sit together. In fact, the attendant who I had talked to was the one who scanned our boarding pass to get on the plane. He said "I sure hope you can switch seats" as he scanned us in. I just said "yes. me, too". Okay, so we get on the plane. There was a lady sitting by herself in row 38 (one was us was 38, the other 36). I explained to her the situation and asked if she would move. She didn't entirely understand what I was asking, but eventually she agreed to move. Whew. She even moved her luggage in the overhead space (yes, just 2 rows up...but same seat "B"). So, I was thanking God for answering our prayer. The man sitting by the window came, so we got up so he could get into his seat and suddenly the lady is back, saying she is supposed to sit in that seat. She squeezes past both of us and sits down. At this point, Rachel is very confused. I'm ticked. I asked an attendant to help me as she had agreed to move. The attendant attempts to ask her to move again, and she just got rude. The attendant--trying to get the plane off the ground on time--asks me if we can just sit in our assigned seats and she would help us change when we got off the ground. I absolutely insisted that she tell Rachel in Chinese. Well, she didn't know Chinese and she wanted us to just sit down. My mama bear came out and I said, you need to get someone over here to explain to her in Chinese that we are not going to be separated the entire flight. Everyone around us was watching the interchange as I was NOT going to do it until Rachel understood it was not the entire flight. Finally, a young lady sitting the row 37 said she would explain it. While at the same time, I asked the attendant if she would ask the man sitting in 36C if he would be willing to move to 38C (my seat). He was an older gentleman and he said that was fine. So, we got to sit down together. And I prayed blessings over that man many times on that flight! After we got off the ground, the attendant came and asked if I was satisfied with where we were sitting. I said, yes, we're sitting together and that's what I needed. By the way, Korean Air ROCKS!

I could not sleep on the flight. I was hot. Rachel was cold, of course. (She had 2 shirts, a sweatshirt and 2 blankets on.) I just could not get comfortable long enough to sleep much. I think I maybe slept 30 minutes. Rachel was able to sleep quite a bit, so that was good. I watched C0untry Str0ng (great movie!), True Grit (also very, very good!), Gulliver's Travels (okay), The Kings Speech (awesome!) and The Black Swan (very, very weird--and I sure wished I could have had that 2 hrs back!). By the time we landed at LAX, I was beyond exhausted. I figured LAX would be bad, but I honestly did not think it would be THAT bad. Let me just say that I will NEVER fly through LAX internationally EVER AGAIN. Ever, ever, ever. I don't care how much more it costs me, I will not do it. We waited well over an hour to get through customs/border security. Once I gave the agent Rachel's "brown packet" (aka her immigration/adoption paperwork to make her a citizen), he told us we needed to go down to the new immigrant section, but he only vaguely pointed in the general direction of where we needed to go. I would guess we were on row 40 or 45 or so. So, I walked down to about row 20 and stood there waiting to ask the agent where the new immigrant line was. Well, the agent who helped me was going on break (or something) and he says something to me about why I was standing there, then directs me to row 1. I get down to row 1, the guy literally squeaked out TWO WORDS: "sign here" to Rachel, then stamped her fingerprint over her name. Then he said, you can go get your bags and come back. Okay, well, considering our bags had been sitting out there for well over hour, I honestly had no idea where I supposed to be looking for my bags. I started looking on one carousel where it said the bags were from Korea. Well, they weren't there. I finally asked an airline staff member "what if we can't find out bags?" He asked what airlines and directed me to the right area. Good. Bags gotten. We went back to the "new immigrant" area. There was another agent there as well this time. He grumps something about "stand in that line" to us. So, we stand there...I could see the first man was working at the computer right in front of where we were standing, but it became evident very quickly that this line was for the signature and fingerprint, which we had already done. When it came to our turn, I just said "we've already done that part. This man is working on our packet." He growls (literally) back, "well, SIT DOWN!" I--being tired--say "well, no one said anything about sitting down. How was I supposed to know?" The guy working our packet then waves us over to him (about 20 seconds after Rachel sits down). He again says nothing, but hands us her passport with a piece of paper shoved in it. I guess we were done and asking them to be helpful or even the least bit friendly was too much to ask. Geez.

Okay, so customs/immigration done. Next we had to wheel our bags out through yet another layer of security. I'm not exaggerating when I say that line we were standing in was at least half way across the terminal. And there were 2 other lines equally as long. Sigh. It took another 15-20 minutes to get out of THAT line and out the "door". Somehow we were supposed to know that this exit was to go both outside and to re-check our domestic bags. Yeah. Right. I asked the agent as she handed me our passports back...she also grumped "yes. to the right." Nothing was marked and I was scared I was going the wrong way...because once you get out, there's no turning back! Well, we hurried up the ramp and around the corner. I did find a nice AA staff who helped us with our boarding passes (they reprinted them...I don't know why), got our bags on the belt and then told to out the door and to the right. Well, there were 2 sets of doors...and I wasn't sure if we were supposed to go outside of what. Eventually we figured it out...to the next terminal--in the next building. We got into the next terminal building to see (literally) the security line upstairs again half way across the building and snaked around on the other side. I couldn't believe it. Oh my gosh. So, another 45 minutes before we got through that line. I'm so tired at this point. Rachel is people watching (who can blame her!) and lagging several steps behind me the entire time. By this time its already after 4pm and our next flight was boarding at 5:35. I was a bit stressed thinking, how are we going to get through this line that fast? As we got closer to the security area, I tried to explain to her that she's going to need to take her shoes and jacket off. She kept saying "no". I kept saying "yes". I was in no mood to try to negotiate with her. When it was finally our turn, the agent was trying to be all smart asking me if she spoke Chinese (what do you think, idiot? She young, has a Chinese passport, and an IR-3 visa at that meaning she becomes a US Citizen when we land in the US). Then he says "ni hao" (hello in Chinese) so poorly even I could not understand him! And something else and I never did figure out what the heck he was saying (but I think was "shay shay" (aka thank you))...Rachel's looking at him like "what are you talking about?" Anyways, she did take the coat & shoes off, reluctantly. It was 5pm before we got on the other side and I got some coffee. I tried to explain to her that in the US, they do not feed us on the plane. She kept saying she was not hungry. I kept trying to say, we need to get something to eat. I knew what was going to happen...she was going to turn to me shortly after we boarded and say "Hungry" and there was nothing I can do about it. So, I got her to get some pringles (for $5!) and a she picked a pepsi to drink. I didn't think she'd drink it all, but I wasn't up for a fight. So, I drank my coffee, she had some pringles and then we boarded the plane. Sure enough, about 10pm she says "hungry". I offer the clif bar I have, she says "no"...and I just said there is nothing else I can do.

I had prayed that God would give us a great tail wind and we'd get in early. Thankfully, he answered my prayer and we got in about 20 minutes early. DH had just gotten to the airport and was shocked when I called him and told me we were already here. We got our bags and were home by midnight. My awesome friend, Stacey, had come to stay with Megan while DH came and got us. She was so kind to bring Rachel some pjs--washed and ready to wear--as I had realized on the way home that I didn't have any at home for her at all. What a relief that I didn't have to go digging in our bags to pick out a dirty pair of pjs for her put on! I got Rachel situated in her room (she was stoked to get to sleep in her own room!) and got to bed myself. It was about 12:30 when I crawled into bed. ah.

I came home to a new Megan! Seriously. We had started a few new things to help her sleep shortly before I left, and I think they helped her while I was gone to not completely freak out. In fact, within a few days of me leaving, she had started sleeping all night by herself. And before I came home, she started going to sleep by herself! So, I came home to sleeping in the same bed with DH all night for the first time since we got Megan! What a special blessing to come home to!

So, as you can tell our travels were loads of "fun", but we are home. We're all adjusting. I'll write more that later.

We're home

We made it home...I think we walked in the door about 12:15am on Friday morning. Both Rachel & I are still dealing with travel fatigue, time zone change and jet lag. The family is still getting used to each other, but things continue to go well.

I'll post more about our flights another time. I also have more pictures to share...in a few days, hopefully.

Hotel Pics--Sat AM

Some pics....view from the hotel window. The Chinese World Trade Center is directly across the street and the view from my window.

I'm so far behind!!

There are so many things that I've taken pictures "for the blog" and so many things Megan is doing that I want to get on here. But quite literally, every week since July I've had something demanding my time. The dissertation took up June, July, August, September and most of October. The end of October was our first garage sale. Then the beginning of November we had a Scentsy fundraiser which lasted until mid-November, the BBQ Bash, then it was Thanksgiving...followed by graduation (and mom & Katie's visit)...followed by Christmas. Then I taught a class the week after Christmas. Then January...which was spent getting ready for a consignment sale, and spring semester starting. February held play dates for Megan and the consignment sale. March was again, teaching another one week class, faculty meetings for me, a lot of over-time for Dad and the March garage sale with a little travel preparation sprinkled in. Then Monday, April 4th, we received approval to travel! This past week has meant airfare decisions/purchases, shopping for clothes for Rachel and some packing. Of course, the semester is not over for me, yet. So, I've been grading papers, reading discussion board posts as well as keeping up the house--make that catching up on the housework from a whirlwind few weeks!

So, at this point, I'm leaving for China on April 21st and getting Rachel on Easter Sunday! What a sweet surprise. Ian was born was Easter Sunday and Rachel joins our family on Easter Sunday! It fills my heart with joy. I'll come home May 5th. I don't know any additional details, but Dad will home until May 23rd. I know we will enjoy having him home those weeks! And I plan on blogging while traveling...I'm hoping to find time! :-)

The Excitement is Building

We got our final itinerary today...

3/25--Leave DFW 6:55am for Chicago; Leave Chicago 12:35pm for Beijing
3/26--Arrive Beijing 3:50pm
3/27--Free day...probably SHOPPING! (and napping)
3/28--Tian'an Men Square, Forbidden City; Temple of Heaven; KongFu show
3/29--Great Wall, Hutong (old Beijing Area) and Chinese Acrobatic Show
3/30--Arrive in Changsha 3:05pm
3/31--MEGAN DAY!!!
4/1-4/4--Documents completed in Changsha
4/4--Arrive Guangzhou 5:50pm
4/5--Megan's Visa photo
4/6--Free day (AKA SHOPPING!)
4/7--Visa appointment
4/8--Shopping while waiting for Visa
4/9--Leave Guangzhou 9:25am; to Beijing, leave Beijing 12:25pm; Arrive DFW 10:41pm

THIS IS FOR REAL!!!

Hours left..

Two and half days left...which means we have about 60 hrs remaining. And in about a week, we'll get Megan!!!! Oh my...SO EXCITING!!! We should be getting our final itinerary tomorrow (unless it arrives today since they said by Monday). I'm anxious to see what the schedule looks like!

The "to-do" list is getting shorter! We knocked out quite a few things today...we got the worst ones out of the way (well, almost all the bad ones). So for the most part, the next 2 days will be somewhat relaxing.

We have decided on a movie. Since we have tickets to one particular theater (and not one we usually go to), we have limited choices. So of our choices, we decided to go to see the Dr. Seuss movie on Monday. We figure Monday will be better than Sunday and there will be less traffic and fewer people (we hope!).

She's 10 Months Old TODAY!

This is another of the updated photos we got.
She's a trumpet player like her Daddy!

I simply CANNOT wait until we get her in our arms! But we are getting so close now.

Things to do before we leave for Megan:

• Kris' last day of work (DONE!)
• Get Megan's Room ready (DONE!)
• DH last day of work (Thurs.)
• Clean house (ugh, must I?)
• Dog haircuts & baths (We both HATE this job, b/c the dogs HATE it!)
• Go to a Movie (Are there any good ones out this weekend?)
• Add last minute things to suitcases
• Get Megan's airline tickets in the mail (DONE!)
  

The list is looking pretty good...good thing, too...only 7 days left!!! YES! ONE WEEK!

9 DAYS!

Okay...we're down to NINE DAYS!!!!

We're working on last minute things...cleaning the house, bathing the dogs, etc. I'm going today to buy the last few things we need for Megan's room at Babies-R-Us (I'm not making DH suffer the traffic and boring shopping of BRU! what a great wife-y I am...)

I only have one day left a work...Monday. DH only has 4 days left! Thanks to Easter weekend, he has a few extra days off...we plan on seeing a movie next week since it will be A LONG time before we get the chance to do that again!

We should get our final and official (completely detailed) itinerary Thursday or so.

Two weeks from TODAY....we'll have Megan! OH MY that's so exciting!!!

Only 16 days...NO 11 days!

Yes! 11 days before we leave...that means only one more Friday before we leave for China!

16 (ok or maybe 17) days until we get Megan!!!! OH MY GOSH! That's about 2 weeks! HOORAY!

We had our travel meeting this week...which (for us being so far away) was an almost 3 hour conference call. Literally, the battery on my cordless phone almost ran out! We got all sorts of information and became even more excited about our upcoming trip. Well, and reading Wendy's blog adds to my excitement! Wendy is in Hong Kong right now...just hours away from getting their daughter, Catherine! I'm so anxious to get to China. We'll be that much closer to Megan.

It's still possible that the entire group could visit their child's orphanages because of all the humanitarian work done by the agency last month. We simply will need to inform our guide that we'd like to go once we get to Changsha. DH & I are 100 percent sure we want to go, and yes, Megan will go with us. We realize that it could be difficult for Megan to see what she's familiar with and then leave it again, but it could also bring her some level of closure/comfort. I don't know. We are both aware of the potential consequences for us and Megan, but we both want to see the only hometown Megan has known. It is closer to Changsha than we expected, it's apparently only about 2 hrs away.

Other piece of news from the travel meeting...they are working on us getting the babies in the afternoon on March 30th rather than the 31st. I am PRAYING that is the case! Getting her about 24 hours earlier...there are no words. We should get our final itinerary within the next few days...then we'll know more specifics at that point!

We're going to China!!! Pinch me, someone...anyone???

We're Going To China!!!

La-la-la-laaaaa-la (can you hear me singing it???)

This morning (after a horrible night of virtually NO SLEEP...no, I don't know why...) I wake up to see a "Breaking News" email from our agency director! EVERYTHING IS CONFIRMED! We have travel dates! We do have our travel meeting via conference call this afternoon, so I'm sure we'll get more idea then, but as of right now....

March 25th (very, very AM) leave for China!
March 26th arrive in Beijing
March 27-29 tour Beijing
March 30 arrive in Changsha
March 31 get Megan!!!!
April 4 arrive in Guangzhou (to US Consulate to get Megan's Visa)
April 7 "ceremony" where we promise to make Megan our forever daughter (DUH!)
April 9 COME HOME (and arrive home...very, very PM)!

YIPPEE!!! We have dates!!!! We have an OFFICIAL time line! Now, let's go....today!!!

Here we come, Megan, to bring you home!!!

Travel Approvals

YEAH!!! Our TA arrived today (a day before they were expected!) YIPPEE!!! Somehow I did not get the email...and Keith assumed I did and didn't say anything until I happened to check his email tonight.

I'm assuming they will request Consulate Appointment today/tomorrow. I'm told that it takes up to 5 days to confirm the CA. I, personally, think we could still go the week I wanted to (March 18th)...but I don't make the decisions, so we'll likely go March 25th as they estimated.

oh my gosh...I am so excited!!!!! It feels SO incredibly real now...we REALLY are going to CHINA to get Megan MeiLin! THIS MONTH!!! wow. I'm overwhelmed. overjoyed. but speechless.

Tentative Dates

Do you think if I would have posted the "no news" post earlier I would have gotten all this good news earlier? Maybe. Who knows!?

On an exciting note...we received an email from our agency last night that TENTATIVELY we are scheduled to get Megan on March 31st. Yes, it is exciting to know...but darn it, I was hoping for the week before. This means we'll likely leave the week of March 24th and return around April 9th. Ugh. That means only 2 weeks before Megan and I leave for the birthday party. Only 2 weeks between when I get OFF a plane and when I get back ON a plane. Oh my. I'm going to have to begin to psych myself up for that one.

Our Travel Approval (TA) is in transit...should be here Friday or Monday. Once it gets here...then the visas can get done, but most importantly the final thing can be scheduled before we leave: the Consulate Appointment (CA). The entire trip rides on what date the CA is. Let's hope it's April 7th or 8th.

On a not-so-exciting note (depending upon your perspective, I guess)...my mom is having major surgery this afternoon. Well, she says it's not too major, but part of the procedure the doctor will stop her heart then restart it. That's major to me. Please pray for her. We pray this will help her to have more energy, feel better and make her heart work better. She'll have to remain at the hospital overnight for observation. I appreciate your prayers for her since I'm sooooo far away and can't be there. Thank goodness for my sister (and maybe one of my brothers too, I'm not sure) who will be there during the entire procedure.

No News

Hence the silence from me...every day I think, I should post I haven't heard anything. But then I think, oh we'll get our Travel Approval tomorrow...or we'll get our updated photo tomorrow. Well, that's been several days...and still nothing.

So, I'm posting that I know nut-ting (Hogan's Heroes has been on at my house a few many times in the past few weeks!). We were supposed to get an updated photo this past weekend, but haven't seen it yet. I was hoping for TA before now, still nothing.

Maybe my post will bring both of them! (I HOPE!) I'm still hoping we'll leave the week of March 17th, but it could be the following week (let's pray not). We do have our travel conference call tentatively scheduled for March 12th, so that's a step in the right direction.

Our Document In Transit

We just found out that our document we signed saying "Yes! This is our daughter!" was sent to China today!!!!!

And now we wait...again.

Now we are waiting for our Travel Approval (TA). This is our invitation to come to visit the country so we can apply for our travel visas. These come within 2-5 weeks of sending the document back to China. I'm thinking it will probably be about 3 weeks, but one never knows.

One step closer to bring our Megan MeiLin home!!!!