Love brings us home!!!!!

Oh my stars has it been a journey the past 3 days. Our 26 hour journey (from China to Cincinnati) home was restless and quite challenging with little sleep (it was tough on Jailyn with restless sleep and being confined (thank god for Benadryl-which was helping as Jailyn was catching a cold which would knock her out) and Daddy and Mommy had next to nothin' in the sleep department on the whole journey home.....Many great memories like the picture when we were getting ready to land in LA where Jailyn became a US citizen and Mike was singing "This land is your land...." and she was happy which was not the case 95% of the trip. Don't let the cute picture fool you. When we cleared customs which was 2 hours that was a happy time and then being able to walk off the airplane with tears in our eyes that we had finally made it home with our baby girl in our arms. Family and friends greeted us and then the drive in our car with Jailyn in her car seat was so nice. Just Jailyn, Daddy and Mommy driving home. Everything was so beautiful that morning and sunny and once we headed up the hill to our street it just got better and better. We were greeted by Connie our neighbor who went to grocery which was planned and happened to be working from home that day and was able to help us get everything in the home and provided us with a yummy home cooked meal. We took Jailyn to her room and she lit up with a big smile and was overstimulated. We put her on her comforter with some gifts she received and she was so happy. Somehow she knew this was home and her first nap she squirmed all over her baby bed and loved it and laughed and fell asleep happy. Needless to say it was crazy with no sleep, unpacking, laundry, taking care of Jailyn finally sleeping a few hours and then up all night with Jailyn since she was still in her Chinese timezone. We got some rest not enough. Jailyn and I took a bath at 2am because I knew our first morning would be a challenge and we took Jailyn to the Pediatrician to check her out as she we were concerned she was sick - just teething (our baby girl just had a cold and had 4 teeth come in over the past 2 weeks and was so flexible with all the change from foster mom to us in Nanchang, to an intercountry airplane ride, to Guangzhou and a long airplane ride home and then finally getting settled into our home at last. Happiness is in the journey and life sure takes us to unexpected places and thru the travel challenges love brought us home and we are parents of a thriving baby girl. We could not be happier and love her so much. Checkout our welcome home pictures on Facebook. Here are her pictures at home with her new gifts and visiting with Grandma F and meeting Katie and Billy her big sister and big brother for the first time Friday night. They loved eath other so much. Jailyn is so happy and we praise God for this new bundle of joy and for the double blessings we continue to receive. I will continue to update our blog every few days.

So happy to be blogging from our home and very jet lagged.....Pray for rest and a peaceful transition back to normal everyday life with our new baby girl on eastern standard time. Can't wait for you to meet Jailyn.

With much LOVE and JOY,

Consulate appt and our last 24 hours in China...

Today was a tough day on Jailyn as we were up early and at the consulate by 8am. Our appt was easy by just turning in the forms required by the US govt to complete the adoption with the US and just another part of the process. We had our appt with 11 other families from 8:30am-9am. They did a swearing in ceremony for Jailyn that the parents took for their daughters and sons they are adopting from China. My eyes welled up with tears knowing our journey to bringing Jailyn home is closer than ever. We were swearing her in for the United States and when we land in Los Angeles she becomes a US Citizen. Yippee.....we are so ready to come home. It has been a great trip a bit long with wonderful memories and just so ready to bring our baby girl home to Cincinnati. We took a family nap after our busy morning and Jailyn and I shopped for souvenirs in the afternoon. Mike hung out in the room most of the day as he is getting a head cold or something. He has felt out of sorts for the past 48 hours. We have a photo outside the US Consulate once our appt. was complete. You would never know the building was the US Consulate as it is just a building in downtown Guangzhou not marked it is the consulate. The other picture is Jailyn with students visiting Shamian Island. They wanted their picture with me and Jailyn since we were adopting and I had blonde hair. So I took a picture of them with Jailyn. Tonight we had dinner at our favorite place Lucy's and have loved every western meal in Guangzhou. Shamian Island is pretty western with a Chinese flair and it has been raining tonight and we hear a Typhoon is coming into Hong Kong over the next 24 hours. We are hoping for no flight delays.

Pray for us as we make our 24 hour journey home. This will more than likely be our last post from China until we are back in the states. Tomorrow is a day of packing and rest and preparations for the trip home. We will receive Jailyn's visa and passport by 4:30pm and leave for the airport at 6pm for our 9pm flight to LA. Then a 4 hour layover in LA and then fly the Red eye from LA to Cincinnati. We arrive at 6:32 am Delta flight 976 Thursday morning June 23. Anyone who wants to meet us at the airport feel free to come. We know it is very early and wanted to extend the invitation to friends and family if you would like to greet us. We will have traveled 24 hours so may be a little rough however will be thrilled to see everyone and even more thrilled to be home after our 2 week journey to Jailyn in China. Thanks for following our journey and for all the love and support and well wishes. We can not wait for you to meet Jailyn and have our new baby girl home. There is truly no place like home and we are so proud to be Americans and are blessed beyond measure.
With love and appreciation from China,

Lazy Monday in China!

Well it is already Monday night and in 48 hours we are on a plane home. THAT IS A BIG OLE WOOHOO! We can't wait to have our consulate appt and get Jailyn's visa and get out of dodge and get our baby home. We had a lazy Monday and hung out and did some walking around Shamian Island and spending time with Jailyn. She mimics us and is growing in actions and size and loves to eat. We had a break through on Bath time. Mike got in the tub with her and it was right after nap time and bottle time. No tears and we were calm and so proud of her and let her splash around. First time in 9 days we did not have bath time trauma. She still hates to take her naps and go to bed at night time. Besides the teething I believe she is grieving her foster mother. Everything is different and Mike and I meet her every need and love her so much that the bonding is going well and she appears so happy with us. However bed time is hard for her and we had a break through just me and her tonight talking and me reassuring her it is okay and soothing her with touch and she fell asleep in my arms first time. The tears flowed yet stopped and she gave in and let me nurture and help her make it okay tonight. I can only imagine the grief she feels losing her care giver she had for 11 months. I totally relate to the pain she must feel on some level as my journey to finally being a mom has been one big ole grief cycle and disappointment over the many years trying to become a mom. I thank God for all the people in my life and the therapy that helped me process my grief and knowing and believing God had some kind of miracle plan in the works after all the pain. God gives us double for our trouble and equips us for what is to come all in HIS time. I feel so blessed to be Jailyn's mom and glad she is trusting us and letting go to let the love in and the pain out through her tears. Tomorrow morning is an early consulate appt at 8:30am and we leave at 7:30am. So got to get to bed early and up early and then we have our last full day here and will start to pack as we will leave Wednesday at 6pm for the Airport. Here is a picture in our room of our baby girl.

With lots of love from China,

Happy Father's Day! Our Sunday in China!

Started the day off with Jailyn giving her new daddy a T-shirt that says Father in Chinese for Father's Day. She loved the paper in the gift bag. Jailyn has a T-shirt that says Made in China too. We went to the White Swan hotel with another family from South Carolina who is with our agency to take pictures on the red couch and in the lobby area. Then we shopped to get Jailyn her Chinese silk PJ's for her future Chinese New Year celebrations, took her morning nap and then off to the Pearl Market and shopping district. We got her a pearl necklace to give to her in the future for a special occasion like graduation, prom or her wedding. It was neat to walk into town and see how the locals live and shop. It is totally different than Nanchang (not crazy) pretty normal just lots 1000's of chinese people shopping on a Sunday afternoon. Thank goodness. It is nice here however so ready to come home. Jailyn has been a little trooper and really teething. She is so fussy at bedtime and tonight she was so tired and teething (drooling like crazy) we opted to forgo the bath and give her a bottle and tylenol and in bed after lots of crying. She is so good and we believe she is overstimulated with all the new things and has a hard time winding down and bedtime has been so different than her past 11 months and been in two different hotels. Can't wait for bedtime on the plane ride. Start praying now for us. Tomorrow is an easy day and then Tuesday is an early morning appt at the consulate to get her visa to travel home. We did all the paperwork today with our guide. Every day is one more day closer to coming home. Had a great day in China for Father's day and only wish Katie, Scott and Billy could have shared our day with us. See our pictures from our adventures today.

Happy Father's Day from China to Dad C, Dad T, Bob and to all our friends and relatives that are Dad's! You make the world a better place by being a Dad!

Medical Clinic and Visa Pictures and Exploring Shamian Island

First night and day in Guangzhou and our new environment in our new hotel brought for a lighter night of sleep. Jailyn woke up very early 5:30am and wanted to start her day about 2 hours earlier than usual. We have a nice suite in the Victory Annex Hotel but her baby bed is very different than the hotel in Nanchang and the room is muggy even with the air conditioning. Today Jailyn discovered a pacifier can soothe her and when she went down for naps she used the pacifier and played with it until she fell asleep. Woohoo! Just needed something to soothe her. However night time and bath time were traumatic once again tonight.

Our day started at the medical clinic and she was the first child they saw of 50 adoptive kids they would see today. She was so good and checked out fine. All the doctor stations adored her and we did find out how much she weighs 15.64 lbs and can't remember how long she is. She got her picture taken for her visa and smiled all over herself. The doctor was only concerned with some redness on her back thinking she was having a reaction to the laundry detergent in her clothes however I believe the mark he was concerned about is a birth mark. She is teething like crazy and really drooling. We give her drops for teething as needed and started her on her antibiotic because she kept on pulling at her ears before we traveled to Guanghzhou. We wanted to kill any infection she may be having and the nurse and doctor at the Intl Adoption Program at Cincinnnati Children's Hospital got us a prescription to bring with us before we traveled. Jailyn is doing fine on the medication except she has had looser stool. She takes her teething drops and meds like a pro. She loves to play and be social and is learning so much. She eats rice, fruit and chinese noodles plus 4 bottles a day. We took a stroll around Shamian Island and walked along the boardwalk of the Pearl River and shopped a little. We put her in the stroller which was new and the heat,humidity and motion made her sleepy. The Ergo baby carrier is so hot so we tried the stroller. It was 93 today but feels like 104. We checked out the White Swan hotel and was glad we stayed at the Victory. Check out our pictures from today. Tomorrow we meet the other family here from South Carolina from our Adoption Agency and take a picture on the Red Couch at the White Swan which is an adoption right of passage for the little girls adopted from China. We will goto the pearl and jade market tomorrow for our sightseeing trip.

Happy Father's Day to all and Mike and Jailyn get to spend their first father's day together.

In Guangzhou China! Jailyn's first airplane ride.....

We started our morning early with Jailyn up at 6:30am and got an early jump on our day with nap time and feeding times accomodated to travel to the airport at noon. Jailyn was great on the 40 minute trip to the airport and we have her Chinese passport to travel now. She was great waiting in the airport and on the plane. We made sure we had mum mum treats for her to munch on while we took off to protect her ears. It was past nap time (2pm) at 3:30pm when we left Nanchang and she ate mum mums until 3:45pm and fell asleep on my lap for the rest of the flight. She was a trooper and a little angel on the plane no crying just as good as ever with us. We had two aisle seats which worked out great for us. Got to Guangshou at 4:45pm and was happy to see the sun for the first time since we arrived in China. The climate here is very hot like Cancun. Super humid and very tropical. We met our guide Emma who is very efficient at the airport and arrived at the hotel about 6:30pm. Jailyn was once again well mannered and we were able to feed her a bottle on the way to the hotel. Guangzhou is a big city and not crazy like Nanchang where we feared for our lives everytime we got in a van or taxi. We are staying at Shamian Island which is a resort village on the Pearl River. We are staying in the Victory Annex Hotel which is very close to many things like Starbucks, 711 store and lots of shopping and places to eat. We are looking forward to venturing out and seeing the sights tomorrow. We had the best meal at a place called Lucy's. I was in heaven and got a big ole iced tea with lemon and the best cheeseburger and fries. Mike had a Chinese noodle dish and Jailyn shared that with Daddy. Today the trip was exhausting and we managed diaper changes in the airports and Jailyn just cooperating. Our baby girl amazes us everyday with something new she does and is so receptive to learning (we have us a teachable, trainable and coachable baby girl - sounds like a future Mary Kay beauty consultant). She just needed love and a mom and dad to help her learn new things. She is a busy little girl. We believe she will walk and not crawl as being on her belly is not something she likes at all. However she can stand and take steps being supported.

Guangzhou is full of families from all over the world who are adopting and clearing the logistics with their countries to bring their adopted kids home from China. We have met so many people adopting just like us. See daddy and Jailyn waiting for the plane and an exhausted daddy on the couch, one of his favorite places, who carried our many pieces of luggage through the airport in the heat and humidity in and outside of the airport. Their air conditioning is nothing like ours and it is just sticky and muggy. My husband is an amazing man and I love seeing him be a daddy to our baby girl. He has been and still is an amazing dad to Katie and Scott and now again to Jailyn. I love him more and more everyday as we spend this special time in China bonding with our baby. He has a big heart with so much love and helped me realize my dream of being a mom and him a Dad again at such a different time in his life. Jailyn and I are so lucky and feel so special and loved.

Until tomorrow....we are so happy that we are at the half way point of our journey and can't wait to finalize the adoption with the US consulate.
From Guangzhou with much love,

Last day in Nanchang! Final Docs completed!

Another great day with Jailyn. She is a little sponge and learning so much. She is the happiest baby. Today during nap time I broke down with tears of happiness with Mike as we talked about how truly blessed we are with this baby girl who is full of love, life and adventure. She is totally perfect for us and has brought so much joy in just 4 days. Her little smile just melts your heart. At bedtime and nap time and bath time are the only times she is unhappy. Can't wait to get home to be able to rock her to sleep in the rocking chair, have a normal size bath tub with easy access for bathing her and a room that is all hers and not a temporary set up in our hotel. She sleeps with her arms open wide ready to receive all the love we have and we know she was hand picked from above for us and every bit of the 5 1/2 year journey has been totally worth it. She is eating great with all systems working at the other end too. She even ate french fries so we know she is truly an all American kid. We got another darling picture of her with chop sticks at dinner tonight. Today was easy and jet lag is hitting us as we get tired easily. I took a nap with Jailyn today and Mike pretty much went to bed right after Jailyn. Mike and Jailyn are the best buddies and had big time fun today playing and learning new things. We went and picked up our official documents from the notary office and took pictures at the Nanchang Square. You will see Vivienne in the pictures our guide from our agency outside the notary office. We took Vivienne to dinner for our last night here in Nanchang and was able to thank her and give her a gift we brought special from the states. She has taken great care of us. Checkout all the fun pictures from today. We leave tomorrow right after nap time around 11:50am for the airport and will get to our hotel probably around 6 or 7pm Friday night. In one week we will be home and can not wait. We miss everyone and love all the comments on our blog.

Ventured out in town late today! More Pictures...

We had a good morning and early afternoon bonding and it stopped raining so we were ready to get out and explore. We went to Walmart nothing like ours we were running out of baby wipes and it was next to the porcelain district so we shopped today and found a darling tea pot set made here in the Jiangxi Province For Jailyn when she is older. She was a trooper shopping and fell asleep in her ergo carrier which she likes and it is easy to carry her in the carrier since she is so petite. She has a tiny butt and is so little she has a hard time holding on to us. She is progressing nicely and still teething and has at least 5-6 teeth coming in....She is so good with us and can almost feed herself the little gerber puffs which she loves. We went to an authentic Chinese restaurant and she ate fried rice and Mommy did too and that was a big ole deal I hate rice. It was the lesser of all the strange items we were eating so it was okay. We are happy the adoption will be final tomorrow and we will goto sign the final docs and the passport will be ready at noon Friday and we fly to Guangzhou at 3pm on June 17. Enjoy these photos of Jailyn with mommy. I was on my own tonight for bath time.....and I rocked it out and Jailyn was soooooo tired. The adopting father's decided to toast their adoption at the bar on the 28th floor tonight. Jailyn is a doll and has captured our hearts. She is so sweet and a little trooper. She loves people and has changed so much over the past 3 days and learning so much. She is our little dream come true. Check out all the pictures.

More Pictures of Baby Jailyn

Today another good day for Jailyn, Daddy and Mommy. She slept great last night 10 hours straight through. This morning teething better with some tylenol and teething drops when needed. It is pouring down rain another bonding day. Going out to do something in the hotel with another couple and their baby this afternoon. Our camera we sent to the foster mom to take pictures of Jailyn came with her to gotcha day however no pictures were on the camera. Too bad wanted those for Jailyn. Here are more pictures and more to come. She took a good nap today and Daddy has become the baby bartender as we are mixing her chinese formula with American Similac Soy Formula. She is doing great and loves her daddy as he is soooooooo entertaining. Enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow we venture out to the porcelain area for shopping and to pick up passport. Happy in China but missing home!

Day of bonding with Jailyn!

We totally hung out today in the room. It was bonding time with Jailyn. Daddy and Jailyn had big time fun today playing and learning new things together. Mommy got organized and is quickly learning this mommy thing! We are blessed and feel she is bonding nicely yet teething and unhappy with pain. It was a big day because she pooped! Yippee Jailyn! All bodily functions are working! It is raining here in Nanchang. Going to stay around here and not venture to her hometown. I would fear for our life taking a van an hour and 1/2 away with the way they drive in China (we fear for our lives as a passenger and pedestrian in the streets) and we can not visit the orphanage. They said her finding place was outside the gate of the Feng Cheng Children's Department at the SWI aka the orphanage gate on the day she was born. No other details. When we asked questions not much info was really given. The answers were things we pretty much knew from referral. We did get her schedule and she is pretty much eating and naping and sleeping as stated. We will venture out tomorrow as long as it is not raining. Nanchang is the Porcelain capital of China. Hope to get a tea set keepsake for Jailyn from her province in China. We are looking forward to Guangzhou which will be more like a resort area and time for adventure and fun. Need to bond and take care of Jailyn and her needs as she is getting use to us. She does not like lying on her back and being put down for her nap and bedtime. We think they took her from her foster mom while sleeping and brought her to us as she was dressed in PJ like clothing on gotcha day. That trauma is evident but she loves Mike and me already (as Mike would say how could she not with us as her mom and dad). She does not answer to Jailyn at all. I called her Xiang Ting and she smiled real big and lit up. Broke my heart as we are changing her name and the only identity she has known. She had a tough day and night teething and would not take an afternoon nap so bedtime was tough. She is such a good sleeper and very peaceful as we do not hear a peep out of her. We are so in love with our baby girl.

Pictures of Jailyn

Well what a day we had our first 24 hours with Jailyn. We went all over Nanchang in taxi's to govt offices and did all the paperwork to finalize the adoption with China. We are waiting on her passport and leave Friday at 3pm for Guangzhou. She has been so good during our trips and is so cute. She is sleeping great she takes her naps and eats on schedule and slept 11hours all the way thru the night last night and mommy slept good too. Woohoo! She is teething like crazy and uncomfortable with some exzema in her hair and has a few mosquito bites too. She is so happy and eating fruit with us at meals along with 4 bottles a day and loves mum mum teething biscuits. I am having techinical difficulty posting video but here are cute pictures for you to enjoy with her little sister outfit on for Katie, Scott and Billy. She is bonding well and loves her mommy and daddy so much. Mommy and Daddy are getting parenthood down too. We are a good team and happy family! Looking forward to Guangzhou and getting out of Nanchang. Love from China,

Got her and she is beautiful!

Wow what a surreal day! It happened so quick one minute Mike and I in a room next moment she is in the door and handed to me. We have video I will post the before and after gotcha video in the next post. She is darling and had a tough day. Left her foster mom at 1:30pm and traveled with 2 men to a big city to meet her mom and dad. She was hungry and so confused and afraid. She is so beautiful and looked so different than her picture. We wondered if she was Feng Xiang Ting once we got a good look at her and really looked at her with those big brown sparkly eyes and cheeks we knew she was our Jailyn. She is long and thin and has so much hair. Gotcha was over in a matter of minutes and Mike and I the planner in us had the baby changing area prepped and bottles prepped to be mixed with formula. We bought her formula in her city and what an adventure that was. Almost killed by scooters and cars and people just stared at us in the grocery and gathered around while we shopped. Big blonde chick and handsome American man is in the store. Mike signed paperwork and he and Vivienne got all our ducks in a row for our Civil Affairs appt at 9:30am today Monday. Jailyn loves mum mum's and only has 3 teeth and is teething. We are figuring out eachother and she is pretty attached to me and warmed up to Mike last night. She went down for a 1/2 hour nap after skyping with Scott and then up again and Grandma and Grandpa C got to see her at 8am and Katie and Billy and the granddogs saw her at 8:45pm. She is a good baby and had her first bath (it was new and okay). She is a little trooper and so sweet. She has been sleeping since 10pm and it is now almost 5pm. Mike and I not sleeping as much. I have new mom jitters and the reality is still quite surreal but the best. We are so blessed and I am a mom and love it. Life changed in an instant and I love her so much! See these 2 pictures that do not do her justice of how cute she is. I will take lots of pictures today and post tonight. We love you and can not wait for you to meet Jailyn.

In Nanchang! Today is Gotcha Day!

36 hours later we are here!!!!! Last leg of the flight was a challenge! We were delayed by weather on the plane. They are having down pours of rain and the area we are traveling to is being hit the hardest. They are having floods and mud slides. Think of the movie scene from Forrest Gump and he is in Vietnam and it just rains and rains that is what it is like here. Pray for good weather as it concerns us since Jailyn is in the countryside and will be traveling into Nanchang on Sunday. We are due to have this weather until Wednesday. We sat on the plane 2 1/2 hours (10:30am-1pm) waiting for clearance from Air Traffic control. What do you call 2 tired Americans from Cincinnati sitting on a plane clueless to what is happening and utter chaos going on around you? A Chinese Fire drill!!!!! We have officially experienced it first hand in China. We could at least laugh in the midst of craziness. One flight attendant spoke some English so we kind of knew what was going on.......Finally got in the air an hour or so later and came into land and visibility was terrible and the pilot had to abort the landing and try again. Oh my stars the tummy did flip flops and we could not have traveled 36 hours and not be able to land. Lots of praying and meditation began immediately. 20 minutes later we were down. All the luggage made it and our guide Vivienne is awesome. Hotel is awesome!!!! Left one of the bags on the van with the driver, got into the room, driver brought the bag (hallelujah), they brought the baby bed in our room (it makes it real), unpacked, took showers (so good to be out of the clothes we wore for 2 days) lost power in the room (mini meltdown from complete exhaustion) dinner (interesting) and sleep. Slept 5-6 hours and up in the middle of the night and happy to have internet and access to blog and Facebook. Pray very tired and excited can not sleep.

Today Jailyn becomes our daughter and me a mom after all these years. Mike just got back in bed and said it is a good thing you are up in the middle of the night perfect schedule for Jailyn.

We love you and will post pictures of our daughter next post. Pray for us as we are very tired and running on excitement and adrenaline.

Can't wait the stork is coming!!!!! Going to try and sleep some more......Mike is already snoring....just exhausted.

Happy dreams from China coming ture!

In Guangzhou China!

We are in Guangzhou! How ironic and it is Jailyn's 11 Month birthday too!!!!!! What a great present she will receive a New Mommy and Daddy!!!!!! We survived the 14 1/2 hour flight from LA to Guangzhou and we are in China! Left at 3am our time and arrived at 5:45am June 11. It is pouring down rain and 82 degrees and humid. We were upgraded to Business class on our flight and slept 6-7 hours. All our bags made it to China and customs was a piece of cake. We know how we will travel with Jailyn and have the lavatory with the diaper changer scoped out for our return. Glad to be on the ground and on our layover in Guangzhou we board at 10:20am and leave at 11:05 am arrive in Nanchang at 12:30pm. We are hanging out in the China Southern lounge and Mike is trying the Congi (rice soup and noodles). Mike is learning the language and loves standing in long lines with tons of rude people. Welcome to China!!!! WE can't wait to get to Nanchang and to our hotel and take a shower. Still look pretty good for traveling over 30 hours. We are across the world ready to pick up our baby girl. 30 hours and counting. Every time I think about it happening I get so emotional and just want my baby in my arms and for her to know it will be okay and life will just get better and better for her with her new mommy and daddy who love her so much that we traveled all the way around the world to bring her home. The pictures were of our decent in to Guangzhou as the sun was rising. Next post from Nanchang.

On our first leg of our journey and have a story!!!!

We had a fabulous morning getting ready to travel and not being rushed since we did not fly until 4:15pm. We ended up with four bags and 3 weighed exactly 50 lbs each and ended up taking one more so we were not over weight. We have 3 carry on bags and our back pack weighs 2 tons with the paperwork and lap top. It totally hit me coming up the cut through the hill going to the airport that we were finally leaving for China. My eyes welled with tears that it is really happening and we are China bound. Mom and Dad went to the airport with us so they could take the car back to their home. It was nice to have them there to see us off on our trip.

The trip was packed from CVG to LA. Our bags are checked to Nanchang however we do not have our boarding passes yet for China Southern. That is where the story begins. We got into LA on time and headed to the Delta Sky Club. Love having the AMEX benefits to use the Sky Club when you have a long layover. We got something to drink then Mike decided to goto the Intl terminal and leave me in the sky club to get our boarding passes. It is about a 10 minute walk to the terminal and the China Southern gates were not open until 7:30pm. Then I get the call that my honey can not get back in to the Delta terminal by security because he does not have a ticket. He was finally able to get a boarding pass from our last flight from the Delta ticket counter and security let him in. The moral of our journey is we are not leaving each other again while traveling. We are still in states and had issues so will not chance it in China. Next post will be from China.
Good night and sweet dreams!

The dream becomes reality after all these years....

You know in my preparations for our trip. I found two new pieces of wall art that are simply perfect for this journey we embark on this week to finally make this dream of becoming parents to Jailyn a reality. The wall art hangs in Jailyn's bathroom. They say "Happiness is in the Journey and to treasure the moments" and "Life takes us to unexpected places and love brings us home." It is only through great love that all things are possible. The impossible fate of being unable to have children gets all washed away this weekend. I (We) are already blessed beyond measure to have this awesome opportunity to parent a little girl who was born in China but in our hearts forever. I am so humbled that I get such an incredible gift of being a mom. I hope you will follow our journey. WE leave Thursday arrive in China Saturday and our baby girl joins our family Sunday at 4pm which is 4am while you are sleeping here in Ohio. I ask for prayers for safe travel and for our little girl to know this transition will be okay. The love will take her in and bring her home in our arms.

How am I feeling? I am calm and ready to begin our journey to China. For I have held onto God's word that he will not forsake me and has double blessings coming for our trouble. I hang onto the Jeremiah 29:11 scripture listed at the bottom of my blog. God has great plans for us and this little girl who has no idea what is about to happen in her little life. I have had some strange dreams working out the fears of the unknown which actually give me peace that I am dealing with my emotions. And Mike and I are good. We had our last date night at the levee (dinner, movie and ice cream), been safety proofing the house, have the car seat figured out and in the car (thanks to the local fireman who helped us install) and enjoying a pre-maternity/pre-paternity leave this week. The love, blessings and incredible support are so overwhelming and powerful at times. At church on Sunday the message was for graduates who started their journey with baby steps and what a journey it had been for them to reach their milestone. The sermon spoke to me and was so much like this 5 1/2 year journey for our adoption. Happiness is found in the journey as we follow our path to realize our dreams...... The communion song was after the sermon and it spoke volumes to me, "I will be with YOU" and when it began to play the tears welled up and could not be stopped as the reality hit home that God has had HIS big plan BIGGER THAN I EVER IMAGINED all along for Jailyn to join our family. His timing is Perfect.

So Jailyn is packed with a bag just under the 50 lb limit. Lots of darling outfits, bottles, formula, diapers and a drugstore full of every remedy we may need. Mike and I pack tomorrow and have our last day doing the things we love. Mike is playing golf and I am going to be pampered and shop. Then we travel late afternoon on Thursday to LA then Guangzhou then Nanchang.

We could not be happier for our dream to become a reality. I have downloaded a special internet provider that will by pass the Chinese govt blocks of blogs and facebook so as long as I have internet connection I can update from China.

I appreciate all your love and support and can't wait to post her first pictures with us. So happy and blessed beyond words.....The new mom to be.....we are on our way to the hospital and it happens to be in China where the stork will deliver Jailyn in our arms.