Day 6 in China... Sorry for the delay

Hey everyone!  Well we are on Day 6 here in China.  I am so sorry I have not posted but we were unable to get onto any social media sites.  All fixed now... via a VPN.

Ok so here is what's been happening:

Gotcha Day was amazing!  It was not as emotional as I thought it would be.  It was so chaotic and crazy and Laidyn was already in the room when we arrived that I barely had time to pull the camera out.  We were so happy to see her smiling and happy.  And it honestly just felt like we have known her always.  She cried for about 15 minutes and then eased up a bit.  The boys were amazing and so gentle with her.  Within an hour we were in a van and on our way back to the hotel...


On Days 2-5 we were a bit confined but managed through.  Having all three kids made exploring Hangzhou a little difficult.  It's a city with 7 million people and was extremely busy.  We ventured out for a few walks, shopped a bit, ate some ice cream and just spent time with Laidyn.  The kids swam a few times in the indoor pool too.  The hotel was AMAZING!  Josh worked his magic and got us upgraded to a suite in this 5-star hotel.  It made the stay very easy.

Day 5 - Laidyn's first plane ride... she did great!  2 hours and she only tried to get down a couple of times.  Arrived in Guangzhou late last night and got unpacked for the second time. 

Day 6 - In Guangzhou we are near the Shamian Island which is beautiful.  The buildings and layout of the little area is all French influenced so it was like walking the streets in New Orleans... really cool!!!  Very sweet and comfortable to spend the day outside with the kids.  They played and made a few new friends.  Laidyn did great!  She also had her medical appt this morning.  She freaked out a bit... but it was over in about an hour.  It was mass chaos in that physical exam place... by far my least favorite part of the trip.  Glad that's over.

Having trouble posting pics... be back in a minute!

Hotel & Tickets - CHECK!!!!

Hey guys... We received our travel dates on Friday!!!  HOOOWHOOO!!!  Our hotels are booked and the plane tickets purchased.  Let the 75 trips to Walmart and the packing begin!

I will be blogging while we are there.  So please check on us daily... 

Article 5

Our Article 5 was picked up from the US Embassy in China on Friday, 10/15.  This document will prompt our TA (travel approval).  We are hoping to get that within 15 days... please pray it comes soon!  One more step and we are off... Based on our current timeline we should leave sometime bw 11/11 and 11/25.  Keep you all posted!

The crazy thing is that I feel completely NOT READY to leave.  What??!!!  Three years of planning and I still feel ahhhhh - not prepared.  Going into overdrive now to get everything together. 

Love to everyone!
Kel

More good news...

Well God's grace is just pouring out today.  My sweet friend Jennifer, who is in China right now with her daughter Myah, saw Laidyn at the orphanage this morning (last night our time) and snapped some pictures for us.  Here is what she emailed me this morning: 

"Oh my, she is the most precious thing ever!  Kinda shy, but wow... what a little angel you have.  She came to the baby room hand in hand with her foster brother, who will be adopted next week.  I would guess him to be 4 or 5.  I know nothing more about him then that, but you should ask on the yahoo group to see if you can keep in contact.  They said that they are very close."  Jennifer

Jennifer said she popped in and then she was off.  I am even more excited now!  I guess she is at the orphanage now - i will try to find out from our agency.  I knew she would be moved from the foster home to the orphanage, but we were not sure when.  I am so glad she is close to her foster brother and I will try to locate his new family... I know she will be able to attach to Bren and Noah easily!  

What a day... we are coming sweet BeiLei... be there soon!!!
Kelly

Getting Close...

Hey guys... we are getting soooo close.  Our Article 5 should be picked up on 10/14!Yipee.... we should get TA (travel approval) about 10-15 days after that.  Hopefully sooner. 

We also received an update with some new pictures.  She is measuring and weighs the same as in August... no real changes.  In the pictures she is wearing the pj's we sent, playing with her purse and doll that we sent.  She's also standing - that makes me feel awesome bc we had not seen on of her just standing on her own yet.  :) I can't wait to show Payton the pictures - She played with that doll every time she came over while it was sitting on the counter waiting to be shipped to China.  I love that Laidyn is holding something that Payton touched and played with too.  Awhhhh!!!!

Also... to my wonderful family and friends who threw me the most precious baby shower this week - THANK YOU!  You are all wonderful and I could not be more grateful.  It was a perfect evening.  All of Laidyn's toys are put away, her clothes are washed and the suitcases are ready for packing.  Thanks so much for all of your love and support!!

Kel

NVC letter cabled!

Hey friends... Great news! Our national visa center letter was cabled to China on Friday (the exact day I calculated I might add). And Josh laughs at me and my timeline calendar. Yeah! Two more step to go and we are off. See our timeline on the right side of the blog... Love to everyone!

Kel

Visa!!

Josh and I received our Visa's today!  Yeah - one more step closer.

Love to all!

I800 Approved Today!

Hey everyone... one more step down!  Our I800 was approved today.  God bless all of the employees and officials who have a hand in our paperwork process!  It never stops amazing me the number of people, who we will never meet, helping us to get our daughter home.  Next three steps are:

1. NVC Letter 
2. Article 5 Issue
3. Travel Approval

Then we are off!! 

Also... please keep in your prayers the numerous families who are in different stages of their adoptions.  These families have been a great support to our family and are in need of your prayers. 

Love to everyone - Kel

Hey everyone... here are some videos of Laidyn we received a few weeks ago.  Thank you to our wonderful new friends who taped this for us while picking up their daughter in China!  You can see in the first one - precious Elisyn trying to give Laidyn her gift.

Laidyn is not happy at all in these videos... :(  She was a very scared since she didn't know anyone at the orphanage.  Poor baby.  But you can see her move and hear her precious little voice!  God is great!

Geaux Tigers!!

All I can say is GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!!! oh yeah!

A Massage & some Luggage :)

Today Josh and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary! Wow... what a day! Dropped the kids off at school, grabbed some breakfast and headed over to Bumble Lane for a 90 minute couples massage.  I love that MAN!!!!  It was awesome.  I  can't stop thinking about when we celebrate the big 10 - our precious Laidyn will be here with us. 


Then of course we ran some errands and ended up at Burlington to find some discounted luggage.  Found 2 awesome pieces perfect for travel to China - hard cover and feather light.  We were getting worried since the max weight from what we are hearing in like 25lbs.  Ugh - how will I ever make that happen!


Anyway... just got excited today to buy our first item specifically for the trip.  Yeah!! 


Talk to you all soon!
Kel

Video!

Ahhh! We have video of Laidyn! Nothing could be better. Even though she is literally crying in all four videos... it's such a blessing to see her move, hear her voice and watch her interact. I can already tell that she is a calm child but when she is upset... watch out! If you go to my FB page you can view the videos. I have not figured out how to save them to my computer - it just won't let me - darn it!

Other news... everyone keeps asking when will we travel. It's still up in the air but all signs are pointing to us getting our TA (travel approval) around October 20th. Which means we should be in China approx. 2 weeks after that - so potentially we could be in China as early as early November. As each round of the last few approvals come in, we will have a better idea.

Keep ya posted!
Kel

LOA!!!!!

Our LOA has arrived!!!! Our agency called this afternoon and fedex'd it to us tonight. We will have it in our hands by tomorrow afternoon. Our LOA is the paperwork that we have been waiting for to move forward with the adoption. Now we have to file a few things and wait for travel approval from China which we will hopefully get by November!! THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE EVER RECEIVED! BeiLei Song (Laidyn BeiLei Wilson) is officially ours!

I have to admit Josh, Brennan, Noah and I did the dorkiest dance and little jump when we found out the news... it was one of those family moments I will never forget. :)

Now I can post some pictures! So here she is - our beautiful daughter! Thanks to all of you for your support, love and prayers. Please continue to pray for a speedy paperwork process over the next couple of months.

Taken August 2011

Taken April/May 2011

Taken Spring 2010

LOVE TO EVERYONE!!!!!! Thanks for your constant support and prayers!!! Keep following the blog!
Kel

We have pictures and an update!!

Hey everyone!!! We received two new pictures of Laidyn on Saturday and three more pictures from the agency this morning! We cannot tell you how excited we are to have these!! I can't post them just yet, but as soon as our LOA arrives - hopefully in about a week I will be able to post.

In the first set of pictures she was not very happy - poor baby is crying up a storm. We should have some video too in a couple of weeks. She had been taken from her foster home and brought to the orphanage so she was probably very scared. An amazing family who is in China right now requested to visit with her and several other children while they were picking up their daughter. What a blessing that family has been to us!

The second set of images was sent to us by our agency. These are of her playing with some of the toys we sent in her care package. We can't wait to show them to you - she is sooo cute!!!!

Continue to pray, if you will, for our LOA to arrive soon!
Love Kelly