On the mend

It hit Anna first early last week, then me and now Greg. We have had the most terrible round of "junk" that we can either one remember having. We're still blowing noses, we still can't smell, taste or hear, but I think we're getting better.

We still have a lot to do to get ready to leave next Thursday, so I'm thankful we're on the upswing of this. Our bags are about half way packed,the house is about half way clean, and the laundry is about half way done. Progress! I'll post more about our itinerary in China in a couple of days.

For those of you that have asked, we have decided to leave Anna here. It was one of the hardest decisions we have had to make, but we finally feel at peace with it. Anna is looking forward to sleepovers at Nana's house and with her cousins. She is also very excited that we have made her in charge (or "on charge" as she says) of making signs and getting balloons for Isaiah at the airport. And she is happy that she gets to be the first one to hug him at the airport. Anna has 2 wonderful grandma's and an awesome aunt and uncle and super fun cousins, so we know we're leaving her in good hands. Thank you all for helping us!!

Here is a pic of our super awesome Big Sister. She is so excited for her baby brother to come home. We couldn't be more proud of her, she is a special little girl!!

Have tickets, will travel!

Tickets have been purchased, itinerary is set ... packing and to-do list need a little help though!

We were lucky enough to get another picture of Isaiah earlier this week. Two weeks from today we'll be on a plane to meet this little sweetie! This was taken Feb 20th!

Better pack the hair brush and hair gel ... baby boy has some hair!

I'll post more about our itinerary soon.

TA!!!!

It came today!! I was in the middle of Walgreens when I got the call and it was all I could do not to scream. Of course, I ran to the car to call Greg ... then I screamed!   :-)

More details to come ... but it looks like we'll be leaving March 8th (3 weeks from today!!) and meeting Isaiah on March 12th - the day he turns 15 months old!

Praise the Lord!

Video!!

We were able to get a short video of Isaiah that was taken last October!! 

Seriously, could he be any cuter!!  Come on TA!! Prayers that we get our travel approval next week!!

Where are we going?

Our route to China will start in Chicago again. We'll fly from Chicago to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong to Changsha, Hunan. On the way home we'll most likely take the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Chicago, then one more quick flight home!

Hunan is located in the south central part of the Chinese mainland, and has long been known for its natural beauty. Hunan is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River on the north ... it's mixture of mountains and water makes it among the most beautiful provinces in China. For thousands of years, Hunan has been a major center of Chinese agriculture, growing rice, tea, and oranges.

Our first week will be spent in Changsha, Hunan. Changsha is located in the northeast part of Hunan. It's the capital city of Hunan as well as it political, economic and cultural center. Similar to Kunming, Yunnan (where we were with Anna), Changsha has a subtropical climate year round as well. Changsha's population is 6.13 million.

We will meet Isaiah in Changsha, however he is actually in Hengyang which, by high-speed train, is about 30 mins south of Changsha. Hengyang is the second largest city in Hunan with a population of over seven million.

Hengyang is located in the middle reaches of Xiangjiang River and to the south of Mt. Hengshan in Hunan Province. It is a historically significant city renowned as the 'Bright Pearl in Southern China.' It is also known as 'Wild Goose City' because flocks of wild geese flying south for the winter have been known to stop there to rest.  

We are fairly certain that we will be allowed to travel to Hengyang to visit Isaiah's SWI and meet some of the wonderful people with ICC that have taken care of him. Speaking of ICC - please take a minute to check out their website and learn about all the wonderful things they are doing. If would like to help support them and the children they care for, please check out their donation options here. 

The second week of our journey will be spent in Guangzhou (Canton), just like last time - this is where all families spend their 2nd week in China and where our US Consulate appt. will take place. We are anxious to visit Guangzhou again as last time much of the area where most adoptive families stay was under construction and we didn't get to see a lot of the architecture. Guangzhou is the largest and most flourishing industrial and foreign trade center in south China. The population in Guangzhou is about 12.7 million! The climate is humid and flowers bloom all year round; hence its name as the City of Flowers.

We are starting to get really excited to experience China again! It's hard to believe that we are be just over a month away from going!

Article 5 pick up today!!

As of today we are officially waiting for our Travel Approval. Our Article 5 is to be picked up from the Consulate in China today and dropped of at the CCCWA where they will issue our TA. Right now it's been taking an average of 22 days for TA's to be issued.

Once we have our TA our agency will be able to  schedule our Consulate Appointment and we can purchase our plane tickets!! My best guess is that we'll either leave March 8th or 15th. We're praying for March 8th as that would put us meeting Isaiah the day he turns 15mths.

We've been busy busy lately preparing for his arrival. His room is almost complete, travel shopping is well underway, suitcases are ready to be packed, meals are being frozen. Still lots to do, but we are making good progress!