Hello China!

We're happy to have arrived safely at about 6:50 a.m. on Wednesday, July 21 at Hong Kong International Airport. Many prayers of thanksgiving are being sent heavenward as we reflect on all the blessings our God has given already on this journey. I know it won't ALL go so smoothly, but as I sit here at Hong Kong's Regal Kowloon hotel, I'm thankful for good health for all three of us throughout the plane ride(s), two very smooth flights (but that journey from LA to Hong Kong felt like forever!), leaving our checked bags in Chicago and having all of them actually show up in Hong Kong, finding them immediately on the baggage carousel and getting to take in Hong Kong's skyline on the 45 minute shuttle bus ride to our hotel. Again, I know the whole trip will most likely not run so smoothly, but so far everything has clicked right into place.

Hong Kong is unlike anything I've ever seen before. My brain's a little punchy from lack of sleep, so I'm lacking the words to describe it, but suffice it to say as you approach the city, high rises cover the horizon from one end of your vision to the other--one stacked right next to the other.

We're official!

We received word this morning that we will leave for Hong Kong on July 21st and travel home August 7.

We are in contact with several different travel agencies trying to find the most reasonable airfares. Some adoption friends have told us that airfare is currently the highest it's been in years. The internet makes it easier though to contact travel agencies and try to find the best deal.

For someone who's not very adventurous, this is all new and more than a little scary. But I (we) realize that in this case, it's about the destination and not about the journey! (We'll try to enjoy the journey as well!)

Travel Approval

We got some good news yesterday when we heard that our Travel Approval has been issued by the CCAA. (China Center of Adoption Affairs) Basically, this is the Chinese government saying "Come get your kid now!"

The final piece of the pre-travel puzzle comes when the American Consulate in Guangzhou issues us an appointment date and time. This is where Nora will officially become a U.S. citizen. We should hear from the consulate by the end of this week. Then our adoption agency will arrange our travel itinerary around that appointment. So we're a little closer.

We don't know officially when we'll be leaving yet, but it's starting to look like July 21 or 22 will be the day we'll be on our way.

Still here!

Yes, we've taken a short break from posting while we wait for news on our trip. But we're busy nevertheless! Indications are that we'll be traveling to China in mid-July, but we haven't received official word on that yet. Also unofficial, but likely, is our travel itinerary--Hong Kong (where we'll meet the rest of our travel group), Nanchang (the capital of Jiangxi province where we'll meet Nora), and Guangzhou (where the consulate is located and the adoption will become official).

We've completed and submitted our paperwork for our Chinese visas. Beth is sorting through baby clothes. And we're trying to remember what it takes to be parents to a 9 month old! (Think it'll all come back quickly.) Getting the baby's room ready and researching trans-pacific flights is also a favorite and necessary pastime.

We are responsible for getting ourselves from our home to the "meet up" city, which will most likely be the aforementioned Hong Kong. There we will join several other families from our adoption agency who are also adopting "Fu girls." Beth has enjoyed talking online to a few (fu?) of these other new moms whose daughters are currently in the care of the Fuzhou City SWI. From the port city onward, all our travel is arranged by our adoption agency. They also provide a guide for our group who makes sure we get where we need to be when we need to be there.

Nora is currently in foster care in the city of Fuzhou and not in the SWI itself. We're very thankful that she's in foster care--because even though she'll be very attached to her current foster mom and dad, we're hoping that will also lead to an easier attachment to Beth and myself when we meet her. More news to come as we receive it!

Mei-Li

Several have asked about Nora's middle name. Mei and Li are Chinese words that mean "beautiful" and "gift" respectively. We checked with a couple folks who are fluent in Mandarin to make sure that Mei-Li couldn't also mean "overgrown raccoon" or something weird like that. Receiving the OK from them, we decided that "Beautiful-Gift" was pretty appropriate. In case you're wondering, it's pronounced "may lee." Also coincidentally, Mei is part of the Chinese word for "America." America is "Meiguo"--literally "beautiful land." A fitting name for a little one coming to live in a beautiful land!

Ugly blog

Beth says that I'm the author of the world's ugliest blog. At least she did not say that I'm the world's ugliest blog author. So I made use of the templates to give the site a different look. Hope it's a little easier on the eyes! Now if we could just do something about the name. Ants on a Blog? Seriously?

Look out world!

As expected, we received a fedex package today with official paperwork, medical records and a couple of pictures of our new daughter, Nora Mei-Li Waldschmidt.

Just a few fun facts included in her report....

• She weighs about 15 lbs, with a good appetite. Her favorite foods are rice cereal, steamed eggs and meat cake soup. (Huh?)
• She was born on August 21, 2009 and arrived at Fuzhou SWI on September 8th.
  
• She does not sleep through the night yet.
  
• Her personality is described as active, fond of music and games, smiling readily.
  

You can definitely see that ready smile in at least one of the pictures. Looks like she's already cooking up some trouble! We can't wait.