She's with us!

Can't write much now... we're on our way to a government appt. She's sleeping in her crib but now we've got to wake her up to go!!

i'll update later tonight.... so far, so good. :)

Beijing Day 2

Here are some pics from the Great Wall two days ago...

Now I'm blogging about yesterday since I was way too tired last night to get on the computer. It was a big day yesterday and we have one hour before we leave to meet Aleigha so this will pass the time! Ok.... we left the hotel yesterday at 8:30am to go to Tian'Men Square and the Forbidden City. The square is where Chairman Mau proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949. The Forbidden City is where Chinese Emporer's lived. It's officially called The Palace Museum - it was completed in 1920. It was HUGE!! It was soooo cold yesterday too with a lot of walking but we all survived!

Then we went to a silk factory where we learned how silk is made. It was really interesting.

After that, we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and I actually ate my entire meal! It was so good.

I wasn't feeling too well that morning because of the lack of sleep but the cold air woke me up. Then Jeff started feeling sick by the time we got to the airport. I thought he was going to lose it on the airplane. It was really turbulent and was an hour late taking off. Then to top off the whole day, the woman next to Jeff puked in a see through bag and held it the entire last 30 minutes of the plane ride!! Talk about gross...

We got to the hotel about 9pm and this hotel is beautiful! The rooms are bigger and there are more amenities. They had a crib, stroller, toys and baby bath set up in each of our rooms! Now we're all ready to get her this morning!! I'll try to update pics later today of our daughter! :)

Day 1 Beijing

It's technically day 2 here in Beijing. It's 4:47am and we can't sleep! We had such a big day yesterday that we are totally exhausted. We left at 9am and got back to the hotel at 7pm. Then ate supper and went to bed.
We ate breakfast at the hotel and met several of the other couples in our group. There are 9 couples in our group. We got on our bus and went to a Jade factory that showed us how to carve Jade and the different types and different qualities of Jade. It was very interesting. Then we went to the Great Wall. It was neat to see it in person after seeing so many pictures in books. There was A LOT of climbing and very steep and rugged/uneven stairs. Of course, Jeff took tons of pictures. I'll try to download pics in a few days. These first 2 days of the trip are the most busy because we try to get a week of sightseeing all in 2 days before we go to the next province where we pick up our girls. So we're completely exhausted. We then had lunch at The Friendship House for a family style meal. It was interesting if you liked to try different China cuisine. I, of course, stayed clear of anything I thought could possibly make me sick... so i had fries and bean spring rolls. :) Yes, they had american french fries on their family style meal probably for kids and people like me. Then we went to the Cloisonne enamelware factory tour. It is enamalware that was originated in Beijing during the Yuan dynasty. It is metal pieces - mostly very colorful detailed vases - that has 8 steps just to do the coloring. It takes at least 3 days to make one vase. Now they make everything with this technique probably to sell to tourists. They make Christmas ornaments, beads, bowls, etc at the factory store for purchase.
Next was the Beijing Olympic Stadium. It was HUGE and so many people were there visiting and taking pictures. We were able to go inside where the Opening Ceremonies were and the Olympic Mascots (as blow up figures) were inside so everyone could take pictures with them. Jeff loved this part. OH.. and we got to see the Water Cube from the outside which was just so cool for Jeff. We probably have 100 pictures of just that building! We also drove through the Olympic village and saw other Olympic buildings. It was so busy in that area... although it's busy everywhere in Beijing. Driving here is very similar to Russia. People just park wherever they want and the lines on the road are just "suggestions." Honking all the time and people just milling around in middle of the streets.
Finally, we went to the Chinese Acrobatic show. Our group of 20 made quite a scene walking in to the "VIP" section. The theater manager had to move an entire row of people so we could all sit down. There was quite a bit of yelling and staring! The show was amazing and lasted about an hour. I'll post pictures later. It's easier to explain with pictures. :)
We got back to the hotel around 7pm and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. I had penne pasta and chicken. YUM.
Today will be another long day.... After sightseeing all morning, we will be going to the airport to fly to Nanchang. That flight leaves at 4:30 this afternoon. I think it's only an hour and a half.
It's 5:10am now so i guess we'll start packing to leave at 8am.

I just called my dad to see how Grayson is and Grayson talked to me for 3 minutes or so. He was busy painting rocks with Elizabeth and just too busy to talk!

We're in Beijing!

We made it! We're staying in the Beijing Holiday Inn. Our flight wasn't too bad. Jeff and I took dramamine twice and slept through most of it. They gave us lunch and dinner so if we weren't sleeping, then we were eating! We're exhausted still. It's 18:45 here.. that's how all the clocks read so I'm getting used to it. :) Tomorrow, we're meeting at 8am for breakfast downstairs and then leaving at 9am for the Great Wall. Then the afternoon will be the Olympic Stadium. We may go see an acrobatic show tomorow night. We'll see how tired we are.
I'll try to update our blog as often as we can. I'm ready for bed now!!

100's Day

Grayson's school celebrated 100's day last week. It was their 100th day of school this year. He made his own shirt with 100 blue dots on the front and 100 green dots on the back!

Only 4 more days until we leave for China... We are so nervous and excited... I can't believe it's finally going to happen!

Thoughts.....

I don't have much new to report but it's been so over a week since I've updated my blog so I thought I'd better get on here again. We're just busy getting everything ready for our trip. It's in 9 days! I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. I wonder how big Aleigha is and what size clothes she will wear. I wonder if she'll cry or scream when she meets us... I wonder how tired we'll all be during the trip and when we get home!! I wonder how a 13 hour flight and a 14 hour time difference will affect us. I wonder how Grayson will act during the two weeks we'll be in China and he'll be at home. I wonder how he will react to Aleigha when he sees her for the 1st time. I just have so many things to think about!!! I need to go update my list of things to do before we leave for China.... again!

Aleigha updates...

Time is flying by now... Jeff, Grayson and I have been busy working on Aleigha's bedroom and it's is finally done! It is gorgeous.

Stacey and Amy also gave me a baby shower for Aleigha last weekend and it was a good time! I received so many great gifts too! :) I love Stacey and Amy!!! They are the best!

GAMES!!
GIFTS!

The plaque below says "Princess in Training!" Ain't that the truth... :)

Last week, we received an updated picture of Aleigha but you can't see much. She's all bundled up like Randy in the Christmas Story movie!!

Grayson lost his front tooth last week! He was sooooo excited! The Tooth Fairy gave him $2.00.