Busy in Beijing

Quick impressions from a very busy day 2:

** Tomorrow we get young Abigail! Amazing. We have been sooo busy, it's easy to forget every now and again. But the big day is almost here.

** Yesterday was wild and tiring, but amazing. Shopping on a "walking street", toured Tiananmen Square and the vast, historic and crowded Forbidden City and then a quick stop at Olympic Village and Beijing Acrobats show, then home at 9 p.m. We ate a power bar each and collapsed.

** Our hotel is great. Breakfast bar is amazing. Many dishes labeled Muslim or non-Muslim. Chicken rings? No. But there is squid rings.

** Allison got physically dragged by a walking street clothing vendor after refusing a purchase.I looked around and saw this woman literally hanging onto Allison's arm and pulling her back. She was hollering "Doug ... help!!"

** Food on the walking street? How about live scorpions on a stick? Or locust larvae? Stewed tentacles? The locals seemed to be enjoying it. We passed.

** Natalie has been great. A real touring trooper. She sleeps on the bus, which is best, cause the traffic will scare the &&%$ out of you. I don't know how people survive driving in it.

** Natalie has already bonded with her "new best friend" Genna, the 10-year-old in our group. There is also a 5-year-old daughter with another family in our group, although they are going to another province.

** Natalie has been very engaged in our touring. She answered a hard question from guide about a Chinese statue and could tell the difference between chinese police and Chinese soldiers. (We get lots of looks, here in Beijing, by the way, from locals.You can tell they are curious about our family.)

** We are getting ready to go out for another full day.This time the Great Wall, the summer palace and a jade factory.

Tomorrow we fly to Nanchang in the morning and get Abigail in the p.m. We will try to post again, but the next time you hear from us Abbimae will likely be part of the gang.

We made it!

We are finally here!! Doug shares his calculations that we traveled 6,500 miles at an average of 550 mph on a route that took us over the Arctic Circle and across frozen Siberia. Did I mention that he kept saying that he would be glad when the flight was over?

Well, we made it through without a hitch! Natalie slept during take-off and landing on our 13 hour flight. She and I got about 4-5 hours of sleep on the plane while Doug's napping was more spotty.

Another bonus is that all of our luggage made the journey, too - while only 2 out of 3 of our travel companions' bags did! We hope their bags will make the same flight tomorrow. If not soon, we can share some baby clothes. Wish we could help with clothes for their 10-year-old daughter.

We ventured out of our hotel tonight. We could see Mickey D's arches across the way from our hotel window. We went underground to cross the street and then pointed and gestured inside to get our hot fries, Cokes and fish sandwiches. Natalie was thrilled to get a Happy Meal complete with a Chinese toy!

It seems we're not far from home in another way. Near the McDonalds, we stumbled across the Henderson Shopping Center, how ironic! Could it be a red thread?

Tomorrow we're off to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Olympic Village and a Chinese acrobat show, but not until 1:00. There's a walking street nearby that our guide Catherine encouraged us to explore! They say we're just a few blocks down from Tiananmen Square!

We're relieved to be off that never-ending flight, ready for some sleep and actually sleepy when we're supposed to be. Then it's off to take in the sights before we are united with Abigail on Sunday!

Abigail, here we come!

We're packed and ready -- which has been no easy feat in itself!! We have everything on the list for the baby and us and still under the 44 lb. weight limit! Anyone who knows how I pack heavy will realize what an accomplishment this is!

I feel a sense of calm now after many weeks of worry and 'what ifs'. I've been running through all the possible scenarios I can think of in my mind and then packing a remedy. Last go-around we were blissfully happy with no idea of the experience we had in store for us. This time being more aware has caused more anxiety. But we decided that we had to turn those concerns over to God. Doug says he'll just be glad when the plane is in the air to China!!

Last time we flew straight into Guangzhou and right back out! We didn't realize how easy of a trip that was back then! This time we'll have much more of an adventure with stops in Beijing, Nanchang and then Guangzhou!

So Abigail is coming home! Everytime I see that precious face I just want to go get her right then -- like Natalie who wanted to put her rocket shoes on! Well, now it's time, no rocket shoes needed!

Abigail, here we come!!

Updated Photos!

We received updated photos of Abigail Mae this afternoon! She seems happier and pudgier than in her referral photos. We think we will travel the first of May, but still won't find out for sure for a couple of weeks.

What's In a Name?

In our family, what's in a name is 7 letters. We just discovered that when deciding on baby names. Douglas, Allison and Natalie all have seven letters!

So our baby girl needed a seven letter name, and we came up with an oldie, but goodie -- Abigail. We will name her Abigail Mae WenLian White. WenLian comes from her Chinese name.

Abigail is a name we have always liked. And Gail is my mother's middle name, and she has been so good to Natalie. Doug has always liked the name Mae. It was his grandmother's name. Also we anticipate that we will bring Abigail home in the month of May. There is a Chinese spelling for her middle name Mei, but we decided not to use it since we have already incorporated her actual Chinese name.

Hope you are doing well Abigail Mae -- Abbimae, for short.

Bundle of Joy

We learned more about our happy baby today when we went to the adoption agency to pick up her translated file. She loves to giggle loudly. She likes to be amused and entertained. She is active, outgoing and energetic -- always kicking her legs and waving her arms. She also likes to be held all the time. Hummm, all of it sounds very familiar.

We learned the meaning of her name. Fu is the surname of the orphanage. Wen means beautiful cloud tints. Lian means lotus. How pretty.

What wonderful information to get today. I have to say it one more time. We are truly blessed.

Announcing Our Long-awaited Daughter!

Meet our little blessing, Fu Wen Lian, age 7 1/2 months, from Fuzhou city in Jiangxi Province. She is so adorable! We're thrilled!

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We got the call at 1:08 p.m. today. I had been following the referral announcements and arrivals on my favorite site Rumor Queen. News came about a Spanish site, then a Scadanavian country, next was Denmark. Then all of a sudden, I saw the first person in the U.S. reporting that they were called. I literally got up from my chair and the phone rang! It was The Call! What a surprise. Then they e-mailed the photos.

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Doug's first response: Yep, she's beautiful. And chunky as all get out. Check out that last picture. She looks mad.

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Natalie's first response: Ohhhh, she's cute. I'm a big sister.

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Natalie on Phone to Grandmom: I can't wait for little sister. I should put rocket shoes on and just go there myself. It would be faster than a slow old plane!

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It's been a whirlwind around here all weekend since I learned Friday afternoon that our referral was likely in the batch arriving on Monday. Lots of name discussions, crib setting up, beginning of rebabyproofing. After waiting just a month and a week shy of four years, there were a few things we'd put on the back burner to avoid thinking about the wait. Boy, we're busy now!

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I had warned my class that I was getting an incredibly important phone call today -- more important to the doctor. They were all ears when I took the call. The little detectives were whispering back and forth figuring it out. When I got off the phone, they called out, "You're getting a baby!"

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We're all excited. Tomorrow we go to the agency to get our more information about our little Fu Wen Lian.