An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break. --Chinese legend

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Time to get our Peking duck on

We leave for China in less than 14 hours!!! With the exception of some toiletries, our bags are packed. Kevin has given Adams a 64 page document describing in great detail how to best care for the dogs, which I can only assume he will give Snoopy to chew on after we leave. Probably not a bad idea if it keeps her from eating pens, rocks and the furniture for a little while. We'll update you as often as we can. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes! Next stop: Beijing.

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Dogsitter

The dogsitter has arrived. Adams has graciously agreed to house/dogsit for our entire 16 day trip. Pete greeted him by barking and growling. Apparently, Pete is anti-grad student beard. Several treats later, Pete is feeling better. As you can see, Adams has his work cut out for him.



And for those of you who think Snoopy is the bad one, here's Pete sitting on Kevin's head just yesterday morning.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Cinco de Mayo

May 5 will be our Gotcha Day. I updated our schedule below.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Attachment

There's not much new on the travel front. Hopefully, we'll get more information on our schedule by the end of the week. In the mean time, I thought I'd share a little information about attachment and adoption. During the months after we return home, David is going to have to learn that we are his parents, that we will meet all of his needs, that we love him and that this family is forever. It may seem like that should come naturally with little thought or effort (and hopefully that will be the case); but he has been with his birth parents, in an orphanage and with at least one foster family in his short life. Soon we'll be family #4, and life so far has given him no reason to expect this to be his final stop. In order to help him attach to us and us to him, adoption experts have some recommendations.
  • No big crowds. No passing him from person to person as soon as we hop off the plane.
  • Develop daily routines and schedules and stick to them.
  • Whenever possible, Kevin and I should feed, bathe, dress, comfort and put him to sleep.
  • Lots of one one one time. Avoid overstimulating him with too many toys.
  • There's a lot more information at http://www.med.umn.edu/peds/iac/postadoption/attachment.html for anyone who's interested.

This is not meant to be a lecture. We want everyone to come hang out and play. We can't wait for you to meet him, but if we make requests that seem strange and arbitrary, like wrestling him away from you when you try to be helpful and change a diaper, I just wanted to give everyone an idea of why.

9 days until we leave!

Friday, April 11, 2008

It's a date

We have our departure date for China. We'll be leaving on May 1. We won't have our final itinerary until 5-7 days before we leave (and even that is subject to change), but here's what a typical schedule would be.

May 1 - Depart Chicago at 12:45pm
May 2 - Arrive in Beijing at 3:00pm
May 3 - All day tour of the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Tian'an Men Square
May 4 - Fly to Chongqing
May 5 - GOTCHA DAY! Meet David at 2:30pm
May 6 - Adoption paperwork
May 7 - Visit Dianjiang SWI (David's orphanage)
May 8 - Sightseeing tour of the ancient town of CiqiKou
May 9 - Get David's passport
May 10 - Fly to Guangzhou
May 11 - Sightseeing tour of Chen family temple
May 12 - Visa photo and medical exam
May 13 - Sightseeing tour of Yuntai park
May 14 - Consulate appointment
May 15 - Pick up David's visa, swearing in ceremony
May 16 - Fly home, arriving in Chicago at 5:00pm

That's what we know so far. We would love to meet his foster family, but from what I understand that is usually not possible.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Travel Approval!!!

We just received word from our agency that our travel approval has arrived. They can now finalize our visa appointment date with the American consulate. The timing of that appointment will determine our departure date for China! They are requesting an appointment for the week of May 12, which would mean we would leave for Beijing the week of May 2. Everything should be finalized in the next week. Very exciting!