Family of Four to Be

This family- of- four- to- be leaves for  Shanghai tomorrow! We hold Teagan in 11 days! You'd think with the fact that we have been waiting almost 5 months since referral, and 4 years since our paperwork first went to China - that I would be packed and ready. But those of you who know me well, know I am not. My friend Emily who will be traveling with us, has been packed since March....


We arrive in Shanghai on the 19th at 9 pm. That's a long trip for a little girl (and for this big girl!). Following some good advice (again Emily), I have packed Catherine a surprise bag of "stuff" (e.g., a new DS chip, magic spy glasses, 3-D coloring pad with glasses) for the plane including some of the items from the party (e.g., very cool hangman scratch off game, a matching card game SPOT, a personal journal, etc.). We will attend a conference, and each of us have some meetings with faculty from other universities. Best of all, we  have a chance to catch up with a friend whom we don't see often who is a professor at Washington U who will be attending the conference! One of our doctoral students has given us a list of things to do in Shanghai- thank you Irene!

After that we go to Beijing on the 24th and meet our travel group. We will get settled and tour for a few days.  What is so hard for us is that Teagan is in Beijing at the same time we are in Angels Home, but we are not allowed to see her until she is legally our child. I had thought she would be going to Zhengzhou earlier than that, and thought we might visit Angels House, but we won't be able to do so. Of course, this is a GOOD thing because it means Teagan is with friends and the people that care for her. Like this "angel mom" at Angel's Home. The caption on this photo was "Little Peas Asleep" :)

We fly to Zhengzhou on Sunday the 27th. Teagan will be on the train from BJ to Zh with angel home staff and volunteers. Grace and Such will also be on that train too! (back to eva's  train song..."there's a train coming...don't need ticket you just thank the Lord..."). We meet Teagan on the 28th - which is the 27th in the US- along with all the other families.  I mentioned in the other post that we also traveled to Dianjiang SWI on the 28th to get Catherine. It's very special to have the the same family day for the two girls. After that, we do a lot of paperwork, check-ups and government official things. We leave Zhengzhou and fly to Guangzhou around July 2nd. We will be returning to the White Swan! I am so excited for Catherine to have a chance to see the White Swan in person. She has seen many photos of herself at the White Swan and in GZ.

It's a long trip! As great as the time is in China - you are well cared for and have to only focus on your family which is a rare gift - we will be excited to come home and introduce Teagan to our family and friends. Our good friend and neighbor will be bringing our car to the airport and meeting us there when we get back. Thank you Betsy for volunteering to do this!

Last thing - here is a photo of Teagan in her "signature hand position" as a 3 month old.I know I talk a lot about Angels Home, but again grateful for how they have cared for Teagan and taken her from a very small 9 pound 3-month old baby to the healthy 20+ pounder she is now:)