Ni Hao from the White Swan

Hi all, its 5 a.m. here in Guangzhou, and Jimmy and I have been WIDE AWAKE for over an hour. This isnt a jet lag thing I dont think; its an " OH MY LORD.............WE GET AMELIA TODAY " thing. we are so excited. we woke up positively giddy, making sure we have everything together for today, going over how to make the formula(directions are in Chinese, but our guide went over it with us yesterday) They prefer you keep the babies on their Chinese formula until you get home, and then gradually switch to Similac or whatever. They have so many changes, so fast. Its alot of stress for a little baby.

The crib provided by the hotel is pictured above, I posted it because when you walk into your room and see that crib........I cannot even describe the emotion of that. The whole thing becomes so real. Matter of fact, the drive from the Guangzhou airport was also emotional for me. We both choked back tears the whole way, seeing her homeland, knowing she's a few hours away, and seeing the living conditions of most people in this area. Its just an eye opening experience that you have to see for yourself. Yesterday I just felt almost overwhelmed with emotion---like emotional overload---and we went to bed early. But this morning, I am just purely excited! The first few days wont be easy, but we are ready! and we'll get through it, and we'll help her get through it, and we'll start our life as a family of 3........TODAY!

Oh, and by the way, Kailee Marie Hedrick is an absolute doll! Our friends, Sonia and Hugh are also here, adopting Miss Kailee. They came to hang out in our room with us for a while last night. Kailee is so active! she bounces and smiles and has just stolen our hearts already. what a bond all of our daughters will have.

Sonia is going with us to get Amelia today. She'll be the photographer, and its a rare privilage to have a friend along to take pictures, and just be there with you. We so appreciate her doing this, especially since it means that Hugh will take Kailee to the medical exam solo. Only one parent is allowed to go back for the exam anyway, and Sonia insists that She is going to let Hugh do the exam and go with us to get Amelia.

The next post will be Gotcha! we leave the hotel at 2:30 p.m. today, and its about a 30 minute drive to the civil affairs office. Geez.......how are we supposed to occupy ourselves until 2:30 this afternoon???????????????