Hair Bows

It's Katie, again. I just wanted to share this photo. Yesterday one of our friends and her little girls brought over a delicious dinner. Apparently her daughters have shared my concern that Francie won't wear bows. Using Taylor as a role model, Katie and Olivia convincingly pointed out that "bows are good." Now my daughter is not quite two and only speaks Shantouese (except for "Daddy") but she got the message! After they left, she brought me the bag of bows from cousin Anna and wanted each one in her hair. When Randy came home, she was still proudly wearing two matching pink bows. We'll see if it lasts!

Otherwise, life if good but jetlag is bad. Randy and the kids are sleeping now, but at 2:30 I'm wide awake. Lee seemed happy to return to school yesterday, and Francie is warming up to Ozzie. As long as she's being held, she's a happy girl. Unfortunately, I haven't mastered doing laundry one handed, but it can wait.

A Few Pictures

We Made It

We made it home about an hour and a half ago to a stork in the yard, a refrigerator full of food, and a happy puppy. We were able to quickly heat up some dinner and get Francie and Lee to bed. Francie is still trying to figure out why we have a dog running around the house. While we ate, she kept pointing at Ozzie and screaming in Chinese. She was infatically pointing out that we had a fuzzy animal on the floor and didn't understand why we weren't concerned. She'll learn to love him.

The flight today went well as both little ones slept for quite a bit of it. We'll see if they sleep through the night. Francie seems to be struggling right now, but Lee's already out. We would all love a full night's rest.

Thanks again to all of the people who helped with our house, Ozzie, food, a last-minute crib for Francie, and a wonderful welcome home. We are lucky to have great friends and neighbors.

Not Home Yet

Other than a 2-hour delay which caused us to miss our connection in LA, the trip went great. We are now sitting in a hotel near the airport and will take a late morning flight to finally make it home. Both children behaved beautifully on the plane, waiting in customs for Francie to become a US citizen, and sprinting to the flight that we missed by about a minute and a half. The bus ride to the hotel wasn't ideal, but we'll take it.

We now have a chance to recharge the DVD and take our final flight home tomorrow. And the midnight room service hamburger was wonderful.

No signs of any roosters in LA.

Guest Blogger

Hey! It's Katie. Randy is still asleep, but I am feeling too sentimental and sappy to sleep right now. In about 15 hours we'll be getting on our first plane and heading home as a family of four. I'm as excited as Randy is to go home, but I am still amazed at how well the trip has gone and just a little giddy. I know that I may be singing a different tune after the flights, but it really has been amazingly smooth. We've all been healthy, the paperwork went well, we've loved the new hotel, and it's been wonderful to have all the support and help from my parents, Greg and Eileen. We even found a yummy Italian restaurant over here and saw panda bears! And when I look at our little ones sleeping, I feel like we've been blessed beyond belief.

I'm especially pleased with how well Lee has done on the trip. I won't pretend he's been perfect - yesterday he both slapped Eileen and told the waitress her legs were smooth! But all in all, he's been great. It's not easy to fly half way around the world, have no schedule at all, sleep on a couch, lose a lot of attention, eat funny foods, and handle it all gracefully, especially when you're four. And not to brag too much, but he didn't even throw a fit when Francie bit him in an effort to grab his grits!

I can't begin to describe how excited we are about this funny little girl. Francie's still eating everything in sight, won't wear hairbows, and has gotten used to way too much attention from everyone. But otherwise, she's just about perfect. It's amazing how quickly we've all fallen in love with her. I know the weeks and years ahead will be challenging at times and even tougher at others, but she's already brought us incredible joy. Thank you so much to all who have written notes and comments while we're over here. We have appreciated the support and felt like all our prayers have been answered with the most amazing blessings.

Are Fortune Cookies Right?

I just posted the last message and went back to the website to be sure that it posted correctly. While there I checked my fortune and look what it said about our travel tomorrow. Ugh!

We are off to go cherish our few hours of grace with our two snoring little ones. Good night.

One More Night

I think the rooster is dead. Finally some peace and quiet - other than the construction and other 9.8 million people in Guangzhou. Not that peace and quiet matters that much on these hard beds. (I don't think that I have adequately complained about how hard the beds are.)

Of course one more night in China doesn't mean we will be home tomorrow. We still have lots of flying to do and a serious time change. We leave Guangzhou Friday night (9:00) and arrive in LA at 7:00 pm Friday night. It's a litte funny to take a 13 hour flight and arrive before you left. Microsoft Office hasn't figured out how to show that on their fancy little calendar. We then get to take our second red-eye on the same Friday night and arrive in Charlotte at 6:00 Saturday morning. It will be wonderful to get home. I miss my bed and my dog.








Today we returned to the safari which was wonderful again. The main difference this time is that while we were riding on the tram we got a call that our swearing in ceremony was changed from tomorrow to this afternoon. We rushed the rest of the day, got sworn in (which is a short formality that takes the entire afternoon with travel to and from the consulate), and had dinner with other adoptive families. Tomorrow is essentially free before our flight, but we still have some last-minute shopping and a lot of packing to do.



As I think back about my descriptions of the days, I realize that I have glazed over a major topic. Francie is an absolute joy. She is just so easy going and fun. Francie already seems to love her new family and enjoy being with her brother, grandparents, uncle, and especially her parents- which, of course, we love! There is nothing more fun than watching her face light up when she sees us. She is most comfortable being held and generaly just seems at ease. These last days of the trip are obviously the end of only the very beginning of her life as part of our family. We can't wait to see Francie grow and learn more about this delightful little girl, and we feel honored and blessed to be her parents.

Two More Nights in the Hotel

Since we are staying in Guangzhou for two weeks, we have exhausted the list of activities the guides provide for adoptive families. So we went back to the botanical gardens and plan to return to the safari tomorrow.

Francie and I were the only two who had been there before as Greg and my mom were in town last time and Dan and Frances are here now. It was a good morning out followed by a nap. Now Katie and Frances are off to shop while the rest of us are headed to the pool.

After a Night of Rest

The rooster that has been waking us up each morning may have moved, slept in, or died. Any is fine with me as we were able to sleep until after 6:00 this morning. It was great.

I've decided that the only easy way to summarize the orphanage visit is that the orphanage and its employees are making the best out of a bad situation. The people were clearly friendly, interested in the children, loving to the children, and welcoming to us. They provide a clean environment with medical care, some schooling, and programs to give these children the best life they can get. Approximately 300 children have been adopted from this orphanage into families around the world in the last ten years. I come away knowing the Francie was loved there and was able to form attachments with people who adored her.

The other side of the story is that all of this good starts from a really bad situation. There are 200 children there, and more than 98% of them have special needs. The range went from Francie's repaired heart to children with severe mental and physical challenges. It was even difficult to look at some children, which is too often my most common means of avoiding people who are less fortunate than me. Katie was reminded of a quote she read recently that questioned what the world would be like if we spent time each day thinking about the things that we don't want to see. What I see daily in Davidson, NC is far different from what I saw yesterday where my daughter lived just last week.

The events of the day were very interesting. We had a tour guide who my brother arranged through a fairly random network. We didn't really need a traditional guide. We needed someone who could translate between English and the local dialect and had a car. It turned out our guide, Wisdom, is a lawyer who studied law in London and grew up and has business in Shantou. It was enlightening and extremely interesting to spend the day with him and get his insights into the Chinese culture.

Wisdom picked us up at the airport, and we drove directly to the orphanage. When we got there we were reminded of a new restriction that prohibits visitors from taking pictures inside the orphanage. Instead, our contact took pictures for us and said she will e-mail them to us. We saw all of the rooms where Francie lived and played and took pictures with all of her caretakers. As the tour was wrapping up, we were told that the director wanted to take us to lunch. Dan and I agreed and wondered what we were getting ourselves into.


Lunch was quite a memorable one. There were six of us - the director, the vice-director, our main contact, Wisdom, Dan, and me. When we arrived at the restaurant we saw tanks full of live fish, eels, shell fish, etc. as well as a long iced table with dead fish chilling. (Notice the elephant clams at the bottom of the picture.) At that point, the director, through Wisdom, asked if there is anything that we would prefer not to eat. I quickly remembered and answered with Greg's line saying "No head, no feet, no guts - no problem." Maybe that wasn't enough.

We went upstairs to a private room with a round table with a turntable in the middle. Since I was the new father and the director learned that Katie and I donated to the non-profit organization that sponsors this orphanage (Love without Boundaries), I became the one who was served each dish first. That would have been fine if I had any clue what was being placed in front of me and, more importantly, how to eat it, and even more importantly, how to eat it with chopsticks. First up was supposedly a mushroom. It was the slipperiest thing I have ever attempted to pick up, stab, shovel, or guide onto my plate. That was just the beginning. Next was deep fried soft chicken bone. Yep, that didn't fall into my restrictions. The rest of the meal included about ten dishes including pork, fish and beef soup, oyster cakes, some rice thing with a purple paste, shrimp to be eaten with the shell and head, pumpkin stuffed with pinkish paste, and crab. I didn't get a chance to try the crab, but Dan said he had trouble shelling and eating a crab with chopsticks.

Although Dan and my stomachs are in pretty good shape today, they just aren't feeling quite right. We are both happy that we had this lunch experience and had extra time to spend with the people who run the orphanage.

After lunch, Widson took us on a took of Shantou. The sites were interesting and the conversation with him would have been work the trip by itself.

Overall, I woke up this morning grateful for the people who helped us yesterday and especially for the people who took in our daughter, saw her through heart surgery and recovery, and generally raised her for the first two years of her life. How can you thank people enough for that?

Orphanage Visit

Dan and I flew to Shantou this morning, returned this evening, and had an eventful day in between. We saw the orphanage where Francie had been living and were welcomed by the orphanage staff. We went to lunch with them and then toured the city in the afternoon.

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to see this part of Francie's life, but it was also physically and even more emotionally draining. I need some sleep and will post more tomorrow after a night's rest to process my thoughts.

Nicknames

I have not yet revisited the topic of hair length although I have received a few e-mails and postings concerning the topic. It is safe to assume that Francie's hair will grow out over time, and we did hear that in her orphanage all children get their heads shaved for the summer. What has been difficult to pick up in the pictures is that Francie's eye lashes go on forever. What she lacks in hair on her head she makes up for with her eyes! When we first met Lee we were drawn to his cute little lips, but with Francie we are drawn to her long eye lashes and big, dark eyes. Katie's also not sure she's agreeing to passing our hair rule down to the next generation - she hates cutting Lee's locks and thinks Francie may have a sassy little short do!

The other cause for marital conflict right now has to do with nicknames for Francie. I think we'll survive, but it's become a major topic of conversation over here. Lee was almost instantly "Bug" to us. Bugaboo, Stinkbug, Lovebug, Snugglebug - they all just fit. We're struggling with what to call this little girl, and apparently my pronounciation of the word "girl" as "my suweet guuurrll" with 17 syllables is more than my patient wife can handle. We're open to suggestions, but here are the front runners in no particular order:
- Dumpling
- Bunny
- Munchkin
- Cookie
- MJ (She sticks her tongue out when she laughs like Michael Jordan, but cuter)
- MP (She has short legs and a long torso like Michael Phelps, but much cuter)

I'll add a poll to the right column of the website in a bit. Please note that unlike most reality shows, your vote may be entertaining, but is in no way binding.

Monday

We generally had a nice day today. The roosters and little ones woke us again around 5:30, but this is becoming our schedule! Lee wasn't making particularly good choices this morning, so Katie stayed in the hotel with him while Greg, my mom, and I went with our new guide, Xi Xi, to the botanical gardens. (Xi Xi was our guide in Guangzhou when we adopted Lee, so it was great to see a familiar face and give updates about the people we have in common.)

Katie's time with Lee in the hotel went great. I think they both enjoyed the opportunity to rest and be with just each other.

The gardens were beautiful and it was nice to walk around. It didn't take much time, so we were back to the hotel in time for a Pizza Hut lunch for all of us. The afternoon was mostly uneventful as today was a day where we had no adoption work to do but wait.

Dan and Frances returned tonight and reported that they had a great time. Greg and my mom head to Hong Kong tomorrow while Dan and I go to Francie's orphanage for the day. Katie and her mom will stay in Guangzhou with Lee, Francie, and the shops.

Garden Pictures

Fun Day at the Safari

We had a great day at the Safari today. It was about a 40 minute drive from the hotel and it was well worth it. We took an hour-long tram ride through the park where some wild animals walked right up to us (like at Lazy 5 Ranch in North Carolina) and other, more dangerous animals were kept behind guarding. After the ride we walked through the area that is more like a traditional zoo - but a really good one. During the walk, Lee and Katie were able to feed a baby white tiger, and Francie and I sat with a monkey. Of course, the real treat was to see the pandas. I think we saw nine that were very close and a ton of fun to watch.

It was a long morning, so we took an easy afternoon. Francie and Lee got afternoon baths and snuggled together to watch TV. We went to dinner and on the way met a family who was adopting their fifth this week. They joined us for dinner and it was nice to get to know them.

Here are a couple of other pictures taken during the day. From the e-mails that we get it sounds like family and friends are more anxious to see the pictures than read about the things that I babble about.

We are off to the botanical gardens tomorrow and then the people in town start to change again. Dan and Frances return from Xian on Monday night and my mom and Greg will go to Hong Kong for two days starting Tuesday morning. Also Tuesday morning Dan and I plan to take a quick day trip to the orphanage in Shantou to see where Francie has been living. It is great to have our family here with us and have enough support for people to take advantage of an opportunity to be in Asia and explore.

Grits, Grandmothers and Grumpy

Francie continues to loosen up, smile, laugh, play, and be held by others . Both grandmothers got their first chances to hold her yesterday and Greg got his this morning. Francie keeps following us around and copying each of our motions. She is even starting to respond to her new name. It is so wonderful to see Francie become part of the family. Her contagious smile, little giggle, and gentle nature are so much fun to see and hear. And she plays well with Lee, who continues to be excited to be a big brother and take care of her. We're very proud of how well he's doing with his little sister.

The "adoption" events of the day were all done this morning. Bob came up to the room to help me fill out a bunch of forms before we left to visit two offices. The first office was to take Francie's picture for her Chinese passport (which was terrible as she was being abnormally fussy). Then we walked down the street to the medical check where she was measured, poked, and prodded. It clearly was not her favorite part of the day. We were the only ones there, though, so it went quickly.

The rest of the day was filled with play time, naps, and eating. After our nap, Francie and Lee were a little hungry and Katie seized the moment. We brought some food with us and have a small kitchen in out room, so Katie prepared some grits to teach our newest addition how to be southern. It started with Francie and Lee each having a bowl, but it ended with Francie taking both bowls, and the floor, table, and Francie's face holding most of the grits. She loved them!

Other than that, I was in a bit of a down mood today. I got to the point after about day 3 of the trip for Lee where I didn't see why we needed to stay so long and just wanted to get home to start our new life as a family. Katie and I are both at about that point now. Each day we spend about 30 minutes doing paperwork or visiting some office for a few minutes. I know it is the process and the result is absolutely worth it, but we're at the lull in the middle where I don't want it to last another whole week. We're homesick.

Tomorrow should be different and a lot of fun. We are scheduled to travel about 45 minutes outside of Guangzhou to a safari. We were told it is great and the kids will love it. I'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow night. We've really enjoyed everyone's posts and notes - thank you!

The Next Day (and a Half)

After a great first night of sleep with Francie we had a few more formalities to make the adoption official. We went back to the civil affairs office to be "interviewed" by an adoption agent and a notary public. The questions were a bit odd as they related to adoption. They asked us when we were married and our occupations. Then they asked if Francie is acceptable to us and if we wish to adopt her. Well of course. She is our little girl.

The afternoon was spent mainly napping and doing a little bit of shopping. For dinner, Katie stayed in with Lee and Francie while the grandparents and I went for dinner. There were leftover pieces of pizza from the night before, so Katie and the kids had a pizza and movie night. The grandparents and I went to a local restaurant. We have learned that although most menus are fairly extensive, the selection of dishes that Americans find appealing is minimal. All we needed were a few, so we managed just fine.

Overnight we didn't sleep nearly as well. Francie woke up, cried, and fell back to sleep on her own about every hour and a half. We're glad that she got back to sleep on her own, but she woke Lee up a number of times. We're paying for that today.

This morning we did our first bit of sight seeing. We toured the Chen Ancestral Lineage Hall which had fascinating carvings, embroidery, art, and architecture.

The best part of the last two days for me has been to watch Francie join the family. Lee is always concerned with how his little sister is doing, hugs her, and tells her "It's okay, Francie" whenever she cries. Often Lee's best intentions are not always received as well as he would expect, but they'll learn how to interact over time.

Quick family trips start to happen tomorrow morning. My brother, Greg, arrives tonight and Dan and Frances will go to Xian tomorrow morning for a couple of days. We're all loking forward to having Uncle Greg here, but we'll miss Katie's folks and all their help.

More on Gotcha Day

The schedule for Gotcha was that we were to meet Bob, the guide, at 2:00 to go to the Civil Affairs office to meet Francie at 3:00. It turned out that we arrived a little early and Francie arrived a little late, so we had about 40 minutes to wait and watch two other happy families meet their precious daughters. Francie was coming from the orphanage which is about a 6-hour drive from Guangzhou, and they are doing construction on the road. She got car sick on the drive, but her three "Aunties" who brought her cleaned her up and got her ready to meet us.

Over the last few months Katie and I received far fewer updated pictures of Francie than we had while waiting for Lee. We were a little worried that we wouldn't recognize her when we first saw her. That was absolutely not the case. The minute we laid eyes on her we knew who she was and were only amazed that she was even more adorable than the old pictures.

One of her Aunties was holding Francie, and we just looked at each other and smiled. One Auntie asked Francie to give Katie and me each a kiss. The Auntie held her toward each of us and we each got a little kiss on the cheek. I then tried to hold Francie and the sweet moment all fell apart! Francie wouldn't stop crying and looked scared. I passed her to Katie and it didn't get any better. She cried while I did some paperwork, so I'm not exactly clear on the details. Her Aunties had gone in to the back room, and Francie was desperate to return to them! Francie just kept crying and later slid off the couch onto the tile floor, but again, I'm not sure how that happened. Katie's blaming Lee! Then came the lifesaver. Dan got a chance to hold her and all was well again. She melted into his arms and stayed with him the rest of the time there and all the way back to the hotel. (At one point I think I may have heard something about a Mustang and a trust fund.)

At the civil affairs office Lee was trying so hard in his new role as big brother. He had been excited all day and was just ready to start playing with her. He couldn't wait to hold her and kiss her! He was so cute, but it wasn't very helpful at the time. Francie just wanted to cling to Grandaddy! My mom took Lee to the other side of the room and played cars on the floor with him to keep him happy, while Katie and I finished the paperwork and met the Aunties.

When we got back to the hotel, Francie was able to relax far faster than I had expected. Katie got her a bottle and finally was able to hold her quietly. Francie was obviously hungry after a long trip and getting sick. It didn't take long for Lee to get back into big brother mode. He knew that he was the one who was going to teach her about the world, so why not get started? And what better topic than the Backyardigans! Lee went into the other room to get his DVDs and started quite a long lecture explaining and almost acting out each of the episodes on each disc.

After Lee's lecture, as we were all sitting in the hotel in awe, Katie, Lee, Francie and I were all getting tired. It had been an emotion-filled day, and we were all exausted even though it was only about 5:00. We also needed a little family time with just the four of us. It was great to have a few minutes to let the events of just the last few hours sink in a little.

We thought we would get room service for dinner, have the grandparents come back in, and then get to sleep early. That is when Francie started to loosen up even more. She was playing with a fan on the bed and laughed, smiled, and put on a show. Lee climbed on the bed and started playing, too. He was finally able to hug her, clap her feet together, and have a great time. Francie enjoyed the interaction and never got upset.

Although we had heard from the Aunties that Francie mainly ate congee and drank formula we thought we would see how she liked some spaghetti and a little rice. She wouldn't stop eating. She was perfectly happy to sit in my lap or Katie's and eat, eat, eat.

It was finally time to go to sleep (after posting a few pictures) at around 7:30. Lee fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. Katie and I tried to put Francie in a crib, but she didn't like that, so we put her in our bed with us. She relaxed right away and slept until about 10:00. The aunties told us that she normally eats just before bed around 7:00, falls asleep, and gets up again between 9:00 and 10:00 to have some more formula. We fed her again and she went right back to sleep. At around 11:30, Katie and I decided to try putting Francie back in the crib. She cried for about a minute and a half and then slept soundly for more than 7 hours. Overall, I am shocked at how well the night had gone. Everyone slept well, and I was the only one up early (after 7 hours of sleep) just too excited to sleep any more!

I know that we have many sleepless nights ahead, but it is nice to have the first night together be a restful one. We really are grateful and thrilled to have this little one in our lives, and we can't wait to introduce her to our friends and families! She's precious!!!

Gotcha Day

It has been a big day today. We obviously have lots of thoughts and stories to pass along, but we need to get Francie to sleep. Here are some pictures for now and we will post more later. The most important things are that we have our daughter, she is absolutely beautiful, and she is already smiling and interacting with the family.

Chinese Afternoon and Dinner

After quite a nap we wandered around this afternoon and found the pet market, the herb market, and the way to Shamian Island all in about 10 blocks. The pet market was full of fish, dogs, cats, lizards, etc. The herb market was full of lots of things that none of us could identify. We found a few things that looked like ginger and it looked like you could buy dried seahorses by the shovel load. I'm not sure exactly why anyone would do that, but you could from more than one shop owner.

We asked about a good place for dinner and the person at our hotel suggested the Guangzhou restaurant. Katie carefully looked over the menu and found there was nothing that she would eat. I thought I could be a little more adventurous, so I took a look and agreed with her. Luckily, there was an additional menu with options that sounded a little more palatable. It turned out that we had a really good meal. Once I forget the image of the duck skull that stared at me for most of the meal, I might be able to sleep again.

Most importantly, we are grateful to all be here safely, healthy, with our luggage, and pretty well rested! And we can't describe how excited and happy we our to get our little girl tomorrow!!!

We Made It

Our last flight between the US and China was quite possibly the worst day in either of Katie or my lives. Lee screemed as loudly as he could for about 5 hours and slept for about 30 minutes. This time was undoubtedly better but still had it's challenges. Lee slept for about 5 hours of the 15 and a half hour flight from Los Angeles to Guangzhou and was fairly well behaved for all but about 2 hours in the middle. The course of the trip included Lee yelling the three following lines: While on a silent plane waiting for the door to open to deplane in Phoenix "You're a bad daddy. You're going to jail. You won't do fun things and will die."; while standing in the seat with his hands cupped aroung his mouth like a megaphone just after he woke up "Everybody wake up now!! I excited to go to China!!"; and while running down the aisle "You can't catch meeeee!!"


We arrived in Guangzhou at 6:30 Tuesday morning and got to our hotel about 31 hours after we left our house. Surprisingly, we weren't too tired. For those of you who don't know, as they did for Lee's adoption, Katie's parents and my mom are joining us for the trip. Dan and Frances got in late last night and my mom joined us on the flight from LA. We are all staying at the Holiday Inn which is a new hotel and is just great. Traditionally, adoptive families stay at the White Swan or the Victory Hotel while in Guangzhou, but since there is a huge trade fair that will be going on later in our trip, the rates are high and the Victory is getting cleaned. The Holiday Inn has much, much bigger rooms and should work very well. It is a 10 minnute walk from the White Swan and along a famous street with lots of activity and places to eat. Our guide, Bob, told us that we are close to KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Papa John's - isn't it great to get a true international flavor.

Actually, even just our short time driving through the city today and seeing the view from our hotel we notice that China continues to change. Our hotel is across the street from a highrise luxury apartment building that is still under construction while across the street the other way are some cramped, rundown apartments that look like they have been there forever. You can see a little bit of both in the picture. The streets are still filled with more pedestrians and cyclists than cars, but there is construction everywhere. Even though our hotel is new and beautiful the beds are just as hard as a few years ago.

So far, we have eaten breakfast, cleaned up, and taken a nap to get us on a reasonable sleep schedule. We may get out a little this afternoon, but the real goal is to get ready for Gotcha Day tomorrow. We will meet Bob at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon when he will take us to meet Francie at 3:00. Katie and I have hit the stage where it is a bit sureal. There is no real explanation to describe the thoughts going through your mind the day before you meet your daughter. We know our lives are going to change, but we don't know how. We want answers to so many questions about Francie that we know we won't even find out tomorrow. What has her life been like? What does she like to do? Will she learn quickly who we are? How is her health? How will she fit into our family? How will Lee react? One question we will get answered is if she breaks Katie and my rule that within our family the girls' hair needs to be longer than the boys'. We have low expectations on this one as she probably had her head shaved for the summer. Oh well, we'll know tomorrow and can give her a pass on this one. She doesn't know the rule, yet.

Ready, Set, Go

Everything is packed, Francie's room is waiting for her, and we are ready to go. Lee has made some good choices this morning, so we'll stop and get some ice cream on the way to the airport. Thanks for all of the support from friends and family as we have prepared to leave. And many thanks to Jean Johnston for coordinating our emergency Sunday morning Notary Public visit... We'll let you know how the flights go.

No Pictures Tonight

Katie and I went on a date night tonight to spend some time talking about our thoughts going into the next few days. The time together was wonderful and we know our life is about to change again.

Date nights aren't quite what they used to be. We went to dinner and then to Target to finish some last-minute shopping. We saw a family with a little girl from China and Katie started to tear up. She needs some sleep.

When we got home, the babysitter said she had a good time with Lee. When she put him to bed he said that he was excited to go to China and that he plans to be bad on the airplane. UGH!!

Pretending to be a Big Brother

Lee's pretending to push Francie all over the house and occasionally outside. I'm not used to him playing with so many dolls, but after a shower over the weekend, the house is now decorated with cute, pink, girl stuff. Thanks again to Tammy and Kendrick for hosting.