Traveling in Packs

Since we started our adoption it was decided that I would travel to China with my sister to bring Jadyn home. That was over 3 years ago, Jeron had just turned 4 and we didn't want to leave him for such a long time. Plus the boys were in pre-school and school. It was just too much to ask someone to step-in for that long. Things have changed............

Over the weekend we decided to add a couple travelers.
Ames and Jeron are now going to China with Kim and I. We are very excited to be going together. I personally feel better traveling that far away for such an important event with my husband there. Plus we will now be able to complete our adoption for both countries, while in China.

Garrison has decided to stay home with family, entire day long flights, 14 plus days of hotel living and lots of Chinese food isn't too appealing to my teen boy. We will use Skype to keep in touch with him and for him to see his new sister. We are planning to leave either July 29 or 30!

A couple updates

The first one is obvious, our blog has a new look. I was getting a little tired of the pink and figured you were probably too!

Second, we have tentative travel dates!! (not written in stone yet)
Leaving via Portland, Oregon on July 30th. arrive in Beijing July 31st. for 2 days of sight seeing. Fly to Nanjing and receive Jadyn on Aug. 2nd.
We have lots planned for the rest of the 2 weeks while we wait for her passport and visa. Fly home Aug. 13th. I will post our entire itinerary when we know for certain our exact dates.

We sent Jadyn another package, we included a cute pink pair of converse tennis-shoes, a stuffed bunny my parents got for her. A book about a baby and Mommy, I put a picture of me in the book along with a picture of her, hopefully she will get the connection that I am her Mommy and recognize me. Target has the same book in the Baby and Daddy version, I will take that one with me to China, so she can see the connection between Baby and Daddy before we get home.

I thought I would post Jadyn's updated measurements, she is such a tiny girl. It has been hard for me to figure out what size of clothes to buy. Her weight puts her in a 12 month size, but in height she should be in 18-24 months. I have been getting her all 18-24, too big is better than too short!

Height 33.8"
Weight 21 lbs.
Head 17"
Chest 18"
Foot 5"

Busy week with Visa Applications and a Doctors appt.

The paperwork is piled high on our desk. We have been working on our Visa applications this week and copying documents that I have to take to China with me. The stack in this picture is copies of our dossier, tax returns and everything else that proves who we are. I have to take 2 to 3 copies of a lot of documents with me. That's a lot of paper pack'en!

Ames & I met with a Pediatric Cardiologist today. This is one of the same doctors who reviewed her file for us in May. We feel really comfortable with him and his manor of explaining her upcoming procedures. We have chosen to have her heart condition corrected at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, WA

A new picture & Our Daughter's name

Look at that adorable face

Guess who that is in the orange sweater? Yep, it's Jadyn. This photo was taken by a family that was visiting the orphanage in late March. It's hard to tell she weighs only 21 pounds with all those clothes on.

We have many days behind us now trying to decide what to name our daughter. We want to incorporate her Chinese name along with the names we fell in love with over 2 years ago. Its been a struggle to get a combination that flows.

Her Chinese name is her heritage, and we feel it is very important that she keep part of that as her new legal name. For those of you that know us personally, you know our last name is long...4 syllables long, so we don't feel good about giving her 2 middle names for a total of 4 names.

We have decided to name our daughter.....Jadyn Qi.

(Qi is pronounced Kee)

Yes, this is final as we have already submitted it to our agency for her visa and passport!

Travel update: Our agency is now saying it looks like mid-July! We have also found out that Kim & I will be traveling with 10 other families. We won't meet up with them until our second week in China unless they are adopting from Jiangsu Province as well.

One Step Closer!

Our agency got our Seeking Conformation letter today from China! 2 weeks, that's all it took. Things are moving so fast. They will overnight it to us and we will have it tomorrow! Watch out UPS, this new Mommy will be taking your picture, as you have the official referral of our daughter in your hands!
The next step..........China's invitation (TA) for us to travel to pick up Jadyn!