Here is the link .....

HERE

is where I'll be posting from now until after we get home from China

Travel Blog

I am trying to make a seperate blog that we will just use for our travel. I will definately post a link here, I just wanted to have a bit o privacy.

Itinerary (that is a wierd word)

4/1 Leave the U.S. for Hong Kong.

4/2 Arrive in Hong Kong.

Go to the Regal Kowloon Hotel. Free time. **it will be like 10 pm! probably no partying or sightseeing for us**

4/3 Pre-paid tour of Hong Kong. **not so into this. but oh well**

4/4 Leave Hong Kong for Guangzhou on China Southern flight



4/5 Please be sure you are dressed in Business Casual attire for today’s events. Thank you!
Go to the Provincial Civil Affairs Office this afternoon to receive your child. Congratulations!
The children will be delivered by the Orphanage Director and orphanage staff.

4/6 Adoption registration and notarization and apply for your child’s passport.


4/7 Your child’s visa physical exam and visa photo today. You will be walking to the clinic. Bring baby/child supplies (bottle, diaper, water, snack, etc.). Be ready to go!

4/8-10 Free time.
Optional city tours are available.

4/11 Receive your child’s adoption registration certificate & notary paperwork.


4/12 Receive your child’s passport.


4/13 Today is your Consulate appointment.

If you have medicines you are not using, please consider making a donation by leaving these items with your local rep. Thanks!

4/14 Go to the U.S. Consulate to take the oath in the afternoon. Please bring as few items with you to the Consulate
as possible. Backpacks, baby bags or purses are not permitted inside the Consulate.
Cell phones or cameras are not allowed in the U.S. Consulate or on the U.S. Consulate grounds.
Note: The U.S. Consulate prohibits your adult travel companions from entering the building. Your adult travel companions must remain at the hotel.

Receive your child’s visa packet at the U.S. Consulate.
DO NOT OPEN YOUR CHILD’S VISA PACKET!

4/15 Leave Guangzhou for Hong Kong on China Southern flight

Leave Hong Kong for the U.S.

The craziest thing EVER

We are leaving for China on April 1st. We will meet our new daughter April 5th.
Unbelieveable.

I will update more details later.


***********UPDATE**********

So Lee's mom and I went to orlando this past week with the kids for spring break. On Tuesday Lee just happend to check my email and saw that we got our TA (travel approval) to China. The email said we could leve as early as April 1st, but that was a small possibility. Well.........two hours later or so we found out that basically a miracle occurred and we get to leave on the first.

The next day we went to disney World and had a wonderful time. Yesterday we drove home and here I am with 400 lists of stuff do do and pack. I am a notorious procratinator so I have been caught way off guard.

I am just thilled about this, but completely overwhelmed.

Thankfully our families have jumped in and my kiddos will be well cared for while we are gone. I am heading to Babies R Us later and trying to find some lightweight, good sized suitcases too. (see I told you I was a procrastinator)

I am like a wacky cartoon character at this point. These checklists are swirling above my head taunting me. It is not a bad feeling really I must thrive on adreneline or something.

Also is this like a record in the China adoption world or something? I mean we just got our match 2-28 and we are leaving 4-1. That is just amazing. It is like 5 weeks from match to when we meet her on April 5th. How wonderful!

Where is Lianjiang SWI anyway?

Mary Clare is in the Lianjiang SWI (orphanage) which is in the Guangdong province. It is in southern china.

  


  

Here is a close up of her province. Lianjiang is near Zhanjiang down in the southern crescent.

Care Package goodies

Here is the package sent to Mary Clare. The ziploc contains toddler socks as a small orphanage donation. I also sent 2 cameras, the photo album, M&Ms for the nannies, 2 small toys and the pink bear who's body is actually a small blanket (a bit freaky, but very soft and cuddly)and another small blanket. Can you believe I fit so much into that plastic shoebox?


  

Van Winkle

I am finally feeling alive again. I am still a bit snotty, but man I am so much better than I felt. Being so sick makes you appreciate good health. Not a very complex observation, but a needed reminder for me nonetheless. I am recovering, Luke is recovering, Ryan and Laine are in the early fever-y stages of this plague though. So far, Jake seems immune but we'll see. Thanks for your get well wishes ladies.

Oh and while I was sick, spring decided to come along. It has been in the 70s Yay!

Last night we watched the new Charlie and the Choclate Factory. This may be sacreligious to some, but I liked it better than the old one. There, said it.

So sick

I never get sick. Really I just have a great immune system. I come in contact with millions of germs and rarely, rarely get sick. Not even colds.

Now I am at death's door with some virus from Luke I guess. I have a fever* and rotten chest cough. I do think that this suffering will give me more compassion for the kids when they are sick. Right now I want to cry and whine and lay on the couch and be served too. Not gona happen though. Lee is out of town until Friday of course.

*I haven't had a fever in years and it is so awful!

Whirwind weekend

We got back last night from D.C. We left at 6:30 Friday morning and got to John and Nancy's apartment in Cleveland Park about 5. Not bad! We rode the metro to a geat Lebanese place for dinner. The kids had so much fun on the metro you would think we had taken them to Disney. One strange observation, they were virtually the only children to be seen that night. It was kind of eerie. No kids anywhere, not older kids, not strollers. Right as we left the restaurant a mom walked in with 2 school age kids, other than that our 4 were the only ones. Maybe it was the area we were in? I don't know much about D.C. life so maybe we were in a big singles area?

The next morning we headed over to St. Dominic's Church for our friend's daughter's baptism. The church was beautiful and the priest who celebrated the baptism was a kind soul. Lee became a godfather to baby Marissa and I herded the kids and took pictures.

After the ceremony we headed out to the 'burbs. Dave and Carrie live in Clifton. They have a great house on a small cul-de-sac with some other fun familes. The kids played and ate and ate and played and that night we went to this indoor community pool that was incredible. It had giant slides and playsets etc. It was like a resort.

Then Sunday morning we were back on the road and got home about 7. Now Luke is running a fever, but everyone else is healthy for now.

They were all so great in the car. In typical Cullom fashion we forgot to bring the portable video player thingy that Lee had borrowed specifically for this trip. The kids were just fantastic though and we read and told jokes, listened to some Magic Treehouse stories on tape and generally had a fun time.

Today it is all about the laundry and cleaning out the car. I am also going to maill off a care package for Mary Clare! I will post pictures of the goodies. Lots of TA (travel approval: needed from the Chinese gov't for us to apply for visas and travel to China) came in Friday and today for the people who were matched in late January. I am not sure if our agency got any but they should soon. It looks like the CA (consulate appointments) are in the last week of March for these families so that leaves some dates in early April if we can get our TA soon.....This group has waited about 5 weeks for TA, but the group before was 3, you never know...........

What a rollercaoster

I am just so emotionally tired right now. Even though we have been waiting for our daughter for over a year at this point, somehow it seems like this is happening so fast. That is just today and yesterday of course. I know the wait until travel will be tough and more than long.

They have told us to expect to travel the second week of May and that feels like forever right now. I am praying that some fluke will happen and we will get to go sooner.

Since we don't have a photo printer I am trying to figure out how to get a bizzillon copies of this sweetie so I can at least carry her picture around with me.
Check out how layered up she is! Her orphanage is in southern China, very tropical and warm there and still she is just bundled up. The clothes look a bit big for her too.

Thanks for all of the well wishes and congratulations. I will print those out to save.