The Countdown...

Only 12 days until we leave on October 11th and 15 LONG days until we get to hold Maggie for the first time. We are getting very excited and luckily are extremely busy trying to prepare for our trip. I will post our itinerary very soon for everyone to view and will post updates as much as possible while we are in China. One of our last photos of a family of three, the next family photos you will see will be a foursome and we are counting the minutes.

It's Official!!!

Hi everyone, we have our travel itinerary and it is long. We leave Tulsa around 5:00pm on Sunday, October 11th and arrive in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning at 10:00am. We return on 10/29 around 5:00pm - yes we will be gone around 19 days so it is a bit longer this time. We will post all of our travel details so everyone can follow our journey. I hope we will be getting Maggie on 10/15 but not sure yet. Stay tuned for more info.

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!

Yeah, we got TA today. We will most likely be leaving on 10/8 which is only 2.5 weeks from now. We will fly into Hong Kong and leave Hong Kong on the 11th, fly to Guangzhou and get Maggie on the 12th. There is a small chance we might not go until the week after but most likely the 8th. We are so so so excited that we will get Maggie in about 3 weeks. Needless to say, my weekend just got a whole lot busier. I will update next week when we get definitive dates.

A Little More Information on Maggie

Today, we got a little more information on our girl. Maggie was found on 7/8/2008 and due to her physical condition, it was estimated she was born the day before on 7/7/2008. She has always liked to be held by someone, and smiles when she is being entertained. When you try to take her toys away, she will refuse to let them go. She can stand for a few seconds when she holds onto her crib's railing. She can clap her hands and she loves to smile. Overall, she has been very healthy and has not had any serious illnesses. Three weeks ago today, we were referred a beautiful little cherub, Maggie that is waiting for us in China and we are counting the minutes until we can hold her and see her smile. We hope we will travel in about 3-4 weeks from now. We will keep you posted as we get more information.

Wait, Wait, and Wait

Today it has been two weeks since we saw Maggie for the first time and it has gone quickly. We have been very busy starting to prepare for Maggie's arrival. First we got all of our initial paperwork done and federal expressed to CCAI and to JC Travel for our visas. So I think we have a bit of a reprive from paperwork right now. We are working on projects around the house. Today, Molly is getting a new bedroom suit and we are so excited. We are moving all of Molly's toys, artwork, etc. into her room now and the playroom will be for all of Maggie's toys, etc. It will be nice to have a toy room that is functional and Molly will have her space where she can go and close the door and have her own space. I think we will hear on travel approval in about two weeks and probably travel in about a month. We cannot get to Maggie soon enough and will be counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds until we hold her for the first time.

INCREDIBLE SURPRISE!!!

Today, we got a wonderful surprise, updated photos of our sweet Maggie Moo. These had to have been taken a few days ago. Either she is just standing and walking or she has been for a little while. I smile every time I see her little face and am so in love with her already. The next 6 weeks will be pure torture until I can get my hands on this sweet baby. She obviously looks so healthy and wide eyed. We are thinking about you every second, Maggie. Hang on!!!!

BIG SISTER BLUES

Little Miss Molly is quite traumatized by her new little sister, Maggie. First, you have to know Molly who is the girlie girls of all girlie girls. The first thing she says in the morning when her eyes open is how she wants me to do her hair. She is quite fashion conscious and would endure painful feet all day as long as she looked good in her heels. Well, in comes Maggie and although she admits she is cute, she is very concerned that we are not being honest with her and that she really is a boy. She asked me yesterday, "Mom are you sure Maggie is not Max?" I keep reassuring her that Maggie is a girl and that at orphanages, they do not have fancy dresses to put on the babies, they have a limited amount of clothes and the babies wear what the orphanage has. Also, I tried to explain that they shave their heads - that put her over the edge. Last night, she was very serious and said "Mama, I think Maggie looks terrible in this condition". We started cracking up which she did not think was very funny at the time. She said she was going to be in charge of her clothes and hair and is so hoping she has more hair by the time we get to China. Although, this is weighing heavy on big sisters mind, I know she is so proud because we printed off her pictures and she gave one to most of the teachers at her school and explained how she was her sister and we were going to get her in 6 weeks. Molly, you are going to be the sweetest big sissy to Maggie and I cannot wait for you to do her hair...