Last day as a family of three

After waiting seven years, it is hard to believe we will meet our daughter in less than 16 hours. For those of you watching the clock, it will happen at approximately 2:30 p.m. China time (1:30 a.m. CST) on Monday, April 15. All day long, we kept saying things like, "Can you believe we will have Wendy tomorrow?" and "Are we ready?" I asked Maddie how she felt about not being an only child anymore, and she said, "'Only' rhymes with 'lonely.' 'Twice' equals nice." Love that girl!

Today, we woke up early and flew from Beijing to Guangzhou, which takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes. As soon as I stepped out of the airport, I said excitedly, "I smell palm trees. It smells just like Florida." Once again, the weather today was absolutely gorgeous. Usually, Guangzhou is quite rainy, but today was sunny and 79 degrees. Simon, our agency's local guide, met us at the airport and immediately impressed us with his friendliness, organization and knowledge. Simon will be our BFF over the next 10 days: he will walk us through each step of the process, helping us with whatever we need from organizing paperwork, selecting restaurants, buying toddler supplies, shopping for future Gotcha Day gifts, and bonding with Wendy. I already know we can never sufficiently express our gratitude for what he is about to do for us during this exciting, emotional journey and transition. It has been a bumpy ride getting to this point in this long process, but we feel reassured we are in excellent hands as we complete the final steps.

After checking in to the China Hotel (Marriott), we took advantage of the great weather by visiting the pool, which is in a beautiful setting on a rooftop overlooking the city. I had expected Guangzhou to be very industrial, but I am pleasantly surprised by how lush the greenery is here. There are palm trees and pretty flowers among the skyscrapers. We met some nice women from Chicago who offered us all kinds of support despite the fact we are Cardinals fans. They have been consultants on a project here for several months, so they know the area well and suggested several sites, shops and restaurants. They even gave us their room numbers in case we run into any trouble. I'm always moved by the kindness of strangers and they were simply amazing today.

One of the highlights was coming back to the room and finding an adoption gift basket from the hotel staff. It was very sweet and will come in handy. Clearly, the China Inn/Marriott caters to families like ours. We have seen dozens of adoptive families from all over the world in the halls of our hotel. The shops nearby include places to buy diapers, American-style snacks and a Starbucks. 

So, how are we feeling right now? Tired, anxious, excited, happy, emotional, and a little overwhelmed pretty much sum it up. We let Maddie pick our dinner place, so she chose take-out McDonald's from next door, which was both convenient and familiar comfort food. I've spent the entire evening unpacking and organizing our hotel room so all of the baby supplies are easy to find so we will be able to focus our attention on Wendy. We have a makeshift food pantry, first aid/medicine cabinet, toy area and a section devoted to preparing the customary gifts we will give the adoption officials over the next few days. I've even rearranged the furniture to make room for Maddie's rollaway bed and Wendy's crib. Tomorrow morning, I will spend time trying to finalize what to pack in the diaper bag and to attempt to toddler-proof the room as much as possible. These are tasks that need to be completed, but also give me something to do to pass the time and quell my nervousness. I felt the same sense of it all being surreal the night before my wedding and the night before Maddie was born, so I have faith this will be OK, too. (I won't really worry unless I start doing Lamaze breathing.)

For seven years, we have prepared and prayed and paced and braced ourselves for disappointment. Now it is time to let it all go and just savor the moment. Yes, this is really happening. This is really happening. Just a few more hours, Wendy, just a few more hours...