We are Parents!!

We are finally parents. More joy than I ever imagined. Jeanette Lin Byrd is just so beautiful. She had a little trouble in the beginning. Crying pretty hard but I think it was just because all of the other babies were crying. Once we got her to our hotel room she settled right down. We got to give her a bottle at Provincial Civil Affairs office. But she only took about 1/2 bottle. She seems to be willing to go to Rich or I. And boy is daddy protective of her..it is just so cute. She is now sleeping, Hopefully we can get some photos downloaded for our blog. Well, we are very tired so I will try and post some more tomorrow.

Hugs,
Terri

Changsha

Sorry about not blogging sooner. We have been having a little trouble with blogging in Changsha. We can blog but I can't actually see our blog. We also can't download any pictures right now. "Gotcha" will be in about 2 hours. We will take pictures but I will need to forward them onto a family member so they can insert them from the states. Also, my comcast email is not working so we are having to use our yahoo account. This morning we went down for breakfast at the buffet. It was very good. Then at about 10:00am we met with our adoption agency to go over what happens this afternoon. We are so excited but at the same time very nervous. I have my own "fan club", Gracie. She is the daughter of one our travel group families. She is from China. She is just so cute. She told Rich and I that she would show us how to change diapers! She gave Rich and I exact directions on how to change a poopy diaper. It was just so cute. I figure if Baby Jenni doesn't come to me right away, I could call Gracie to come over to give me a "love". Gracie also likes me to hold her, she is preparing me for holding Jenni Lin. Gracie is about 5 or 6 and she is smart as a whip. Gracie's sister is also from the same orphanage as our daughter so now Gracie calls me Aunt Terri.

Changsha reminds us alot of Mexico. It is really big. There is more proverty here than in Hong Kong. Our guide said that Changsha was one of the smaller cities. It only has 6 million people! We thought that was funny when the Chinese think that 6 Million is small. It is raining today with 94% humidity. Well, better go and the next time you here from us we will finally be parents!!

Hugs,
Terri

Touring Hong Kong!

Today was tour day! In the morning we ate at the breakfast buffet in the hotel which was good. After breakfast we went to Starbucks with some our travel group. It was so nice to have a latte!! It was pouring down rain so we just sat inside drinking our drinks and chatting. It is fun getting to know everyone in our travel group. In the afternoon, we had a traditional dim sum lunch and then got on the tour bus to go the Jade Factory, Stanley Market and Victoria Peak. By the time we got up to Victoria peak I had a bit of motion sickness. We had to go up a very steep moutain with lots of turns. And even in downtown Hong Kong the drive can make you motion sickness as there is alot of strong stopping and starting. I almost got sick but felt better once I got off the bus. Rich and I went to dinner with 3 other families for dinner at the Outback. It was good food!. Tomorrow we are flying to Changsha!! Just 2 more sleeps until we get our little girl! I will try and download some pictures from today once we get Changsha and get our internet hooked up again.

Terri

We are in Hong Kong!!

Well, we made it safe and sound. Very tired but in pretty good shape. Our flight was pretty uneventful. The only time there was a little bit of a worry was on our flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong. We hadn't been in the air very long and they announced on the overhead speaker..."Is there a doctor on board?" Not sure what happened. The plane had over 400 people on it so who knows. The passenger in front of us stood up and said she wasn't a doctor but was a nurse practioner but when the steward came over to talk to her he said they got the situation dealt with. so the rest of flight was just very long and actually the food was pretty good. We got two meals and one snack (cup of noodles). The gentleman sitting next to us was from China and he had been in Seattle working with Microsoft on a "hardward deal" He kept calling himself a "tool engineer". His english was a little tough to understand but he said he enjoyed practicing it on Rich and I. We didn't really watch any movies just dozed off and on and met some of passengers and had really neat conversations. Spokane isn't very diverse so being able to speak with people from other cultures is so interesting.

It is rainy pretty hard in Hong Kong right now but the town is pretty lit up. Our entire travel group are such nice families. It will really make this trip even more exciting and fun to have such a group support team. We are staying at the Regal Kowloon Hotel. IT is a very nice hotel. Well, Rich is already fast asleep and I am heading that way myself.

Take care
Hugs,
Terri

Our Schedule of Events

So my friend, Lisa from our travel group had this great breakdown of what is going on each day on her website. So I "borrowed" her info and copy and pasted to our site with our info. Too much to do tonight but wanted to update everyone on our schedule. Thanks, Lisa for the great info!!

6/12 - Flight from Spokane to Seattle at 5:20am! Seattle to San Francisco leaving at 7:23am and than we leave San Francisco at 12:40PM.

6/13 - Arrive in Hong Kong at 6:00pm (skipped a day!)

6/14 - 1/2 day tour and group lunch.

6/15 - Flight from Hong Kong to Changsha, Hunan at 10:55am (China time) Prepare paperwork that evening.

6/16 - Gotcha Day! Family picture taken for Registration Certificate and sign the Guardianship Agreement.

6/17 - Go to Registration office for adoption registration and notarization. Review paperwork carefully.

6/18 - Trip to local department store in the morning. Free time in the afternoon.

6/19 - Optional half day tour to Martyr's Park in the morning. Receive Jenni's notary documents in the afternoon.

6/20 - Visit embroidery factory in the morning. Receive Jenni's registration certificate and passport in the afternoon.

6/21 - Flight from Changsha to Guangzhou at 12:10pm

6/22 - Free time. Rest, shop, tour.

6/23 - Jenni's Visa physical exam and visa photo. Meet with reps to prepare paperwork for consulate appointment.

6/24 - Free time. Rest, shop, tour.

6/25 - Consulate appointment. Reps will deliver my visa packet to the consulate.

6/26 - Go to the consulate to take the oath in the afternoon. Receive Jenni's visa packet at the conclusion of the ceremony.

6/27 - Be checked out of hotel and ready to go. Flight leaves Guangzhou to Hong Kong at 8:30am.

To Do List

Been a busy week getting all of our "to do list" done. We did find out that our Gotcha Day will be Monday June 16th! I just can't believe in 10 days we will be seeing and holding our baby girl. We spent last night putting together the crib and other "baby" things. Once we saw the crib all put together we both just look at other in disbelief. This just makes it finally seem so real. To know that our baby will be in that crib by the end of the month is just so surreal. Our dog seems to know something is up. He just keeps carrying around his dog toys with this sad look on his face. Like "am I still your baby?". He is 10 now but yes he will still be our "baby" also. It is funny how animals can sense something is changing. He is a very good dog so I am sure he will adjust just fine.

On a sad note, one of the families from our online Yahoo Panda support group has had a sad, sad event. Today should be their referral call(they have a log-in-date of 1/16/2006) and yesterday the husband passed away unexpectedly. He was at work and collapsed and by the time she got to hospital he was gone. My heart just goes out to her. I just can't imagine the agony she is going through right now. Not sure if she is still planning on going to China to get their child but what ever decision she makes I will support her 100%. Please keep she and her family in your prayers.

Terri

We have travel dates!

Sorry, to be lagging on blogging. Life has been so very busy right now. However, we do finally have our travel dates! We will be leaving on June 12th and returning on June 27th. We will be flying into Hong Kong (arriving on June 13th)and staying at least one or two nights and then flying to Changsha, Hunan. We are not sure if "Gotcha Day" (the day we get baby Jeanette) is on Sunday the 15h (Father's Day)or on Monday June 16th. But just figure two weeks from today we will finally be parents!! My, oh, my will our life be forever changed! After 24 years together (just the two of us) we are so ready to be family and share our love. Once we get a more detailed itenary we will put it on our site so you all know the "plan".

Hugs,
Terri