We're Here!

After 19 hours of travel we made it to Beijing. It's been a loooong day! At the airport we found our adoption agency's sign & followed the guide to the van. On the way to the hotel as they were passing out name tags we all realized we were with the wrong group. Our agency has 2 groups here & we aren't staying in the same hotel...so they had to take us back to the airport (the wrong way on a one-way st.) to find our REAL guide. At least we found out before we drove an hour to the wrong hotel. Doug & m1 are heading out to see the sights but I am ready for a shower and bed ( we have one queen size bed for the three of us). Tomorrow starts the sight-seeing!

Ahhhh.....

Things are about to get REALLY real!  1 more sleep then off we go.  Please pray we all stay healthy.  There is so much sickness going around.....just hoping it skips us!  I know I cannot update to blogger from China, but hopefully I'll be able to send emails home and a friend is going to update for us.  That being said, we are NOT very computer literate so HOPEFULLY we can get emails sent from China with an ipod that we're not used to using.  If not, we'll update when we get home with LOTS & LOTS of pictures of our new addition.  I can't wait for you all to see her beautiful face, but due to privacy agreements I can't post any until the adoption decree is signed.  Just 5 more days....she'll be in our arms on Sunday night/Mon. morning while you are sleeping here in the US.  AAahhhhhh.........

Sweet friends....

We have the best friends in the whole world!  I'm meeting a friend today who is letting M1 borrow an ipod.  Who just gives someone else an expensive ipod (loaded with games) to take to the other side of the world?  We also have a going away "party" with some other friends today.  My MOPS group has been and will continue to pray for us for the next few weeks, friends have reached out to see what they can do to help out, friends have offered meals when we get home, my Junior Service League ladies did a money tree for spending money while we are gone, and the list goes on and on.  It's amazing how people are willing to serve.  We're so blessed!

Sort of freaking out...

It's the last Monday we will spend as a family of 4.  I'm freaking out a little bit....in a good way.  I can't wait to be in China!  6+ years of waiting will be over this week.  Ahhhhhh!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have the hardest time sticking to our school schedule this time of year.  There is so much going on to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Add a huge trip to the other side of the globe and preparing for a new addition and I'm toast!  Also add in 65-70 degree weather in November and all we want to do is play outside.  We DON'T play outside all day....we finish our math, reading, language, vocabulary, science and social studies each day.  Some days we just do a little less than others :)  I have realized that schooling year-round is the way to go.  I will do that beginning this summer.  On the days where we are just swamped with LIFE, we can take it easy and not feel like we're losing a ton of time.  We'll make up for it in the summer.  I think the hardest thing for me is getting everything done with 2 kids in tow all the time.  My girls are great and are usually good sports about running errands, but I could get done in 1 hr. what it takes 2 hrs. to get done with kids on my hip.  Overall, I love homeschooling.  I love that my children participate in the grocery shopping, enjoying lots of outside time to explore during the day, help in the household chores, read books throughout the day and still have everything done by the time Dad comes home each night.  I realize what a blessing it is and is one of my top 3 things to be thankful for this year! 

Packing light!

The packing phase of this journey has officially started.  I'm the only one left to get packed, minus a few last minute odds and ends.  What I'm finding to be most difficult is packing for 4 but only allowing for suitcases for 3 travelers.  I really thought M3 would be the easiest to pack for (the smallest amount of things) but she's actually the one with the most.  Just the unknown of what she'll need has caused me to pack a lot for her.  We're taking diapers, clothes, some food, meds., a few toys/books, carrier/sling, bottles, snacks, spoons/bowl, etc...  I'm guessing I'll be down to about 4 outfits for myself to wear over and over again.  The gifts for the people in China is also taking up a lot of room in my suitcase.  I guess the good news is that once the gifts are given out I'll have plenty of room for new things to bring home.  I can't believe we're down to 9 days.  So much to be thankful for this year!

Starting to pack...

I realize I still have 2 solid weeks before our trip to China, but the packing started today.  I just needed to start doing something.  M3's bag is mostly packed.  I can't start on my stuff yet or I won't have enough clothes to last me before we leave.  I own a very limited supply of clothing because I really, really don't like to shop. 
Yesterday we planned to go to the symphony.  Well, I had my dates mixed up and went a day early.  A sweet musician heard our dilemma and let us sneak in with him.  We got to go through the backstage and sit in the audience for the rehearsal....we were the only ones.  We felt like the bomb.  We then walked around downtown, ate at the Hard Rock and then we took M2 to participate in a research project for pre-schoolers.  It was quite a busy day, but I love the freedom of homeschooling to get to do these extra-special field trips.

Busy day...

One thing about homeschooling that I despise is not being able to keep a schedule.  I really thought that homeschooling would allow us the freedom to go and do whenever we want.  While that's true, it wrecks havoc on the rest of our day.  If we do anything in the morning (dr. visit, dentist, library, etc...) it is almost impossible to have a normal school day when we get home.  I will admit that I can get easily distracted so I'm completely to blame for this, but man, it's hard!  Today we had dentist appointments for both girls.  While we were out we popped in to visit Doug at work.  Then he asked us to go to lunch with him, which of course we accepted.  Once we got home, it was VERY difficult to sit down and complete our work.  Although I really try to keep our mornings open for school & only school, it's not reality.  Tempers flare, rebellion & disobedience rear their ugly head, I'm out of patience, school isn't getting done, etc...  I'm thankful that tomorrow is another day and we get to try again. 

Monday again!

It seems like it was JUST last Monday...where is the time going?  We almost officially have a travel date now.  It looks like M3 will be in our arms on Dec.3rd, her 13 month birthday.  There was a little "hiccup" in some paperwork that was supposed to be sent from the US to China so that date is a ??? until this paperwork matter gets resolved.  It seems like it's just something filed in the wrong place, nothing major, but no airline tickets can be bought until this gets corrected.  With today being Veteran's Day, many offices are closed so we have to wait until tomorrow to figure it all out. 
Today I had my bi-monthly MOPS (Moms Of PreSchoolers) meeting.  I love this time to sit with other momma's and share, pray, relax and learn.  It gets me rejuvinated for another week.  It's always nice to have some girl time, which many of us momma's don't do enough!  Today we focused on being careful with our words and making the most of our opportunities, especially with our kids.  I really try to focus on my kids as much as possible, I know my time with them is short, but sometimes I forget that quantity isn't always quality.  Well, I must run now, my Tinkerbell needs someone to play with!

Another one bites the dust!

About a month ago I arrogantly made the comment, "my girls have been so healthy this year...I don't even remember what our last "bug" was."  NEVER.SAY.THAT.  About 2 days later, M1 came down with strep.  Yesterday, M2 was diagnosed with strep as well.  I'm thankful that it took until Nov. for the girls to get sick this year, but man, I thought we could make it until Christmas.  The blanket from yesterday turned out surprisingly well.  We did more of a wrap-knot than a tied-knot (check the link from yesterday) and I think it looks better.  I think M2 will like it.  We still have to make one for M3 in the next few days.  It took a lot longer to make than I was expecting.  Give yourself about 2 hours if you're doing the project with kids "helping".  We're looking forward to spending the weekend with some out of town family...it's the last time we'll see them until China!!!!  Happy Friday everyone!

Crafty-day

I am totally stinking at this daily blog thing, since I started two days ago and I already missed yesterday.  My mom didn't have to work yesterday so we had a girls day of Christmas shopping.  I know it's a little early, but I need to have my shopping done by Dec. 1st (my goal) so I don't have to do ANY when we get home from China.  M1 is very crafty.  She's decided this year to make a fleece tie blanket for both of her sisters.  So, off to JoAnn's we went yesterday to get the fleece.  Our plan today is to watch The Nativity Story and make the blankets.  School will wait until the afternoon and M2 spent the night with my parents last night. We have to get hers done before she gets home later.  I found a good site on Pinterest for a good way to make the blankets...different from the tying method.  It's here if you want to check it out.
We still haven't heard anything about our TA (travel approval) so we don't know anything about our trip.  Maybe we'll hear something next week.

Daily blogging

I know many of you probably don't care about the daily happenings at the Perry house, and honestly, it's not always very exciting.  However, I love looking back at past posts to see the different seasons of our family.  I've been thinking about doing a "somewhat" daily blog post (M-F) just to record our life, homeschool, resources, things we're trying, etc...  I also want to be diligent about blogging once we get home with M3.  Sometimes when you're in the midst of a trying time, it's good to look back and see how far you've come.  I'm expecting a realistic transition, which means that everyday won't always be perfect.  I just want to see that each day is better than the day before.  We are so excited about our trip to China and our family finally being WHOLE! 
So, today is Election Day.  Along with our normal schoolwork we are going to print this to follow election night.  We know that whatever happens tonight, God is in control and already has a plan for our country.  My goal is to always show the love of Christ, to be a light on a hill. I fail miserably everyday, but thankfully, He wakes me up the next day to try again!

Still here, still waiting....

I know I've been quiet for a little while.  Many of you have been so kind to ask us how things are going with the adoption, when we travel, etc...  I wish I had more answers.  If anything, the best answer is always, "I just don't know."  We have not been issued our TA (travel approval) yet.  We must have a TA from China before we can begin buying airline tickets, booking hotel rooms, etc... I really, really hope we receive this before Friday, but I'm learning to be patient!  We saw M3's face for the first time in July and now it's November....patience is wearing thin, but we're getting there!  I so wish I could post her beautiful picture here, but hopefully soon, very, very soon!  Please keep praying for her heart to be soft and open to us.  Her world is about to be turned completely upside down!