HOME!

HA-HA!! Found a way into Blogger!

.....take that, Great China Firewall!!

We are all doing well! Max is awesome--he's so sweet and lovey-dovey! Lily is having a hard time sharing, but she's coming along. She'll wake in the morning and want to know where Max is first thing. Then it's off to brother-sister spats. :)

I'm having a hard time getting a photo uploaded this way, but you can go to my Flickr site to see some cool pics.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hbsmith/

Itinerary!!

06/24 ~ Atlanta to Tokyo to Beijing

06/25 ~ Arrive in Beijing~~free time

06/26 & 6/27 ~ Tour Beijing

06/28 ~ Fly to Zhengzhou, Henan Province

06/29 ~ MEET MAX IN THE MORNING!!!! & tons of paperwork

06/30 ~ More paperwork

07/01 ~ Free time/tour Henan

07/02 ~ Free time/tour Henan

07/03 ~ Receive Max's Chinese passport then fly to Guangzhou

07/04 ~ Happy 4th of July!! Max's physical and TB test, Max's visa photo taken, paperwork for US Consulate

07/05 ~ Free time/tour Guangzhou

07/06 ~ Visit clinic for TB test to be read & free time/tour Guangzhou

07/07 ~ Free time/tour Guangzhou

07/08 ~ US Consulate appointment, receive Max's visa packet

07/09 ~ US Consulate oath

07/10 ~ Take train to Hong Kong

07/11 ~ Tour Hong Kong

07/12 ~ Depart Hong Kong to Tokyo to ATLANTA.

HOME ~ Max meets Ben (!!!) and Lily realizes Max will want to play with her toys at home. Please note that throughout the trip there will be intermittant prayers that the 2 teens at home aren't burning down the house or just plain trashing it......or worse yet getting into trouble or killed. :) Lord have mercy on my soul.

No really~I'm sure the teens will be fine. :) Our neighbors know we're leaving, and Bob & Sue, our wonderful friends across the street, have volunteered to keep a watch over things.

5 more sleeps!! **the picture above was taken at The Forbidden City, Beijing in 2007.

Happenings

Next week Lily will have her adenoids removed and tubes put in her ears. My sweet baby girl has had 4 ear infections since February. Even after a recent round of antibiotics she still has tons of fluid in her ears~especially her right ear...enough to cause some hearing loss (not permanent). We have to have this done before we travel to China or else the pressure change during the many flights could damage her eardrum or even just cause a lot of pain.

One of the things I love about where I work is that we have Child Life Specialists for each unit. They are invaluable. We call them to come talk to the children about everything~~you name it. They are so amazing at how they explain procedures to children on their level. They make my job so much easier when I have do something that can be scary for a child like inserting an IV or an NG tube or even if a little one's spirits need a lift.

We have some of our itinerary worked out for the trip to bring home Max. We depart for China on June 24th. I'll post our final itinerary this week when I have all the specifics. 11 more sleeps (including tonight) until we leave for China!! I can't believe we'll be a family of 6! Today I washed a bunch of Max's clothes, we went to Targ*t to get stuff for the children to play with on the plane that fit in their backpacks.

We told Lily today that when we return home from China she can get a goldfish for her room. She was so excited! This too will help her see herself as returning home with us after this long, emotional~yet very exciting and happy trip. She'll have to return home to go buy that goldfish (that she plans to name Goldilocks) that Mommy & Daddy promised :)

The picture to the right is a craft that Lily made in preschool a few weeks ago before the end of the school year. She says it's "King Max"~her brother. So cute!!

I hope to find the time and motivation to journal a little more. I started this blog a couple of years ago to journal some really wonderful events in our life, write about issues that we face, and to keep those interested up to date on our happenings. My Grandfather passed away a few weeks ago. And, with working 3 twelve hour shifts a week now, Lily being in preschool, high school sports, appointments, and pet hair....journaling as taken a back burner. We've also had some extended family issues that....frankly...can suck the life out of one's motivation to share. But we're getting back into the grove of things...focusing on what's important. Remembering that we are happy, close, and strong.

We will also be posting photos of our trip on our Flickr site! Max. Here. We. Come!!!