One More Week, Sophie!

It is now Monday afternoon in China. That means that Sophie has exactly one week left in the orphanage. One more week alone, one more week with no mattress, no mommy or daddy, no toys, no family, nothing to call her own. Her life is about to change – all of it – everything she’s ever known. Can you imagine? It seems great to us, but it’s probably not going to feel so great to her, at least at first. She’s going to be taken from the only life she’s ever known. We’ve been praying that she’s happy, healthy, and loved by someone until we can get there to her. So, if our prayers have been answered, and I believe that they have, then in her 14 month old mind, she’s doing just fine. :) Then, here we will come along, two strangers that look different, sound different, and act different than anyone she’s ever encountered. Add to that, her diet will change, her surroundings will change, she will no longer have the “safety” of her crib, her orphanage, her nannies. She will be in a BIG world, being shuffled around A LOT. But, she will have a family. And, we will LOVE her. Oh, how we love her already! Yes, there will be lots of changes, and it will very likely be hard for her at first. But, I do believe that she will be fine and adjust quickly. We just can’t wait to meet her!!

Speaking of meeting her, we leave in 3 days!! After all this waiting, I can’t believe it’s finally here! It will be hard to leave the other children behind. I’m not sure how much Gracie understands about us being gone.

We will be blogging regularly while we’re in China. Since we have such a LONG flight, we will not arrive until Thursday, but I will let you know when we get there!!

This is our basic itinerary while we are there:

1/5/11 Leave Memphis

1/6/11 Arrive in Beijing

1/7/11 The Great Wall

1/8/11 Orientation with Holt (our agency), tour Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

1/9/11 Fly from Beijing to Guangzhou

1/10/11 Gotcha! Day (This is day that Sophie becomes ours!)

1/11/11 Appointment w/Chinese Gov’t to make us officially Sophie’s parents

1/12/11 Appointment to apply for Sophie’s Chinese passport

1/13/11 Medical Check required by the Chinese Government

1/14/11 Free Day

1/15/11 Free Day

1/16/11 Free Day

1/17/11 Free Day

1/18/11 Free Day

1/19/11 Apply for Sophie’s visa at the U.S. Consulate and Oath-taking ceremony

1/20/11 Free Day

1/21/11 Pick up Sophie’s visa to bring her home to America!!

1/22/11 We’re coming HOME!