October 26 is the day we leave! It's official.
And October 30 we will meet Grace. Her first Halloween will be spent in China getting to know us. What a great day it will be. Our itinerary looks like this:
Thurs, Oct 26 - Leave the US
Fri, Oct 27 - Arrive in BJ
Sat, Oct 28- Sightsee in BJ (TianAnMen Square & Forbidden City, the Great Wall
Sun, Oct 29 -Fly to Wuhan .
Mon, 10/30: meet babies
Tues, 10/31: adoption procedure with registration and notary
Wed, 11/1 - Fri, 11/3: sightseeing & free days in Wuhan
Sat, 11/4: fly to Guangzhou
Sun, 11/5: Free day
Mon, 11/6: medical exam
Tues, 11/7: ACS appointment at the ACS
Wed, Nov 8: receive your child’s visa about 6:00pm. Return home on the next morning, Thurs, Nov 9th.

Watch out Gracie, here we come! Your Mommy and Daddy can't wait to meet you!

Big Sisters are #1
It's hard to believe that Grace's big sister is 13 years old! This summer she had a chance to come to work with me and have a photo shoot. She could be a model!

This is Grace's name in Chinese. Isn't it beautiful? Can you imagine how long it must take to write a letter in Chinese?

Yippee - travel approval has arrived! Our still tentative travel date is October 26. It's a pretty sure date but not set in stone. It depends on a response from the American Consulate in Guangzhou. Our coordinators have requested appointments at the AC on November 8 or 9. If they approve one of those days, we'll travel October 26 and pick up Grace on October 30! It will be an easy "Gotcha Day" to remember - the day before Halloween. What a fun day to celebrate. We'll get to have Halloween in China. I'm sure it will be my most memorable Halloween yet! (Although thanks to Mom I'll always remember the year I wore a Devil costume (not a princess, or a butterfly, but a DEVIL)! I guess I was trying to keep up with my big brother! Life has been berry, berry good to me. (A little SNL humor blast from the past!)

Really great news – Grace has been in foster care her whole nine months! That is fabulous news. Because it means that she has had someone watching over her every minute. It means that she has felt the warmth of touch every day for more than just a few minutes. It means she knows the emotion of love and attachment. It means she has been a part of a real family. And they’ve made her smile and laugh. It also means it will be harder for her to leave them. And it will be hard for her foster family, too. Her foster mom calls her a happy little treasure. I think about them now and am so grateful for all they’ve done for Grace. They must be very special. We are so lucky. I think I’ll start a tradition at Thanksgiving every year – we’ll light a candle for Grace’s foster family and for her biological parents. What an amazing gift they are giving us. I can hardly wait.

We also got more information about Grace – she is active, likes music and dancing and loves to imitate people. She has a good appetite and gets impatient when she’s hungry but happy when she’s fed. She jumps and bounces to music and likes toys that make sound. She sleeps well in her own bed. She’s our little Grace. God has been watching over her and we are blessed beyond words.

October 26 or November 2 – one of those days will most likely be our travel date. I sure hope it’s October.

Yesterday some of Steve's coworkers gave him the nicest card and book to congratulate him on our adoption. The book was "100 Reasons Why a Daughter Needs a Dad". It was so sweet and so true. I think I'll start on my own version - 100 Reasons Why a Mother Needs her Daughter Right Now!