Mike and Susan become parents--oh my!

Well, I always said I would never make a blog or post pics of my kid online and yet here I am. Enough people have asked us to document our adoption journey online (i.e., post copious pics of the baby the instant she's in our arms) that it seemed like a good idea to Mike and me to do just that. I can't make any guarantees as to how much we'll be able to update this while we're traveling--we don't have a laptop, but I'm told there are Internet cafes in most of the big cities. We'll do our best.

It's currently 4:26 a.m. EST, and I'm making this blog. So if you're wondering, "Gee, how are you guys doing?," excited and nervous and maybe slightly spazzing would be accurate descriptors. Here's the low-down on our itinerary for those care to know.

Leave Sunday, September 17 bright and early at 7:40 a.m. We change planes in Newark and then fly straight to Beijing, arriving the afternoon of the 18th.

September 18-20 sightseeing and cooling our jets in Beijing

September 21 Fly to Nanchang (capital of Jiangxi province) and meet Fang Gui (YAY!!!). No, we have not yet decided on what her first name will be. We will keep Fang Gui as her middle name (pronounced like "Fahng Gway.")

September 21-27 Sightseeing and playing with the baby in Nanchang and Jiangxi province

September 28 & 29 meetings and paperwork at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou

September 30 hanging with the baby in Hong Kong

October 1 fly back home, arriving 8: 00 p.m. EST

And for those of you who haven't seen it, here is Fang Gui's referral picture. She was born December 10, 2005. I'm not sure when this picture was taken--the medical info we received was from her four-month checkup and we got the referral at the end uf July (when she was six and a half months old). I'm guessing she's five months here. She is the cutest baby ever (and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom).