We're Leaving on a Jet Plane!

We are on our way! If everything goes as planned, in about 12 hours we will be in Beijing, and in about 60 hours we will finally be meeting our daughter!

It honestly seems completely surreal. I've been waiting for this for 2-1/2 years. Actually, scratch that; I've been waiting for this for almost 20 years. Yet now that we've finally reached this day I can't believe it's actually here!

Since Google is blocked in China, updating the blog may be difficult. I have set it up so that I can update from an e-mail, which seems to work pretty well (from here). If we get to China and that is not working, my friend Mandi has graciously agreed to update the blog for me- if I can communicate with her, that is. I will try to send an e-mail from Beijing tomorrow night, but I'm not sure what to expect in the way of internet. I promise to do the best I can!

I want to thank you all again for all of your thoughts and prayers along the way on this amazing journey... but if I could please request a little more, we still need all that you can send our way! While this will be the very definition of a "trip of a lifetime," it will not be a vacation. Please pray that everything goes smoothly; not only our travels, but our introduction with Caitlin as well. While for Paul and me it will be one of the happiest days of our lives, Caitlin will probably be confused and scared. At 19 months old, she will not understand what is happening. All she will know is that she is being ripped from the only home/life she's ever known. She will not know us, or trust us- at least until we can earn that trust. We do not speak her language, and we look and even smell different from the caretakers she is used to. When I try to put myself in her tiny shoes and think about what this will be like for her, I want to cry for her. I pray that Paul and I can give Caitlin whatever she needs to make this transition as smooth as possible, and that she will be content- or at least comfortable- with us in a reasonable amount of time...

With that said, here we go! Ciao!