Hong Kong

We are in Hong Kong and all I can say is WOW! We took the train and it was wonderful and only lasted about 1 1/2 hours so not much more time involved than if we flew and only paid about half. If we had purchased our own tickets after we got here we won't have paid nearly as much. I didn't know how to go about getting train tickets so we had our agency do it. We paid them over 3 times more than they paid and we still had to pay for them to take us to the station. This was one of the only things that I think they charged way to much for and I will speak to them about it after we get home.

We walked for about 2 hours last night and it is hot but beautiful! The walkway along the water is awesome. Alyssa went to sleep in the stroller but that is what she needed. We ran into a family that is living in HK right now but are from West Virginia. They are adoptive parents of two children, one from Kazakhstan and one from Ethiopia. The mom was in awe of Alyssa and her beauty. I could only agree. She is totally adorable and I could not be happier and feel so lucky to be her mom.

She is very active and really only is still while she sleeps or if we are moving in the stroller. She loves going for a walk and seeing all the people. I just hope she is not disappointed when we get home and go for a walk and don't see but one or two people. She is very interested in everything around her. We leave in 2 days for home and as much as we have enjoyed this trip we are looking forward to showing off our little treasure. She is everything I dreamed of!

Family Blog Address

I have been terrible about updating but hubby is doing pretty good. This is how you find his http://members.cox.net/ourjourneytoalyssa


Here are some pics from the last couple of days. Everything is going great but I have been pretty tired every night and go to sleep shortly after the baby.

She loves to eat and will try just about anything I feed her. I was so afraid she would only take a bottle. So many of the babies from her orphanage will not eat anything and as a matter of fact will not even put anything in their mouths. She is teething and everything goes in the mouth!

Daddy and Alyssa went swimming!

I love this picture, she is so beautiful!

We got her!

She is healthy other than a little runny nose. She seems to be right on track for her age. She can crawl, pulls up in her crib and sits from a lying down position. It appears she was well taken care of and it is hard to believe she is from an orphanage. All the babies from her orphanage look great and some are very big. Her referral info was right on! She is about 17.5 pounds and fits into her 6-9 month stuff.

I picked her out in the group before we got her! Isn't she adorable!

We get Alyssa in about 21 hours!

We just finished the paperwork for tomorrow and we got to see her passport photo. It was taken not too long ago. She is adorable!!!!! She really looks like my baby photos. More updates tomorrow. We are going out for hot pot tonight with the group.

We are in China now

The flight was very long but not too bad. The longest leg from LAX to Taipei was okay. The seats were pretty comfy and we had a leg rest too. It was quite like my recliner but I was able to get a little rest. They kept us feed. I was amazed though that even on the shortest flight of 1:40 they feed us lunch. In the US we felt lucky on one flight because we got a bag of chips!

I am getting ready to go for the day now. The beds are harder than you can imagine, unless you sleep on the floor. I am sure with a little sleeping pill each night they will be bearable and then I take an Aleve in the morning. For those that are still waiting be sure to get the sleeping pill and bring plenty of Aleve and Tylenol.

Will post more later!

We leave today!

I will try to post when I can in China but from what I have read it is not too easy. Hopefully I can at least post pics!

We are headed to China!!!!!!

We are leaving on Sept 11th and Gotcha Day is scheduled for Sept 17th. We are flying to Chongqing on the 16th so it is possible we could get her that day. I am so ready and at the same time so not prepared! I still need to pack everything.

I will post pics when I can.