More pics from Stuart's camera :)

Giving me kisses on the computer screen ! :)



Goldfish! Thanks grandpa!!

Proud daddy :)

Grocery store goodies!!

Oh my love...

Finally, the day that we have been waiting for... my heart is in my throat as I type this, almost thinking it is a dream.

Shannon and Stuart got to the Civil Affairs office early, there was no one there yet! The guide went to get a key from someone and they started on the paperwork. Soon after the nanny from Sam's orphanage brought him in. Bless his heart he had his photo album in his hands. He went to Shannon with no problem. Not one single tear. He opened up his book and pointed to Shannon on the picture and then to Shannon and said, "Baba." Yeah, I'm serious. Shannon said it went very well, smooth, no tears and he did not have to bribe him with 100 suckers. :)
They went to the store to get some food and back to the hotel.
Shannon Skyped me to let me see Sam and it was just the most surreal feeling in the world. He was all about checking out the camera and kept looking behind it to see where I was. He would wave and point to me and just smile!!!
He would run away for a while and then come back to wave and see if I was still there.
Stuart was talking to me at one point and Sam was on his lap. Stuart would kiss his cheek and he would wipe it off and just laugh and laugh.
Shannon said he asked to go potty twice, and went with no accidents!
After skyping with them for a while he would come up to the camera and kiss my picture and say "mama!" and just cover the screen with kisses!
Stuart was crawling on his hands and knees chasing Sam and I could hear him laughing and I tell you... his laugh is just PRECIOUS!!

Oh how my heart is soothed at this time! I know that we will have our ups and downs, but I want to thank each and every one of you that prayed for a smooth transition!

My heart is full and my eyes are heavy... More tomorrow :) But this is really why you came....








He kept banging the water bottles together and just laughing hysterically!


Hiding from grandpa in daddy's arms....


Silly boy :)


He thought this was soooo funny! I could hear him laughing like a mad man! His laugh is amazing!


grandpa kisses him and he wipes it off and laughs!


The first time he saw me :)

Patientce...

I was never good at this. In approximately 15 minutes Samuel will be handed to his Baba. Why do I feel like throwing up. Lord help me y'all. I feel like my heart is in the delivery room but my body is in the waiting room!

Just got an email from my FIL. They are at the train station and are waiting to board. Next stop... Nanjing! I cannot believe that I will be seeing Samuel's face Sunday night! CRAZY!!!!!!
So sorry the posts have lacked meat! I get to skype with Shannon once or twice a day. They just strolled around Shanghai the last few days and didn't have a guide so they just stuck close to the hotel. Hopefully there will be a little more substance once they get to Nanjing and have a guide. I think that Shannon is anxious to get Samuel. What a sweet daddy :)

Shanghai

So the guys took a stroll around Shanghai today! I don't think they wandered too far. At first they were going to get a guide but it was about 1000 RMB's and they thought they could do it themselves. They said they saw some very interesting things and it was very smoggy. I did convince them to send me one picture.

Shannon got into a discussion with a shaolin priest. Turns out he wanted money.I walked across the street when the light changed. I turned around and Shannon had not followed me. I can't leave him alone for a second.

They have one more day in Shanghai, which they just started and then will take the train to Jiangsu Saturday!! WHOOT WHOOT!!

And a very Happy Birthday to my niece Delaney!! We (me and the kids, Shannon and his dad, and my in-laws in Greenville and sister-in-law and family and brother-in-law and his wifey) were able to sing happy birthday to her and watch her blow out her candles!! Skype is a beautiful thing!!

I miss my sweet hubby terribly :( Love you babe!!!!

I love that face!!!

Ahhhh :) That's more like it! Live from Shanghai, it's Shannon!!!!! I have been waiting since 10:30 yesterday morning to see this face :) They were just getting ready for breakfast and head out for the day! I am sure those Sharp boys will find something to get into! Have I mentioned how much I love this face???




This is the finished link that Shannon made for the kids. They look forward to seeing what dad left for them each day!

Few more days and it's Samuel time!!!

It's all I have

I finally talked to Shannon about 9:45 this morning and it was 10:45 pm in China. The flight was uneventful as far as they were concerned and they were off to bed. I hope that we will be able to Skype sometime soon as the kids and I are missing him terribly. Thankful that they arrived safely!!!!

And they are off...

And I will tell you it was MUCH harder than I had anticipated it being. I knew that "the cry" was coming. It was just a matter of time really. Stuart and Shannon checked their baggage and we headed to the terminal where you go through security. I whipped out my camera and began taking pictures of Shannon and his dad, and asked Staurt to take one of Shannon and I. Just the way he put his arm around me... tighter than usual....

Little story about Shannon and I. We met on February 5th, got engaged on July 26th and we were married January 13th. A whirlwind romance right from the start. He was NOT my type ( or so I thought) and we kinda went on this date to appease some friends. Neither of us wanted to be in a relationship. Yeah.
We have been married for 10 years. He is the kindest man I have ever met in my life. He is precious to me and to our kids and he is fiercely protective of his family. He is the most loyal person I have ever met. And he knows me better than I know myself. See, I can say all of this because he is on his way out of the country :) He would certainly be embarrassed :) We have been through so much together, as any couple, but he has handled the bad times with grace and strength. Just the way he looks at me, or the way he leaves me the last donut, or the last glass of tea. He's just THAT kinda guy :) And I love him so...

So it was no surprise to me when I looked at him upon saying goodbye that he had tears in his eyes. That is another thing I love about him. When he feels something he feels it through and through. That's when I lost it. I know that I will see him soon. I know that I will see him on Skype. I know he will be back... with our son. But his absence will surely be evident in our day to day lives.

They are going to land in Shanghai at 6:30am our time in the morning and I cannot wait to hear his voice on the other end of the phone.

4 days ...

Four days until lift off. Yep. 4. Quatro. IV. That's it.

I have a crazy calmness about me. And that kinda scares me!! I got skype up and running and chatted with my FIL and nieces and nephew and that helped ALOT. The last time we went to China our web cam didn't work and it was TORTURE not to be able to see Elias everyday. So now that this is working I feel a bit better. My FIL has an international cell phone and I can call anytime I need to. That, and I spread the news throughout the police department that my husband works for to please do several drive by's. Okay fine, I begged them :) A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Shannon and I spent the night finishing up the shopping for the trip. There was just a little bit that we needed to get, so it was really nice spending time with him just laughing and talking. We realized that it would be a looooong time before we would have anything resembling a Friday night-date night. It's all good and certainly worth the trade off, but I do love that man and connecting with him over dinner (or in Target in our case tonight) is such a refreshing time for me!

Shannon made links for the kids tonight. That way they can count down and read a note from their dad everyday.




After he wrote them out (one side for each kiddo... awwww) I wanted to tape them together. But couldn't find my tape. I knew that Norah had it last because she will tape any and everything that shouldn't have tape on it. The first place I went was to her play kitchen. Oh. My. Stars. Apparently I haven't done damage control in a while.





I don't even know what to say.

So back to packing...

This is Shannon's suitcase.



Minus the clothes. Guess I need to work on this too.


This is me. You don't see me in front of the camera too much. There is reason for that! I look MUCH better behind it :)




And some random pictures of the kids....












Taken when I SHOULD have been packing....

FOUR MORE DAYS!!!!!!!! WHOOT WHOOT!!

8 days...

Oh. My. Goodness. Where has the time gone? Eight days until liftoff. There are a mix of emotions that are going through my mind right now. I am way beyond excited that this journey is coming to an end. This one has been a long one... almost a year from beginning to end. Phew!! I will be happy to finally be still!! No more blogs to check, no more dates to meet, no more frantic rushes to the post office. I can sit back and enjoy my babies!
I am scared that Samuel won't like me :) I know I know... but being 3 and with him being in the same place for the last 3 years, it is quite possible! Hopefully my charm and plate spinning abilities will win him over :)
I sure am going to miss that sweet husband of mine!
I know that I keep on and on about the same lame thing! But if any of you would like to have a slumber party at my place while they are gone, come on over! The more the merrier!!!
8 more days y'all. 8 more days. I feel like the walls are caving in! LOLOLOL

My List

My list of things to do seems rather long right now. The day is upon us and I am shakin in my boots! We have 11 days until they leave and I work 4 of those days. So really I have a week to prepare and pack. Umong other things I have to:

Make copies of various documents that have to go to China
Get passport size pictures of myself and Shannon
Gather all the legal documents that he needs to take
Write detailed instructions for the camera/camcorder and how to email them
Get 2 webcams and make sure they work Thanks Nicole!!!
Go to the bank and get fresh money
Pack Shannon
Pack Samuel And the list goes on....

I hope it all gets done! I know that it will but it seems like a huge mountain to me right now! I mean, I am sitting at the computer, eating iced animal crackers, and watching HGTV! HELLLOOO!!! Well, Samuels clothes are in the dryer. Does that count??

We are marking off the days until the boys leave. I hate to see him go, but will love seeing him come home!

If anyone wants to have a slumber party from February 23rd-March 11th, let me know. We will certainly be available :)

You know it's almost time when...

You look for milk at the grocery store that is past the date that your husband leaves for China to pick up your son :)

14

14 days. My husband and his dad will be boarding a plane to China. 14. Days.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this point. I have packed Samuel's suitcase. But then the clothes weren't freshly laundered so I unpacked them and washed them... down to the little Cars unders. I repacked and thought maybe it was a bit too soon so I unpacked. Seriously.

In 14 days my sweet husband will be on his way to our son.

There is an honest mixture of extreme giddiness and fear. A fear so real that it sometimes takes my breathe away. Will this child even LIKE us!!! We will soon find out! All the Skyping in this world will not hold me back from tackling them all in the airport when they return home. We will miss them terribly. My feet will miss their partners. We have never been apart this long before and I really dig my husband! He is an amazing dad... Hello!! He is going to China to get his son!!! But he is also my best friend. He can tell in an instant when something is bothering me. He can tell in an instant if there is something I am dying to tell him. He would do anything for his family and loves his children with every fiber of his being. His presence will be missed each day! I certainly hope he knows how much he means to all of us :)

Thank You!

Thanks so much to all of you that have left comments and kind words :) It means so much to me! I honestly thought no one read this blog... hehe :) xoxo

Just Breathe....

Tuesday was a very busy day for us! My father in law was on a business trip in Austria and we were having to communicate often so he could book the flights. I felt SO bad because there is a nice hefty time difference and I know he stayed up waaay past his bedtime! But in the end... it's DONE!


They will leave Charleston on FEbruary 22nd. Family day will be February 28th and they will return home on March 12th. MARCH 12th @ 4pm!!!!!!!!!! WHOOT WHOOT!!!




I am so excited to have that little man home!!!!

THe rest of our itenerary isn't complete because the in-China reps are off for CNY! :)

We have our travel approval :)

Well, it looks like we are going to China!!! Our agency called today (as I was getting in the tubby so I could go to work. perfect timing!!) to tell us that our travel approval arrived! I wasn't expecting it but almost fell over when I heard their "ring" on my phone :) But the bad part. Because I do not have a filter and I am so fly by the seat of my pants... When he told us that we got our TA I immediately said..."Shut Up!!" I say that alot. Not really meaning shut up, just "are you kidding me??" But the voice on the other end said, "I'm sorry, what?" Then I had to go into mumbling and backtracking, which I don't do well. But in the end we STILL got approval and our SAM IS COMING HOME!!!!!!
Now, because of the Chinese New Year things are going to be tricky this week. Normally we would know something tomorrow but because its going to be a skeleton crew working it may not be until the end of NEXT week. That's right. I said next week. Our agency put in our first requested dates of 2/25 to be in Jiangsu. Praying that someone is working tomorrow and can confirm those for us :) My FIL found some fabulous flights but cannot book them until we know something for sure. Please let tomorrow be the day!!!
Oh, I am freaking out. So much to do still... I cannot believe that Samuel is coming home. God has been so good to us and has shown us favor time and time again. We are so blessed that he chose US.
I will keep all 5 of you (that actually read this blog. THANK YOU) updates as soon as I hear something!

Really cute story... Convo with my father-in-law:

Stu: Did you happen to talk to your husband today? (This was about 20 minutes into our conversation)
Me: Yes, I talked to him about 30 minutes ago, why?
Stu: Did he happen to tell you that I was in Austria right now?
Me: (crickets...) Nope, he sure didn't. What time is it right now?? (please GOD don't let it be some rediculous hour)
Stu: Oh, about 12:30am
Me: I am SO sorry!!! (Note to self, communicate with hubby more) I didn't mean to wake you!! I am soooorryy!!!
Stu: This is important!! This is exciting!! I am ready to get my grandson! This is worth being awake for!!

Awww :) For those of you that are just joining us, my FIL is going with Shannon to China :)