Sunday, January 8, 2012

One More Sleep

Today we spent exploring the area of Nanning around our hotel, and making preparations for the big day.  We started off with an amazing breakfast at the Marriott.  This hotel is awesome and the food is spectacular!  We had our fill of dumplings and congee and noodles and fried rice for breakfast...yum!  Foodie heaven!

Marriott breakfast..step aside Panda Palace Buffet
Afterwards, our main goal was to find a stroller.  This, of course, led us to Walmart, a stop every adoptive family seems to make prior to meeting their little one.  The place was a madhouse, but a lot of fun seeing how regular families get their errands done.

If you thought Walmart in the US was nuts...come to Nanning!
We managed to find a stroller and put it together using the very helpful Chinese instructions.  We took it for a test drive around the Executive floor to make sure P put it together so that the wheels wouldn't fall off.  All is well so far, but we were unable to test it with an actual child in it so we'll see how that goes later this week...

Dad, where the heck were you?  Can you imagine P assembling this with no instructions!?
Tonight we hit the Executive Lounge and had our last "happy hour" as T & P.  Those of you who know us well, know that we love our happy hour!  We talked about tomorrow and our dreams for the future.

I can't really explain in words what we are experiencing tonight.  Unless you've been through this, or you are sitting in a hotel right now somewhere in China counting down to your Gotcha Day, you could never know what a wild feeling this is.  There is really no amount of reading or preparation you can do to get ready for this moment.   We've tried to picture it, we've done "dry runs" and still we have no idea what tomorrow is really going to be like.  We are excited and nervous and overwhelmed and happy all at once.

To everyone out there who has been sending messages of support our way, we can't thank you enough.  You have no idea how much it means to us and powers us forward as we embark on this crazy, unpredictable ride.

T & P v 1.0

7 comments:

Joe and Pattie said...

"...and the greatest of these is love". You two embody those words. E will soon know it.

Beth said...

Congrats!! Can not wait to see your gotcha day pictures! My sons gotcha day was July 2007, can still remember it like it was yesterday there is nothing like it!!!!

Beth

The Glazier Family said...

So excited for you guys! We're enjoying following your progress and look forward to introducing E to our H.

Jon and Alysha (and Hannah)

Stacia said...

You are right, I can only imagine what you are feeling. I hope you are able to get some sleep and that tomorrow goes smoothly for the three of you! Best wishes. :)

Anonymous said...

oh, exciting!! I cant wait to see T&P become TEP or ETP or PET...lol --whichever it is. it forms a loving family.

I have been to NanNing, its an exotic place! have fun exploring your little girl and NanNing! Sending many blessings & best wishes your way!

Christy said...

Can't even express how excited I am for you. Welcome to the world of china adoption. It's a crazy ride but you will love every minute of it. E will do great in time and u will too. After gotcha you may need to resume those happy hours!!! Lol!! Anyway I can't wait to watch this trip and just remember her life is about to change dramatically and she may reject one of you but that's ok. Our 3 year old adopted last january wanted nothing to do with me the whole china trip. She warmed up in time and a year later is perfect but in china she only wanted daddy and I was a mere father assistant. It hurt but I was just happy she bonded with dad ao she was comforted by someone during this crazy time. Stay strong and I will be praying for all of you guys!!!

Christy.

Anonymous said...

So excited for you!

Many blessings, Cathy