settling in....

We finished our first full day here. Ben is doing great. He already adjusted to the time and is wanting to just walk around and take everything in. Me well I'm trying to be adventurous. I am not comfortable in the US just walking around cities I don't know so this is about as far away from my comfort zone as possible. I found 2 dishes that I like so I think I'll be sticking to those :-).

We have an amazing guide. She is like a walking history book (dad you would love listening to her). We went today to visit the Hutong villages. We took the rickshaw there. We loved it though it was a bit cold! The area has the old original homes that have passed down through generations. Some of the homes are over 600 yrs old. They just recently got electricity in them but still have no bathrooms. They have only been open to the public since 2008 and are worth millions because they are the only homes that can be owned and passed down. Other buildings/home you can only own for 70 yrs and then you need to start paying the gov't for them......I don't understand it all but what I can tell you is these 4 buildings connected by a court yard in the center would go for 5 million. It is just crazy to me.

 

 

This is the dining room.....

This is the honeymoon suite. A couple from the US decorated it and spent a month there for their honeymoon.

And to all of you who are wondering. Yes I was polite and didn't absolutely freak out when they put this on my head while thinking....oh my word how many heads has this thing been on!!!!

This man is the owner of the home. He is the 3rd generation and his grandfather paid 2000 silver coins for it.

We then headed to the silk factory to learn all about how they make silk items.

Finally we headed to the Forbidden City and Tienemen (don't know how to spell it and this is taking so long to download so sorry) Square. Cindy, our guide, gave us the complete history of it all. It is amazing how every single thing has a meaning. From where walls are built, to what animals are on the roof or the color something is painted. It is crazy! Here are some pictures....enjoy and I hope you truly can see how beautiful the buildings are.

There is a male and female lion that guard the gate. These are the largest ones anywhere in Ch*na

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we are visiting the Great Wall and then Sun we take the train to Zhengzhou!!!

Here is one of the meal we had------ Don't mind my face I thought Ben was only taking a picture of the food...lol. The plate on the left is our favorite. Kung Pao Chicken. Ok I have to say....see how I have a fork. There was actually one on the table when we sat down. Now tonight when we went to dinner it took two girls, some cherades and them laughing to get us our forks....but....we got them :-)

Thanks again to everyone for your love and support.

Nathan and Katie this last picture is for you. Look how HUGE our airplane was!! It could fit around 300 people.

 

We are here!

We made it to Beijing!! Our flight over was better than we could imagine. There weren't many on the plane so I was able to lay down. Our hotel is amazing but it is so weird to have so many conversations going on around you and not have a clue what they are saying....lol

It is 8am and Is suppose to be 48 degrees today. We are getting ready to go do some tours and I will post some pictures tonight.

Thank you all for the prayers. Can't believe 3 more days and we will be holding him!

 

Still learning

Sorry about the pictures in the last post...wow they are huge. Not sure how to change it yet with using the iPad to blog. Hopefully I will figure it out before the next post but no time to do it tonight or the energy....lol. So hope you enjoy those photos :-)

A

Ok I think I figured it out if when I hit post this picture is small.....lol

Staying busy

Oh my it is like a dream how close we are to leaving. We are packed. Papers in order. Gifts bought and gathered to give. Money wired. New dollar bills collected and separated into ziploc bags with sticky notes on what is for what. We are SO ready to get on that plane but at the same time trying so hard to stay bus so I am not thinking of leaving the other 3. So what is keeping me busy.....well carpet cleaning and notes. They are all over the house from how the kids like their bed time routine to reminders to use mouthwash :) to what meds to use for what symptoms if they are sick and doses to their favorite meals and how to make them yes even what to do if the garage door gets stuck (you just never know).

 

Here is all the luggage packed!

 

100 good wish quilt!

Now I know I should have started this a LONG time ago.  But better late than never :)

There is a tradition in Ch*na ----

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. Part of the patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other part of the cloth can go into a creative memory notebook with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

What a treat to read the good wishes when the child is older to know how much they were wanted!

We would LOVE to put one of these together for Caleb.  I want him to be able to see how many people love him and helped pray and bring him home.  ANYONE can be a part of it. 

What we would like is for you to send us a 6X6 square of fabric made of 100% cotton.  You can send a square of new material or a piece of fabric/clothing you have.  Something that you love. Along with it send a wish (can be a prayer, wish, advice, scripture, poem, song, anything you want him to know!)  The wish can be written on a card, stationary, piece of paper, really anything. If you want to explain why you chose the fabric you did, you can but don't need to :)

We will then be putting all the wishes into a scrapbook for him to look at in the future.  I will have a picture of the fabric next to the "wish" you wrote in the scrapbook so he knows what or who each square represents.   The fabric pieces will be created into a quilt!!!  This is something that he will always have.  Love it!!!

I know that 100 is a lot.  But I also know that we have received soooo many messages from people who are praying and following Caleb's journey.  Please consider taking part of this!!!



Email us at prevostbj AT att.net if you need our address.

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Another note we are 1 wk and 12 hrs until we are holding our boy!!!!!  I'll be posting soon some fun ideas we are doing to help the kids pass the time while we are gone :)

My mind is spinning

8 days!!! Can you stinkin' believe it.  8 days and we will be on a plane to China.  Crazy just absolutely crazy.  If you would have told me a year ago we would soon be holding our son I would have thought you were crazy.  Yes I always wanted to adopt.  Yes I knew we would at some point most likely.  But, now with 3 kids ages 6,5,1......nope, no thanks but then we saw

I don't know who took this picture but really it is perfect!!!  How could anyone look at that smile and not think he is too cute for words.

So, 10 months later we are off to make that smile part of our family FOREVER.  To see it every day, I can not wait!

But now that we are closer my mind won't stop thinking of all the little things that I am freaking out about........

NO clue how to use them.  My friend Emily offered to teach me.  I think I might need to take her up on teaching me class 101 on how to use them :) 

Oh do I need to say anything.  I have been googling our hotels daily to make sure no one posts that they found bed bugs there.  Let me tell you EVER.Y.THING we are taking is in zip lock

 bags and will stay that way until we use it!!!

The famous squatty potty - I tell you I don't even want to think of having to use these.  I have enough trouble squatting over our public toilets but having to squat low enough to use these......I should have done more of my work out classes :)  Since it was too much effort to do that I will settle for just not drinking water during the day!!!!

But then my mind goes to everything else.  All the things that will be AMAZING.  We will tour Beijing.  We get to ride a bullet train (sooo excited about this).  We get to go and visit some very cute and amazing kids (more about this when we get back).  Experience a culture that will forever be a part of our family.  And of course finally get to forever love and hold this boy!!!

I mean really does it get any better and did you notice.  After 3 yrs he still has that amazing smile!!!!

So I know many of you are wondering what our schedule looks like.  Here it is!!!

2/23     Arrive in Beijing on flight UA 851 at 3:40 pm. Your guide, Cindy, will escort you to the Crowne Plaza Wangfujing.

2/24    Sightseeing at Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Hutong tour.

2/25     Sightseeing at the Great Wall.

2/26     Travel to Zhengzhou by bullet train D131 (10:02 am- 3:38 pm). Cindy will travel with you on the train. You will go together to check in at the Crowne Plaza.

2/27     Meet and take custody of Caleb at the Civil Affairs Office.

2/28     Return to the Civil Affairs office for adoption paperwork.  He is official ours!!! Apply for Caleb’s Chinese passport.

2/29-3/1  Sightseeing around Zhengzhou.

3/2       Fly to Guangzhou . Your guide, Sarah, will escort you to the Garden Hotel.

3/3       Child’s visa medical examination, including the TB test.

3/4       Sightseeing around Guangzhou.

3/5       Return to the medical clinic for TB test result. Prepare documents for the visa interview with guide’s assistance.

3/6       Visa interview and oath ceremony at the American Consulate at 10:00 a.m.

     

3/7       Pick up Caleb’s visa in the afternoon.

3/8       Depart Guangzhou on flight CA1330 at 10:30 am.   We fly to Beijing.  Depart Beijing at 5:25pm and we gain 13 hrs so we arrive in Chicago still on 3/8 at 4:19pm.  Depart Chicago at 8:35pm and arrive at the Appleton airport at 9:34pm on 3/8

So there you have it!!!!   Did I tell you only 8 days!!!!!



Testing for travel

Just testing if this is going to work for travel!

I can finally say we leave NEXT week!!!