Tomorrow is The Day

After another excellent breakfast at the hotel and a 30-minute bus ride to the Beijing Airport, we flew to Zhengzhou with 7 other families. Zhengzhou is the capital city of Henan Province. Cooper's orphanage is about an hour from here in KeiFeng (pronounced kye-fung). Two new guides employed by our agency met us at the airport. We now have Yisha and her assistant Rita to assist us while we are here. I am already impressed. Yisha has worked for CCAI since 1995. Can you imagine how many babies she has seen in all those years? We drove about 45 minutes to get to our hotel. Yisha told us what to expect in the next few days. She also gave us some questions and answers that Cooper's nanny filled out. It says that he:

• Takes a bottle 2x a day
• Likes steamed stuffed buns to eat as his main meal
• Still drinks sugar water and loves cookies
• Goes to bed at 9:00pm and wakes up at 6:00am
• Is very cute
• Wears diapers
• Gets along well with others (one family in our group got the opposite news!)
• Can walk now but not well
• Has no allergies
• Is very smart
• Is called 'Ai Mei'
• Gets excited when he sees dogs and cats (very good news for George and Tucker)

We are staying at another Crowne Plaza. I am told this one is a 5 star hotel. It is very nice and everyone seems friendly. Shortly after we checked into the room they brought us a crib. As you can imagine I am an emotional wreck. How am I going to get through tomorrow without being a complete mess?

Ryan went with the other men in the group to the bank to get US Dollars changed over to RMB. The banks here are open 7 days a week. After they got back, a bunch of us ventured out to the local Walmart. The Walmart here gives me a new appreciation for the Walmart at home. It is complete chaos and lots and lots of crazy smells. It was quite an experience. People in Beijing are used to seeing foreigners but we are an oddity here and get stared at everywhere we go. We bought formula, baby food, bottles, noodles, rice cereal & water. When you walk here you are taking your life in your own hands. It is crazy! The scooters, motorcycles and bikes all ride on the sidewalks where the people walk. On our way back to the hotel I saw a Golden Retreiver riding on a scooter with 2 people. I wish I would have had my camera out!

Right now we are hanging out in our hotel room getting prepared for tomorrow. We are getting our envelopes ready with various amounts of cash in them for various people and fees, unpacking our suitcases, packing the diaper bag, enjoying the air conditioning (it is super hot here), and trying to stay relaxed. Tomorrow is the day our lives will change forever. Tomorrow we will be parents. Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for for 6+ years. Tomorrow we will meet our son. How am I possibly going to sleep tonight? ~Ryan & Ronda

Ryan's Lunch - Beef Noodles

Walmart

Walmart Shopping

Diaper Bag Packed!