We leave in 6 days!

I can't believe it! We leave for China in 6 days! We are so excited, nervous, and every other emotion too. We have everything laid out on the back spare bed that we are going to take with us. Right now it's pretty much all Julianna's stuff! Now we just have to fit it all in suitcases. We made a shopping trip to Target this week and are going to hit Walmart tonight to try to finish up. We have everything from Cheerios to bottles to stacking cups ready for our sweet baby girl.

I also picked up gifts from Bath and Body today for the orphanage workers. How do you pick out a gift and say thank you to the people who have given you the most precious gift in the world?? I will admit it was difficult but we went by what the agency suggested and got them lotions, hand sanitizer, and are going to get some chocolate for them too. I hope they enjoy it.

Also, I will be doing a post in the next couple of days on the awesome baby shower that my wonderful co-workers gave me last week. I am waiting on pictures and will post them then. It was beautiful!

We received our final itinerary for China. Here it is:

June 4 - Leave Huntsville-Atlanta-Shanghai-Beijing
June 5 - Arrive in Beijing
June 6 - Visit Tian An Men Square, Forbidden City, Olympic Park, climb Great Wall (did I just type that??)
June 7 - Leave for Nanchang and Gotcha Day for JULIANNA! (Only 9 days from now!)
June 8 - Civil Affairs Office for adoption registration and notary; Trip to Walmart
June 9 -Visit Tengwang Pavilion
June 10- Visit Anyi Ancient village
June 11 - Visit Renmin Park
June 12 - Fly to Guangzhou
June 13 - Medical checkup for Julianna (If she is anything like her Mama she won't like that one) and fill out forms for consulate
June 14 - Sermon at local church and Red Couch Photos for Babies
June 15 - Visa documents/Paperwork
June 16 - Oath at US consulate
June 17 - Fly Guangzhou-Shanghai-Atlanta-Huntsville-HOME!!

Updated Measurements & Another New Picture

We received updated measurements and a new picture of Julianna. At 13 months, she weighs 22.6 lbs and is 29.3 inches tall. I told Eddie she is tall just like a Jernigan! Since we received these new measurements, we will probably not be bringing any 12 months clothes with us - only 18 months. We really expected her to be small but we are glad to know that she is healthy! We also found out that she has 4 teeth. God has truely blessed us in so many ways through this process. One of those ways is receiving so many pictures of Julianna. Sometimes, you will only receive maybe one or two additional pictures after the referral pictures. But, the Lord has allowed us to see almost her whole first year through pictures (well actually starting when she was 5 months old.) Here is the new picture we received from the orphanage:

Isn't she precious?? I just wish they would have wiped her runny nose. I need to get over there quickly!

New Picture of Julianna and Shower Pictures

First of all, I got the best Mother's Day gift I could have gotten - a new picture of Julianna! This picture is from April 20 and is from the Spanish group I have been emailing. I LOVE this picture because she has a big grin on her face. Also, if you look closely, you can see 2 little teeth. I just can't wait to see that sweet grin in person.

Also, here are some pictures of our shower at church:

Pictures of Julianna and a map with hearts from the US to China

The cake, flowers, and a picture of Julianna's birthday

Me coming in the church

My niece Anna showing Robin the pictures of her baby cousin (Anna loves to show these pictures to everybody!)

My niece Sarah Beth and her Mom (my sister-in-law). My nieces were a huge help especially when I opened our presents. :)

Some of the many gifts we received. We were just overwhelmed by everybody's generosity.

China Schedule

We received lots of good news this week on our trip to China! We got our TA (Travel Approval)from China and we are leaving on Thursday, June 4, a whole week earlier than we thought. Then yesterday, we received our CA (consulate appointment) with the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou and were able to purchase plane tickets! It seems so unreal that this is actually happening. Here is our tentative schedule:

June 4 Leave Huntsville
June 5 Arrive in Beijing
June 6 Tour Beijing
June 7 Fly to Jiangxi and Gotcha Day for Julianna!
June 8 - 12 Adoption registration in Jiangxi
June 12 Leave for Guangzhou
June 15 Consulate Appointment
June 16 Oath Ceremony
June 17 Leave China and arrive back in U.S.

We still have a lot to do before we leave for China and most importantly we have to start packing. We ask that all of you continue to pray for Julianna and us and that things would go smoothly. We also ask that you pray that she would know that we are her Mama and Daddy when she meets us and that she would easily and quickly bond with us.

Well, better go get busy!

Baby Shower

The most awesome baby shower was given for us on Sunday at church! I want to especially thank our family (Trina and Summer) and friends (Jennifer, Shannon, Joy, Robin, Gina, Wendi, Cathy and Betsy )who organized it. You ladies did the greatest job! Everything was perfect. The food was delicious. The decorations (including the map of the world with hearts from the US to China and pictures of our sweet baby Julianna) and flowers were beautiful. It was all amazing. We were just overwhelmed by the generosity of so many. We are so thankful to the Lord for each and everyone of you who came or contributed to our special day. We can't wait until Julianna gets to wear all the cute clothes, play with all the toys and enjoy all the precious gifts she received. I will be posting pictures later of this great day!