Sunday-arrival in Hangzhou

We woke up and 4:30am and had our bags picked up from the room at 5:15am to leave the Poly Plaza Hotel in Beijing and ride with all 5 families to the Beijing Airport. We were getting a flight with Ray and Stacey to Hangzhou, the city in Zhejiang Province in China where Tatum lives. (We found out her orphanage is 2 hours away from where we are right now)

We arrived in Hangzhou a little after 9am and met our new guide Michael. He took us all to the Hangzhou Hotel, which appears to be downtown. (I'm sorry there are no photos of this yet....I didn't have my camera out and then I took some at night....more to follow!) We are surrounded by two malls, and MAJOR deisgner stores. Not what I expected in China at all.

We had some disruption checking into our rooms. They were dirty and smoking rooms....not what we wanted with a new baby. We worked it out and exchanged rooms and are happier now. However, we are thinking of upgrading to a suite in Guangzhou to enjoy some more space for us and Tatum.

After we settled into the room, Michael took us to the mall to show us the food court where to eat lunch. It was ALL Chinese....I tell you I am starting to miss the comforts of home and meat and potatoes! We solidered through lunch with Ray and Stacey had the waitress call a friend and ordered our meals through the cell phone. It was very smart of her! Then we all came back to the hotel to rest. I think that was our last nap ever! LOL

When we got up, we met Ray and Stacey and wandred the streets of Hangzhou. It was amazing to walk the streets with the locals. Then we ate dinner at KFC. It is pretty different than at home....but it comforted us. We did some more shopping. Ray and Stacey wanted to find some crafts to do with their daughter who is 9. I think that will be great for bonding. We bought some books for Tatum and our Goddaughter, Lucy. They are in English and Chinese and I thought it would be a fun momento for them both.

We made it to bed by about 10:30pm and I think I slept on and off but woke up ever hour. It is now 5:45am and I have been up officially since 5:00am....this is it I don't think I will fall back to sleep now. Today is finally Tatum Day....I can't believe this day is here. We meet our guide at 8:30 am to leave for the Civil Affairs office, which is 30 minutes away. We will go there with Ray and Stacey and a new family that has been added to the group. They are adopting a child with a major heart defect and will leave for the US onthe 20th the head home for her heart surgery.

I have a mixture of emotions going through my mind right now...it's exciting and scary all at the same time. I just hope and pray that we are the perfect parents for this beautiful little girl. I hope that the transition is handled with ease for all of us, and that we bond really well together. I know there are many friends and family members that can't wait to meet this beauty....we promise to update when we are ready to Skype!!

This is it....3 more hours until we meet our beautiful daughter!! Wish us luck!! :)