Shopping before we pick up Billi!!

We are heading out this morning to the Handicraft Market to do some shopping. We will be gone for a few hours, then come back and get ready to head to the orphanage at 2pm!!!! Chad and I are both very excited and very nervous. Ashton was so excited this morning that it was Gotcha Day - he's been in this time warp thing not knowing what day it is and even asking us sometimes if it is morning or night! I think this is because he is so darn tired. We did however, sleep in a little this morning and slept until almost 5am - that was a record for us, so we feel very well rested for our big day. Okay, gotta run and get packed up.

Day 4 - Wulai Village

What a great time we had - Wulai was a very unique place. We hiked up to the waterfall, it was such a beautiful hike. We then walked around the town and shopped and tried some different foods as well as sampled some corn starch sake. We ended up getting a very cute Atayal handmade hat for Billi and of course a sword for Ashton. We got some other odds and ends. Both Jill and Wen were with us today. They were so helpful in translating for us and getting us to sample some very interesting snacks. Chad picked out a cute little bracelet for his new little girl, so cute! Tomorrow morning we go to the handicraft market with Jill and Wen in the morning and then off to Chung Yi for Gotcha Day tomorrow at 2pm!!! The birthmother is confirmed to meet us there, but the foster parents will not be there....I was a little surprised that the foster mother would not be able to make it, I have many questions and know she would be the one to ask since she has been the primary caretaker. I also worry about Billi getting to say goodbye to her foster family, but I have to just hope that this will all be ok. We can't wait until tomorrow....

Day 3 - Chad goes solo.......

Well, Ashton got a cold! He had a pretty bad cough yesterday, no fever, but we thought it best to keep him in, so I hung at the hotel with him and Chad went with our guide Wen to a beach town called Danshui. He had a great time, tried all kinds of crazy foods, watched some fan dancers, walked around a night market there and had a really fun time with Wen and a another guide friend of hers. Ashton slept most of the day, thank goodness because today he seems to be doing better. We will probably get him a face mask because it seems to be the thing people do if they have symptoms as a courtesy to others - he is still sneezing a lot and coughing. Today we go to Wulai Village, this is a tribal village that happens to be the same tribe that Billi's birthmother is - the Atayal tribe. I am really excited to go here and also to get out of the city for a bit. I will have Chad post his pictures of Danshui later - he is taking a nap right now (we are all still waking up at 3am every morning due to time change). Tomorrow is Gotcha Day!!! We shop in the morning with Wen and then go to Chung Yi Orphanage to begin the process of taking home Billi!!!!!!! It will be a busy day, signing papers, meeting with foster family, birthmother and of course playing with Billi a while and getting her used to us before we take her back to the hotel!! I have been having all kinds of crazy dreams, some good (playing with kids at beach) some bad (forgetting one of the kids somewhere) - I'm sure this is all due to nerves, I am so excited, but also nervous as well, hoping that this transition goes well...

Day Two - Taipei 101 and Getting Lost in Taipei...

Yesterday went great, we headed to Taipei 101, took the elevator to the top, and saw the amazing views - it is also the worlds fastest elevator I think. We ate at Wasabi, a sushi buffet inside Taipei 101 - along with sushi, they had every kind of food imaginable, soups, crab, shrimp, chicken, duck and the biggest bottle of sake, ever - not like the portions we get at home. We then went to a humongous bookstore, I think it was probably 5 stories high. Ashton bought a new book a Lego set and then picked out a couple of things for friends. We came back to the hotel, slept for two hours and then went back out to night markets. We didn't realize Jade and Flower Market closes at 6pm on weekends, so after a very long walk and some twists and turns on the MRT we headed back to a different night market, got a little lost again on the MRT and then finally found it. Thank god for Chad, he gets us where we need to go - if left to my own devices, we would never find our way around! It was crazy, lots of kids, thousands of vendors, but mainly clothes, we really were trying to find a night market to find gifts to take home - we didn't stay long, but stopped in at an ice cream place - not really ice cream, but shaved iced with some milk in it with all different kinds of fruit on the top. Their most common flavor has a cracked egg drizzled over the top of it, but that didn't sound so yummy. I have to say, there are some of the strangest food combinations that we are not used to - like waffles with a scoop of tuna on the side. Today we are going with our guide Wen to a beach town outside of the city - and hopefully we can also make it to Jade Market before they close today. Two days until Gotcha Day!! So much fun touring around, but we really, really wish Billi was with us......soon, soon, soon!!!!

We are in Taiwan!!!!!

We just got into our hotel room, so we couldn't post until now. It is 11am Taiwan time. Our flight left 10:45pm Wednesday night, and ended up in Taiwan Friday morning at 5am!!! Needless to say, we are exhausted! The plane ride went well, Eva Airlines is great, and we watched a lot of movies, but did not sleep much - then when we got here we just wandered the streets of Taipei around our hotel until now. We ended up at a local park where there were so many people exercising and doing fan dancing and Tai Chi and all kinds of interesting stuff. They upgraded our room so we have plenty of space and are going to be super comfy here I think. We ate at some very interesting and tasty places this morning and aside from the exhaustion, are having an awesome time! Ashton has been such a trooper - and we all agree, it is going to be SO hard to wait 4 days until we see Billi on the 1st!! Every little girl we see reminds us of her. Today we are going to unpack our bags, and then probably head to Taipei 101 and then go to a night market! Everyone here is so nice and friendly, now I can see why so many people love it here - we do stick out here though! Our goal is to try to stay up as long as we can to get on Taiwan-time, but its going to be hard! We are trying to post videos and pictures but haven't figured it out yet. Stay tuned.

Wow...its getting closer....

Well, needless to say we are getting very nervous and excited - I can't believe its almost time!! I find myself tearing up at the drop of a hat, and even my son woke up this morning and said "Mom, I'm tearing up again" - my sensitive little guy, so sweet, he is so excited as well. Chad and I both gave up on trying to sleep last - Chad took out the garbage, cleaned up around the house, cleaned up the garage and finished packing! I feel pretty prepared, but of course am always thinking of ten million things to do. I am so excited to sight see in Taiwan, but I know it will also be hard waiting those days to finally see Billi! We leave tonight around 7pm, so we must get ready for a very long night. On another note, it sounds like Billi's cousin that lives in the foster home with her is being adopted in the US - I had asked about her right after we received Billi's referral, but was told she was not available for adoption - the orphanage has asked if we would like to have contact with the adoptive family - which I said YES too - I am very happy for her cousin, I think she is about 6 years old.

Toddler Shower, Preparing to Meet the Birthmother and other random stuff

Couldn't help but post this picture that Billi drew while we Skyped together last week! Its a picture of the four of us!!

My friend Stacey along with some help from my other peeps Claudia and Robyn threw me an awesome "toddler shower" - it was a great success, we had tons of fun and got such amazing gifts from everyone - we are very lucky people. Billi now has so many clothes and shoes - I am assuming she is the size of a big three year old, but it is just so hard to say, so we have many sizes of 3 and 4.

My family in Nor Cal has asked what I still need, but I have so much stuff now - I think it will just be exciting enough going to P town so Billi can meet all her extended family!

We were also just told that the birthmother wants to meet us. While Chad and I are both very nervous about this, I am really relieved that she decided to meet us - I think it will be very important for Billi to know that we met her. We will also take pictures with her...these will be priceless as well. Gotcha Day is December 1st - we will make sure to post on that day as I know everyone is anxious to hear about the big day. We have been told that we might not be able to do a play date with Billi the day before Gotcha Day as it is a long trip to make for the foster family and they would also have to house the social worker, so we'll see what happens. It would be great to see her before to help with the transition, but I also understand the logistics.

We have been so busy preparing for our trip and buying gifts for foster family, birthmother, etc. I think we have all the gifts taken care of which is a huge relief. Our friend Susanna not only helped us with learning some Mandarin words and phrases, she is also translating the letters I wrote to the birthmother and the foster mother. Susanna is from Taiwan, so she also gave us an emergency number for a family member while we're there! We leave on Wednesday (wow) so these last few days, I will be running around doing last minute errands, packing and getting everyone lined up to help with the house, dogs, plants, lizard, etc. - thanks to everyone in advance! We'll be posting along the journey, so stay tuned!

Skype with Billi!!

Well, on Tuesday night we had our first Mandarin lesson with a sweet woman who lives her in town that is from Taiwan!!! She's really happy for us and spent nearly two hours with us going over words and phrases - man - what a hard language to learn! Chad and I kept saying the wrong word for things - it was pretty comical.  So - Wednesday night we had our first Skype with Billi!!! It was so amazing!!! She is a little firecracker - she sang to us, drew us pictures, built with legos and fed us cookies! Chad told her she was beautiful in Mandarin and she got the biggest smile on her face!! So cute. We have asked to have a playdate with her before Gotcha Day on  December 1st, so hopefully we can do that so it won't be so scary for her when we pick her up. We might do one more Skype, we'll see if they can arrange it. On the preparation front - my oh my, it has been busy! My darling friend Stacey is throwing us a "toddler shower" this Saturday so we are super excited to spend time with friends celebrating Billi. I have a lot done, but there is still so much to do. I have about 4 lists, so just taking it one day at at a time. If the orphanage sends us video of Skype I'll post it. Also - if anyone has any suggestions of gift for foster father, I would greatly appreciate any advice!!

Still Lots to do Before We Travel....

Flights and hotel are done - we are flying Eva Air the night before Thanksgiving on a night-time flight and will arrive into Taipei on November 27th very early in the morning. We are all getting our vaccines on Friday and we have a Skype meeting set up with Billi on November 11th!!!!! We are so excited to see her live and not in just a picture here and there!!! I am hoping to set up another Skype before we leave or may ask the orphanage if we can meet with her for a playdate a day in advance as I am really worried about her acclimating to us. Trying to find a housesitter / dogsitter and just basically running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I really would like Billi to retain her native language, so I spoke to a woman who lives in my area that is from Taiwan!!! She is going to come and help my husband and I learn some Mandarin before we go and I am also working out a schedule for her to come and hang out with Billi a couple of times a week and speak to her in Mandarin after she is home  for a while - not sure of logistics yet, but would love it if it works out. My friend also created a Mandarin series for kids to learn Mandarin that you can see on the link in upper right hand corner - I can't tell you how cool this is, what a great tool for us to have - my son loves it!! I am getting things buttoned up at work as well, so that things will run smoothly while I am gone. I plan on working a very minimal amount of time when I am ready to go back and just take things one day at a time.