Day 4

Today was Kian's 3rd birthday. He celebrated in style all day and told everyone we saw that it was his birthday - so cute :) He seems so big and older since we met Allyson... he is such a sweet boy and is loving his trip to CHINA. It is all capitols because for some reason him and brother always say it really loud!

We had no where to be this morning so after breakfast we walked down to the garden and koi ponds to play with bubbles.

After the bubbles you will never believe where we went - the POOL! Shocking I know :)

We also went to Allyson's medical appointment and the police station to apply for her passport. Not too exciting but jobs that have to be done to complete all the paperwork!

As you can see she is tickled by these appointments. We also learned today that she does not like to be woken up and do said appointments....

For Kian's birthday dinner we went to his favorite Mexican joint in China! Tekila's is down the street from our hotel and we ate there a few times last year and he loved it so we went there last night.

Hmmm.... seems to be someone else's favorite place also!

Watching people play pool....

On the way home we stopped at a great pastry shop and got a dessert to complete the birthday party!

Day 3

Today we made Allyson's adoption official, we went back to the provincial office where we met her yesterday and signed all the paperwork. She was a good little trooper for all the boring detail parts that we had to sit through.

 Allyson is a daddy's girl through and through - he has to be the one to hold her and comfort her at this point. We kind of expected that since we knew she was very attached to her foster mother. She will tolerate me but there is no love lost if I am not around! She had a complete meltdown today when she thought Steve had left and she was stuck with me - I was actually concerned for her safety because she was flailing around so much!

Kian is warming up to her more than yesterday although she loves to push his buttons and mess up anything he is playing with ;) we think Kian has a tad bit of better understanding of how much he was tormenting his brother for the last year :) Kian and Declan both woke up this morning and their first question was "where is Allyson"?

 We are getting a lot of swimming in while the weather is nice!

Jet lag is a killer though....

Day 2

We have Allyson! She is a complete riot. She has a very great sunny disposition and is fitting in well. She was very nervous at first but just like her older brother we think she was well prepared for what was happening. She is chatting up a storm, running around with her brothers and telling them how it is ;) Declan slept through the whole process of us going to pick her up, signing all the papers and leaving with her! Kian is not 100% on board with her being here but doesn't seem to mind her to much!

When we picked her up we were told that she is either on the move or asleep.... so far so true :) She is a busy, busy bee. As of now (9 pm) both the boys are crashed out and she is going strong. She will not change into jammies so to my local peps - don't be offended if you see this sassy lady in the same duds at breakfast!

Day 1

We took off from Newark airport straight through to Hong Kong at 1:50 am. Shhwooo - that is late or early depending on your perspective! It worked well since both (little) boys fell asleep and stayed asleep for about 8 hours. Once they woke up they were both well behaved and no one wanted to jump off the plane.  It is a 15+ hour flight - a long time for big or little to sit!

We landed in Hong Kong at 5:30 in the morning.... we wandered to our next gate for a 30 minute flight to Guangzhou China.

Guangzhou is the city we will meet Allyson in and stay in for the next week and a half to complete the adoption process. It is located in southern China so the weather here is HOT oh and might I mention HUMID. Oh my.....

So while we are recovering from our jet lag , swimming and having fun - the main purpose of our trip is never far from our minds.... please pray for our girl - she is about to have her world turned upside down! Although she is already loved and we can not wait to meet her she is not going to totally understand all that is happening and might not be so excited to meet us.

We will meet Allyson at 2:30 local time today - that will be 2:30 am for most of you! We will keep you posted :)

Thank You!!!

Travel Plans

Flights are booked, hotels are reserved and appointments are lined-up! We are headed to China ~ here has been the process so far:

Clear as mud! Don't worry we will keep you posted from here on out ;)

We are flying out on Friday night (early Saturday morning actually!) direct to Hong Kong. From there we have a short flight into mainland China. We will be staying at the same hotel we stayed last year when we adopted Kian. It is The Garden Hotel,  a 5 star hotel in Guangzhou China. (Also for reference - it is where The Little Couple stayed when they adopted Will. I had no idea how many people watched that show until we adopted Kian around the same time as they adopted their son!)  We are fortunate that our daughter is located in this same province so we will remain here for the entire 10 days that it will take to complete the entire adoption process. Then back to Hong Kong to hit Disney and sightsee.

We will get Allyson on Monday May 26th and she will be with us from that point onward.

The Willison's are hitting the road again! Well, not the road per say... more like the air, rail and maybe some road once we get to CHINA! We have accepted the referral of a 2 year old girl from the same orphanage that Kian was from. We hope to travel in the next month or so ~ we hope you follow along on our trip!

These are her referral photos ~

We will keep you updated on our progress....

April 1, 2014 marked our one year Family Day with Kian.

It has been quite the adventure  - Kian is a smart guy who was thankfully loved and cared for in China. This has made the transition to our family fairly easy and is making strides on his speech by leaps and bounds!

This past year was full of firsts for Kian - first time at the beach!

 First birthday party!





First camping trip!

First zoo trip.

First time having daddy's wings for the Eagles game :)

First Halloween.

First passport.

First Thanksgiving.

First snow!

First Christmas... looking a tad nervous - he is on board with Jesus but Santa is another story!

First time sledding.

First US Chinese New Year.

These among other firsts made Kian's first year home an eventful fun time. Declan is adjusting well to being a big brother... and is ready to do it again!