Pictures...Finally!!

After six days, three cities, and three hotels, we've finally settled into the famous White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. This not only means we can finally unpack our suit cases, but we also now have access to the internet. The first three days with Nina have been tiring, but amazing! When we finally got her on Tuesday afternoon, she was the only crier out of the bunch. But after about an hour, she started to warm up to us and has gotten more and more attached to us every day. She's the most energetic and talkative of all four of the babies, not to mention the biggest!! So far her sleep habits suit us just fine -- 9-10 solid hours each night!

So, here's what you've all been waiting for...pictures of Nina:

Group Photo right after we got her:


Nina and Dad:


Nina and Mom:


Happy Nina:

Dad's first bottle:


Todd's first diaper!


The Dudas Family at the park:


Nina and Mom at the White Swan:


We have lots of pictures of Beijing too...we'll post them next time.

Everyone is doing well so far. We miss you all and can't wait to get home.

We're here!

Hi everyone--we have arrived in Asia! After a long 16-hour flight, we arrived in Hong Kong last night (7 am Friday for you). The hotel is nice, but we're only here one night. Unfortunately, we can't see much of Hong Kong since we're only at the airport. The landscape is amazing--water all around us and mountains on one side. It is now Sat morning and since we've been up since 5 am, we thought it was a great time to get some internet blogging in. People here are friendly and all speak English. Later today, we'll take a 4-hour flight to Beijing. Hope everyone is doing well--we heard about the Duke loss. We're hoping to see good news about Nova soon.

Here We Go...

Ready or not, we're leaving for China on Thursday, March 23rd. Our trip begins with 1 night in Hong Kong, then 3 nights in Beijing. Hopefully, we'll have some time to adjust to the time difference (13 hours ahead) and culture. Our agency, Welcome House, has some wonderful sightseeing planned for us in Bejing--the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, The Great Wall, and more.
Then, we head to Guangzhou on Tuesday, March 28th to meet our daughter! We'll meet her late in the afternoon, and head back to the hotel. For the next few days, we'll have various appointments to complete the process--visa photo taking, medical examinations, notaries, etc. However, we'll spend most of our time "sightseeing" (not much to see there) and bonding.
On April 5th, we have an appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou, when we'll receive her Visa to travel--HOME--to the US. On Friday, April 7th, we arrive back on American soil, after a 14-hour plane trip.
While we're in Beijing, we'll stay at the Beijing Hotel and in Guangzhou at the famous White Swan Hotel. This is a luxury hotel with restaurants, shops, a pool, gardens, and more. If you want to check it out, use the following link:

White Swan Hotel

We'll miss you all while we're in China. It should be a true adventure, but we've been waiting a long time for this. Please keep us and our daughter in your prayers. We hope to update this blog while we're in China--so keep checking often to see pictures and get news.