Pernicious Anemia

I promised my friend, Kirstie, to pass along our itinerary so everyone would know where we were and when we would actually meet Riley.
Nov. 11 Leave for China
Nov. 13 Arrive in Beijing around noon
Nov. 14 Great Wall during the day and acrobatic show at night
Nov. 15 Tour the Forbidden City and Hu Tongs
Nov. 16 Fly to Guangzhou
Nov. 17 WE MEET RILEY!
Nov. 18 Apply for Riley's passport
Nov. 19 Tour of the Chen Family Home
Nov. 20 Riley's medical exam
Nov. 21 Pick up passport
Nov. 22 and 23 Free days
Nov. 24 Apply for Riley's Visa
Nov. 25 Pick up Visa
Nov. Leave for HOME

Hopefully on our free days Riley will be up for a little sightseeing and shopping, but if not, we are staying in a nice hotel and we can just hunker down.

Packing for this trip has been quite a challenge. One minute we have mostly shorts picked out, and the next, we are switching to jeans. It looks like we are going to freeze in Beijing as it drops below freezing at night and the upper 80's we were looking forward to in Guangzhou have turned into mid 70's. Oh well, we're just rolling with the punches.

I was given a wonderful surprise! Our awesome adoption coordinator, Nicole, managed to get updated information on Riley's size. She's about 17 pounds and 26 inches tall - basically 9 to 12 month size. Tiny by American standards, but she registers at the 8th percentile for Asian babies.

I'm sure you've been reading this post and wondering, "What the HECK is Pernicious Anemia?" Well, the kids and I were watching Real Stories of the ER last night and the woman on the show was diagnosed with Pernicious Anemia. It's a funny sounding phrase and the doctor who was explaining the condition made it sound even funnier. Maddie starting copying him - dead on, might I add - and then everyone joined in. "Let's name our next baby Pernicious Anemia!" "What an awesome dog name! Pernicious Anemia!" The more you say it, the funnier it becomes.

We went out to dinner tonight and Pernicious Anemia followed us. Maddie kept repeating it over and over, in different voices and tones. We were all in stitches laughing at how funny she sounded. Sam commented that only our slightly twisted family could take a horrible medical condition and turn it into some of the most fun we've had in a long time. Poor baby Riley. Look what she's in for!

Tomorrow is going to be busy so I better hit the sack and get a little sleep. Only two more days!!!!!!!!

Big hugs
Marlo