Ashley...

Our Ashley was born on January 1, 2009, and will be TWO years old this year.  She has been in the loving care of her foster family for nearly her entire life, since she was about 3 months old.  We have been very fortunate to have had many reports on her and her growth and development, along with a number of wonderful photos.  Her story and her pictures show that she is doing very well.

Here is a recent photo of her at home...

She's mobile, confident and as cute as the day is long.  We are indeed lucky to have been matched with such an angel.


More story and photos coming soon.


As for the trip...


We depart Philadelphia on Tuesday Oct. 5 and return home on Wednesday Oct. 27.  We are gathering and accumulating all of the "stuff" required for the journey.  Clothing/medicine/baby supplies/toys/games/chargers/adapters.  Soon we will be pre-packing so that we'll be able to see all the stuff we can't take because we have no more room!  We've done this twice already, so we have a good idea of what we can get away with.


Next we need to prepare the all-important and ever-present documents. Rest assured we'll have the originals, copies of the originals, copies of the copies, scans of everything on (2) USB thumb drives each carried by a different person, and of course backup scans that I'll give to my parents to email to us in case we get into a real jam.  That ought to cover us. (The arming codes for the US nuclear arsenal should have a backup system as redundant as ours!)  Last time out I nearly wore out the zipper on the middle compartment of my backpack because every 30 minutes, Lisa would look at me - and I would know what was coming - and before she she got the words "Do we have the documents?" out, I was elbow-deep in the backpack fishing for the folders.  It seems like overkill, and it probably is, but you never know...


More soon...
C

Welcome to Ashley's Story...

So here we are again...

Welcome to ALL, Welcome Back to MANY.

Our journey and this story will unfold in front of your eyes over the next month or so.  We will start with some background on Ashley JianJie Lockhead, then jump right in to the flow of our everyday doings.  Our hope is that you'll be right there with us - sharing the highs and lows - as we try to paint a portrait of what we experience.

Just as we tried to do with Kyle & Dylan's stories, we'll do our best to capture the big moments and the little details, and everything in between.  (Strangely, many times, it's the little details that we remember the most.)

If we're doing a good job, you'll laugh at the stories, you'll smile at the pictures, and you'll feel at least just a little of what we'll be feeling.


I can't believe that as I'm sitting here at our new kitchen table (more on this later) hunting & pecking, we're less than 3 weeks away from setting off on our third adventure that will take us to the other side of the world.


If you're just tuning in, we have already been blessed with two beautiful little boys: Kyle & Dylan.

When you have a few moments, we invite you to share in their stories:
Kyle's Story
Dylan's Story

The boys will be joining Lisa and me on our journey and are eagerly anticipating our most excellent adventure.  They're very entertaining as they describe in detail how they "help" Mom & Dad with taking care of Ashley during the trip, and after.  Luckily, this time around we will have the benefit of a very capable and very welcome Aunt Rita.  Rita is my little sister and has a wonderful and very special relationship with the boys already.


Rita has just finished recovering from her recent trip to Australia, where she joined my older sister and her family on a walkabout in Cairns.  OK maybe not that recent, but she's made the long haul flight before.  (But not with 2 four-year-olds and a two year old - might be a little different this time!!)


Anyway, Rita's really looking forward to the trip and we're really looking forward to having her along.  She's a nurse and will surely be a steadying presence for all of us.


Almost forgot about the Kitchen Table...
Up until three weeks ago, we were making do with a basic 4-person table that had a flip up extension at one end.  It had served us well, but when Kyle and Dylan start asking "Where's Ashley going to sit?", we knew it was time to upgrade.


So we went to Ikea and found a really nice big table that seats 6 comfortably.  Luckily, it also has two leaves, which are easy to install and store right in the table under the main surface.  (Did I mention it was big?) Now, it's safe to say we have a place for the family to gather for dinner.  


With the leaves in, we also have room for (as Kyle likes to say) "Papa and Grandma from Michigan" (Lisa's M&D) - AND "Pop-Pop and Grandmom that live next to us" (Charlie's M&D).  It's a BIG table.  (I'm waiting on the permit from the township that we'll need to post in the window whenever we have it fully extended!!)


So here I sit, at our table, starting the story of Ashley.


It's been curious, not planned this way, but still...
We know a little bit about Kyle's first year (including some great photographs); we know quite a bit more about Dylan and his first years; but, comparatively, thanks to many of the friends Lisa has made and the helpers that she's come into contact with, we know a great deal about Ashley.


Ashley has had a miraculous start to her young life, and we are so very grateful to her foster family for all that they have done and continue to do for her.  They've taken many wonderful photographs and have shared much of her story with us through their emails.


As our story takes shape, we will introduce you to Ashley, and tell you a little bit of her special story, as we are again blessed with a new little life to share.


"But what about the pictures...?"
I know what you're thinking...


This is the first post and the first picture that we post is very important.
So, I'll need to get some guidance.  Unfortunately, Lisa has turned in for the night - we'll regroup in the AM and post some photos then.


As I mentioned, we are T-minus 3 weeks from departure.  We are waiting our final TA, which we hope to get very shortly.


Thanks to Lisa's tireless efforts, we already have a tentative itinerary, based on what we believe will be the date for our Consulate appointment.  That's all I'll say for now, so as not to jinx our recent stretch of good luck.


We are making final preparations, trying to gauge what we'll be needing and what we'll be packing (hopefully these lists will generally coincide, but we all know how things like this go...!!)


We hope to have a good consistent flow of posts before, during and after the trip.  We have set this journal up so that we can post via text message or via email.  We are taking a NetBook computer, so we hopefully don't have to pay far too much for Hotel Business Center Computer time, or wander too far from the hotel in search of an all-night net-cafe.  However, I will definitely miss crossing paths with the interesting mix of characters I have encountered in my past posting experiences (the night near the Poly Plaza Hotel in Beijing comes to mind - check Kyle's blog).


So, until you check in again...Thank you for joining us, it's nice to have you along..buckle up...and enjoy the ride


Coming next, some background on Ashley...

C