After 47 Hours we are HERE!

We can only hope that the "GETTING HERE" will be the worst part of our trip.  It is behind us but boy we are dead already.  9 hour delay in San Francisco meant we missed a connecting flight from Hong Kong into Beijing.  Landed Hong Kong 2 am last night.  We showered and were too afraid to fall asleep because we knew we would NOT wake up.  We have had a few cat naps along the way but that's it.  We haven't eaten very much and are feeling OK considering.  We got lucky on the flight to SAN FRANCISCO as we were in emergency exit aisle which was roomier than any first class seat I have ever been in.  We hung out in the Concierge lounge at SFO for our 9 hour delay and then got a pretty decent seat from SFO into HK.  I sat beside a really neat lady whose husband has just become an ex-patriot and is now living in Vietnam.  Really interesting.  So MJ if you are reading this... I hope you got home!  We are now waiting for our room at the NOVOTEL in Beijing.  We missed our tours set for today but luckily the GREAT WALL of China will be tomorrow.  Who knows what we will see this afternoon.  We are going to do our best to stay awake but since it is middle of the night East Coast USA time and we have had NO TRUE horizontal time since Tuesday night (and a few short hours on that night) who knows how long we will last.  We are excited to say the least.  A little nervous.  We are wondering about her a lot more..... meaning little things like how she stands, does she twiddle her fingers, is she left handed?  Can she eat peanut butter?  Will she love her camera as much as Luke loves his and try to photograph EVERYTHING.  I can only hope that Luke doesn't show the pictures back home that he has taken as he got one of me before we left and I believe it was potty time.  OOHH... the life of a toddler. I anxiously await my water breaking.  Last time I delivered a 10 month old... this time a 3 year old so I am sure it will be so different that I just won't get it. 

I totally get the "SPACE" thing that everyone has often mentioned while they are here.  On the elevator this morning it was "HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN WE GET IN THIS ELEVATOR".  After I was straddled over our luggage cart and was pinned to the wall they were STILL ENTERING.  I said "I can get out" and they just continued to cram in.  It was interesting. At that point we didn't even have all of our luggage and had no clue where it was and quite simply really didn't care.  The luggage made it Beijing and we are glad.  None of it is destroyed yet either so we figure we are in good shape.  Our luggage has fared better than us.  AIR CHINA was great.  New airplane, neat uniforms my only compliant is that they serve Pepsi products.  My friends and family would tell you that I would die of thirst before having to drink a diet Pepsi.  I am now enjoying my $5.00 Coke Lite and I might just have to have another.  Our tour tomorrow leaves at 10 am which should be good.  Maybe by 8 am we will be asleep.  Not too sure how our bodies are going to adjust to this.  Count down to Maran is about 72 hours.  Hopefully we will be almost normal by then.  I can only hope so for the sake of our little girl.  Hugs to all and I can say during my short time away... I am so thankful for where I am right now because of our little girl but GOD BLESS THE USA!  (PS  -- since we are able at this moment to even get onto blog please excuse grammatical and spelling errors... we don't know if and when we may get kicked out so I am apologizing up front).