TA Rumor

Rumor has it that some travel approvals are in the air and will be at agencies soon. Hoping to hear something by Friday!

Nothing New

Nothing new to report. Still waiting for travel approval. I heard through a group that the director of the Special Needs program has been out of the office and should return by the end of this week to sign off travel approvals. So I have been busy getting ready to travel. I cornered our family doctor today and now have a handful of medicines for any eventuality in China. I always travel with a small pharmacy but will go to China with a large one, again. My packing list is being refined and I try to pick up items every week at Walmart.

Lyra should have received our second care package by now. This one included a soft pink blankie, a small doll, another photo album of our family, some chocolates for the orphanage staff and a disposable camera. Hopefully she has received at least one of the photo albums and her foster family is preparing her for her new family. We have been using our time to enjoy our family before the big trip. The weather has been perfect for walks, swings and bike rides. Hope to have news by next week!

I have no idea why the pictures are so small but my technical experience is failing me!

New Pictures of Lyra!!

Hooray! I just received new pictures of Lyra this morning! She looks like she is really growing up.
These pictures were taken just last week!

Looks like she has more hair than they know what to do with! She has ponytails sticking out everywhere!

Preparing for China...in the bedroom?

China preparation has started taking over our lives. Packing lists, care packages, doctor's appointments, a carefully planned summer of chaos. Through a series of strange events, we are now preparing for China in our bedroom. And I'm not talking about the piles of carefully balanced clothes starting to gather in the corner on top of hardy suitcases.

It all started last November when our outdoor cat, Chipper, decided to have kittens too late in the fall. Unfortunately, kittens do not survive harsh Indiana weather outside, even in the warmest of cat houses. So, my big heart led me to bring Chipper and her crew down into our basement to live until they were big enough to survive outside. At Christmas, during a warm couple of weeks, the kittens successfully transitioned back outside. What a touching success story!

Here's where it gets messy. We soon discovered that Chipper had brought more than kittens into our home. My legs mysteriously started itching with little red bites. You guessed it, FLEAS! A major battle ensued against the invading fleas. Beds were stripped, linens washed and rewashed, and the vacuum cleaner was used and abused. To make cleaning simpler, our cozy, soft bed overlay was disposed of leaving our hard mattress bare. (I "donated" the overlay to the cats who appreciated it). The first week of sleeping on our stripped down mattress left us with bruised hips and ribs. But I would not invest in another pillowtop until I was sure the fleas were gone. After a couple weeks, I realized I was getting used to the hard mattress and made a startling revelation ... this was perfect practice for China!!! Mattresses in China are, well, back-breaking-ly hard. As in, a piece of plywood covered with a little padding, topped with a small blanket. So now I have embaced the utilitarian sleeping arrangements. I refuse be a "soft American" (at least in this way) and will enter China with hardened bones and joints.

I call it the "China Lens" effect. Every event leading up to travel and adoption is filtered through this "Lens". How will this affect my new daughter? How will this affect our trip? What can I do to prepare? Are the kids as ready as they can get? Have I thought of everything?

A day in the life of an Adopting Parent...

Today started like most days ... struggling to find time for God, my children and my health. Then the paperwork hit hard - as I patiently waited for Fed Ex to arrive with 2 packages from FTIA (OK, not so patiently since they were both supposed to arrive last week), I decided to get everything in order so I could immediately act on the packages contents.

LOA: only need to check box "we accept the referral for Dang Yi Qian" - that's easy.

Visa to travel to China: OK, here's where it gets hairy. Needed: 2 applications filled out and signed. 2 Passports (yes, our actual passport are now on their way to Chicago). Two large money orders for courier service and Chinese Consulate. Two recent passport type pictures. Hmmm. We really should have thought of this over the weekend instead of 7am this morning. But, no problem, Harry says he can get a photographer to take his picture during first period and email it to me. That leaves me. So being a good mom, I make my kids help me. First, white sheet over the door. Next, Tristan may be home sick but he can hold the sheet up standing on a chair (and, no, I did NOT pick out his PJs). Finally, Alex (5) stands on another chair and with 2 small hands clutching the camera at strange angles, he proceeds to take my picture (several times). Isn't amazing what a good photo editing software can do - yes, this is the same picture as above. And the image of Alex taking my picture may never leave my mind! (I'm laughing just thinking about it!)

The day continues with making copies, getting cash from the bank, buying money orders, dropping off another grant application, sending photos to Walmart over internet and picking them up. Unobtrusively using a ruler at Walmart to mark 2"x2" size after picking up the pictures so I can cut them to size before I UPS them. Finally, sending all packages out!!

LOA!! LOA!! LOA!!

We got it!! Our Letter of Acceptance has arrived today! It came in the fastest possible time frame - amazing that something came quickly during this slow process. FTIA estimates Travel Approval to come in the next 2-4 weeks and then travel 3-5 weeks after that. So we are looking at travelling in the next 5-9 weeks!! Hold on, Lyra, we are almost there! Time to stop before I use a lethal number of exclamation points!