Travel Dates!

Our travel dates were confirmed today!! We weren't able to get an appointment at the US Consulate until July 16th. So, we'll be leaving the US on Friday, July 4th and returning on Saturday, July 19th. We're a little disappointed that we're leaving a week later than we hoped, but we're so excited that we'll have Terra in our arms in less than a month! We're scheduled to pick up Terra on Monday, July 7th, with the adoption becoming final on Tuesday, July 8th.
We'll continue to keep you posted...

Travel Approval

Today we received our travel approval from China, which is basically an invitation from the Chinese government to fly to China and adopt a child. Our agency is working hard to schedule our appointments at the American Consulate. If all goes according to plan, we'll be leaving the US on June 27th. We'll be in China for two weeks and then returning to the states on July 12th as a family of four!! We've got a stack of things in our bedroom ready to be packed and we're wondering just exactly what the agency means when they say "pack light". How does one "pack light" when traveling with a 3 1/2-year-old and a 16-month-old in a foreign country? I'll do my best! I had fun shopping for clothes for the girls. I bought matching dresses for them to wear on the day that the adoption is finalized and a couple of outfits that are the same outfits, but different colors - what fun to have two little girls!! Boy, are they going to hate me!! :)

Sesame Place

Here are some pics of Jorie and her new best friends. We took a trip to Sesame Place over the long weekend. It was our last vacation as a family of three. We had so much fun together and Jorie had an amazing time. The first ride we saw when we entered the park was the roller coaster. To our surprise, Jorie insisted on riding. We all got on and Jorie loved it! Jeff sat out as Jorie and I rode four more times! We finally convinced Jorie that we should see what else was at Sesame Place, but we're sure she would have happily stayed at the roller coaster the entire day. :) After trying a few more rides, it was time to meet some of the Sesame Street friends. We met Elmo, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster and Zoe. Jorie gave each one a big hug. We also saw a few shows, which were a lot of fun! Even though it was a little chilly for water rides on Saturday, Jorie was determined to try all of them. So, we put on our bathing suits and ventured to the top of the highest water slide. Luckily, there weren't many other brave souls, so we didn't have to wait long before plunging down the slide in a huge tube. Jorie loved it! We went down the big slide four more times! We also went down the smaller slides and spent some time splashing in the mini-wave pool. Overall, we had a wonderful weekend focusing on family. We're eagerly looking forward to our next big trip to bring home the newest member of the family!

Incredible News!!!

Our adoption agency just called with the unbelievable news that we received our final letter of acceptance! They received letters for six other families and they're hoping that we can all travel together at the end of June! We're so incredibly excited and unbelievably anxious about planning such a humongous trip in a month's time! In just a few short weeks, we'll be holding Terra in our arms!!

Earthquake in China

As many of you have probably heard, there was a major earthquake in China yesterday. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Sichuan province. Thankfully, Terra is not in Sichuan province, she is two provinces away. We're guessing that she probably felt the earthquake, but we're hopeful that she and her friends at the orphanage are doing fine. As of the last report, there are four orphanages in Sichuan province that the Chinese government has not been able to contact. There are also hundreds of children that have lost their parents during this terrible disaster and are now orphans. If anyone is interested in helping the children of China, Half the Sky (a wonderful non-profit organization) has set up an emergency relief fund. You can donate at their website: www.halfthesky.org
Please keep the people of China in your prayers.

LID!!

We just received word from our adoption agency that we have a Log-In Date (LID)!! We've been waiting nearly two months to hear that our dossier was logged in and placed in the queue for translation. We're thrilled and shocked to find out that our LID is March 19, 2008 - just 5 days after our dossier was sent!! This means that our final letter of approval could come as early as next month. We'll try not to get our hopes up for that happening, but now we know that it's a possibility. Another step closer to Terra!! Yippee!!!

Blog Changes

Some of you may have noticed that our blog changed a bit two weeks ago. I removed all of the pictures of Terra, took out her Chinese name and removed all other identifying info. I did this because the China Center for Adoption Affairs has issued a new regulation that waiting families are not allowed to post any identifying information about their children in a public forum - including blogs and listservs. However, we are allowed to share information privately with family and friends. So, if anyone would like a picture of Terra or would like to know more about our little girl and where she is from, please feel free to email me - I love to talk about our precious angel! :) Our excitement continues to build and we're growing a little anxious about not hearing anything from China for such a long time. But, that's what adoption is about - waiting! We know that everything will fall into place at the exact right time and we will bring our little girl home.

We hope all the mothers out there have a wonderful Mother's Day, filled with love and hugs from your little ones!