It's Here!

Our travel clearance came today! Our agency called this morning and told us the good news. We discussed some dates for travel and chose the earliest ones possible, now we wait to see if it can be scheduled with the consulate in Guangzhou. A friend told me that the dates we are requesting may be booked and will have to wait for a later time. It's just a big relief that it is here and we will go when the time is right. Hopefully we will hear on Friday or Tuesday at the latest, so we can finally make our plane reservations.

I was so excited this morning but now I am a little paralyzed with fear! There is so much to do to get ready to leave, atleast this will be more notice than the less than 24 hour notice we got the last time.

Thank you God, we are so close to meeting our little boy!

Our Visa Applications are in the mail

$556.00 later and our passports are on their way to Houston. We should have them back in about a week. Everything this time around is so much more expensive! I am trying not to complain but thank the Lord that we have the money to pay for it.

We are still waiting for our Travel Clearance from China to make our official plans for travel. I will admit that this truly has been the hardest part of this entire adoption. I am engaging in a lot of self talk and prayer to get through each day. I know we will travel to get Evan but WHEN???? I know it is out of my control and I need to focus on what I can control so we will be ready to travel as soon as possible.

I am currently working on all of the educational courses and books that we are required to read by our adoption agency. I thought I was doing great until I reviewed the list and realized that we hadn't completed any of the 6 online courses that are required for us to complete before we travel. Brian and I are going to split them up and I started the first one tonight. I already knew a lot of the information but did learn some new things.

The size of Evan

It seems like everyone I show a picture of Evan remarks about how big he appears to be (I think so too). When we were waiting for Daniel we would receive pictures of him and I would panic because he seemed so big in his pictures. I had convinced myself that they were not being truthful about his real age. When we arrived in China and met Daniel for the very first time, I couldn't believe how small and baby-like he was so, with Evan I have understood that he only appears large in the pictures. In fact, I have proof that he is not as big as he seems. Evan is 18-months-old and soon to be 19 months. At 18 months Daniel was 23lbs, 2.5oz and 31 1/2 inches long. Evan at the same age is 29inches tall and weighs 17lbs. Since he is living in an orphanage (even with excellent care) it is expected that he would be smaller in comparison to his big brother because by that age Daniel had been in our care for 6 months.

The cutest T-shirts ever!

I ordered t-shirts for Daniel and Evan to wear in China. I want them to feel like brothers so I have purchased matching pj's and these t-shirts. I custom created them at Mandysmoon.com. I got the idea from a family that we traveled with in China. They have three girls and they wore similar shirts while in China and thought they were adorable. I ordered these last week and they came in the mail today! I wish all things in life were this easy.

New pictures of Evan arrived today!

Isn't he adorable! I got a big surprise today when I unexpectedly received these pictures. A few weeks ago I sent Evan a care package via a service. Today, they sent me these pictures that were mailed to them from the orphanage. Atleast I think the orphanage sent them, I don't know for sure. They didn't explain in the email how they got them. What a blessing to see him so healthy and having fun playing.

Daniel and the Doctor

I picked up Daniel from school early today to go to his cleft palate surgeon (he does this once a year). After waiting about an hour to see the doctor, his nurse took us into his exam room. In this room there was one toy that was hanging on the wall and a People magazine from May, 2009! She announced that the doctor would see us in about 15 minutes. I thought "uh-oh" as I looked around the barren room. The wall toy entertained Daniel for about 1 minute and then he was ready to leave. I was able to distract him with piggy back rides and looking outside of a window at a crane of a construction job that was in process. Finally the doctor arrived and Daniel was so charming. He told the Dr. all about the crane and they had a great conversation. A couple minutes into the examination, Daniel decided it was time to leave. I told him to wait and we would leave soon. He was not happy with my answer and proceeded to empty out his entire Toy Story back pack all over the floor. As we continued to talk, Daniel whined and complained that he wanted to go. He even tried to open the door himself but was denied access by another Dr. in the room. I then picked him up in my arms and he started to pinch me and spit at the doctor (luckily he doesn't really know how to spit yet) and he was given a choice to stop or get a time out, he chose to stop. We continued our conversation and as were finishing, Daniel punched the Dr. in his waist (luckily he is three and isn't that strong yet). This time he got a time out.

Home again

We made it home safely from Tulsa. We left at 2:30pm and arrived home @ 7:15pm. It was a quick trip but, eventful. We signed the Letter of Seeking Confirmation and a few more documents. Our social worker estimates our date of travel will be the 1st or 2nd week of May. I want to go tomorrow, but it is nice to have an idea of possible travel.

A couple weeks ago we mailed Evan a care package. Another mom told me about this great website where you can order a care package to be delivered to your child's orphanage or even to their foster home. I was able to custom create our package and sent some Asian treats (to be enjoyed by everyone), a toy, camera, photo album and a short letter. They translated the letter for us. The photo album included 11 photos of our home and pictures of us. They also labeled the photos so Evan's caretakers can tell him who we are. I hope he does receive it and is able to look at our pictures. When we sent Daniel's care package it arrived in China a couple days after we did and we actually opened the package with him. The above picture is of the items purchased and sent to Evan. I thought that was really kind of them to send us this picture.

We got our letter!!!!

I was having a Monday and to top it off, I didn't get a call from our agency about the important letter from China. I was bummed. We went to Kindermusik this morning and I didn't receive a call on my cell phone or an email on my Blackberry. After a couple of errands I got home and saw our agency's number on my caller ID. I dialed as quickly as I could and heard the wonderful news; they received our Letter of Seeking Confirmation today. I told them to overnight it but, had seconds thoughts. I called Brian, we decided to drive to Tulsa and sign the paperwork today. Hopefully this will get our letter to China faster than if we wait to have it overnighted and then we overnight it back. Once China has our signed letter it could be two to eight weeks before we receive our travel clearance. Once we have that, we make travel plans. Yeah!!!

China called....

A couple of weeks ago we got a call from our adoption agency. They recieved a request from the CCAA asking for some more information regarding my medical history, they were in the process of reviewing our file. We quickly got the information they were requesting and sent it to them via our agency. We were so excited to know that they were reviewing our file because that meant we would soon be heading to Evan! On Friday, March 22nd we recieved another call that we passed our review! It was such a relief to know that Evan would for sure become our son. Now I am waiting on pins and needles for the next call. That call will mean that our agency received our LOC (letter of Confirmation). We sign it, mail it back and wait for travel clearance. Come on China...send that letter.