Consulate appointment, check.

Each day that goes by gets us one day closer to meeting our son. Today, we are moving forward at a fast pace. Funny how waiting and waiting makes you feel lax, and then when things are getting closer, a sense of urgency sets in. I am thankful to God that this time has finally come.

We got our Consulate appointment, the main appointment that among others, is the basis of when the trip is scheduled.


Right now, here are some details:

Gotcha day is scheduled for May 4th at 2:30pm! This the day after the Chinese Labor Day, and exactly three years ago to that day we held our baby girl for the first time!

We'll sign the final adoption paperwork on May 5th at 9am.

The Consulate appointment is May 12th at 9am.



The itinerary is pending (hopefully we'll get it tomorrow or early next week), and we will book the flights after it is finalized.

Hooray! Time to research Hong Kong and find some fun things to do there!

Big announcement!

Today was a great day! We got our travel approval and hope to book our trip this week!

It is getting more real now. Our son's future is bright. And we are lucky that we are his parents.

Spring is here.

The birds are chirping.

The earth is changing into beautiful shades of green.

We are happy.

Life is good.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all! He is risen! Let us celebrate with family and friends!

A life forever changed

In a few short weeks, two parents will be on a plane to meet their son. Never in a million years did they imagine they'd have a son. Never in a million years did they know that they would be on their way to a foreign country for the second time to meet their child. And never in a million years did they know that their precious boy would be seven years old when they would meet.

But God knew.

All along.

These two parents were planners. Type A people. Had their life completely planned out, you see. Fell in love, madly. Got married. Next, kids. When fertility treatments were unsuccessful, they knew they were still meant to be parents. They decided to adopt a little girl from China. And they met that little girl on May 8, 2007.

That little girl has brought so much joy to these parents, and to her grandparents, many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. How could one little girl change the lives of so many people? How could they be so lucky?

So now, as we get ready to pick up this precious boy, we pray for him in his transition. We know that his life will be changed from the moment that we meet. And we are up for the challenges, and look forward to loving this boy with all of our hearts. Forever.

Theme: Sports

When it came to thinking of a theme for our son's room, it was a no-brainer. His paperwork said that his favorite activity was to "kick a ball". And his father lives and breathes sports.

Motherbird has come to accept her hubby's obsession with sports through the years....

So, we hope he will like it. Here are the pics...

By the way, notice his beautiful red bike too (and the suitcases ready to be packed). Can't wait to get some pics of him riding it!

Waiting (impatiently) for TA

Well, although life passes us by in the blink of an eye, every day I think of our son. It has already been five months since we first saw his beautiful face, and the last picture that we have of him is already four months old. I can't help but think if he has lost any teeth, and how much he is growing every day. I just can't wait to meet him, and give him a forever family. Here is one of my favorite pics of our boy.

Within the next two weeks, hopefully we will get our travel approval. Please Lord, give me peace while I wait. I know that I will be busy, as there are some things that I want to do, like a little more organizing at the house, and I still need to pack his clothes. Ms. sassafras and I need to make a chain link, one link for each day that her daddy and myself will be gone, so that she has some idea of how to process time in that 3 year old head of hers.

On a lighter note, this daughter of mine is STILL obsessed with Christmas and Santa Claus! Can you even believe it? It's almost April. Seriously. Right now, I am acting as Santa Claus, and she just told me that she got permission from her parents to fly alone to the North Pole to be an elf. I (Santa) asked her if it is really okay, since she is only 3 years old. She said, "Yeah, it's fine, I'm a 3 year old teenager."

Okay, this girl is hilarious.

Next time, I will post some pictures of his room. Can you guess the theme? Stay tuned...

Plugging along

We are making some slow progress with the adoption, and for any progress at all, I am grateful. Today we found out that the Article 5 letter (authorizing our son's Visa) is in the process of being shipped to the CCAA. Once received, it takes 2-4 weeks for us to be issued our travel approval (TA in adoption language). China will send our TA to our agency, and then the appointments can be set up in China. Then the trip can be planned and booked. It's looking like an end of April/early May departure at this point. In God's time, we will have that precious child in our arms.

Even though we are on the tail end of this process, it seems now that this time is the hardest for me. On the flip side, now is the time for myself and Fatherbird to enjoy Ms. sassafras - our family dynamics will be changing soon, and every season should be celebrated.

Looking ahead, we are excited to head to China again. God gave us our precious girl in that beautiful country, and it captured our hearts. Above is a picture of the Great Wall, a lovely sight.