And Better...

We are going earlier! Can you believe it? We had an "urgent" call from our agency this morning and of course, we could only think the worst.... something had happened with Mia! But it was just a change in the Consulate Appointment which meant frantic phone calls with itinerary changes approved in China and new tickets issued by the travel agency and "change fees" charged... but HEY! We're going to see MIa two days earlier - PRICELESS!

So here is the new plan...

September 13th Leave Asheville and tour Beijing for a few days

September 16th Leave Beijing, fly to Guangzhou, and hug Mia for the very first time

September 24th American Consulate appointment

September 26th Return home and hug all three girls at the very same time

For some reason, by changing these dates, we are able to spend less time away from our girls at home! For that we are very thankful!

And believe it or not, all of those frantic changes took place during my lunch hour (20 minutes for a teacher) at school.

And It Just Keeps Getting Better!!

The dates our set! Our itinerary is approved! Our tickets are paid! And here is the plan:

9/15 Leave Asheville airport and travel to Beijing for our cultural tour of the capital city

9/18 Travel to Guangzhou for "Daddy Mama Mia" Day, or as some call it "Gotcha Day" or "Forever Family Day" but it is the main event! The reason we're going! The day we finally get to hold that sweet girl!!

10/1 Back home to Asheville after a long day of travel!

School starts tomorrow! So we will focus on school during the day and juggle packing lists in the evenings! Hopefully someday in October I'll start sleeping again!

Travel Approval

For the past 24 hours, we have said to each other... "another 2 weeks and we will probably get TA!" TA is travel approval and it means we can plan our trip to finally put our arms around Mia!

Well today was my first day back at school! And I have no computer in my room at the moment! So I went to another teacher's classroom to check my email. I was surprised to find new measurements for Mia on an email from our agency. Awhile ago, I heard that updated measurements might come with the TA.... so I literally ran back to my room to find my phone beeping with a message from Mei at our agency in Charleston! The phone was busy when I returned the call so I had to wait for an eternity (3 - 4 minutes) until I finally got a voice at the other end! OUR TA HAD COME ALREADY! I couldn't believe it! I screamed! Told everyone! Tried to call Kevin! Finally hopped in the car and ran to find him! We are celebrating today! Almost to the last step in the process!!

So... as our friends and family watch the sights on the Olympics, know that we will be there soon! On the Great Wall, in Tiananmen Square, at the Summer Palace in just one month from now! Our tentative plan is to leave September 13th and tour Beijing for a few days. We will then fly to Guangzhou where we will meet Mia! We should arrive home on September 26th! All of this hinges on the Consulate appointment being scheduled for September 24th... hopefully it will be set in stone in a few days!

We are grinning from ear-to-ear tonight! It is really going to happen!!! MIA! We're coming!

Did we just read the word "TRAVEL"??

Okay - it is starting to move along now!! Today we received the big email with all of the families listed in our TRAVEL GROUP!! Wow! We are all hoping for early to mid-September if all of the paperwork and appointments work out the way our agency hopes!! Wow! Wow! Wow!!

Good News!!!

Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. Proverbs 25:25

We are so thrilled to announce that our LOA has arrived from China! We heard the news on Friday morning! The girls and I rushed to the store to have a cake decorated with "LOA" and then dashed off to let Kevin know at his work site. What a happy day it was! Then on Saturday we picked up the package from UPS sent by our adoption coordinator in Charleston! We signed the papers and sent them back immediately!

Today we filled out our visa applications and sent them on! Throughout this whole process, we have not wanted to be the ones to hold up progress!!

Now it is the wait for the "TA"... travel approval from China! That means we are approved to travel to China to bring home Mia! It will be a few days from the TA to secure the "CA" which means the American consulate appointment. After our appointment is made with the American consulate in Guangzhou, our agency will give us our travel dates. We are hoping from early September - but there will need to be some miracles to make that happen! Please pray with us for quick turnarounds on all of these papers!

False Labor at Day 125

So frustrating... thought the rumblings were labor but we are just VERY uncomfortable!! We are trying to keep enjoying summer... have spent quite a bit of time at the beach... have taken some day trips with friends... and even spent a day with our friend Tian. Here is a picture of her with our Emma!

A Few Rumblings

Today we received a little communication in preparation for travel paperwork. Of course we filled out the papers quickly and sent them in to our agency. We still do not have our LOA - Day 120. This is about twice as long as we had anticipated waiting for this important paper from the CCAA in Beijing. We are hoping that this latest request for information means that our LOA will be here soon!

In the meantime, we are finishing Mia's room and putting together packing lists. It is looking more like post - Olympic travel for us! We are hoping that we fly in on the same planes that just took out the Olympians! A quick roundtrip turn-around!! I'm trying to put my mind around Mia preparations, getting our family ready for the school routine, and knowing that travel will come quickly after I start teaching again. But we'll see! We are not taking anything for granted at this point!