25 more days...

My cute girls have created an advent calendar. They pull off a number each night.  Last night they pulled off the 26.  I knew the time was getting closer, but putting up a 6ft banner in the house made me anxious. Part of me wants the numbers to come off faster.  Part of me thinks they are coming off too fast.  I go back and forth.  This adventure has been 10 months in the making.  Many people compare it to a pregnancy.  I have only been pregnant once and it last 25 weeks, but I understand the analogy.  I have enjoyed being "pregnant"--getting the room ready, buying clothes, and everyone congratulating us on the upcoming arrival of our little one.  Our Gotcha Day is scheduled for the 27th of October. Am I ready? Do I have everything I need? But the truth is, these are the easy questions.  It's the hard ones that are causing me to have stomach aches and filling up space in my head.  He's not an infant, he's 5.  Thats 5 years of living in an orphanage.  5 years with no mother or father. No one to dry his crying eyes, hold him, rock him, cuddle him, spoil him.  No one for him to learn to attach to. Teach him that life is good. That there will always be food in the kitchen, a warm bed to sleep in, loves when you stumble and fall, family time, and kisses at night.  5 years is a long time.  When no one cares that you're crying, you stop crying, stop attaching.  It's a cold place and I pray I can help him feel the warmth again.

TA!

The two little letters that mean everything. TA  Travel Approval.  Most families can leave within a few days of getting TA (That's if you can afford the plane tickets for a trip that quick).  We wish we could leave tomorrow, but we are waiting to leave until the 20th of October for several reasons (school, work, and price).

I am excited to announce that my friends are hosting a shower/fundraiser in our behalf. We are humbled that so many people are willing to help not only our family have a son, but for an orphan to have a family.  What started as a simple shower has turned out to be more than I could have imagined.  Several vendors have volunteered to give their time, money and heart to this cause. Vendors include: Norwex, Scentsy, Thirty-One, Paparazzi, Origami Owl, Pampered Chef, and More! Please come and say hello, shop the vendors, pick up some Christmas presents and have a treat.

Saturday, September 20th from 8:30-11:30 at the home of Lisa Schwebach, 1792 Sunset Pointe Circle, Kaysville.

If you cannot attend the event, there are links to the right of this blog under "Support our Adoption".  You can shop these sites and a portion will still go to our cause.  If you want to donate, but do not want to purchase an item, click the "AdoptTogether" link to give a tax-deductible donation.

Thanks again for your help and support.

What the internet can do

My husband is so good. I thought I was being a sneaky sleuth a few days ago and tried to find everything on the internet about his orphanage. Thinking maybe I might find a picture or something. Well, I did.  I found a picture of his orphanage and sent it to Jeremy with a note "Look what I found!" He was standing in front of the lowest circular window when they filmed his video for referral.

Well, a few hours later, I get an email from him with the subject line, "Have fun!".  This is what I got when I opened the email.

He is in the tiger coat in front.

Front row, fourth from the left

White coat on the right

Front row, Red stripped coat and red pants

It was like Christmas morning.  I started crying.  The girls were excited to see his pictures. My smart husband had translated his orphanage name into Chinese characters and then googled the Chinese words.  Not only did he send these pictures, but he sent several more attached to news articles about the orphanage. I felt so blessed to have these pictures of him to put in his scrapbook. These children have a forgotten past.  Our goal is to see how many pieces of the puzzle we can put together. Thank you sweety! 

The next step

We received the NVC (National Visa Center) approval for his visa. Which means the agency has notified the Consulate in Guangzhou that he has a visa and that the USCIS has approved his immigration into the United States. Next, the Consulate will notify the CCCWA (aka Article 5) that all has been approved and they need to invite us over (Travel Approval).
We have been working on our Travel form.  Currently we are planning on landing in Beijing and doing three days of touring.  Our itinerary consists of the Great Wall which I am super thrilled about, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, an acrobat show, and riding in a rickshaw through the Hutongs.  Hutongs are neighborhoods where the houses are placed in a circular pattern with a courtyard in the middle.  Here's a picture of a Chinese rickshaw and a Hutong courtyard.

.

Our second stop will be in Wuhan where we will pick up our son and then our last stop will be Guangzhou (GZ).  Three weeks total.

Step 10

It's here!  Our I-800 Approval letter from the USCIS came today.  So technically we are on step 10 (applying for his visa). Thankfully the last 5 steps should only take about 7 weeks.

Getting his room ready

I love interior decorating.  Besides harrasing people about mathematics education, I could sit in a home furniture store for hours.  So when the opportunity came to decorate his room, there was no holding me back.  After decorating with pink and purple for the last 8 years, the navy and gray was so much fun.  It is restoration hardware themed, but many of the elements (shelf above the bed and light fixture) were part of my husbands hunny-do list. Love being married to an Engineer.  Now all I need is a little boy to mess it all up :)