We have an itinerary!

8-5: Leave Kansas City at 6:10am. Arrive in Newark and then on to Beijing
8-6: Arrive in Beijing, relax for the afternoon, go to dinner and a Chinese acrobat show that evening
8-7: Check out the great wall and do a Hutong tour
8-8: Tour Beijing at warp speed trying to see Tiananmen square, Forbidden city, the summer palace, and the temple of heaven, then fly to Lanzhou from Beijing
8-9: MEET MAX!!!!!
8-10: Proceed with adoption registration, notary and applying for Max's passport
8-11: Visiting the Provincial Museum, shopping
8-12: Touring Yu Quan Mountain (Jade Spring Mountain) and Yellow River Bridge
8-13: Touring Bai Ta Shan (White Tower Mountain)
8-14: Touring Shui Che Garden, receiving your son's passport, fly from Lanzhou to Guangzhou
8-15: Physical exam, including the TB test, photo taking
8-16: Touring Yun Tai Garden
8-17: Picking up the physical exam result
8-18: Touring Liu Rong Temple
8-19: Applying for visa, touring Liu Hua Hu Lake Park
8-20: Ceremony at the American consulate and picking up Max's visa in the afternoon
8-21: Free activities
8-22: Fly from Guangzhou to Beijing to Newark to KC

I still can't believe it will really happen.
I started packing Max's clothes today. He'll be wearing them in 10 days. Unreal.

Picture of Ellie's Room

Ellie's new room

As you may recall we did a major room shift around our house.  We are just now starting to settle into our new arrangements.  My mom and dad were wonderful and came over this weekend and hung pictures up in Ellie's room so it finally looks finished (even though we still have a couple of small projects in there).  She is so excited about her new space and was really happy to come home today and see everything put together. 

People are wonderful

This is my second weekend on call in a row. Yes, I did this to myself so that I would have more flexibility in our travel planning and preparation. I woke up this morning a bit grumpy about having to work again, but I had a great surprise in store for me. The ICU nurses had gotten together and brought a potluck breakfast, a cake, and some gifts for Ellie and Max. I can't believe how thoughtful they are. It was a great start to my day. Thanks guys!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!

We got the call last night from our wonderful adoption coordinator that our travel approval had arrived. This is the last piece of paperwork that we needed from China prior to being able to schedule our consulate appointment. Our coordinator will call the consulate Monday (our Sunday night) to make our consulate appointment and once that is made we can start making our travel arrangements. Yeah! Our tentative plan is to try and leave on the 5th of August and to meet Max on August 9th or 10th. I still can't believe that all of this is really happening. I'm still feeling a bit shell-shocked abuot how quickly everything is moving all of the sudden and how much there is to do before we leave, but I'm also so excited! Every time I think about how close we are to meeting our son I get goosebumps. It's unbelievable.

Finally, UPDATES!!!!!!

I was so excited to open my email today and find these updates on Max. We haven't really had any information other than measurements since his referral information which was done in April of 2008. I was really wanting some information to make his transition easier and I got it. Yeah for me!

1. How has his health been? We know his cleft lip was repaired. Has he had any other surgeries, illnesses, or hospitalizations?

Wu yun xiao has been very healthy,he does not have any other surgeries ,illnesses .

2. Tell me about his personality. What are his favorite activities? What makes him laugh?

His personality is outgoing ,he loves to play outdoors ,especily where there are lots of people places. When he see his mom,he is very happy.

3. Does he have any fears? What comforts him when he's upset?

When scares very loud sound.When he is upset ,his foster mom hug(holds) him and pats his back gently then yun xiao will have a good mood again.

4. Tell me about his feeding. What does he like/not like to eat? What does he drink - formula or milk? Does he take it from a bottle, sippy cup, or cup?

He loves to eat sweet food,He does not like sour food .He drinks Nestle formula,he use bottles .

5. Tell me about his sleeping. Where does he sleep? Is there anyone that he sleeps with.

What is his bedtime routine? He sleeps with his foster mom ,he sleeps at 21:00 to 22:00 at night

I am especially excited to know that he's healthy, outgoing, happy, and loved. I must say that as glad as I am to know these things, my heart is breaking right now knowing how hard this transition away from his foster mom is going to be on him. But, again, I am so glad to know that he's had a supportive, loving family.

San Diego + a new camera + gorgeous kiddos = some good pictures

Jason's vacation
Everyone else

Why grandpa always gets the laugh

My photogenic niece

The little man

Does it get any better than this?

As close as I'll ever get to a picture of the three of them together

Preparation

We got in yesterday from a fun week with my family in San Diego. The relaxation didn't last long at all. We have realized that if we get our travel approval in the time frame that we anticipate, we probably have only one full weekend left that I am not on call or we are not out of town prior to going to China. YIKES! We are so unprepared. So, we have spent the last 36 hours overhauling our house. Jason finally got the cabinets in our new bedroom installed before we left last weekend so this weekend we moved all of our clothes, our bed, and our stuff up into that room. We then moved all of Ellie's clothes, toys, and bed into what is her new bedroom. Now, we actually have room for Max! We are still very disorganized and have alot of things to put away. But, it's progress.

What's next?

First, for those of you who don't know, let me explain what a LOA is. It means that the China Center for Adoption Affairs has officially reviewed the loads of paperwork that we submitted (our dossier), and they found no objection to us adopting Max. They then sent us a letter seeking confirmation that we still wanted to adopt him. We checked yes (duh!) and sent it back to them. Now, we are just waiting on our Travel Approval (TA). Once this comes, we are able to schedule our consulate appointment and then dates for our travel. This means that we should be traveling in the next 6-8 weeks (Yeah!). This all of the sudden feels very real and very close. We still have a TON to do around our house and to get ready for the trip, but mentally, we're ready any time.

The actual LOA

The best package I've ever gotten in the mail.


It's a China adoption blog tradition to have a picture of the FedEx delivery person bringing your package, but darn him, he dropped and ran.

Celebrating

Ellie's poker face
Happy family

Grandma D and Grandpa T

Grandpa Joe and Grandma Ne

We had a great evening celebrating the arrival of our LOA. We took both sets of parents out to a local Chinese restaurant and enjoyed a really relaxing evening. My mom surprised me with a quilt that she had secretly been putting together for Max. One side is Americana type fabrics and the other is red with gold stars to represent his Chinese heritage. It is beautiful! I was blown away by the fact that she had done that without my knowing. I think the most special part was knowing that she's been anticipating and planning his arrival just like I have.

LOA BABY!

I really did not want to get up this morning, but I'm sure glad I did. When I checked my email at 5:30 am (yes, that's the first thing I do these days, followed shortly by checking the RQ website) I was so excited to see an email from our adoption coordinator telling us that our LOA was in the mail from China! What a great way to wake up. Needless to say I didn't need my coffee this morning. I woke Jason up to tell him, but Ellie was still sleeping when we left so we haven't told her yet. So, if you see her before I do, don't spill the beans. Ellie really doesn't know what an LOA is, but she knows that we are waiting for a paper from China to tell us that Maxybaby (as she affectionately calls him) is going to be ours. She also knows that when we get it we're going to celebrate, and we all know that girl likes to celebrate. In fact, I've been celebrating all day by treating myself to extra internet time when I should be working. Every time I think about how close we are to bringing him home I get a little chill of excitement. This is quickly followed by a slight panic about all I have to do in the next few weeks, but the excitement definitely wins out.