We got our Travel Approval today!!!!!! I (Sherry) was in the waiting room at the eye doctor's office when Aaron called me. Of course, I burst into tears and then they called my name! I'm sure everyone was wondering what in the heck was going on!!!!!!!
We're not sure yet the exact date we'll leave, but it will probably be around October 7th or 8th. We have to be in Beijing by Saturday, October 10. We want to go a couple of days beforehand to get over jet lag and do some sightseeing. We will get Jacinda on Monday, October 12. We will get home somewhere around October 24th.
More details to come! Now the serious travel preparations start!!!!!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Travel Update (Really, not much of an update, though ...)
We got a little travel news yesterday, but nothing major. We do not have official Travel Approval yet. Our agency got a batch of them yesterday, but ours was not among them. The agency expects ours to be in the next batch. They have no idea when they will get that batch, though. It could come today, next week, who knows?
We did find out that we will definitely not travel before October 9th. October 1-5 are holidays in China, so the offices we need to visit will be closed. So our agency has delayed travel until after those holidays. The 2nd tricky part about October is that there is a big trade festival that happens the whole month. That means that hotel rooms will be more expensive. But our agency is still allowing families to travel in October as long as they are willing to pay the extra cost. We're going even if it's more expensive. We want our girl!!! The money will all work out.
Hopefully we'll hear soon when we'll travel. We're really hoping for as soon in October as possible. The later it gets in the fall, the more we have to be prepared for a H1N1 flu situation.
For me (Sherry), this part of the waiting has been the hardest part. We're SO close. Every time the phone rings, I practically knock stuff over trying to get to it. I check my email incessantly. Jacinda is almost 20 months old and I try not to think about all the things we're missing ...walking, talking, etc. I'm trying to stay busy getting ready for the trip and getting the house ready. We're stocking the freezer with meals, although we have some friends who'll be helping us out with meals, too. The guest room is a disaster at the moment, so that's this week's project! My parents need somewhere to stay when they come to help us out.
We've also been talking with the team that will repair Jacinda's cleft lip and palate, so we think we're ready! (Her lip has already been repaired, but the team wants to redo it at some point because they think they can improve it a little.) The team asked us to call them as soon as we get home and they will get a team together to meet with us.
The last we heard from China, she has no issues with eating and drinking, so that is a good thing. Her weight and height are in about the 25th percentile (for US standards), which is not unusual for Chinese kids. Her pediatrician here, who is experienced with international adoptions and works closely with the cleft team, is confident that we can handle any issues that come up. When we travel, we will have access to his personal cell phone so that if anything medical comes up while we're in China, we can call him and he'll help us out.
So that's what we've been up to! Lots of people have been asking us when we go, and the answer right now is still ... we don't know. Hopefully soon we'll have a more definite answer to that question. And trust me, when we know, you'll all hear us screaming!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron and Sherry
We did find out that we will definitely not travel before October 9th. October 1-5 are holidays in China, so the offices we need to visit will be closed. So our agency has delayed travel until after those holidays. The 2nd tricky part about October is that there is a big trade festival that happens the whole month. That means that hotel rooms will be more expensive. But our agency is still allowing families to travel in October as long as they are willing to pay the extra cost. We're going even if it's more expensive. We want our girl!!! The money will all work out.
Hopefully we'll hear soon when we'll travel. We're really hoping for as soon in October as possible. The later it gets in the fall, the more we have to be prepared for a H1N1 flu situation.
For me (Sherry), this part of the waiting has been the hardest part. We're SO close. Every time the phone rings, I practically knock stuff over trying to get to it. I check my email incessantly. Jacinda is almost 20 months old and I try not to think about all the things we're missing ...walking, talking, etc. I'm trying to stay busy getting ready for the trip and getting the house ready. We're stocking the freezer with meals, although we have some friends who'll be helping us out with meals, too. The guest room is a disaster at the moment, so that's this week's project! My parents need somewhere to stay when they come to help us out.
We've also been talking with the team that will repair Jacinda's cleft lip and palate, so we think we're ready! (Her lip has already been repaired, but the team wants to redo it at some point because they think they can improve it a little.) The team asked us to call them as soon as we get home and they will get a team together to meet with us.
The last we heard from China, she has no issues with eating and drinking, so that is a good thing. Her weight and height are in about the 25th percentile (for US standards), which is not unusual for Chinese kids. Her pediatrician here, who is experienced with international adoptions and works closely with the cleft team, is confident that we can handle any issues that come up. When we travel, we will have access to his personal cell phone so that if anything medical comes up while we're in China, we can call him and he'll help us out.
So that's what we've been up to! Lots of people have been asking us when we go, and the answer right now is still ... we don't know. Hopefully soon we'll have a more definite answer to that question. And trust me, when we know, you'll all hear us screaming!!!!!!!!!!!
Aaron and Sherry
Monday, August 17, 2009
Only One Thing Missing .......
Jacinda's room is DONE! She is the only thing missing at this point.
The crib and some Chinese characters. The ones on the left stand for Family and the one on the right is for Love.
The window valance ended up inspiring some of the colors in the room.
By the closet
Closeup of the sign I painted.
The crib and some Chinese characters. The ones on the left stand for Family and the one on the right is for Love.
The window valance ended up inspiring some of the colors in the room.
By the closet
Closeup of the sign I painted.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Our New Look!
Our blog has a fabulous new look!!! My friend, Tracey, designed the header especially for us. She’s a very talented graphic artist and she puts up with all my crazy emails!
Anyway, the lotus flower is a perfect symbol for this blog. The lotus flower starts as a small flower down at the bottom of a pond in the mud. It slowly grows up towards the light at the surface of the water. Once it reaches the surface of the water, the lotus flower begins to blossom and turn into a beautiful flower.
Aaron and I always knew we wanted to have children. Fortunately, God had a different plan than we did. We went through infertility treatments to get Luke. We did a few more treatments when Luke was around 1. Those were unsuccessful. We then turned to adoption, which we had been open to from the very beginning. And now we’re very close to getting our little girl.
So even though we’ve been through a lot …. Infertility drugs, doctor’s appointments, adoption paperwork, refinancing our house, and lots of waiting, it has all turned into the family we’ve dreamed of. We are reserving judgment for now as to whether our family is complete. We want to get home and see what Jacinda’s surgeries and such will involve before we make that decision.
Thank you, Tracey, for giving us a visual symbol of the lotus flower to represent our journey to our family!
Aaron and Sherry
Anyway, the lotus flower is a perfect symbol for this blog. The lotus flower starts as a small flower down at the bottom of a pond in the mud. It slowly grows up towards the light at the surface of the water. Once it reaches the surface of the water, the lotus flower begins to blossom and turn into a beautiful flower.
Aaron and I always knew we wanted to have children. Fortunately, God had a different plan than we did. We went through infertility treatments to get Luke. We did a few more treatments when Luke was around 1. Those were unsuccessful. We then turned to adoption, which we had been open to from the very beginning. And now we’re very close to getting our little girl.
So even though we’ve been through a lot …. Infertility drugs, doctor’s appointments, adoption paperwork, refinancing our house, and lots of waiting, it has all turned into the family we’ve dreamed of. We are reserving judgment for now as to whether our family is complete. We want to get home and see what Jacinda’s surgeries and such will involve before we make that decision.
Thank you, Tracey, for giving us a visual symbol of the lotus flower to represent our journey to our family!
Aaron and Sherry
Monday, July 27, 2009
In the Home Stretch ......
Today, all of our paperwork was sent to China for the last time. This is the step where our agency requests appointments for us at the US Consulate in China to do our final paperwork - Jacinda's visa to get into the US, her medical exam, etc. Once our agency finalizes these appointments, we will find out our travel dates. We should probably get official Travel Approval (TA) around mid-late August. Then, we should hopefully travel in probably late September or early October.
Today, we also mailed off our passports to the Chinese Embassy in DC for our visa applications.
So we're definitely in the home stretch as far as paperwork goes. We still have a lot to do in the next few weeks .... finishing Jacinda's room, making a packing list, and getting a few major things for our trip (video camera and typhoid shots, to name a few).
Things you can pray for ..... that our final paperwork goes smoothly, that our passports don't get lost in the mail, that we all stay healthy (here and in China!), and that we all stay sane as we prepare for the greatest trip of our lives!!!!
Sherry, Aaron, and Luke
Today, we also mailed off our passports to the Chinese Embassy in DC for our visa applications.
So we're definitely in the home stretch as far as paperwork goes. We still have a lot to do in the next few weeks .... finishing Jacinda's room, making a packing list, and getting a few major things for our trip (video camera and typhoid shots, to name a few).
Things you can pray for ..... that our final paperwork goes smoothly, that our passports don't get lost in the mail, that we all stay healthy (here and in China!), and that we all stay sane as we prepare for the greatest trip of our lives!!!!
Sherry, Aaron, and Luke
Thursday, July 2, 2009
LOA is here!!!!!!!
We just got the phone call from Holt that our LOA from China has arrived!!!!!!!! This is what China sends to us approving us to adopt Jacinda. We're one step closer!!!!!!!
We're hearing that families are getting their Travel Approval approximately a month after LOA. And then the actual travel takes place about a month after that. So there's a realistic possibility we could be traveling around the end of August or beginning of September.
However, we're not getting our hopes up. The State Department has issued a travel advisory for China due to the Swine Flu. Our agency is still allowing families to travel, and we plan on going as long as we are allowed to. We want Jacinda home!!!!!
We're hearing that families are getting their Travel Approval approximately a month after LOA. And then the actual travel takes place about a month after that. So there's a realistic possibility we could be traveling around the end of August or beginning of September.
However, we're not getting our hopes up. The State Department has issued a travel advisory for China due to the Swine Flu. Our agency is still allowing families to travel, and we plan on going as long as we are allowed to. We want Jacinda home!!!!!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Updated Pictures!!!!
We got a pleasant surprise this evening via email. 2 new pictures of Jacinda! We also got some updated stats: 22lbs, 29.5 inches tall. We think she might not be as tiny as we originally thought!
Without further ado ............ (Click on the pictures to make them a little bigger)
Without further ado ............ (Click on the pictures to make them a little bigger)
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