handsful

“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” (van talking, here)

Our Yukon XL seats 7 – with Dylan, we’ll be at 8.  We did the math and realized we needed something bigger.  So, we went with something BIGGER. 

2009 Ford E350 11-passenger van.  Yeah, baby.  I nixed the idea of the extended version.  It would have been nice to have the extra storage space in the back, but the thought of driving it (and PARKING it) made me shake in my boots. 

So far, I love it.  I’m sitting up nice and high and it’s actually a tad bit shorter than my Yukon.  Yea, I was surprised at that, too! 

Let’s recap.  We have Dylan’s bed, car seat, his own seat in the van, high chair, clothes, shoes, and toys.  What we do NOT have is our Travel Approval from China.  We kinda expected it by last Friday.  We’re dumbfounded that we don’t have it by this Friday.  If it doesn’t show next week, I may have to get China on the phone myself.  It’s a shame that God has to teach me patience by giving me something to be patient about.  :)

Hope to have GREAT news by next post…

Lainey has a new bed. My parents brought it up this past weekend…she loves it.

And, after spending an enormous amount of time trying to figure out how to fit TWO twin beds into an incredibly small bedroom…

We worked it out. We’re giving Dylan Lainey’s old bed, since it has rails along each side. We offered to get rails for Lainey’s bed, but she wanted NO part of that. No rails for her, she’s a BIG girl thankyouverymuch.

Still working on his bedding. I bought him some cute boyish sheets and a thick blue twin-size blanket. I’m going to make a tie fleece blanket for him with some fabric I ordered online. Lainey has one on her bed that our friend Angie in FL made her. I thought Dylan should have one, too.

And, in case you were wondering…NO, we didn’t get TA today. I was just sure it would come this week. Praying for next week.

hurdle jumped, that is. 

Found out today that our “Article 5” has been picked up from Guangzhou and is headed to the CCAA in Beijing, China.  The Article 5 is basically another approval…this time, the US immigration saying that they approve us to adopt this specific child.  This is THE LAST document that China needs in order to issue our Travel Approval.  Once we get TA (in around 2 weeks), our agency will begin scheduling our consulate appointment in China.  This date determines our travel dates…they build our trip around our consulate appointment.   

I’m betting on Thanksgiving travel.  I’m also assuming there is no roast turkey and sweet potato casserole in China.  I think I’m willing to delay our turkey dinner for Dylan.

My “China corner”…the blue box holds all of our China documents, copies, etc. The other boxes are where I stash things as I find/buy them. Everytime I go to the store, I try to pick up something on my master list. Tonight, I actually pulled out a suitcase and started choosing what clothes to bring for Dylan.

Wow. This is feeling real.

When Lainey saw HER suitcase pulled out, and I mentioned I was going to do some packing, I thought she knew I meant for China. We’ve talked about it a lot, she’s seen me buy things, she’s helped me pick out things for Dylan.

I had left the room, and when I came back she had some of her things in the suitcase. I explained to her again that it was just mommy and daddy going…that she would be staying here with family. She got pouty, came up for a hug, and said “I don’t want you to go to China”. Break my heart, baby. I can see that it’s feeling real for her, too.

We’ll be doing a lot of talking about the trip, about how we’ll keep in touch while we’re gone…anything to make this easier on her.

Payton watching his little brother try to swipe candy out of that red bag ;)

We received a SWEET surprise in our mailbox a week or so ago…another adoptive mom, Denise, made a copy of their orphanage visit video that they took on their adoption trip in July. They got TONS of footage of Dylan! Seeing him on video was a true gift. We could guess about his personality by the photos we’ve received, but our impressions were pretty much confirmed with the video. He’s a ham, loved on by everyone, and has the sweetest little smile.

You can hear Denise telling them that his mama and baba are coming soon, and that his name will be Dylan. Just to know that he’s potentially being prepared for us to come is priceless. Adopting an older child is different than with a baby, and we’ve prayed that he’s being told about us, that he’s seeing our pictures (we’ve sent 3 sets!), and that he “gets it”.

We’ve watched with him, as a lot of his friends have been adopted in these last months. Little by little, it seems his friends are leaving. Denise told us that, when they walked into the orphanage room with Seth, Dylan was so excited and showed that he understood that the man with him was his daddy. I think he gets it.

We’re still looking at November travel, we think. Could be mid-November. Could stretch out to early December. Hope to hear about our next hurdle next week :)

Kristie, in China adopting her precious Katie, snapped these pictures of Dylan while he slept. The nanny told Kristie not to wake him.

Makes me think of the pictures of Lainey that we received from a traveling family. The nanny jerked her right up, and the pictures show a very confused, sleepy, and down-right angry Lainey!

She told me that the kids are 2 to a crib…I’d love to know who Dylan’s cribmate is.

Be sure and visit Kristie’s blog – it’s listed on the sidebar under “Luoyang Families”. Thanks so much, Kristie, for another glimpse into our son’s life while we wait :)

As we inch closer to November, our guesstimate on travel, I find myself becoming more and more anxious to go get our boy. I think of how much time he’s already spent in that orphanage, not with his family. I think more about the day we’ll finally meet.

So, yea, I’m getting tired of waiting :) But, we know that God’s timing is best and rest in that – all the while, doing what we can to help pass the time.

A little shopping always helps. I’ve been picking up travel items here and there lately, crossing them off my packing list. Lainey has been confused more than once…is that toothbrush for me? No, honey, it’s for Yu Hai.

Dylan has a surprise coming his way, too. I ordered a small care package, with a stuffed puppy dog. Just to let remind him that someone out there loves him. And, we are coming.

Our agency requested an update on Dylan back in August – we were hoping for updated measurements and a new picture. We received the measurements alone…I can’t really complain, given how many pictures of him we’ve been blessed with. As of 9/6/10 he weighs 25lbs and is 2′ 8″ tall. That puts him at < 3 percentile for both. He's a little guy at 3 yrs 2 months. To compare, Lainey weighed 25lbs at 20 months. Some news on our timeline...after some unwelcome drama involving our social worker, we finally heard today that our I-800 file was approved by the NBC (immigration). We have a few more hurdles to jump through until that magical TA (Travel Approval) arrives. But, progress is being made. Which means we're getting closer. Which means the waiting gets harder.

Another picture of Dylan that my friend Denise took when she visited the orphanage. Her new son, Seth and Dylan were obviously good friends and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get them together as often as possible – they live in NY.

Just thought I’d update quickly on where we are in our journey to Dang Yu Hai. This wait has been very different than our wait for Lainey.

Once we saw Lainey’s picture, in November 2007, we only had 3 months to wait before holding her in our arms in February 2008.

I saw Dylan on our agency’s website, in December 2009. We’re now in September 2010. So, we’re “full term” in our adoption pregnancy :)

Where are we now? Waiting on the US immigration dept to approve our file to adopt Dylan. Our paperwork was received on August 25th. Once we are approved, there are other hurdles of paperwork to jump through. Our file is sent to the US consulate in Guangzhou, China and they approve us. After that, they send an invitation for us to travel, and then we scramble around to get ready!

The travel dept at our agency is estimating we’ll travel in November. WHEN in November will depend on how long the rest of the process takes AND how our travel will work around any China holidays and events…there is a national holiday in October, and games held in Guangzhou in November.

So, there you go. We’ll keep you informed ;)