The LOA Is On Its Way...

...back to CCAI! It arrived yesterday in their office and they Fed-Ex'd it to Kevin at work, to arrive today. We needed to sign that we accept Carson as our son, then Fed-Ex it back to them to arrive tomorrow. In typical worrier fashion, I spent the whole morning panicking, "Why isn't it here yet?" I expected it to arrive in the early morning Fed-Ex packages...nope. I called Kevin to check at noon...nope. Finally, at 2PM, while I was sitting at lunch with my friend, Katie, my cell phone rang. "It's HERE!!" Needless to say, I broke land speed records rushing to his office to sign the document!! (OK, not really, but I tried.) It really is a cool looking document, very official with the Chinese writing and English translations on it. Kevin's co-workers kept congratulating me...not sure if they knew what they were congratulating me for, but I was clearly a very happy camper and they could tell!!

My lunch companion, Katie (aka the "Underwear Cake Lady") and I used to work together and we meet every couple of months for lunch...and lots of laughs. While we were having lunch today, we marveled that this will be the last time it's just the two of us. She's due to have her first baby at the end of September, so the next time we meet at our favorite restaurant for cheeseburgers, fries, mac & cheese, and "bladder busters" of Diet Cherry Coke, we will have with us her Baby Boy in a pumpkin seat and my Little Man in a high chair! Very exciting, don't ya think??

While we still need to wait for TA (Travel Approval), it just feels so much better to know that everything is official! In fact, I'm getting sleepy right now and haven't even taken a Tylenol PM yet! I'd say that's progress, don't you think??!!

Big Sister's First Day of High School!

In all of the excitement this week of the Little Man shower and the LOA arriving, I forgot to mention another huge event in our house...Carson's big sister started HIGH SCHOOL on Monday!! Yes, my little Meggie isn't so little anymore...she's all grown up and in the 9th grade! However, traditions still remain. We still did the annual height measurement Sunday night (we always do this the night before the first day of school) -- she wasn't pleased this year because she only got about half an inch taller since last year! I also took the ever popular picture-on-the-front-porch before going to the bus stop (and I say "ever popular" in jest...Meggie HATES that I force her to do this every year!). Unfortunately, the high school bus comes CRAZY early, so this year's picture-on-the-front-porch was taken in the DARK! Yikes!

While Kevin and I are unbelievably excited to have Carson join our family, we are also crazy about his big sister! She just needs to stop getting older...'cause it's killing her Mommy!!!

YA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Just checked my e-mails at work before going to lunch....we got our LOA today!!!! I am SO distracted, happy, elated, verging on tears...you get the picture! Still planning on late October travel but we are now absolutely, totally, officially Carson's mommy and daddy.

Isn't life GRAND??!!!

The Little Man Shower!

The slide show has arrived!! We had SUCH a great time at our Little Man Shower!! For me, one of the best parts was during the gift opening when everyone just started asking questions...about China, about adoption, about Carson. We had such a great conversation and it was so awesome to me how INTERESTED everyone was in the process and progress of this journey we're on toward our Little Man!

I have made diaper cakes for MANY baby showers in the past, including one for my friend, Katie, who is expecting her first child (a boy!) at the end of September. Katie was teasing me that she was gonna bring an "underwear cake" to our shower. We laughed about the prospect of that...and she DID IT!!!! (Check out the photo!) The bottom layer is a container of wipes surrounded with big boy underpants, the middle layer is pull-ups around a crayon-shaped thermos, and the top is (of course) a baseball hat!! Isn't that the funniest and most creative thing you've EVER seen!!??!! What a HOOT!!!!

Don't get me wrong, I was overwhelmed with the generosity of all the gifts we received on Sunday and they were all GREATLY appreciated. Katie's gift, though, definitely required a special effort. (And, besides, the photo wouldn't go in the slide show 'cause Meggie photographed it vertically instead of horizontally -- can't seem to figure out how to flip those pictures!!)

My mom has been asking lots of questions (and clearly listening to the answers) when it comes to this adoption. At the beginning of the shower, my mom handed me a box filled with various lotions, lipsticks, perfumes and colognes (see photo) -- all to be used as gifts in China! For those who don't know, gift giving is VERY important in the Chinese culture. We are expected to bring gifts for the various officials we will deal with as well as for Carson's foster parents and the nannies who cared for him in the orphanage. The gifts don't have to be expensive and, since gift giving is such a large part of the culture, it is acceptable for them to re-gift something given to them. So, no worries if we're giving a lipstick to a man or a necktie to a woman! Anyway, based on the number of gifts we are expected to take with us, Mom has us covered!! We now have plenty of gifts (probably a few extras, actually) and one less expense for the trip. Thanks, Mom!!! You're the best!!!!

Still no LOA -- today is day 99, but I'm doing fine! I think I'm doing better with waiting beause I am feeling so grateful for the wonderful people in our lives who are helping us shower Carson with love before they even meet him!!

We are, indeed, truly blessed!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

The "Little Man Shower" yesterday was absolutely awesome! So many family and friends attended, the weather was beautiful, the food was fantastic...we are so totally grateful for the outpouring of love and support!! Many thanks go out to my sister, Debbie, and her husband, Brandon, for hosting the shower!! (Don't worry, guys, we'll pay you back with a shower for your little one in a few months!!)

Meggie started school today (9th grade, yikes!) so -- needless to say -- it has been a busy evening of filling out paperwork and purchasing supplies. While she has been busily decorating her binders and organizing her stuff, I have been working on a project for my Bachelor's degree program (due Thursday). We'll post a slide show from the shower as soon as we both get a little more caught up, I promise!

Kevin Fed-Ex'd our passports today to obtain our travel visas -- should take less than a week, we're told. Very exciting...yet very scary to mail off your passport!!! One more thing off the "to do" list!

Last night, I had another unfortunate bout of insomnia. By midnight -- when I realized I was NOT going to fall asleep soon -- it was too late to take a sleep aid and still be able to wake for work today. So I had to function at work on only four hours of sleep -- not a pretty sight!!

In an attempt to relax and get sleepy last night, I checked my Yahoo mailbox and decided to read the 50-plus e-mails waiting for me. One of them was from a woman named Lisa (yet another angel in my life) who was just at the Hefei orphanage in August, took photos, and posted them in the photos section of the Adopted From Hefei Yahoo group. Guess what?? Carson was in about half of them!!! Brought tears to my sleepy eyes! In correspondence with her today, she offered to e-mail me all the pictures she had with Carson in them -- look for a slide show of that on the blog very soon!

We're still waiting for the LOA to arrive...and my heart continues to ache for my Little Man.

Making Continuous Progress...

All of the TP2 documents have been signed, notarized, and Fed-Ex'd as of yesterday afternoon! One more thing off my "to do" list! It's funny...along with TP2 came requests for more money and we DON'T EVEN CARE!! We will be spending $350 to get our travel visas, plus I had to send our agency the Post-Adoption Fee this week. (That fee is refundable in full if we fulfill all of their requirements once we are back home with Carson. So many people get home and figure, "We have our kid, leave us alone!" However, China requires the adoption agencies to follow-up with the children who are placed and report back. As a means to have full cooperation from their families, CCAI requires a $500 fee before placement of the child, then refunds it in full if you cooperate in the follow-up home studies, etc. Yeah, we can do that!!)

Today is gonna be jam packed!! Meggie is DYING to get some new clothes for back-to-school...which starts Monday! So, we're off to schlepp around to all the local stores for the afternoon...that girl is SO PICKY when it comes to clothes!!! I have to run to the grocery for a couple of things and go to the bank for cashier's checks for the travel visas. We're also planning on visiting my sister, Nikki...she moved into a new place this week and we're going to go see it! Oh, yeah, and I have a project to work on for school, gotta fill out all of Meggie's back-to-school paperwork (emergency forms and that sort of thing), still need to pay those bills....uh-oh, I'd better stop or I'll have another meltdown in my future!!

Tomorrow we have our "Little Man Shower"...my sister, Debbie, is hosting it at her house. Thank goodness, the weather is supposed to calm a bit...these 100+ degree days are killers!! This shower will be family and a bunch of friends we haven't seen in a while. Can't wait to see everybody!! And Debbie has a Chinese-and-American-fare menu that I'm VERY excited to sample!!

Off to the races...we'll post a slide show of the shower pictures tomorrow evening!!

Feeling Overwhelmed...Just When I Need to be Productive!!

Monday brought TP2...which was great!! I rushed home from work, downloaded the packet of information...and realized I have a TON of things to do!! In TP2, there are more documents that must be signed and notarized (of course!). We also need to send our Passports off to get our Travel Visas. TP2 also gives us lots of heads-up information about the trip...giving me plenty more things to worry about!

Let's also not forget the everyday things like paying bills, doing laundry, working full-time, getting Meggie ready for back-to-school, working on my Bachelor's Degree...etc, etc, etc. Is it any wonder I can't fall asleep at night??!

Tuesday I got home from work...and had a panic attack! There were piles of gifts everywhere from our shower (now that things are "official," Meggie and Kevin are sorting through things and putting together all the toys), tons of dirty laundry, bills had to be paid, still working on the thank you notes from our shower...I got just a tad overwhelmed and freaked out! (Poor Meggie and Kevin...they did their best to keep me from total meltdown!) I went straight to my bedroom after dinner and wrote thank you notes 'til bed time. I just HAD to get something accomplished...doing a little of this and a little of that is making me feel like I'm getting nowhere FAST!

Wednesday after work, I had to buckle down. I finished the thank you notes and went through the TP2 info, filling out all the forms and organizing what needs to be notarized and what doesn't.

Today has been a whirlwind. Meggie had a doctor's appointment to get her vaccinations for travel, then we met Kevin at the bank for document signing and notarizing. Now I have to organize all the documents (keeping copies just in case...) and get them ready for Kevin to Fed-Ex tomorrow. Did I mention they want these documents back in 5-7 days?? Whew...while I'm overwhelmed, at least I'm doing SOMETHING! (Gotta look for that silver lining, right?!)

Besides, every busy day between now and Gotcha Day is a step in the right direction...the direction that heads us toward China!!

Eerie...and Wonderful!!

I just KNEW something was gonna happen today. (After all, Carson told me in my dream, right?!) I even wore my "Hello Kitty" Asian-inspired scrub top to work today for good mo-jo! I got an e-mail at 2:30 this afternoon (although I didn't see it 'til 3:10) that we can download Travel Packet 2!!! YEAH!! I screamed like a loon and skipped around the department for a while -- yeah, I looked a little nutty, but who cares?! -- and got LOTS of hugs from co-workers! Good day, indeed!!

For those who have forgotten, getting TP2 means our dossier has been moved into the Match Room and our LOA will be coming in the next seven days or so! We still won't be traveling in September, but at least we are getting OFFICIAL NEWS!!

I just KNEW Carson was right in my dream this weekend...it WILL be fine!!!