As you can imagine, we were kind-of walking around on cloud 9 on Wednesday. The girls were screaming and so excited to know we can finally start counting down the weeks until they meet their little sister! We made a paper chain so they have something tangible to keep track on.
(Of course they were disappointed with my color choices and wanted to know why I didn't get them pink and purple paper!) We made 12 links and the girls will tear one off each week. I really hope there is one or two links left when we leave and not that we need to add a couple more! Most families travel 10-14 weeks after LOA. Twelve weeks for us falls on May 2nd, so as of right now...that's what I'm shooting for. Leaving on May 2nd also means we will be home around May 16th/17th...just in time for Brynna's recital and graduation!
This is the package I went home for on my lunch hour Thursday! It had LOTS of important papers in it.
The most important one of course was the LOA. It was stamped on a very important date. On 2/6/98, Brielle's mommy and daddy "officially" started dating! On 2/6/12, Brielle's mommy and daddy received official approval to adopt her!
Inside the package was also a t-shirt for each of us from our agency, including a tiny one for Brielle! On the back, it says Families...Made with Love. It then has the words in Chinese and Korean, since our agency works with both countries. I love that the girls had a little surprise in the much anticipated package too!
Also in the package was our I800 form. Back in March, we filed our I800A with US immigration, which basically approved our family as suitable to adopt a child. This next form will approve us to adopt Brielle specifically. We also completed documents for her visa and some agency things. (No changing her name now since it's written on official government documents!!) All of the documents were signed (& notarized if needed) and overnighted back to our agency. They received them today and sent in our I800. We should have that approval back in about 3 weeks. From there, the steps become a little confusing. In general, once our I800 is approved, the National Visa Center will be notified, allowing more US paperwork to be taken care of at the US consulate in China. Once that is completed, China will be notified that Brielle is allowed to immigrate to the US and China will then issue our TA- Travel Approval. We will schedule our Consulate Appt, book our flights, and be on our way!!
We did find out today that others with our agency also received LOAs this week which means we may have some travel companions! We hope this might work out, but we are also thankful our agency does not require us to travel in a group. This is important because it means we will be allowed to request the first available consulate appt and leave as soon as possible after our TA is issued.
Back when we received our referral and knew we'd be traveling in the spring, Alex had told me that it would work out well for him since he isn't as busy at work during that time. Wednesday night, he said if he had to choose the 4 "least busy" weeks out of the
entire year for him at work, he would say April 15-May 15. Hmm...how convenient. :) Just another reminder that God has it all worked out and we just need to trust Him!
Instead with walking-calculator daddy at home, he has her practicing math facts a lot. She's excited about the ice cream party on Friday for the kids who have reached a certain point(passing a certain number of timed tests). Until just a few years ago, Braylee didn't like ice cream. As she was enjoying a bowl the other night, she told Alex, "I didn't even like ice cream at first. What was I thinking??!" :) She sure loves it now!
