Travel Approval!!

China finally issued our Travel approval on October 18th!!  GWCA received a batch of TA's the day before and we were not included.  It was our anniversary and I was sick so I was hoping for some good news.  When our TA didn't come I was so upset and mad at myself for making a mistake on our I-800 form.  When our travel counselor called with our TA on Thursday we so excited and relieved! I guess there was a shipping glitch the day before with our package. Jenny submitted our request for our consulate appointment that day.  We were told it would take 2-5 days for confirmation but we got our appointment the next day!  It was about time we caught a break.

 It's hard to believe that we will be leaving for China on November 15th!!!!  We fly into Beijing on the 16th and will tour the city on the 17th.  On the 18th we will fly to Nanchang, Jiangxi and be joined with Ava!  This day will forever be known as Gotcha day! We will be able to tour her province for a few days before we fly to Guangzhou on November 23rd.  While we are in Guangzhou we will again tour the city but we will also have medical appointments for Ava, attend an oath ceremony on the 28th and pick up Ava's passport and Visa on the 29th.  On November 29th we will take a train to Hong Kong where we will board a plane on November 30th to fly home!! 

After hours on the phone Friday we booked our international flights with United and booked a hotel in Hong Kong.  GWCA will be booking all of our intra-China flights, tours, and hotels.  So the countdown has begun, we leave for China in 22 days!!  It is so surreal and overwhelming.  We were hoping to be home for Thanksgiving but we will be celebrating in China instead.  There is so much to be thankful for this year!!

Every step is complete!  One more step to Ava!!

Wanzai SWI

I was looking at Ava's update photo's an noticed some similarities from the photo that I thought was the orphanage.  What stood out was the door, columns and windows.  We are 99% sure that this is where Ava spent a few weeks in February 2012 and we believe she may spend her days here before going home with her foster family!  We are so happy we found this since we are not allowed to travel to her area.  


Notice the 2 white columns, the windows and the blue doors. 



Now look beyond the door you can see the white column.  Also, you can see the reflection of the windows in the floor and of course the blue door!

Preparing for Ava



 

 

Ava's room is just about complete!  We just need to pick up a few more odds and ends for our trip and buy some more toys for our baby girl.  After all this time, I cant wait to have her home and in her room.  Brian is already stressing about her room being across the house and wants to move her crib to our room. He says she will be to far away from us in her room.  Truth is she probably has never been alone.  We heard they babies usually sleep with other foster children or their foster mom. We are gonna have to play that one by ear. 

 

I found this adorable dress for Ava for one of our important appointments.  I'd like to find one more for her to bring with us.  Brian surprised me with a trip to Coach so I could chose a diaper bag for me and Ava.  I decided on a little matching clutch for my things.  If it was up to my very amazing husband I would have gotten much more! 

Article 5 and LSC!

The US Consulate in Guangzhou, China finally issued our Article 5 on September 25, 2012.  Our Article 5 lets the CCCWA know that we are approved by the US to adopt Ava.  Our agency's office in Beijing received it on September 27, 2012 and delivered our Article 5, along with our Letter Seeking confirmation (this form tells the Chinese officials that we want to adopt Ava) to the CCCWA on September 28, 2012!  Finally, all of the paperwork is complete!  We are now waiting for the CCCWA to issue our Travel Approval which will allow us to travel to China and bring Ava home!  Of course the CCCWA received our paperwork on their last day to work before they close for one week due to a national holiday.  We never seem to be able to catch a break!  They will reopen on Monday October 8 and hopefully issue our TA in 10-14 days.  Then we will finally be able to make travel arrangements!! Last week we also received our Chinese Visa's so we are ready to go!

 

We are so excited and overwhelmed!  It is truly surreal to think after all this time we will meet our baby girl!  While we are excited we are also trying to prepare ourselves for the tough times too.  Ava will most likely be pretty scared on gotcha day. She will grieve the loss of everyone and everything she knows.  We have to work hard to help her build trust in us so she knows we will always be there to take care of her.  We are looking forward to our time in China to bond with Ava and to see her country.  In the meantime we are spending all of our time together to enjoy our last few weeks as a couple.  We are spending time with friends, traveling, riding the bike, and going out to dinner.  We do not plan to leave Ava with anyone for awhile so we are living it up while we can! 

Finally an expectant mother!!  Me at Universal Studios with the family :)

 

 

We also joined a group called First Coast Families with Children from China.  All of the families in the group have either already adopted from China or are in the process of adopting.  We attended our first event last weekend at Hanna Park.  Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.  The event took place at the beach on a beautiful evening.  It was a bit intimidating walking into a large group of people but everyone was very welcoming.  The event was to celebrate the Autumn Festival, also known as the moon festival.  We are looking forward to other events and getting to know other families.