We Have Travel Approval!!!

Well, it's been issued!!!!  Our long awaited for travel approval is on it's way and I am waiting again!  This time we are waiting for our consulate appointment.  We've been waiting for over 24 hours now.  I'm very much NOT good at waiting.  However, this is necessary and at least the wait is not 2 weeks.  Got to find the positive right?  I have a very good feeling that we will hear today about our consulate appointment and that then I can email the travel agent and get her to work on our itinerary.  And then maybe, just maybe, we will have an actual, tangible date.  Something I can put on the calendar that Grace can see and we can start the countdown.

In the meantime, I have been buying the last of the gifts that we need to take.  These are my favorite.

Not only because of what they say but mostly because of who made them.  She's special to me!  Thanks Laura. For being a part of this journey.  You can check out her blog.  She's got lots of cute stuff on there and her prices are really good!  The name of her blog is Cute As A Button.  Hopefully....I will be back later today with a date!  It's a great day people!

Haywire in 3...2...

Well we've reached the part of the adoption process that I call "Haywire".  What I mean by that is things could get potentially crazy today.  Or maybe in the next hour.  Or even quite possibly in the next 30 seconds.  Why might things get haywire in such a seemingly small amount of time you might ask?  Because of the phone.  It could ring.  Any day.  Hour.  Minute.  With the news that we can come to China to get our little one!  It's very hard during this time to not let the possibility of the phone ringing control your daily life.  With Grace it seemed that I checked the phone every single minute just to be sure that I might not have possibly missed a call.  (Even though the phone was right beside me during that time!)  So....to try and combat this control the phone seems to place over me during this stage I've decided to leave it on silent and check it only at lunch and before bed.  So far....this is working pretty good.  But I have struggled with it today. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow that we have been waiting on travel approval.  We could wait another 2 weeks.  Or they could call today.  Ugh!!!  See what I mean?  I've also decided I'm not doing one more blessed thing to get ready to go.  I'm not buying one more thing or getting one more thing on the "China collection wall" in the dining room.  I am busy spending time with Grace since it is the last precious time I will have with her by herself.  We are going to do something fun everyday.  Something to help the time go by.  And something that will help invest in her while she still has my undivided attention.  I am also going to busy myself by having people over.  Tonight my precious friend Julie and her husband will come over with their 5 children and we will fill this house and yard up with noise and fun!  So much so that it may take all day on Tuesday to get over it!  I haven't seen them in years it seems like and I will get to meet that newest little one Sam.  Can't wait to get my hands on him!

Also, last week Grace got to spend the entire week with her Aunt Lauren, and Uncle Steve and towards the end of the week she went to my parents.  Two lessons learned from this.....1)  This is entirely TOO long to spend away from her parents who absolutely adore her.  and 2)  It is absolutely a good thing that she got to spend this much time away from her parents who absolutely adore her.  She actually missed us and was ready to come home!!!  This is huge for her!  After almost 5 years of being adopted she has actually acted like she could take us or leave us.  Yesterday when we pulled down the drive and our house came into view she said, "Yea!  I'm home!  This is the place I love most!"  That totally made my heart smile! :)  While she was gone she lost another tooth.  Another growth opportunity for her mommy who likes to be apart of everything!  Her Uncle Steve was the lucky one who got to pull it although I'm not sure that he considers it lucky.  Grace said she thought he was going to throw up.  Ha!  Here is the picture of the moment.  Enjoy......and when we get our travel approval I will let you know!