What a whirlwind since our last post!

We did receive travel approval and are heading to Beijing in two days!!!!!  We leave Norfolk at 0535 Wednesday morning, make our connection in Newark; then nonstop to Beijing!  While in Beijing, we plan to visit the Great Wall and visit a few other points of interest.  We are also going to try to recover from what I hear to be horrific jet lag.

On July 15th, we're off to X'ian, which is where we'll meet our son.  :)  We'll spend about 5 days in X'ian; then we're off the Guangzhou.  After a few days in Guangzhou, we'll catch a train to Hong Kong; then fly home on July 27th!

For all of you still in process, I will say that after all those months of waiting, the time between the issuance of our Article 5 and leaving the mainland, seemed to just fly by with all on our "to do" list.  Whatever you can do ahead of time, please do so.

We're pretty much packed for our Wednesday departure.  It has been quite interesting; packing for a 2-week trip, with one carryon < 11 lbs per person, and one checked back < 44 lbs per person (which are the requirements for domestic travel in China.  We WILL be doing laundry while there.  All of our adoption paperwork is packed (I hope), and we have a few last things to throw in the suitcases. 

It's so hard to believe, but in less than 1 week, we'll have our son!!!!!!

Happy, happy, happy times!

Judy, Tony, and let's not forget....Becker  Bruno

We did receive our Article 5 and are now awaiting travel approval.  We could possibly be in the July 13th group, so we're very excited about this development!

We've made initial contact with Lotus, which is the travel agency we're using to book pretty much everything.  I had to sit down, when I found out just how expensive flights are during the summer.  Adult tickets can run between $2000-$3000 each, and a one-way ticket for Colin $1000-$1500.  This doesn't include in-country travel, hotels, meals, etc. etc. or an upgraded ticket to economy plus, which affords a little more leg room.  Despite the expense, I still think we'll upgrade the tickets to make the flight home a little more manageable.

I'm trying to come from the mindset, that it is what it is, and the end of this journey, our family will be united.  So hard to fatham that we could be holding our son in 4 weeks!  :)

My colleagues and friends at the hospital, did throw a second baby shower for me.  We (Colin) received a lot of goodies!  It was so very appreciated.  I'm truly blessed to work with such a fantastic group of people.

Colin's Cake:

Gift table:

Friends/Colleagues:

We're getting closer to our sweet Colin!  We have received our provisional approval from the USCIS and our NVC letter.  All of our paperwork has been submitted to the US Consulate in China.  We are now awaiting the issuance of our Article 5.  We had hoped to be traveling in June; however, based on current estimates, it's looking like we're a long shot for the July 13th group, with July 27th being more realistic.

I had my first baby shower on May 1st.  A couple pics are posted below.  Tony's aunt sent us a lovely stroller.  Thank you aunt Janet!  It will receive much use!  The hospital has planned another shower June 6th.  I attempted to protest, as I don't want it to appear I'm using my role to influence gift giving.  I was quickly silenced by one of my nursing leaders.  She said people were so excited for Tony and I, and that many had expressed interest in doing something.  She told me to sit back and enjoy, and to know that people truly cared for me.

So, I did what is hard for many nurses to do....I reliquished control!

Here's a couple of shower pics:

After a LONG 110-day wait, we received our official LOA from China on April 23rd!!!  This allowed us to initiate next steps, which involved additional paperwork being sent to USCIS (Department of Homeland Security).

A piece of advice for families nearing this stage.  Review I-800 instructions ahead of time, and pull together the requested documents.  We spent about 7 hours gathering the necessary information; however, I can tend to be a little obsessive in checking and rechecking our information.

Now, we are awaiting provisional approval.  We're getting closer!

A lot has happened since our last post! 

Approaching the 90-day point, while awaiting our LOA, we requested an update on our sweet Colin.  We received the update 04/18/2012, which allowed the following:

He weighs 17.6 pounds and is about 28 inches tall.  He has 7 teeth, which is up from 3 at Christmas!  He can walk well, when both hands are held by others.  He likes to snatch other children's snacks or toys :) .  He is fearful of strangers and will cry when he meets them.  He likes to play outside.  He is active (oh boy)!  He prefers sweet food, but doesn't really care for sour food (no pickle juice Tony)!  He is healthy and hasn't had recent health concerns.

Here's four new pics.  I just love my baby's sweet smile and cannot wait for us to be united as a family!  Here's Colin:

Well, today is "day 49" of our LOA (letter of acceptance) wait; not that we're counting!  Apparently, the average wait is about 90 days, so we're over half-way there!  Since my last post, we have also decided on our son's name:  Colin Wei Bruno.  Yesterday was his first birthday.  I sure wish we could have been together to celebrate it.

We are also getting his room together.  His crib bedding came in last week, as did his nursery furniture.  I hope to start pulling his room together by this weekend.  With our travel "guesstimate" @ June, we have some time! 

I think we got a great deal on his bedroom suite.  His crib will convert to a toddler bed, and then to a full-size bed.  Most convertible cribs require a separate purchase for bedrails; however, they were included in this particular brand.

Here's a pic of his crib:

Here a link to his bedding

Well, we're still awaiting our LOA (letter of acceptance from China); however we did receive our "assignment" packet via email this week.  I'm still amazed as how organized our adoption agency is, in giving us just enough "things to do" to help pass the time until we can be united with our son.

This packet includes a visa application, in which we have to list his given name and any changes we plan to make to it!  Yikes!  Tony ordered two baby name books last week.  We have them in; however, we now have a timeline to make that decision.  Let's just say..It's a debate!  :)

We have up to 30 days to return this packet, so we do have time.  We're both highlighting names we like, and we'll meet in the middle I'm certain.

We're hopeful that our LOA will arrive within the 90 days that most do.  After that point in time, we should be able to better estimate when we'll be heading to China.

God is good.

Judy

This is a personal post, but I feel compelled to write. 

The next month marks four years since my dad and mother-in-law's passing.  Tony and I have talked about them frequently, especially during this most joyous time in our lives.  The loss has been brought back to the forefront.

A couple of Sunday's ago, Tony and I joked that his mother would have already equipped the entire baby's room by now!  It was also during this time, when I was looking at crib bedding, that I ran across some that had World War II planes all over it, which was something my daddy loved.  Again, it made me sad that he was not here to celebrate with us.

That night, I dreamed of him, which was something I hadn't done in over 3 years.  As I conveyed to a friend of mine, it was like a brief snapshot, but he appeared in my dream, sitting in his easy chair.  What he said to me was simple..."congratulations on your new baby."  It was exactly what I needed to hear that night.

Yesterday, Tony and I finished watching the "Band of Brothers" series.  I don't know how we each missed it, when it first came out, but we did.  Again, during several aspects of this series, my thoughts turned to my dad.  He was born in 1928, so he just missed WW II.  We talked a bit about what those servicemen did/saw, and how it really helps give some clarifying perspective to the daily "stresses" of life today, which are so insignificant.

Last night, I dreamed of my dad again.  I was back in my mom and dad's house, walking down the hallway, when I looked and saw my dad in a room.  I walked in and said hello.  I asked my daddy if he really knew about our baby.  He said, "Yes.  I see him everyday."  I told him how much I loved and missed him, and he said the same to me.  Again, it was like a brief snapshot, that really didn't feel like a dream.

I said to a friend recently, that even though the loss remains, the "rawness" of it does improve over time.  As I sit here with tears running down my face, I am comforted that somehow, someway, my daddy does "know".

Judy

A little over one year ago, Tony and I submitted our application to Holt International.  As we enter into the next stages of our journey, we feel compelled to capture and share certain aspects of it with our family, friends, and colleagues. 

On Tuesday, December 27th, after nearly a year of what we'll call "the paper chase", we received the phone call we had been waiting on!  We had a second son:  Wei Le Wen.  From the moment we saw that first picture, he had melted our hearts.  He was 10 1/2 months at the time of that phone call, with three teeth and a dimple on his left cheek!

I had made a comment to our pediatrician, the week before Christmas, as to how nice it would be to receive "the call" prior to our Christmas holiday.  She was the one who pointed out the date/time stamp on his photos:  12/25/2011.  In the end, we did get our Christmas baby after all!

These are his pictures, taken on Christmas Day, 2011:

I'm not quite sure what's in his bottle!

Such a sweet smile!

If you look close, you can see the dimple on his cheek!

He's mobile!  Lookout Tony!

I just love his expression in this pic!

He's so alert and curious about his surroundings.

We are currently awaiting our LOA (letter of acceptance) from China.  The "average" wait time is around 90 days.  Once we receive that, we can move into next steps of our journey.  Best estimates, are that we'll be heading to China sometime in June 2012.  This is certain to be a long and difficult wait.

Thanks for all the well wishes thus far!  We sincerely appreciate it.

Judy