My Girls Friends!

These are the girls who have stood behind me. They have been there through the highs and the lows. They have listened to me late at night. They have hugged me when I thought I couldn't go on. These woman have cheered me on. They have prayed for me and believed when at times I have not. I am so thankful for these ladies. Thank you each and everyone of you for being a part of this journey. I don't know how I would have made it to the end of this journey without you. I thank God for your friendships. The top picture was taken at a surprise baby shower. I couldn't just post this picture. I had to add 3 women that were not there.

Here are the daughters that also came to the baby shower. Oh my goodness it was a fun party. They all wrote advice about raising girls. I think I learned the most from what the daughters wrote. My girl friends, you have raised amazing daughters. Love you all!

19 days and counting!!!

I am sitting right now in Renee's room. Besides being messy, since it is where we will be packing, it is all ready for her!! I just washed some clothes and put them in her new dresser that my mom brought for her. The tickets are bought and the schedule is set. Here it is:
Wed., March 14 - Leave for Beijing
Thurs., March 15 - Arrive in Beijing late that night
Friday, March 16 - Sight seeing and touring the Great Wall
Sat., March 17 - Adoption Agency's Orientation and sightseeing
Sunday, March 18 - Fly to Nanchang and meet Renee!!!!
Monday, March 19 - Sign the paperwork to adopt her officially
Tuesday, March 20 - Possibly visit her orphanage if it can be worked out
Wed. March 21 - Sightsee in her province
Thurs., March 22 - sightsee in her province
Friday, March 23 - Fly to Guangzhou (the city where the U.S. paperwork gets done)
Saturday, March 24 - Renee's Medical Exam
Sunday, Monday March 25-26 - Sightseeing and lots of paperwork
Tuesday, March 27 - U.S. Consulate Appointment
Wed., March 28 - Get Renee's visa to enter the U.S.
Thurs., March 29 Train to Hong Kong
Friday 30 Fly from Hong Kong and arrive home!

Last night was a little stressful. Our official copy of our travel approval was to be delivered by fedex. I would have to sign for it. At about 7pm (it was a busy day) I was getting frustrated that it wasn't here yet. So I went online to track it. When I got to the tracking page, I was shocked to read that it was delivered. I ran to the door to see if it was left outside and of course it wasn't there. I had obviously not signed for it. I ran back to the computer and saw that a person had signed for it that I did not know!! I called Fedex and was told that the local office in our area was contacted and they were working with the driver and would call me. I tell my husband what has happened and he calmly says to go look in the phone book. What a smart husband I have. I looked for the name in the phone book and thankfully there was only one person in the book by this name. They live at the same house number as us a road behind our house. I instantly call the number and a lady speaking broken English answers the phone. Thankfully she knew what I was talking about and said she had the envelope. My husband went right over and I finally had it in my hands. Seriously, it never looked so good. Wow! It didn't take that long to find it, but it got my heart pumping. I have heard people say that the paper work we have done is the closes thing to having our child in our hands at this point. We guard and protect it. I remember when we had a tornado warning, I made sure to grab it along with the rest of my family as we went to the basement. So I suppose not having the piece of paper was like loosing my Renee. I desperately had to get to her and it was such a relief to have her in my hands! :) Soon she will be in my arms for real!!

Happy Belated Birthday Renee!!

TA! Two beautiful letters!! We don't know for sure when we will travel until we get our CA. ("TA" means travel approval and "CA" means consulate appointment, which is the very last appointment you have before you can go home.) Once that last appointment is set you can plan your whole trip. We are hope to have a CA around 3/29. If we get it, then we should leave Mar. 15th or 16th!! One month from today!!! I will post more later once my fingers stop shaking so I can type. :)

Happy Birthday, Renee!!

Today my little one celebrates her 2nd birthday. I wish I was with her. I had hoped when we were matched with her at the end of August that we would be together by now. I have been hoping that we would receive our Travel Approval today. What a way to celebrate this day, but it did not happen. It has been a sad day. Many have said to me that I will be in China soon and we can celebrate it with her then. Yes, this is true. We are so close to traveling now. I can look forward to that day, but this mama is just so tired of waiting. I am throwing a party right now. It is a big pity party. Honestly, I am in a very selfish and self centered mood.
This is the last birthday you will celebrate without your forever family, Renee! We will be there very soon!

WooHoo!!!!!

I just was notified by the consulate that my article 5 was picked up!! This means that there are no steps left. I am officially waiting for Travel Approval!!! Hopefully we can get Travel Approval between 15 to 21 days from now. Our agency sends two groups a month. So we hope to be with the second group that leaves Mar. 16th. That is 43 days from today!!! (I just counted the days for the first time.) Wow! After 1493 days of waiting(yeah I just counted) 43 days of waiting is nothing!! Renee turns 2 on Feb. 15th. Sure would be wonderful to get our TA that day!