LOA Has Arrived!!

We finally received that e-mail we've been waiting for today from CCAI!! The Chinese government has sent out "Letter Seeking Confirmation" for us to sign and send back, basically saying "Yes, Yes! We really do want her to be ours!!" Once they get that back, we will be awaiting our travel authorization and our consulate appointment to plan our travel. Chinese New Year begins on Monday, so offices in Beijing will be closed for at least a week. But at least we can now get the ball rolling on our travel visas and we are one GIANT step closer! Our agency thinks we will travel in roughly 5-8 weeks! That means it is looking more likely we will get Lillian home before her 3rd birthday!

So Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Birthday me (tomorrow)! It was feeling like this day might never arrive. Now I know we'll have her home before we know it. Better get back to painting that bedroom we started yesterday!

Getting Lillian's Room All Ready!

Today I will begin painting Lillian's room...I am excited to see the transformation and to get it completely ready.

If only we would get some word on our LOA!!

Today is Jared's 12th birthday--Happy Birthday my big baby boy!! I can't believe he is nearing teenagerhood. He is a delightful kid...I am excited to see him before a big brother to Lilly. I will try to post some photos of his birthday party this weekend...actually it turned into 2 parties. We took about 8 boys to a nearby paintball field to play, but they had run out of paintball guns. So, we had to take 8 forlorn boys back home, where they played capture the flag for about 2-3 hours in the woods! They had a blast, and I kept saying they seemed to be having more fun playing in the woods than they would have had playing paintball. Such fun to see them romping through the woods, all boy, having the whole woods to themselves. We finished off that day with presents, pizza, a nerf war in the front yard, and birthday cake around the fire pit on the pool deck. BUT, since we had been unable to play paintball, the original plan, we decided to try again on Monday. Tom and two other dads--Carl and Kurt--brough the boys back to the paintball field on MLK day and they were successful in getting the equipment they needed this time! They played for most of the day, and came home so excited and buzzing with the fun they had had. TOm also is sporting some REALLY nasty bruises on his legs from where he got hit--wow. I'm so glad Jared has such a great group of good friends. Thank you Lord!

I will post a few photos of Jared's birthday fun soon!

Nothing new to report...the wait goes on!

We are in what I hope to be the final stages of our wait to go bring Lillian Joy Xiao Xue home. Now that the holidays are behind us and time is marching on in 2009, I am hopeful that we will have some more news soon. We are awaiting our formal Letter of APproval (LOA) from the Chinese government, approving us to become LIllian's parents. Once we have that, we will await a consulate appointmnet time (CA) at the AMerican consulate iN Guangzhou, where we will get her visa to enter the US. Our final approval will be Travel APproval (TA), and we'll travel just a few weeks after TA. I am still hopeful we will be able to bring Lillian home around the time she turns 3 at the end of March.

As the time draws near and the anticipation and excitement grows, I have also begun to think in more concrete terms about the changes ahead for all of us. For Lillian Joy, my heart aches to think of the grieving she has ahead as she leaves her foster family, the orphanage, and the only homes she has ever known and heads into a foreign land with people who do not *really* speak her language. Even though we know how much we already love her, she has no idea what is about to take place in her little life and I know it will be a difficult time for her, especially initially.

I also think about the changes ahead for Jared and for Anna. For 8 years now, it has just been the two of them. I remember when Jared was "de-throned" so to speak at ANna's birth, and how hard it was for me to watch him have to share our attentions and our time. But he was young. Jared and Anna are now very close and play together frequently and usually really well. Adding a third, much younger, child, will change that dynamic a little and I alternate between wondering if they will just ignore Lilly all the time, or if one or the other of them will feel left out if the other is paying lots of attention to their new sister. Just not sure how it will all look and work out!

I think about Jared's age, and the many exciting and new stages that lie just ahead for him--my goodness he turns 12 this week!! I want for him to know that he can talk to us about anything at any time...and don't want him to feel like we are so consumed with our new daugther to have time for him and whatever thigns it is he is pondering.... He is a very thougthful kid...and likes to share his deep thoughts. Hope that continues.

ANd with Anna Grace, who has been the "baby" and the only girl her whole life, I think about the de-throning that will be taking place in that realm now. She has been pretty good about expressing her fears and concerns...I pray that we will more than adequately let her know of her great value and worth and that she will quickly relish her role as big sister. I pray that she will show tenderness and compassion to Lilly, and not resentment and bitterness.

I know our lives are quite full, and TOm's job keeps him away for long hours. I pray that he and I will have time together and good communication to be able to manage these major changes well, without any chance for disunity or discord to take root between us in any way.

For me, I know having a preschooler in the house will bring many changes to the lifestyle I have come to enjoy since both ANna and Jared have been in school during the day. So many things I hvae gotten involved in I plan to step down from for a season. It will be different, for sure. I want to relish these changes and savor the intensive time with Lillian. I am excited to be doing fun kid activities with her that will promote bonding, attachment, and language development.

Today and tomorrow I hope to get her room painted...we moved furniture and taped the walls yesterday to get ready.

Oh, I hope our LOA gets here soon!

WOW! Trying to catch up on this weblog!!

Happy 2009! Can't believe Christmas has now come and gone, and we are beginning 2009. We are excited that this is the year, Lord willing, that we will bring Lilly home to her forever family.

Let me catch you up on our comings and goings since November!

We were thrilled to have a string of visitors through November and December. After Doug and Judi's visit here in early November, Jeremy, Emily, and Peter joined us for Thanksgiving, which was lots of fun. Peter is only 6 weeks younger than Lilly, so it was fun not just to spend time with this funny and sweet little guy, but also to see what 2 1/2 year olds are up to in order to prepare us for Lilly's arrival! The kids had a blast with Peter here, and we managed to find all sorts of fun things to do--including the Air Armament museum, some hikes in the woods, a local playground, the beach, and swimming in our pool.

"Auntie" Gracie stayed for a quick week in mid-December, and helped me not to lose my mind as we frantically baked and made candies to give to friends, neighbors, and co-workers, wrapped presents, assembled fruit baskets, finished up last-minute Christmas shopping together, and all the other pre-holiday to-do items on my list!! She got to enjoy Jared's winter band concert and Anna's Christmas party at school. She got the quick and dirty look at my daily life (even sharing the kids' bathroom for a week--yikes!) and she still kept smiling all week long!

Finally, my whole family was here for Christmas (sadly, minus my sister-in-law, Ollie who was home working). We rented a large beach home nearby and stayed together for a week, celebrating the birth of Christ, enjoying time together, playing with the new Wii Nana and Pap Pap gave the kiddos, jogging, walking, and playing on the beach, and eating lots of yummy meals together (note to self, however, fondue night doesn't work with a table filled with 13 people, 6 of whom are minors!). It was nice for us to have a "staycation" and not be the ones traveling over the holidays. We recognize what a task it is to travel, and appreciate our family's willingness to come down here all that much more. We did, however, miss our time with the Cantilina clan this year...tomorrow we will join them via skype to open presents "together."

Enjoy the photos...if I were more tech savvy (or at least "blog savvy") I would know how to attach labels to each photo. But you're all very smart so I'm sure you'll figure out who is who!!

It has been a whirlwind few months, and we have LOVED every minute of it. All the excitement has helped the time to pass very quickly. Which is a good thing, since I might have lost my mind without all of these divine distractions!

So, the next major event in our lives--hopefully--is our trip to China to meet and bring home Lillian Joy. Stay tuned here as I plan to keep the blog updated as things unfold and as we travel. Just 3 approvals left to get, which will come one by one. Once we have our final travel approval (TA) will will likely travel 2-3 weeks later. Pray with us that Lilly would be kept safe and healthy as she waits for us. Praise God with us for her foster family who is caring for her now.

Happy 2009!