Waiting for TA!

We are currently waiting on Travel Approval (TA) from China. When we received our referral, we had to sign an Acceptance Letter stating that we accept the child that is being referred to us. How can we refuse the little girl God intended us to have?! There are 7 other families traveling with us and all of them have to have their acceptance letters to LHAA before they can send to China. Hopefully they are on their way to China as I type this update. Once China receives the Acceptance Letters, they will give us approval to travel to China. Once the agency receives TA, they will then coordinate all the necessary appointments that need to be made while we are in China, including a physical for the baby and our consulate appointment which finalizes the adoption before traveling back to the U.S. We should hear something within the next two weeks or so.

We have been floating on cloud nine since last Friday! Dave and I are feeling a little overwhelmed, in a good way, about all that needs to be done. First order of business for me was shopping for Rachel! I have been waiting to do this for 3 years now! Mom and I went to the new outlets in Sanatoga and bought about 20 new outfits for Rachel. I had a blast! Hopefully 12 months clothing will fit her chubby little body. LOL. Dave and I decided to take off on Friday to regroup and to start making our to-do and packing lists. There is so much to think about. We are only allowed to have one check on suitcase weighing no more than 44 lbs per person. How do you pack only 44 lbs. when you are in another country for two weeks! We have a lot of practicing to do. We can't even have a suitcase for Rachel because she isn't traveling to China with us. I can have a suitcase for her coming home, but I can't take one with us. So all that needs to be packed for Rachel, needs to be packed in our three suitcases. This will be a major challenge for me.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers for a speedy TA and that we will be fully prepared to travel. Please pray that we will have safe travel as well. I'm quite nervous about the flights. 13 1/2 hours on a plane is quite scary to Jake and I. We plan to fly out of Newark, NJ since it is a direct flight to Beijing.

Thank you to all of those who posted comments on our blog. They are truly treasured!