the picture I forgot to post

It was a Christmas miracle!

All three of my kids in one picture, smiling, on the FIRST try, no less!

The answer is...not yet.

It's been a rough week around here. I belong to a couple of online forums/yahoo groups of kids being adopted from China. Every last one of them with our Article 5 date (the last piece of paperwork we turned in) received their travel permission last week and most have received consulate appointments. (This is the date that your trip revolves around.)

SIGH.

I generally belong to these groups to read tips from others who have gone before us, to find out a little bit more about how the trip works, and so on. At this point though, all it has done is cause me total agony and plenty of stress, knowing we are still waiting even though we rushed to get paperwork done. Probably what makes it harder is knowing that the offices we need shut down from February 2nd through the 8th for Chinese New Year.

Whining aside, he is still coming home very soon. We're hoping to receive travel permission this Monday, and we could hear something about travel dates on Tuesday. We are still hoping to go in late February if at all possible.

Is it today?

We're number one on the list for travel approval for our agency. According to websites I check in with occasionally, it looks like many times, this comes on a Monday. We're hoping to hear something today!!

Meanwhile, Eli's little friend, who he has been with since being a baby, left today to meet his forever family. I am so excited for little C and for his family, but it brings the reality of what we're doing a little closer to home as well. C's mom emailed to say that he is sad right now, which she expected, and we expect with Eli. However, it doesn't necessarily make it any easier in real life, especially when you know these boys are happy-go-lucky little boys who come bounding in front of the webcam on Sunday nights.

We're adopting a four year old. Yes, the four year old may be a child who lives in a foster care center and needs a family, but the center is the only family he has ever known. With friends who are like brothers and sisters to him.

We are so excited to go and finally get Eli and bring him here, to get him the medical care we know he needs, and to show him the love of a family. The reality is that we are much more excited than he is going to be, and we need to be prepared for that.

I've been busy....obsessing

That's right. It finally hit. First I was able to clean out every closet and container known to man in our house. Then, I busied myself with all kinds of chores and adoption related to-do lists. Had we not been waiting for travel right before Chinese New Year, this would have worked. We'd be traveling soon. However, since the New Year is February 2nd, it's going to be a while. As in, probably another month.

At this point, I am at the end of my patience, kind of like I was at the end of each pregnancy. Ready to be finished, ready to see my child's face in real life. So, I've spent more time on the computer lately (but not here on the blog, where I have nothing to report!) and less time doing things I actually should be doing.

Off to do some laundry and wait.......hopefully I'll have some news on Monday (which, in adoption land from China, is the day that many of these types of things show up).

some birthday pictures

Here's the birthday girl, just turned three.

And....one of the greatest surprises for me....here's the birthday boy, just turned four.


When we began this adoption, we had hoped to be home with him before his birthday. (We started the adoption in April of last year, after all. It seemed reasonable at the time. ;) However, it wasn't meant to be, and in some ways, I'm glad.

He got to spend this very special day with some very special people who have cared for him and loved on him since he was a tiny baby. He will miss them greatly, and I know they will miss him. He's in a loving place...they threw him a party that rivaled what we did here with Norah. For that, we are so very thankful.

Happy birthday to my Irish twins!

Born exactly one year apart on this day in countries halfway around the world from their forever families.

closer and closer to Eli

As our date to travel gets nearer, I find that I have a harder time waiting. I remember this same feeling at the end of my pregnancies....kind of like a small child waiting for Christmas. I can't wait to meet him!

We know that this transition is going to be a tough one for him. Obviously we have no idea how he'll handle it, but living in the foster care center is all he's ever known. He seems to have strong attachments to the nannies, and that is very good news if my guess is correct. The fact that he's attached to them helps with his attachment to us later.

Many have asked us about his language and how we'll handle that. The best answer I have for anyone is that I don't know. We have learned a few simple phrases to get us by and we plan to pair some really basic signs during the time in China so that at least he'll be able to communicate basic needs to us. (We're talking basic here, people. Help, potty, eat and sleep.) Beyond that, there are some things we'll have to figure out as we go along.

Tomorrow is his birthday. He shares his birthday with his sister, Norah, so as we are celebrating her, he will be in our hearts as well.

For those who are wondering, we are now waiting for travel approval (TA). Our wait began on Tuesday, when our article 5 was picked up and taken to the appropriate office. Our agency tells us that they begin looking for approval around two weeks after this date. Once we receive TA, we will apply for a consulate appointment with the help of our agency. This will be after Chinese New Year due to the holiday. However, we should know the appointment date within a couple of days of receiving our TA and therefore, we will know when we are traveling hopefully by the middle of this month. I can NOT wait!

Sick.

With very little sleep, words aren't coming to me today. Will is sick, presumably with an ear infection that is leaving him lacking sleep and not wanting to eat.

It is a delicate tightrope we walk. With his mito dysfunction and without sleep, his GI system starts to have issues. When the GI system has issues, we see reflux. Reflux causes fluid in his ears and swallowing trouble as his esophageal dysmotility is worse. The fluid in his ears causes an ear infection (which is how we got in this situation in the first place), and the whole cycle repeats itself.

We do this dance every winter. Every winter, he gets a fresh new set of PE tubes. Last year I asked the doctor for the more permanent tubes. He declined, for reasons I can't fully remember. So, again this winter, as soon as the cold season hit, the dance began again.

Today I'm on the phone with the doctor's office, having cancelled his school, his respite worker, and other activities we had planned for the day. The bad news is that I'll be waiting all day for them to call me back. Then, how soon I can get him in to see the (very busy) ENT and get surgery scheduled is another battle entirely.

Each winter we lose months because of this ongoing battle. Today, I'm feeling defeated. Some days I wonder. I know we have a good team of doctors and that they want what's best for Will. We've dropped those that had no bedside manner or didn't seem to understand that his needs were more than the average kid, but overall, we are pretty lucky. Why is it then, that we have to fight year after year, losing months each time, over something so minor (in the grand scheme, at least)?

Off to get another cup of coffee and wait on the phone some more. Maybe I'll have better news next post. ;)