Somedays I refresh my blog just to see if we've made any progress. I know it is ridiculous since IF we'd made progress I would know before my blog, but still I hit that refresh button knowing nothing would change.
That is how focused I can get on the waiting.
We did get our NVC PDF on Tuesday which in theory meant our agency sent our packet on to China Tuesday. But the lady who does packets was out of the office, then the person who prints checks, then they didn't have a photo...
So today they over-nighted our package to their courier in China. Since there is no drop-off on the US consulate on Mondays most likely our packet will be dropped off on Tuesday, Feb. 21st...only 5 days later than I was hoping when we got our NVC approved e-mail on Monday.
The Article 5 takes exactly two weeks from drop-off so most likely on March 6th we will start our TA wait. That is only 6 1/2 weeks from referral. Pretty good when you put it like that.
TA's come 1-4 weeks later. Here's praying for the shorter end of that stick :) Two weeks seems to be fairly average so is more probable.
If TA came March 20th, well, then I'm on the plane March 21st. We already have our VISAs. (Usually one travels 2-3 weeks after TA so if one was to force oneself to be realistic and stop getting her hopes up we'll be on a plane April 10th...let's keep ignoring the pesky Trade Fair issues that I choose not to explain because it might make them real.)
Oh, and Sweet Pea received her package today.
Today was a good day until 3:45. Up until that point I spent a lot of time cuddling Sunflower, scrubbing the kitchen including under the microwave (though not the top of the refrigerator which is on my list), and checking my e-mail to see if we'd gotten our NVC PDF.
Lots of fun letters in that alphabet, yes?
The e-mail did come that says we got NVC approval today...but no copy of the letter so we can move on to the next step. My husband will e-mail again tonight and we'll probably get it tomorrow, but still one more day lost.
And that is probably the reason my "day" took a turn for the worse. Okay, so maybe on the way to pick up SnapDragon I took a wrong turn on a route that I have driven for six years, but that just made us laugh...and a little late.
But I was thinking about how we wouldn't want to go out to lunch tomorrow if we hadn't gotten the e-mail yet and where would we go for lunch anyway and who would drive and would I pick Oak up at work or...
So all of the sudden I was not as close to the school as when I left home and had to turn around. Now our paperwork seems to be moving through the system about as fast as it can and we are on track to travel sometime in April (ignoring the trade fair) and as anxious as I am to go an pick her up, I just keep thinking about how unanxious she is for us to pick her up.
From all accounts she is being well cared for and loved in her SWI surrounded by several other babies. It is the life she knows and really, it is good. Things that concern adults like getting jobs or finding spouses are not concerning her 6 month old heart. She just knows she is warm, well fed, and loved. The change to her will not make sense and not feel good and she won't know initially that she is loved.
So I don't want to spend the next few months whining about how long it is taking to travel even if we run into some annoying glitches. Ummm, okay maybe I do want to whine, I just don't think it is helpful or good for me especially if I allow it to turn a good day sour.
So I am trying to focus on the things I can do (like clean house and cuddle Sunflower) and remember how I want to live my life...
So I'll confess my laziness and my bad attitude, care for my family and friends, continue my commitments at church and in life, and study my Bible and seek Christ.
Easier to say than to do...Thank God for the Holy Spirit.
I was glad yesterday when it was too rainy for pictures since Sunflower was dressed in blue pants with pink stars and a teal striped shirt. Later she changed into a flowered sundress...
I would try to defend that we are good parents, we just believe 3 year olds should have independence in clothing choices (on some days) except apparently we are more lenient in our parenting than I thought.
SnapDragon typed me a note yesterday:
"Mommy you are great because you let me do things not evryone can do.
how great are our moms leting us do things not evryone can do. thats why you are great Mommy."
I choose to take his meaning on encouraging him to do fun and safe adventures, but...
Well, at least one of our kids is still young enough for Mommy to choose the clothes...or in this case Ann at Red Thread in China.
Sweet Pea's package should arrive later this week in Yugan. I'm glad our agency said it would be okay to send a small package. She is too young for it to mean much to her right now, but it helps this waiting heart.
Especially since Ann sent us some updated pictures of Sweet Pea even though we did not request any. Such a sweet, big, bundled baby.
Care package ordered.
First matching outfit for the girls purchased.
New crib mattress and mattress pads bought.
I800 approval today.
We are getting closer.
Sunflower has a phone that she carries everywhere. (Ironic since Mom still doesn't carry a cell phone...yet.)
Today on the way to take Huckleberry to school she said, "Mommy, I'll share my phone with baby sister."
"I think we can probably get another phone."
"But I don't know where to buy baby phones."
She looked so sad but determined to make sure her sister also had a cool phone even if it meant sharing hers.
I think she'll be a great, fun, big sister who will lead her sister with caring and compassion and speed.
Not that the boys won't also be great siblings.
But there is no denying the excitement of this waiting big sister.
Our agency allowed us to submit 10 questions they would send on to their rep in China, and we got the answers today. Things like what do the Nannies call her, who is her favorite caregiver, and if she sleeps on her tummy or back.
I didn't really care what the questions were or what the answers would be. I just wanted more information about her so I could know her a little more. Perhaps we'll have a chance to ask questions when we are there, too, but not everyone has that chance. I wanted something from her current life for her to have in the future.
I feel so blessed to have these tidbits of information.
They also sent new measurements, but I'm thinking her weight is with her many layers of clothes on. That, as far as I can tell, is typical. If not she is one roly-poly baby with a tiny head and feet.
No matter. It just really confuses me when I'm at the store trying to buy some onesies. I really shouldn't have done such a good job of purging Sunflower's baby clothes 3 years ago. I don't know what I was thinking!
We also got our letter of I800 receipt. It is dated January 25th, not the 27th when we got the text, so we may be closer to approval than I'd hoped. That would be fantastic! The question is do I put the 25th or 27th in my timeline? I really should have paid attention to the rules about timelines sooner.
It really was a great day. Starting with the children being ready for school with no fuss. (They usually do pretty well, but sometimes I have to wake Sunflower and it gets tricky.)
Then on the way to school, as we passed a house, SnapDragon said,
"I wonder who lives in 1002 because they have the same birdhouse I made at school on their porch so they must be a 1st or 2nd grader at my school."
"That is a good use of deductive reasoning (or some such less pretentious phrase that I can't remember right now."
"I have good senses. Except my touch. Sometimes when I touch I can't always tell."
"Huh?"
"Mom, I used my eye sense and my smarts sense to know they must go to my school."
"Smarts isn't a sense."
"Well, I think it should be. I know we have 5 senses, but I don't remember what they all are."
Maybe you had to be there.
Then prayer time before Bible Study and then the last study in I Peter. I love studying God's word with the people of my church. Even if I Peter 3:8-11 is kind of convicting.
"To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For, “THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT. HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT."
I had to confess that I think my attitude at Christmas might have been a bit different if we'd studied I Peter in November. Just saying.
Then, even though it rained all morning, the sun came out and I played outside with Sunflower and then SnapDragon. Today was 2:00 p.m. dismissal AND I picked him up on time.
Then just a relaxing afternoon with no AWANA tonight so a great dinner cooked by my husband (who does do most of the cooking) and now a chance to sit at the computer and look at pictures.
No news on the adoption front, except we sent our VISA applications to the courier in DC that our agency recommends without Huckleberry's signature. Then after we got it back to her, she called last night to say the consulate is no longer processing applications outside their jurisdiction. So now it is on the way to a courier in Houston and hopefully the Houston consulate will process it. We have quite a while to get our VISAs and they usually don't take too long, so it is only a minor glitch. Actually kind of such a comedy of errors it makes me giggle. 3 business days down on our wait for I800 approval and no known glitch there.
