16 Months

Today Teagan is 16 months old.  Last month we were surprised with an update.  I tried really hard to not get my hopes up too much for an update from her orphanage today.  Of course…judging by how many times I hit “refresh” on my email account…I can’t say that I was very successful in keeping my hopes in check.  LOL  It is the end of the day and we did not receive an update…but there is always tomorrow! 

We have been busy trying to get the nursery set up.  I went away for a girls’ weekend with my two best friends to celebrate our birthdays (the three of us entered into a new decade this fall).  While I was away, Jeff surprised me by getting the crib put together and all the furniture set up in the room.  It is wonderful to see it finally taking shape.  Currently I am moving out some games/toys/crafts of Izzy’s that had been taking up home in the nursery closet as well as some random items we had put in there as storage.  Some is being shifted into our guest room closet…which means that I have been purging that closet as well.  This is a larger job than I had anticipated and the house looks similar to when we were moving in and unpacking the rooms.  I would post a picture…but it would be far too embarrassing!

Wish I had more to share in regards to timing of travel.  What can I say?  It is a never-ending rollercoaster.  When we were matched we thought we would travel in February.  Then, our LOA showed up much sooner than we had anticipated and we thought we would be traveling in December.  As with every yin there is a yang…and there was a delay in receiving our PA.  Although I had called the NVC (twice) requesting they send us our information via email as soon as they had it…it never did arrive in soft copy and instead arrived in the mailbox.  The letter was dated nine days prior to its arrival, so we lost a little over a week’s time.  A December travel date now seems quite unlikely and we currently believe we will travel sometime in January.  

For those who are interested in the nitty-gritty details of this portion of the paperchase:  We received our I-800 Provisional Approval (PA) November 18.  Once we had that, we were able to complete the DS-260 form for Teagan’s visa to travel from China to the US.  In tandem with that paperwork, we have sent our passports to a courier in Chicago to obtain our visas from the US to China.   The next item we are waiting for is a note stating that our Article 5 has been issued.  This is our approval for Hague adoption and is what the CCCWA uses to issue our travel approval.   The Art 5 should arrive about two weeks after the PA (December 2).  The Art 5 is the last step before the golden ticket…a.k.a. our Travel Approval (TA).  Our TA can arrive anywhere between 2-4 weeks after the Art 5.  And lastly…our TA will state what day we leave for China and is when we can finally look into booking travel!    The TA can give us anywhere from 10 days to 3 weeks notice of travel.  

Cliffs Notes version: the earliest we would travel would be December 26; and the latest we might travel would be late January.

Meanwhile, Isabel is keeping us busy.  Some days I look at her and feel like she has grown much older merely overnight. She is having a great time in second grade, loves spending time with her friends, and all things Teen Beach Movie.   She has recently discovered her own unique style of dance moves.  I would describe it as a cross between Elaine (from Seinfeld) and Jagger (as in Mick).  But I must say, she looks so stinkin’ cute dancing I can’t help but join in and try out some of her moves.  (I don’t think I can pull them off as well as she does.)  

With Thanksgiving this week and thoughts of Christmas close…I know the days will start to pass quickly.  I have struggled with the idea of having yet another Christmas without our family complete.  But focusing on Isabel and seeing the excitement and magic of the holidays through her eyes is great medicine!  

Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving...our family has much to be thankful for indeed.