Dear Sydney,

Not flesh of my flesh

Nor bone of my bone,

But still miraculously

My own.

Never forget

For a single minute:

You didn't grow under my heart

But in it.

Our Flights Are Booked!

Well, We purchased our tickets last night and all I can say is OUCH!

But what did we really expect traveling to Beijing 2 months before the Olympics?

This trip will be worth every penny though and the kids are so excited that we are all going as a family.

Less than 2 months....

We Have Our CA!

Today is my birthday and what better present than our official Consulate Appointment!! It will be June 17, 2008 and our agency sent us the email that the CCAA confirmed this date for us this morning.

China here we come!! Time to book our travel arrangements!!

Sydney's Room

We are not completely finished with her room but it is close. I have been busy hand painting all her decorations so that they would match perfectly. I have had tons of fun doing it too! I think I did a pretty good job considering it was my first run at it.

It's hard to tell in the pictures due to bad lighting, but her room is a very pretty pale yellow color. Since she is not a "girly-girl" I picked out bedding that was fun and bright rather than flowers, etc.

Updated To Do List

Dossier to China (DTC): Feb. 3, 2006
Log in Date (LID) : Feb. 28, 2006
Referral for Sydney: January 17, 2008
Send LOI (letter of Intent to Adopt): Sent to China January 23, 2008
Home study addendum: (Done January 25, 2008)
Wait for PA (prior approval): Done January 30, 2008
Receive Letter of Acceptance (LOA) : 3/3/2008
Sign and Return LOA back to the Agency via FEDEX: 3/4/2008
Apply for Travel Visas to China: 3/10/2008
Ordered New Lightweight Luggage: 3/18/2008
Sydney's Room Completed: 3/31/2008
Receive Travel Approval (TA): Received on 3/31/2008
Our Agency Makes Consulate Appointment: 3/31/2008
Receive our Consulate Appointment:
Book plane tickets:
Leave to Pick up Sydney!!!!

TA is Here!!!

We received a call from our agency this morning with the good news. Our Travel Approval arrived from China! What this means: Our agency can now request a Consulate Appointment which is the date that our entire trip is built around.

Our Possible Itinerary:

June 3rd-Leave DFW at 9:20pm for San Francisco
June 4th-Leave San Francisco at 1:20am for Hong Kong/ Beijing
June 5th- Arrive in Hong Kong/ Beijing
June 6 & 7th- Tour Beijing
June 8th- Leave for Nanning
June 9th- GOTCHA DAY!!!
June 13th- Leave for Guangzhou
June 19th- Leave for Hong Kong in the morning and go to Disneyland for the day
June 20th- Leave Hong Kong 2 pm for the United States
June 20th- Arrive Dallas airport at 8:45pm!!!!!

Still Waiting for our TA!!!!!

Hopefully we will receive our Travel App oval on Monday. As soon as we receive our TA we can book our trip to China. I already have 3 travel agents lined up and ready to work on our international flights. It's finally happening!! We are so excited!!

We finished painting her room this week. It is pale yellow and her bedding is beautiful. We bought her bedroom set this weekend and it will be delivered on Wednesday.

We still need to purchase our new luggage and Sydney's wooden swing set. I think we have decided to go with Eagle Creek's Hovercraft suitcase line since we will need a ultra light luggage. We can only carry 44 pounds each on our China domestic flights. We tend to over pack so this will be interesting.

Come on TA!!!!

Our Little Cutie!

We are still waiting on our TA but it looks like it will work out perfect for us to travel the day after the kids get out of school.. May 29th. We will see if it works out.
In a letter that I sent to Sydney, I mentioned that I wish I knew her favorite color so that I could paint her room that color. Well, in our update from her SWI... guess what was in there!!! Her favorite color is YELLOW!!!

I also found out that she is not a "girly girl" and does not like dresses or hairbows which is fine with me... she sounds like me when I was little. But I will have to find a way to get her in a dress or two every once in a while.

She loves to kick a ball and rides bikes. She also loves electronics which is great. She is learning simple English and goes to school everyday.
I love UPDATES!!!

New Pictures!!!!

She is too cute!!! We cannot wait to meet her. And yes, I found out her favorite color.... Yellow. I'm so excited because now I can decorate her room!

We received our LOA!!

Today I received an email that our Letter of Acceptance has been received from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs).

WOW in only 33 days from our PA!!!! (that's great!)

What does this mean? Well, Our file is in the matching room and they are officially matching us with our daughter. We must sign the document and return it to China.

So it is time to obtain our visas and start loking into travel options.

In about 2 weeks we should receive our TA (Travel Approval) which means that we can set our appointment dates in China and make our travel plans!!!

So, China here we come!!!!!