TA Soon?

I received an email today from our agency saying our TA has been issued and they will let us know when they receive it.  Yes, I'm thrilled, but hesitant about getting too excited.  The last time CCAA said this to our agency back in May, it took over a week to receive it.  It may have been issued, but we don't know if it is signed or sent as of yet.  I'm still banking on next Monday.

At this point, I just want to be excited about bringing Ivy home and be finished waiting on someone else to "issue" something or another.  It is hard to believe the roller coaster ride is almost complete.  It has been a long ride.

Another Week of Waiting

It has been 2 months since we received our LOA, and it has been 3 weeks since our Article 5 was picked up and sent to CCAA.  The wait for TA averages 2-4 weeks.  It appears we are on the longer end of the average this time.  Chinese New Year is the week of February 14th.  So, it is slowly appearing like I will not be traveling before then unless a miracle happens this week with TA.  I am expecting that our TA will arrive the week of the 25th of January.  It is not what I'm wanting, but rather what I am anticipating.  Oh, I do pray it will come this week and I can somehow (by God's Mercy) sneak in travel before CNY.  Please pray with me.

Water Park

This week, we went to a waterpark for a couple of days.  The last time we went, Eva had only been home for 4 months, and she did not like any of the slides, only the pool area where she could walk around. Mike, Seth and Jack had the usual fun and got a workout from climbing all those steps to the tops of the slides. This time round, Eva had the need for speed.  She went down every slide her little body was allowed to go down.  She even did the individual ones without having to sit on mom or dad's lap.  I was very proud of her.  Joy was a bit more timid about the water slides.  She endured the larger slides while sitting on our laps and only started giggling during them shortly before we left.

Needless to say, the trip was a much-needed distraction from our wait for Travel Approval.

The only slide that Joy giggled on.

Outgrowing the waterpark?

Fun with Dad!

 

When Will We Get TA?

That is the big question of the week.  There are quite a few other adopting families who are anticipating their TA today.  Apparently, their agencies have this knowledge to share with them.  We are only 2 weeks from our Aticle 5 date.  The average time between Article 5 and TA is 2-4 weeks.  So, we are definitely at the beginning of the "average" time.  Everyone that knows me, knows that I always have hope.  It seems unlikely that we will get TA today, but I love to hope.  There are many families out there who have been waiting 4 weeks for their TA.  I would love to see Ivy Xue before the end of the month!

 What a sweet face!

UPDATE:  No TA for us today.  Maybe in a couple of weeks.  Very disappointed.

Joy

Joy will be 4 years old in May. She came to us at 15 months old and quite delayed. She exhibited many disturbing things that caused concern for us. Mike, Jordan, and I all thought to ourselves that Joy had Down's Syndrome. After a few days of anguish, we voiced those fears among us. Despite our concerns, Joy progressed quite well, and was walking before we left China. She also learned to eat food while we were in China. We believe she only had bottles before she became our daughter.

Once we were home, I took Joy for a check at the doctor's office. He could see the same things in Joy that caused us to believe she had Down's Syndrome. We had her tested genetically for this condition. During the 2 weeks it took to get the results, we just loved her up, fed her healthy foods 3 times a day, and let her play all day long. Obviously, her results came back negative, but during that time, we knew that she was our daughter and we could handle it.

Although Joy is only 8 months younger than Eva, she does not have the same abilities as Eva. Before Eva was 2, she could do puzzles on her own, speak long sentences, and reason quite well. Joy has come a long way, and can now do many things. Some things she can accomplish that Eva cannot. One thing I noticed last year, was Joy could not answer me when I would ask "why" questions. If she was crying and I asked her why she was crying, her response would be, "I crying." She could answer me if I asked if she was hurt or needed to go potty, but never "why?". I realized that she never asked me "why?".  Eva is the Queen of Why, and she understood and asked that question all the time. Just recently Joy started asking me "why" to some of my statements. And, just recently, she has started to understand when I ask her "Why?".

So, here is a picture of Joy with her first completed puzzle. She was so proud that she did this on her own, and so am I!

Happy New Year!

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I'm glad to get back into a schedule of sorts.  We spent New Year's Eve with friends, and actually made it to midnight with all of the children.  Eva and Joy had naps earlier in the day in preparation to the late night.

We still have freezing temperatures (which is very unusual) and we even added a couple of inches of snow to the old stuff from earlier. Seth went skiing with friends, so all the snow we've been getting was great for his day at the slopes.

Mike, Seth, and Jack went with friends ice skating shortly after Christmas.  They've not been skating in many years.  Actually, the last time Jack went, he hated it and tried using a bucket to help him around the rink.  Since then, Jack learned to use the rollerblades, and I believe that helped him with his ice skating.  So, Seth and Jack have skated a few times this Christmas break.  Seth glides like a pro around the ice.  You would think he had been skating all his life, but he's only been skating a dozen or so times.  Jack does very well, considering he is the cautious son.  I decided Eva and Joy are just not ready for skating.  Joy gets too frustrated and Eva would just cry everytime she fell.  So, we'll try next year.

Micah and Jack at the skating rink.

Jordan starts her classes next week, but has been getting many hours in at work.  Once classes start, she will be getting less hours.  She woke up this morning declaring, "I'm ready for spring!"  I'm sort of enjoying real winter weather.

We received news last week that our paperwork was picked up from the Consulate and sent to Beijing.  Next, they will process our Travel Approval and I will then make plans for my travel to China.  I hate the fact that I'll be traveling alone, but I know I will be fine.  I will just miss everyone very much.