Whirlwind!!!!

Ahhhh!!! Ok so the last few days have been CRAZY!!!  We got our confirmed appt for the US Consult which means we will officially be meeting Owen for the first time on May 11!!  Less than 2 weeks from now!

  In the last few days we have planned our travel, booked flights, scheduled him for Cleft team, Pediatricians appt.'s and contacted his Burn team to start the process to get him scheduled there.  Seriously it is crazy around here!  Bags are starting to get packed and we officially are only 8 days aware from leaving!

Yesterday Konnor picked out a couple of the chunky cars he used to play with, the kind you pull back and they go across the floor.  He put them in Owen's suitcase and said he could have them b/c they are for little boys and he is a big boy now.  Oh melt this Mama's heart.  We are trying to prepare Konnor as best we can and as of now he is super excited about "going to bring Owen home."

In the coming days I am going to be posting a lot about cocooning and the why's of it after an adoption.  I talked about this with Konnor's adoption, but many do not understand why it is necessary and unfortunately there were relationships that were damaged due to lack of understanding.  Please remember that ultimately we will do what is best for our boys regardless of if it is understood, but we will try to pave the way so that people have a better grasp on the situation.  Thank you for your understanding on this topic.

8 days!!!!

Travel Approval!!!!!!!

We got our Travel Approval today!!!!  We have requested a May 11 Gotcha Day and should find out Monday morning if that is ok.  Once we have confirmation we just book flights and start packing!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!  Hang on tight b/c we are getting ready to hit warp speed with bringing Owen home!

A5 (for Realz)

Right now, right this very minute everyone's day is starting in China.  Our in China rep. will pick up our paperwork from the American Consulate (for real this time, we have a confirmed pickup date) and we will officially be waiting on Travel Approval!!  That means it will be time to book flights!!!  This will greatly help Mark and I's anxiety as we watch the flights fill up and prices go up : (  TA's have been coming in 3-5 days recently so fingers crossed we will have approval by Friday and we can start booking our travel.  EEEKKK!!!

I started packing for Owen today, and I think all I need is a swimsuit, some overnight diapers and more formula.  Bottles are getting washed tonight so I can throw them in the bag tomorrow and then Owen's packing is done (as well as incidentals that we won't need before we leave).  Soooo close!

Soooo close! and an Update!!

Our agency informed us that our paperwork will be picked up from the US Consulate on Monday 4/20.  YAY!!!!!  So by time we wake up on Monday we will officially be waiting on Travel Approval (for real this time : )  We are still looking like a May 11 Gotcha Day so Ahhh, it is so close!

We were able to ask some questions about Owen to help us get to know him a little before travel.  He is 18 lbs 11 oz now and 28 ish inches, so basically he is tiny little dude!  Apparently he is not a very good eater which I will have no idea what to do with since his brother can eat by the pound.  He is a pretty good sleeper.  He can walk just a few steps unassisted, but walks all over the place holding onto things.  He has a foster sister and is very close to his foster parents.  When I asked about his personality they said:  Busy and Active!  Haha!  He will fit right in at this house : )  I picked up some formula the Pediatrician wants him on yesterday, sorted all Konnor's under 12 months clothes and have started our packing pile.  It's getting REAL in here folks.  Overall we are getting really excited.  Konnor seems to still be really excited about Owen coming home and due to some daycare changes I will be able to keep both boys home with me for most of the summer to help with everyones adjustments.

Soooo, I lied : (

Ok so our Article 5 should have been picked up from the US Consulate on Monday, but by Tuesday when they hadn't heard anything our agency checked on it and it turns our that it was never dropped off : (  There was an email that got missed that had our needed paperwork in it, and there was no way for the in China coordinator to know that it had been missed.  It was a mistake.  It happens, and honestly we have had so many setbacks with this adoption that it is almost comical at this point.  God has very special plans for this little guy and is just preparing him and us for our new life together.  They dropped the forms off on Thursday and we should be picked up in two weeks and THEN we will be waiting on travel approval.

On a TOTALLY AWESOME note....our agency visited Owens orphanage last week and were able to get some to cute for words pictures of our little man.  Here is our little man at almost 17 months old.  Enjoy!