Still Waiting!

This wait is excruciatng!!! I know our LOA will arrive soon, but it should've already been here.
Meanwhile,  Bob and I got our second round yesterday of the Hepatitis A and B combo vaccines. We can't get the third one until 6 months have passed, but the nurse said we'd have immunity with two.

We put Raeanna's little toddler bed together. It's a day bed style, so the rails go most of the way around it. She sleeps in a crib still, so the toddler day bed is closest to that without being a crib.

We also got her carseat. I wanted one with a really soft, cushy seat, since she is so thin, and we will be traveling in the car for long trips quite often.

Once we get this elusive LOA, then we will be waiting for TA(Travel Approval). Customarily, that takes 3-5 weeks, but lately, it has been taking a little longer for many people, so chances of early summer travel have greatly diminished.

My children are scattered today.  Katey is in California, visiting with her boyfriend and his family.  Brett is driving to Mississippi today, to spend some time with his Poplarville friends that he played in Jones Unleashed with, and to attend the wedding of a friend in Clinton this weekend.   Cade is taking his final exams, and his last day of 9th grade is June 1st, next Tuesday.  And of course, Raeanna waits for us in Shanghai. Please pray for me. The adoption has me very emotional.  I realize how very blessed I am to be the mother of my children. I'm very thankful for the awesome people that each of them are, and I'm thankful they're able to go these places and that their lives are so full.  I truly am. I wouldn't change it because I know that they are salt and light wherever they go, but I can't help but miss them when they're gone, and it's painful. I know it's what we work towards when raising them, and yes,  I am very grateful to God for each of them and how Katey and Brett have turned out.  I hope and pray for nothing less with Cade and Raeanna. I just pray that He'll equip me to handle letting them go when the time comes and my job raising them is finished.

Please pray that we can go get our little daughter very soon.

Waiting on LOA

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but we're in the long waiting period for LOA.  On Ch*na Adopt Talk, people seem to be getting this Letter of Acceptance more quickly than in the past, but the wait time varies greatly from person to person.  It seems to be dependent on which province the child lives in.  Also, I think it depends on which person's stack your paperwork ends up in.  Hopefully, we're in the fast stack!  Our LID was on April 13, and the counting begins there, so I guess that makes us on day 24.  A few get it this early, but the other extreme is over 80 days.  Sh*nghai seems to average 55 - 60ish  days.   Please continue to pray for a speedy LOA.  Once we get it, we'll sign it and send it back quickly.  It means we accept the placement of our daughter in our home. From that point, we'll go through a series of short paperwork steps to travel to get her.

In the meantime, we are preparing for her arrival.  We ordered a toddler daybed.  She is accustomed to sleeping in a crib, but we didn't want to set up the crib for a 4 year old.  The daybed is the same size as a crib, and it has rails almost all the way around, so it'll feel like a crib, but is low enough to climb in and out of safely. It'll fit perfectly in the bay window in our bedroom, so she won't be alone upstairs.  As soon as Bob gets it put together, I'm going to take picures of it to put in another little photo album of the family and house for her.

I wish so badly that we could bring Raeanna home right now, while Katey(and Adam) and Brett are home, because it won't be that often that they're all here at the same time. I know God's timing is perfect, and I'll be patient.  However, I'm praying His timing is very soon!