LID!!!

As of Wednesday, October 23rd we are officially Logged in with the CCCWA!!!

This means China has acknowledged they have received our dossier. We were told this step could take up to 3 weeks, but we were logged in 2 days after our dossier made it to China.
So for those keeping track, 10/23/13 is our LID.

So now we wait again. We are now in the last long line. We are waiting for our LOA, or letter or acceptance. We are told this is generally issued in one to three months. Again, we are praying that we are on the short side of this! If so, we are still hoping for early 2014 travel.

I know it seems like this is taking a long time, but this is all still really quick as international adoptions go. To put it in perspective, originally we thought we would be doing all this paper work, get our LID, and then get a referral. We were so blessed to find Penelope early on in this journey, but knowing about her the entire time makes it feel like it takes much longer.

No matter what, we know she is worth it. We can't wait to have her here.

We love you so much Penelope Mei!

JFL 2013

Football is over. None of us wanted this season to come to an end. I have lots to say about Jason's season, but first lets talk about Gabe. 

I've done lots of blogging about Penelope and about the little boys. 

I really can't say enough good things about Gabe. He really is just a great kid. I'm sure all moms think this, but Gabe truly is the real deal.

Gabe had a great time in his last year of JFL. 

 

It's so funny that both of Gabe's BFF are Kochers!

 

Gabe leading his team onto the field.

 

Leading stretches...

 

2 of Gabe's awesome coaches, Coach Frichtl, that's right, Big Steve!! And Coach Keyes.

 

Gabe is the center. That the ball hiker.

 

5th grade JFL stars and Tanner and Marshall.

 

Dex and Grant stopped playing long enough for a picture.

 

Gabe, Rhett, and Wade. I can not wait to watch these 3 in action over the next few years!!

 

My handsome boy! So proud of him.

 

Love seeing Gabe wear #54. So glad it's back on a Fulton where it belongs!

 

Gabe's biggest fans!

 

 

Gabe with Coach Randy Ebeling. Gabe LOVES Coach Ebeling! He is a great coach. He has taught these boys so much. Gabe has loved playing for him! Randy has truly turned Newton JFL around, we are so glad Gabe got to play for him. When Gabe won his award at football camp in Chicago this summer Coach Ebeling was the first person Gabe wanted to tell.

 

Gabe with his future JFL little brothers.

 

The twins-Gabe and Wade.

 

Gabe and Bamp

 

Quinn loves a photo bomb!

 

Mam and Bamp

 

Gabe and Rhett

 

Now we look ahead to next year, Gabe as a freshman!! We've been waiting years to see Gabe suit up for his dad's team. Ready or not, here he comes!!!

DTC!!

As of Friday 10/18/13, we are officially DTC, Dossier To China.!!
Everything is done on the US side for now. Our agency sent our dossier on Friday. They had told us it would take 9-11 business days to review and translate those big stacks of documents, but they did it in 4 days! I was checking my email about every 5 seconds, hoping to see that DTC email. I jumped up and down and screamed when it came in Friday afternoon.

So now, we wait for our LID-Log in Date, basically China acknowledging they got our dossier. Hopefully that will be within a week or 2. 

Then we get in the next line, the line for our LOA- the Letter of Acceptance. This is the next big step and the last long step. This can take anywhere from 1-3 months. 

If you are taking the time to read this, please take an extra 10 seconds and say a prayer that we are on the short side of the LOA wait. In fact, let's just pray for the fastest LOA ever!

So while these may seem like small steps, each one gets us closer to getting our Penelope Mei home.

It can't come soon enough! 

As it gets colder here I can't stand to think of her being cold. I'm almost sure there aren't a lot of extra blankets. 

Her orphanage has no heat. 

This week she had a TB test and a chest xray- both just routine steps to prepare her to come to the US. I know it sounds like a little thing, but I have had a really hard time with this one. I remember when Gabe was a baby and was in the hospital with RSV. The chest xray was torture for him. He screamed and screamed until they gave him back to us. 

For Zi Shu, there's no one to give her back to. 

She so deserves a family to provide for those most basic things, a blanket when you're cold. A mama to hold her when she needs a shot. All these kids deserve it! 

If I could go there today, I would. Patience is not a virtue of mine. It is very, very hard for me to have no control whatsoever over how this goes. 

So for now, we wait. And maybe continue to shop. This week it was a stroller. I think Jason's worried what I'll buy if this lasts much longer...

More Disney...

I really want to finish up this August Disney trip before Christmas so here goes....

We left off at an Epcot morning. We swam everyday, but I apparently this was the day I got pictures.

Cinderella Castle from the TTC where we get off the monorail.

We all swam but Dex and I definitely did the most. He is quite the little fish, he loved the volcano slide. 

View of the Castle from the pool. Perfection. 

Dex waiting his turn. 

Here he comes! 

We headed back to Epcot to tour the World Showcase and eat dinner. Of course we went to China. 

If there is any way I can pick Penelope up here will someone let me know?? 

Can't wait till we're seeing the real thing!

We got Penelope a fan with her American and Chinese name written in Chinese by these beautiful girls.

I cried. Jason thought I was a psycho.

Dex & Q got fans with their names too. Made in China. Gabe passed... 

We headed to dinner at one of our favorites, Teppan Edo.  

Onion Mickey! 

Choo Choo!!

The boys were pretty good with their chopsticks! I was impressed. I was pretty good with my fork. 

After dinner we did something new-pick a pearl in Japan. Gabe chose the ugliest oyster he could find. They they do a cute little ceremony and open it. Very fun. Worth the $15 or so. You can get your pearl put in a jewelry setting for more $$ of course). Gabe just had them put it in a little bottle of sand. 

We watched Illuminations while Quincy ate the hugest doughnut ever.

We hopped on the monorail and headed back for the night.  

Only one day of Disney left...