Administrative/Travel Marathon

Whew! We are plugging along with preparations for travel. Our Power of Attorney letters arrived yesterday from Washington D.C. (after going to our local and state government) and the passports with visas arrived moments ago. Rylee and I spent about an hour and a half at Wal-Mart buying all of the over-the-counter medications we needed, the rest of the gifts for the orphanage directors and other administrative people that they will deal with in China (culturally expected). What did we buy? Jelly bellies and Ghiradelli chocolate for all - since last time we ended up giving a man a make-up bag complete with nail polish and lipstick. We didn't expect to deal with so many men - Thankfully, they do not open the gifts in front of the giver. We also got all of the prescription medications filled (antibiotics, nausea meds, cream for scabies) - "just in case" meds. as we call them. I know there will be at least one more run to Wal-Mart for food for the guys to eat - didn't know what they wanted to take this time. Tomorrow, Morgan and I will head out and buy the little guy some clothes...We had nothing until Weds. when mom hit Kohls and bought Ryan a few pair of pants and shirts as an early Christmas present. Today, we picked him up some socks and pjs. We hope to finish that tomorrow. We had put it off thinking we could take care of all of that during the after Christmas sales - there we go "thinking" again! HA!!! In the midst of all of this chaos, Mike has been out of town and Morgan has a big project due before he leaves. Busy, busy!!! That is our status 5/6 days before travel!!

Whoooo Hoooo!

It is official!!!! The boys have tickets to China for December 6th and arriving back home on December 19th!!!! From Monday until today has been the looongessst wait. I am hoping to finally get a decent night's sleep! Still tons to do, but Ryan is coming home soon! Until later....

Now...For an even BIGGER surprise!!

Hold on to your seats!!! We got a call this afternoon from our adoption agency...One, I never imagined we would get, but we are thrilled to no end! Our travel coordinator called to tell us that our TA (Travel Approval) had arrived (this was the last little piece of red tape paperwork that we have been waiting for). I was excited to know that it had come, but had no clue what the travel coordinator was going to propose next....He said that if we chose to, we could possible travel and have Ryan home for Christmas. My mind was saying "YES! YES!", but it was really not my decision to make since I am not the one actually going...So, to make a long story short, I called Mike (who happened to be in a meeting) and sang him my rendition of "Happy Birthday" (today is his birthday) before breaking into the exciting option. He said "yes" and now we are sitting here trying to let it all soak in. If we get the consulate appointment for December 17th, Mike and Morgan would leave for China on December 6th - Yes, you read that right...10 DAYS FROM NOW!!! Holy cow!!! We won't know anything until we can confirm this appointment (hopefully, tomorrow or Wednesday - could be as late as Monday) and then we will have to be sure we can get airline tickets...But, the possibility is there!!!!! Still in a state of shock, but we are so excited!!! Say some prayers for the Reagles when you go to bed tonight...I will keep you posted!!!

What a Wonderful Surprise

Oh my goodness!!!! I am soooo excited!!!! I can't believe we got updated information so quickly! I literally just got these...Okay...I am going to cry! If I could jump on a plane right now, I would!!! He is about 27.5 lbs and is 35.5 inches tall...About 3 lbs. lighter than Rylee and 2 inches or so shorter. Can you say, twins! Good thing, he is going to have to hold his own with Rylee around! Here is Ryan!

China Bound

We have a date!!! Not as early as we wanted, but WE HAVE A DATE!! Our Mike and Morgan's tentative date of departure is JANUARY 3. Given these dates, this is the tentative schedule...

Leave for Beijing on January 3rd.
Arrive in Beijing on January 4th.
Leave Beijing on the evening of January 6th for the Fujian province and probably the city of Fuzhou.
Gotcha' Day would be on January 7.
Leave Fuzhou on January 11th for Guangzhou.
Consulate appointment in Guangzhou on the 15th - Oath Ceremony on the 16th.
Depart for home on January 17th.

Those are all approximate dates based on their usual schedule. Of course, Mike and Morgan might have to stay a day or two longer due to the Martin Luther King holiday. That is the latest and we will know more specifics as we get into December.

51 more days!

The countdown is On!

We have been quite busy since our post last week. Grandma Reagle came in Friday from Denver for a visit and was here through Wednesday, we have been putting together a little care package for Ryan, and we submitted our acceptance paperwork to the agency (see photo - Do they look excited, or what?!?). Our travel meeting is scheduled for Monday night. At that time, they will walk us through the pile of paperwork that we still have to complete and they will give us a "tentative" travel date. One of our biggest conflicts about adopting again was the travel. Well, due to the timing of this adoption and Rylee's age, it will be Mike and Morgan traveling to China to bring home Ryan. Morgan is excited, but also a little hesitant. Mike is now a bit reluctant as well since we found out that our travel group has only 2 other couples in it. Now, it is possible that they will combine some travel groups, but not necessarily a given. Last time, we traveled with a total of 17 families (or thereabouts) so, this will be a very different experience - But, hey, nothing about this adoption has been the same as our last adoption! Once we have a tentative travel date, I will post it! In our paperwork last week, we received a little more medical information on Ryan and our international adoption physician said that the information appears fairly positive. Now, we can't say that is actually the case until we have him actually examined and tested here, but it is possible that Ryan might be a candidate for reconstructive surgery and a BAHA (implant device). Check back again soon!

Guilty!

Okay, this morning I was accused of speaking "Adoptionese" in my post last night! The acronyms LOA stand for Letter of Acceptance. This letter is sent from China telling us that they accept us to adopt the child we have requested to adopt (through a letter called an LOI which stands for Letter of Intent). From my understanding, we have to sign this letter and return it to China telling them "Yes" we still want to adopt this child. I am still not 100% sure if additional/updated information accompanies this letter or not. I should have all the documents by tomorrow. There you have it, a quick course in "Adoptionese"...

The Big 75!

Hmmm....Wonder what that means??? Can you guess???

Today was the day....WE GOT THE CALL!!! Our LOA is here!!!! I don't have a lot of details as I received the call at the most inconvenient time - in the middle of Morgan getting his allergy and flu shots - My phone should have been turned off to begin with. Morgan is standing there and we were talking to our favorite nurse (Morgan has been getting these for probably close to 5 years now so, we know her pretty well) when all of a sudden the circus music begins - My cell phone is set to this music that sounds like a circus...Anyways, I went to turn it off when the nurse told me to go ahead and answer it as it did not bother her...Low and behold, it was THE CALL!!! Morgan was utterly tickled and she had to call him back for his flu shot because he was so excited that he forgot he was getting another shot. I have to go back and figure out some more things regarding the protocol from here, but I won't have time until I have two little guys asleep. I must admit that it was one of those days with Rylee (the whining, crying, etc) that I wanted to pull my hair out and our schedule was absolutely crazy...And God chose this day to tell us that we are absolutely crazy that His timing is perfect and reassured us that we are doing what He has called us to do! I will keep you posted as I find the time to process everything, await the "official" paperwork, and do a little research.

8:04 Information Update: I finally got everyone bathed and settled and had a chance to look up our original documentation from the agency. It states " once your LOA arrives it is typically another 6-8 weeks to travel." We may have the best gift under our Christmas tree this year...He will probably be in total culture shock (especially with Christmas stuff adorning the house and a huge tree stuck in the middle of the family room), but he will be surrounded with lots of love!!