3 Days

I thought maybe I'd fill folks in on this ins and outs of this extended roller coaster ride we've been on for all these years. Waaaaay back in '05 we decided to adopt. I had always wanted to adopt. We, or course, adore Seth, but the Charlie Brown sized noggin that emerged made me pause and think that adoption just might be a more pain free method of growing a family. Jim, who was in the room when beautiful Seth was born, agreed. Little did I know that while the physical pain isn't there, this wait was hard.

We started by contacting an agency, Wide Horizons in MA, picking China, then gathering a "dossier". That consists of a U.S. form called an I600a, fingerprints, state background checks, a "home study" by a social worker, income statements, references, birth certs, marriage cert, photos, etc. All that gets certified by the state of Vermont, then by China. They then accepted our application and the date of April 10, 2006 will be embedded in my brain forever just like my high school locker combination (10-0-20).  04/10/06 was our Log In Date, or "LID".

The wait grew for various reasons. The U.S. gov't paperwork and fingerprints expire after 18 and 15 months respectively. We ended up re-doing our paperwork 4X over the past 5 years. What a pain in the tush. China's gov't agency for adoption is known as the CCAA. (Not anymore, but we'll stick with that.) They, usually around the 1st of the month, release their matches or referrals clumped by LID days. Just today (yay!!!!) they matched from April 18th to/including April 21, 06. Once a month of only a few LID days matched each month, and you can bet we are one patient, anxious bunch of waiting parents.

Fast forward through much online cussing, anxiety, patience, Ben and Jerry ice cream, beer and we finally got to our day. We were told back on Mar 1, that we were matched with a little 2 yr old girl from Pingnan, Guangxi. A few days later, after a FedEx delay due to mechanical difficulties, we finally saw our girl. Beautiful. Wanna see a grown mom cry?

Along the way, we decided with cutie-pants Seth's wiggly ways and tough times with transitions, it'd be best to have him at home/school with Jim while I went. Seth also agreed that since he doesn't like Chinese food, it'd be ok he not go. My sister, Lynne, has graciously agreed to come to China with me. Graciously. (thankyouthankyouthankyou) The school has been so great (thank you, Sarah & team!) and we think he'll be a fantastic big brother. My parents have also offered to pitch in by bringing Seth to school in the morning. (Thank you Grandma and Papa Tom!)

Next step was officially accepting, doctor review of the file and waiting for our travel approval (TA). We all met for a travel meeting down in MA. Remember that day with the freakish snow storm? Yep, that day. We crawled down I89 to meet up with Lynne along with the rest of our group of families. We have 6 other families traveling with us.

For the past couple months we've been prepping and packing. And unpacking. Then packing again. Then swearing I'm done. Except maybe this one thing...and then re-packing.

When we go this Wed, we'll eventually get to Beijing and tour around. Next to Nanning to meet Alice. A week from today, they will bring her from her current home, which they say is in a foster home, to Nanning. It's to the north of Vietnam. All the children in our group are from Guangxi, but they are coming into Nanning from different cities probably via car/bus. While we've been waiting for Alice for what seems like forever and I will be beside myself happy to finally hold her, she won't know me from anyone else in the room. Her whole world will be thrown for a big, giant loop. Everything she knows will change and she'll be put into the arms of a funny looking stranger. Whatever happens, we'll do our best to give her whatever she needs. I'll need to be the one to feed her, hold her and to try to reassure her that I'm not another temporary care giver, I'm her mother. (Finally!! yee haw!!!)

Then we adjust, tour and hang with our cute little kiddo. Next off to Guangzhou for Alice to become an American at the U.S. consulate. Shopping, doctor checks, paperwork and more touring. Back to Beijing, just because the flights are easier out of there, then to San Fran, to hopefully have Alice meet her Auntie V during the layover, then to Boston. We're going the car rental route from there. Lynne's son will be in the Burlington Marathon on Sun morn, so we have motivation to try to drive home on Sat night. We shall see.

There ya have it. Five years in a nutshell. The estimate of the number of hopeful parents with dossiers in China is in the many thousands. We feel so very, very lucky that this beautiful girl is coming home to us. Also so grateful to her first home of China, her first mother and father and the people that have cared for her along her journey to her home in Vermont.

The folks of RQ - I could nevah evah evah have done this tedious-poll-number-crunching-batch-anticipating-file-renewing-loooooong wait without all y'all. Ever. My sanity is still intact because of your humor, support and fine April room sailor skills. That and the Ben and Jerry's. Rumor Queen, whoever the heck you are, thank you.