Obsessively Waiting...

"Patience is the companion of wisdom." ~St. Augustine

Uh-oh... 

Okay but I don't think Augustine ever went through an international adoption process, just sayin'

Well, here we are almost through the month of June. Summer is starting to fly by and what used to seem like a lifetime as a kid, keeps getting shorter as I age. And although I don't like the summer to pass so quickly, this year I'm grateful for the swift passing of time. Each day that goes by is another day closer to bringing him home. So, while I try to live each day to the fullest and enjoy the kids and be productive, I'm constantly thinking of "when?" WHEN is the approval coming? WHEN will we be getting on a plane? And WHY can't it happen sooner? I know that we are breezing through the process, so to speak. Many people wait longer for a match or have other hiccups with paperwork that hold them up, so I'm thankful that ours has gone smoothly (up to now), but it's not moving fast enough for me! 

We LOVE the summer schedule here at the Dri House. Staying up late, watchin' movies, sleeping in, catching fireflies, playing outside, and going to the pool constantly. Life is good, life is very good. We are just missing someone.

This little guy... our son, our little bro. He needs to be here, too. 

We had our annual beach trip to HHI the first week of June. It was a great week and I know we are blessed to be able to have such wonderful vacations as a family. We also made a Salty Dog Cafe shirt for Sam! He is now officially a Dri:)

So, what's been going on with the adoption you ask? Okay, back on May 10th our dossier went to China. That is ALL the mounds of paperwork that we compiled along with the USCIS preliminary approval to adopt was sent over the pond. Our dossier was officially logged in with the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) on May 15th (keep this date in mind, as it is important!) 

So, after our LID we got to start counting days until the all-important LOA (Letter of Acceptance) comes from the CCCWA. Yes, in the adoption community, you actually count the days. It's important; people (like me) want to know EXACTLY how many excruciating months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds it's taken to get your LOA. After your LOA comes, some other tedious paperwork has to happen (also involving the USCIS and other govt. entities) and then you get the ever-coveted Travel Approval (TA). Oooooooo, aaaaaaaaahhhhhh...TA. After you TA, depending on your Consulate Appointment, you are boarding a plane in as little as a week, possibly! 

So, they say once your LOA is issued, it's about 10 weeks until you travel. Right now we are on day 40 of our LOA wait. So every email notification I've received since May 15th, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking "This could be it! This could be our agency saying we have our LOA!" But alas, that hasn't happened yet:(    Listen closely because you might hear me screaming in the near future when it arrives:)  We are still hoping for September travel.

Along our breezy adoption journey, we have encountered one rogue gust... The CCCWA decided (after almost 20 years of international adoption) to implement a new computer system, yay! Underfunded, slow-moving government bureaucracy in a communist country implementing a new system, what could go wrong?!? ....(grumbling under my breath)....  My high hopes for a record-breaking LOA have come and gone since the new system has slowed things down a bit. There haven't been many LOAs lately, but today we finally started to see some coming in (I'm involved with a group of adoptive moms who are also adopting from China and are on a similar timeline, isn't the internet wonderful? It's a great support group!) I'm hopeful since some of the people who have been waiting 70+, 80+, 100+ days for their LOA FINALLY received theirs today! 

I don't want to let myself think that we will wait that long, but there's a great variance in wait times for some unknowns reasons....like maybe if they like the outfit you are wearing in your dossier photos?? I have no clue.

I'm just trusting in God's time. I know it's perfect. That's the only thing that gives me peace now. And it is a great test of my faith to keep that always in the forefront of my mind. But it does comfort me. 

So the next time you hear from me, I hope my blog will have LOA in the title!!

I leave you with a few pictures of our Sam. 

Getting tickled!

We're coming as fast as we can, buddy!