Last night

This is our last night as a couple. In about 11 hours we will become a trio. I'm so nervous that I don't know how or if I will be able to sleep tonight.

No doubt tomorrow will be a huge release of emotions, but I will try to add some long-awaited photos once we've settled in for the evening.

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Location:Shengzhou Rd,Nanjing,China

We're in Nanjing. Operation Tweetie Pie is in full swing, with approximately 36 hours until we meet our little girl!

We had an enjoyable evening in Shanghai, a pleasant train journey to Nanjing, and are about to take a walk since the Lantern Festival is in full swing.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Shengzhou Rd,Nanjing,China

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70+ days

72, to be precise, and nothing. Not a peep about our LOA. In a way this is a good thing, because it means we haven't been declined. But I'll feel much better once we are through the review process. As far as we know, we still aren't in review, so our wait could be quite a bit longer than initially expected.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that H1N1 doesn't ramp up, as that could mean temporary shutdown of referrals. That could lead to months of delays, and every day we wait is another day that she lives in an orphanage.

On another front, I spent about 6 hours on the telephone with various immigration people trying to figure out whether this poor child will be entitled to citizenship of any country. At this moment in time, it's dubious. Apparently we'll have to apply when the time comes, then wait and and see. Now there's something I hadn't expected to have to worry about when we started this process!

Not in review yet

Our dossier is not yet in the review stage of the process. We had high hopes for traveling by Christmas, but I hear China is just as pretty in January, if a little cold. I'd rather be patient and know things are done properly than to have paperwork rushed through and find out we're missing something or need a correction while we're half-way around the world.

All in due time, all in due time. Deep breaths....

50 days and counting

We have officially passed the 50-day mark of waiting for our LOA (letter of acceptance). Wow. Time is passing much more quickly than I hoped, and I don't think that's a good thing! There is so much left to do, and being a non-Hague family means that once we receive LOA life will get very hectic.

This really is a roller coaster of an experience.

The joy of toys!

I never thought I'd be the type to go for traditional wooden toys, but I have fallen in love with the ones I've seen and have added quite a few to Tweetie Pie's growing collection. My favourite so far is this one, which is a good-sized learning center complete with abacus, xylophone, and bead maze, which should help her develop fine motor skills. But I also really like these wooden sound blocks. They're smaller than they look in the photo, but they're really nicely made. Each block has a different sound, which seems like a good learning tool for a child with low vision.

Another toy I am looking forward to receiving is a seahorse that lights up and plays classical lullabies or ocean sounds. Technically this is geared toward infants, but we'll be removing Tweetie Pie from the only environment she's known since two days after birth, and I think she'll be entitled to a comforting soft toy to help soothe her to sleep. The good news is that if she doesn't like the music, it can be turned down or off.

We've also acquired a few musical instruments and a couple of small cuddlies. But we're not adding too many more toys to her collection until she is home, in case she disagrees with us as to what constitutes a fun toy!