Waiting

It's hard to believe we are just waiting for the I-797 and then we will be ready to get the show on the road! Well, I know we have a long wait ahead of us, but at least once we are DTC, I will feel like we can take a breather and wait happily.

We are planning on hand delivering our stuff to Harrisburg and to the NYC Consulate, even though it will cost us more money. We just want to stay in possession of our documents and not send them through the mail. They are just too important!

We are now working on photos for our dossier. It's hard to gather up photos with both of us in them! So many of our photos have one of us. If a photo has both of us, it usually doesn't have someone else in it as well. We still have a few more family life photos to gather!

Long Overdue Update

Whew! Lots o'stuff going on!

First of all, the photo of the ladybug sighting we had earlier (in the summer) has been developed and the photo came out! Here's the little lady on the window of the car!



We have a few things in Jade's room. We have a burgundy recliner, a pretty lamp with dragonflies and ladybugs, a bookshelf with books and toys we are collecting...among other things. We bought a Mulan doll over the weekend to add to the collection. We also spotted a crib set we really liked (a Carter's bunny set) that was on clearance, so we bought it. The bunnies are fuzzy! I also framed three pictures for above her closet door. They say family, forever, and daughter. I am anxious to get woodwork painted and new carpeting, but I can't foresee that happening for a few months. It's so exciting to decorate her room!







My 39th birthday was on October 3, and my sister gave me such a beautiful gift. She gave me a silk Chinese robe (for me) with a matching litttle Chinese dress for Jade! It was such a sweet gift!She is so excited to be an auntie.



My friend Kate gave me the book Little Miss Ladybug and her Red Thread. My friend Linda gave me a book called Why a Daughter Needs a Mom. Both were such special gifts. My friend Anna In Ireland sent me a beautiful dragonfly pin (among other wonderful gifts). It's so touching to know how much thought people put into things that are so special.

On October 6, we went to read the home study report at our HS agency. The report was very well-written and we were so pleased with it. The social worker said it will be sent to USCIS by today. Then she said Philadelphia seemed to be sending the I-797 out within two weeks lately! That would be so great! It is the last document we need before we can travel to Harrisburg and the Chinese Consulate in NYC.

We stayed overnight in Philly and bought mooncakes in Chinatown. I am not liking the mooncakes so much! I especially do not like the ones with the egg yolks inside!





On Saturday, we stumbled upon the Dragon Boat Festival in Philly! We didn't know it was going on, but we stopped off for a bit there.



All is going well. School is keeping me so busy that I don't always get so much time to update here, but I do read everyone's blogs when I can. I am going to try to comment more because I am thinking abotu all of you! I long for the summer days when I could use the Internet at my leisure. Now, I'm like, "WHAT leisure?!"

Off I go to do my schoolwork for the evening! That's all for now!

Proofreaders, Inc.

This Friday we will be heading to the home study agency for our 4th contact. We will be proofreading the draft of the home study report. We also made reservations to stay overnight in Philadelphia. We are planning on having dinner in Chinatown to celebrate! It's a big step because now all we will be waiting for will be our I-797 from immigration.

Friday is also the Autumn Moon Festival. I ordered mooncakes online from China Sprout, but now that we are going to Chinatown, we will probably get freshly baked ones from a bakery there. We will save ours for when we come home even though it will be over.

I am excited to watch the program China Revealed on the Discovery Channel tonight. We are eagerly watching every China-related show on TV, We just can't wait for Jade to finally be here, and doing things like celebrating with mooncakes and watching Chinese programs somehow makes her seem a bit closer in some way.