October 7th...

...we think! Mike called about an hour ago to say that the Consulate confirmed an appointment for us for October 18th, meaning that we would be leaving on October 7th and returning on October 21st. However, we still cannot buy plane tickets because we do not have a hotel room yet, and that is the week of the trade fairs in Guangzhou. We should hear back tomorrow...

And the Roller Coaster Continues...

Well, first of all, we are not leaving on Thursday. Mike from our agency called this morning to say that he had heard back from the Consulate, and they did not accept any of the 5 dates he asked for. In fact, they told him that their next available appointment wasn't until October 12th. The thing is, October 12th isn't even possible because of the holiday October 1-7. So Mike asked for 5 dates later in October, which would mean that we are back to leaving on October 7th, but, again, October is a tricky month due to the Trade Fairs in Guangzhou. There is no guarantee that we will be able to get a hotel room, even if we get a Consulate appointment.

So, basically, this is where we stand right now: we are waiting to hear back from the Consulate sometime next week to see if they chose one of the dates in October that Mike requested. If they did choose one of those dates, then we have to wait to see if our agency can find us a reasonable hotel room (reasonable being not too outrageously expensive, or too far away from the city). Then we will know when we are leaving.

I am not allowing myself to panic until we hear back from the Consulate. Leaving October 7th is not the end of the world; whereas I was completely ready to hop on a plane next week, it was going to be very, very complicated. I was most worried about getting a decent flight, but there were other huge holes in the plan as well. We were going to make it work, but having a few more weeks does definitely relieve some stress, too (if you're looking for a bright spot!). As long as we don't have to wait until the end of November...

Our agency just called, and the word from China was to go ahead and send us! So he has requested some dates for us for our Consulate Appointment. The new rule is that you have to request 5 dates, so he requested 3 for the 3rd week of September, and 2 for the last week of September. However, he doesn't think they will pick the last week since we have to be out of the country by Sept. 30th. He's assuming they'll pick one from the 3rd week of September, meaning we will be leaving on Thursday!!!

However, the tricky part is that we cannot buy plane tickets until we have a confirmed Consulate appointment. Due to the time difference (China is 12 hours ahead of the East Coast), we MAY have an answer tomorrow, but the Consulate actually has 5 days to respond so it could be next week before we hear anything. Since Monday is a holiday, that means we won't hear anything until Tuesday or even Wednesday- then jump on a plane on Thursday! Crazy, right?

If it's too close, we may have to skip the tour of Beijing. That would not be our first choice, however, since we need that time to adjust to the time zone and work off a little of the jet lag. And I would be totally bummed out since seeing the Great Wall is something I have really been looking forward to; I've been training for climbing it by walking up the steepest hill in our neighborhood! But we'll do what we have to do. If we skip Beijing, then we can wait to leave until Friday or Saturday (the 10th or 11th).

All this is just speculative at this point, of course. We have to wait until we hear back from the Consulate. Once we have that all-important Consulate date, our path will become clear!

OMG- TA!!!

Our agency just called- my prayers were answered and our Travel Approval just arrived! However, we were told we have some issues. What I heard was right: October and November are literally filled with various holidays, trade fairs, and even the Asian Olympics. If we cannot get in in September or October 7th, then we will have to wait to leave until Thanksgiving Day. I told Mike that I did not want to even think about not leaving until the end of November, so he said he would look into our only other 3 options:

1) We leave next Thursday!!! (OK- PANIC MODE!!)

2) We may have to stay an extra few days to a week if we go in September due to yet another holiday in the middle of the month. This will make our trip 2-1/2 to 3 weeks instead of 2.

3) We go October 7th (IF they can get us a hotel room in Guangzhou), but it will be about double the price.

He said he'd call back tomorrow with an answer...

Now I have to run! I am shaking... I have so much to do, just in case we are leaving in a week!

No News

(I wonder how many of my posts have had that same title? It does seem to be a recurring theme, doesn't it?)

Anyway, we have not heard anything. I was really, really hoping to get our TA (Travel Approval) last week, because that would have meant that we still had a chance of traveling in September- assuming, of course, that we could get a Consulate appointment. But, no such luck.

I should clarify that no one ever actually said that we would travel in September; our agency told us that our TA probably wouldn't come for 7 weeks, which would be the week of September 13th. Then there would be no way to travel and be home before October 1st, which is when we have to be out of China because that is when the country shuts down for their big holiday. But I have had the idea of traveling in September in my head since March, when we first got our referral; I knew it was possible, and I somehow assumed that if I thought enough positive thoughts and willed it to happen, the stars would align and it would work out for us. Silly me.

I heard that the Consulate in Guangzhou opened up some more appointments for September, which is great news for all those who now get to travel, but the reason behind why they opened up more appointments is actually bad news for us. Apparently they realized that October AND November were going to be very difficult for travel due to not only the Moon Festival the first week of October and the Trade Fair in Guangzhou at the end of October, but there are other festivals and such during those 2 months as well. So the Consulate opened up more appointments to try to get as many people as they could through before all the conflicts began.

But what happens to those of us who are not able to get in before the conflicts begin? Now I'm beginning to wonder: if we can't travel in September, will we have to wait until DECEMBER? Is there a chance that Caitlin will not even be home in time for Christmas? I had never even considered that to be a possibility; I had assumed that 2010 would be our first Christmas together. I really can't stand to even think about that, so I try to keep the negative thoughts out of my mind.

OK, enough gloominess and grief...

My very first adoption friend, Rochelle, told me way back at the beginning of this journey (2-1/2 years ago) something that I will never forget. I was freaking out for the first time; I mean, this was the very beginning of the process- we were just starting with the preliminary paperwork. I don't even remember what it was that had me so upset, but now that we've been through all that we've been through, I'm sure it was nothing compared to what was to come. But I was freaking out, and Rochelle wrote me that adoption is a leap of faith; if you know in your heart that it is right, then you have to close your eyes and take a leap. Rochelle, if you're reading this, you have no idea how much those words have helped me, or how many low moments they've gotten me through. Thank you!

Updated Information on Caitlin

We got some updated information on Caitlin this morning from Ann (the wonderful lady who helped us send the 2 care packages to Caitlin). Apparently Caitlin is up to 23.3 lbs. and 30.3 inches tall. This puts her pretty much smack-dab in the middle of our 12-month clothing sizes, so she's petite!

I'd set aside mostly 18-month clothes to take to China, but now I'm thinking I need to reconsider that. The International Doctor we talked to on the day we were matched back in April warned me of that even back then- she told me not to bring a lot of 18-month clothes (assuming we would travel in August-October) because she guessed Caitlin would be petite.

We didn't get any pictures this time, unfortunately.

Bad News??

I just read on Rumor Queen that the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou is backed up. This means that families are being delayed on traveling because they can't get a Consulate appointment right now.

Fantastic.

Happy Birthday, Caitlin!

OK, so maybe it's not an actual birthday, but our baby girl turned 18 months old today! I'm very sad that we were not able to celebrate with her, but hopefully we will be with her very soon. And she has a lifetime of birthdays yet to come for us to celebrate together!

Another Care Package for Caitlin

Since we still are not sure when we will be traveling, we are sending another care package to Caitlin. It is not big since we were limited on size and weight (it needed to fit in a small box, and not weigh more than 4 lbs.), but we fit in as much as we could!
I am sending it to Ann with Red Thread in China. She is the wonderful lady who sent our last care package, and got us pictures and updated information of Caitlin within days. She is wonderful! I can only get the package to the local JinJiang City post office by myself; Ann can get it directly to the orphanage's door. We decided this was the best option to ensure the package actually gets to Caitlin.

In the package we included:

*Another letter which Ann will translate for us

*A recordable book from Hallmark; Paul and I recorded ourselves reading the story which will, hopefully, help Caitlin to recognize our voices when we finally meet

*An adorable ladybug "lovey" (thank you, Auntie Julie!!)

*Cookies for the nannies

*A super cute ladybug photo album (thank you, Mandi!!),

which we filled with more pictures of our house and family. Our next-door neighbor, who is studying Mandarin, translated the pictures for us.

Caitlin

We learned last week that Caitlin may possibly have also had her palate repaired at the time of her lip repair surgery. This was unexpected, and very unusual since in China they do not usually repair children's palates until they are older. However, if it is true it's wonderful news since that is one less surgery that we will have to put Caitlin through, and the sooner the palate is repaired the less chance Caitlin will have of speech and eating difficulties.