MY WATER BROKE! We're going to China!!!

What a GREAT day! It was just yesterday that I received the FedEx package from our Home Study agency with the precious DCFS approval letter - - a vital document needed to get our orphan petition approval from Citizenship & Immigration Services! It was just yesterday afternoon that I drove the complete update package of documents to CIS and carefully placed it in the hands of one of the Immigration Officers! I was a little nervous that the Officer that I had been communicating with regularly was out "on sick leave." WHAT?! Oh, PLEASE don't let her have H1N1!!!!

Well...today I was delighted to see that my new BFF sent me an e-mail asking for a confirmation on the fax number to our adoption agency! Oh YES!!! She was back! She was working on our case! Earlier this month she said that she "might" be able to turn around our amendment in 3 - 4 days. I think she decided to go for a RECORD! She completed the processing and issued our amendment TODAY!!! UNBELIEVABLE! We sent e-mails back & forth to each other several times. What an angel she was!

Betty was floored that we got a one day turnaround! This may be the new benchmark!! We also had several entertaining e-mails between us! She has been so great. She faxed our document to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou about a nanosecond after it arrived on her fax machine!

Woo-hoo!!! We're going to China! OUR TIME IS FINALLY HERE! Hang on Jax - - we'll soon be on our way!! We leave on December 2nd and we will return on December 18th (exactly one week before Christmas) and only 10 days before the expiration of our I-171H form (I am incredibly thankful that we didn't have to renew THAT document! It costs a fortune!). So glad we only had to do the amendment!

We'll be in China for Jackson's 6th birthday! Betty thinks there is a chance we may even finalize our adoption on his birthday! Wouldn't that be special?! Our little man turns 6 on December 8th! Oh BOY!!! (See? 8's are LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY!!)

So...now we pack and collect our mountain of paperwork and pack and finish our Christmas shopping ASAP and pack and re-check our paperwork and pack and...well you get the picture. So nervous that I'm going to forget something important! I'm ready to BURST! I'm so excited! Michael is excited! He told me tonight at dinner that "this is going to be FUN!" We actually plan to pack light and purchase a lot of Jackson's clothes in China (especially since we don't have a clear understanding of his sizes just yet - - we're kind of guessing that he might be between a 7 - 8 and we have no idea what his shoe size is!). We can't wait to meet him and hope that he is looking forward to joining our family!

I believe that God had major hand in orchestrating all of this. There were so many times during the long, painful wait that I spoke to Him, questioned Him (sometimes tearfully), but always with faith. He has finally answered our prayers and we are so grateful! So now we will pray for a smooth transition and strong attachment. It's time to make Jax's doctor appointments and let our school district know he'll soon be here! I'll be sending Jackson a care package this week so that he knows we'll soon be there. With any luck, I may be able to get an update on his height & weight and maybe even a few new photos!!!

Ah, yes...parenthood begins!