UPDATE

We received an email from our agency today letting us know that we will probably be traveling in mid/late October. October is not a very good time to travel to China. There are holiday's in the beginning of the month and then Trade Fair at the end of the month. It would figure that Bob and I would somehow manage to be smack in the middle of all this, nothing has been easy in this process.

I am disappointed because this means Owen will spend his 2nd birthday without us and he won't be home for halloween. I will of course be sending him birthday gifts but I wanted to give them to him myself. I am feeling a little sorry for myself, I feel a really good cry coming any time now.

Bob is just as disappointed if not even more. We both just want to start the next chapter of our lives, we are ready to be parents.

We are going to the Poconos this weekend, I am hoping it will cheer us both up being with our family. Of course I am sure I will be getting asked the following questions, several times.....When are you going? Why haven't you heard anything? What takes so long???? In which I will answer with the following....I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW!

Here is another picture of our beautiful boy!

We hope everyone has a happy and safe Labor Day!

PANIC MODE HAS SET IN...............

O.k. so the excitment of LOA has settled in and now I am in panic mode that we could be traveling within the next four to six weeks!!

I really have no idea where to start. What do I pack, how much do I pack when I figure out what to pack and OH MY GOD AM GOING TO BE A MOTHER!

I would love suggestions as to what all of you who've been there did and for those who are getting ready to go are doing!! Any suggestions would be great.

I NEED SUGGESTIONS, PLEASE!

CONGRATULATIONS JONNI

I very big Congratuations to Jonni and John from Journey to Sophia, they received their TA today and could possibly be leaving Sunday, yes SUNDAY!!!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE............

O.k., since we got our LOA I am posting pictures of our BEAUTIFUL son!!

GIVE ME AN L...GIVE ME AN O... GIVE ME AN.. A

WHAT DOES THAT SPELL..............LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE!!!

We just got the call from our agency, our LOA is in and we are on our way to sign it and get it back to CCAA!!!

HOLD ON BABY, MOMMY AND DADDY ARE ON THEIR WAY!!!

SO MANY NEW FRIENDS....

I had to take a moment to post about all the friends I've made threw this blog. When I started this I thought it would be a place where I would jot down my thoughts and updates and my family and friends could follow this journey. I never thought how many great friendships have been built because of it.

You all have been a great support system during this extremely long and stressful journey and when my Bonbon passed away you all gathered around and let me know that you cared. It truly helped.

Last night I made another new friend, Kim. Kim has adopted two children from China and actually just came home from China in May. Her Zoey is from the same orphanage as Owen. I found her totally by chance. I was strolling through Rumor Queen and found a post that she had made about Hubei province. I reached out to her because I wanted to hear all the details of her trip and her daughter. When I went to Kims blog and saw her daughters referral photo she was wearing the exact outfit that Owen has on in his referral photo down to the shoes. To say I was excited would be putting it mildly.

Kim was nice enough to give me her phone number so that we could chat, when I called her last night I really thought I was talking to a friend I've had forever, she was so nice and answered all my questions and gave me some real helpful information about our trip and about Hubei.

It has been that way with all my blogger buddies, I know that I couldn't have gotten through this without all of you and look forward to following every ones journey to bringing your baby's home and watching them all grow up.

You are all AWESOME!

RESTFULL WEEKEND....

Bob and I spent the weekend with my parents in the Poconos. We drove up on Friday evening and came home yesterday. Saturday I slept until 10:30 a.m. and Bob slept until 11:30 a.m.! Geez, did we need that.

Bob played golf on Saturday and I went shopping with my mom and sister, it was a nice day all around.

Today we have our updated medicals with our primary doctor. Keep your fingers crossed that Bob passes with flying colors. I am a little nervous since last week he was admitted into the hospital with his stomach issues. But that was a week ago and he has been prefectly fine since. I told Bob that under NO circumstances is he to leave the doctors office without the signed medical letter stating he is in excellent medical condition. No pressure there! LOL

I can't wait for all this to be over and we are on a plane home with Owen.

OUR AGENCY.......

I hear a lot of people not happy with their agencies, say that they are not supportive, don't return calls, etc. Bob and I are so lucky that we have an agency that is nothing like that. If I had to complain about something it would be that our coordinator doesn't answer emails the same day, it's usually one or two days later, but I've never emailed her with a urgent matter.

Last night I had a melt down about the wait. Several other families received their LOA and we are still waiting, it's been over 60 days since we sent out LOI. I am not ashamed to admit I am jealous, I want mine! I am so happy for my fellow blogger buddies that will be seeing their beautiful babies in the next month or so and they know that they can relate to my feelings, but when will it be my turn? I want it to be my turn.

Getting Owens updated pictures was a mixed blessing, I am thrilled to see him growing healthy and knowing that he is being taken care of but at the same time I am upset that he is growing without me and being taken care of by someone else. Does this make sense????? I want it to be me with him as he grows, I want him to be taken care of by me, his mother!

So, this morning I left my agency a "I am in a bad place, please call me call"!! I left that message at 8:05 a.m. and honestly don't remember all that I said on the message but I am sure I was not making much sense. At 8:45 a.m. my phone rang and it was my coordinator. She said "Tracy McGrath please, I said speaking" she said "take a deep breath and let's talk" We had a great 30 minute phone call and although she couldn't tell me when, she did let me vent, cry (o.k. sob) and she did know exactly what to say to me to make this process slightly better. At the end of our conversation she said "by the way, I hear that Owen is going to have one great bedroom and you have been utilizing your wait wisely" Obviously our social worker reported back about our home visit last week.

We hear a lot from people things like "he is so lucky to have you" "what a lucky kid" but you know what? We are so lucky to have him and we will be forever grateful to be parents to him.

COME ON CHINA, GIVE ME MY BABY!

I'VE BEEN MISSING IN ACTION

Sorry I haven't posted in a week. So much has been going on! Bob has been very sick since Sunday. We got the pictures of Owen at midnight Saturday. He has changed so much and now looks like a little boy, we love him so much! I can't even explain the love I feel for him! The topper to getting the pictures is that he is holding our "who loves baby" photo album! That really made this real for me.

Well, Saturday I decided that I was driving to PA to show my parents the pictures of Owen and Bob worked the entire weekend. Sunday morning he calls me that he is in horrible pain and can't breath. I told him to call 911 and I was on my way home. Long story short, they admitted him in the hospital ran A LOT of test and really came up with nothing. Other then he has sludge in his gall bladder but "don't think that was causing his pain" and he had a lot of gas in his stomach. He had stomach surgery years ago and they wrapped his stomach around the esophagus to prevent reflux, it is possible that a gas pocket got caught up in the pouch and caused his pain. So, we really don't know. So we are going to follow up with the doctor and see what our next steps should be. We really wouldn't want another attack while in China! YIKES!

Anywho, Owen is beautiful! I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much that we haven't even met yet. We are so lucky to have found such a wonderful little boy!

I am not posting pictures of him on the blog, but if you would like to see pictures I will share privately, just send me an email to phooket@aol.com and also include your blog address!

Thanks!
Tracy