Nothing Yet!

I just knew this week we were going to receive something...our I800, TA (Travel approval), or even an update on how Adam is doing. Nothing! So does this mean we are going to get hit with all three next week? Fine by me. Let's get this plane up in the air already.

Adam, your dad turned 44 yesterday. We missed you at his birthday party. Next year you will have to help me make his cake and wrap his birthday gifts. I want you to know you were the only thing he wanted for his birthday this year. We love you so much and we will be with you as soon as we can get there. Love, Mom and Dad.

More stuff...

Ok, we're closer, but not close enough. Is this what it feels like to be 8 1/2 months pregnant in the middle of a south Texas summer? This wait is miserable. And I assure those closest to John and I are miserable dealing with us, me in particular. Every day we receive more and more information from our agency. All good stuff, a bit overwhelming, but informative. What we really want to receive is our Travel Approval. Until then we continue to print the never ending amount of paperwork sent our way. I feel like we should have some sort of international adoption Master's degree to get through this. It is like the "paper chase" process gone mad. Those past and present APs know what I am talking about. I know in my heart it is all worth it in the end. I have no doubt in my mind that the Lord does not give us more than we can handle. Our God is awesome and we know he has ginormous things in store for us.

As we get closer...we have received our visas, prepared Adam's backpack (for now), picked out a set of PJs for him and painted a coat rack to hang in his room. These are the pictures posted above. You can see Ginger wanted to be a part of the backpack packing. Jackson has nothing to do with anyone or anything until about 12:00pm so he would not partake in the photo shoot this morning. So far I have the following items picked out for travel for Adam, some of which John and I will need to tote around: 3 coloring books with crayons, 2 sketch pads his grandma Pat bought him, 2 books, some hot wheels, a transformer thingy, a travel doodler with a light attached (I wanted the Etch-A-Sketch, but I was outnumbered by John and Mom), a camera that Grandma Pat is donating and he will definitely have a water bottle with him all of the time. Jennifer and Jordyn picked out the PJs a while back and we decided these would be great for the cold hotel room. I took a picture of his comforters also so you can see why the coat rack decor is what it is.

Thank you all for following our journey. There is absolutely no way we could have made it through all of this or even tackled such an adventure without the support of everyone in our lives. We cannot wait to introduce Adam to all of the important people who have played a role in our lives and what a blessing you all have been to us.

We're getting closer to travel!

Well, our agency was open today and our travel advisor sent out a couple of new e-mails regarding travel information. All of it good stuff, most of it confusing. We are still unsure how many intra-China flights we have will have to take. I guess we will have to start making a list of questions for the agency. Meanwhile, my mom splurged a bit on Dr. Seuss books over the weekend for Adam. I know he won't be able to read them for a while, but it is something I can read to him at night before bed. I worked on mailing out announcements for John's side of the family and I attempted to make Adam's pillow for the trip. I finally broke out the sewing machine and Jordyn and I worked through the directions to thread the darn thing. I had to take breaks so I wouldn't get so frustrated. I finished it tonight with John's assistance. For never sewing a thing a day of my life I think I did pretty good. John was kind enough to pose with the pillow.

Jordyn turned 14 on Sunday. She and John had a date at the Monster Jam truck show Saturday night and we went for cheese enchiladas Sunday after church per the birthday girl's request. We had a crazy weekend, but it moved quickly which is a good thing for us. Being school teachers we are usually thankful for Fridays, but now that weekends slow down our paperwork we can't wait for Mondays to get here. A little backwards don't you think?

Kisses in the Wind - Author Unknown

We hold you in our hearts and touch you in our dreams.
You are here each day with us, at least that's how it seems.

We know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, we love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, we blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until we can be with you.
We promise you, my darling, we're doing all that we can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, we blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that we send to you each night.

Travel Phase

Well, we are officially in the travel phase of our journey. Our agency contacted us this week and gave us a rough estimate for travel time which happens to be my birthday, February 20th. Wouldn't that be awesome? We had a homestudy update Tuesday afternoon and we will use this update to submit our latest paperwork to Homeland Security. Meanwhile, we are working on our visa applications. I have been thinking about Adam's care package all week and I just pray he has his photo album to look at. Wednesday evening we purchased John and Adam's backpack for the trip. I have a whole list of things for Adam's bag. Tomorrow I am planning to mail out our adoption announcements and finalize our Homeland Security paperwork. At some point this week I need to start a packing list. We have some prescriptions to fill for the trip (antibiotics-just in case) and I have to get started on that pillow...we will see how that goes.

Nesting

Our bunk bed set was delivered on Friday, January 1st. We are always very pleased with Ashley Furniture and their delivery crew. We hope Adam is happy with his bunk bed. We plan on him sleeping on the top bunk if he is ready and I am sure John and I will take turns sleeping on the bottom bunk in the beginning. Eventually, the girls may take turns as well. The sleeping arrangements in the Laymon household are going to be flexible for a few months. There are still a few more things I want to get for his room, but we need to spread out the "retail therapy" a bit. Tomorrow we start school again and although we have really not rested at all I think we are both ready to return. The time is going to fly here in the next few months and before you know it we will be on a 33 hour plane ride to China.