We're Off!

We are off to China in the morning!!! Our flight to Vancouver and then Beijing leaves Winnipeg at 8:00 a.m. We won't see a bed until Saturday night around midnight when we end our travel time to China, in Nanchang, Jiangxi. I will be so relieved when we finally get there, get through all of the temperature and security checks and get to our hotel. I'll try to post when I can and if there's nothing new added here, then try our alternate blog link mentioned beside this in the top right hand corner. We're coming for you Maya!!!

3 more sleeps until we meet Maya!

Itinerary

We received this today. Wahooo!!!

Schedule:
May 30 - Arrive in Beijing
Fly Beijing--Nanchang
May 31 - 15:00 go to civil affairs to receive Maya
June 1 - June 4 Adoption process
June 5 - Get Maya's passport
June 6 - Nanchang--Beijing
June 7 - Tour to Great Wall with lunch
June 8 - Appointment with Canadian Embassy/Medical examination
June 9 - Tour to Summer Palace with lunch
June 10 - Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City
June 11 - Free
June 12 - Leave for Canada

Three days until liftoff!

Four Days to Go!

We have only four days to go!!! The garden is in and I'm heading for a nap - while I can!

Finish Packing

We have five days to go!!! Four days until we leave for my parents home. They will drive us to the airport and meet us when we get home. They are also 'cat-sitting' our cat, Mandarin for us for the two weeks. Honestly, we've had Mandarin for eight years now, and his name has nothing to do with the Chinese language, (we hadn't thought of International Adoption back then), but instead is linked to Mandarin oranges, because he is orange. Fluffly and orange - he's our little lion and will have some major adjusting to do, as well, once we are home with Maya.

I sure hope we get our itnerary tomorrow and we also need to know who to take gifts for. Money also needs to be wired from our bank to our Facilitator's bank in China to pay for internal flights, our hotels, our guide and any touring that we will be doing. Our days are limited!!! Basically we will only need cash for food and shopping, and tips for our van driver, while we are there. We need this information soon!

I'm also working at creating a different blog using a different program, as eBlogger doesn't work in many places in China. I'll post when I have the blog info and include the link. There is one new blog that I have created, found toward the bottom of by blog list on this page. Feel free to check it out.

It's going to be a beautiful day here today and some deck time is what's in store! I also have to get the garden planted... it's finally warm enough to do this!!!

Countdown

Six days to go! I am already nervous and my brain isn't functioning properly. It's going to be quite the week!!!

Countdown

SEVEN days until we leave!!!

Packing

I am re-packing the suitcases again, eliminating some things and adding others. Maya has the most clothes out of everyone. I want to get as much use out of the smaller clothes while they still fit. By the looks of things, it's going to be HOT in both Nanchang and Beijing. Thank goodness we don't have to worry about packing heavy winter clothes! (I can take more clothes because of this.) We're only taking a couple of pairs of shoes for Maya as we can buy those there. Apparently squeaky shoes are very popular, and cheap.

We don't have our itinerary yet, but the flights are booked. Yayyyy!!! We fly out of Winnipeg next Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. and will arrive in China on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. We return to Winnipeg on June 12 at 6:30 p.m. and will spend the night at my parents'. China's days and nights are the opposite of our's, since they are 13 hours ahead of us. It may take awhile once we return home for all of our bodies to adjust. Maya is going to go through many, many changes in her life over the next few weeks. This can be extremely hard on children and we will try to make these transitions as easy for her as we can. Baby steps. It breaks my heart to read about some of the emotional experiences that families go through during the adjustment period, especially during and soon after 'Gotcha/Forever Family Day'. Hopefully we will all make adjustments quickly. We need to remember that everything we have gone through and will be going through, is definitely WORTH IT!!!

Eight days until we fly to Beijing!!! We can't wait!

China Bound - FINALLY!!!

Wahooo! We finally received travel dates today!!! We had two options: arrive in Beijing May 30 or June 6. Of course we are choosing May 30th. Have to book our flights still and will update later when we know more. Now I'm freaking out!!! Glad I'm already packed!

KISSES IN THE WIND
(for our daughter in China)

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, our 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.
--- Unknown

It is very depressing to see how many other families are receiving their TA's and confirmation of appointments, and we are not. Already we have waited one month longer than many of these families - many are from the April referral group. We received our hard copy of our referral on March 9/09. If anyone can explain any of this to me, please do. We are not being given that ray of hope that other families are and I think that this is totally unfair. Here I sit, day after day, waiting and wondering if today might be the day that we get some good news. I've been off work for three weeks now, due to stress and the fact that we thought we would be leaving by now, or at least have travel dates. My sick days are numbered. I cannot return to work because of the fact that we don't know when we are leaving and another teacher has been hired for my two-month term, and that again, would add to my stress. I'm getting to the point where I don't really want to see anyone because of the on-going questions from others -"Do you know when you leave yet?" and "When are you going?" I just don't know what to do anymore... I can only clean the house so many times, all of Maya's clothes are washed, we are basically packed... We would leave tomorrow if we could.

We Have Our Travel Approval

I just picked up our Travel Approval package from the Post Office. We still aren't going anywhere, but we have permission to travel to China to adopt Maya, when the time comes.

Travel Approval

Our agency does have our TA and has sent it to us Express Post so we should receive it tomorrow. That doesn't mean we are going anywhere. That just means that we have permission to travel to get Maya. When? Who knows?!?! We have to wait for travel dates from our facilitator in China - refer to last posting.

It Gets Worse

This is the e-mail that we received from our agency this morning that had been sent to them by our facilitator in China.


With respect to two families' travelling, we contacted Jiangxi provincial civil affairs. They advise the families not to travel to China if their their air tickets were not issued. We'll inform you after the hold is lifted. Please ask the families to wait for our message patiently.
We'll arrange the travel for them. Their "Notice of Travelling" is valid within 5 months, so don't worry about that.

Great, just great!

Many families in the U.S. are being issued their TA and have their appointments confirmed. Why not us???

More Bad News

Our agency still has not heard from the provicial desk anything regarding our TA. Our agency has also e-mailed our facilitator in China about the Civil Affairs appointment issue. I copied this from a recent post on www.chinaadopttalk.com (Rumour Queen site).

This was posted on our company intranet a short time ago. The company is a large international company so they should have the correct information. I am not sure from where it is though.
“The Chinese visa application centre have advised that due to recent events regarding the swine flu outbreak, the Chinese Embassy have suspended issuing visas to travellers holding passports with entry or exit stamps (dated anytime from the 20th April and onwards) from the following countries: Mexico, Spain, USA and Canada. This is irrespective of nationality.
This change is with immediate effect and applies to both new applicants and any travellers holding existing valid Chinese visas. The Chinese authorities have also advised that there is a strong possibility that travellers arriving in China by flight, on a previously issued visa, may be refused entry by Immigration officials, if their passport shows any evidence of recent travel to any of the above countries.
This information is yet to be updated on the Chinese Embassys website. Further updates will be posted here when they are received.”

Adoption Terms

Four Adoption Terms Defined
Natural child: any child who is not artificial.
Real parent: any parent who is not imaginary.
Your own child: any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted child: a natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own.
(Rita Laws)

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the soon-to-be and already mothers, everywhere! Maya and Mandarin (our cat - and honestly we've had him for almost eight years, so he was named before we ever thought of adopting from China), gave me some beautiful red roses and a fancy new iron, (our old iron malfunctioned and the electrical connection on it blew up.) Our 'children' are so sweet and thoughtful. Here are two poems that I found on another family's blog.

Not flesh of my flesh

Nor bone of my bone,

But still miraculously

My own.

Never forget

For a single minute:

You didn't grow under my heart

But in it.

--Fleur Conkling Heyliger

"I didn’t give you the gift of life,

But in my heart I know.

The love I feel is deep and real,

As if it had been so.

For us to have each other

Is like a dream come true.

No, I didn’t give you

The gift of life,

Life gave me the gift of you.”

– Unknown

We are still waiting for our TA, of course, it's the weekend and the agency is closed. Rumour has it that the Civil Affairs office in Jiangxi is not confrming appointments, meaning that adoptions cannot be finalized. This is because of the flu. Many families have their TA's and even their plane tickets, but cannot travel until their appointment is confirmed. Someone wrote on their blog that it's like a court hearing and if it's not confrmed, then it's not a go. I sure do hope that tomorrow brings some positive news about this because it would be a nightmare to have to reschedule trips for the affected families. It would also push everyone back even further.

This part of the adoption process has definitely been the hardest. I know that we have many more challenges ahead of us, but at least we'll have our daughter. Let's hope and pray for a positive, uplifting week!

ITT/TA is in the Province!

Our Invitation to Travel/Travel Approval is finally at our Provincial Office awaiting approval. Once this is done then it will be sent on to our agency who will then forward it on to us and we can book our flights. All of this, providing that we get the green light and know that we will not be quarantined upon arrival to China, because of this flu. We are getting closer to Maya!!! We can hardly wait any longer!

TA Update

Many people are reporting that TA's are on the way and some have arrived. I sure hope that the two that are headed to our agency are ours! There are also two Special Needs referral families waiting for travel approval.

I'm so happy for John and Christine who should be receiving their TA after all. They were told late last week that their already made travel plans had to be cancelled because the CCAA was holding back their TA. I know that our TA has to be provincially approved before our agency sees it so it could be a couple of days yet before we hear anything. I am so excited!!! I'd better go and get my jobs done around the house now, because I know I won't want to do them later, WHEN we receive our travel dates.

Okay, another update. Our agency e-mailed me back this morning and reported that they received an e-mail yesterday from the CCAA saying that two TA's had just been sent to our agency. I'm crossing my fingers AND my toes!!!