Confirmation!

CAWLI called this morning saying they have received confirmation from the American Consulate in Guangzhou, China, that we have our Consulate appt. on 9/27. That is where Meigan will become an American Citizen and receive her American passport! Our travel dates are 9/14-29th. We will be in Beijing for a couple days sightseeing and then we're off to Kunming, Yunnan province, and we will have Meigan either Sunday night or Monday morning!
Today, I sent the passports to my cousin in Houston for the visas and we also sent Meigan's care package to her orphanage even though she is not there yet. Hopefully she will have her blankie, toy dog and pictures during the week she goes back to the orphanage 1 week before we get her. She has been with a foster family quite a while. I know it will be hard for Meigan and her foster family. Unfortunately, we will not to get to meet them and thank them for caring for our daughter.
Expecting our travel package Friday so should have more travel details!

We Have TA!!!!!!

Scott, Logan, Jennifer and myself are very excited to announce we got the "call" today for our travel approval ! We are awaiting travel confirmation from our agency( China Adoption with Love, Inc.) , but looks like we will probably get to go on Sept. 14, which is Jennifer's 5th birthday! That's only 2 weeks! Will keep you posted when details are confirmed:)

Crate Training

Crate training Rocky hasn't been so easy but just took one day for Jennifer:)

And They Called It Puppy Love

We have a very special puppy in our household now. His name is Rocky and he is 3 months old.
Rocky was Matt and Shruti's " baby" and we happily agreed to be his "Godparents" since Shruti is now in Boston. (((Love ya Shruti! ))) When Matt brought him down when they first got him, Logan just loved him and wanted a puppy so badly. Matt and Shruti both knew how much Logan loved Rocky and Logan was overjoyed when we told him Rocky would be living with us. He really is a sweetheart and you just melt when you look at him. He is a boxer and will probably get pretty big. We've been told boxers are good with kids. Rocky is such a baby himself. Last night, Rocky slept between Scott and me and Jennifer was on the other side of me! We're thinking of taking over Logan's bunkbeds and give the kids and the dog our bed! Anyway, he has put smiles on our faces after so much pain and sadness. The picture below is of Matt holding Rocky a month ago. Will post new pictures soon.
Still hoping to travel in Sept. There is a group leaving the end of Aug. but I'm afraid we've missed that boat. If another group doesn't leave in Sept., we will travel ourselves. Oct. is hard to do because of a trade fair in Hong Kong or Guangzhou. Prices go way up and hard to get rooms. We are so ready to bring this baby home. Ar first, there was no way I wanted to go without a group, but now we are at the point of whatever it takes.

Much Family Saddness

This whole past week and a half is still so surreal. I wasn't sure when I would be up to blogging again, but I thought I should at least share some unexpected news to readers wondering why I haven't posted in a couple weeks. I lost my brother, Matt, to a sudden stroke on July 28th. He was 32 years old. He had just moved back to Tampa from Naples to be with his fiancee, Shruti.
They were planning to marry in March next year.
In a weird twist of fate, Matt passed away on Meigan's birthday. We wanted to change her birth date after this happened, but decided we need something to celebrate that day. Her and her uncle Matt will always share that day, and we will celebrate Matt's life and the gift of new life in Meigan.

No travel approval yet, but could be soon.