First morning

We tried to stay awake as long as we could last night, but we were both pretty much out of it. We did succeed in our short outing to the grocer to get bottled water, snacks and a pair of gloves for Kari. Later we also Skyped with Grammie and Lillian. But then we were out, until about 3 a.m., when a raging caffeine deprivation headache woke Kari up. A few baby aspirin later, we were back asleep until 6 a.m. So jet lag may not hit us as hard this time.

We arrived at the new terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport yesterday afternoon. Two years ago, in January 2008, it was still a couple months away from opening, so it was a new experience for us. It is a gorgeous terminal -- we definitely could see the influence of the Olympics on its design and size.

This morning we had a great breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. Chinese hotel breakfast buffets are incredible, as they offer choices for all palates. You can get western food or more traditional Asian breakfast fare -- or both, in our case!

Now, off to the Badaling section of the Great Wall (a different section than we visited in 2008) and the Olympic village. We'll check in again after our excursion today. (Incidentally, we can't open the blogger site from this hotel, but can post remotely by email. So we have no idea how the posts are formatting -- a good excuse if it looks sloppy!)

Countdown begins in earnest

Today is my (Kari's) last day at work before travel preparations must begin in earnest! We'll be in China very soon, and meeting Rachel on Jan. 24. Thank you, Grammie and Grandpa Austin, for staying with Lillian while we're overseas. The anticipation of meeting Rachel is overwhelming, but it's really started to affect me in the last few days that we will be away from Lillian for the longest time -- by far -- since the day we met her. I don't think I've been away from her for more than a day and a half in two years. Conflicting emotions -- but we are confident that it will all be MORE than worth it in the end.

Lillian's 2009 Christmas photo blog

Lillian's 2009 Christmas photos include two of the many she took, plus one that she posed and instructed Mommy how to shoot. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

We are approved for travel...

...now we just wait for word from the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou about our requested appointment date, so we will have our exact travel date very soon. The Consulate is closed for Christmas, so we'll hear next week.

Thanks to all for your prayers and encouragement. Merry Christmas!

Waiting for Travel Approval

We are hoping to travel to China to meet Rachel Guanglan in January, which would be exactly 2 years after we met Lillian Weihe. The only thing we are waiting for is formal travel approval from China, which would then allow us to set up our appointments and make travel arrangements. We've been told if we don't initiate travel by late January, we'd have to wait until at least late February, as Chinese New Year is on Feb. 14 this year. Appointments are not made in the two weeks CNY is celebrated. Here's hoping for travel approval SOON!

We got our LOA...today!

Hooray! Lillian's chances of meeting her new sister this year just got way better: Our adoption agency received the "Letter of Seeking Confirmation of Adopter (known as "LOA" in adoption parlance) today. We are on the home stretch now!

Back from Colorado

With a trip to China for Mommy and Daddy coming up in the hopefully not-so-distant future, we wanted to take a family vacation that Lillian would enjoy and remember. She understands that she's going to get to spend time with Grammie and Grandpa while we are in China, but every once in a while she still says, "When are we going to China to get Rachel?"

So last week we drove to Colorado and spent four days doing things Lillian really loved (and Mommy and Daddy love Colorado, so it was no sacrifice). We went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Denver Zoo, Georgetown, Casa Bonita, Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs, Estes Park, drove up and down Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake and back, and had a grand old time. Lillian got to see dinosaur fossils and climb on big rocks. What could be better?

The family photo is at about 12,000 feet, at the Alpine Visitors Center in Rocky Mountain National Park; Lillian took the photo of Mommy and Daddy with her own camera.

Happy Birthday, Rachel Guanglan

Today is Rachel Guanglan's birthday. We sent her a card a few weeks ago and hope it made it to Xi'An in time for her 3rd birthday. The card and a brief letter were written in Chinese characters, with updated photos of the three of us, and Lillian drew a picture of herself and Rachel.

About the shortest wait I've seen documented recently between DTC and LOA (the next step in the process) was about two months. Some people are waiting more than 100 days. We are on day 43, if my math is right. We are hoping and praying for as short a wait as possible -- Lillian's sister has now turned 3, and she needs to come home soon!

Why is This Girl So Excited?

Is it because she's going to see The Wiggles tomorrow at Sprint Center?

Well, it's actually because she loves playing with her train set and posing for photos, but she is SUPER EXCITED, as Kai-lan would say, to see a concert this weekend. She's also going to meet some new friends -- daughters of family friends who are coming over for lunch tomorrow -- so this is going to be a full Saturday for Lillian.

DTC and other bites of alphabet soup

We were officially DTC on July 17 -- that is, "Dossier To China." Now we await LOA, which is basically when the China Center for Adoption Affairs sends us a letter requesting us to confirm our decision to adopt. Typically the wait between the DTC and LOA (when a child has already been referred) is at least 8 weeks, and for some families it's much longer. So far most things have gone faster than we might have expected, or at least no slower. We pray that keeps up!

In the meantime, this week we received our updated I-797C from USCIS. That form is basically a pre-approval from the US of the final paperwork we will need to bring Rachel Guanglan home with us.

After we receive our LOA, it will be another 6-8 weeks to travel approval, so we're likely looking at late fall or winter as the most likely travel time.