The next two-week wait begins...

We received our NVC letter today, which enabled us to submit our DS-260! Our agency will submit both of these documents to China tomorrow. We will then be waiting for our Article 5, which should be issued within the next two weeks. Moreover, we received an update on our sweet Eowynn! This will be the last update we receive before we travel to get her. She has 8 teeth and weighs only 18 pounds. She is mainly on formula and rice cereal, with some noodles. She is walking and can go up and down steps with help. Bless her heart! They also included a daily schedule for us which is helpful. Here is an updated picture of her dated today!

Let's get the packing started!

We started gathering Eowynn's clothes together. Dane picked out her cute little coat and hat. I made some cute little headbands for her! From what we understand, our trip will consist of three cities while in China. The climate and temperature will vary, as it will be like us flying into "Boston," then going to "Pennsylvania," ending up in "Florida." So, packing will be a bit of a challenge-lots of layers I think!However, when we arrive back home, it will be winter temps for sure!

I also organized a kitchen cabinet for all of her things!

I checked the tracking on her care package and it still says that it is in transit. Just waiting on the NVC to issue our GUZ number for more documents which then will need submitted. So close....

Panda Playroom is as ready as it can be!

Eowynn's Panda Playroom is as ready as it is going to be! Dane carved this adorable sign for the playroom door! I put the finishing touches on it!

Well, here it is!

Here is her kitchen play area...

This little bench was my Grandma Sevey's little telephone bench which she had in her hallway at her house. Dane painted it and added the new chevron fabric that we bought. Love it!

The reading nook...

The Art Area...We bought this antique piano bench to use as her art table. Dane painted it. Eowynn can store her paper and other art tools inside the bench.

The magnet board...

The toy bins...

We cannot wait for little Eowynn to play in here! Now, we just have to paint her bathroom and all her rooms are ready to go! Still waiting on our PA (Provisional Approval). Hopefully we will get it this week! :)

The Reveal of EMR!

Last Christmas break, Dane and I began our adoption journey. When we signed on with our agency, we were told a timeframe of 12-18 months from match to bringing our child home. Just this past summer, we saw that the timeframe had extended to 24 months (2 years). We had been looking at children who needed adopted on various sites, as this was another way that we could possibly find our daughter (Either we would wait for our agency to "match" us or we could find her on our own). After seeing 4 little girls and being put on their waiting lists without ever getting an opportunity to view their files (other families accepted their files before it ever got to us on the lists), we didn't get discouraged and kept looking. I'll never forget coming home from work on Tuesday, Sept. 22nd, and seeing the picture and video of a sweet baby girl on our agency's waiting children profile page. After showing Dane, we went ahead and emailed our agency contact, requesting to be added to the list to review her file. We figured that what ever was meant to be for these children and for us, would be. We were in shock when we received the call to review the file of this little girl on October 9th. After consulting with experts in the medical field about this little girl's listed medical conditions, we officially accepted our daughter's file on October 16th. We wanted to make sure that we could meet her needs and provide the medical attention/ surgery (surgeries) that she will need. The defining moment was when we were on a conference call with the head doctor at Children's Hospital who informed us that the doctor who invented the procedure that our little girl will need works at our very own Children's Hospital. This little girl could not be placed in a better area for her medical condition. Right away, I thought back to when my Dad had his brain surgery this past Feb/ March. The doctor who performed his surgery was the one who invented that procedure. It was so very clear, this little girl was meant to be placed with us. Dane and I just keep asking ourselves, "How did we get so lucky to have found and soon will welcome this little girl into our family and call her our own, our daughter." As for her name, we picked out this name for our future daughter years ago. Her initials are EMR, her first name has the meaning: Horse Lover. Ironically, our little girl was born last year, which was the year of the horse in the Chinese Tradition. We are thankful for God finally sharing his plan and vision for our family with us now. His timing could not be more perfect! We are beyond excited to share our daughter. Just click on the link below her little footprint, "Our Adoption Journey" for the reveal.

Our Adoption Journey

Care Package Ready To Mail!

We are ready to send a little care package to our daughter. We can only send a shoebox-sized care package, otherwise China may not accept it. So, we are going to pack all of these items the best that we can. Our agency was kind enough to provide labels in Chinese for the items. Stickers for our daughter "to share with friends" and chocolates "for the Nannies." All other items are for our daughter: PJ's, Outfit with sweater and socks, Doll, Elephant Teether, crinkle elephant book, elephant blanket buddy, and a photo book with pictures of us, her house, her backyard, her room, her toys, her dog, her Grandmas and Grampas, her Aunts and Uncles, and cousin. We are also including a disposable camera in hopes that the Nannies will take pictures of our daughter for us. We hope to get the camera back when we meet our daughter for the first time. Fingers crossed, as sometimes it doesn't work out that way. <

Our I800 and supporting documents were sent out today by our agency. We now wait for our PA (Provisional Approval) which typically takes 2-4 weeks to issue. We are moving forward with the next steps of the immigration process! Once we receive this approval, things are said to move rather quickly. We already feel like they are! :)