Travel Dates Are Confirmed!!!!!

We cannot believe it!  After 5 very long years our adoption journey is almost complete.  The day after Thanksgiving we received word from China that we have been approved for travel.  The paperwork was being sent back to our agency for final confirmation of our consulate appointment.  We were given 3 travel date options and our first choice was to leave shortly after the Christmas holiday.  Unfortunately, those dates were already taken.  Our second choice was the beginning of January 2012 and this date was confirmed.  Tickets have been purchased as of today!!!  We are officially leaving the beginning of January to pick up our baby boy, Dashell.  I think we all need to be pinched as it doesn't seem real.  We plan on being in China for about 2 weeks, leaving for home just at the beginning of the Chinese New Year. 

Below is a brief itinerary of our trip while in China:

Day 1 - 3
We will be in Beijing touring the Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.  How cool is that!  Will be taking lots of pictures.  I wish we were bringing our professional photographer, Auntie Imelda.

Day 4 -9
Traveling to Xining City, located right smack in the middle of China, to meet our baby Dash for the first time.  In fact Gotcha Day is 1/9 which is the same day of the month that we received Sophie back in 2008.  The number 9 must be our family's lucky number.

Day 10 - 14
Traveling to Guangzhou for our consulate appointment to finalize the adoption and receive Visa and Passport for Dash.  This will be our first air travel experience with 2 kids.  Please pray for us at this point!

Day 14 - 15
Taking the train to Hong Kong shortly after our appointment for the final leg of our trip.  In Hong Kong we are left to fend for ourselves...no translator or guide.  I hear that it's so westernized that we shouldn't have a problem.  From Hong Kong we fly back to the U.S.

By the time we reach Hong Kong, I'm sure we will be so ready to head home.  We will be travelling with a laptop and will keep everyone posted on each milestone.  We can't wait for all of you to meet Dash.  This is definitely the best New Year!!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Dash 10.19.11

We are getting so close to receiving travel plans!  We have received our final approval from the United States and awaiting the last approval from China.  Once that is received we will begin our travel plans.  Wouldn't that be the best Christmas gift ever...bringing Dash home.

In the meantime we had requested updates for our little boy.  Below is exactly what was written by the translator and thought that everyone would get a kick out of it:

"Now he can walk independently.  He can grasp food and put into his mouth. He will squat when he has pees or bowel movements. He can point to the object he wants. If he wants to sleep, he will grasp his foster grandma’s hands and point to the room he sleeps in. He can say mamma, papa and grandma. He can wave goodbye. He enjoys listening to music. He will point to his head when he wants to wear a hat. He isn’t afraid of pets or animals. He can have table food and likes sweet food. If he keeps moving his body or cry before bedtime, it indicates that he wants to urinate. He likes to play outside. He can squat and then stand up independently. He can also pull himself up when he falls."

We also received his latest growth measurements.  He currently weighs 19.8 lbs, Height 29.1 inches, and 4 little teeth.  Greg decided to compare Sophie's measurements with Dash at that same age and strangely enough they are almost all identical at that age.  We are so thrilled to know that he's doing well and healthy.  I think we feel a bit sad that we've missed that one milestone of seeing our baby walk for the first time, but we'll get over it. 

Hope to hear from you all on the comment page at the end of the blog. 


Peace out!

WE ARE MATCHED!!!!

THE MILLETTE FAMILY IS AT IT AGAIN 

It's been about 3 years now since we brought home Sophie from Vietnam and she's just growing up to be an extremely inquisitive and fun loving little girl.  We realized that time is just passing by so quickly that a sibling for Sophie is so important and that we really don't want to wait any longer.


Most of you know that we were still pursuing an adoption in China for a little girl.  In fact, we started the process before we even thought about adopting in Vietnam knowing that in our hearts we wanted to have 2 children. We first began to pursue adopting in China back in December 2006.  Now that it's 2011, let's face facts, we're not getting any younger, we decided that we needed to rethink how and what we should do about adding another child to our family.  So after long and truthful discussions Greg and I decided to pursue a child through the Waiting Child Program.  This program consists of children with minor conditions to more severe.  We were able to specifically request conditions that we would be able to handle.  A child with major conditions that could possibly lead to multiple surgeries or prolonged mental and developmental illness was something that we felt would be too difficult to handle.  You are all probably thinking to yourself how we would be able to decide.  Greg and I did promise each other that we would be truthful and honest with ourselves and to each other no matter how painful, as this is going to effect our entire family no matter how hard the decision is.  Our threshold was that of a child with minor conditions like a cleft lip, heart murmur or even clubbed feet.  We were also presented with a new option to consider.  We could request either a boy or a girl!

After a few months of waiting and paper shuffling we were finally matched with a handsome and adorable baby boy with a heart murmur (a.k.a. Patent Foraman Ovale)!  His Chinese name is Hu Zi Qian but we will be renaming him Dashell James Millette.  Our son's birthday is October 19, 2010, already weighs 18 lbs. and is in the 50th percentile in growth and development.  He is currently with a foster family who is taking very good care of him.  Dash loves to eat sticky buns, rice and lots of milk!  Apparently, he doesn't seem to take well to sweets, which is a good thing.  The report also stated that he can hold his head up while on his stomach, hold himself up to a standing position and is crawling.  We were so thrilled to receive the seal of approval from our International Doctor who deemed him a very healthy young boy with a heart murmur that could heal on it's own as he matures.  We will need to do our due diligence and make sure that we take him to see a pediatric cardiologists when we arrive in the States.  But overall, he is a very healthy little boy and we couldn't be more thrilled.

As of today, we have received approval to adopt a child from China from the USCIS (immigration)!!!!  We are 2 steps closer away from receiving travel plans.  It's crazy to think, but it's been moving along quickly and efficiently unlike what had happened with Sophie, waiting for 9 months to actually pick her up was complete torture.  I don't want to jinx anything, but I'm happy with the progress and eerily calm about things, which leads me to believe that I may be a mess when we travel to pick him up.  Will cross that bridge when I get there. 

As we wait to hear about our travel plans we will continue to update friends and family through this blog.  We hope that you all enjoy sharing this journey with us as we enjoy sharing it with you all!