So what exactly are we waiting for?--Waiting 101

"Why do you have to wait so long?" I get this question a lot. This week was especially hard because with Chinese New Year, everything in China stops, as this is a major holiday with tons of tradition. This year is the year of the Ox. CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) is closed for the week, so no paperwork is processed for 5 days. So here is what we are waiting for, and what some of the adoption abbreviations mean. This is only based on what I have learned from reading other blogs.

DTC: Dossier to China. This is the date that your dossier (paperwork that has been notarized, certified by the state, and authenticated by the Chinese Consulate in SF, CA). Ours is Jan. 5, 2009.

LID: Log In Date. We are currently waiting to learn what ours is. This is when your dossier is officially logged in to China's system, and the wait officially begins. Just because we don't know yet does not mean we are not logged in. It is common to not know for awhile. This date is usually 1-2 weeks after DTC.

LOA/LOC/LOSC: Depending your agency or website you are reading, these all mean the same thing. This is the official Letter of Confirmation, or the big "YES" from China. So not only are we waiting to find out what our LID is, at the same time, we are waiting on this piece of paper. From reading other's blogs, i know that this takes about 3 months on average from the LID. Keep in mind that I will have 5 extra days due to Chinese New Year, so we are hoping to get this in mid April. Then there is more paperwork, and you send that back to China and then wait for TA.

TA: I'm not sure of the the exact meaning, but basically it is the permission to travel and make your travel plans. This comes on average 5 weeks after LOA. When you get this, you have the green light! I have seen people travel in 2-5 weeks from TA. The agency sets the Consulate Appointment (CA) and when you have that, you travel about 2 weeks before.

And this is why we HOPE to travel in June! We shall see though. I'd go tomorrow if I could!

Have a great weekend. We are off to another basketball game for Kacie (she made her first basket in a game last week!).

Another Referral Picture--but no new info.

Changzhou will not send me new pictures. It makes me crazy! I still do not know my Log-In Date in China. Many people who sent their Dossiers at the same time do have their log ins, so I have to trust God and my agency that mine is logged in. It would be nice to know.

So here's another picture of our boy, Tyson. We believe this picture was taken at about the same time as the other one, making him about 11 months old. Kacie loves this picture for some reason. She always asks to see it. When I get my approval in China, hopefully in April, I will write more about his name. It will just feel like the right time. You just have to ignore the pink vest...it's so common for boys to be in pink in the orphanages. Dan can guarantee you that Tyson will not be in pink once home!

Chinese New Year Care Package

I kept this package rather simple. I really wanted him to get a new outfit (hope it fits!) and a toy. I love the shirt on the panda bear. The candy is for the nannies, and the camera is in hopes that they will take pictures. I may not have pictures now, but I hope to later! I wrote a very brief letter thanking them for caring for him.

We have not heard if we are logged in yet, and we may not know for awhile. The good news is that people who mailed their dossier at the same time of us already have log in dates (LID), so I am assuming mine is logged in too. I can't start the official counting days until I know my LID.

Please continue praying for Tyson Li Chen and that our paper work will get through quickly. He is very tiny and underweight, but we know he is growing!

Dossier is off to China!

We were told today our dossier is being sent to China! Yay!!! Hang on Tyson, we're making this happen as quick as we can!

Funny story: We bought a new truck last week (O8 Toyota Tundra), as we will be a family of 4, and actually Kacie is now outgrowing the back of our older truck (97 Ford F150) that has a cab. We took the new truck to basketball last Saturday, and she picked up a snack at the grocery store on the way home. Since it's a new truck, there's a "no eating in the truck" rule in effect. She asked, "Mom, can I eat my snack?" and of course explained no she couldn't. Here's her response: "Well, does Tyson get to eat in the truck?" Can you believe that?