Consulate Appointment

Our entire trip hinged on this appointment. We could not make our travel arrangements until we had a Consulate Appointment. It is the culmination of all of Tyson’s paperwork from the US and from China, his medical report, his official adoption papers, etc… Guangzhou is the home of the US Consulate that issues visas. Tyson was issued a Chinese passport under his Chinese name in Nanjing. Now we need his visa. He will fly to the US on an immigrant visa as Chang LiChen, but when he arrives in the US and touches ground, he is officially a US Citizen. I’m not quite sure what will be involved in changing his name officially, but his adoption certificate says his American name, so I’m assuming it shouldn’t be too much of a process, if at all.

We actually did not have to attend the consulate appointment; the guide goes on our behalf. But we had to sit in our hotel room and wait for a phone call that either all was well or that there was a problem. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and Ty can travel home with us! It takes a day for the visa to be issued, so tomorrow after we check out, we will go to the consulate and get the visa and take a sworn oath to be Tyson’s parents.

Throughout this process, I’ve wondered about timing. Why did it take so long? Something occurred to me yesterday, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

On Aug. 25, 2007, Tyson was found abandoned, a little baby boy who had difficulty eating. He was a little boy with a facial deformity and special needs. Now even more than ever, we believe this was the most heart-wrenching decision his parents ever made.

Aug. 25, 2009, exactly two years later, is this same little boy’s consulate appointment to become a US Citizen and to officially come home with his new family. God could have done this on any day, but He chose it to be the two-year anniversary of his abandonment. Of all the times I’ve wondered if I’m doing the right thing, this more than anything tells me that Tyson is meant to be ours, no matter what. Many of you have reminded me that God’s timing is perfect and that it will happen when it’s supposed to. I didn’t know what that meant. Now I know, and not only is it perfect, it’s amazing!

As I write this, Ty is walking around our hotel room in his squeaky shoes. He’s laughing, smiling, and teasing us. He has figured out how to use the dimmer switch on the lights by the bed! He spent 2 hours in his stroller as we went shopping in Guangzhou. In the last 8 days, Ty was scared and confused with us, refused to walk, screamed in a high chair and stroller, refused to vocalize or smile, screamed and cried during diaper and clothing changes, and went into temper tantrums at the drop of a dime. Now, he rides willingly in his stroller, sits willingly in a high chair, walks around the room from person to person dishing out hugs, tries to use utensils, laughs a smiles (most of the time) during changes, tries to talk, and responds very well. He imitates us, good and bad! When he drops toys, we make him get them, and he does. He even walked down the hall at the hotel! Food is getting better too, but many families have told us it may always be a problem. If he can do all this in 8 days, I can’t imagine what we’ll see when we get home. It’s going to be another big transition, and the road won’t be easy, but if we can get through this (and the plane ride home) we can get through whatever comes to us just by giving it all over to God and believing in our son. We have had so many compliments on him! It’s been incredible. I’m not kidding when I say his smile lights up the room, you just wait!

Today we went shopping in Guangzhou, and Ty missed his nap. We went on to dinner and took a swim, and Ty learned to splash! He really enjoyed the water, but obviously was getting tired. When we got back to the room, he was the silliest we’ve ever seen! But, what goes up, must come down. When I took his toys to settle him down, he went into FULL tantrum. But, we carted him everywhere with no nap, so you know, I’m going to take the blame on that one. He especially loves his little Elmo books. He takes them everywhere and tries to hard to say Elmo. He says, "LaMo" or "LaLo". I said Hello to him, and he said it back clearly. He can't say Baba (dad) so it sounds like mama, but we can hear the difference, barely.

The plan tomorrow: We take red couch photos at 1030 with my friend. I have laundry and photos to pick up, then we pack like crazy! We check out of the White Swan at 2:30, then we go to the consulate to get Ty’s visa and take our oath. Then we go to the Guangzhou airport to get our plane to Shanghai. We will stay one night in Shanghai, then on CHINA’s Thursday at 12:30pm (US Wed. at 9:30pm) we fly from Shanghai to San Francisco. We arrive in San Francisco at 8:30 am on Thursday (US Thursday…no more China time!). From there, we are supposed to catch a plane to Sea Tac at 10:15, but I seriously doubt we will make that flight, so we plan to just catch the next plane to Sea Tac. We will get home sometime Thursday night. My mom is picking us up from the airport. Now with an extra bag and a two year old, and adding a day, I’m sure I’m not going to adjust for a few days. I’m not looking forward to it at all. This could be a 24 to 36 hour trip from Shanghai to Seattle.

I will post hopefully one more time before China to put up our Red Couch Photos. I will also post when we are home to let everyone know we made it safely. Thanks you for following along, for your prayers, friendship, support, love, emails, and for your kind words. They mean more than you’ll ever possibly know. We can’t wait to get home. God bless you all!