Waiting for TA

Well, here it goes. The longest two weeks in history. :)

Some time in the next two weeks, we should get our Travel Approval. That is our official call to come pick up Moses.

There's a decent chance it will come this week, and I'm feeling that crazy sense of anticipation where your senses are super-hyped and ready for the phone to ring at every second. This morning I wrote the agency and gave them every phone number we have so they could call us as soon as it gets here.

We still don't know who will travel. We wrote Sue Sorrels, an adoption travel agent who is supposedly a master of finding the lowest fares possible. The agency says we have to fly in to Beijing and out of Guangzhou, and that will make a round-trip impossible, unless we can find a creative alternative.

I'm trying to plan for all of us going, two of us going, and just Bobby going. It's a little crazy not having a definite plan at this point, but we're doing the best we can with it.

Bobby already has some of those synthetic travel shirts you can wash out in the tub and hang to try overnight. Last time he was in China, the hotel charged a ton of money for laundry (like $5 to wash one pair of underwear), so washing stuff ourselves is imperative. I had trouble finding that quick-try techy material for women, but eventually I ran into a couple of shirts on deep sale at T.J. Maxx in the workout section. They are super lightweight and will pack teeny tiny. If I do go to China, one goal is minimizing the clothes we pack for ourselves to make room for supplies to take to orphanage kids in Beijing.

In particular, we hope to take some child-size colostomy bags to the folks at Morning Star Project. Click here to read about their work in China. So, if you know where to get those cheaply, or if you'd like to donate some, please give me a shout.

I found Moses a couple of pair of tennis shoes at Target this weekend. I have no idea what size to take, because his last foot length measurements were taken in March. I'm taking a cute pair of hand-me-down Crocs (size 6/7), and tennis shoes in size 7 and 8. I really hope at least one of those will fit.

I also bought a small pack of Pull-Ups, which I heard are good for the flight home, even if he is potty trained. (Supposedly the Chinese version leaks??) And I found a little picture board book of common English words. Maybe we can use it during the wait times and on the plane ride home.

We still need to find gifts for orphanage workers, tour guides, government officials, etc. I'm really hoping some of our adoptive friends will point us in the right direction on that, because I have no idea what is appropriate.

Thanks for taking the time to follow our journey. Prayers for a rapid TA, cheap plane tickets, and efficiency in the final details are needed. Also, we need to pray for little Moses, of course. He's about to face the biggest transition of his life so far. We hope the Lord will make it as gentle for him as possible.