July 17
This month has been both busy and exciting...
We started out July waiting for our LOA and that came in on July 13th really about a month sooner then we thought it would. That started the mountain of paperwork that is the I-800 LOL.. After some computer glitches (I got a virus, ran out of Ink, lost a driver don't you just love computer stuff?) I finally got all of that done and it is in the hands of USCIS now. Now we wait for several approvals from them and finally Travel Approval (TA) from China. Our agency is expecting us to be able to travel some time Mid September.
Next weekend we are having dinner with a family from Orlando that we will be traveling with. Their daughter is also from Guangzhou so we will be together the whole trip. They live in Orlando and we have gotten to know them while we have been waiting for our referrals. They are bringing there 14 year old daughter to China with them, what a great experience for a child that age. We are taking Sophia with us too so I know all of the girls will have fun entertaining each other while we are there..
Work has been SUPER busy for me.. My counter part resigned and the company I work for decided not to replace her so I am now doing the work of two people for the price of one, nice right? In addition to that they implemented a new software system that has been a challenge for all of us. The silver lining is it is making time pace quickly...
We have been doing fundraising to get us to our goal for China. It is going well and we have had some good Ebay(seller name meimeiandtete) sales as well as some very kind and generous donations from friends. Thank you all who have bought Coffee from our Just Love Coffee site and for those of you who have made direct donations via our Pay Pal button on the blog. Every penny is getting us closer to where we need to be for the trip. We are still about $1000 away but we are getting there..The kindness and generosity we have experienced has been overwhelming to us and means so much. Our family and Amelia are very blessed to have such great friends in our corner..
This next month I am spending "NESTING" trying to get the house ready for 2 children under 4 years old. :) I can hardly believe I am a mother of two beautiful girls. I feel so lucky, so blessed.. I am getting the girls room ready and trying to sort through all of the tubs of clothes that I have been saving. The nice thing about having 2 girls is that I can relive all of those cute things we had for Sophia again with Amelia. We are also rearranging our living space to make more room in the play room and to make the house more functional for a family of four.
I need to start making a packing list and a last minute to do list as well.. First on that list we need a second car seat..
Sophia has been so sweet about her "Baby Sister" . whenever she is playing she always includes her in the game. Or when she is getting dressed she picks something out and says Mama Mei Mei can wear this one. We have been talking to her quite a bit about becoming a big sister and about the trip we are all taking to bring her "Baby Sister" home from China. Out of the blue the other night while Riz was putting her to bed she said to him " Daddy, I want to go to China to see uncle Zhou and bring Mei Mei Home" .. melts my heart really... She has been on summer vacation from school and has been missing her friends there. She asks me every day when she can go back to school. In the mean time she has been taking a combined Dance class it is Gymnastics,Tap and ballet. She likes the whole class but her favorite is the Gymnastics for sure. She has no fear and is amazing on the Beam and the uneven bars and looks adorable in her tutu. We have also been getting in some good beach time. She loves the beach playing in the sand and the water. She is a water girls for sure, again no fear... 
OK, now we got some updated Photos of Amelia from the True Children's home so I thought I would share those with you. Oh one more thing.. I sent Amelia a care package full of goodies from us and her grandparents. Hopefully he will be able to enjoy some things from us before we can get to China..
Doesn’t she have the best smile.. The last 2 picture show Amelia with her Foster Mother and Father. The other women in the photo is from the True Children’s home. She is the Foster Care coordinator and was visiting Amelia (Mei Mei as they call her) In her Foster Families home..
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