We have officially gotten word from China that Hope is to be our daughter! The “LOA” Or Letter of Acceptance, is the paperwork from China saying that they have matched Hope’s file to ours and that they see no issue with the match. They are requesting our signatures that say we will accept her and understand the obligations and responsibilities that come with that decision. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we had to sign a document that said we understand that our child was to be accepted and cared for regardless of any issues anytime we were pregnant?
As a very unexpected bonus, I connected with another mom-to-be of a Beijing child. Her little boy had a birthday around Thanksgiving and they allowed her to send a birthday cake for him and his CWI sibs. She had a 39 second video that they sent as proof that they used the money for her child. (The video or pics are often one of the main reasons parents send the money for a birthday party.) This particular CWI rarely ever allow people to see any child that they are not matched with and so it was very unusual that a couple of other children were in the video. In that video, I not only got to see Hope for a few seconds, I got to see my very first bit of mischief from Hope! She reached over and poked the birthday boy. For some reason it really tickled me. 😂 I can’t really explain why, I think I just enjoyed seeing a little of her personality.
Typically, travel is 8 to 10 weeks after LOA but we are coming up on Christmas, New Year’s and then Chinese New Year. This will certainly delay us but I am really, really hoping for the last week of February. The timing would be incredible. As our oldest,Laura, is now a fully licensed physician, she could keep the office running for us but she would have to take vacation from her current position to do so. She is only allowed to use 5 vacation days in any given months and even then, it is only allowed in certain months. As God’s timing is, this timing is perfect! Both February and March are months that she is allowed to request vacation and by falling at the end of one month and the beginning of another, she may be able to work for us for a good portion of the time we would be out. She has even offered to give us a “Friends and Family” discount. 😁 I can say, with only a little bias, she is an awesome doctor and we would be incredibly blessed to have her keeping an eye on our patients and our other kiddos. Mitch, bless him, has not hesitated to say he will watch the boys for us in March, (using his vacation) but I will feel less guilty if his sister is here to share the fun.
So, we would love to have prayers for God's perfect timing, for health for Hope until we can get there, for understanding by the littles at being left home, for patience and peace for my awesome bigs and for acceptance for all of the variables that we can’t control for Tim and me.
