Xin Nian Kuaile!!! (Sheen knee-en Kwai lah) Happy New Year!

Today is Chinese New Year! As we celebrate New Years for the third time, it will be our last celebration as a family of four! A month from today we'll be in Beijing and only days from meeting Eliana, how exciting! So, this year we're doing a very quiet Chinese New Year celebration with just the four of us. Beth is planning on cooking up some yummy Chinese food tomorrow night and we're just going spend some time together as a family. Next year however , we're thinking of a much larger celebration with friends and family but that's for next year. Here are some interesting facts (based on various internet sources) concerning us and Chinese New Year:

• 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit which is also Beth's year and who's motto is "Let there be peace"
• Howard is the Year of the Dragon whose motto is "I reign".
• Benjamin is the Year of the Rooster whose motto is "I know".
• Eli & Eliana are the Year of the Rat whose motto is "I rule".

All very appropriate mottos don't you think?

We got an Update!

In what has been an otherwise crummy week we did get an update on Eliana this week from the orphanage!  According to what they told us she is now about 33 inches tall and weighs 25lbs or about the same size as Eli.  Technically, she's his height (short) and weighs about 2lbs less (think Benjamin).  They also provided us with her current daily schedule which includes 4 rounds of formula (that will end quickly) including one before she wakes up (not sure how they pull that one off) and to our delight, she is attending now preschool.  We certainly will continue her at preschool but we imagine Bet Yeladim will be quite different than the preschool she's in now (less Chinese more Hebrew).

Otherwise, we're busy getting prepared for our trip.  Got our plane tickets this week and waiting on our in-country itinerary which may not come until the week before we leave.  Wish us luck as we continue this journey!

Travel Dates!

Last night we got our more official travel dates.  We're leaving March 2 and returning March 17 which of course is Benjamin's 6th birthday.  It'll kind of suck not being home for his birthday (as we aren't getting back in until very late) but we told him he can stay home from school on the 18th and we'll celebrate his birthday then as a family of 5! He was ok with it as long as Eliana brings him back a birthday present, don't think that'll be much of a problem.

Gotcha day is March 7! Or so we think based on the info we have so far from our agency.  They said we won't have final in-country dates until a week before we leave.  However, our conuslate appointment is on March 14 and arriving/departing dates are confirmed!  For those that have our password check out our tentative itinerary on our travel blog.

We're going in March

After a very long and anxious day of waiting, late this afternoon we finally got word that our agency could not get us a consulate appointment until March 14.  While we are a bit disapointed that we won't be traveling until March at least we know when we are going and can now plan accordingly.  They are still confirming some dates but it looks like we will be leaving on March 3 and returning on March 16.  We really really hope we'll be back on the 16th because the 17th is Benjamin's birthday and it would be really hard not to be there with him that day.  But it is what it is and we are excited just the same that Eliana will be home with us soon, just wish it was sooner!

Got our travel approval today!

Besides school being closed and Howard's work opening 2 hours late today we got the phone call we've been waiting for.  Our travel approval (TA) has finally gone through!  Our social worker said we should know our travel dates by Thursday.  Our travel dates will be based off our consulate appointment date (when Eliana gets her U.S. visa) which our agency is scheduling now.  We're hoping for an appointment date of Feb. 22 which means we would leave around Feb. 9 but it could be later.  Hopefully not too much later. We'll keep the posts coming!

New Trip Blog

We just started a new blog to document our journey to China to bring Eliana home.  Our intention is to post pictures and videos on this blog but due to our privacy concerns those posts will be password protected.  The blog can be found at the following location: Our Journey to China.  If you would like the password contact us but please understand that we can only share this information with family and friends.

We do intend to keep this blog going providing updates on the process and general thoughts on adoption, just no media. 

Speaking of updates...

We still don't know exactly when we're going to go but it's looking like it will be mid-February.  Hopefully, we'll know more next week.

Article 5

We learned yesterday that our Article 5 was issued.  What this basically means is that the U.S. Counsulate in Guangzhou notified the CCAA that we now are able to bring Eliana into the U.S.  This clears the way for CCAA to issue our TA which is our official invitation to travel to China and bring her home.  We should be getting this TA in a few weeks and once in hand we'll be able to make our travel plans!

When we travel to China will depend on when we can get our embassy appointment in Guangzhou to get her U.S. passport and visa.  As this date can vary quite a bit we can have anywhere from 5 days to 5 weeks notice before we travel.  So, we're now busy making travel preperations and finishing her room (a little more painting before her furniture is delivered on 12/29) her room! 

We're very excited!