Tender Moments

It was a busy few days, hectic actually.  After being notified of our first tentative travel date to China, it turns out it was miscalculated and we were left feeling a little disappointed finding out we may not travel until October.  Sigh.

As it turns out, there are three other families from our agency traveling Sept. 10, and our travel assistant made a call to China. They can accommodate us in that group, or wait until Oct 7.  Our agency is going to see where our paperwork stands with the Ministry of Ontario on Tuesday, and then we find out if we will indeed travel Sept 10.  Our Travel Notice is given to plan for travel 8-10wks following our Letter Seeking Confirmation.  In the US, they wait until they get that letter and book travel two weeks later, sometimes one week later.   Here in Canada, travel booking is done within that 8-10 week window, as they know the letter will arrive shortly before the 8 week time frame.  Now if  you're confused, you'll know how we've been feeling for the past few days with the following information.

They are allowing us travel, however, it is most likely we will be passing by our Travel Notice as it is arriving here in Canada and we are flying to China.  What that means is that once the letter arrives here in Canada, it will be processed and couriered back to us in China at our hotel.  The only risk by doing this is there is a slight possibility we may end up staying 1-2 days extra in China.  David and I discussed this and we both are willing to have our son a month earlier and stay an extra few days, than having to have him stay in the orphanage another month.

This isn't final yet, as we will find out on Tuesday at the end of the day.  Which means-- we could be leaving for China in six weeks! AAHHHH!

So you can imagine with all the extra talk we've been doing about Nevin, the children are well aware that Nevin is coming home soon.  And as I was trying to have a quiet moment to think about everything today with a cup of tea, my two year old daughter came up on my knee for a cuddle.  One look at her, and there's no way anyone could say no.  She kissed me and snuggled in, and my heart sank.  I said to her, "You know Mummy is going to miss you so much when we go to China."  She played with my hair and answered, "I'm going to miss you too, Mummy." Then she added (word for word, no joke--), "I'll be so worried about you Mummy."  What a sweet little girl. I'll be an utter and complete mess when I say goodbye to them.

The weekend was filled with little moments like these.  David's Dad and Step Mother came up for a "sleep over" last night.  We don't often see them, as they live in Orangeville, and Nana Evelyn is 88 years old with some health problems and ambulatory issues.  It was nice to chat with her about the adoption, as she adopted her two children 55 years ago.  Adoption back then consisted of parking your car two blocks away, out of sight, walking to the door, taking the child, some paper work and that was it!  Can you imagine?!  So she was very keen to learn about the process, especially all the details in China.

Dylan's Grandad was very proud to be here today, as Dylan mastered riding his bike without training wheels!  It couldn't have been more perfect, as I know there is a strong pang in his heart when he can't be here for all the special moments.  Dylan and Heather both being winter babies, Grandad and Nana Evelyn have missed many birthdays because we live in a fairly active snow belt. So I think Grandad was rather chuffed that he was part of this feat accomplished by his first grandson. He gets the same tear in his eye when he looks at his grandchildren as David does when he looks at his children.  Lets face it-- none of us ever dreamed we'd have three children.

So after they headed back to Orangeville, Dylan headed to his Grannie's for a sleepover, Heather went for a nap, and I started organizing Nevin's clothing and baby stuff for the trip.  Its a little early to pack, but I have the same overwhelming and compelling feeling of NESTING.  Its exactly the same as when I was in my last trimester with the kids, only I'm not as big as a tractor, and I don't pee a little when I laugh or sneeze!

Dylan Masters Riding A Bike Without Training Wheels!!!!!