Practice makes PERFECT!

Dear Johnson. He's such a good sport!

Honey do... please!

Kyle and I have decided to get some work done around the house. Nothing major, but the small stuff. We've decided to empty the babies room and then, we will kind of have a blank slate to work with. We can do as much or as little (LOL!) that we need to when the mood strikes! So far...baby Lauryn has a shelf, and a chair! A small rocking chair that was mine as a little girl. Her change table will be my old desk. However, it needs to be sanded, painted, it needs new drawer pulls. You get the idea.
It amazes me how people do ALL this stuff in only 9 months! We've got a little over 2 years. Maybe more, hopefully less. I'm already overwhelmed! We've created a huge "honey do" list. The baby's room has taken a page itself. We've got big dreams! Good thing is, is that we pretty much agree on everything that needs to be done. As well as how it's to be done!
So, the first weekend in October is clean up weekend! We are cleaning out the shed (yuck), and all the storage closets (yuck!) AND are attempting to clean up our office... alright it's not an office so much as it is a place where everything lands room. Like I said BIG dreams! Wish us luck!

Baby stuff!

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to shop! A new purse seems to be the cure all! You can imagine how much my purse collection has grown over the last couple of years! Infertility certainly can cause some strange things! Anyway, as Kyle looks over my shoulder while I type, we can save those little details!

The last couple of months have been really great. As our paperwork is completed and we look forward to a whole new chapter, my shopping habits (Mom's too) have changed! Baby stuff is so much fun to buy! Baby Lauryn has quite a collection of things so far! She's received some beautiful gifts. She's one lucky little girl! For those of you who don't know. Ladybugs are a good luck symbol for people adopting from China. Can you see a theme? I think our favorite is the little onesie. I found it online and fell in love with it. If Lauryn is big enough, this is what she will wear home to meet her family! On the front it says: Sorry to have kept you all waiting!

It was just a normal day, and then...

I can't tell you how exciting it is to drive up my drive way and see my mailbox stuffed full.

Since we started this whole journey, anytime our mailbox is stuffed with a big white envelope, it is ALWAYS from our adoption agency. Today was no different! We have received our log in date. Referred to from now on as our LID. August 18, 2008. Our papers have been received in China. Beijing specifically. Even more specifically, our dossier is now at the China Centre of Adoption Affairs. This is big news. HUGE news! Time to celebrate news. Although we have a long wait ahead, the truth of the matter is that baby Lauryn is now REALLY coming home! Kyle and I couldn't be happier. We had a drink and toasted each other to our last couple of years of just us.

Baby Lauryn has been in our hearts since we started in December. We talk about her like she is here. I wonder about her often. I wonder about her biological parents and the turmoil they must be facing. I also thank them daily for giving us this gift.

Baby Lauryn probably isn't even born yet! Which is a crazy thought! But she has already given us so much joy. I can't imagine what she will add to our lives when she is here, in her room, in her home with her family. Goodness!

As soon as I got home, I torn open the envelope with one hand while dialing Kyle at work with the other hand. Kyle had already left work, so I called Mom. As always she dropped what she was doing (rearranging the living room) to talk to me and share in my excitement! She said that she wasn't just excited for us, but for her and Dad too! Baby Lauryn is already such a big part of our family. Johnson (our dog) even knows her name. We often say to Johnson "Where's baby Lauryn", and without missing a beat he's up on his feet, ears alert and looking around for baby Lauryn! So cute!

The pic at the top is our package. Enclosed was a letter and a travel package. What the next steps are, travel info. stuff like that. We will soon find out about the other families from our agency with the same log in date as ours. We can communicate with them and get to know them before we take the trip of a lifetime!!! Although we still probably have 30 months or more to prepare for this trip, how to you get ready to meet your baby?

The who, the what and the where...

I can't wait until we can add the when to that title!

Here is our timeline to date:

December 4, 2007 - after many unsuccessful infertility treatments, Kyle and I decide that we will adopt. We started with our local CAS (Children's Aid Society), we also considered international adoption. After a lot of research, China was our choice.
We then needed to pick an agency. After some more research, Open Arms to International Adoption sounded good to us. We called Deborah Maw and set up a meeting.
March 01/2008 - Meeting with Deborah Maw, director at Open Arms
March 03/2008 - Signed with Open Arms contacted Sal Garofalo-social worker and contacted National Bank of Canada. (The only bank in Canada that offers International Adoption loans)
March 7/2008 - Meeting with Sal
March 17/2008 - doctors appointments, a mandatory component for our homestudy We were tested for EVERYTHING. Inside and out!
March 18/ 2008 - Kyle dropped off our homework. Sal had given us some homework to start the homestudy process.
April 08/2008 - 1st Homestudy visit
April 12/2009 - we had to get fingerprints done! Interpol clearance and local police check!
April 13/2008 - 2nd Homestudy visit
April 19/20 2008 - 1st session PRIDE training
April 26/27 2008 - 2nd session PRIDE training
PRIDE is a mandatory course for perspective adoptive parents. It is taught by an approved social worker. In our class, there were 10 other couples. Most who've decided to adopt internationally. The course ran for 2 Saturdays and 2 Sundays from 9-5. Lots of information! Thank goodness we passed!
May 23/2008 - homestudy is completed and sent to the Ministry of Youth and Children Services.
June/2008 - service agreement signed with Open Arms to International Adoption Agency.

It's official!

July 11/2008 - revised homestudy sent to Ministry.
July 20/2008 - meeting with Deborah at the agency. We finalized our Dossier!. A dossier is the paperwork that goes to Beijing. It has a copy of our homestudy, medical reports, a letter of presentation. (Kyle and I had to write a letter to our future daughter.), lots of pictures, a copy of our passport, long form copies of our birth and marriage certificates, letters of employment and financial status records! LOTS of stuff! Our dossier was finalized at this meeting.
July 31/2008 - loan money received!
August 6/2008 - Funds sent to Open Arms
August 08/2008 - received letter that our dossier has been sent to Beijing! This is amazing news. Now we wait for our LID (Log in Date)

It's officially official now!!

September 08/2008 - received letter ! We now have our log in date!! August 18/2008. Received our travel information, a complete booklet of lots of great information. Very cool!

January 20/2009 REVISION - received our update (January 20/09) our dossier was sent August 15, received August 18 and we are logged in August 26... so our LID is August 26. :)

January 18/2010 - decide to switch to the SN program. Changed agency's to FOI

January 26/2010 - meeting with Sal at our house, discuss switching programs

February 12/2010 - REFFERAL DAY - luckiest parents in the world! Just received a refferal for the most precious baby girl ever born! We know who our baby Lauryn is!

February 19, 2010 - Sal comes to our house to present Lauryn's file to us formally

February 24, 2010 - China approves our Letter of intent. Status changed from pending to approved

March 10/2010 - LID has been reviewed! Patientlly waiting for our LSC and our travel announcement!

April 07/2010 - Letter of No Objection is received from the Ontario Ministry

April 13/07 - LSC - Letter Seeking Confirmation or LOA Letter of Approval received

May 22 - June 3 - TRAVEL

May 24 - Meet Lauryn for the first time! OMG!
June 3 - Home from Beijing
June 12 - Lauryn turns 2!

So... there it is! I will keep this updated as we receive information from our agency.

Welcome

Hi there,

As promised, here it is. Our blog. Waiting for our baby girl Lauryn to arrive from China!
We've started this blog to make sure that there isn't a detail missed. Interested family and friends will gain the latest knowledge of our journey.

Thanks to all of our family and friends who have been helpful and supportive. We certainly wouldn't have made it this far without you!

We have wanted to do this for sometime, not only for our family and friends, but for baby Lauryn! We want her to know how she came to be a Thomson!

Although there is still a long road to travel, we know that every step of the way will bring us one step closer.

Thanks again for taking part in our journey.

With love,

The Thomson's