Travel Itinerary

Here we go - ready to board our flight on July 4 for the marathon of air travel that awaits. Fortunately for us, Emma is a very good traveler. We spent lots of time, however, trying to ensure that we have a power port at our seats during these long flights. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we got it right...

Jul 04: WEDNESDAY

• Fly Seattle to Beijing, connecting through Tokyo on NW 7 and NW 11
• Depart Seattle 2:50 pm; Arrive Beijing 9:20pm the next day

Jul 05: THURSDAY

• Beijing – Arrive Beijing at 9:20pm. Stay at Wangfujing Grand Hotel

Jul 06: FRIDAY

• Beijing - Tour of TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace

Jul 07: SATURDAY

• Beijing - Tour of the Great Wall

Jul 08: SUNDAY

• Fly from Beijing to Nanchang – Flight CA1511 (11:50am – 2:10pm)
• Arrive Nanchang at 2:10pm. Stay at the Gloria Hotel

Jul 09: MONDAY

• Meet Zoe!!
• Interview with Justice Dept. Apply for baby’s passport
  

Jul 10: TUESDAY

• Nanchang – City tour and shopping

Jul 11: WEDNESDAY

• Nanchang – Visit suburban Nanchang
  

Jul 12: THURSDAY

• Nanchang – City tour and pick up the Notary documents
  

Jul 13: FRIDAY

• Nanchang – Pick up Zoe’s passport
  
• Fly from Nanchang to Guangzhou - Flight MU5231 (5:10 – 6:35pm)
  
• Guangzhou – Check-in Victory Hotel
  

Jul 14: SATURDAY

• Guangzhou – Zoe’s medical check up, picture taken and fill out forms

Jul 15: SUNDAY

• Guangzhou – City tour
  

Jul 16: MONDAY

• Guangzhou – Interview with U. S. Consulate
  

Jul 17: TUESDAY

• Guangzhou – Pick up Zoe’s visa
  

Jul 18: WEDNESDAY

• Fly Guangzhou to Seattle (note the early departure!!) Flights NW10 and NW 8
• Depart 8:20AM and arrive Seattle 8:45AM

Ling Gets Her American Name

Today we finally decided we needed to stop referring to Ling as "baby-sister" and finally call her by her new name. Emma suggested that we make sure we decide in advance of our travel meeting at our agency. So, without further ado (hold your applause please), let us introduce:

Zoe Ling Rose Laplante

Our TA is here!!

Well - after a process that was initially slower than molasses, we received approval from China in May, and received our travel authorization (TA) this month! Next up, our consulate appointment, which basically sets our travel date. Wouldn't you know, this also happened quickly, and suddenly we are ready to be airborne for a two week adventure starting July 4!

Certainly lots more has happened in the intervening months. We have been fairly consumed by this process and thus my blog posts are a bit heavily weighted to the adoption process. There is lots more to tell but I am not sure quite what to say. Today we have our travel meeting at our agency where we will go over our itinerary as well as the details of the trip. Changing from a turtle pace to this rapid clip has been a bit surreal.

In the meantime, summer is starting to show its face in Seattle and we are trying to have some other fun besides our exciting journey ahead. Here is a photo of Emma and me being chased by the fountain at Seattle Center.

Meet Ling Cha Ge

Well - here she is:

A Shangrao child (Jiangxi Province), Ling Cha Ge was born on March 19, 2006, and abandoned 1 day later. She is polydactly - which means she has an extra finger on her left hand. The finger happens to be adjacent to her thumb, but beyond that, we don't have many details. Here is her photo - serious kid!

Now all we needed to do is take ourselves off the traditional track, apply for this particular SN child, and hope that the paperwork moves smoothly through the system.

Our agency told us that it would not be unusual to expect a late summer or early fall approval from China, and then travel a month or so thereafter. WOW! Much better than the Spring 2008 (or much later) time that the traditional adoption may have taken before a match.

The Roller Coaster

As we continued to wait, we started visiting the rumor web sites and other sources to try and find any information about our projected time until we would be matched with our daughter. But then, in a stroke of luck, we received a message from our adoption agency that some special needs (SN) kids may be available.

Karen and a quickly logged in to the website to check out the details. Two girls immediately stood out to us, and we settled on one in particular that just looked like the perfect match for our family. We emailed our interest to our agency, but were told that we were far down the list of eligible parents and unlikely able to match with this particular girl.

Lo and behold - a few days later, we got a phone call - we were first in line! We quickly gathered all of her medical information, forwarded it to our Doctor friends, made some frantic phone calls and 24 hours later decided that this was a no-brainer...

Wow - SO much news

As you can see, it has been over a year since I posted. For a much of that time, we were awaiting news (and for those of you following the China adoption scene, you all know that it was not sounding good.)

Our initial estimates of traveling in the Fall of 2006 to finalize the adoption were way off. Our dossier had a log in date (LID) of 3-1-2006, and throughout last year, the matching of kids and families began to slow to a crawl.

Fast forward to last November. Our friends in West Seattle finally traveled to China to pick up their new daughter. A bright spot to be sure, but this family had a LID several months before ours. Our estimated matching date continued to project farther and farther into the future.

Karen and I started to consider other options. Do we pull out of the China entirely and see if we have better luck with a new country? Should we reconsider domestic adoption? Will the processing begin to speed up to match its historic rate? Lots of questions but no real answers. Any course of action seemed like a gamble.

Spring 2007 - the Roller Coaster Ride begins...

{please ignore the cheat - I am backdating this post for the dramatic effect}