Day 84

    
    Day 84 and we are still waiting for a tiny piece of paper that reads, "LOA". If you see me and I seem a bit more frazzled then usual or I am checking my phone a million times during our conversation it is because I am anxiously getting through my day one hour at a time! Please forgive me! The "Letter of Acceptance" or LOA  can take 1-4 months and well we are we tracking 3 months... agh! This is the big okay from China that we can adopt Talia. It also means your dossier is perfectly acceptable to China and they do not need any further information. I never thought we would this long. With Harper's adoption we only waited 34 days and I remember the feeling of shock when we got the call. We had just driven 11 hrs. from Philadelphia to Charlotte. I had my baby adoption shower back in my hometown that weekend and we were spent from the drive back and excited to unpack all our baby loot! We began to unpack the car and I checked our house phone for any messages we might have missed during our trip. I saw on the caller ID that our adoption agency, Madison, called us. I honestly did not think much of it and went about helping Todd bring stuff in. Right before we were about to put our feet up, sit on the couch and watch the Bachelor (yes we use to love that show now we have no time to watch it!) I listened to our messages and there was our sweet coordinator's voice telling us that we received our Letter of Acceptance from China and that we would be on a plane in 3 months! I remember freaking out because we had to fill out a bunch of United States adoption paperwork, (I-800) that night. We were so tired from the trip so Todd made a big pot of coffee and we stayed up until 1 am doing paperwork! When the FedEx guy came to our door the next day to deliver our LOA I was taking pictures of his truck and him holding my letter! He was walking too fast to my door so I even yelled, "Please stop this is important and I need to capture it"! People that have not  adopted probably think I am crazy but that FedEx guy is a very important figure in the adoption world. He is either our best friend or our worst enemy depending on what he has in his hands that day! If it is a letter that got denied in the authentication process and I have to redo it you better believe I was not happily greeting him at my door with a camera but if it is an approval letter, well then the above scenario would occur!
   The past few weeks I have not wanted to leave the house because I was waiting by the phone. However, yesterday another adoptive parent with our agency said they got their LOA and it came via e-mail so you can imagine how many times I have hit the refresh button on my computer only for it to read, "No new mail!"
   The sad thing is I don't think I will have the same amount of excitement when we get Talia's LOA. This time it will be more of a "Oh thank goodness my eyes were getting ready to be burnt by the monitor and my iPhone" and "Oh yes I can now schedule play dates again for my daughter"! 
    Please hope for both daughters sake, and my eyes, that we get our LOA in the coming week! The only analogy I can use for this wait is like being pregnant at 8 months and then being told you have four more months instead of one!