Birthdays, Birthdays, and LOI

Yesterday my sweet sweet son turned 12 years old.  I can't believe how fast the last 5 years have flown by. There are times in the mist of it all that it feels like the days will never end, and then you look up and your son is almost a teenager.  He has grown so tall and strong over the last 5 years.  A far cry from the 28 lb, 32 inch, malnourished, sick kid I got on a plane with.  He has already far exceeded my every dream and prayer.  I can't wait to see what kind of man he becomes.

In 6 days will be my 30th birthday.  It will draw to an end a wait that started over 2 years ago to adopt a boy from china with a spinal condition much like Isaac's.  Chinese law states that both parents must be over the age of 30 in order to adopt (whether it's an international adoption or domestic).  So for the last 2 years I have stared at photos and patiently waited for the years to pass.  Funny thing is I did the same thing 5 years ago when I waited for my 25th birthday to adopt Isaac.  Do you see a growing trend here?

Today our amazing case worker at WACAP, is online as I type submitting our LOI (Letter of Intent) and PA (Pre-Approval) for Jack.  China has agreed to allow our agency to send the LOI even though I won't be 30 for another 6 days.  After careful review of our file and Jack's file, they felt that we had all waited long enough and are "bending" the rules so that we can have PA right on or near my birthday and then we can submit our paper work to China (aka DTC - Dossier to China) next week.

The hope and goal is to be LID (Log in Date) by mid April so that the wait for LOA (Letter of Acceptance or Chinese Approval) can begin.