LOA Wait- Day 20

Just waiting...

Did find out yesterday our homestudy agency is closing their doors Friday.  Not a huge surprise since their primary program was Russia.  With Russia closing their doors we didn't think they would be able to hold on much longer.  Hopefully we won't be out of the money we had to prepay to them for post placement visits before bringing Alyssa home.  Tried to call today but they aren't answering the phones...no surprise there either.  It is what it is.

The hassle is now we have to find a new homestudy agency to do Alyssa's 4 remaining post placement visits and the boys' visits.  Our agency makes us prepay all the homestudy visits before we can bring the boys home.  Guess we better get on it.

Good news is our dossier is in China and our homestudy agency closing won't have any effect on the boys' adoption.  Thank goodness we weren't still in the homestudy process.  That would have been a nightmare.

So while we wait here are a couple of photos.  These aren't my favorite photos but it is interesting that they look so different from each in other.  In all the other photos we have they look alike.

Last night after looking over Alyssa's timeline I realized that our LOA for Alyssa was issued on Feb. 6, 2012.  Exactly a year later we are LID for the boys, Feb. 6, 2013.

I am the same way with email that I am with mail.  I like to be the one who sees it first and reads it.  All week I had been checking email very frequently hoping to see an email from our China coordinator that we were LID.  While I am washing dishes last night Dallas sits down to use my computer.  He asked me if I knew I had an email from XC.  Of course I told him not to look and went running to read it.

LID

We have our LID-2/6/13!  We are on day 14 of our LOA wait.  Two photos because both of the girls wanted to make one.  Makes sense since there are 2 boys waiting for us or rather we are waiting for them.

For those not familiar with adoption, LID is your log in date.  We are now waiting for our LOA, Letter of Acceptance.  Average wait is 60 days, sometimes they come as early as 30 days and sometimes the wait is much longer.  Last time ours was either 52 or 54 days.  Once we receive our LOA on average we are 2 -2 1/2 months from travel. Last time it was 2 months.  Looks like June travel is still possible.

Gift Exchange

Love the gifts the boys received in this month's gift exchange.  Alyssa did too!

Dallas' Favorite Photo

 No news...still waiting for our Log in Date.

Names Again

Slow week...no movement is going to happen this week.  This is Chinese New Year.  All offices are shut down until Saturday.  Hoping to have our Log In Date(LID) next week.  Then we can start the count down to LOA(Letter of Acceptance).

Yep, still obsessing over names.  We are now leaning towards Caleb and Jacob.  These were the first names that came to us.  Unfortunately not all the boys like them.  We had really hoped to find names everyone liked but with a family our size that might just not be possible.

Jacob is the name the boys like the least.  There are a couple of reasons I like this name.  The first being that my mom was a twin and her name is Jacqueline.  I would love to name a child Jackson but it just doesn't work with our last name.  Jack doesn't either.  So Jacob would be similar but still sound okay with our last name.  I, also, like that it is a biblical name.  Every time I called Jacob I would think of my mom(not that I don't think about her all the time anyway).

We like the name Caleb because it is similar to Jacob but they don't rhyme or sound cutesy together. The names go well together.  We, also, like that it is a biblical name.

If we choose to go with Jacob and Caleb, Caleb's middle name will start with a Jo for my mom's twin sister Joanne.  Originally we thought Jacob's middle name would start with a C but not sure now.  Everyone is tired of me talking about names so I have let the subject drop for now.  Most likely we still have  a couple of months to decide.

This photo is from the boys' birthday photos and is in the collage I made.  You can't see if very well in the collage.  It is one of my favorite ones I have of the boys.  In the next few days I will post Dallas' favorite.

Caleb is on the left and Jacob is on the right

New Secret Pal

Alyssa and I came home to a package on the front porch today.  It was a package from my new secret pal.  She will be my secret pal until we get Travel Approval for the boys.  At least that is when our secret pal was revealed when I participated last year.  I am guessing it will be the same this time around.  The boys are going to have some awesome things when they come home.  This package was a  Playing in the Tub package.  So much fun!  Below is a photo of the gifts and a photo of the poem that was with it.

Christmas Card

I know it is a little late to be posting a Christmas Card.  I have been meaning to scan it and put it on here for over a month.  2012 was the only year we could use this card.  Oh how I love these kids!  Kristopher's picture is so Kristopher.  The out takes were quite funny.  There were some good ones of them all.  Dallas wrote the little poem below the photo.

Here's the story of a lovely lady 

Who was a freshman at ECU 

She had hair of brown, like her mother, 

The youngest Vaughan in school.

It's the story, of a man named Braxton, 

Who was busy with grad school on his own, 

He was one guy, moving to Raleigh, 

And he was all alone. 

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow 

And they knew it was much more than a hunch, 

That these two would one day start a family. 

That's the way we all became the Braxton Bunch. 

Last Birthday Post - Birthday Post Part 3

So excited!  Birthday photos arrived today.  The boys look so precious! I think you can see a little of their personalities.  Oh what fun we are going to have when they come home!

                                     Package we sent the boys plus 2 cakes

Happy Birthday, Boys!- Post 2

We had a little celebration of our own for the boys.  Zachary made them a delicious cake.  It isn't a birthday without presents so they got a few presents too.  I made the toddler blankets.  It was my first attempt.  The stitching is uneven and crooked but they are still cute.  I hope the boys will like them.

Happy Birthday,Boys!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Caleb and Jacob! No their names have not been definitely decided yet.  I am just testing them out to see how we like them.

Since it is 10:30 p.m.  in China the boys most likely are in bed for the night.  I hope they were treated special today and received the cakes and trucks we sent.  Hoping to open an email to a few pictures in the next couple of days.

Last year the boys were still on the shared list and many advocates were trying to find them a home.  One advocate sent them a birthday cake and received pictures of them.  I am posting a few below.

                                                           

                                                             

                                   The boys on their 2nd Birthday

Today We Are....