Approved!

We woke today to some surprising and wonderful news....LOA!!

The funny thing is, I am generally the earlier riser of the two of us (not surprising since M. often works until past 11 pm). Only twice in the past year has M. gotten up before me: once on the day we got our referral call for QiuQiu, and once on the day we got our LOA call! I don't know what that means, but there it is. I guess he felt "a great disturbance in the Force"!
So, the first words I heard this morning, in my dozing state, were, "I'm sorry, this is whom?....oh, CCAI! For a minute there I thought you were a telemarketer."
At which point, much like on the day of our referral, I shot bolt upright in bed, limbs quivering, heart pounding.
Actually, I think the reason I was sleeping in was that I was dreading my dentist's appointment, at which I was to have my very first filling in my entire life! (No, I did not enjoy it, let me tell you. Not one bit.)

After the dentist, with my mouth still numb and throbbing, we skeddadled down to the CCAI offices to sign our acceptance papers! Here we are, with shaky hands, checking the box that says "YES, we accept Chu QiuQiu!"

And here we are with sweet Sarah, my fellow dog-lover and the best person we could possibly have had to help us through the ins and outs of the Waiting Child Program. I am so grateful to Sarah for the wonderful way in which she handled the entirety of our process, the difficult moments and the delightful moments alike.

Papers signed, we went for barbecue sandwiches (hungry work, this!) and then to M's parents house to spread the good cheer! Here's the new dad and the new NaiNai, who both fortuitously (and coincidentally) happened to wear red today!
We have been told to expect to travel in four to seven weeks....aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! We spent the entire day running around in circles like chickens with our heads cut off, and accomplishing very little. I cannot even wrap my mind around how much we have to accomplish in the next few weeks. I haven't even ordered QiuQiu's crib yet! Not to mention the paperwork and footwork...The only saving grace is that M's semester at school starts next week, so he still has time to cancel the semester. This way, he'll start school again in the fall, and in the meantime I'll have some help during this scramble. Hopefully his work will be understanding about the time off for travel (since he has never even taken a sick day, and has tons of vacay time accumulated). And if we are able to travel in July, we'll miss the Olympics AND he'll be back in time to cover the Democratic National Convention in August (which, if you work at a news station, is pretty much essential!)
I can't believe how surreal it feels to have finally crossed this much-anticipated hurdle, and to be so close!
Wish us luck!!