Article 5!!!

We are officially waiting for Travel Approval (TA)!

Our Article 5 was delivered to the

Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA)

in Beijing on 4/27

(about a week ahead of schedule!!)

The Article 5 is the US Consulate in Guangzhou

pre-approving Benjamin for an immigrant Visa.

Now the CCAA can finally issue our TA.

TAs are typically received in apprx. 2-3 weeks.

For those keeping track, we're day 2 in our wait!!!

Once we receive TA, our agency will 

begin making travel arrangements

and we'll finalize our itinerary!

We'll travel between 2 - 4 weeks after TA.

I feel 10 months pregnant and ready to pop!!!

This is soooo exciting!!!!

Hard to believe we're at this stage!

Fingers crossed for a quick TA!!!

Benjamin's Easter Basket

The Easter Bunny didn't forget about Benjamin!

Especially love EB's choice of baskets this year!
Name embroidered totes!!! LOVE!

EB is so practical!

Looking forward to next Easter with ALL our kiddos!!!



More about Benjamin

Following is original referral information

we received in October, 2010.

It's a little outdated (March 25, 2010)...

but it's all we know about our little guy

and the comments absolutely stole our hearts.

According to the orphanage:

"Xigang is extroverted, has fair complexion

and a pair of bright eyes."

(extroverted, great!...
he will need to hold his own with this crew!

love his complexion and beautiful bright eyes!!!)

"He is a very adorable child."

(yes, this we know!)

"Every day the caretakers look after him excellently

to make him become stronger."

(our greatest hope and prayer...)

"Little Xigang likes the caretaker

to take him to play outside."

(perfect!! we spend LOTS of time outside!)

"Outside, he will look around happily and

wave his hands all the time,

making sound of "ma, ma.""

(awwww......LOVE HIM!)

"He is extremely lovely."

(again, this we know!)

"He likes model cares with bright colors." 

(yay! we have lots of those!!!)

"When he holds model cars he will

laugh too happily to close his mouth

and push the car all the time,

after a while he will immerse himself

in the joy brought by the toy."

(FAVORITE comment hands-down!!!)

"Xigang brings us much joy and all caretakers

like him very much, and kindly call him "Ganggang"".

(our favorite nickname for Benjamin too!)

"He has a routine life. He gets up at 6:00 a.m.

and goes to bed at 8:00 p.m.

He naps for about 2 hours at noon."

(great! hopefully he'll continue this routine at home!)

"He has good appetite and moderate eating volume,

his favorite food: shrimp."

(seriously?! this is some orphanage!!)

"He can go to sleep alone and soundly

without bad sleeping habits."

(we definitely hope he brings this home with him!)



Paperwork and travel update

On the never-ending paperwork front:

We received our Visas and Passports this week!

So relieved these are safely in our hands!!

Waiting for Article 5....

Benjamin's approval to immigrate to the U.S. 

Delivered to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou on 4/13.

Article 5 will be picked up on 4/27

and arrive at the China Center of Adoption Affairs

(CCAA) on 5/3.

From that point, we expect to receive Travel Approval

(TA) about 3-4 weeks later.

Travel is about 3-4 weeks after TA.

According to our agency, we'll leave on a Tuesday.
So, looks like we'll depart on our big jet plane

either June 14, June 21 or June 28!

Excited is an understatement!!!!!

Impossible to imagine finally meeting, hugging

and kissing our little guy!!

We love you so much BenBen!!!

Packing!

With approximately 7-8 weeks to travel (we're sooo close!!!),
we've started the arduous task of packing....and repacking!

4 people, 15+ days of travel and 
strict international luggage weight restrictions...

proving to be a real challenge!

All the luggage but NOT all the stuff!



Every little boy needs a ball and a backpack!!

Love the bubble blower fish toy! Can't forget the Panda!....or the GAP hat!

Trail Mix and Cliff Bars (for us) +
gifts for the notaries, officials, tour guides and nannies: 
Victoria's Secret lotions and perfume, Burt's Bees products, Jelly Bellies and Fish Oil caplets! 
(Yes, Fish Oil caplets - a hot commodity in China!)



Meds of all kinds, Sam's red-white-blue shirt for US Consulate day and our new Ergo child carrier.

Hiking the Great Wall with a stroller....not so good!



Benjamin's bedroom

Jack is getting a new roommate soon....

and he's VERY excited!

He and Ellie decorated the bedroom door:

Regarding the new room arrangement:
Jack was VERY specific.

He wanted Benjamin's bed directly next to his...

We purchased a new video monitor for the room

so we can keep on eye on them!

We've been told by another parent who adopted a child
from Benjamin's orphanage that toddler children
sleep in little wooden beds on the floor with wheels.
We hope he likes his new room!

We can't wait to have you home BenBen!!!

XOXOXO

Name change: 西刚

After much consideration, we are changing
Benjamin's middle name:
(see original post: http://journeytoganggang.blogspot.com/2010/11/us-homestudy-approved.html) 

to Xigang
pronounced "shegung"
(his first and middle names combined)

Benjamin's given name is Yu Xi Gang
(as assigned by the Orphanage)
Yu is the surname.

Xigang in Mandarin:

Xi = West

Gang = Strong

Benjamin is heading west for a strong life!

It just feels right!

Benjamin Xigang

Sadly, Benjamin will have no knowledge of his birthparents 
and likely no memories of China.

We are so proud of his heritage and culture and hope
his middle name is always something he'll treasure and appreciate.

By the way, our blog: journeytoganggang is a reference
to the orphanage's nickname for Benjamin:

"GangGang"!