October

I LOVE fall. October is by far my favorite month. I mean, I adore Christmas and the holidays, but for me, there's nothing like the crisp, cool autumn air, the colorful leaves, the Hokie football, the kids dressing up, the pumpkin patch...all of those awesome fall things that just make me a happy girl.

Well, not so much anymore. I'm a little mad at October now. I have discovered that China pretty much shuts down in October. There's a national holiday at the beginning of the month in which pretty much everything is closed for a WEEK. Then, in Guangzhou, the home of the U.S. Consulate, where we take our adoption oath before heading home, there is a trade fair for TWO weeks....again, stuff shut down, and airline and hotel prices skyrocket. Apparently, our agency doesn't have groups travel during those times.

So....either our approvals happen in miracle record time so we can travel in mid-September and get everything done before the national holiday, or we're probably looking at not going to get Rylie until November. I feel sick just thinking of that. Completely sick.

So I am praying. Hard. Praying for things to get processed amazingly quickly. I want to get my girl. Time is dragging for me right now and I am missing her something terrible. I cannot wait for our family to all be together.

I know God's timing is ultimately perfect, and it will be regardless of when we travel. I just wish He somehow could make this wait a little easier. It's REALLY tough.