New video comes in!

From everything we have seen and been told, our Alex is a somewhat shy and quiet boy. Caroline says she will take care of that! As a somewhat shy and quiet person myself I'm fine with it, as long as he is happy. But we can't wait to encourage and love him so he knows what a wonderful kid he is, and can start to shine for everyone but most of all for himself.

Another mom who adopted a child from his orphanage recently sent me video of him. You can tell there is a lot going on around him, and he is somewhat overwhelmed by being pulled out of his preschool class (he's wearing his school uniform) and stood in front of a wall in front of cameras and a bunch of strange people! But his sweetness just shines through anyway.

I'm now guessing we will leave around Oct. 23. It's only a guess; I still need my travel approval from China, then we can schedule our appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. That is the final step before we can get on a plane and bring him home.

Meanwhile there is plenty to do -- get all of my old clothes out of his closet, find a new home for all the toys Caroline has been stashing in his bedroom, get my nephew's outgrown clothes here and ready for him, pack for four people for three weeks, get the girls' schoolwork so they can keep up while they are out, get as much done at work as possible so it doesn't fall on others too much, find a home for our foster puppy and our last kitten, straighten up the house so we don't come home to a disaster... I need that month!