Travel Approval and a Whole Lot of Excitement!

Things have been moving at a mile a minute and our stress level is fairly high, well, really through the roof. We missed TA the one week which we had hoped to have so we could be traveling with some friends. Then we heard last Friday that our TA was on it's way and that the agency would be requesting a March 2 date. We were making plans to leave for China February 11th to experience the Lunar New Year and adjust to time zone changes before having the adoption take place and then the consulate appointment the week after. On Monday we were notified that the TA had arrived and that we would know by Wednesday if we got the March 2 appointment. On Tuesday afternoon, after being in work email all day, I opened our personal email and saw an email with the subject line - Consulate Appointment! I thought this was the confirmation and was excited to be able to book our flights and to not have to wait until Wednesday. When I opened the email it said that consulate appointments had opened up and that we had an appointment for February 10th and that we needed to be in China by January 30th! This was less than 10 days time. Also, once the travel plans included some more touristy items with us planning to go earlier, Grandma Lee, David's mom decided to join us. This past Sunday my dad (Granddad Brookes) decided that he had better come to China too. So, with little time to get plane reservations and visas for our new travel party members, we have been hopping. I suspect this will be the last post until hopefully we're able to post from China. We leave January 29 and return February 22. We expect our Gotcha Day to be February 1. My mom (Granny Brookes) will be staying home and looking after our dear Egan and Sparkle.