Merry Christmas Audra Qi Jia

Waiting...wondering...hoping...praying...loving...

We celebrate with joy and thankfulness this Christmas with our family here at home.

But a piece of our heart is half a world away...with a sweet little girl who means to world to us!

We pray that she is happy, healthy, and loved upon by those around her until we have her in our very own arms. 

Merry Christmas Audra!  This year we celebrate knowing and loving you.  Next year we will celebrate while having and holding you.

The video link below perfectly describes the feelings we have of waiting for our little girl during the holidays. 
(please note:  tissues may be needed...you've been warned!!)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xebv7muzxU&feature=player_detailpage

Third Day - Merry Christmas

 

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn

Crying for momma's arms

At an orphanage just outside a little China town

There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire

And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home

Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone

And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms

And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights

I'm warmed by the fire's glow

Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,

Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears

And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home

Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone

And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms

And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child

And we celebrate his perfect gift of love

He came to earth to give his life

And prepare a place for us

So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home

Your family is here so you will never be alone

So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms

And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart

I wish you Merry Christmas

Supplement 3

Today we had to file a Supplement 3 to our I800A (remember that form?)  The I800A is submitted to U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (our request for approval to bring a child from China into the USA as a US citizen). 

Anyway...our original I800A gave us approval for a child up to 60 months of age (5 years old).  But, the little beauty we have been matched with is 62 months old.  So the difference of 2 months means more forms to fill out and submit...and of course another fee to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  CRAZY!!!

LOA update:  today is day 12 of our LOA wait.  The average is around 60 days, however within the last week some people have received their LOA around day 35.  So, if we are lucky enough to have a wait of only 35 days we could potentially receive our LOA sometime around January 9th.  Which would mean maybe, just maybe, we could travel as early as the end of March!  Wishful thinking, but a momma can dream, right?!

Introducing....

 

Our beautiful daughter...

 

Audra Qi Jia

 

(this is the first picture we ever saw of her
and she stole our hearts in an instant!)

 

 

And her soon-to-be cousin...
 

 

Charlotte

 

 

No words necessary...
our hearts are full of love and thankfulness!

 





Pre-Approval

Today we found out that we have received Pre-Approval (PA) from China to adopt Nan Qi Jia!!!

Our formal application was submitted on Sunday evening which included some preliminary paperwork:

Our Nurture Plan
The agency's opinion statement regarding us
Financial information
Health information
Family information and photos

Now, China will begin reviewing our complete Dossier and eventually...in 2-3 long  months...issue our Letter of Confirmation (aka LOA) which is their final approval of us as adoptive parents for Qi Jia.  I have heard from others that the wait for LOA is the hardest and longest wait of the many waits in an adoption journey.  Now we have pictures of a beautiful little girl to look at every day, and that makes you want to jump on the next plane over there, scoop her up and bring her home!

In the past three days we have been blessed to receive many updates on Qi Jia...recent photos, recent measurements, answers to some developmental questions, CT scan images and even a video of her playing with friends!  We are very grateful that the orphanage director has been willing to provide these for us.  We had been told that some orphanages are not willing to give any additional information besides what is listed in a child's file.  We are so thankful that her orphanage is not one that is unwilling to provide updates.  We know that most likely we will not get any more updates on her until we receive our LOA.  In the mean time we will probably burn out our computer watching the video of her over and over every single day.  What a relief to see her in the video...she looks so happy, smiling and playing with friends.  And very active...crawling under tables (Aidan's favorite part of course!)  And by the way...Maura may have some competition for the title of "miss bossy pants" in our house...Qi Jia doesn't stop talking during the entire video...but I have no idea what she is saying.  I'm working on having it translated.

I am hoping that my next post will include pictures and some details about her.  We are waiting to hear confirmation that we can share photos and information about her now that we have PA.

If you can, please take a minute to say a prayer for our newest little girl....that she remains safe, and healthy until we can hold her in our arms and bring her home forever. 

A Roller Coaster Week

The past 10 days have been amazing, thrilling and emotionally exhausting! 

Let me start by announcing that we have been matched....we have finally seen the face our sweet, precious daughter.  We know who she is, where she is and what she looks like.  And she is beautiful....absolutely breathtaking!  I will share more about her when we are able.  We are so in love with her already...that fast...as if she has always been with us. 

Now let me share with you our journey to her these past 10 days...

Friday, November 23rd: 
At approximately 3:10pm our social worker sent us an email letting us know that the upcoming Monday night would be the shared list update.  And that although she was on vacation she would be up late Monday night on the computer accessing the shared list and *hopefully* finding some matches.  She also attached the file of a little girl whom she had just recently seen show up on the shared list.  As soon as I saw her email on my phone I was also getting a text from Sean to ask if I had looked at the file.  I quickly called him and we almost immediately decided that we were both very drawn to this beautiful little girl and that we needed to move fast.  By 3:45pm I had emailed our social worker back to let her know that YES we were very interested in this little girl.  Then time began to stand still...it was now the end of the workday on a Friday AND our social worker was on vacation.  Our fears escalated as the hours and days went by, and all the while we kept staring at the picture of the little beauty....and we became more and more attached.

finally....Monday, November 26th: 
Of course, I was at an all day conference where I didn't have access to my phone at all times.  As soon as the lunch break started I check my phone and there was an email and a voicemail from our social worker.  She has checked the shared list and YES this little girl was still there.  I email her right away and asked her to please lock this child's file for us (locking a file means that our name is assigned to it and other agencies and families don't have access to it).  She got right back to me and said that she was on her way to an appointment but that she would take care of it as soon as she returns. 
At 4:15 we received an email from the social worker letting us know that unfortunately the child's file had been locked by another family.  We felt crushed, defeated and let down.  We were so close and then it all just slipped away.  We were sad, upset and angry.  But the day was far from done.  Remember, it was Monday....the once monthly shared list update was happening that night.  We got ourselves together and geared up for a long night of waiting by the phone and computer.  Finally, by midnight...after a very long and emotional day...it was clear to us that we weren't going to be matched.  Fatigue took over and I fell asleep in bed with my laptop and cell phone...and a very heavy heart. 

Wednesday, November 28th:
With my mind and heart still full for this sweet little girl, I email our social worker and let her know that if this particular little girl ever shows back up on the shared list she should lock the file immediately then notify us. 

Thursday, November 29th:
This was "re-release night"...72 hours after the Monday night shared list update all of the files that were locked on Monday night but then never followed through with by a family (for any various number of reasons) are returned to the shared list and available to all agencies again.  So it's like Monday night all over again...can my heart take this???   Of course, I was at work this day, keeping myself busy, trying hard not to think too much about what the night might bring.  Then, around 8:20pm I casually checked my phone (for about the 99th time that hour!!) and there it was...an email from our social worker with "locked a file for you" in the subject line!  I opened the email but needed to read it over and over to make sure I understood exactly what it said.  By now I am shaking, crying, and rejoicing all at once...it's real...it's really real, she came back and we got her.  I headed directly to my office where a few of my co-workers began crying with me.  We were hugging and passing her beautiful picture all around.  I got a text from Sean and I immediately called him...we were both calm and relieved.  This roller coaster is over, we have finally found our daughter.  We are blessed beyond words!

Next step:  Our formal application to adopt this child in particular has been submitted tonight (after a very extensive phone conference with an International Adoption Physician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia this afternoon...but really...we were already in love with this child...nothing she could have said to us would have changed that!).  Now we are waiting for China to grant us Pre-Approval for this particular child.  We are hoping to have PA by the end of this week.  Then we can share more details about her with you.  Fingers crossed for a fast PA!

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers and support thus far in our journey.  We are blessed to be surrounded by so much love and we are thankful.