"When are you going to China?"

This is a question I am hearing a lot these days.  We really are getting so close!  Below is a nice visual of the process involved in adoption from China...
(for reference: step #1 happened back in April and we are now on step #9)



Makes complete sense, huh...clear as mud, right?!  It has taken a lot of time, sweat and tears to get to step #9.  Luckily the next 6 steps kind of happen on their own.  There really isn't anything for us to do...except obsess about dates and number of days between each step.  So here are my predictions for when we will complete each of the next steps:

I-800 approval:  2-11-13
approval sent the National Visa Center:  2-13-13
NVC uploads to system:  2-15-13
Article 5 paperwork dropped off at US Consulate:  2-18-13
Article 5 paperwork is picked up:   3-4-13
paperwork sent to CCAA for travel approval

I am hoping to receive travel approval by 3-18-13.  I would like to leave for China on March 28th, but we need to leave by April 4th so that we will be home in time for a special occasion for our boys the last Saturday of April.  Otherwise we will need to wait until May to travel.  And that would really be hard for this mama's heart.  So, please pray for smooth and speedy paperwork processing over the next few weeks.

On to the next wait...

Finally....after more than a 2 week delay, our I-800 paperwork has been submitted to USCIS.  Yay!!! Once it is received by them it will take approximately 2 weeks until we have our approval...Approval from the US Department of Homeland Security for us to bring Nan Qi Jia into the country and for her to become a citizen of the U.S.A. (she will officially become a citizen when her sweet little feet hit the ground of US soil after our plane lands!)

Next Step:  after we receive our I-800 approval we will begin working on the process to obtain a visa for Audra to enter the US.  This process happens at the US Consulate in China.  At the same time we will be working on getting our visas to travel to China, which happens at the Chinese Consulate here in the US. 

Update!!

We were so very blessed to receive

14 photos and 3 short videos of Audra

as she received our care package. 

They are priceless!!

 

The cake...it was HUGE...3 layers!!



 

UPDATE:  I just learned from a friend of a friend what is written on the cake...

"Wish Nan Qi Jia grow bigger and stronger"

 

Yummy!!

 

Silly girl!



 

 

 

I love this one of her looking at Aidan's picture!

 

The thought of Audra looking at pictures of us is completely overwhelming...she has seen our faces!  She may not know exactly what all of this means but hopefully she might recognize us once when we finally meet.  I pray that her caregivers allow her to look at the photo book often.

 



Supp3 and I-800

Today we received our Supplement 3 approval from USCIS in the mail.  Yeah!!  (This was our request for an age extension since Audra is 2 months older than we were initially approved for in our home study)  We have already taken it to be notarized, now it needs to go to Harrisburg for certification by the Secretary of State and then on to Washington, DC for authentication by the Department of State and the Chinese Embassy.  Road trip time again!

I-800 update:  one week ago, after we had already handed in to our agency all of the documents necessary to file our I-800, we were informed by our agency that they will not submit our I-800 paperwork to USCIS until we make our final payment.  So now we are at a stand still while our paperwork collects dust on someone's desk as we scramble to come up with the final funds due...funds we thought we had at least another month to get together.  So frustrating!!  We should be a week into the next wait by now...instead we are stuck waiting while nothing is happening. 

We have come up with a plan to be able to make our last payment next week hopefully...but that's another whole week away.  That will be two weeks wasted.  And traveling in March is seeming less likely.  Bummer!

This too will pass...and will be nothing but a faint memory once we have our Audra in our arms. But boy does this stink.

To Qi Jia (and friends) with LOVE

We have sent a care package to Qi Jia at her orphanage.  We used a wonderful online service that is located in China, one that many adoptive parents use.  Ann, the owner, surprised us with pictures of the actual care package before she shipped it.  It was so emotional seeing the pictures of all the items that will be sent to Qi Jia. 

Orphanage living is communal.  All of the items in her care package are labeled with her name.  They will be the very first items that ever belonged to her.  We also included a few items for her friends at the orphanage.  Here's what we sent:

~a soft kids photo album with photos of us, labeled in Chinese
~a panda bear mommy and baby stuffed animal set
~a disposable camera for the orphanage staff to take some pictures of her
~a flash drive for them the load with photos and documents pertinent to her
~a letter from Mommy and Daddy that was translated into Chinese
~a backpack labeled with the following: 

"Please put Nan Qi Jia's important and
precious things in this bag

and let her take it with her when we come for her, thanks!"

 

~and to share with her friends:  a large tub of lollipops and five pairs of warm slippers

 

All of this will be delivered with a large fresh cake, for the staff and children to enjoy in celebration of Qi Jia finding a forever family.  We have been told that very often the orphanage will send pictures of the "party" to the care package service to be forwarded to us as a "thank you".  So I sit by the computer anxiously anticipating an email that will contain those very precious pictures. 

 

Here are pictures of Qi Jia's care package contents:

 

 

 

 

 



PICTURES!

These pictures of our little beauty were probably taken when she was about 3.5 years old.  That is when her file was dated and these pictures were included with her file.

 

 

These next three pictures were most likely taken recently.  After we locked her file on 11-29-12 we received these photos along with some updated medical and developmental information.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Family...waiting anxiously for our little Audra to be here with us...forever!

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Linked by Ink

Last night we held in our hands our LOA...the very first piece of paper that links us to our Audra. 

This piece of paper contains both of our names and her name, declaring us her parents and she our daughter.  Amazing!!

 

 

Our LOA was delivered to our house by our social worker who came to meet with us to review all the next steps of paperwork.  Yes, the paperwork required for adoption really is endless! 

And then we noticed the date on the seal...12-27-12. Our LOA was stamped and dated only 22 days after we received Pre-Approval. The average wait is around 60 days...and we were prepared for at least 45.  But 22...crazy fast!!

So, today I sat at the kitchen table for hours, surrounded by what was probably hundreds of pieces of papers, all separated neatly into piles.  Immigration and Citizenship requests, visas for us, a visa for her, grant applications.  I usually work every Monday...luckily I was off today! 

 

Time to get busy...we need to go get our girl! 

 

 

LOA!!!

Today we received the wonderful news that we have LOA (Letter Of Approval). This means that China has officially approved us to be the parents of Nan Qi Jia (our Audra). 

An absolutely amazing belated Christmas present...and one we weren't expecting to receive for a couple more weeks...at least!  The average wait for LOA right now is 50-60 days.  And even if we received it early, at around 35 days like some people have, that would have been January 9th.  Our agency says they received our LOA on January 2nd...only 28 days...exactly 4 weeks from the day we received our Pre-Approval for Qi Jia.  We are so thankful!!

Next Step:  On Sunday evening we will meet with our social worker to review our "match packet" and start the next round of paperwork...filing the I-800 with USCIS, a "Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative".  It is our request for approval from USCIS to adopt Nan Qi Jia specifically.  (Previously we filed the I-800A which was a request for approval to adopt a child from China in general)

 

P.S.  with this document in hand now our agency let us know that the earliest we might travel to China would be February 22nd.  That is so soon!  Much sooner than we ever anticipated.  We think it's more likely that we will travel around mid-March.  We'll see....we have a bit of paperchasing to finish first.



"Pregnancy" hormones?!

Some call it an "Elephant Pregnancy" others call it a "Paper Pregnancy", but whatever it is...

these "hormones" are really getting to me!!! 

 

I can't listen to a Mommy story

without getting choked up. 

 

I can't watch a Hallmark or Kleenex commercial

without crying.

 

Tears streaming down my face crying! 

 

When it happens at work my co-workers tell me not to worry about it...it's because of the "baby"...which I am sure completely confuses all those within earshot since I am very clearly NOT pregnant. 

 

So if you see me with a box of tissues in hand and a tear in my eye no need to worry. 

These are tears of joy...really!!