The past few months we have been on the worst ride ever! It's called the adoption roller coaster. It takes you up and down countless hills, causing you to fluctuate between joy and terror. Every time you think you're getting to the end of the ride, it takes off again! Teasing you with a break from the breathtaking speed and terrifying drops, but never giving you one. Well friends, the roller coaster has finally come to a full and complete stop, and we are getting off!
Let me take you back to September 23rd, when we finally received our LOA after waiting a cruelly long 160 days. It seemed like every time we were able to make some progress, something else slowed us down. Obstacles were appearing out of nowhere! But, just as quickly as they came, solutions would arise or we would find out that the information was false. I really felt like God was just moving things out of the way, but it didn't come without emotional highs and lows. So here's what happened:
Sept. 30: After our LOA came we were told to apply for our visas. I contacted a recommended courier only to find out that due to a new government regulation we were required to send our visa applications to the consulate in Houston, and they don't allow you to apply for visas until after you get your travel approval (which is the very last step and we were hoping to travel quickly!). After some googling (and crying) I discovered another courier that has special permission to process visas for adoption only from all states! A few weeks later we had our visas!
October 1: Government shutdown! Our paperwork had finally returned from (the unreliable and slow) Chinese government and was now with the (more unreliable and not working apparently) US government! Facebook adoption boards were lighting up with people speculating on what would be open, what would be closed, and what kind of delays were going to happen. Thankfully USCIS was still functioning as normal since they are fee-based and we would not experience any delays!
October 8: USCIS approved our paperwork! Yippee! Everything was forwarded to the National Visa Center
October 17: Our paperwork was delivered back to China, but this time to the US Consulate. I now was able to enjoy a 2 week rest period while everything was processed and I didn't have to wonder where things were, fill out papers, or deal with anything adoption related.
November 1 onward: We begin the wait for our travel approval (the last step before making our consulate appointment!)
November 4: Rumors starting circulating on Facebook that the US consulate would be closed for an unexpected training Dec. 5-12. We were hoping to have our consulate appointment between Dec. 2nd and Dec. 12th. There were also rumors that because there was a closure, all the appointments for Dec.2-4 were already full.
November 5: My agency confirms the consulate closure and appointments being full. The earliest we can get Lily goes from Nov. 25 to Dec. 9.
November 6: Our travel approval shows up in the computer system! But we are unable to do anything until the hard copy arrives by mail. Our agency says it might be here Friday (the 8th), but probably not until Monday or Tuesday.
November 10: We receive an update on Lily! We now know her height and weight, and that she can walk based on the fact that she is standing alone in her picture!
November 11: Our agency receives a package from China, but our TA is not in it!
November 12: People who already received TA report consulate appointments on Dec. 5 and Dec. 9, it seems that it's not closing after all! Other agencies confirm that the closure is not happening!
November 14: Our agency checks on the status of our TA, and is told that the CCCWA shipped it this week and it will arrive soon. I have really come to hate the word soon!!!!!
November 15: Our TA finally arrives!!!!!! We are requesting the first available date in December for our consulate appointment, but will have to wait until next week to find out our travel dates since it's already Saturday in China!
Well that's it folks, in just a few days we will know when we finally get to travel to China! The word "soon" will begin to have meaning again, and we can finally answer people with something other than "It depends on if we're in China or not" when they ask us if we can do something! Thank you so much to everyone who has been there alongside us in this journey, praying for us, comforting me when I go crazy and can't take it anymore (sorry about that life group girls!), and praying for our daughter in China. But don't think that just because we are actually able to go to China soon that you're off the hook - I'm sure the craziness of the journey is beginning!
Friday, November 15, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
So I painted a piano...
A few months ago we were having dinner at a friend's house. As my kids were hammering away on the old piano there, I mentioned that one day I would like to have piano so that the kids and I can learn how to play. My dear friend said that this one belonged to her mother in law and if the house they were living in ever sold (it was her mother-in-laws house) she would probably sell me the piano. The piano still played well but needed a bit of TLC in the looks department. I may have uttered something about painting it.
Fast forward a few weeks. Aforementioned conversation forgotten. My friend lets me know that (surprise!) the house sold incredibly quickly and they are moving out in a few weeks. Do I still want the piano? Rational part of the brain says: you don't even know if pianos can be painted, you already have 12 other projects to work on, the kids aren't going to playing for a few more years, you are about to bring your third child home from china and you should not be spending your time doing this, you are probably just going to leave it in the house unpainted for the next thousand weeks. My answer: when else am I going to get a piano so cheap, of course I want it!
So, 2 weeks later four very strong men bring said piano to our house and place it in the garage. Thankfully the bookcase I had been painting for Lilys room had just vacated the spot, but Brian's jeep was relegated to the driveway for the indefinite future.
Now to decide on a color! I knew the piano would go in the front living room with our green couches so I needed it not to clash. I definitely wanted it to be bright though. So I decided on a bright mint green. I know this may not sound like a real color, but I found just what I was looking for! The next several days were spent in the garage sanding, priming, painting, and repainting. Thankfully the weather finally started to cool off so the kids were able to play outside while I worked. Two weeks later it was ready! I love how it turned out!
Fast forward a few weeks. Aforementioned conversation forgotten. My friend lets me know that (surprise!) the house sold incredibly quickly and they are moving out in a few weeks. Do I still want the piano? Rational part of the brain says: you don't even know if pianos can be painted, you already have 12 other projects to work on, the kids aren't going to playing for a few more years, you are about to bring your third child home from china and you should not be spending your time doing this, you are probably just going to leave it in the house unpainted for the next thousand weeks. My answer: when else am I going to get a piano so cheap, of course I want it!
So, 2 weeks later four very strong men bring said piano to our house and place it in the garage. Thankfully the bookcase I had been painting for Lilys room had just vacated the spot, but Brian's jeep was relegated to the driveway for the indefinite future.
Now to decide on a color! I knew the piano would go in the front living room with our green couches so I needed it not to clash. I definitely wanted it to be bright though. So I decided on a bright mint green. I know this may not sound like a real color, but I found just what I was looking for! The next several days were spent in the garage sanding, priming, painting, and repainting. Thankfully the weather finally started to cool off so the kids were able to play outside while I worked. Two weeks later it was ready! I love how it turned out!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
When are you going to China?
This is the question that we hear more than any other. And unfortunately, it's the hardest one to answer! Now that we have our LOA, we can more accurately predict when we will be traveling. Of course, nothing is certain until we can actually book our plane tickets, which will be a week or 2 before we actually leave. But here's a timeline of the final steps to give you a better idea of what happens now.
Here's a helpful diagram that documents the entire China adoption process. Please note that this is only applicable to China, other countries have different steps and timelines. We are on step 10 right now, should be on step 11 in less than a week!
- We file our I800 application with USCIS. It usually takes 2 weeks for approval (we got approval yesterday, in 13 days!)
- We get our visa approval from the NVC in China. This takes 5-7 days.
- Our agency "drops off" article 5 at the CCAA. It takes two weeks to be processed and then we have article 5 pick up.
- We await travel approval (TA) from the Chinese government and schedule our consulate appointment (CA) for when we are in China. This usually takes 2-3 weeks.
Here's a helpful diagram that documents the entire China adoption process. Please note that this is only applicable to China, other countries have different steps and timelines. We are on step 10 right now, should be on step 11 in less than a week!
LOA!!!!
Yes, I realize this post is a few weeks late, but things have been busy and I just got around to publishing it!
September 23, 2013
This morning Caroline and I were at home getting ready to head out the door to her dance class. She decided to throw a fit about having to wear her dance outfit at the same time that our home phone rang. We never use our home phone, it's really just the number we give to people we don't want to talk to. (Solicitors, people, none of you of course.) Well apparently we gave it to our adoption agency too. I grabbed the phone and ran in my closet to avoid the screaming coming from C's room while holding my breath. I figured the only two things they'd be calling about would be to give me news about the typhoon that hit the day before or that our LOA had finally come. Sure enough, our LOA was showing up in the system!!! After 160 long days of waiting (the average wait is 50-60 days) we were moving forward again!
Of course at this point we really have to leave, so after an excited conversation and a few instructions from our agency I grabbed Caroline, told her that Lily's paperwork that we had been praying for every day finally came, and ran out the door. I called Brian from the car, and called him, and called him, until he finally picked up. It may have been the CALL ME NOW text I sent him that did the trick. I told him the good news through tears, and he was ecstatic! Then I had to compose myself and go into C's class. I texted and posted the news on facebook, still in disbelief that this had actually happened. Amanda called me from her grandfather's funeral after she got her good news (their LOA showed up too) and we cried laughed and cried together. The rest of the day we sent each other "OMG" and "Holy cow!" texts.
While our wait was crazy, ridiculously long, I know that it was all in God's timing. Originally we thought that we'd be traveling to China in September, so back in March I signed up for a half marathon November 9th. The longer our wait got, the higher the chance that I wouldn't be able to do the race. Brian also has his annual ophthalmology conference November 13-15. Almost all of our friends from residency were going, but we were a maybe since we didn't know our travel plans. Again, the longer our wait got, the higher the chance that we wouldn't get to go. A few weeks ago I felt like God was telling me that we would travel over Thanksgiving. But, the longer our wait got, the less likely that seemed. Now that our LOA is actually here, we are better able to predict our travel dates. Get this: not only did God work it so that I can run my race (and not have to worry about training in China), Brian and I can attend his conference without kids, and no one will have their birthday in China (mine is Nov 2 and my mom's is Nov 19), but there is a definite possibility that we will be traveling over Thanksgiving! That means Brian misses less work, the kids miss less school, and there's a chance that my dad can come with us as well! There are a few more steps that have to happen before we can book flights and go get our girl, but we are praying that they all line up so that we leave the week of Thanksgiving. Also, did you know that Thanksgiving is really late this year? It's November 28th. Usually it's like the 23rd or 24th. Coincidence? I don't think so!
September 23, 2013
This morning Caroline and I were at home getting ready to head out the door to her dance class. She decided to throw a fit about having to wear her dance outfit at the same time that our home phone rang. We never use our home phone, it's really just the number we give to people we don't want to talk to. (Solicitors, people, none of you of course.) Well apparently we gave it to our adoption agency too. I grabbed the phone and ran in my closet to avoid the screaming coming from C's room while holding my breath. I figured the only two things they'd be calling about would be to give me news about the typhoon that hit the day before or that our LOA had finally come. Sure enough, our LOA was showing up in the system!!! After 160 long days of waiting (the average wait is 50-60 days) we were moving forward again!
Of course at this point we really have to leave, so after an excited conversation and a few instructions from our agency I grabbed Caroline, told her that Lily's paperwork that we had been praying for every day finally came, and ran out the door. I called Brian from the car, and called him, and called him, until he finally picked up. It may have been the CALL ME NOW text I sent him that did the trick. I told him the good news through tears, and he was ecstatic! Then I had to compose myself and go into C's class. I texted and posted the news on facebook, still in disbelief that this had actually happened. Amanda called me from her grandfather's funeral after she got her good news (their LOA showed up too) and we cried laughed and cried together. The rest of the day we sent each other "OMG" and "Holy cow!" texts.
While our wait was crazy, ridiculously long, I know that it was all in God's timing. Originally we thought that we'd be traveling to China in September, so back in March I signed up for a half marathon November 9th. The longer our wait got, the higher the chance that I wouldn't be able to do the race. Brian also has his annual ophthalmology conference November 13-15. Almost all of our friends from residency were going, but we were a maybe since we didn't know our travel plans. Again, the longer our wait got, the higher the chance that we wouldn't get to go. A few weeks ago I felt like God was telling me that we would travel over Thanksgiving. But, the longer our wait got, the less likely that seemed. Now that our LOA is actually here, we are better able to predict our travel dates. Get this: not only did God work it so that I can run my race (and not have to worry about training in China), Brian and I can attend his conference without kids, and no one will have their birthday in China (mine is Nov 2 and my mom's is Nov 19), but there is a definite possibility that we will be traveling over Thanksgiving! That means Brian misses less work, the kids miss less school, and there's a chance that my dad can come with us as well! There are a few more steps that have to happen before we can book flights and go get our girl, but we are praying that they all line up so that we leave the week of Thanksgiving. Also, did you know that Thanksgiving is really late this year? It's November 28th. Usually it's like the 23rd or 24th. Coincidence? I don't think so!
We (shockingly) had more paperwork to complete, so we headed to the UPS store with our LOA in hand and our I800 application. Poor Caroline thought that since Lily's paperwork had come that meant she was coming home now, and when we got to the UPS store she asked where Lily was. Soon, sweet girl, very soon!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Ireland
Much delayed Ireland photo book is complete!
Click here to view this photo book larger
Shutterfly offers exclusive layouts and designs so you can make your book just the way you want.
Fairy Tale Dance
We have been going to Playaway pretty much since we moved here. Matthew started and Caroline watched from her car seat, then last year Caroline got to attend the music and movement class while Matthew was in school. This year Ms. Tracy started a fairy tale dance class so we thought we'd try it out! The first week Caroline was not so sure. She just observed all the girls and took it all in. By the end she was participating a little bit. But this week she loved it! She did everything Ms. Tracy asked her to do. I couldn't resist taking lots of videos of her because it was just so precious to watch! Please note that I did manage to get my little tomboy into a dance outfit, but she insisted that it be blue and was not happy about putting it on :o)
Thursday, September 12, 2013
School!
Last week the kids started school. Matthew switched schools this year, because I wasn't quite ready to send him to a 5-day a week VPK program. He's in a Kindergarten Readiness program at Lakewood Ranch Baptist Church, and I can send him 1 day or 5 days. We are starting out the year going 4 days, but he seems to like it so much we might send him all 5!
Sending Caroline to school was a mid-summer decision after seeing how much she loved going to camp there! She is super excited to have her friend Jack in her class and our friend Jodi as her teacher.
They were so cute on their first day! Matthew started a day before Caroline, and she's having a hard time not going every day that he does. In fact she insists on bringing her lunchbox in the car with her every day whether she's going to school or not!
Sending Caroline to school was a mid-summer decision after seeing how much she loved going to camp there! She is super excited to have her friend Jack in her class and our friend Jodi as her teacher.
They were so cute on their first day! Matthew started a day before Caroline, and she's having a hard time not going every day that he does. In fact she insists on bringing her lunchbox in the car with her every day whether she's going to school or not!
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