A little shopping

Well, I finally bought Little Guy’s first outfit.  I had to guess on the sizing but I could not pass this up.  The shirt is just perfect!  I love that I was able to buy the matching blanket and hat, very similar to the early outfits I bought each of my other 3 children. :)

I also thought I’d share a pic of the toddler sized backpack I bought on clearance a month or so ago.  I thought we could maybe use the lunch bag for snacks when we are out and about in China.  And the water bottle I’m not too sure about.  I’ve done a lot of reading about children with cleft palate and they can’t create suction for drinking out of sippy cups, etc.  This straw cup is the type you bite on to open up the valve.  We will likely take several different bottles/cups with us, since we don’t know what he is able to drink out of.

I finished reading the info packets from our adoption agency and decided it was high time we sent our little guy his first care package!  I mainly wanted to send photos labeled in English and Chinese, so he could get a glimpse of us and also a disposable camera for the nannies to use up and (HOPEFULLY) give us when we come to pick him up.  I didn’t want to send a toy he wouldn’t be able to keep (everything must be shared in an orphanage) but decided to send something that would be useful to the orphanage- a couple sleepers, some baby hats and diaper rash cream.  I have been told that they are always in need of these things.  Last, I included some candy for the nannies.

I think I will try to send at least a couple more care packages while we are waiting to go to China.

My brother was able to pull Little Guy’s picture out of the sponsorship update we received, so now I can share it with you.  He is 15 months old in this picture.  Doesn’t he look adorable?! <3

More documents and another update

OK, I thought we were done with paperwork for a while but I was wrong! ;)  Our adoption agency sent us a packet requesting that we go ahead and complete the I-800 (not to be confused with the I-800A that we already did) and send it to them so they can send it to USCIS the minute our LOA arrives!  OK, maybe not “minute” but it will be a fast turnaround.

Along with the I-800 was the I-800 Supplement 1, G-1145 and I-864W.  I was able to complete these over the weekend and mail them off, today.  Having paperwork to do at least makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something.

I still need to finish reading a previous packet of info our agency sent.  I have been so impressed with them!  They are very responsive and communicate with us a lot.  I love their packets of info that they send at just the right times!

This afternoon, we received our first sponsorship update on our little guy.  It included a short report with measurements and 1 photo.  I started to think he was shrinking until I read the date on the report.  It’s from July.  Whew!

This is the 3rd time our little guy has been described as “very mischievous.”  Hm...  The photo is adorable!!  <3  I need to figure out how to copy just the photo so I can share it on here.

And I may or may not have just purchased my first outfit for Little Guy.  Sizing is quite a guess at this point, but I couldn’t let this outfit pass me by!

An update already

What a surprise to receive an update with some of the info we asked for, already! :)

We got new measurements, which I am happy to say are a slight improvement.  I will know more on this after I hear back from the adoption specialist in the next few days.  He is reported to be about 20 lbs and just under 30 inches at 18 mos. old.

We also received 2 new pictures and 2 short videos showing us that he is now walking by himself.  I think they took the pictures from the videos.  They aren’t as clear as I’d like but I will have to be grateful for this update!  Anytime we receive updated info and/or pictures, we are thrilled!  He definitely looks older.  :(

Again, we are told he is rather extroverted and likes to “run wildly all over the place.”  I think we are IN for it with this little guy!  We have never had a child we had to chase all over the place (but I’ve watched friends do it, haha), so this could be interesting!

Something I didn’t mention, yesterday, is that because of the specific orphanage our boy is living in, we have the opportunity to take over his monthly sponsorship from now until we go get him.  This is a small way for us to begin caring for him and, as a bonus, we will receive quarterly updates.  Yeah, there was no hesitation on THAT decision!

I was able to send off the questionnaire, forms, and fees needed by our agency, this morning.  I do think we are now done with paperwork until we receive our LOA.

Referral!!

Last week was quite an exciting week!  It went something like this:

Monday- We received “THE CALL" from our adoption agency.  They have a referral for us!  After hearing a little about him, I said, "YES, send me the file!”  It took me about 5 seconds to text Kevin, find the email, download the file and pull up the first picture.  SO CUTE!!  I know some people wait to look at the file with their spouse, but there was no way I was waiting!  (OK, I may have texted my mom in there, too!)  I showed Kevin the file as soon as he got home from work, but we had to wait until after the kids went to bed to have any real discussion.

Tuesday- I called an adoption clinic and emailed the whole file to them for review.  Lots of staring at pictures and re-reading every word in his file!  Some searching for different growth charts and looking up various things online.

Wednesday- The adoption specialist (a pediatrician who specializes in international adoption) and the clinic coordinator called to review the file with me.  We talked for about an hour.  I was ready to move forward and wasn’t sure I could wait for Kevin to get home from work to discuss this!  I will also admit that I jumped WAY ahead and started counting days and looking at the calendar.  Yes, you other adoptive parents will know exactly what I’m talking about.  Don’t try to deny it!  We made the decision to move forward and accepted the referral!!  I contacted our agency to let them know and find out our next steps.  They emailed our instructions with a “congrats" and I was off to write our Letter of Intent (LOI).

Thursday- I reviewed our LOI one last time and emailed it to our agency.  I shared with a few close friends.

Friday- Our agency let us know they would have our LOI translated and then sent to the CCCWA (China Center for Children’s Welfare & Adoption- the people in charge on the China end).  We told the kids.  I was trying to decide whether I should video or take pictures of the occasion and ended up going with pictures.  I couldn’t even get the words out before Caetlyn guessed what was going on!  The kids huddled around the pictures excitedly, while I tried to snap a few pictures of them.  Yeah, they were less than cooperative with that part.   

Now, here we are at the start of a new week.  I had just explained to Caetlyn that “nothing happens in the adoption world” on the weekends.  Well, guess what!  An hour later I had an email in my inbox, telling me that our LOI was submitted into the CCCWA system and the file was now officially locked in China!  Because it is already Monday in China, the CCCWA had reviewed our LOI and agreed to "move our application into the procedure for special-need adoption.”  This is basically our Pre-Approval (PA).  Because we are already LID, we will not get a PA. 

We are now allowed to share our news and even send our little guy care packages as we wait for the CCCWA to review our dossier and send our Letter of Acceptance (LOA).  This step typically takes 60-90 days, so it’s going to be a looooong wait!

Now, for the info you REALLY want!

Our little guy has just turned 18 months old.  He is described as very mischievous and extremely active.  His medical need is a mixed bilateral cleft lip (right complete, left incomplete) that has already been repaired, and a cleft palate that still needs to be repaired.

We are quite taken with this little guy and hope to receive an update soon!

We have a questionnaire and a couple of forms to fill out and sign for our agency (1 needs to be notarized), and will send those back with our next fees on Tuesday. :)

Still waiting

We have not received any news from our adoption agency as of yet.  I have finally settled down a bit so that I am not jumping anytime the phone rings.  I emailed our agency to see if I could get an idea of how much time we will likely wait for a referral, and they responded that many other families who have some of the same special needs checked on the MCC have been matched within a few months of LID.  I am telling myself that perhaps we will have a referral before Christmas. :)  And the longer our dossier is in China before we get matched, the higher chance it has of already being translated and cutting some time off our next paperwork wait--the LOA (letter of acceptance).

God’s timing is perfect...