Update (kind of) - Fingerprints, I-800, Home Projects, and Packing List

Happy Chinese New Year! This 2 week holiday begins tomorrow in China. The first week is designated to be spent with family and friends. The 2nd week involves traditions to bring good luck.

It has been 22 days since we got “The Call.” I will say that those 22 days have gone by super-fast for the most part. I will also tell you that it is all still really surreal. I think that is because it has been such a long journey to this point with many ups and downs, twists and turns. A lot has happened in our lives during those 7 years. I keep thinking, “Is this really happening?” It is also a “hurry up and wait” exercise. We rush around and do paperwork as quickly as possible, and then wait. When we get the next round of approvals, we will rush around and do paperwork, and wait again. And, on and on….you get the idea. I’ve heard all my life, “Be careful what you wish for,” and I think that holds true. Many, many years ago, I prayed that God would give me more patience. I think He heard my prayer and has taught me a 7-year lesson in patience. (I’m still not very good at it, by the way.) Waiting is hard, folks…..really heard…especially when you know that there is a precious 2 year old little girl in an orphanage waiting for you to come and get her. Tomorrow starts Chinese New Year. I wonder if they are celebrating. I wonder what she's doing right now….I wonder a lot these days.

 We sent her a care package last week through our adoption agency. I put together a photo album with names in English and Chinese, as well as a monogrammed lovey, and a disposable camera. (One adoptive mother suggested that we send the camera, which I thought was a great idea.) But, I’ll tell ya….those are hard to find in the digital camera era! We don’t know if Olivia will get the package, but we wanted to send it just in case. Perhaps she can start learning what we look like and be able to better recognize us when we get there! Anything we can do now to let her know that she is loved is worth it. 

A sweet college friend of mine and I reconnected a couple of months ago. She adopted a little girl from China in March of 2013. She was sweet to organize a little get-together with a few other people who have either gone through the process or are going through the process right now. It was wonderful to hear what these ladies had to say and for them to answer our questions. I know that they will prove to be wonderful resources as the girls grow up.   What a blessing!

I wish I had more of an update for you, but I really don’t. The only update I can tell you is that I talked with someone in the adoption unit of USCIS (US Citizen and Immigration Services) earlier this week. He gave me our appointment date to be re-fingerprinted. Our fingerprints are only good for 15 months and expire on 2/20, and they have to be up-to-date when we come home. Our fingerprint appointment is set for 2/11 at the USCIS office near the Nashville Airport. This may unfortunately delay our approval slightly longer than I had hoped, but maybe not. (We are still thinking we will travel in April or May.) Our “case” has been assigned to a USCIS officer, which means that someone has our file sitting on her desk, which is a good thing that we already have an officer. My understanding is that when the fingerprints are approved, she should then approve the I-800 fairly quickly. The I-800 approval means that the US approves us to adopt a specific child. Once we receive that approval, we will wait for approximately 2 weeks to receive a letter from the National Visa Center, and in the meantime, complete Olivia’s Visa Application (the DS-something or other). Once the Visa application is sent in, we wait for information to be sent to the Chinese gov’t and for their Travel Approval. Once we get the Travel Approval, they will schedule the appointment at the US Consulate for us. This is the date that they whole trip centers around. Once we have the appointment date, we will know when we travel and begin making those arrangements. Oh, and somewhere in there, we have to apply for our Visas (Jill, Philip, and Ansley). Whew! I think I got all of that right……I’m so afraid that I’m going to miss a step! All of these forms have a different letter and number name, which are all so confusing!!  But, I am so thankful to be going through this right now….it just means we are one step closer to meeting our little one!

We have also been busy with home projects. It’s kind of like fruit basket turnover, actually. We are in the process of moving our bedroom downstairs, renovating the bathroom downstairs, turning the old laundry room into master closet, moving the laundry room to the old “Hobby Room” off of the downstairs sitting area, making our bedroom into the guestroom, and making the office Olivia’s new room. We hope that Phase 1 (the downstairs area) will be complete in late February, and then we will begin Phase 2 (Olivia’s Room!). Philip has done most of the work and is doing a great job!   He's a keeper!

I know that this probably won’t surprise many of you, but I’m already putting together the packing list for our trip. Actually, I’ve been compiling this list for over 7 years, but don’t tell too many people that. Ha! China has very strict baggage requirements on their in-country flights, so we have to keep that in mind, since we will have at least one, maybe 2, in-country flights while there. They only allow one checked bag @ 44 lbs max per person, while the US allows 2 checked bags @ 50 lbs each per person. We also have to think that we will be lugging this stuff around with us for 2 weeks with a 4 year old and a 2 year old in more than likely 3 different locations within China. So, packing lightly brings on a whole new meaning. (So, when you see our pictures and we are wearing the same clothes, please don’t think badly of us.) For a while now, I’ve scoured the blogs of other adoptive families to see what they have taken with them….what they used and what they didn’t use….what they wished they had taken…..etc. It is a very daunting task to think about packing for 4 of us for a 2 week trip in a foreign country in 2-3 suitcases! I’ve also been trying to estimate what size clothes and shoes Olivia will need. The measurements I have are from October, so those will be about 6 months old by the time we travel. From my estimations, she will be almost the same size as Ansley at that age, so that is a blessing. I kept most all of Ansley’s clothes, so we are set in that department. We will take a couple of different sizes with us, just in case. The shoes are where I have no idea. I’m planning to take 2-3 different sizes of shoes as well.

So….between work being busy, home renovations making me crazy, and making sure I don’t mess up with this adoption paperwork, I’m pretty much a nut these days! We appreciate all of your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. We definitely need them! We are so blessed with wonderful friends and family.  We ask that you continue to pray for our preparation, for Olivia, for the orphanage workers, for the folks handling our paperwork, and again, for her birth parents…that they know their little girl is loved so much by so many.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week.
Jill