As some may know, in March we were called with the news that the little girl we had thought was to be ours was switched by the CCCWA from Special Needs to Healthy. Now we are no longer qualified to adopt her. We cried, hugged, felt a bit crushed. Then we got our minds back to reviewing the waiting children available from China & started reviewing shared lists and agency specific lists to try and find our child. Many disappointing leads, then one that looked like she may be "the one". On Friday we heard back from a couple of the professionals we had sent this little girl's file to. All were very positive and hopeful, so Friday evening, we put in our letter of acceptance for the referral of Xiao, a 6 year old cutie who has convergent strabismus in her right eye, and Apraxia of speech, a neurological condition that effects her ability to speak. Both conditions are treatable. The eyes w/ vision therapy, corrective lenses, and possible one time surgery. The speech w/ intensive speech therapy. So nothing that is life threatening, or requires lifelong treatment. So on we go on another adventure with our Family. Our agency will send our referral aggreement on to the CCCWA, they will review and send us the "PA" or pre-approval.
Our Dossier specialist told us today that our FL docs arrived in Tallahassee on Friday, and were hand delivered via courier that morning. She is due to receive them back this afternoon. Tomorrow, all docs will go to her DC courier, who will walk them thru the US State Dept and the DC China Consulate. Then they will be turned around, so that she should have them back by next Monday (May 9th). Then our Dossier will be ready to send to our agency GWCA. After they have reviewed and approved, it will be sent on to China with our Letter of Intent, to adopt Xiao.
Our agency said it has been averaging around 6-7 months from this point on before we would be able to travel, due mostly to all the additional regulations adhering to the Hague Convention. Hopefully we will be able to make the trip before the year ends, as the adoption tax credit is also ending this year, and that's a lot of money.
As soon as we are able to share more details and pictures, we will gladly do so. For now we are feeling so relieved that we have found our daughter, and she is relatively healthy and seems to have a very sweet personality.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
I-797C Fingerprint Approval Received Today!
Well, life does not always play out the way we would like it. After months of looking at the picture of who we had thought would be our daughter we were told on March 11th, that she had been re-evaluated physically and was deemed "healthy" so she was reclassified & moved over to the "Healthy" Child list, which means that our Family is no longer "qualified" to adopt her. We have been approved to adopt a waiting child w/ special needs. Today, April 18th we received our I-797A approval from Immigration to adopt a waiting girl child from China. Now we just need a child to adopt. We are praying that she comes along soon, we are so looking forward to meeting her and have her join our Family.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Time flies...
Time flies by so quickly these days. I know it is the same calendar and clock to measure it by, but it still seems to pass me by too quickly. We have a great little family, a wonderful home, work, things to do, just not enough hours in the day to do all of them. I don't want to miss a moment of my children growing up, and becoming who they are meant to be. I don't want to miss a second with my husband, as he has become so important to me. I can't wait until the next time I see my sisters and brother and cousins and friends, but when I am with them the time passes too fast. If could create the perfect invention, it would freeze time, so that we could "live in the moment" forever.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Received our Fingerprint Appointment for Adoption 3
We sent in our I-800A paperwork on Feb. 15th, to get approval from US Immigration to adopt a child from a foreign country. On Monday, Mar. 7th we received our appointment to be fingerprinted on April 1, at 9 AM. Once we have this completed, our agency told me the average wait is now 6-8 weeks after before you receive your I-797 Approval. We need this one last document in order to send our Dossier to the CCAA in China to adopt our daughter. We are still hoping we will be able to get everything completed in time to get her over the summer, but it's looking more likely it will be in the fall.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Hannah Homecoming at OneTrueMedia.com
I made this montage two years ago, after our first Chinese New Year Celebration to welcome Hannah home. It's so hard to believe it has been two years already. Time flies way too quickly.
Happy Chinese New Year!
We celebrated Chinese New Year, both at home with some friends and out at the Embassy Suites with other friends who adopted children through the same agency: GWCA (Great Wall China Adoptions). What a wonderful fun filled crazy weekend we had too. Our friend Pete came up from Ft. Lauderdale to celebrate with us, and Hannah stuck to him like glue. It is so hard to believe it has only been two years since we celebrated bringing Hannah home. (www.thehannahhomecoming.com) She fits into our Family perfectly with her silly sense of humor, and quick wit and giggles. She loves to tease, and also loves to be DRAMATIC. Harrison is so much more outgoing and communicative since having his sister around. She has been a miracle for our Family, and given us so much joy when we have needed it the most. Harrison and Hannah are the biggest blessings we have ever received, and give us center and purpose.
Our friends came and shared CNY Eve with us, & with their children. I am not sure who got louder us or the kids. But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. We had pot stickers, and fried rice, noodles & egg rolls, shrimp (can't find prawn around here), & Kung Pao Chicken. Then Beth made one of her famous cakes, and decorated it with tiger stripes (This year is the Year of the Tiger). The kids did arts & crafts, made fans & dragon wands & photo frames, while the adults helped in between lots of conversation and catching up. Red Envelopes were given to the children, the play room was well used, lots of laughter, and pictures were being taken all over the place.
That was Saturday.
On Sunday we joined the group who adopted through GWCA (Great Wall China Adoption) to celebrate the New Year together. Over 100 strong, it was so much fun to see the children interacting and playing together. It was another load and boisterous gathering, with fancy outfits & more Chinese Food. One of the group is a DJ whose family has adopted a couple of children from China, and he really is entertaining. Lots of dancing and limbo and conga lines with the kids. There was a beautiful photo montage made by one of the other Families with all of our China adopted children's Gotcha Day information and photos, along with some heart wrenching music. Most Mom's could be seen dabbing their eyes as they watched.
The best part was the silent auction. Many Families and businesses had donated things to be auctioned. All of the proceeds went to LWB (Love Without Boundaries), to help their cause (nonprofit) in China. They have nutrition programs, surgery programs, and other assistance that they give through the CCAA in China. They have truly performed miracles for many children that would not have gotten this care otherwise. Many of whom would have died without it. Such a worthy cause to support. What a weekend! Now I need to get back to work to get a breather!
Our friends came and shared CNY Eve with us, & with their children. I am not sure who got louder us or the kids. But everyone seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. We had pot stickers, and fried rice, noodles & egg rolls, shrimp (can't find prawn around here), & Kung Pao Chicken. Then Beth made one of her famous cakes, and decorated it with tiger stripes (This year is the Year of the Tiger). The kids did arts & crafts, made fans & dragon wands & photo frames, while the adults helped in between lots of conversation and catching up. Red Envelopes were given to the children, the play room was well used, lots of laughter, and pictures were being taken all over the place.
That was Saturday.
On Sunday we joined the group who adopted through GWCA (Great Wall China Adoption) to celebrate the New Year together. Over 100 strong, it was so much fun to see the children interacting and playing together. It was another load and boisterous gathering, with fancy outfits & more Chinese Food. One of the group is a DJ whose family has adopted a couple of children from China, and he really is entertaining. Lots of dancing and limbo and conga lines with the kids. There was a beautiful photo montage made by one of the other Families with all of our China adopted children's Gotcha Day information and photos, along with some heart wrenching music. Most Mom's could be seen dabbing their eyes as they watched.
The best part was the silent auction. Many Families and businesses had donated things to be auctioned. All of the proceeds went to LWB (Love Without Boundaries), to help their cause (nonprofit) in China. They have nutrition programs, surgery programs, and other assistance that they give through the CCAA in China. They have truly performed miracles for many children that would not have gotten this care otherwise. Many of whom would have died without it. Such a worthy cause to support. What a weekend! Now I need to get back to work to get a breather!
Friday, February 5, 2010
In Remembrance of My Sister, Diane
Well this week passed in a blur. All the usual emergencies, mini crisis's, joys & frustrations. The biggest event of this week should have been my sister Diane's Birthday, but instead we can only celebrate her life, & mark it by the date of her birth, & be thankful for the time we had her here as part of our lives.
It doesn't seem possible that she has been gone from us for 4-1/2 months. She passed away on September 22nd, after losing her battle with Pancreatic Cancer at the age of 57 years young. I know I miss her, I know my Sisters & Brother miss her, but I know that no one misses her more then her husband Randy, and her children.
So today I want to forget about all the unimportant (in the scheme of things) that happened this week, and just take a moment. A moment to remember a remarkable woman, who taught school from her heart, for over thirty years in N.C., was married for 35 years to the love of her life. She raised three wonderful children, and they have their own beautiful children and life partners to keep her memory & love alive. She touched so many in her community, at work, at church, her friends, and her family. She was the most patient and kind of all of us, but always had true grit when anyone messed with her family or students or friends. She will be sorely missed, and she was very much loved. She can honestly say that she made a difference. 100 years from now, she will still have made a difference in the lives of so many, and so many children. Dyro, we love you, and that is present tense, always.
It doesn't seem possible that she has been gone from us for 4-1/2 months. She passed away on September 22nd, after losing her battle with Pancreatic Cancer at the age of 57 years young. I know I miss her, I know my Sisters & Brother miss her, but I know that no one misses her more then her husband Randy, and her children.
So today I want to forget about all the unimportant (in the scheme of things) that happened this week, and just take a moment. A moment to remember a remarkable woman, who taught school from her heart, for over thirty years in N.C., was married for 35 years to the love of her life. She raised three wonderful children, and they have their own beautiful children and life partners to keep her memory & love alive. She touched so many in her community, at work, at church, her friends, and her family. She was the most patient and kind of all of us, but always had true grit when anyone messed with her family or students or friends. She will be sorely missed, and she was very much loved. She can honestly say that she made a difference. 100 years from now, she will still have made a difference in the lives of so many, and so many children. Dyro, we love you, and that is present tense, always.
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