Another I800A wait! Two weeks in the Lock Box!

I got my USCIS email and text today...

Dear Applicant/Petitioner:

Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing. Within 7 - 10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number SIMXXXXXXXXXX. If you have any questions please contact the Hague Unit at (877) 424-8374 or NBC.HAGUE@DHS.GOV

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE

It is always encouraging when you finally receive that email/text. We have waited once for biometric fingerprinting for Jason and I and our two boys: Kai and Jordan. But, because these 2 adoptions officially started Thanksgiving Day 2010, a lot has changed. Tyanna will be turning 18 next month, so she too has to be fingerprinted. 

Apparently, even though ALL the language from USCIS in essence says that you do not have to have your 17 year old biometrically fingerprinted as long as your paperwork gets to China before your child's 18th birthday, this is not true (and they will tell you this on the phone and via email). All adult family members and others residing in the home, must be fingerprinted if they will turn 18 prior to your adopted child coming home. 

All I800A documents arriving in the Lock Box wait 14 days. After the wait, your officer gets the paperwork. Fortunately, we did get a good officer. She will be looking for our I800A paperwork to match it up with our LOA and all of our I800 paperwork so that she can send our approval letter to the National Visa Center. 

Once our paperwork gets to the NVC, our information will be entered into their computer system. Within 1-3 business days, the NVC will "cable" (email) our file to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China. This becomes our approval for our visa petition. NVC will then mail me a letter stating that my petition has been forwarded to the Embassy. If I can remember to ask them to email me that letter so that I can pass it along to my agency, then things will speed up even more. So much to learn, but I am so grateful to my adoption "friend" Courtney who put together the website http://www.china-adoption-online.com She is brilliant and makes adoption look easy. 

This wait begins May 5th and ends on May 19th. In theory, we should then be cabled the third week of May. Wonder what it will actually look like. 

Due to our current delays, our trip will be late June or early July to pick up our littlest princess. I think it would be pretty amazing to get Amaris on June 23rd or 26th... two significant dates in our life... we received a phone call saying that we were chosen to be Amaris' family on June 23, 2011... on June 23, 2010 (a year earlier) we received a phone call that my mom would be meeting Jesus and the rest of her family soon. She left earth to enter heaven June 26th. It was an incredible day... very sad, but also so full of excitement that she could be in His arms... and celebrate her 44th wedding anniversary with my dad, my sister Kimberly and an unborn brother. 

Courtney put together the timeline below... right now it seems to be 4-5 weeks to travel once our paperwork is cabled. 

Our LOA is Here... Last Weeks Ladybug was Right... BUT!

Our LOA is here... last weeks ladybug (a little God Wink) was right!

Our LOA (Letter of Acceptance from China) took 76 days, but the wait was okay because I know that God is in control of all of our paperwork. God sent us a ladybug last week, March 30th (6 days ago) to tell us that good news was coming. See the post just before this one. 


Our agency emailed me and then followed up with a phone call to let me know it has finally arrived. I LOVE Wasatch... they are an amazing adoption agency and so are their employees!


China has accepted us... technically we are 2 months from getting our youngest princess, Amaris... BUT, we are back to square 1 with Tyanna... who is  now awaiting HER fingerprint appointment for our I800A... so, we wait... Amaris waits... but, because of this wait (and all the other waits along the way... all those Divine Delays), there is still hope that Annabella can come home with Amaris!


With this LOA, we should have been able to sign it, scan it and then email it to our agency to get that off for our I800; BUT, because we had to update our homestudy last week due to Tyanna turning 18 next month, wanting to add some new special needs that we are open to, and Jason accepting a new job, we are back to square 1 with our I800A. Hopefully we have an awesome USCIS officer. I am waiting to hear who it is and how he/she will be able to help us move along, but I have learned through this process that our timing is ultimately God's timing. And, He is orchestrating things on behalf of our family. 

A Ladybug and a Promise of Our LOA!

This week, Mulan, Gabriella's Chinese foster sister, 

came to spend 4 1/2 days with us.

Mulan and Gabriella (one of Amaris' big sisters)

Mulan and her mommy Kelly

Gabriella and her mama (me) Patty 

On our adventure to the local zoo, 

we prepared for this group photo of the Fouts and Sullivan-Hofer girls.

Tyanna saw the ladybug pictured below, crawling right next to her.

Ladybugs ALWAYS show up on the day or within a week of good news!

Today I found out that we are "In Process" to receive our LOA...

This is the document that China uses to officially say,

"Yes, you can come get Amaris!"

It is assumed that we will have our LOA in hand this next week!

Found: 3 Lost Photos!

I would have to say that today has been an emotional day... I am not seriously worked up, but I am a bit frustrated learning that there is some paperwork I have to re-do. See the post just before this one for more information.

I guess the good news is, that while I was looking through my files, I felt like God told me to look at Amaris' Chinese file. To my surprise, I found 3 referral photos that I had completely forgotten about. I probably should confess that I really didn't attempt to read her Chinese Referral File, so I just saved it on my computer, apparently for a day like today.

I know God has been filling my Faith Jar (which I wrote about in Annabella's blog this last week) because I may need to remind myself soon of something coming up that might cause me to loose some of my great faith. Well, today must have been one of those days.

I know soon, that my Faith Jar is going to completely fill up though and totally tip in my favor... on that day, Jason and I will hold Princess Amaris and Princess Annabella in our arms forever.

These are Princess Amaris' 3 referral photos from her Chinese File. Thank you God for choosing today to give these back to me.

Another Divine Delay?

What the Heck? 

Please Tell Me This Is a Divine Delay!

Because I am on several Yahoo Groups related to adoption, most days I get 300-400 emails. Most of those emails I just delete; but, I do end up reading a handful of them that seem to catch my attention. Today, I accidentally clicked on an email that I wasn't intending to read, but I am glad I did. 

As a result of reading another mom's email about her 18 year old daughter, I discovered that Tyanna, our oldest daughter, also needs to be fingerprinted. I am frustrated about this because I was adamant that she be fingerprinted with our two boys, but was told over and over that she would not need to be fingerprinted unless our documents didn't make it to China prior to her 18th birthday. 

Well, either I was misinformed OR the rules have changed. I am still not sure which it is. China is constantly changing their rules, which is good in many cases, but I should have gone with my gut feeling on this one. 

So, now, while I was trying to order passports this week, I have to focus on all the various background checks and fingerprints for my oldest princess. UGH! Double Ugh! Heck, let's just make it a Triple Ugh!

There have been so many stinkin' delays in the adoption of our daughters Amaris and Annabella, but after the fact, I have seen God's hand in every single one of them. So, while I really want to stand on top of my desk and scream, I am quietly typing away and reminding myself that this could be another Divine Delay that God is using to put us in the right place at the right time. 

I am CONFIDENT that GOD KNOWS what's up ahead for us and I am sure He is protecting us from something else or getting our timing just right to Amaris and possibly Annabella as well. I know He loves us and wants what's best for us... I know this isn't Plan B... we are still on Plan A, because He continues to lead us in amazing, miraculous ways. 

So God, I will trust in you and make sure I continue to sit at my desk and not stand on top of it... I can't see as far ahead as you can... so, I will trust in you. But, I ask you God to continue to watch over our little princesses still waiting in China for us. Protect their hearts and their health Dear Lord!

Passport Photos in Hand!

As we wait for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China acknowledging that we can come to China to accept our referred child, we are getting other paperwork lined up. 

This official approval from the CCCWA to adopt Amaris can range from 2 weeks to 21 weeks... with an average wait of about 50 days... though many LOA's have been arriving within 21 days, which is pretty remarkable. We have currently been waiting 52 days and counting... 

I was able to get passport photos for Jordan, Tyanna, Gabriella and I, which means I will get their paperwork off this week to order their passports. 

I remember LEARNING the difference between a passport and a visa LESS THAN TWO DAYS BEFORE we were scheduled to fly out to China to get Gabriella in July 2010. 

They are TOTALLY different things... I had a passport, but I did not have my visa. My husband realized we forgot my visa entry just minutes before midnight... I showered, RE-packed a suitcase, drove to a 24-hour Kinkos to get 4 passport photos, and hopped on the next airplane to California. This story is in Gabriella's blog (SweetPrincessGabriella.blogspot.com)... I felt like I was a contestant on the Amazing Race! With just hours to spare, I got home, re-packed and hopped on my plane to get my baby girl. 

We are trying to avoid this scare... that mistake cost over $700 that day, but if I hadn't hopped on the plane, it would have kept us from our daughter. And, she, my friends, was worth every penny!

Her Wardrobe is Waiting!

Not much going on in the adoption world for our family this last week, so I decided to photograph my "nesting".

I started purchasing the girls summer 2012 wardrobe for Gabriella (age 5), Amaris (then age 1), and Annabella (age 2) when we found Annabella in November 2011.

It has been fun purchasing in "triplets"... this is the girls Naartjie wardrobe. I sure hope I chose the right sizes... Gabriella is pretty thin (she is 5 and can still comfortably wear 3-6 and 6-9 month shorts, skirts and capris), the babies are also tiny compared to their Chinese peers. Sometimes I wonder if this wardrobe might not fit better in the summer 2013.

Need Some Help PRINCESS-izing!

I have 3 very white chairs that need some personalized PRINCESS-izing.

I have thought and thought about this, but nothing is jumping out at me.

I would like to put the girls names on their chairs, and was thinking of putting the words "Princess" on the top back wood slat and the girls name on the bottom wood slat... but, how and with what? Or, are there other great ideas out there?

Each girl has their own princess and "princess stuff":

• Gabriella is Cinderella
• Annabella is Belle
• Amaris is Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Amaris Turned 2 in China!

While we celebrated Amaris birthday in America, 

she celebrated her special day in China. 

Check out her cake... 

this photo doesn't quite do it justice because it is a huge cake! 

I love the tiger! The Chinese sure know how to make a cake!

Her birthday hair-do!

Notice in the background on the top toy shelf... 

her ladybug/flower blankey, photo album, and Chinese baby doll 

from Mama and Baba.

This must be her nanny! Amaris is adding two birthday candles. Fun! Fun!

Look at her smile... 

one of the only photos we have right now of her smiling!

I just want to cover her in kisses, 

but this photo shows something very disturbing. 

She may have bug bites on her face, but I think it is probably scabies. 

She did not have these two weeks ago in her Chinese New Year photos. Ugh! 

Her orphanage is known to struggle with scabies. 

If only I could put some warm water and tea tree oil carefully on her face. 

Look at the size of her slice of cake! Geez. Enjoy it girlfriend, 

because you won't see a slice that big until you are 10. 

Please pray that she remains healthy: 

that her heart, lungs, and other organs will not be affected negatively. 

Her fingers appear much more chunky/swollen 

since her first update in August, 

which causes me great concern that she is dealing with this edema. 

What a little princess! I can't wait until she is in our arms. 

She will travel to Guangzhou to meet us about 5 or 6 hours via train.

We hope to go back to her orphanage, 

so that will be a VERY, VERY long day...

traveling 5 or 6 hours there, visiting her orphanage and city for 5 hours, 

and then return to our hotel that evening. YUCK!

But, it may be the only time we ever get to do this, and 

though it will be hard to do physically and emotionally, 

it is just one more day but we will have memories for a lifetime!

Thank you Lord for our littlest princess! 

Please keep our baby safe!

Happy 2nd Birthday Amaris Nanette!

Today we celebrated Amaris' second birthday. The joy in this is that on my 40th birthday, my husband surprised me with my biggest birthday party ever! Our home was loaded with many, many of my closest friends... at least the ones he could figure out via my phone, facebook, address list, and emails. 

What we didn't know, was that God made this day extra special in China for us. 

We waited 16 years for Gabriella, but we waited 18 years for Amaris. She has had her name since 2009 (born in 2010). She was found in June 2011 in a MIRACULOUS way! You can read the June 2011 posts for her story!

Amaris' name means "God has promised". Her given English name was Nanette. We kept that name because we have been praying for grace and favor along our journey to our next two girls. When I found out both her English and Chinese name meant "Grace and Favor", Jason and I decided we wanted to keep these names from our great, miracle-working God. 

We hope to receive updated photos of her and her Chinese birthday cake this week. But, until we do, here was her cake in America. 

We are "In Process"

Late this evening I received an email from Marilyn from our adoption agency. 

"I just received this great news… wanted to share it with all five of you.  This is something CCCWA has just started to alert us on…. so I can’t say how long before LOA, but at least we know things are moving forward."

Marilyn, 

These families' status has changed to "in process" as of 2/15/2012.  It means that their dossier has been translated and will now be reviewed.

1. McFarland
2. Wilson
3. Fouts 
4. Williams
5. Black

Sabrina 

Since my girlfriend Emily is sleeping, I decided to research her blog and check her emails for her stats in relation to her LID, "in process" remarks, and LOA. She was LID in mid December, "in process" on December 30th (14 days later) and received her LOA's February 8th... about 5 weeks after her "in process" status. 

In theory then, we are 5 weeks away from our LOA for Amaris... but, we also waited 4 weeks for our "in process" status. Our pile of paperwork has been translated into Chinese though, so now we wait for our first LOA... which may be around April 18th. 

We, of course, are anticipating great news about Annabella... whom we have NO PAPERWORK for. We are praying for her file to be given to our family. 

God sent a ladybug to us yesterday... while I am excited about our "in process" status, I really am believing He sent that ladybug because we are going to be hearing about Annabella soon. 

Amaris and I will celebrate our birthdays together on Monday, so, hoping good news will come then. 

Medical Update from China

Earlier in February we received a medical update on Amaris. We were given her ultrasound in color. That was nice. But, I don’t think she was REALLY seen by her cardiologist because the information I was given was an identical repeat from her pre- and post-surgery reports.

Ultrasound Suggests (CHD Postoperative)::

Pulmonary artery velocity is faster

Patched place did not show shunting

Tricuspid valve with mild regurgitation

Atrial left to right shunt (the last cavity type, recommended review)

The normal range of left ventricular function

                                                                                                     

While I don't yet understand cardiology talk, I did have her cardiologist here in America look at the reports. And, if her reports are accurate, this is what he said...

Patty:

I am very reassured from the February reports.  What they describe in the echocardiogram report sounds like a very good result from surgery.  I am having a hard time thinking of a heart reason for her color to be blue, if the echo reports are accurate.  That may just be normal.

I think that Amaris will be in pretty good heart health for a child with repaired Tetralogy of Fallot.  Most of the time children after a successful surgery do not have any cardiac limitations during childhood. 

You are doing all the right things...  Let me know when you have your return date and I can help the schedulers find an appropriate visit time.

Good luck,

Troy    

Valentines Day 2012

This week we took some family photos at our local park... we are still missing our littlest princesses Amaris and Annabella, but the big kiddos are all here.

Mama and Amaris will share a birthday this week.

Kai will start his journey with the Army at Boot Camp.

And, we pray diligently that we will hear some news about Annabella soon.

Got Another FEBRUARY 2012 Update!

I requested a medical update on our baby Amaris Nanette. It wasn't a true update. It was basically her same paperwork that was in her file. Though we did get her cardiac images in color.

The appearance was given that she was seen on February 3rd as a result of our request. I don't believe she was actually seen though.

We were given cardiac images in color as well as written information about her. I am hoping that though it is not translated in English, that it will still be understandable to our cardiologist. 

I personally don't understand any of it yet; however, I will be forwarding it on to Amaris' cardiologist at our local Children's Hospital so that I can ask him what miracles to pray for. 

Like most adopting families, all we can do for our child's health is pray. So, that is what I will do. 

Psalm 138:3 "As soon as I pray, You answer me." 

(The Message Bible).

Chinese New Year Update

This is our third update with photos and our second update with words. These are the questions that we asked Amaris' orphanage to help us hopefully better understand how her little heart is doing. She was post-op TOF at 15 months of age. 

Please pray that God will heal her little heart, cause the appropriate oxygen to enter and carbon dioxide to exit her body, that her edema (swelling) will disappear, and that God would continue to watch over our little princess until she can be in our arms. 

Happy 2^nd Birthday Nan Duo Duo

Mama and Duo Duo have the same birthday!

1.       Does Nan Duo Duo take any medications for her heart?

a.If she does, how many different medications does she take each day?

b.What are the names of her medications?

c.What are the doses of her medications?

Answer to #1:  She had not taken medication. 

We took her to Guangzhou Military Hospital on 4/20/2011 and 
she had her heart surgery on 4/26.

2.          Does the orphanage have photos of Nan Duo Duo growing up?

Is there a way to get these photos?

Answer to #2: Yes, we will give you a CD on Gotcha Day. 
It will have Duo Duo's photos. 

3.          Do you remember anything about the day Nan Duo Duo came to the orphanage?  

a.What was she wearing?

b.Do you still have her clothes? Can we have them?

 Answer to #3:  Yes, the police sent her to our orphanage on 4/11/2010. 

a) at that time, she was wearing a floral shirt with white color.

b)  If we can find her clothes when she was sent to our orphanage, we will bring to you on Gotcha Day.
Please remind us before Gotcha. 

4.          May we get updated measurements for Nan Duo Duo?
        a.Height? 76.5cm
       b.Weight? 11kg

           c.Head measurement? 46cm

           d.Shoe size? 12.5 cm

           e.Dress size?

Answer to #4: Height: 76.5 cm; Weight: 11 kg: head 46 cm; Foot: 12.5 cm. 

Clothes size: Please buy the clothes according to her body measurements.

Thank you for agreeing to let her hair grow long. We are excited to see her in “pig-tails”

Letter to the Nannies and Duo Duo.

Happy Chinese New Year 2012!    AND    Happy 2^nd Birthday Princess Duo Duo!

Dear Nannies,

Thank you for all the love and care that you show for these precious little babies. Our family is very happy to be able to bring Duo Duo home to America this summer. She will be our youngest princess.

Please tell her that her Baba, Mama and her brothers and sisters already love her very much. She has 3 brothers and 3 sisters.

Thank you for letting Duo Duo and her friends enjoy this birthday cake. Please take lots of photos for our family. We would love to get more photos of her and her friends and where she eats, sleeps, and plays.

Thank you so much,

Duo Duo’s Baba and Mama

We Got Our LID

Today I found out that we are one of six families from Wasatch that received our LID (Log-in-date) from China on January 19, 2012. This means that our paperwork has officially arrived in China and been acknowledged. Our paperwork was sent off to China on 1/10 and arrived in Beijing that next day. This means our LID took 9 days.

The Chinese New Year celebration was January 22nd through 28th, so I thought I would be waiting until February to get our LID and find out that we were LID... it's fun to have one more thing checked off the list.

I snuck a peak in my journal for January 19th because this is such a special day for adoptive families, and this is what I wrote from Jentezen Franklin's book: Fasting.


"Now is the time. You've prayed about it, dreamed about it, asked me for it, longed for it, it's been prophesied over you. Prepare yourself!"

Wow... now, that's prophetic! I love how God is working in our lives. I also wrote down this verse: 


"Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."   Hebrews 11:6: 

First Package to China!

Today we celebrated Gabriella's 5th birthday. We also sent Amaris' birthday package off as well.

Amaris will turn two in February on Mama's birthday.

Mama had a HUGE 40th birthday a couple years ago... the day our baby was born! On that day, I had purchased two panda bears... one for Amaris and one for her sister who we eventually named Annabella. Isn't God good?

Shopping therapy!

So excited to be getting ready to bless our littlest princess with her first gifts from Mama and Baba.

We are preparing Amaris gift package so that it will arrive on her birthday in February.

Until she comes home, Gabriella (jie jie) and I are shopping at our favorite store: Naartjie... hoping we are buying the right size for our little one. She will be in our arms at age 2 1/2. We have put her measurements on the wall... and, apparently she is smaller than 99/100 Chinese babies... so, we are betting on size 12-18 months size. But, I am pretty sure she could easily wear 6-9 month pants. Gabriella wore 3-6 month skirts at age 4.

Well, Actually, we were DTC on Jan. 10th

Got a second email about being DTC.

Due to some issues, we ended up being DTC on January 10, 2012.

Only a four day delay. I know God is working out our timing for some reason.

We are DTC!

What a great, great day... Jason and I have been fasting and praying for this next year... and, excitement is already in the air!

I got an email this afternoon from our adoption agency:

You are DTC!!!!!!

Marilyn

I posted on Facebook:

This means, all that laborious paperwork, countless hours of hustle and bustle everywhere, doctor's appointments, animal immunizations, marrriage and birth certificate ordering and re-ordering, hours or reading and adoption preparation, pages and pages of writing, the numerous Fed-Ex packages back and forth to our 3 agencies, all the notarizations, and multiple authentications in this state, other states, and at the national level, etc, etc... are done... well, until ANNABELLA's file is in our hands. Our DOSSIER is on its way to CHINA... we will have more paperwork once Annabella's file is in our hands, but we are excited for this news and next weeks news too.