We've Been Fingerprinted!

We received our letter today from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)  stating the appointment time for our  "biometrics" processing was scheduled for November eighth.  They always schedule the appointments out pretty far, so our agency had advised us to try a "walk in" early once this letter arrived. 

I've been stalking the mailman for several days (not really, but I did have the "Mr. Postman" song going around in my head this morning...) so I was pretty excited to see the letter in the mailbox today.  I had a few things that I had to get done before I left, but was out of here pretty quickly.

Ethan's office is near to the Federal Building, so we were able to meet up during his lunch hour for our attempted walk-in.  I have been hearing horror stories from online friends who have done the walk-in.  Some were turned away, and some were successful after being chewed out, but no one reported it as a pleasant experience.

Fortunately my friend, Maren, reassured me that the staff at our local office are NICE.  And she was so right!  I will admit it was a little intimidating to put my purse in a bucket and walk through a metal detector, but at least I wasn't wearing a belt - poor Ethan!  And Ruth's metal nail file sent the guards at the door rummaging through her purse....  We got through and had our id's checked, then got directions to the correct room.

I had the nicest guy!  After he took my prints (electronically) he showed me a huge bulletin board in his office where he likes to post photos of the children he helps.  I added to his collection, of course! The staff was quite pleasant, and very efficient.  Even with a few people in line ahead of us, we were in and out in probably fifteen minutes.

When I got home I followed up with an email to let the USCIS know that we were fingerprinted early.  I have already heard from them that we have not been assigned  to an officer yet.  It was notated in the system so that when our case is assigned, our officer will know that we went in early.  Its looking online like its taking about a week after printing for the I800A to be approved.  Here's hoping that at the end of next week we are another huge step forward!

Abigail is Six

 Happy 6th Birthday, Abigail!

There isn't a lot of consistency with the rules while one is waiting on an adoption.  Some agencies allow posting photos online and allow care packages to be sent at any time following PA (pre approval) and others interpret the Hague laws VERY literally and allow NO CONTACT until the LOA (letter of acceptance) shortly before travel.  We happen to be with one of the agencies that interpret the law very strictly.  Thus, Agibail's sixth birthday came and went on October 5 with only a small family celebration.

One of our adult daughters, Hannah, made this cake for her "baby" sister.  She took such care in using Abigail's favorite color, and even wrote in Chinese characters at the top of the cake.  It was obvious she put a lot of thought and love into it.

We sang Happy Birthday and ate a piece of cake in honor of our youngest child in China.  We can't wait to get her home!

Celebrating the Mid-Autmn (Moon) Festival

One of the requirements for adoption from China is the promise of teaching your children appreciation of the Chinese culture.  We have been researching and practicing!  One of the really FUN things we did was attend the Peking Opera  last month.

Then, September 30th was the celebration of one of the most important holidays of the year for the Chinese people. We did actually celebrate that day, but its taken me awhile to remember to put it on the blog.  Since we found it interesting, we thought you might also.

Beginning as a harvest festival, Mid-Autumn Festival marked the time when farmers had finished gathering their crops.  The holiday is celebrated now as a time to be with family to give thanks for a good year.  According to our friend Jack  it is the Chinese equivalent of our Thanksgiving.

From the book Thanking the Moon by Grace Lin, "The traditions and myths of the Mid-Autum Festival center around the moon.  On the night of the festival, the moon is bright and full in the sky.  The roundness of the moon symbolizes harmony, and its fullness symbolizes wholeness, so families come together to celebrate those virtues."

"Families pay homage to the moon by eating mooncakes, small, round pastries with sweet fillings.  The cakes are formed in molds, and have elaborate designs on top.  Chinese characters for harmony or longevity, figures from moon legends, or flowers add to the mooncake's role as a symbol of good fortune and blessing."

We purchased our egg yolk mooncakes at a local Asian store.  We also got pineapple and red bean and some red bean and lotus seed mooncakes from the Mam Non Organization online. These cakes are not at all like a typical American cake, and opinions on their tastiness were very mixed with the group at our home that day.

One is really supposed to have an outdoors picnic at night, and observe the moon.  Our guests were here during the day, so we read our children's book about the holiday after lunch, then had mooncakes and tea for dessert.  Our family intended to go out after dark to look at the moon, but alas, it was too cloudy to see it here.

Grace Lin's book concludes like this, "Just as the moon always returns to its fullness, the festival continues to reunite families and inspire peace and gratitude."

We are offically in the China program!

On Monday I received an email from our placement agency which read, "I have received your notarized studies today and have just officially approved your file into our China program. You will now be assigned to a new case manager who will work with you for the remainder of your adoption process."  YAY!

Ethan and I had a telephone appointment with our new caseworker today and got our expected timeline.  It looks like we are still on target for the original "due date" of summer of 2013.  Our I800A (immigrations) form was sent today.  That is a big milestone!  We're on our way!

A couple of news items today

I heard from our home study agency that our certified copies of the home study have AT LAST gone out in the mail.  Hurray! 

Also heard from Agency X that Ella's new parents have their contract and initial paperwork in, and are pursuing their dossier.  It looks really good that things will work out for her this time.  God bless little Ella and her new parents.  May they travel to her quickly. 

We got an update on Abigail!

Our agency allows us to request an update twice while we wait.  They suggested we submit once now and once shortly before we travel.  We're allowed ten questions for each update.  It is hard deciding what little tidbits of information need to be gathered when we only get ten questions!  We stewed about it for several weeks actually.

We've already set up a second bed in Tikvah's room, but I've been really wondering what colors to use for the bedding and all.  I've also been wondering what types of clothing to purchase, and what toys to gather.  We really want her to feel at home when she gets here, so our questions were geared towards finding answers to help us make her comfortable.

What would YOU ask if you had ten questions?  Here were ours and the answers we received today.  We would have liked perhaps a bit MORE information, but we got some brief answers, anyway!

1. We would like to decorate her room.  Can you tell us her favorite color?
The child's most favorite color is blue.

2. Does she have a favorite toy or type of thing to play?
most favorite toy is white rabbit  

3. Does she have a favorite children's character (Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, etc.)?  
her most favorite character is the Snow Princess  

4. Is there a particular food that is her favorite?   
most favorite foods are fish, meat, grape, and banana  

5. Is there a particular food that she really dislikes?  (received no answer to this one) 

6. Does she have a favorite song?   
most favorite song is "Little Star"  

7.  Does she enjoy being read to, and if so does she have a favorite book?  
most favorite story is "Little White Rabbit's Story"  

8. What types of things is she learning at school?  At school she learns singing, musical instrument, handcrafting, drawing and listens to stories.  She likes listening to "Little White Rabbit's Story."

9.  We understand that she doesn't speak very much. How does she communicate her needs such as when she needs a drink or has to use the restroom?  
She usually expresses her needs by words. 

10.  We have two cats and a rabbit.  Has she ever been exposed to small animals, and if so did she like them?   
She is not afraid of cats and rabbits. 

And then I got an answer to a question I didn't ask:  People she is closest to are her foster mother and big sister, and her teachers.      

Abigail's files claim she is in the orphanage, that she has been there all her life, actually.  I'm wondering if this answer is supposed to be in OUR letter or if it was an error.  I'm hoping our caseworker can find out.  

It is nice to know a little more about the things Abigail likes.  I'm on a mission now to find the favorite story and song!  If anyone has ideas for fitting BLUE in to the Princess Room, I'm open to ideas!

Perhaps the best part of the update was SIX new photos!  We are not allowed to post any photos online, but if you stop by I'll be very happy to show them to you!  She has grown up so much since the last photos we got of her. Its really hard to have a little girl growing up half way around the world.  As far as I know the certified copy of our homestudy has still not arrived at our placement agency.  We'd appreciate your prayers for a speedy processing!

 

Home Study is APPROVED at Last!

We worked like crazy and our homestudy was finished in a little under six weeks.  It was a long two weeks - to the day (that absolutely seemed like more) before our placement agency was finished requesting more information and approved the study.  Now what?

Because Abigail is "Special Focus" with a specific agency, that was the one we needed to work with for placement.  Since the placement agency is in Washington state,  a local agency completed the home study phase of the adoption.  Next week this local agency will send the notarized copies of our now approved home study to the placement agency in Washington.  At that point our file will be assigned to the China program and we'll receive a new case manager from that program.  It is his/her job to send our home study and I-800A (one of the first USCIS immigrations forms necessary for the adoption) and begin processing our dossier. 

According to China Adoption Online:

What Happens Next?

• Approximately 7-10 days after sending your USCIS Form I-800A and all supporting documents to the address listed above, you will receive a Notice of Receipt from the lockbox in Texas. This letter will simply state that your application was received! It will list the date it arrived at the lockbox as well as your case number. You do not need to do anything with this. File it for your records.
• After that, your application will be forward to the National Benefits Center (NBC) where all I-800A application are reviewed and approved!!
• Several weeks after that, you will receive your biometric (fingerprint) appointments from USCIS, one for each member of your household over age 18. These letters will tell you where to go for your fingerprints, what time to be there, and what to bring with you.
• Once you've been fingerprinted at your local USCIS office, an officer will be assigned to your case. He or she will review your homestudy and your fingerprints, and if all are acceptable will then issue approval to you!!!
• If there are pieces missing in your home study, your officer will mail a Request for More Evidence (RFE) to you. The letter will state what needs to be added to your homestudy in order for you to be approved. Notify your social worker of this immediately, and he/she should quickly update your homestudy according to the requirements and then send a copy to you for forwarding back to USCIS.
• Once your Form I-800A approval has been received by you in the mail, then you can notarize, state certify, and authenticate it for your dossier.

So.... we aren't close to traveling by any stretch of the imagination, but we have reached another milestone step.  Waiting is hard.