We are OOT!

Just heard from our case manager that we are OOT - Out Of Translation!  Here is what she had to say: "Just a note to say that your case for both girls switched to In Process on the CCCWA’s website today. Our understanding is that means they have translated your dossier and are moving your case to the next department! Congratulations! This doesn’t necessarily mean we will receive your Letters Seeking Confirmation any faster as it’s more dependent on LID, but it is a good sign that things are moving along smoothly!"   YESSSSSSS!

On another front, we solved one problem last night.  Our girls are both diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, with their lower limbs affected more than their upper limbs.  They both have some issues with walking, with Jennifer being dependent on a walker at this time.  We have been wondering how to handle the probable long walks at the airports. 

I found some small carry-on luggage with wheels on sale on Amazon last night.  The "Trunki" is made by Melissa and Doug, and I've always been impressed with their products.  These are bags that the girls can sit on, then either scoot themselves around as if they were on a riding toy, or be pulled with the attached webbing.  We ordered little saddlebags for them also which will not only pad the "seat" a little more, but gives storage pockets for their crayons and small toys.  What a great find!  Now let's hope they don't have any balance problems.  (smile)

It is official!  December seventh is the date when our dossier was logged into China's adoption system.  Now we wait for our OOT which will mean our files are Out Of Translation, and LOA - Letter of Acceptance.  Our case manager's best guess (based on current trends) is mid-February for our LOA.  Looks like we should be able to introduce ourselves (through photos) and send a Chinese New Year package to our girls!

Merry Christmas for me!

This post departs from the usual adoption post.  It's just a glimpse into my life, and the happy time I had today.  Don't worry though, the girls are never far from my thoughts as you will see by something I did later on in the day.

While I enjoy music a LOT, I'm not the type to go to many concerts.  I don't enjoy the crowds or attempting to see over the people in front of me - and they are usually standing up to further complicate things for this short gal.

There are, however, two artists who have been so instrumental in my spiritual journey that I'd make extreme efforts to see them. I'd sit in a freezing cold stadium or stand in the burning heat and be happy for the experience.  Sadly, the first one is someone whom I will never have the opportunity this side of heaven to see. Keith Green challenged me in so many ways, but he has passed on to the afterlife.  The other is Matthew Ward. 

I saw Matthew in concert with his sisters (in the group 2nd Chapter of Acts) when I was about fifteen.  Um....that is closer to four decades ago than I care to admit!  Their music was vitally important to me as a teen.  Matthew's music continued to minister to me as an adult.  His cd's "My Redeemer" and "Even Now" were so meaningful to me when I was going through a really difficult time in my life about a decade ago.  The songs spoke to me like nothing else could have at that time.

I was just asking Ruth this week, "Is Matthew Ward performing any more?"  You can imagine my surprise and delight last night when I "just happened" (love those stories!) to be going a few minutes down the road to the grocery store and I heard an ad on the radio.  It said that Matthew Ward would be in concert in Cincinnati on Sunday.  WHAT????  Seriously, I nearly wrecked Rachael's van!  I immediately called home and told them to get on the Internet and look this place up!  It gets better.  Not only was he giving a concert, it was FREE!  With our extremely tight budget these days, that was the perfect price!

We rushed across town after attending our church to get to the concert early, convinced it would be standing room only.  What we found was a small and intimate place, set up more like a theater/coffee house really.  We sat in the second row with a clear view - even for Tikvah!  There were seriously only about fifty people in attendance.  I'm not sure if Cincinnati wasn't aware of the concert or if they didn't realize the great treasure that was in our midst. It was a fantastic concert of his favorite Christmas carols.  I had such a wonderful time!  It was seriously the best Christmas present I could have been given - well unless our little princesses could have come home in time for it.

Tikvah (who has been listening to Matthew Ward all of her life) was tickled to get her own Christmas cd autographed, and get her picture taken with him. He had a little trouble with her name, so she had to spell it for him.  He was very sweet to her.

Matthew Ward and Tikvah

I talked with him a bit about his family.  He raised three girls and has grandsons now.  One of his daughters is expecting again, and he is hoping for a grand daughter this time - yeah, he admitted he is somewhat partial to girls.  Taking that cue, I pulled out a photo of Abigail and Jennifer, handed it to him and asked that he pray for them if he thought of it.  Yes, I actually did.


If you need a refresher on the history of Christian Contemporary Music check out Matthew's biography, or if you are familiar, you'll enjoy the stroll down memory lane!  Check out Matthew's stuff if you are not yet a fan.  His early music is quite rocky, you can sense growth and maturity in his more recent music, and he is just, plain GOOD!  If you are a fan, did you know all of his solo albums - even his old ones - are available on cd now?  Cool!

Perfect afternoon!  I feel so blessed today.  

Life Books

I am a long time believer in the importance of preserving family history through scrapbooking.  We have a huge bookshelf dedicated to our family scrapbooks.  All of our children have one, and there are multiple books that record the life of our family.

I feel that Jennifer and Abigail must each have a book when they arrive home so they can see that they are important to us.  Enter the LIFE BOOK.  Apparently these have been popular in the foster care and adoption movement since the 1970's.  It takes the scrapbook just a little bit further, in that it begins with a history that we were not a part of, so as to retrace (as much as possible) their past before coming to live with us.

Since 1999, the orphanages in China have been required to run a provincial newspaper advertisement for children that are found and brought to their orphanage. These are referred to as "Finding Ads," and are a part of the process of making the child "paper ready" for adoption.  These ads contain information about where and when the children were found and which orphanage is caring for them. Originally these were text-only ads, but most provinces now include photographs in their ads. These photographs are usually the earliest available pictures of the children.

Brian Stuy, a dad who himself has adopted children from China, has obtained the ads throughout the years and catalogs them for parents like us who are looking for answers for our children concerning their personal history.  I was able to get the finding ads for both Jennifer and Abigail through Research-China.  These ads were a great find as I now have an early baby photo of both girls as well as information as to how they came to be cared for at the orphanage!

I have been very pleasantly surprised at the amount of information and number of photos I have been able to collect for the life books.  I have them sorted and laid out by page, and am now collecting the scrapbook papers, stickers, etc. to do it up pretty.

I've also ordered a couple of books to give me ideas since these are a little different from the scrapbooks I would typically create. I'm using these as reference/idea books:

Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child by Beth O'Malley.  Description from Amazon: The lifebook process prepares you to talk about delicate subjects as well as adoption basics. Best of all, in the end, your child has an unique book that captures their often complicated life story. In this adoption classic, Beth ( who is both an adoptee and adoptive parent) guides you step-by-step and page-by-page just as if she were right there with you. It's all explained in full detail with a light touch of humor.

Would you rather see how someone else completed an entire lifebook before you get started? That's covered, too, with three full-length examples in the back section which include: Domestic/Infant , Foster-Adopt , and International.



 
and

  Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginnings  by Cindy Probst  Amazon's description " easy-to-read workbook for international adoptive parents and waiting parents who wish to document their children's early lives for them, in the form of a lifebook. Through exercises and text, readers become more comfortable telling children the truth about their beginnings while emphasizing their strengths and resilience. Adoption specialist Cindy Probst guides parents through such topics as talking with children about their birth parents and orphanage or foster care experience, answering "why was I adopted?" questions, and using empowering adoption language. 'Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginnings'is an invaluable resource for helping children feel good about who they are."

I purchased the three-ring binder type of scrapbooks that will allow for easily inserting extra pages as I come upon new discoveries.  I'm  looking forward to getting things glued down! 

We have DTC!!!

Yay! The agency called to tell me those words I've waited for nearly five months to hear, our dossier is on its way to China!  This is a big step!  A week or two after our dossier arrives in China, it will be logged into the CCCWA. (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption)  The day our paperwork is logged into the system is when we acquire our next set of acronyms, known as LID meaning Log In Date.

We will then begin waiting for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance).   This is our official approval  to adopt our girls.  It can take anywhere from 1-5 months, with 52 days being the average.  This is also the magic date that triggers being allowed by our agency to send care packages to the girls at the orphanage, and finally being allowed to put photos of them on our blog.

Some have asked, "What all is in the dossier, anyway?"  Well... if you really want to know, here is a list of what we needed to include:

Birth Certificates for Ethan and me.  His was complicated since he was born out of country to missionary parents.  These had to be certified copies which then had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.

Marriage Certificate, a certified copy - notarized, verified and authenticated.

Financial Statement with notarized signatures then verified and authenticated.

General Physical Examination forms.  Our physician had to complete the form, sign it, and have it notarized, then it was verified and authenticated.

Police Clearance Reports for Ethan and me.  This one had to be completed by our local sheriff department after doing a criminal history check.  Of course it too had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.

Letter of Employment for both of us. This is interesting because they want the employee to spell out "prospect of continuous employment" which in today's economy is tricky, huh?  I had to type a statement as to why I am NOT employed, and that I basically mooch off my husband!  LOL!  And...you guessed it  notarized, verified and authenticated.

I-797C Notice of Action: Approval Notice.  This is what we received back after being fingerprinted for immigrations and asking for approval to adopt foreign children on the I800-A.  Of course it was  notarized, verified and authenticated.

Adoption Application Letter (with several required points), notarized, verified and authenticated.

A copy of our Homestudy - it ended up being a summary of 15 pages.  (The list of requirements for completing the homestudy was even LONGER than this list!  It was the one that reduced me to tears reading it last summer.)  Again,  notarized, verified and authenticated.

Homestudy Agency form

Copies of Passports

Additional copies of passport photos

Six photos of our home and family

Whew!  As I looked at that list, and the list of things we submitted for our homestudy, I remembered those days, just a few months ago, when the paperchase dominated my days.  Let's hope now that we are on the waiting end that it is a little bit easier.  There are still a few key, REALLY important documents to file as we near travel, but the bulk of our paperchase is done.

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at the home of one of our daughters in the Indianapolis area.  Most of our "kids" were able to come, and all of the grandchildren.  Add in Ethan's mom and a nephew with his wife, and it was a house full!  It was great to be together, if even for just a few hours.

I will admit to holidays being just a little "off" for me right now.  Don't get me wrong, I am engaged and enjoying the here and now with my family, but my thoughts are never far from our two little girls who live a half a world away.  As we celebrate our traditions, and as we go about our normal, every day lives I wonder what they are doing and experiencing. How strange will our life here seem to them?   Next Thanksgiving we will make room for a couple more little princesses at the kids' table.  I can't wait to share our fun times with them!

Princess Dormitory!

We are working on transforming the big bedroom into a dormitory for three princesses!

 Of course, a princess must have a canopy bed.  Let me tell you that three canopies in one room, and all in a row is a LOT of bed AND a LOT of curtain! It is pretty adorable though!

 I cannot wait until the other two little princesses are home!