Working Weekend...

Daddy of the princesses spent much of the weekend working on the big surprise.   There were multiple scavenger trips to the garage and the home improvement store.  Big sister Tikvah assisted at times.

There is still quite a bit to do, but it is starting to look like what we intended.

Funny the things that adoptive parents find to do while we wait for LOA.

Three Hints

Yesterday I showed you a special project in the works for the two princesses.

Today I will give you three hints as to what this is.  I went to Goodwill again last night.  Here are some very vital parts of our project:

1. a dowel rod
2. a stainless steel bowl
3. two knobs taken off pan lids

I promise, this is going to be so cool!

Playroom for Princesses

Living Room

 As I told you in my last post,  we've been rearranging the house and are transforming our living room into a play room.  I had really hoped to be finished by now, but alas, my timetable seems to be too ambitious again.  We have made a lot of progress, however.  Here is a glimpse at what is happening at our house.

Play/School Room

 The living room furniture has made way for a table (IKEA clearance, folks!) and my husband made it shorter by cutting the legs down several inches.  We can't have the little princesses struggling to reach the table!  Four smaller chairs (red!) are in the works.

The large, red shelving unit moved up from the basement and now holds a wealth of toys and books. Tikvah's desk has moved down from her room, and fits nicely in the corner on the left.   My favorite chair is to the right of the shelves, so we are all set for playing and doing school work in this room.

  
And do you see that thing on the right?   

On Saturday, this "mystery item" was an U-G-L-Y entertainment center purchased at Goodwill - on clearance, of course.  It was fake oak with glass doors.  We removed the doors, and you can see that it has become red, black and white....why?  A friend gave me a GOOD IDEA!  Stay tuned.  You won't believe it!

Got an update...sort of

We aren't allowed to request updates from the orphanage very often,  so when we do I am soooo anxious to get them!  I was especially excited about this one because it was the first we've been able to request additional information about Jennifer.  We have so little information about her (literally half of what we have about Abigail) and very few photos.  I have been waiting an entire month for the orphanage to respond to this request.

Sadly there were NO photos of either of our girls, and the questions I asked about each of them got scrambled in translation or something.  The reports obviously mixed the two of them up with one another in places, the questions weren't really addressed, AND there are just two short paragraphs about each girl.  Yup, I'm whining a bit.  This momma's heart longs for news about them!

About the only new thing they told me about Jennifer is that her favorite color is red!  Not sure if that is accurate or not, but if it is she is for sure going to like her new home!  If you have ever been here you know how much I love the color red; and it is all over the house.

This week I have been working on transforming the living room into a play room for the little princesses.  Since neither of them are very steady on their feet, I just couldn't stand the thought of them having to go to the basement play room or upstairs to their bedroom to play.  I have recently papered this room with some bold, red flower print so I think it will be a perfect, cheerful place to play.  It is also on the main floor so I can keep them very close to me throughout the day.

This rearranging the of house is a slow process for sure, and it looks as though we have just moved in at this point.  We are making progress however, so I'm hopeful to have a before and after photo to share here by the end of this week.   My goal is to have all the rearranging and setting up done by the time we receive our LOA.  We can send them photos at that time, and I want the photos that we send to them to accurately reflect what they will see when they arrive home.

Progress is Good!

I began this blog nearly six months ago, primarily because "someone" in my life likes to know the details - and lots of them!  This person shall remain nameless, but my mother-in-law knows who she is.  (Love you, Mom!) So, this post is full of those details.  They may not interest most people, but I know she will enjoy them. Perhaps it will also serve to take a bit of the mystery out of the process for someone else.

We've had nearly two months of just waiting around for our paperwork to make its way through the system.  Since our initial immigration forms in November, there has been very little paperwork.  Hmmm.....it wasn't over yet!

As we get closer to the long awaited LOA (Letter of Acceptance) things are changing.  Suddenly our agency uses Priority mail to get papers to us.  They indicate we should process them quickly so they are back at the office and ready to go when our LOA arrives.  I like that - QUICKLY!  There has been very little "quickly" in this whole process.

Ethan and I spent roughly six hours last night on this latest paperwork.  We began with the USCIS Forms I800 (not to be confused with Form I-800A that we filed earlier) and I-864W. Form I-800 is the Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative. It's to get approval from USCIS to adopt the children we are matched with specifically. 

I-864W goes to USCIS along with the I-800 application. According to China Adoption Online  "When a person is immigrating to the United States, USCIS wants to make sure that the new immigrant won't be a burden on the US welfare system. To do this, they require new immigrants to be 'sponsored' by an existing US citizen who will provide for them financially until the new immigrant can become a US citizen.

"However, with adoptive children, the situation is a bit different. They don't need to be sponsored they will be automatic US citizens. So Form I-864W is just saying that the immigrant that will be coming to the US is an adopted child under 18 and thus doesn't need a sponsor."

These forms will be mailed by our agency the same day that our Letter Seeking Confirmation (LSC), or Letter of Acceptance (LOA) arrives at the agency. Most people call it the LOA.


Again, according to China Adoption Online current wait times for LOA depend on a lot of things!!

• It depends somewhat upon your agency, although no one has ever been able to prove this for sure.
• It depends on whether you accepted your referral before or after you received your Log In Date (LID).
• It Depends on the time of year (whether there are holidays during your wait, or other CCCWA closures).
• It depends on whether or not the CCCWA requests more information from you after reviewing your dossier. Doesn't happen often, but once in awhile it does!

Currently, families are waiting anywhere from 30-70 days for LOA, with 50-60 days being probably the average.

Once the LOA comes and the immigration papers are sent, their current average approval time frame is around three weeks.  Funny how my life is currently dominated by the stats of the number of waiting days and weeks, and the current adoption acronyms connected with the process!

Along these same lines, we completed the "Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration" for both Abigail and Jennifer.  It is on this form that we specify the American names that they will be given to go along with their Chinese names that they are also keeping.


We also were required to sign and date each individual sheet of information we have received about the girls.  There were forty-nine papers for Abigail but only half that for Jennifer.  We aren't sure why Abigail has so much more documentation, though some of it is accounted for with updates we've received on her.  We have yet to get any additional information about Jennifer.  Hopefully we'll have our requested update soon with some new photos and some of our questions answered.

Tonight we need to have several forms notarized, one confirming what information we received for each girl, a form for each about their vaccinations, and the "Agreement for Referral Acceptance and Post-Adoption Services," which is a contract with our agency.  

So, there you have it.  This latest flurry of paperwork has to mean we are making progress, and progress is good!  I cannot wait to have my girls home!

Speechless...

Just a few days ago I was telling you how we'd gotten a rather large agency bill (sooner than expected) and how I knew God was going to be faithful to this call, to provide for this latest need.  And that it was going to have to be a "God thing."  Wow, I had no idea!

This past week we've had total strangers donate to our Reece's Rainbow Family Sponsorship Link.  While we get periodic updates on the donations, we are only given the names.  RR isn't permitted to give us contact information.   So Donna, Joseph, Jen and Morgan, I have no way to send you a thank you card, but if you happen to be reading this, please know that we are touched by your generosity.  We appreciate it so very much.

On New Year's Eve we did a call out on Facebook for the Puzzle Fundraiser.  We ended the night with an additional 58 pieces sponsored.  We were very thankful, but alas, still far short of the amount needed for this bill.

On New Year's Day, out of the blue a friend asked, "How much $ do you need to meet this next bill?"  The conversation ended with "We are sending a check tomorrow for (the entire amount) your need should be met. GOD. Is so good ALL the time. We love you for loving God's children."

Wow!  So totally unexpected. So far beyond anything I had even dared to ask God for!  He knew the need and moved on the hearts of His people.  Celeste and Paul, you took a load off our shoulders, and we are amazed, astonished, and in awe at the goodness of our God!  

So, instead of fundraising efforts for the next couple of weeks, we can concentrate on the contracts and immigration papers for our girls!  Thank you to everyone, whether it was sponsoring a $5 puzzle piece on up to taking on the remaining balance of the bill.  Your involvement is so appreciated.  I have no words. Thank you, on behalf of our sweet daughters, for your support.

Wow, here we go!

I got the biggest packet of information from our agency - ever!  Initially it was pretty intimidating since it was so huge.  I quickly came to the realization that it was actually only HALF the amount because there is one copy for us and one to return to the agency.

The next thing I noted was that MOST of the information was stuff that we already had read - like medical reports, developmental notes, photos, etc., that we just need to initial so they can prove we did, indeed, receive the information.

BUT, the stuff that we do need to attend to is really important!  And the immigration forms look pretty hard.  These are our OFFICIAL referral papers, our immigration and visa forms, and (gulp) a bill for our final agency fees, international processing fees, visa fees, post placement translation and transmittal fees, etc. etc. Yeah, it is big.  And no, we don't have it.

On Friday I shared on this blog how God has these things under control.  He has shown His faithfulness over and over through this process of adopting.  I'm drawing on those experiences big time now.  This bill is due in three weeks, and honestly, I have no idea where the funds will come from.  There is no time to receive grants before these are due.  It's going to have to be a "God thing" for sure. Our family is currently brainstorming ideas for raising funds, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, we have about 160 puzzle pieces left.  We'd love to get this thing finished and glued down.  If you'd like to sponsor a piece, (or several!) you may do so using the puzzle fundraising widget to the right and down the page a bit.  Pieces are sponsored at $5 each.  We plan to frame it in double glass so Abigail and Jennifer can see the the back too, with the names of those who helped to get them home in this way.

The end of the year is nearly here.  If you itemize your taxes and are contemplating a charitable donation, we'd be honored if you used the Reece's Rainbow donation button - Lanz Girls Grant.  All donations to their homecoming through this organization are tax deductible.

Thanks for your continued prayers for us.  We are really making progress and HOPE to have our girls home in 3-4 months!