Look what we got today! A box with 250 Apparent Project bracelets! If it is possible, they are even nicer than the ones we got last fall. If you missed out on those, or if you'd like another to update your spring wardrobe, I've begun listing them with photos. They are $10 if they need to be mailed, $8 if you are local. Half goes to Haiti and half will help to get us on that plane to go get our daughters in China. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151458785268190.1073741826.537343189&type=3

 If you aren't familiar with the Apparent Project, you can find out more about them here http://apparentproject.org/

Our last step with immigrations

At last!  We have received the pdf files from the National Visa Center and forwarded them to our agency.  When they get in on Monday (about midnight in China) they will forward them to their representative to hand carry to the American Consulate there, hopefully to arrive on Tuesday. 

They tell me it is "always" two weeks to the day that they are to pick up our Article 5.  We've heard of others in our online communities taking three or four weeks, and our documents have certainly not been moving at the customary pace lately.  We're really hoping that it is an uncomplicated process for this last step with immigrations.

Once our Article 5 is picked up our approval documents are all sent to the CCCWA who is in charge of the orphans.  They should issue an invitation to travel 2-3 weeks later.  Even though that will be during the big trade fair, we are still hoping to go get our princesses in late April.

On a Roller Coaster

It has been a roller coaster kind of week.  On Monday we received our written provisional approval on the I800s and were so excited to finally have that step done after four weeks!  This high point came crashing down about mid-week as we discovered that the National Visa Center didn't have any record of us or our approvals.  They seemed to be a bit concerned about that.  It has been an up and down ride throughout the day today, and to make a long story short, the NVC now has our information entered in their computer, and we are hoping for a speedy delivery of that all important pdf for our agency to email to their representative in China.  My excitement is somewhat subdued because our agency is closed all day on Friday for staff training.  It can't possibly get to their representative until Tuesday, no matter how quickly it comes tomorrow.  I have been told this immigrations step of the adoption process works "like clockwork" so apparently our clock has a low battery!

Some other high spots were getting new pictures of the little princesses -- this time with Jennifer's birthday cake, and the arrival of our passports with our visas to China! 

Happy Birthday to Jennifer!

Today is Jennifer's seventh birthday.  When Abigail had her birthday back in October, (click to see the post Abigail is six) we had to make due with having a cake at home in her absence.  This time, we are far enough along in the process that we were allowed to send a cake (from a bakery in her country) to the orphanage!

The cake pictured is the actual birthday cake!  I'm told (by someone who is now back in the states but used to work at the orphanage) that it is a pretty typical cake for China.  It is "sponge cake-like...very sweet...they don't use butter like we do, so theirs aren't as "rich" but super sweet."  She confirmed that it is a peach slice on the top in the middle not an egg yolk.  (After purchasing "moon cakes" last fall, we wondered!)  The only thing she found surprising was the absence of cherry tomatoes.  Apparently it is common to find them along with the other fruits.

We don't know if Jennifer has ever had her own birthday cake before.  It is rather doubtful.  We received photos of her blowing out tall, skinny candles and grinning her sweet little head off.  The cake was rather pricey, but that smile was PRICELESS!  So happy we were able to do this for her.  It may be her first birthday cake, but this is her LAST BIRTHDAY without a family!

Never a dull moment...

If you have been following our story, you know because of snowstorms in Kansas City, we waited an entire month for our I800 to be approved.  We were so happy to get the written copy of the provisional approvals in the mail on Monday.  At our agency's instruction, we then began a daily routine of emailing the National Visa Center.  Once the information is entered in their computer they "cable" it (in other words send it electronically) to China.  Then they issue a letter to us saying they have done so. One can shave a couple of weeks off the wait time by requesting a pdf in an email instead of waiting on this paper copy to arrive.

I called the NVC this afternoon after three days of receiving no response whatsoever to my emails.  It was disturbing to have them attempt to look up the girls' numbers, Ethan's information, even MY information in case someone had entered it wrong.  Nothing.  They have no record of us at all.  Since it has been an entire week from our approval, they seemed concerned and instructed me to call the Hague office to get tracking numbers. You may remember my month of frustration in calling and emailing that office.  Now as then, I left a voice mail and an email to our officer.  No response today at all.  Sigh. 

Our agency is involved this time and attempting to get the tracking numbers for us.  They assure us that if the NVC doesn't get our forms within a few days they will request that duplicates be overnight express mailed to the NVC. 

I guess the lesson here is to always expect the unexpected.  Once again, the "predictable" part of this process has been anything but predictable! 

They are here!

Two beautiful documents arrived in our mailbox today!

After being held up with weather delays, these are the long-awaited results of filing our USCIS I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative.  We have the written evidence of our provisional approvals for both girls.  That is the news.  The rest of this post is the "what happens next" for those who are interested in details.

According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website --

Purpose of Form :

To determine the child's eligibility for classification as a Convention adoptee. The petition is filed by the U.S. Citizen prospective adoptive parent to finalize the immigration process of a child who habitually resides in a Convention country.

Now what?  Since the I-800 Provisional Approval has been issued, NBC has forwarded this information to the National Visa Center (NVC) who, in turn, will cable the approval information to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou.   Once they have entered the information into their computer system they will send us a letter.

 In the meantime, our agency has sent several documents to their representative in Guangzhou.

   

When we receive our letter from the NVC,  we will send a copy to our agency.  The agency then forwards this document to the representative in Guangzhou, who will print the letter and hand-carry it and the aforementioned supporting documents to the U.S. Consulate. 

The U.S. Consulate will review our DS-230, I-800 provisional approval and supporting documents. If everything is in order, they will sign the second version of the Letter of Seeking Confirmation and issue the Article 5 Letter. 

The agency's representative will pick up our family’s Article 5 from the U.S. Consulate around ten business days (two weeks) from the day our documents are submitted and express mail them to the CCCWA in Beijing. The CCCWA will issue the Final Notice of Traveling to China for Adoption (Travel Notice) around 2-5 weeks later!

That is it!  We are waiting on our Article 5 letter and then TRAVEL APPROVAL!  We are still holding out hope for traveling in late April.

Metamorphosis

met·a·mor·pho·sis:  A marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function.

I have been pondering Psalm 37:4 the past few weeks.  It is a popular verse that most of us have memorized.  "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."   The adoption process has made this verse take on a whole different dimension for me.  I've found that my delight in the Lord doesn't magically make everything I desire come to pass, but rather it changes the desires of my heart.

There has been a metamorphosis of sorts going on in me over these past eight months.  At times it happened so gradually that I didn't realize it was even happening. Who can possibly explain how I can love these two little girls so much when I've never even met them?  Adoption is a strange phenomenon.