So in my preparing and planning, sometimes it feels so real that we are going to China. And sometimes, I just can't wrap my head around it. But in less than two weeks, we ARE boarding a plane and heading to China to meet and bring home our little girl.
The plane tickets with our names at the top - and her Chinese name on an e-ticket. That was a moment of REAL. Preparing the room - buying the bed, clothes (only a few), and little things - sometimes it feels like it's far off in the future. Because it has been far off in the future for so long. But now the "later" is NOW - it's REAL. And it's getting more and more real every hour.
So what is our trip going to be like? Right now we have a general itinerary - and we will get a more specific one before we leave.
We are flying out to arrive in China on a Saturday night. Then the next day, we go to Wal-Mart. To get things for us, for her and for the orphanage. Yes. Wal-Mart. We have a wonderful travel team and facilitator/translator that will be with us most of the time! We will be met at the airport and she will tell us when and where and what to do!
Then, on Monday, we get our little girl! We do not go to the orphanage to get her; she is brought to the provincial city where all of the legal stuff/paperwork is done. When we first meet her, we have about 10 minutes to ask her nanny any questions that we have about her schedule and what we need to know to take care of her (again, our translator will be with us). Then she is ours. And with us for the rest of the trip.
After the "Gotcha" moment (our social worker has told us it's quite anti-climactic after everything that we have been through to get here), we go to Wal-Mart. Again. Here we will get some food & drinks and some clothes for her. And since she is older, she can pick out some of these things. We are only taking a few items of clothing with us, because we only have an idea of how big (or actually small) she is. So this is when we will get the things she needs. Then the next few days have a little paperwork mixed in with some shopping and some sightseeing. All with our little girl. This will be a very important bonding time. Me and my little one!! We have been told that mommy needs to hold and bond with her most importantly - since daddy will be going back to work. This will give her security and affirm that we are her forever family.
We are going to take a trip to her orphanage - taking her with us. This will be a very long day. A very hard day. We pray that she will understand that she is staying with us. This can be very confusing to the child because this is where they just came from - so why are they going back. But it is important for us, as her parents, to see where she lived, who cared for her, and where she was found, so that we can tell her when she is older. So that we can have an answer for her questions. This visit will probably be a two-day event for us, since the orphanage that we are going to is about 5 hours from where we will be staying.
We are staying in the same place for the two weeks we are in China, since our little girl's provincial city (where her orphanage is) is the same as the US Consulate city (Guangzhou). Guangzhou is in southern China, so it will still be quite warm when we go - think Miami. They have about the same weather. But I really don't know what to expect. As is true about everything with this trip.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Preparing
Preparing for a new child. Preparing for an overseas trip. Preparing to take this child this trip!
There is so much to prepare and plan. And if you know me, you know that I like to plan, make lists, organize, and be prepared. But there is so much that is unknown. For example, I don't even know what size clothes she wears. So I am just having to guess the best I can with the information that I have.
So in preparing... What have I been doing? When we got our pre-approval, it still didn't really seem real. That we were GOING to China. And I made some lists in my head about doing "this and that" when we got our LOA (Letter of Acceptance), kind of thinking in my head that it was farther out. And then the LOA came. Unexpectedly soon. So then I made all my lists - started working on them. Things that I wanted to do in the house, that had been waiting for "later" - and now later was upon us. Things not even really related to kids at all. And then there was all the kid stuff, prepare the room, think about getting stuff for an older child. And we kind of got a slow start on these lists, thinking, well...we don't even have our travel approval. And then all of the sudden... We got our TA (Travel Approval) AND our travel dates. Then things kicked into high gear. We went and registered (a baby registry - another one that confused the sweet lady at the registration desk) - to make a working list of things that we need and want to get for her. And a friend painted the previously dark green room a beautiful, soft PINK. We started buying and ordering things that we needed. And then there are all the little things. There are more little things that are needed for a child - and for a long trip - than I thought there would be. There is also the preparation for leaving our little one here with family. She will not be making the trip with us. It will very hard to leave her, but I think best for everyone in the end. She will have lots of fun with her aunt! So there is also the preparation for leaving her here. My mind is mush and going a million miles an hour. I'm just a contradiction!
We are slowing - and quickly - building a room for our little girl. Thankfully our social worker handles all the paperwork and legal stuff. All we had to do was get our visas and book our plane tickets. Both which have been done - and even with those, our wonderful social worker told us when to do them! And the travel team even books our hotels, transportation and activities. All we have to do now is just get excited!
Somehow I'm successfully getting those projects done that I couldn't seem to get done at the beginning of the year. (Those that were my goals for this year...) I've always been a "deadline" girl. I work faster and more efficiently if I have a time frame. I wish I could be more efficient when I have lots of time, but sadly I just don't. The more time I have, the more time I waste. That's probably why I haven't blogged in a while. I think I have all this time, then I get distracted and well, the baby's up from her nap. Less time - more blogging?
Most recently, we bought a minivan. I never thought that I'd be a minivan owner. Maybe one reason, because I really didn't think that I'd have two kids which I would need to put in a minivan. I always wanted two kids, but with all of the heartache that we went through (early on) I never imagined that I'd have TWO blessings. And another reason... I loved my Jeep. But there was no way that we could fit two kids in there. We were barely fitting the one car seat. And how I could drive something so big? But now, only having it a few days - and even locking my keys in it the first morning (that's another story...) - I love driving it! I can even say it's fun to drive! And we have plenty of room now!
There is so much to prepare and plan. And if you know me, you know that I like to plan, make lists, organize, and be prepared. But there is so much that is unknown. For example, I don't even know what size clothes she wears. So I am just having to guess the best I can with the information that I have.
So in preparing... What have I been doing? When we got our pre-approval, it still didn't really seem real. That we were GOING to China. And I made some lists in my head about doing "this and that" when we got our LOA (Letter of Acceptance), kind of thinking in my head that it was farther out. And then the LOA came. Unexpectedly soon. So then I made all my lists - started working on them. Things that I wanted to do in the house, that had been waiting for "later" - and now later was upon us. Things not even really related to kids at all. And then there was all the kid stuff, prepare the room, think about getting stuff for an older child. And we kind of got a slow start on these lists, thinking, well...we don't even have our travel approval. And then all of the sudden... We got our TA (Travel Approval) AND our travel dates. Then things kicked into high gear. We went and registered (a baby registry - another one that confused the sweet lady at the registration desk) - to make a working list of things that we need and want to get for her. And a friend painted the previously dark green room a beautiful, soft PINK. We started buying and ordering things that we needed. And then there are all the little things. There are more little things that are needed for a child - and for a long trip - than I thought there would be. There is also the preparation for leaving our little one here with family. She will not be making the trip with us. It will very hard to leave her, but I think best for everyone in the end. She will have lots of fun with her aunt! So there is also the preparation for leaving her here. My mind is mush and going a million miles an hour. I'm just a contradiction!
We are slowing - and quickly - building a room for our little girl. Thankfully our social worker handles all the paperwork and legal stuff. All we had to do was get our visas and book our plane tickets. Both which have been done - and even with those, our wonderful social worker told us when to do them! And the travel team even books our hotels, transportation and activities. All we have to do now is just get excited!
Somehow I'm successfully getting those projects done that I couldn't seem to get done at the beginning of the year. (Those that were my goals for this year...) I've always been a "deadline" girl. I work faster and more efficiently if I have a time frame. I wish I could be more efficient when I have lots of time, but sadly I just don't. The more time I have, the more time I waste. That's probably why I haven't blogged in a while. I think I have all this time, then I get distracted and well, the baby's up from her nap. Less time - more blogging?
Most recently, we bought a minivan. I never thought that I'd be a minivan owner. Maybe one reason, because I really didn't think that I'd have two kids which I would need to put in a minivan. I always wanted two kids, but with all of the heartache that we went through (early on) I never imagined that I'd have TWO blessings. And another reason... I loved my Jeep. But there was no way that we could fit two kids in there. We were barely fitting the one car seat. And how I could drive something so big? But now, only having it a few days - and even locking my keys in it the first morning (that's another story...) - I love driving it! I can even say it's fun to drive! And we have plenty of room now!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Adoption: LAST part of the China process!
We have waited a little over 3 years to get to this point. It almost seems longer than that - in the waiting, the infertility, the sorrows and the joys! Our log in date - when China put our information on their "list" - waiting an ever-increasing wait - was way back in the summer of 2008. Little did we know, that our little girl was actually BORN at the end of that summer. We just had to wait for her.
While we waited, the healthy referral for a China adoption went from 22 months (when we started) to 2 and a half years, to 3 years, to 4 & a half years. Right now, it's at about 5 & a half years. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. The children are still being adopted - in European countries - and even within China. The United States is one of the few countries that will adopt special needs and older children. So China focuses those children to the US.
While we waited, knowing that we were still called to an adoption in China, we had the opportunity and blessing to adopt domestically. It's amazing how God worked the frustration, tears and heartbreak of waiting into building our family so perfectly. TWO beautiful children will in our family by the end of November. It's been amazing to see just how perfectly God has planned this for us. For our family.
So we knew that we were still adopting from China. We just didn't know how. Our adoption agency has started working with a particular orphanage, including medical mission trips, to get some of the children there adopted. Our social worker saw one of the little girls there and was led to send us the file. Even though she was almost 3 years old. And when we saw her picture - and read her file - we pretty much knew. We said -YES - in July - and started on the paperwork. And just a couple of weeks later we got our pre-approval. Normally - or so I've heard and read - these next steps take about two to three months. But we got our Letter of Acceptance in less than a month. And then less than a month after that, we got our Travel Approval AND our travel DATES. In a little over three month from when we first saw her picture, we are going to be traveling to get here!
We apparently like doing adoptions FAST. We wait a long time, but then when it gets going...it goes FAST! We are traveling the first two weeks of November to get our little girl!
While we waited, the healthy referral for a China adoption went from 22 months (when we started) to 2 and a half years, to 3 years, to 4 & a half years. Right now, it's at about 5 & a half years. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. The children are still being adopted - in European countries - and even within China. The United States is one of the few countries that will adopt special needs and older children. So China focuses those children to the US.
While we waited, knowing that we were still called to an adoption in China, we had the opportunity and blessing to adopt domestically. It's amazing how God worked the frustration, tears and heartbreak of waiting into building our family so perfectly. TWO beautiful children will in our family by the end of November. It's been amazing to see just how perfectly God has planned this for us. For our family.
So we knew that we were still adopting from China. We just didn't know how. Our adoption agency has started working with a particular orphanage, including medical mission trips, to get some of the children there adopted. Our social worker saw one of the little girls there and was led to send us the file. Even though she was almost 3 years old. And when we saw her picture - and read her file - we pretty much knew. We said -YES - in July - and started on the paperwork. And just a couple of weeks later we got our pre-approval. Normally - or so I've heard and read - these next steps take about two to three months. But we got our Letter of Acceptance in less than a month. And then less than a month after that, we got our Travel Approval AND our travel DATES. In a little over three month from when we first saw her picture, we are going to be traveling to get here!
We apparently like doing adoptions FAST. We wait a long time, but then when it gets going...it goes FAST! We are traveling the first two weeks of November to get our little girl!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
China bound...
The past few months have been pretty crazy around here. Chasing after a one year old - that got REALLY fast at crawling - and has just started to walk. And preparing for a major change in our family.
We are adopting a little girl from China. She turned three in August, so our baby girl will be getting a BIG sister! We are leaving in just over two weeks - November 4th. And will return about 2 weeks later. This adoption - many years in process - is actually going very fast. Much faster than I thought it would go. I can't believe that by Thanksgiving we will be a family of FOUR.
Over the next few days, I'm going to post more - about the adoption prep work and how she came to us - about what we are doing now, in preparation - and what our trip and travels will be like. I hope that reading this you will share in our excitement and being continually praying for us. God is amazing and has done and will do amazing things. We have seen it - and will continue to see it!!
We are blessed!
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