The Wild Ride Continues

I just wanted to share a quick update on our progress. We got through two of the three steps we were hoping to complete this week. Our Immigration paperwork (a.k.a. Article 5) has been delivered to the CCCWA (the Ch*nese government's adoption department). Now are officially waiting on Travel Approval - just one last piece of paper!

We are still hoping to travel next week for several reasons, the biggest one being Li'l Bean's need to get home for medical care. We found some amazing prices on flights Tuesday morning - they were the cheapest I've seen them for our dates in the past few months of looking - so we went ahead and booked tickets for next week! We should be on a plane to Ch*na next Thursday at this time. AAAAHHHHH!!!

I made Li'l Bean's first appointment with her cardiologist yesterday. We were able to get into our first choice doctor (the Amazing Dr. S) the day after we get home.  Her doctor is actually only on call that week, but he agreed to come in to see Bean. I'm so thankful!

Please keep us in your prayers as we get ready to go. Packing for Ch*na while planning for our kids to be home with Grandma and wondering when that last piece of paperwork will show up is just a bit much for my li'l planner heart. In the midst of the crazy, I am incredibly grateful for the provision I've witnessed, the doors that have opened, and the friends and family who have surrounded us with love and support.

Let the wild ride continue!

Crazy, Crazy News!

I'm sorry I've been MIA the past couple of weeks. Our life has suddenly turned into a whirlwind. Remember the graphic I shared in my last post? This one?

When I shared this picture on April 7, we were on Step #7: waiting not-so-patiently for Ch*na to issue our LOA. In the last two-and-a-half weeks, we have zoomed through Steps 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. If all goes well, Step #13 should happen tonight while we sleep. That means we should be waiting for approval to travel this week. We are hoping and praying that we can be on a plane May 7.

I can't tell you how ecstatic we are that we will be meeting our Li'l Bean in May!!! There's a good chance she will spend her second birthday at home. But, all this crazy flying along has meant the last couple of weeks have been a blur of paperwork, hours on hold with government offices, shopping, packing, and laying awake at night thinking about whether to pack footie pjs or nightgowns for Bean. (Can you believe Jeremy stays up thinking about crazy things like that?!?)

Although I have struggled to come up for air in the past two weeks, I cannot adequately express the deep sense of support and encouragement that has surrounded us during this time. It truly feels like a giant team of our family and friends is sharing in our excitement as they partner with us - through prayer, through finances, through encouraging words - to bring Bean home. We have friends who have watched our kids at a moment's notice, friends who have generously given of their finances, friends who have shared their Gymbucks to make sure Bean has the cutest wardrobe ever. I can't find the words to thank any of them enough. 

In the middle of the whirlwind that has been April, we were able to complete our Both Hands Project. We had 51 people show up to give their Saturday serving Ms. Sherrill. We were blown away (and I think she was, too)! The video below was put together by one of our team members. He did an awesome job recapping the project in just three minutes. Please take a minute to check it out if you haven't already.

As of yesterday, our friends, family, and complete strangers have donated over $10,000 to our adoption through our Both Hands account. I don't even know what to say after typing that. We are humbled, overwhelmed, and so incredibly thankful. When we accepted Li'l Bean's file at the end of December, we committed to moving as quickly as possible to get her home. Now, less than four months later, we look back amazed at the way God has provided. Many, many of you have been part of that provision. Thank you. Thanks for being part of Bean's story. Thanks for loving our family in a big way.

So...what's coming next? We need to get past Steps 13, 14, and 15 before we can book our trip. We're hoping all three of those things happen this week. There's a holiday in Ch*na on Friday, so we're praying they decide to get all the files off their desks before their long weekend, and they issue our Travel Approval later this week. If that happens, we're planning to travel May 7-20. We'll be home just in time for Bean's birthday.

That's our crazy news. We're over-the-moon excited, amazed, and only slightly freaked out at the way things have come together. I will keep you updated on our progress this week, but right now I need to go pack some baby girl jammies.

Where We Go From Here

I've had several people ask about the next steps in our adoption process, so I'm going to try to explain where we're headed. The part we've done so far is pretty easy to understand: collect lots and lots of papers, get lots and lots of stamps/seals on them, and send them to Ch*na. What's coming next is a little more complicated. (And I currently have a nasty cold that has turned my brain into complete mush. So, be warned, there is a fair chance this post might be totally incomprehensible.)

Some really talented adoptive parent created a graphic to help explain the process of adopting from Ch*na. I'm a big fan of visual aids. so here you go...

Steps #1-7 are what we've done so far: collecting lots of papers (home study, immigration approval, etc.) and sending them to Ch*na. We did Step #7 (sending our dossier to Ch*na a.k.a. DTC) on February 27. Step #8 is usually the longest (or one of the longest) steps in the whole adoption process. Now that our big stack of papers is in Ch*na, it's up to them to translate everything, review it, and issue our official approval to adopt (called an LOA/Letter of Acceptance or LSC/Letter Seeking Confirmation).

Thankfully, our agency is still working hard to keep our case moving along.  They actually sent someone into the adoption office in B*ijing last night to check on our paperwork. I'm hoping this means we'll see some movement soon! 

After we receive our LOA, the steps get really tricky. If you want the short version, we're basically waiting on U.S Immigration to process our case and send Bean's visa to Ch*na. At that point, Ch*na can issue our approval to travel. This process usually takes about 8 weeks, but an expedite can be done in as little as 10 days (although 2-4 weeks is more likely). If you're up for the long and detailed explanation, keep reading.

We'll send a copy of our LOA to U.S. Immigration (Step #9) where it will be processed by the amazing Officer B. Because our case is considered a medical expedite we'll be able to email the LOA to Officer B, and our approval should only take a day or two. Some of you are probably thinking, approval from U.S. Immigration? I thought you already did that step? And, you're absolutely right. We received our initial immigration approval in February. That step approved us to adopt any child from Ch*na who fits the parameters of our home study in regard to age, gender, needs, etc. This step approves us specifically to adopt Li'l Bean.

Once we're approved, our file will go to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire. They will send Li'l Bean's visa to the U.S. Embassy in Gu*ngzhou, Ch*na where we will pick it up during our trip (Step #10). They will also "cable" us (Step #11). This means we'll receive a PDF via email that says they have processed our case. We'll email this PDF to our adoption agency (Step #12). (Notice I just knocked off three steps in about 24 hours. Woot!)

Step #13 is completely outside the comprehension of my stuffed-up brain. It's called Article 5 Drop-Off and Pick-Up. It involves a representative of our agency dropping off a packet of documents to the U.S. Embassy in Gu*ngzhou. Usually this packet is picked up ten business days later, but expedites are often processed in 24 hours. After our Article 5 Pick-Up, our agency representative delivers our packet of documents to the Chin*se adoption entity in B*ijing (Step #14).

After all this emailing and cabling and dropping off and picking up, the ball is back in Ch*na's court. The next step (#15) happens when the Ch*nese adoption entity issues our Travel Approval (TA). This usually happens 1-2 weeks after Article 5 Pick-Up. Once our agency has our TA, they can schedule our Consulate Appointment (CA). This is our final appointment during our trip to Ch*na. Once it is planned, we can work backward to figure out the dates for our trip and book our plane tickets and hotels (Step #16). WOOHOO!

So...we're just a few simple nine crazy steps away from hopping on a jet plane. We're still planning to travel sometime in June, although we could conceivably go in May if our LOA comes soon. In the meantime, we're working hard on our Both Hands project, trying to convince our kids to go back to school after spring break, and nesting like crazy.

In other  - much less complicated - news, we found out yesterday that we were given another grant toward our adoption! :)