Another Approval: I-800, check!

Every step is a reason to celebrate!  Every step brings us miles and miles closer to our daughter!  Our I-800 form, which is basically permission to immigrate Violet to the U.S. through adoption, was approved on Thurs after the average 2 week wait.  After waiting many many months for other things, you'd think 2 weeks would feel fast....but it felt painfully long.  Every day right now feels like an eternity.  It really reminds me of how I felt a couple of months before my wedding...thrilled to be marrying the man of my dreams, but so tortured by the distance between us (700 miles) that I just wanted the preparation to be DONE and the big day to BE HERE ALREADY!!  Eventually it came, and it was WONDERFUL!!  I cherished every moment!  It was definitely worth the wait!

Speaking of that "big day"... we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary at the end of this month!  Has it really been that long?!!  We still love each other like crazy.  :-)

Before this adoption began, Curt had done a lot of computer work on the side and had been saving up for us to go on a vacation. When our adoption was underway we kind of put that idea aside and never made plans. Thankfully, my best friend (and Maid of Honor) has given us a great excuse to take a trip...she is getting married on a mountain top in California, and asked me to be her Matron of Honor!  I have enjoyed her friendship across many miles and many years, and it's such a joy and honor to celebrate this day with her! 

On the same date as our own wedding 10 years ago, we will be camping at Manzanita Lake & hike to the peak of this beautiful mountain (Lassen) and witness the wedding vows of ♥ Matt & Danica ♥.  We couldn't be happier for them, and pray many blessings on them and their future together!

After this trip we come home to the month of October, which will be full of our final rounds of paperwork (and waiting) before we travel to China!!  There is a national holiday during the entire first week of Oct, so we will be waiting a little longer than expected for one of our documents.  But we *should* have final Travel Approval by the end of the month, and then we can buy our plane tickets!  It doesn't look like she will be home in time for her birthday, but there is still a chance we can spend her birthday with her in China, if we can travel in early-Nov.... it's more likely to be mid-Nov, or it could be nearer to the end possibly overlapping Thanksgiving.  But either way, we DO have much to be thankful for this year!!  CAN'T WAIT!!

We will keep you all updated as the journey continues.  For now, please pray for a quick turnaround with our paperwork (called "Article 5") and for Violet's emotional and physical well-being as she nears the age of 2 in the orphanage.  Thank you!!  What a wonderful support team you all have been!!

Her Baby Pics!

After getting official approval to adopt a specific child, our agency sends the orphanage a request for an update.  Today we received that update, and it made my day!!

There was really very little information, but I'll take whatever I can get.  They sent her new measurements which makes it easier for me to buy her clothes, since it's not just a guessing game!  I've got a few 24-month outfits to bring to China, and it looks like she'll be in size 5 shoes.  Shopping for another girl is so much fun.  :-)

Unfortunately, the only updated photos they sent me were not of her face, but of her medical checkup.  I'm happy to have many new photos of her limbs and torso, and to see that her skin condition is not any worse than it was a year ago.  But I would have loved a pic or two of her smiling face!  I guess we will have to wait to see her in person.  

They DID, however, send some great photos from her chunky baby days!  What a doll!!  They sure keep the kids bundled up and warm!  I'm so glad she got a healthy start.  She has thinned out a lot, hopefully not too much, but I still can't wait to pinch those cheeks!

  

They also sent a brief update of her development.  She is walking, running, and climbing stairs, and she talks in simple phrases.

Yesterday I mailed her care package.  I stuffed a box full of goodies for her, her friends, her nannies, and the orphanage director.  Gifts are a special sort of formality in China, and we will be bringing several with us for the officials.  Many families also include a disposable camera in their care box, which will hopefully be filled with photos of her in the orphanage and returned to us when we come to pick her up.  I'm grateful for any memories I can have of her past, to show her where she came from.  We also sent a small photo album of our family with the hopes that the nannies will help prepare her to meet us!  

Sending some LOVE, Sealed with a HUG!

The Next Steps:

We have loads of new paperwork to do.  I like it, it gives me something to pass the time and it feels more productive than just....waiting.... sometimes it's a little overwhelming, but our agency is pretty good at giving you just one packet at a time.  There is so much, and most of it is new to me.  Have you ever heard of the USCIS I-800 form?  Or the PA, NVC, DS-260, or Article 5?  Me neither, until now!

In a nutshell, we are currently waiting for immigration approval (2 weeks or so), then we can send the next forms and wait (4 weeks or so), and then we wait for Travel Approval (2 weeks or so), and finally we can book our flight (1-2 weeks out, to line up with our Consulate Appointment)!!  We are counting down the [approximate] weeks until our trip!!