Merry Christmas to us!

Our Travel Approval arrived yesterday! We have to wait for our Consulate appointment to be confirmed, but we anticipate leaving on January 8th and coming home on the 22nd! Should know for sure on Monday. You just can't ask for a better Christmas gift!

Only one more to go!

We have received our immigration approval, so the only thing we need now is travel approval!  Our agency said to expect that in 3-4 weeks, but it could be as little as two.  Once it arrives, we will be able to leave about two weeks later.  Won't be long now!!   I've heard that our blog will probably not be accessible from China, so I'm practicing posting by email.  Hope it works!

No tricks -- just a wonderful TREAT!!

Our LOA arrived at our agency's office today! That means all of our paperwork has been approved by the Chinese authorities, and we are officially "matched" with Peyton. Now the ball bounces back to the US side of things, and we file our final application for immigration approval. I've had the form filled out for weeks just waiting for this little piece of paper to add to the already thick stack of attachments. We should have the LOA in our hands tomorrow, and it will be right back out the door and on its way to the USCIS office. This phase of the process has been averaging about two months, so we're expecting our travel approval around the first of the year and hope to be traveling by late January or early February -- which will be here in the blink of an eye!!

More pictures!!

We ordered a care package to be delivered to Peyton from a company called Red Thread China, and we were thrilled to find these pictures in our inbox today! When they contacted the orphanage to get information on her height and weight to know what size clothes to include in the package, the orphanage workers sent these pictures along with that information. She certainly looks happy and healthy! She is now about 31.5 pounds and 39 inches tall, and they said that all of the other children like her very much. Good to know! They also said that she is "very happy to know that she will have her own forever parents soon." So are we!!

Now we just need that LOA so we can get things rolling.

New pictures!!

We asked our agency to request an update on Peyton, and it arrived today. Not much new information, but the pictures are too cute!! Here's what the orphanage staff wrote about her --

“current health is very good, appetite is good. She is a very lovely girl, and she learns and understands things easily. She will also act like a big sister to take care of other small children around her. She can eat by herself, go to bathroom without help. Her head circumference is 50cm, chest circumference is 51cm, foot length is 14.5cm, weight is 14kg, teeth: 20.”

And now for the best part --

DTC

The adoption world is full of acronyms. This one stands for "Dossier to China" and means that all of our paperwork is finished and has been sent to the Chinese officials who will take over the process. Next will come our LID or "log-in date", which is the date from which we will start counting as we wait for the next big event -- the LOA or "Letter of Acceptance." We anticipate a wait of at least two months for that. Then the US side of the paperwork starts again, and we submit our application for Peyton's visa. This is a new step in the process and, unfortunately, it slows everything down! We're still a long way from bringing her home, but this is a huge step in the right direction!!

Being DTC also means that we can request updated information and pictures! Can't wait for that!!

Peyton (or is it Payton?)

I just realized that I haven't provided any details about our little darling. She turned four in June, so she is about 8 1/2 months younger than Tyler. She is from Guangdong Province on the southern coast, and she has had open heart surgery to correct several abnormalities -- very similar to what both Conner and Tyler had. We plan to name her Peyton, but we're having a debate about whether to spell that with an "e" or an "a." Any input is welcome!

These are her referral photos --

We're approved!

Out of curiosity, I decided to email the National Benefits Center on Tuesday to find out the status of our application for immigration approval. Much to my amazement, I got a reply stating that our approval had been issued that day and congratulating us and wishing us well on the remainder of the journey. Wow -- someone who seems to care and isn't just stamping documents! What's even more amazing is that she faxed the approval notice to me instead of making us wait for it to arrive in the mail; so I have already had it certified and sent it on its way to the Chinese Consulate for authentication. All of the other documents have already gone through this process and are at the agency's office waiting to be sent to China. This is the last piece of the paperwork puzzle, and it is being put in place ahead of schedule thanks to a kind immigration officer! Kind of makes up for the bad experience with the postal worker on Monday. Madison needs a new passport, so she and I went to the post office Monday afternoon to file the application. There was a male employee at the counter, and he greeted us with "We don't take passport applications after 4:00." It was 4:03. I thought he was joking. The rest of our conversation went something like this:

Me -- "It's only three minutes after."
Him -- "We don't take passport applications after 4:00." Turning toward Madison, "How old are you, Miss?"
Madison -- "13"
Him, directed to me -- "You'll need both parents here to sign unless you have an affidavit."
Me -- "I have the affidavit."
Him -- "Do you have a copy of your driver's license?"
Me -- "Yes, I have everything you need."
Him -- "We don't take passport applications after 4:00."

Give me a break!! Did I mention that we were the only customers in the building, and they don't close until 4:45? He suggested that we come back on Saturday morning. I think maybe we'll ALL go up there on Saturday . . . and maybe take some of our loudest, most irritating toys to pass the time!

Making progress

The only thing we need before we can send our dossier to China is our immigration approval, and we hope to have that by the end of the month. We were scheduled to have our fingerprints taken on August 19th, but that is the first day of school; and we just couldn't miss Reagan's first day of Kindergarten (not to mention that it would be impossible to get everyone to school, drive three hours to the USCIS office, wait for the fingerprints, and drive back home in time to meet the bus)! I called the USCIS office, and a very nice immigration officer told me we could just go whenever we want and not to worry about the date they gave us. So, we're going this week and hoping she knew what she was talking about!

With any luck, all of our paperwork will be delivered to China by the first of September. Then we wait again.

Familiar Territory

We first started feeling the nudges soon after Christmas. There was another child out there who belonged in our family. I'll have to admit that I tried to ignore those nudges at first, but God made it clear to us that He wanted us to share the blessings He has given us and to take that leap one more time. So, we contacted the agency we used to bring Tyler home and got started on the paperwork not knowing exactly who would be joining our family but trusting that we would recognize her (or him) when the time was right. And we did! We first saw her precious face on June 4th (just two days before her fourth birthday), and there was no doubt in our minds that she was our daughter. A week later we received our Pre-Approval from the Chinese adoption officials (which means they recognize us as her prospective family), so now the race is on to gather all of the required documentation, get it notarized, have it authenticated, and send it off to China. Then we wait. Hopefully, that wait won't be too long and we will have her home early next year . . . of course, earlier would be better!