Another step forward...

Well, today Earlene came by and dropped off our official notarized home study; exactly what we needed to send off the I600A to CIS. We checked the CIS website and it doesn’t look like they are moving very quickly since they are currently processing orphan petitions that were received on March 15th of this year. That doesn’t seem like a long time unless you are really bad at waiting like yours truly. Anyway, we will mail ours tomorrow and pray for the CIS to hurry up. We are still waiting on the passports. Tomorrow will mark the 12 week time period in which we were told we would receive our docs in the mail. What a hoot if they came tomorrow–nothing like waiting until the last possible moment. But as long as we get the I171H back from CIS we can at least send the remainder of our docs for certification and authentication–just cannot get the DTC date without the passports. We can work on our lifestyle photos while we are waiting. The GWCA website has captions in Chinese that we can put with our pictures. They say “this is your mama” and “this is your daddy” in Chinese. Funny, our little Maisy won’t be able to read in Chinese or English!–Cause she’s just a baby! It seems like such a long wait but we are closer than we were three months ago, so that’s progress. Just wanted everyone to know that the good ol’ I600A will be going out tomorrow!! Take care and pray for our little precious and her birth mother. We cannot lose sight of the fact that out of someone else’s heartbreak comes our joy.

Amy

Baby thoughts...

Well, Maisy has more clothes! I have become addicted to buying baby clothes and baby stuff. I just cannot walk past little nightgowns with bunny mittens attached (even if Aunt Laura does say Maisy will hate them and she is going to cut them off). We even have bunny slippers now!

We are doing the nursery in Beatrix Potter so there are plenty of bunnies around there too. Ben has bought Maisy her first “buddy.” Bobby’s was a dog, Abby’s was a bear and Maisy has a bunny. The nursery colors are light sage, yellow and paprika. We have yet to pick a crib. It would help if I could settle on just one.

 I just want to take this opportunity to give some more props to people who really deserve them. The folks at my office at Eagle Ridge Institute are the best. Kisha is the best office manager in the history of managing offices. She listened to every draft of our letter to the officials of the China Center of Adoption Affairs and handed me Kleenex at the necessary moments. Kisha created any form I needed and made copies “just in case.” Thank you so much, Kisha. Jina, our program director, has been incredibly supportive and has taken time out to calm my “new mom” worries. She has gone beyond the professional and been my friend. Thanks, Jina. Mindy, the world’s greatest placement coordinator, how is it that just being around you makes me smile? I will gladly let you share in some quality “baby therapy” when our little Maisy arrives. The Eagle Ridge Executive Secretary, Miss Dorothy, has been very patient with me; having taken time to notarize documents when I know she didn’t have time–even though she insisted that she did. Thank you, Miss Dorothy for all of your encouragement and patience. And to our CEO, John Mayfield, thank you for your support and obvious enthusiasm about our adoption. Your committment to all children and families is inspirational.

As an interesting sideline–our cat, CoCo, who ran away 2 1/2 months ago when we moved into this house, came home this evening. YEA we are all happy and amazed.

Moving right along...

Well, our home study has been approved by our agency office in China. This means that as soon as we receive our notarized copies of the home study from our worker we will send it, our I600A and the appropriate documents (ie:birth certificates and marriage license) along with the fee to CIS (citizenship and immigration services) and wait for the I171H to arrive from CIS. When we have the I171H we will send it, our lifestyle photos, the home study and the appropriate fee to the agency. Hopefully our passports will be in at this time because they are necessary in order for us to receive our DTC date. All of these docs must also be certified and authenticated–THEN WE GET THE DTC DATE–YEA!!! Our mailer one docs have been authenticated by the Chinese Consulate and are on their way back to Diedra, our dossier specialist, at the agency.

Please join us in praying that the wait time from DTC to referral will not be 18 to 19 months, but if it is a reflection of God’s time that he will help us bear it and be patient–not my strong point as most folks can attest.

We are finding the most difficult part of the whole process (other than the waiting of course) to be the lifestyle photos. Maybe we are just boring but other than standing lamely in front of the camera, well, I’m at a loss.

Cross your fingers for our passports to arrive soon!!!