A little background, first...
In August 2005, it was revealed to us that our family was not complete. God chose our friend and financial planner of all people to make it concrete to us that adoption was going to be part of our lives. We'd always spoken of adoption and even hoped for it but never pursued it. We began by looking at the foster to adopt program but moved into international adoption through China eventually. We were seeking a "perfect" baby girl. How naive and immature that seems to me today as we have brought nearly 3 children home whom China deemed Special Needs and each of them is "perfectly made" indeed...if not perfect! It was not long after our first Chinese daughter came home that I became sure she had a sibling somewhere in China...and hence the journey to our little emperor began. Each step of that journey was ordained by God in such a way that we never doubted Grady was to be our son...his special needs, the fees, our hearts, our other children...God prepared a path. Adjustment after coming home was typical and rocky at times...but we never felt forgotten and it has been a joy to look back and see the strides both our children and our family have made toward wholeness and health. About 6 months after Grady came home...it again became certain that we had yet another child waiting in China...it was irrational, impractical, and some would say irresponsible but we KNEW God must have something special in store for this child HE PICKED for us. And so...we are currently awaiting our travel invitation to bring home our 3rd child from China...a beautiful country so full of culture and mystery. And we feel extaordinarily blessed to have been given the chance to parent 6 times! I don't have all the answers about how to do it "right" and I am certainly not out to "save the world" but to follow His leading for this, My family.
These are 2 quotes that sum up so perfectly our thoughts on adoption:
"Don't think I am now some sort of reformed person who is out to save the world. You will be severely disappointed. I'm selfish and grasping and forgetful and neglectful." --Missy Roepnak
"We are not afraid. We are not looking for easy lives. We are looking for glory, hope, redemption, and love in every corner and crevice because our Creator God has placed it there. We’re not about the practical. We’re about the impractical, incomprehensible, wild and ridiculous love of our great Redeemer." --Sarah Pascual
And now...for our current adoption in process...
1st Glimpse: 4/28/11
Matched: 5/9/11
Homestudy Completed: 6/27/11
Sent I800a (recept date): 7/1/11
I800a Approval: 8/26/11 (it took 57 days)
DTC: 9/8/11
LID: 9/15/11
LOI: sent 9/19/11
PA: 9/22/11
LOA: 11/3/11
I800 sent: 11/8/11
I800 Approval: 12/1/11
Cabled: 12/9/11
Cabled: 12/9/11
NVC letter received:12/9/11
Dropped off at Embassy: 12/14/11
Dropped off at Embassy: 12/14/11
Article 5: 12/28/11
TA: 1/23/12
Travel: 2/2/12 - 2/17/12
Gotcha/WillaJane Day: 2/6/12
Adoption Day: 2/7/12
Consulate Appointment: 2/15/12
Citizenship Day: 2/17/12
HOME!!!: 2/17/12
The Longer Version
April 28, 2011 Saw Willa's file on Rainbow Kids and requested more information.
April 29, 2011 Received the file and looked it over and prayed over the weekend. Decided to request to be matched on Monday.
May 2, 2011 Called Gladney and asked to be matched- we were told not to waste our time doing the required paperwork because there were several other families already LID with Gladney showing interest and they had priority. I said thankyou and to call us back if anything should change because her SN did not scare us! At that point- I laid the whole thing down and walked away sure that we were just supposed to pray for this child and whoever her family may be. I WAS getting a little discouraged with the types of files I was seeing "out there"...
May 6, 2011 at 4pm, April w/ Gladney called and said that the committee had met and NONE of the other interested families wanted to move forward on NuoNuo's file ...too many question marks. They wanted to match her with us. I explained we would take the weekend to discuss, pray, and consult drs and would call her on Monday. We talked with Mansfield and Khoury...they felt all was fine...but we are preparing for a worst case scenario of needing some orthopedic help to walk.
May 9, 2011 We conference called Gladney and asked a few questions. Later in the day I called them back to officially accept the referral.
May 24, 2011 Willa's 2nd birthday and the LAST one she will celebrate in China! We made banana cupcakes in her honor!
May 27, 2011 1st homestudy visit ...here at the house with Daniel Taylor of Lifeline children's services. Still gathering paperwork. ugh
June 1, 2011 2nd & final HS visit--we'll have separate interviews with Daniel, our SW.
June 3rd, 2011 Mailed off the last of our paperwork to Gladney and emailed it to Lifeline. whew!
June 27th, 2011 Homestudy COMPLETED & APPROVED...copy in hand on the 30th.
June 30, 2011 Mailed I800 to lockbox in TX. I also spent the day in Atlanta geting documents authenticated. Dossier almost complete!
July 1, 2011--I800A RECEIPT date--the day we start waiting for approval
July 6, 2011 USCIS cashed our check for $890!!
July 15, 2011 I mailed 12 of our 13 dossier documents to the Chinese consulate in Houston for authentication. I'll expedite the I800a approval when it comes and then we'll be ready to DTC! (early September?)
July 18, 2011 --received fingerprinting appt in the mail--dated 7/14/11
appt was for August 8, 2011 (3 weeks away!)
July 19, 2011 We walked in for early fingerprinting in Atlanta...DONE
August 26, 2011 -- I800a approval (after 57 days)
September 8, 2011--dossier fedexed to China!!
September 13, 2011--we know the dossier was delivered to Gladney's China coordinator--now she must translate and turn it in to the CCCWA.
September 15, 2011--we are LOGGED IN to the CCCWA!
September 19, 2011--this is the date we actually found out when we were LID. Today our WillaJane's FILE WAS LOCKED AND we sent LOI (letter of Intent to adopt).
September 22, 2011 PA (pre approval) from China...came today! We are officially matched and pre-approved by China to adopt Wu Nuo Fen!
I contacted Isabel at http://www.chinaadoptionhelp.com/ to get us an update/photos and maybe deliver a cake to the orphanage in Wuhan...there is a holiday coming up in China so we may not hear anything for a few weeks.
October 11, 2011 --we received an update through China Adoption Help on Willa (check the blog) but no pictures yet.
October 13, 2011 PICTURES OF OUR GIRL!!!!
October 17, 2011- we heard today that our dossier has moved out of the Translation Room and is currently "in process"--our LOA/LSC should arrive in 5 or 6 weeks! So hopefully we will be a BIG step closer by Thanksgiving!
November 3, 2011 Our LOA was issued by the CCCWA---we didn't know until after...
November 7, 2011-got the call at 11:15 am that Gladney has our LOA in hand and they are rushing it to us. We will sign it and send it on to the USCIS to get our i800 approval. We got it in 47 days which is FAST--the average is 90 days right now.
November 8, 2011 i800 fedexed to USCIS
November 9, 2011 application received at lockbox
November 10, 2011 receipt date
December 1, 2011 I800 APPROVED!!
December 2, 2011 Just got word that we were I800 approved yesterday and it left the building this morning.!
December 7, 2011---entered into the system at NVC
December 8, 2011 we received an email from the NVC stating we have a GUZ# ---they will let us know when we are cabled to the consulate in Guangzhou...all this so we can start the wait for our Article 5 letter...whatever that is.
December 9, 2011--we were cabled this morning to the embassy in Guangzhou but our information will not be dropped off by our agency rep in China until 12/14/11...
December 14, 2011 dropped off at embassy
December 28, 2011 Article 5 letter picked up for embassy...now we wait for TA--the last step!
January 20, 2012 We got the call this morning that our agency had a scan of our TA in hand & they were able to confirm our CA for 2/15...the hard copy is on its way and we should have it in the next day or two.
January 23, 2012 Mary from Gladney called and said she had our TA in hand...how did I want her to send it? FAST, I replied!!!
January 24, 2012--TA arrived in my hands along with our passports complete with visas...ahhh...sweet relief- NOW we can go to China NEXT WEEK!
February 2, 2012 Leave for China
February 6, Meet WillaJane in Wuhan
February 7, official adoption registration
February 8, Oprhanage visit
February 10, fly out to Guangzhou
February 15, Consulate Appointment
February 17, Travel HOME!!!!!!
Please visit our website that documents our current journey in adoption:
