Thursday, January 22, 2009

LOA Has Arrived!!

We finally received that e-mail we've been waiting for today from CCAI!! The Chinese government has sent out "Letter Seeking Confirmation" for us to sign and send back, basically saying "Yes, Yes! We really do want her to be ours!!" Once they get that back, we will be awaiting our travel authorization and our consulate appointment to plan our travel. Chinese New Year begins on Monday, so offices in Beijing will be closed for at least a week. But at least we can now get the ball rolling on our travel visas and we are one GIANT step closer! Our agency thinks we will travel in roughly 5-8 weeks! That means it is looking more likely we will get Lillian home before her 3rd birthday!

So Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Birthday me (tomorrow)! It was feeling like this day might never arrive. Now I know we'll have her home before we know it. Better get back to painting that bedroom we started yesterday!
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3 comments:

Nili said...

yay! Amy....looks like you will be getting your girl a couple weeks before mine arrives...I can't wait to see how you and Anna decorate her bedroom...I will have to post some pics of my nursery when we get the painting done...it is pretty much empty right now except the baby stuff in the middle. Blessings and God Speed on your travel plans and any additional paperwork!
Happy Birthday tomorrow!

January 22, 2009 at 9:59 PM
Donna said...

Amy, that's so exciting!! Any ideas on when you might travel? The wait for all the "A"'s is hard, but you're so close! Now, just TA and then CA!!

January 24, 2009 at 1:34 PM
SoFlaMom said...

Congrats Amy! Here's to a speedy TA!

Michele

January 24, 2009 at 5:21 PM

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Why Adoption? Why China?

I'm sure that many of you, when you learned that Tom and I were pursuing adoption of a little girl from China, wondered "why?!" We may have taken some of you by surprise, and we thought it might be nice to share some of our thinking about this journey we are undertaking.

Adoption is something that, even from the earliest years of our marriage, we talked about as "maybe someday." The idea of adoption is appealing to us for many reasons. As Christians, we are adopted by God as his children through faith in Jesus. Adoption allows us to provide a child with the needed love, warmth, and financial resources we have been blessed with as a family. Finally, adoption allows us to add to our family at a time when our biological children are old enough to be more self-sufficient, and we are in a position financially to be able to welcome a child into our family in this way. What we hope to gain is an additional family member to love and learn from, and an opportunity to share the joy and love of our family.

We recognize that an adoption will bring unique parenting challenges to our family--especially since we are considering a child with special needs--and it is likely to put unique stresses on our family in a variety of ways. We are grateful for Tom's medical knowledge and for the great medical coverage we get through Tom's Air Force career, and we look forward to providing a forever family for a child whose medical needs might make it more difficult for another family to take on.

Finally, why China? My love for China, the Chinese language, and the Chinese people made China the natural choice. It was never really even a consideration whether to go with a domestic adoption or international; China was simply the natural choice that we immediately pursued, especially since there are so many children in China that need a forever family.

Chinese Word of the Day

The Time in China

When Love Takes You In

Our Adoption Timeline

  • Travel Dates--11-26 March
  • Swearing In Ceremony at Consulate--25 March (Lilly's 3rd Birthday!)
  • Consulate Appointment (CA)--24 March
  • Travel Approval (TA)--19 February 2009
  • Received Letter of Approval (LOA)--22 January 2009
  • Received Pre-Approval (PA)--25 November
  • Submitted Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt An Xiao Xue, soon to be named Lillian Joy Xiao Xue, 1 November (logged in at CCAA 21 November)
  • Referral Call from CCAI asking us to consider An Xiao Xue's profile--31 October
  • Dossier Log-in-Date (LID) 3 July 2008
  • Dossier to China (DTC)--June 27 2008
  • Dossier Submitted to CCAI--June 2008
  • Fingerprinted at USCIS Jacksonville--April 2008
  • Application Approval ("We're Pregnant!") January 2008
  • Submitted Adoption Application and 3 References--December 2007
  • Requested Application from Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI) --November 2007
  • Decided to Investigate Agencies--October 2007