I must first apologize for taking so long to update everyone. It has been getting a bit crazy around here. Well, we got our Visas back on June 26th so we are ready to go. Just waiting on the Travel Approval.
Yesterday we got a call from one of the families traveling to the same province as us. We had a good chat. Seems the other 3 families going to the same province as us were thinking of going a day early. In doing so we can catch our breathe, do some extra sight seeing and do some parental bonding. Turns out consensus says we all, but one family, I think, preferred not to go early so we have the extra time at home at the end, before having to go back to work. We will have plenty of time to bond with babies in hand and all the sight seeing that already is included will be more than enough. It was a nice thought and really nice having the contact so you know there really are others going with you and you are not alone.
Just today not that long ago I received an email, WE GOT OUR TRAVEL APPROVAL! Woo Hoo! We got TA and itinerary and will have confirmation on that in a few days maybe early next week. I will let you all know when I know. In the meantime this seems to be where we stand.....
Thurs, July 30-leave the US
Fri, July 31-arrive in BJ - Renaissance Beijing Hotel
Sat, August 1- sightseeing in BJ TianAnMen Square, Forbidden City and the Great Wall (Juyongguan)
Sun, August 2- Travel to province
Mon, August 3-receive children at the adoption center
Tues, August 4-adoption process
Wed-Fri, August 5-7-sightseeing and free days
Fri, August 7-fly to GZ in the evening – China Hotel in Guangzhou
Sat: August 8-Medical exam for children in GZ
Sun: August 9 – free day
Mon: August 10-free day
Tues, August 11-visa appt (first choice), (August 12 or 13 for 2nd and 3rd choices)
Wed, August 12- take oath at the ACS and get child’s visa late in the day (depending on confirmed date at the ACS)
Thurs, August 13, families can return to the US (depending on confirmed ACS appt date)
Now you know what we will be doing while there except, for the fun with baby that we will have to fill you in on as we go. Following this update will be the confirmation of dates, update of flight confirmations, fun from my showers and then we will be off and on the journey to our little one. So please feel free to continue the journey with us right here from the comfort of your own homes.
Blessings,
AJ
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
From the Beginning
OK, for those of you who want to know how it all began. Well God created......oh sorry that's another story. It all goes back to 2003. This is the year G and I decided to try our luck with the State, otherwise known as Social Services. We did all we needed to do, jumping through all their hoops. Finally in December 2004 we got our license and were able to foster or adopt children. Somewhere in the last few visits that the Social Worker made to our home, we were told, the youngest single child we would be able to adopt would be no younger than 7 years old. Yes, you read that right 7 YEARS old. Get this, they only give babies to 20 and early to mid 30 year old couples, none of which we were. Can you imagine how crazy that is? Long story short, I told them they wasted a year of our life to wait until now to tell us this??? We were ticked to be nice about it. We kicked the SW out of our house to never look back.
In 2005, after doing our research and through much discussion we opted to go International. Since we agreed a baby girl would be our first child and we did indeed want an infant we knew just where to go....China. We found and selected the agency we wanted to go with and started the paper work. The agency informed us that it would be a 6 month wait once our paperwork got to China. This actually meant about 1 year from beginning of paperwork until she was home with us. We thought that was great as it would not be that long. With the state, when we thought they would work, they were never able to give us a time line at all.
Well, as time moved on that 6 months grew. Turns out SARS in 2003 effected the wait times some and the agency did not know to up date what they were telling people. Then 2005, you had at least 2 cases of Baby Trafficking that shut some places down, of course, slowing us up once more. OK, that's alright, we would still have her by next year so we thought. Boy were we wrong. Every year, every Christmas since 2004 we would say this will be her first Christmas home.
Can you say roller coaster? You think the gestation of an elephant is crazy? You think adoption is easy, quick or the easy way to have a baby???? Think again. Even without extended wait times adoption is not the easy way or easy in any way, in MHO which I am entitled to is pregnancy is the easy way. Trust me adoption is not for the weak. I know there are dozens upon dozens, probably thousands upon thousands or more who will agree with me, Adoption is a bigger emotional roller coast then you can imagine. Just as you will hear those incentive people tell you, you will never understand how a real mother feels or how hard it is to actually have a baby or all the other rude things they say until you go through it or been there...to them I will say I would love to see you go through an adoption before you speak. I will also add to all those who believe agencies just drag you along until they are ready and the like about money talks, etc., you don't have a clue and should get one. Off my soap box now....
Here we are at 2006, our paper work has made it to China, finally. Its just a short wait from here, you would think. We have our LID and hey, all the mess happened and is over so maybe a year from now she will be home. "Every Christmas, every year this is the year she will be spending her first Christmas with us." Sorry its not Gods timing as the baby he planned for us has not been born yet. Besides, all the things that is slowing the system down that I am telling you about are just the things we know about. How many more are there that we don't hear about here in the US.
Due to the 2007 Baby Trafficking China thought they needed to change the rules a tad bit. No more singles, weight and health issues, schooling all now a factor in if you qualify to adopt. No problem there, we were lucky we got Grandfather in. Now your probably thinking all this means nothing but with each and every issue that happens in China the process slows down and it never caught up from the SARS issue. Not only that but every year/18 months depending on the paper you have to renew everything to keep it up to date or you can not continue on in the process. Each update costs you more money. Can you say money tree??? I got one, I had to plant it, so I can bare it.
Yeah, we are almost there we should be bringing our bundle of joy home in early to mid 2008. Oh no, not again.... Yes, it is the Olympics. We cant go and disgrace China and take their kids from them while everyone is watching. Okay, we will wait until after the Olympics. Besides, once they are done things will pick up and get caught up, right? WRONG!
Here we are so close to the finish line. Its 2009, the next referrals that come in March will have ours and we will at least have a face to go with the name. What is it I heard you say??? Your right the "Pigs" are at it again. This time the Sinew Flu. It held up travel and referrals for all. We all worried it would be another SARS shut down. March came and went nothing for us. April came and went just the same. OK, now we are not sure any referrals are coming at all. May nearing mid-month.....checking on the status daily....Finally May 21st 2009 we finally received our referral. Now you would think, we would be happy and so relieved. Yes, we were happy to see our little girls face but you know, we know, we are in no way out of the woods yet. I will not be happy until we are all home safe and sound.
We are waiting on our Travel Approval with our Visa on the way to us as we speak. While we wait, there are still families getting stuck in China in Quarantine. We even now are hearing children are being separated from parents when one or the other is showing signs of illness (fever, etc). When the child is the sick one they are even administering meds with out parent approval as they are not there in quarantine with the child. We personally don't want to go through that and feel for those that have to. Of course, G the optimistic one says we don't have to worry about it, it will not affect us. Me, I am the worrier and the one who would rather think the worst, so I can be over joyed when it doesn't affect us, rather than get my hopes up and be disappointed.
The last word we got was that we should be traveling July 30 2009 and be home August 13 2009 (at this point I figured years might be necessary). We are not holding our breath. We also hope all this quarantine business blows over or at least blows right by us.
Now you are caught up with where we stand with all this. If you have any questions, just ask I would be happy to answer any questions. I will keep posting as we move along now. When I hear something new, you will get too, right here. Until then Blessings to All for a Smoother Ride then this Roller Coaster, AJ
PS Her name is Mikayla Lynn Xiu and she will be 16 months when she comes home if we travel on schedule. I have posted her picture here for you to admire.
In 2005, after doing our research and through much discussion we opted to go International. Since we agreed a baby girl would be our first child and we did indeed want an infant we knew just where to go....China. We found and selected the agency we wanted to go with and started the paper work. The agency informed us that it would be a 6 month wait once our paperwork got to China. This actually meant about 1 year from beginning of paperwork until she was home with us. We thought that was great as it would not be that long. With the state, when we thought they would work, they were never able to give us a time line at all.
Well, as time moved on that 6 months grew. Turns out SARS in 2003 effected the wait times some and the agency did not know to up date what they were telling people. Then 2005, you had at least 2 cases of Baby Trafficking that shut some places down, of course, slowing us up once more. OK, that's alright, we would still have her by next year so we thought. Boy were we wrong. Every year, every Christmas since 2004 we would say this will be her first Christmas home.
Can you say roller coaster? You think the gestation of an elephant is crazy? You think adoption is easy, quick or the easy way to have a baby???? Think again. Even without extended wait times adoption is not the easy way or easy in any way, in MHO which I am entitled to is pregnancy is the easy way. Trust me adoption is not for the weak. I know there are dozens upon dozens, probably thousands upon thousands or more who will agree with me, Adoption is a bigger emotional roller coast then you can imagine. Just as you will hear those incentive people tell you, you will never understand how a real mother feels or how hard it is to actually have a baby or all the other rude things they say until you go through it or been there...to them I will say I would love to see you go through an adoption before you speak. I will also add to all those who believe agencies just drag you along until they are ready and the like about money talks, etc., you don't have a clue and should get one. Off my soap box now....
Here we are at 2006, our paper work has made it to China, finally. Its just a short wait from here, you would think. We have our LID and hey, all the mess happened and is over so maybe a year from now she will be home. "Every Christmas, every year this is the year she will be spending her first Christmas with us." Sorry its not Gods timing as the baby he planned for us has not been born yet. Besides, all the things that is slowing the system down that I am telling you about are just the things we know about. How many more are there that we don't hear about here in the US.
Due to the 2007 Baby Trafficking China thought they needed to change the rules a tad bit. No more singles, weight and health issues, schooling all now a factor in if you qualify to adopt. No problem there, we were lucky we got Grandfather in. Now your probably thinking all this means nothing but with each and every issue that happens in China the process slows down and it never caught up from the SARS issue. Not only that but every year/18 months depending on the paper you have to renew everything to keep it up to date or you can not continue on in the process. Each update costs you more money. Can you say money tree??? I got one, I had to plant it, so I can bare it.
Yeah, we are almost there we should be bringing our bundle of joy home in early to mid 2008. Oh no, not again.... Yes, it is the Olympics. We cant go and disgrace China and take their kids from them while everyone is watching. Okay, we will wait until after the Olympics. Besides, once they are done things will pick up and get caught up, right? WRONG!
Here we are so close to the finish line. Its 2009, the next referrals that come in March will have ours and we will at least have a face to go with the name. What is it I heard you say??? Your right the "Pigs" are at it again. This time the Sinew Flu. It held up travel and referrals for all. We all worried it would be another SARS shut down. March came and went nothing for us. April came and went just the same. OK, now we are not sure any referrals are coming at all. May nearing mid-month.....checking on the status daily....Finally May 21st 2009 we finally received our referral. Now you would think, we would be happy and so relieved. Yes, we were happy to see our little girls face but you know, we know, we are in no way out of the woods yet. I will not be happy until we are all home safe and sound.
We are waiting on our Travel Approval with our Visa on the way to us as we speak. While we wait, there are still families getting stuck in China in Quarantine. We even now are hearing children are being separated from parents when one or the other is showing signs of illness (fever, etc). When the child is the sick one they are even administering meds with out parent approval as they are not there in quarantine with the child. We personally don't want to go through that and feel for those that have to. Of course, G the optimistic one says we don't have to worry about it, it will not affect us. Me, I am the worrier and the one who would rather think the worst, so I can be over joyed when it doesn't affect us, rather than get my hopes up and be disappointed.
The last word we got was that we should be traveling July 30 2009 and be home August 13 2009 (at this point I figured years might be necessary). We are not holding our breath. We also hope all this quarantine business blows over or at least blows right by us.
Now you are caught up with where we stand with all this. If you have any questions, just ask I would be happy to answer any questions. I will keep posting as we move along now. When I hear something new, you will get too, right here. Until then Blessings to All for a Smoother Ride then this Roller Coaster, AJ
PS Her name is Mikayla Lynn Xiu and she will be 16 months when she comes home if we travel on schedule. I have posted her picture here for you to admire.
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