I've been neglecting this blog for far too long now and I know theres at least two of you that still follow along so I thought I'd tell you a little bit about our newest adoption.
When I tell you that I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it... it's the absolute truth! When I stop for two seconds in my busy life and think to myself that I'll actually be in China soon and bring home another beautiful girl... I want to scream in sheer delight! I cant concentrate on anything else so I actually try to focus on other things. It's kinda like when we were teenagers and the feeling you get with going on a new date! What a fabulous feeling!
This adoption process has been the total opposite of Abbie's. No stress at all except filling out piles of paperwork and even with that, Ray has done the majority! The roughest part was that our homestudy took longer than expected and also our I800A took nearly as long. On a plus note... everything's moving right along from the China side!
This time we have a fabulous agency! We did not jump into anything without lots of research. Checking references on agencies was a priority this time. As soon as we signed on with Lifeline they have been there for us morning, noon and night. I can email them at 10:00 at night and a lot of times I get a reply right back. I cant say enough good things about them. Lifeline rocks!
I need to post my timeline for this adoption, and the last few posts have been just me adding them real quick on here knowing if I didn't... I would forget all these wonderful dates! But a rough estimate would be that this has taken right at a year. I thought that we were going to be faster than this but I have learned through Abbie's adoption that it's all in God's time and it is perfect!
The main thing I am worried about right now, and I need prayers, is how Emma and her foster family will be on Gotcha day. She has been with them since she was 18 months old and since she's now 4, I know it will be tough on her and all foster family members too. I just can't imaging taking care of a child for that long and knowing she will soon be gone. I cant imagine how Emma will feel going from the only family she knows to a couple of big ol' white people that talk a bunch a gibberish to her. I know it will take time and since she has come from a loving family she will also know how to love. And we have a lot of LOVIN' to give her! In fact.. it's cute because even though she's not yet her with us Abbie and Isaiah talk like she is. Isaiah will tell Abbie.. "you better get off Emma Blu's bed or she's gonna be mad" or "That's Emma's, I'm telling her!"
Today we received notice of our cable from the NVC. This is where the National Visa Center cables our I800 approval to the consulate in China and they looks over our paperwork to give the okay for an immigrant visa to be issued which is called the article 5. They will then take this to the CCAA (China adoption officials) and then we wait for TA (travel approval). Shortly after this, you get a couple appointment dates to pick from and then we're off! This part is confusing I know.
So as you can imagine it's getting pretty exciting right now. I've done some shopping for Miss Emma but now I really need to get busy. I also need to start buying gifts for the China officials as well as for Emma's foster family. They say that you should buy things that are NOT made in China and that alone is not easy.
I'm going to post everyday in China so I won't forget a thing so be ready for mucho pictures!
A lot of people have asked if Abbie and Isaiah will be going and after months of thought on this we have agreed that it will be best for them to stay. I have an awesome babysitter and I know they will be kept busy here and have lots of fun. I'm looking forward to getting back and spending the entire summer home with all three of my "little's"! Life is good!
I also promise to post more about Emma Xin Luo and I have a few more pictures to post of her too!
