Article 5 Has Been Completed

I received an email overnight that said our Article 5 has been completed and now our agency representative can deliver it to the CCCWA who will then issue our TA (Travel Approval) to come get our son!

Yippee!

Learning New Things

OK, so I'm learning new things about "graphic design."  I thought it was time to change our header but I didn't want a HUGE picture.  So over the course of a couple of days, I have kind of figured out how to work with layers in my paint program.  (Dee, I still don't like layers!)

The picture of Le An was taken on Dec. 7 by people from the Yahoo Group I belong to who were there to bring their daughter home and they visited the orphanage.  They got 5 pictures of Le An and this one had him smiling!  He's also standing up, so he's making progress!

We are still waiting for our Article 5 to be dropped off and then we will wait for TA.  Even if Article 5 happens by Christmas, we still won't travel until February because it is 3-5 weeks from TA to travel.

Here's all five pictures:

NVC Letter!

We received our NVC letter (stands for National Visa Center) yesterday.  I will scan it and email it to Holt tomorrow.  They will then send that and the scan of the PA to China.  Just one more step along the way to our son!

On a holiday note, we got Meighan's 4th birthday picture(s) taken today.  She is so photogenic that it is soooo hard to pick out just one shot -- so we got 5.  Everyone will get the one main shot but we have 4 others to hang/set at our house!

She will have a short rehearsal for the Children's Nativity Parade after church next Sunday and then the actual program is the 18th.  Her school Christmas program (they call it the "Winter Program") is this Friday morning.  And she wants to pick out a cake for her birthday at the grocery store, so she will get to do that this year.  We'll have cake and ice cream for those that come for that.

I've been a little lax on putting anything up for Favorite Photo Friday lately.  "Too busy" is a better way to describe it.  I had a Cookie Exchange and Ornament Exchange last night with co-workers.  It was a good time and nice to laugh a little (actually a LOT!).  I came home with a tub full of cookies and a nice ornament for the tree.

We had our first significant snow yesterday, too, so Tony plowed last night (and didn't get much sleep).

We'll eventually get the tree decorated!  We put a couple ornaments on each day.  Maybe by Christmas it will be all done!

Meighan's Song

The other day we were getting supper ready and Meighan wanted to play the piano.  I moved "stuff" (that we are gathering for China) off of the bench and she got up and played around a bit.  In a little while she came into the kitchen and said "Mommy, come hear my song!"  OK, I thought this would be interesting!

She proceeded to "play" the piano AND sing!  I couldn't make out all the words but I got enough of them that I knew what she was singing about.  I asked her if she would do it again so I could video her.  She obliged and this is what I got!  You can make out words like "my mommy," "pama's house" (grandma's house), "baby brother," and "forever."  I think she's excited to get a baby brother!

PA! (Provisional Approval)

We received our PA from the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) today!  Yippee!  One step closer to bringing our son home!

Based on an estimated timeline I received a few weeks ago, it looks like we will probably travel to China in early February.  From PA to travel is about 9-11 weeks.  9 weeks from now puts us at mid-January.  They aren't sending anyone to China in January after January 6 due to the Chinese New Year and the government offices being closed (apparently) every Friday.  So, February it is!

This PA step is one of the different/extra steps from when we did this before.  Now we have to scan the PA form and email it to Holt, Holt sends it to China and we wait for the "Article 5" to be delivered (I think to the US Consulate).  Then we wait for TA (Travel Approval) from China saying "come get your child"!

VISAS!

We received our visas by FedEx earlier this week sooooo, we're ready to go!

NOT!

I feel so disorganized!  We could be traveling in a month and a half, or it could be two and a half months!  It depends on when we get approval for all we need approval for!

We sent Le An a photo album, a little toy and a disposable camera the other day.  I know the nannies at this orphanage will take pictures if they have a camera so can't wait to see what they catch him doing!

We have to pack and buy gifts for several people/groups of people (isn't the orphanage donation enough?) and buy clothes for him and finish up swimming lessons for Meighan and celebrate Meighan's birthday and try to enjoy the holidays and, and, and....

I mentioned my disorganized feelings to someone at Holt in an email and they said they have everything they need from us so far (even though I STILL think I'm forgetting something!).

I have checked into baggage fees (none on United for the first checked back, $70 for a 2nd check bag), I know where to get the VPN that I will need to blog with from China, I have all of the luggage we'll need (no more than last time).  I still feel very unprepared at this point!

Pray we get some downtime during the holidays so we can breathe!

Favorite Photo Friday {My Favorite Subject}

We went shopping last Sunday for dresses -- for winter! -- and she is very picky.  I told her she could pick out one dress from a certain rack and she picked this one out all by herself.  She didn't do too bad, really!  She just won't be able to wear it much until next year!

(Psst... it's a 4T!)

She's growing up!

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

Did you know that you have to actually SIGN your I-800 form?

Favorite Photo Friday {Halloween}

T - I - double G - ER!

Woo hoo hoo!

Visa Applications Sent

Wow!  Does this make it feel more "real" or what?

I took our Visa applications to FedEx today.  That sure makes it feel more close to leaving even though we still have 2 1/2 months or so to wait yet!  And because of all the holiday stuff between now and then, it's going to go REALLY FAST!

Oh, my gosh!  We have to get his room ready!  What to do with the twin beds?

Oh, my gosh!  We have to pack!  And get him some clothes (closer to travel time, though! so receipts for returns don't expire)!  And buy gifts for the orphanage and officials (apparently, now).

We are again dreading the long flights, but again, we've survived them before (as many others have) and we'll survive them again!  But still... THIRTEEN HOURS!  At least we have an iPad now (and I bought all the Angry Birds apps)!  Books!  Toys!  DIAPERS!  Oh, my!  So much to do!  Aaach!

Favorite Photo Friday {SCC!}

OK, this HAS to be my favorite photo this week!

We were very privileged last night to be able to volunteer at the Steven Curtis Chapman concert in Lincoln.  Because we have a connection now to Show Hope, we received an email letting us know about the concert and that they needed volunteers to help with the Show Hope table at the concert.  We were all for it!  They are helping us with some finances towards Le An's adoption, we can help them out!  We met some new friends and got to see an AWESOME concert!  Also performing were Andrew Peterson and Josh Wilson, a couple of relatively new faces on the Christian music scene.

During intermission, I asked the guy in charge of the Show Hope table (D.) if we could possibly meet Steven.  He said, "No, Steven isn't doing that."  OK, so we weren't any worse off now than we were before.  No problem.  We enjoyed the second half of the concert and went back to the table to help finish up the night.  Soon after we got back there, he pointed to us and said, "You guys, come with me.  I've got a favor to ask."  He started heading over to the other side of the (very large) lobby and we got to thinking "could it be?".  We realized that yes, it could be!  I asked if I could go back and get my camera.  I did and then he led us and two other gals down to the left front of the house (stage right) and told us to wait there for the tour manager to come and get us.  Steven was finishing up the concert with praise and worship music.  We waited.

Meighan started getting tired and I looked at the security guy who had just spoken to someone on his headset.  He said there had been a medical emergency in the lobby so everyone was occupied with that but we just needed to wait.

Soon, the tour manager came and got us and another family.  They lined us up against a wall and said Steven would be out to greet us.  He soon came out and greeted the first family.  When he was done he asked if they wanted to take a picture.  They didn't have a camera but I offered to take their picture and they could give us their email address and I'd email it to them.

Then he got to us.  We were able to PERSONALLY thank him and Show Hope for the grant that we received!  We showed him a picture of Le An and one of the two gals took several pictures of our interaction and then the above posed picture.

Then he went on to the other two gals.  I waited and took their picture with him and got their email address.

What an awesome evening!  I actually never thought we would get to meet him (although I kept thinking it would be really neat and cool to meet and thank him)!  He is such a nice person for the few minutes we were able to visit with him.

I had given D. our blog card and he gave us his card with his email address on it.  He seemed very interested in following our journey to our son who is in Henan Province -- the same province where Maria's Big House of Hope is!  I would LOVE to be able to visit Maria's Big House of Hope while we are there but I think our time will be so limited with a visit to the orphanage and adoption activities.  I also can't wait for the day when we will be able to donate to Show Hope and "give back" to an organization that has helped us tremendously!

Thank you, Show Hope!  Thank you, D.!  Thank you, Steven!

LOA and I-800

Today we sent off our signed LOA (Letter of Acceptance) to Holt.  They should receive it tomorrow to be able to send it to China.

We also sent off our I-800 form with all the documents and copies that are supposed to be sent with it to the USCIS.

Now we wait for "Provisional Approval" from the USCIS and then we wait for Travel Approval from China.

We now have an expected timeframe of travel -- 3 months.  That means probably we'll be traveling to bring our son home in January!

Favorite Photo Friday {Introducing... Xu Le An!}

So, of course, since we got our LOA today (!!), these are today's Favorite Photos!

Taken April 27, 2011 (8 months old)

Undated but younger than the above picture

Undated, taken same time as 2nd picture.

Taken August 17, 2011, 11 days before his 1st birthday!

Taken 11 days before his 1st birthday.

This was taken by someone who visited the orphanage when they were in China in May/June to get their son.  I joined a Yahoo Group of families who have adopted/are adopting from the same orphanage and this was in their pictures of their orphanage visit.

I love the split pants!

LOA! LOA! LOA!

Yippee!  Yahoo!

I'll post pictures of Le An tonight!

Favorite Photo Friday {Flexible!}

The other night (same night as pizza night) Meighan got out ALL of her balls and was playing with them -- lining them up, bouncing them, etc.  Then she said, "Mommy, watch this!"  She laid down on the floor, put the big bouncy ball between her feet and put it up to her nose.  Oh, I HAD to get a picture of THAT!  Then I had an idea...

Can you do it with a smaller ball?

Yes, she can!  How about a smaller ball?

Yes!  How 'bout an even smaller ball?

I was laughing pretty good by now!

Check out more cool photos here:

PIZZA!

Saturday we made a pizza for supper.  I decided that it had been too long since I had made a pizza.  So Friday when I got groceries I looked for pizza sauce.  I could not, for the life of me, find any pizza sauce.  Even after asking.  Even after looking in the aisle they said to look in 5 times!

So, I got online and looked for a fairly simple pizza sauce recipe.  I found one and had most of the ingredients.  On Saturday I stopped and bought tomatoes in puree, tomato paste and garlic to complete the ingredient gathering.  That evening (before the Husker game that did not end up in our favor) Meighan and I made a pizza!

I put the sauce together (smelled about right!), cooked some hamburger, opened the refrigerated pizza dough (I don't have time to make it from scratch), we spread it out on the stone on top of some corn meal, I spread the sauce on, we put the hamburger on, she put the pepperonis on, and she sprinkled the cheese on!  Voila!  A pizza!

We cooked it 13-17 minutes and we ate it and were quite impressed with how it tasted!  It was big enough that we even had leftovers!  I even have enough sauce left to make 4 more pizzas that size!  I froze 3 containers.  Today I found out that Rotella's has pizza dough for $1.07!  I'm goin' there next time!

Here's the recipe:

Pizza Sauce

1 28 oz can tomatoes (puree)
1/4 c. tomato paste
2 t. sugar
2 T. fresh basil (or 1 T dried)
2 t. fresh oregano (or 1 t. dried)
2-4 cloves garlic, minced (I used 2)
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

Put all ingredients in blender.  Blend until smooth.  Makes 3 cups.

Here's pics!

We were so hungry and excited to try it that I forgot to take a picture before we dug in!

What Does Santa Eating?

On the way to a family dinner tonight Meighan asked about Santa.

"What does Santa eating?" she asked.

"What do you think he's eating right now?" I asked back.

She replied with the following things that Santa is probably eating right now:

Hot dogs
Rice
Chicken
Milk
Mac Cheese
Strawberries
Grapes
Noodles

That sounds like a pretty good diet right now for Santa!

Favorite Photo Friday

I was going through our Disney photos from last March and I came across this one from our day at Animal Kingdom.  I went with her the first couple of times to show her what this was and then she went "all by MYself" (how she says it with the 'my' accented).

Check out other Favorite Photo Friday photos here:

Favorite Photo Friday

OK, so I couldn't decide between these two pictures today...

Our "techie" girl showing Daddy how to run the iPad.

Happy, happy!



It's A Waiting Game

We are still waiting for our LOA.  I got curious last night and called Holt and asked about the LOA.  I was told that they are taking longer now than they did at the beginning of the year.  Holt is waiting for ALL LOAs for referrals that were received in July & August.  She checked on the CCCWA's web site and with their contacts in Beijing and we are currently in the "review process" which takes 2-6 weeks.  We are currently more than 2 weeks into that wait.  So... Holt is expecting LOAs in early to mid-October.  (Groan.)

So...  I asked what I could be doing that would be needed next.  She said she would send me the I-800 form, instructions (it's a 10-page form!) and another form (1 page) and instructions and samples for both.  That way we can have them all ready to sign once we get the LOA.

So, we are waiting on China right now.  We'll do our part in a day or two.  Then we'll wait for the Department of Homeland Security to get the next approval to us.  Then I think we wait for Travel Approval (TA).  With all of this waiting, Holt is not expecting us to travel until next year (early next year, but next year all the same!).  (Another groan.)

Pray for any/all parts of this to go faster than expected!

Favorite Photo Friday (on Sunday)

This intermittent internet is driving me crazy.  I believe they are replacing phone cables now that the flood waters have receded a bit.

OK....

You knew this had to happen, right?

Even though I can't post photos of Le An yet, I can show some things we have for him.  :-)

GO BIG RED!

New Toy

We finally broke down and bought an iPad over Labor Day weekend. I've been wanting one to be able to buy and read ebooks (and I've heard there's some pretty cool apps out there). Tony also wanted to get one now so that we had time to learn how to use it before we go to China. I had no problem with that idea!

So this is my first post using (testing out) the iPad with Blogger. The on-screen keyboard is interesting to say the least. Ever since I learned to type I've never had to type with two fingers like I have to with this. I know they sell a 'regular' keyboard to go with the iPad and I may get that someday but I guess for typing posts temporarily, this will work, and it will save space (and weight) in our luggage.

On another note, we haven't had internet service for the last two days until just a couple of hours ago so I haven't gotten to post my Favorite Friday Photos for this week yet. I will get them posted before the weekend is over.

We also didn't have our land line phone for most of the day. We have it back now.

GO BIG RED!!!!!

50 Days ... and counting...

Today is day 50 since we received Le An's referral.  We are still waiting for LOA (Letter of Acceptance).  We just sent in our adoption fees and pre-travel and other forms.  Once we get LOA...we have MORE forms to fill out!  Mostly for immigration, I think.  The process is slightly different from when we adopted Meighan.  I've read that some people get LOA like 44 days after referral.  Not us.  We are still optimistically hoping to travel before Christmas, though!

Also, once we get LOA, I'll post his pictures on the blog!

Keep watching!

Favorite Photo Friday

I know, I know.  It's not actually "Friday" when I'm finally getting this posted (it's actually Saturday) but, another blogger (who also has adopted from China) has had a link party for other bloggers until last week called "Black and White Wednesday."  She ended that link party after 2 years and has now started a party called "Favorite Photo Friday" which I thought would be fun to participate in.  So... I will try to post on Fridays a favorite photo or two.  Here goes....

The other day when I was trying to get some ironing done, Meighan was running as fast as she could up and down the hallway.  When she would start running, she would say, "Superhero MEIGHAN!!!"  Her cape is a little doll blanket/quilt that my GREAT grandma made for me(!), and her "sword" or "light saber" or whatever she was using was a paper towel tube!  Just hilarious!  I asked her if I could take a picture of "Superhero MEIGHAN!" and she obliged.  She looks so serious as she is fighting the "bad guys."  :-)

And Daddy finally helped her get her "sword" in the correct hand for the pose I was looking for...

This spider web is about 2 feet in diameter!  It's connected to the house and the electric wires.  The sun was shining on it just right to be able to get this picture.  The spider is also hanging out in the center of it!

Check out other "Favorite Photo Friday" photos here:

Happy 1st Birthday, Le An!

Dear Le An,

Happy 1st birthday, sweet boy!  We can hardly wait to meet you and bring you home as part of our family!  Today we celebrated your birthday from our side of the world with cupcakes.  Your jie jie (big sister) picked out "your" cupcake and blew out the candle for you.  Next year YOU can blow out your own candles!

Love,
Mama, Baba & Jie Jie

First Day of School and Good News and Other Fun

Well, Meighan had her first day of school already and I'm just now getting to post about it.  She LOVES school and she was very excited to ride the bus and go to school.

I had to go to the doctor last week and while I was waiting for my prescription to be filled, I decided to have lunch at the Chinese Buffet in the grocery store.  This was my fortune:

So at that time we were still waiting to hear anything at all from our medical questions about Le An.  Last Thursday we received the 2 more pictures, updated developement information and measurements (all good) and on Friday we received the MRI results.  Nothing wrong.  There is nothing wrong with this child!  We definitely have received good news from far away!  They are still working on a video and we may receive that soon, too.  Can't wait!

Here are some recent pictures of our very smart and fun daughter!

My aunt and uncle came for a visit in early July.  My aunt had never met Meighan so we made sure to get down to visit them.

And my cousin had also never met Meighan.

The balloon puppy that we waited a LOOONG time for at a VERY hot Holt picnic.

Making chocolate chip cookies to take along with us on the plane to Seattle.  I love how she's standing on her tippy toes!  (She probably doesn't need to.)

Circle of Friends

She loves arranging things, especially all of her stuffed animals.

She eats corn on the cob like a pro!

Our very small crop of very small baby carrots.  They weren't worth eating but it made a good picture!

Our acrobat

She and I went to the zoo for a couple of hours last Saturday and this is a major part of the petting zoo.