What I found out today

I called Holt and asked questions today.

We were wondering if they could tell us ANYTHING about when things might happen. They gave me an idea... We may get our Letter of Acceptance around late-February, then about 4 weeks later we'll get our Travel Approval. THEN, 2 1/2 to 5 weeks after that we'll be on the plane to China! That would put us in China sometime in April. That's if everything goes at a "normal" pace. If things go a little quicker, maybe we'll be able to go in March.

They also said that the photo album was sent to Holt-China on Jan. 16. It takes 7-9 days to get there and then within 48 hours, Holt gets it to our daughter. So, she should receive it sometime next week.

Regarding our request for 1-2 more recent pictures and current height and weight, he was going to re-request that for a 3rd time today. Because of the Chinese New Year next week, he supposed we might see something the week after next.

So unless something big happens next week, I don't expect to post again until February.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone on January 26. Year of the Ox, 4707.

Holt Received Package

I called Holt to make sure they received our forms, money and the photo album today and they did. Now we wait again...for approval and travel instructions. We're getting closer!

Package Sent to Holt

Today we sent off forms that Holt needs, our final adoption fees, and the little photo album that we put together for Beibei. They should receive it on Monday. Once they receive our money we are all set to be approved by the CCAA and once Holt then receives our travel approval, they can let us know. They would not let us know unless they had our money. That was a BIG step towards bringing our daughter home. Whew!

We are still waiting to see if we will get another 1-2 more recent pictures and her current height and weight.

Baby Stuff and Paperwork

Today was very productive. We went out and got probably the last stroller in Omaha of the type we were looking at. We also got a gate for the basement door. Problem is, the cats need to be able to get through it. Misty made it (eventually) but Sunshine hasn't yet. Tony may try to modify it a bit with his welding skills.

Since Christmas we've also gotten a car seat and a high chair. In total, all of these 4 items have only cost just just over $200 so we think we're doing quite well. We look for sales and clearances or something that would be more useful. Like the high chair...it's kinda neat. It is just the seat and tray basically and it just straps to a regular chair. Then later, it converts to a booster seat! We both went "hmmmm" when we saw that!

We also, today, took down the Christmas lights outside and I took down the ornaments from the tree. I'll probably take care of the lights and the tree itself on Sunday. Tony worked in the shop a bit, I watched the Husker game (ended up good, anyway!), and tonight we finished what we could on the Holt paperwork and filled out the paperwork for the NCHS annual update. We have to be current in Nebraska with our homestudy when we re-adopt her 6 months after we get home. Geez! The paperwork is something else! We're getting good at it, though!

Email from Children's Hope

We are still on the Children's Hope email list. We received an email tonight from them that they just received Hague Accreditation! Congratulations Children's Hope!

Assignment Packet

I found out today that our Home Study Addendum is about done. Our caseworker called to verify some information.

When I got home, our Assignment Packet had arrived. It has... MORE FORMS! Forms that we need to fill out for the Placement Agreement, the invoice (and we found out over the weekend that the Orphange Donation went up for persons traveling after January 1--eek!), Foreign Travel Release, Visa information, and information about pre-travel, list of documents to take to China, instructions for the Consulate Paperwork, a suggested gift list for the orphange caretakers and the orphanage kids, and a few other prep info pages.

We also got an email last night that Holt recommends doing a little photo album to send to our child ahead of time so that we are not COMPLETE strangers when we meet her. We have to have any captions and the letter (if we write one) translated ourselves. I expect to be able to take pictures over Christmas and get it sent off in early January.

We've also asked for 1-2 more recent pictures of Beibei and her current height and weight. That way we will have a better idea of what size clothes to buy. They recommend only taking 2-3 outfits and then buying more there (they are cheaper there) when you know her size even better.

So... we have more work to do!

Announcement Day

We went to church today. My parents met us there and we had invited Tony's parents too. His mom came. The original plan was that my parents were going to come to church and then take us out for my birthday. So... we kind of changed things around and made it into our announcement day.

Church was good and then we all met at the Farmhouse. We got our orders put in and then we started our announcement. It sounded like Tony was going to tell them all about everything before last Sunday so I kind of pushed and we handed them envelopes with Beibei's pictures as we said, "We were wondering if you'd like to meet your new granddaughter".

Oh, both our moms started crying and we also almost cried. They are very excited and asked questions. We told them about the first referral that we turned down and we enjoyed a very good meal! We swore them to secrecy until they received the email. Then they can tell whoever they want!