Monthly Archives: October 2012

A surprisingly refreshing break

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As you’ve seen (or more appropriately haven’t seen), there hasn’t been much to update you on as of late. Our failed efforts at the Consulate has forced us to regroup, make a few changes to our dossier, and take a step back for a few weeks. Our agency has been incredibly kind and supportive to us, and our friends have bent over backwards to offer help– one dear friend even offered to courier some out-of-state documents for us!

The slight “break” from all the paperwork has been wonderful, and it’s given me a chance to begin to clean up our garden for the year and plan for my fall bulb planting. Now our little adoption hiatus has most likely come to a close, as our final document for state and Consulate processing should be coming in any day. That means I’ll be making my hopefully last trip to the Secretary of State and the Consulate early next week.

If the unexpected delay and slight backtracking has taught me anything, it’s that there will be setbacks during this adventure. To quote our fantastic coordinator, “You know first hand that adoption is not a 50 yard dash, but a marathon.” So for now we’ll take things day by day, and soon enough we’ll find ourselves in Beijing!

The Silver Lining

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After much complaining and lamenting, I figured it would be good to take a step back and express our gratitude to those of you who are following along, commenting, and praying for our family. For as frustrating as the seemingly-endless stacks of paperwork and red tape can be, there is something joyful about having friends and family all over the world cheering us on.  Though there are definitely times when I look down at the stack of paperwork and the long road ahead of us and it feels endless, but just knowing you’re out there supporting us and praying for our child* (where ever they are) is the silver lining that is helping us plod forward.

So thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

 

*which reminds me- for those of you who pray, I ask that you keep our child in your prayers. Given the average age range of children adopted through this program, it is almost 100% certain that our child has been born and is currently residing in a social welfare institution and is waiting for their family– they just don’t know they’re a Kelly just yet!

 

Important papers

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Today just might be a landmark day. I’m starting out this morning at the secretary of state’s office for hopefully the last time. Then off to the Chinese Consulate to drop off all our important papers to be authenticated. Cross your fingers, say a prayer, and stay tuned for updates later today.

Nesting 101

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This is a post for all the ladies out there.

Nesting. Wow, even though it’s the subject of many a jokes (and websites!), it’s a scary, scary, fact. There’s a strange maternal nesting instinct that kicks in at some point that screams to fill your chest freezer, knit baby booties, and make sweeping, unrealistic long-term plans.

I present Exhibit A  (aka Last Sunday’s decision to make “a little extra for dinner”)

Must. Fill. Freezer. Must. Bake. Stuffed Shells.

I’m sure all you ladies out there who have experienced pregnancy before or who are pregnant now know the cruel, cruel power of nesting. One day, you’re sitting peacefully and enjoying life. The next day, you feel a burning urge to start baking and freezing, canning and freeze-drying rations like you’re Carolyn Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. Your husband just stares at you cluelessly, and offers only the input, “Well, if you’re gonna make muffins, can you put chocolate chips in them?”

Though I don’t think it’s a horrible thing to experience, I didn’t expect it to impact me as much as it has as an adoptive mom-to-be. The big negative here? Since we still don’t have a firm date of when we’ll be bringing our child home, I spend a good chunk of my nesting energy telling Brian “I feel antsy!” This is Kathleen-speak for “I know I should be doing something to ensure that my child will never run out of frozen dinners, but I don’t know enough details to make a reasonable estimate!”  Still, I’ve managed to put several meals into the freezer, which will at the very least provide for some easy go-to meals during the holiday season.

Moms (and dads) of all ages and folks who know exactly what I’m talking about, please spill your nesting stories. You KNOW you have them. Just how many quarts of vegetable soup did you freeze??? And this would also be a great time to pass along your best freeze-and-go recipes. On your mark, get set….. Share!

 

It’s all here

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Today was a banner day!  First, Brian picked up my amended surgical history letter– and it was signed and notarized properly (yay!) Secondly, we had a big, fat packet from USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security. On very official-looking paper, Our Government certified us as acceptable adoptive parents to one child or twins living in a country operating under the Hague Convention (of which China is one). This document is the final missing piece we’ve been waiting for.

Our next step is to get those final two documents certified, then all the documents head to the Consulate. At the rate we’re going, we should have our dossier to our agency and on its way to China by early November!!!

 

 

Approved!

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One reason for keeping this adoption journey blog is to be able to update friends and family when we experience successes and setbacks. Today, I have the pleasure of sharing happy news!

Even though we had our biometrics appointment with the USCIS on Friday, I decided to give a call to Our Government at lunchtime today to see if our prints were received and if we were assigned an immigration officer. As I’ve mentioned a few times before, the usual time frame for getting the official Federal Government Two Thumbs Up ™ takes between 60-90 days in total, with the approval coming in about at least a month or so after the appointment.

When I inquired today, a very friendly employee over at USCIS happily informed me that not only had we been assigned an immigration officer, but that they had approved our application for adoption the day we had our fingerprints taken! This is an approval time of less than 24 hours!

So now, we just wait for the official clearance document to submit with our dossier. This is the final little bit of dossier that we need to gather, and then it all gets sealed by the Chinese Consulate.

When the preparation and documentation process is this involved, you have to celebrate every victory. Today is a great day indeed!

 

Today’s Governmental Encounter

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Today, Kathleen and I visited the Application Support Center. No, we didn’t go to Dell customer support. It’s a nondescript unit in a mini-mall in the middle of the suburban shopping parking lot expanse that is the border between Naperville and Aurora. You wouldn’t know that it’s the INS until you’re safely inside the one-way-glass door.

Once inside, we filled out a couple of quick forms and were issued our service numbers, deli counter style. Both of our numbers were then immediately called. Talk about efficiency! At that point, the staff treated us to our second fingerprinting of this whole adoption process.

This fingerprinting is required for the naturalization process of our child. This makes it (once we’re approved and all) so that once we step back on to American soil with our child, he or she will immediately become a U.S. citizen.

The fingerprinting was mostly uneventful, though they did have a little trouble with my left pinky. It’s a little misshapen from a childhood accident. It was slammed in a door when I was three or so, and from the base of the fingernail or so up, it had to be sown back on. Kathleen was suitably horrified by this story, but I thought I had told her before. I guess there’s always more to learn about each other.