A little update

Not too much to report, but we did get the official word that our paperwork arrived at the American Consulate last week and will be ready for pickup (exactly 10 business days later) on May 9th. Then it’s couriered to the Chinese government for our official Travel Approval. We also have our final travel meeting on Monday night with our social worker to complete our visa paperwork and talk about the various interviews we get to have with various levels of the Chinese government once we’re in-country.

Our guest bedroom is now starting to become a dropping-zone for our China gear, which we’re slowly learning how to use. The Burns family most kindly allowed us to use their son/our Godson to test out our baby carrier– success! Hunter, we hope our ineptitude didn’t scar you too much! (They say little kids bounce back quickly, right??) To add to the gear insanity, our good friends/neighbors across the street handed down many, many things to us just last weekend. We don’t know exactly where Alexander will be developmentally, but we do know that we have most, if not all, of the gear we’ll need when we get home.

The kindness, love, and generosity of our family and friends is such a blessing!

 

April showers bring… baby clothes?

Things are getting real.

We are now at the point in our paperchase where we don’t really have to do any more “work.” After checking in with my newest friend, the National Visa Center, we got word that Alexander’s application and our petition has been logged in and will be cabled to Guangzhou within the next two business days. (For those who need a map– our little man’s application was mailed to Texas, where it was forwarded to Missouri to the National Benefits Center, then forwarded on to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire (?), and will finally land at the American Embassy in China.) We’re incredibly grateful that with only one minor hiccup, our paperwork is still all together and headed onward. From this point, our agency and the American and Chinese Consulates take over– the end product being a formal letter to us inviting us to travel to China within a specific 90 day window (called a TA- or travel approval). So now, we just have to sit back, relax… and pace our home in anxious anticipation of our big adventure.

Back at Casa Kelly, Alexander’s room is beginning to fill with baby gear and clothing, almost all of which is the result of our generous family and friends. Brian’s sisters, neither of whom live in Chicagoland, hosted a baby shower in honor of Alexander last weekend at the home of one of Brian’s cousins. Family and friends drove and flew in for the occasion, and we were truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for the little man waiting for us in Shanxi Province.  We can’t wait to share with him the stories behind all of the thoughtful and handmade gifts he’ll be surrounded by once he comes home.

I thought about posting a photo of my first attempt to wear our new soft baby carrier (compliments of my good friend Teresa), but it was just too embarrassing. I tried strapping in a stuffed polar bear unsuccessfully. I think Brian and I have several hours of reading instructions ahead of us before we attempt with a human!

 

 

Progress in the Paperchase

Good news today! We received an email from our immigration officer indicating that Alexander’s immigration has been given provisional approval and his paperwork is now on its way to the National Visa Center (NVC). We have one final round of paperwork to submit to our agency along with Alexander’s visa photos– then the rest of the paperchase is officially out of our hands. Once all of our forms are at the NVC, papers and documents will start flying between officials and consulates. The end product will be a letter to us granting approval to travel to China.

Just a quick comment about our dealings with USCIS– I have to applaud the officers who handle Hague Convention adoptions. All of my conversations and correspondence with them has been downright pleasant and incredibly timely.  I’ve dealt with a fair amount of bureaucracy and paperchasing, and DHS/USCIS has been one of the most pleasant parts. Go figure!