Another Care Package

This week we ordered another care package and letter for Noah.  It should arrive within the next few days at the orphanage.  Our adoption agency recommended a company called Ladybugs N Love after we received the pre-approval for Noah's adoption.

We have sent previous packages thru them and been very happy.  A woman in China named Angela  hand-selects the items you request and then personally delivers or mails the items in-country (much quicker than shipping from the US which not all orphanages allow).

Here's a picture of what we chose for Noah and his ayis:

The Orphanage

Noah is currently living in the Zhengzhou Children's Welfare Institute in the Henan province (China).    There are 1,200 cribs/beds for children there.

He was originally placed in the Lily Care room at approximately 3 months old when he was admitted to the orphanage after being abandoned. Between 15-20 children live and 3 nannies work in this room daily.  These children sleep in cribs that are right next to one another.

Next week Noah will be moved into an apartment within the orphanage and be cared for by Bethel full-time.  We are very excited about this opportunity and the extra attention he and the other children will receive.  There will only be 6-7 children in each apartment with 3-4 bedrooms.  That's a lot more space for everyone!

Also Noah will be able to have a bath every night now and extra play time during the evening.  So awesome!  This week the children were taken over each day to see their new rooms.  Can you spot Noah checking the place out in the pictures below?

 We are very excited about this new "home" for him but even more excited about traveling to China and bringing him home with us.

Documents Update

We were notified last night that our dossier documents are done processing thru the Secretary of State (Georgia).  Apparently a new form came out for the consulate our adoption agency is sending the documents to so we had to fill out a new application form immediately.  We were able to sign, scan and email last night.  Whew!  A little bit of movement.  

In other news, the last package we sent to Noah has still NOT arrived (mailed on May 29) so I am now considering it lost and filing a claim with USPS.  

Walk In

Luke and I took a chance and drove to Atlanta today and were able to "walk in" for our biometrics (fingerprints) at the ASC office.  I had read online (on one of the million adoption blogs I now follow) that on Tuesday-Friday you could successfully walk in after 1 PM.

We arrived around 1:00 and waited in line to sign in.  The officer at the door was actually very friendly and took our names after checking our ASC appointment notice form (which stated our appointment wasn't until July 29).  He told us it had been a busy day and to check back in about an hour.  We debated between standing outside (you are not allowed to go inside the building if you are waiting) or sitting in the car.   Then Luke suggested we drive down the road and get a drink somewhere.  LOL Yes, that's what we decided on.  We found a small Mexican restaurant and each ordered an adult beverage and an appetizer to share.

After about 45 minutes we drove back to the ASC office and waited some more.  The line was very short and the officer was making a last call for those with appointments (for that day).  He then started to call people from the walk in list one by one.  Luke and I were eventually called, headed inside to fill out more paperwork and wait some more.

The time it actually took to capture the biometrics was less than 10 minutes.  This is set #3 of fingerprints for the adoption.  I showed Noah's picture to a lot of people that were also waiting although no one else was there for an adoption.  We did meet some interesting people and of course received some comments about adoption.  One man said he had heard about the Hopkins, "you are adopting 4 kids, right?" he asked.  I was pretty sure that was a joke and smiled.  Another lady said, "you must come from a really large family, huh?"  I said no, Luke and I  have just one sibling each.  She was surprised and shared that she though most people that adopt come from big families.  

After we were finished we hurried home hoping to avoid rush hour traffic and get back to Ella and Beckett (at home with a babysitter).  The whole trip took 4 hours.  I'm really glad we decided to take a shot at the "walk in" as we would still be waiting another 20 days to be fingerprinted had we not.  I plan to call USCIS tomorrow to let our immigration officer know we had our biometrics captured already.  It's possible it might speed up the approval process.  Maybe this will cut a few weeks off of Noah's wait too.

ASC Appointment Notice

We got our biometrics appointment notice in the mail today!  This is the invitation to be fingerprinted by the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS).  We need these to obtain I-800 A approval and then send with our dossier documents to China.

All great news...except you have no say in the appointment and ours was made for 3 weeks from now when we have planned to be out of the country on a family trip (thank you mom and dad-it's a free vacation don't want anyone to get the wrong idea...we are saving for Noah's adoption costs every chance we get).  Luke and I plan to walk-in and wait this week at the USCIS Atlanta office and attempt to be fingerprinted early (I have read online that you can do this).

Please pray we are successful and that we are granted I-800 A approval.  We're taking baby steps for Noah!

Love Bug

I was so happy to see this new picture of Noah last night.  His teachers say he is a really sweet and affectionate.  Reminds me a lot of his brother, Beckett.  I'm sure he is all boy and quite a handful at times, too.  :)

A Heart for Orphans

Found this image online today and LOVED it.  For us, adoption is a heart thing.  It's something we believe we are supposed to do and thru God's love we will be able to make sure Noah is not left as an orphan.

But helping orphans doesn't have to mean adopting.  Praying, volunteering, sponsoring and sending items are all ways to help orphans that don't involve adoption.  I think most people have a heart for orphans they just haven't realized it yet.

More Waiting

We're just getting home from a short family vacation and I was surprised but very glad to find our form I-797 C, Notice of Action in the stack of mail.  It's a notice from the Department of Homeland Security that they have received our I-800A application and checks.  In large bold ink it states THIS NOTICE DOES NOT GRANT ANY IMMIGRATION STATUS OR BENEFIT.  Loud and clear from the USCIS.

It means the paperwork is now on it's way to the Hague Adoption Unit (located in Missouri).  I called last Friday to check and see if we had been assigned an immigration officer (we have not) and was told nothing except that unless our child was dying there would be no hope to expedite any paperwork.  Ouch!

Honestly, this notice makes me feel a little bit better  Things are progressing just not as quickly as we'd like.  More hurry up and wait for Noah...but we can do that.