I-797 and Bonus Baby Pictures

The I-800 A approval arrived by mail late Thursday afternoon (its officially called an I-797).  I hurried to have it certified by a document custodian so that we could start the county and state certifications the following day.  On Friday we went to the Forsyth County Superior Courthouse in Cumming and the Secretary of State in Atlanta to obtain the Great Seal.  After that  I overnighted the certified papers to the Chinese Consulate General in Houston, Texas.

We decided to pay for the same-day authenticated (an extra $30) and included a pre-paid FedEx priority overnight envelope so that there is no wasted time to be DTC.  Our agency predicted we will be DTC this Friday, August 30.  It sounded a little optimistic when they told me but the precious papers arrived on time at the CC at 10:30 AM today (Monday) so it is a real possibility.  They should be returned by mail tomorrow and then after we review them, I'll turn right back around and overnight it to our agency in California.  Whew!

Beckett rode along for the day with Luke and I but Ella was at school (she started Kindergarten 3 weeks ago).  He scored more peanuts from the SOC and watched quite a few videos but he was happy the entire day.  He's really taken an interest in the talk abut Noah.  He calls him his brother and if anyone asks he is glad to elaborate on all the things they'll do together-play trains, baseball and build Legos, currently.  We're moving Ella and Beckett into their permanent rooms tomorrow night and the boys (once Noah is hime with us) will share a bathroom so as you can imagine there is LOTS of talk about yours, mine and ours.

I received these pictures today from a woman that volunteered in the Lily Orphan Care room when Noah was an infant.

She said he was a happy baby and laughed a lot, sucked his fingers to soothe himself and had nystagmus (which we did not know but are not scared or surprised by).  I'm so thankful for people that have met our son and share his past with us!

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 

I-800A Approval!

We were SO excited to receive an email on Saturday afternoon from USCIS notifying us that our I-800 A was approved (technically it's called an I-797 C).  We hope to receive the paper copy this week and immediately have it notarized, state certified and overnighted to the Chinese Consulate for authentication.  We're also planning to pay to expedite this part (literally less than $50) because this was the LAST piece of paper we needed to complete the dossier.

In a few shorts weeks we will be what's called DTC (dossier to China).  From there we'll be waiting on our LID (log in date) and start the official countdown to travel. It's still more hurry up and wait but the majority of the paper chase will be over.  Of course there is no definite timeline but if everything goes smoothly (and we hope and pray that it will) we could be bringing Noah home with us at the very end of the year.

Slinging It

The orphanage sent a new picture of Noah after we received the update.  Do you see who is right there with him?  It's his best friend Jian Shan! I asked about his status and right now his file is being completed/prepared.  That means he is not on the shared list nor listed with an adoption agency (yet).  As soon as I know more I plan to share in on here so that we can help find him a loving, forever family, too.

August Orphanage Update

We were pleasantly surprised by the latest update on Noah from his orphanage, the ZhengZhou Childrens Welfare Institute. We received the answers just a few days after our adoption agency, Heartsent Adoptions Incorporated, sent them.  I didn't edit the requested update for grammar so you can see (literally) how the questions were answered.


1. How much does he weigh?  How tall is he?  What is his head circumference? Height 86cm, weight 14 kilo, head size 51cm

 2. What size is his foot? Foot length 13cm

3. Has he had any illness or injury since the update of May 2013? Since May this year he got fever one time and the bone on his right arm broken, not recovered yet.

4. What is the name of the room at the orphanage that he stays in? He sleeps in children room, four little children inside.

 5. Does he currently sleep in a crib or bed? He sleeps in baby bed.
   
 6. How does he sleep at night?  For how many hours? He sleeps well, no crying, he sleeps until daytime, about 10 or 11 hours for sleep.

 7. What soothes him if he is upset? When he is not happy the caregiver can hold
 him, kiss him or give him a candy.
 
8. Does he have a favorite caregiver or friend? His favorite friend is a little boy Zheng
 Jian Shan

 9. What is his favorite toy? His favorite toy is a toy duck with sound or beating music instrument.

 10. What is his favorite activity? His favorite game is hide and seek or playing little plastic circle with his friends.

So roughly Noah is 33 inches tall and weighs 30 pounds.  His foot is approximately the size of a little boys 6.  He is pretty small overall and certainly so if anyone is comparing him to his brother, Beckett.  For a child living in an orphanage I think these are actually great numbers.

Day Trip-Great Seal & Souvenir

On Friday, August 9th we made a quick day trip to Atlanta and were able to walk in and have our marriage license (the third one) certified with the Great Seal.  It cost $10 and took less than ten minutes.

  The receptionist and also the woman that certified the document both loved seeing Beckett and Noah's pictures (yes of course I showed them).  We even got a souvenir!

 If you are not familiar with the state of Georgia the peanuts might seem like an odd choice; we're  known for crops like peaches and...peanuts.

Still no I-800A approval but I'm feeling confident that it will come in the next 2 weeks.  Please continue to pray for Noah-his health and safety-while he waits in China.

Still waiting

I haven't updated in awhile since there hasn't been any real news to share.  We're STILL waiting on the I-800A approval and based on my blog research we will continue to wait another week or two.  I called and emailed USCIS and they were adamant we would not have our file reviewed until approximately August 20.  Things have certainly slowed down in terms of their turnaround time.

We're also having to redo or for lack of a better word "reget" a document.  Our marriage license was rejected by the Chinese Consulate during authentication because the certified seal is too old.  We found this out while we were out of the country on a vacation with family and addressed it immediately once we returned (we requested a new certified copy of the marriage license).  Unfortunately the county that we married in (Bibb) does not have online records so we had to mail a money order and request and that will also slow things down slightly.

Once the new marriage license arrives we will need to have it state certified (in Atlanta) and then overnight it to a courier in Washington D.C. for the Consulate authentication.  Little bumps our adoption agency assured us but truly a waste of time and money over a mistake (not blaming anyone-we knew the marriage license was old when we submitted it but it was accepted).

So as if that wasn't enough we were told by someone that visited Noah's orphanage last week that he had broken his arm.  Since we already have a 2 year old son I am well aware of how accidents occur. We don't know the details and we probably never will.   If you saw me in person last week you can probably attest to the fact that I have been a mess, very emotional and truly beside myself.  Of course I want to fly to China and bring him home with me and wrap him in a cocoon.

At this point we have requested a formal update from his orphanage and are praying that he is not in pain and heals quickly (my gut tells me a broken bone isn't going to slow our little boy down).  Thanks again for continuing to follow along and keeping hope for Noah!