Sunday, April 28, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Progress at every turn
There has been so much progress since our last post. We received our I800 approval 4/9/13. Our case was assigned to the Embassy in GZ so we were given a GUZ # on 4/15/13. Our case was then forwarded to the Embassy (being cabled) on 4/16/13. That allowed our agency to drop our documents off at the US Embassy on 4/17/13 so they can issue our Article 5. Our A5 will be issued by the US Embassy in GZ and picked up by our agency 5/2/13. That means we will be officially waiting for our travel approval (TA)!! That is it people. We won't know anything new until mid May when we hope to get our TA that will allow us to travel at the end of May.
So what have we been doing in all of our down time over the past 2 weeks....
We filed for our Chinese visas, mailed the applications, passports and money the the Chinese Embassy in DC. We received our visas back today.
We turned in our FMLA paperwork.
Filled prescriptions for travel medication.
Made a packing list (kinda).
Purchased some items for travel (converts, backpack, gifts to give while in China)
Cleaned out the playroom and nursery (translation - took all the stuff out that has been stacking up for months)
Painted the playroom shelf.
Built, painted, installed playroom book shelf.
Put up baby gates (mainly to keep the dogs out of the playroom).
Put the nursery dresser together.
Washed and sorted all the baby clothes.
Painted the shed.
Built the gate for the deck.
Made appointments for the littles for when we are home.
Put kid games on the tablet.
That is all I can think of right now.
This is the playroom pre-yardsale.
This is what it looked like Friday after we FINALLY emptied and cleaned it.
Kyle was kind enough to build us this shelf for the playroom. We sanded, primed and painted it over the course of what felt like 4 weeks. It may have just been a matter of hours but I can't be sure.
Jake also built book shelves for the playroom. Started with 1x4's, a little trim and some white paint. We are working on a budget here people.
I think that they look AWESOME! Great deal for around $30 I think. I have been buying books for years for our children. Most are the $5 Kohl's Cares for Kids books. I love them.
The foam floor looks great too! $10 at a yard sale a couple of years ago. Great deal!
The amazing toy shelf!! I really think it turned out great. I dug out a few boxes of toys I bought a couple of adoptions ago. Leslie and I hit up a few kids consignment sales and they have been stored away ever since.
The playroom isn't done yet. I have one more super awesome project. I am so happy with what we have been able to do in the playroom and not break the bank. Yard sales, consignment sales and a little skilled labor. I LOVE it.
So what have we been doing in all of our down time over the past 2 weeks....
We filed for our Chinese visas, mailed the applications, passports and money the the Chinese Embassy in DC. We received our visas back today.
We turned in our FMLA paperwork.
Filled prescriptions for travel medication.
Made a packing list (kinda).
Purchased some items for travel (converts, backpack, gifts to give while in China)
Cleaned out the playroom and nursery (translation - took all the stuff out that has been stacking up for months)
Painted the playroom shelf.
Built, painted, installed playroom book shelf.
Put up baby gates (mainly to keep the dogs out of the playroom).
Put the nursery dresser together.
Washed and sorted all the baby clothes.
Painted the shed.
Built the gate for the deck.
Made appointments for the littles for when we are home.
Put kid games on the tablet.
That is all I can think of right now.
This is the playroom pre-yardsale.
This is what it looked like Friday after we FINALLY emptied and cleaned it.
Kyle was kind enough to build us this shelf for the playroom. We sanded, primed and painted it over the course of what felt like 4 weeks. It may have just been a matter of hours but I can't be sure.
Jake also built book shelves for the playroom. Started with 1x4's, a little trim and some white paint. We are working on a budget here people.
I think that they look AWESOME! Great deal for around $30 I think. I have been buying books for years for our children. Most are the $5 Kohl's Cares for Kids books. I love them.
The foam floor looks great too! $10 at a yard sale a couple of years ago. Great deal!
The amazing toy shelf!! I really think it turned out great. I dug out a few boxes of toys I bought a couple of adoptions ago. Leslie and I hit up a few kids consignment sales and they have been stored away ever since.
The playroom isn't done yet. I have one more super awesome project. I am so happy with what we have been able to do in the playroom and not break the bank. Yard sales, consignment sales and a little skilled labor. I LOVE it.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Overdue Update!
So much has happened and I have not updated the blog in ages!
We received our LOA's (approval letters) weeks ago. After receiving our LOA, we signed them and they were mailed back to our agency. Prior to our matches we applied to the US government to bring our children to the US, to have them become Americans. Our approvals were for fictional children since we were not matched yet. After we received our approvals we were required to send our LOA's back to the US government to add Ayla and Isaac, by name, to our approvals. We mailed that to the government 3/27, it was delivered 3/28, moved from immigration to the NBC (National Benefits Center) on 4/2 and our approval was issued 4/9! This seemed fast to me and I wasn't expecting this approval until next week! Good surprise. Are you confused about the process yet?? Following this set of approvals issued on 4/9 our files have been transferred again. Now they are at the NVC (National Visa Center). I am very hopeful that this step will be completed Tuesday of this week. The NVC will forward the files, completed, to the Embassy in China! There are a few more steps involved - emails to the NVC, requesting a PDF copy of the NVC approval, etc.
The important part....when will we travel?! The next step, which we hope to be completed Tuesday, will move us into a standard 14 day wait. Some forms are dropped off and then picked up 14 days later. Then we are waiting for our TA (travel approval)!! That is it people! People are receiving TA in 7 to 18 days. After that, we will be getting on a plane to Beijing! OMG! We are currently thinking we will leave at the end of May. As in NEXT month. OMG!
We have been putting things off until "later" for this entire adoption process. Past adoptions prevented us from jumping in, preparing, buying stuff.....well, it is now "later".
And then there was the Yard Sale Miracle! We had a HUGE yard sale and sold a BUNCH of stuff! Our friends and family are absolutely amazing. People donated, sorted, priced, packed, unpacked, arranged, sold and worked super hard on this sale. There is no way we could have done this without your help. We decided that we needed to start bringing items out of the house at 6 am and the shoppers showed up at 6:45 with flashlights. Yep, flashlights. Hard core yard sale people. The people came, they bought and they overwhelmed us. We didn't eat breakfast because there was no time. We were silly and thought there would be time. Skipped right to lunch! It took 3.5 hours to get everything out of the boxes and onto tables. Our neighbors were SO kind to let us use their yards and take over the street. It may take a year for our grass to recover but we are so glad we did it. It really was a huge blessing and we had no idea it would be so successful. Thank you to everyone who donated, helped and encouraged us. Ayla and Isaac are very loved.
We received our LOA's (approval letters) weeks ago. After receiving our LOA, we signed them and they were mailed back to our agency. Prior to our matches we applied to the US government to bring our children to the US, to have them become Americans. Our approvals were for fictional children since we were not matched yet. After we received our approvals we were required to send our LOA's back to the US government to add Ayla and Isaac, by name, to our approvals. We mailed that to the government 3/27, it was delivered 3/28, moved from immigration to the NBC (National Benefits Center) on 4/2 and our approval was issued 4/9! This seemed fast to me and I wasn't expecting this approval until next week! Good surprise. Are you confused about the process yet?? Following this set of approvals issued on 4/9 our files have been transferred again. Now they are at the NVC (National Visa Center). I am very hopeful that this step will be completed Tuesday of this week. The NVC will forward the files, completed, to the Embassy in China! There are a few more steps involved - emails to the NVC, requesting a PDF copy of the NVC approval, etc.
The important part....when will we travel?! The next step, which we hope to be completed Tuesday, will move us into a standard 14 day wait. Some forms are dropped off and then picked up 14 days later. Then we are waiting for our TA (travel approval)!! That is it people! People are receiving TA in 7 to 18 days. After that, we will be getting on a plane to Beijing! OMG! We are currently thinking we will leave at the end of May. As in NEXT month. OMG!
We have been putting things off until "later" for this entire adoption process. Past adoptions prevented us from jumping in, preparing, buying stuff.....well, it is now "later".
And then there was the Yard Sale Miracle! We had a HUGE yard sale and sold a BUNCH of stuff! Our friends and family are absolutely amazing. People donated, sorted, priced, packed, unpacked, arranged, sold and worked super hard on this sale. There is no way we could have done this without your help. We decided that we needed to start bringing items out of the house at 6 am and the shoppers showed up at 6:45 with flashlights. Yep, flashlights. Hard core yard sale people. The people came, they bought and they overwhelmed us. We didn't eat breakfast because there was no time. We were silly and thought there would be time. Skipped right to lunch! It took 3.5 hours to get everything out of the boxes and onto tables. Our neighbors were SO kind to let us use their yards and take over the street. It may take a year for our grass to recover but we are so glad we did it. It really was a huge blessing and we had no idea it would be so successful. Thank you to everyone who donated, helped and encouraged us. Ayla and Isaac are very loved.
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