Potty in the what?!

So I recently read funny china adoption story on a blog that I just have to share. Have you noticed the hole at the bottom of Dongyue's pants? Well all of the little ones wear these pants, not just at the orphanage, in China they are made that way. The reason is because instead of toilets they have a hole in the floor that they "go" in. They train the babies quite early to hold it until they are shaken a bit over the hole and then they go. This is all according to our homestudy provider when I asked about the strange clothing. So although Dongyue is reportedly potty trained, we will no doubt be doing more training starting as soon as we get back to the hotel with her. Yes, thankfully the hotels do have toilets! So the story goes that this couple brought their little one back and thought all was fine and dandy on the potty front... until, yes, they found out she was squatting over their grates and doing her business. Hmm.. We have a lot of grates here, needless to say we will be keeping a very close eye;-)

Update from the Orphanage

We received an update from the orphanage last week! There seems to be no concern regarding Dongyue's physical health. Although she has the cleft palate and the heart defect she is reported as being healthy day to day. They say she is rarely sick and is of average intelligence and when compared to other children her age the only difference is her size. She is really small at only 18 lbs. That's the equivalent of an average one year old here in the States! She is now 2 years 7 months. I can't wait to feed her and take care of her!

And...I-800 A approval came in the mail today! It now needs US and Chinese Consulate certification. Once this is done the Dossier is completed. I'm hoping we are Dossier to China (DTC) by Friday. Keep your fingers crossed!

China is implementing new requirements including 6 new post placement visits with a social worker rather than the 2 required previously. I'm really hoping we have travel approval by August 1st to avoid this because it will mean more $- but I realize that this is being extremely optimistic.

In the meantime here is another picture of her...

We have I-800A Approval! Well, sort of...

So I noticed all of my fellow adoptive parents with application receipt dates of 2/14 were receiving their approvals on Monday (Love Chinaadopttalk btw). So I called USCIS yesterday to get an update on the status of our application and to make sure they received my updated homestudy- which I had been previously assured by someone else there that it had been added to our file. Can you see where this story might be going now? So Officer Banks called me back today to say that yes, we were approved on Friday! 46 days after receipt! But, what did I mean on the message when I asked about a revised homestudy? Hmmm.. Well, long story short, the revised homestudy never made it to the file. So while I was on hold for 10 minutes she was able to locate it. She won't make us file again but I have to disregard the other approval and use the one she'll make effective today. Awesome! I'll take it! So my friends, it is almost DOSSIER TO CHINA!

Baby "A" At The Orphanage!

I can hardly believe this but there is a video of the orphanage taken in November! And Dongyue is in it! It was taken one month before we found her. I recently connected with an adoptive mom who was able to visit the orphanage, which is very rare, and she took some video and pictures. She was kind enough to share them with me and I just feel so blessed to have them. Dongyue is being held by the nanny in the video! Now there is another toddler girl in the same exact outfit standing next to the Nanny in the beginning of the video. That's not her! Dongyue has the pink shoes and comes in later in the arms of the nanny.
She looks so much smaller than she did in the pictures. Here is the video...

Enjoy! Now, I'm going back to watch it for the 50th time!
Amanda

Fingerprinting Appointments!

We have appointments for fingerprinting!
In St. Albans (glad we have an INS here!) on March 17th! Although I am going to call to get in earlier... ;-)

One baby step at a time...

We received notification that our I-800A was received at USCIS (Feb. 22) so I was able to send our revised homestudy to them directly on Thursday. Friday we got our dossier (minus I-800A approval) to the agency who will send it to Washington DC for the US and Chinese Embassy certification. Once we get our I-800A approval they will have it expedited for the same authentication (only 4 days!) and then the dossier can be sent to China...now I'm getting ahead of myself. That's still 2 months off, at least. But to have that dossier done is no small feat.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone and Adrian- Happy Birthday!!

We aren't big on Valentine's day as a romantic day. It's Adrian's day and today he is 14. Did you read that right? Yep. 14!! He is so smart, patient, sweet and loving. I am so proud to have him as my son. I often wonder how I got to be so lucky with so many wonderful children. He was the first. He was the one who made us parents for the first time. He gave us something bigger than ourselves to think about. He made us realize how much we love children and love having them around. He's a true blessing and I hope he knows how much we love him, admire him, and wish only but the best for him. Happy Birthday Adrian!

Minor Setback

Well the I-800A was sent in with the homestudy on Friday and I'm reading through the homestudy Saturday and I find a mistake. Our homestudy provider only approved us to adopt a child with developmental delays. Dongyue's needs are a little more significant than that. Sure enough, after talking to my agency just now, we were supposed to have her exact special needs listed and an approval for those needs. Ugghh. But I'm starting to get used to this now and I'm not letting it bug me as much as I did before...So long story short, there is a way to fix it. Once my application is logged in at USCIS I will get an officer to discuss this with and send a new homestudy to. Breathe...

I-800A has been sent!

I'm doing the happy dance everyone!! Let's do it together!! Our homestudy was finally finished this morning. I drove down to Shelburne to get it so that I could send our I-800A in to USCIS today!! Of course, this means another 2-3 months of waiting but I am so glad to be just waiting, instead of being the go-between for the homestudy provider and agency. The agency is now talking about travel in November. I am still hoping for a September travel date but it is all up to USCIS and China now... Let's hope we get workers who are on the ball!

I am ashamed to say that I was in a really bad place this week about all of this. I even threatened, but didn't really mean it, to throw in the towel. I know, silly, but I wasn't sleeping and I was really frustrated. I have a couple of horoscopes sitting under my monitor at work that back when we were deciding to do this they kept me going. I'm going to share them here-

"Maintain a steady pace and remain sure of your choices. You have discussed an issue until you are blue in the face (I think they meant until Aaron was blue in the face, ha!). Have you not made a choice?"
"Understand what needs to happen. Keep reaching out for others. Look for the unusual path. Realize that what you want is going to happen one way or the other."
"Though you feel you cannot juggle a new opportunity in your life, you can. Stop. Toss negative thinking out of your life and eye newfound potential."

These keep me focused. Onward we go!

Cozy Blanket

I wanted to send Baby A a blanket and my agency warned that although we might send her a blanket it will probably get mixed up with the general wash at the orphanage and she might not get it back again. My solution to help avoid that happening was to take one of her pictures and transfer it to fabric, then sew it onto a blanket and trim it with ribbon. They will know exactly whose blanket it is just by a quick look! I'm so proud of it- here it is: