VISA

The only news I have right now is that our VISAs will be delivered to us Friday.

TIMELINE

...so far...

Found Chanz: 03/03/2010
Found out Chanz was still available: 03/09/2010
Dossier sent to China: 09/03/2010
LID (log in date): 09/07/2010
LSC (letter seeking confirmation):10/22/2010

We are waiting on our TA (travel approval) and really expect it to be February!! It's a very exciting time for us. What an AMAZING journey that I never expected to ever happen! I have a wonderful husband..

Fundraising

The bracelets we were selling as a fundraiser were a huge success! So far we have raised a little over $500, which isn't bad considering the time frame. I have a friend who is convinced her daughter can sell them for more money at school. I have a bag of 40 bracelets to give her tomorrow. I'm praying God will bless this little girl and we'll get lots of helpful donations!

We are still seeking assistance. If we had more time we could do it ourselves, but we have a little boy waiting on us! Now! I can't wait to scoop him up and give him his first mommy kiss! siiigh

Final Countdown

We received our NVC approval letter today (National Visa Center)! I already had all the other paperwork ready that needed to be sent to the agency once we got our letter, so it is already sitting in the post office ready to be over-nighted! Our last shred of paperwork will be mailed off to China on Friday. China will then send Article 5 to our agency which states that everything is in order and we are approved to adopt our child. This letter will come about 2 weeks after they receive the above paperwork. After that, they will issue our Travel Approval, which takes about 2-3 weeks to be sent to Great Wall China Adoption. We travel 2-3 weeks after that. As you can see, things are wrapping up quickly.

We still have so much money to come up with and I don't know where it is coming from. We'll cross those bridges when we get there!

Waiting. It's what I do Best.

Waiting on the pumpkin pies to finish cooking! It will be a full day tomorrow with wall to wall family members (literally.. I shall take pictures to prove this) and tables overflowing with food. Tonight Tim and I met my parents, my sister and her family, as well as her in-laws at Traditions. It was a nice atmosphere and we even saw some of our friends there. It was a pleasant evening all the way around and good food, too.

After work I stopped by Chez Bazan in Tyler to pick up a cake and place it on my boss's tab (thank you). Once I got home, I interrupted Tim from working on the fence to take a "pie break". It was a very tasty, richly flavored fruit pie. Not long after that, I was ready for a nap before dinner. I slept for probably an hour, and kept dreaming of Chanz. As I was waking up and the dream I was having began to unthread with the intrusion of reality, I was able to catch the ending. I was standing over him and patting him on the shoulder, calling him my Champion. The image and the echoing words "champion..chamption.." stuck with me for the rest of the evening.

I thought by now we would have our approval letter from NBC Hague. It was stated in an email that it would be issued that evening but I just read on one of our information sheets that it could take up to two weeks to get the letter! Two weeks!! Well: One down.

As I am scanning the information sheet, it seems very possible that we may even leave to get Chanz by January! I am hoping we can travel before February because that is the month of Chinese New Year and prices for air fair go UP.

I can't believe our journey is almost at it's peak. We're so close to bringing our beautiful child home! So much preparing has happened, both inside our lives and all around. What a blessing this child has already become <3

Happy Thanksgiving

Chanz's Nursery

I stayed up late working on the nursery. Even though the floors are not done yet, I can still work on the walls and how I want things set up. The pictures on the wall weren't too hard. Scrapbooking seems to come out anywhere! My brother in law -Michael- is making a chest of drawers so Chanz will have a place for his clothes. The leaves on the wall took *forever*. Stencils seemed like a good idea but painting with them is a whole lot harder than it seems. We also want to redo his closet..put some larger, folding doors instead of the one, small door.He already has quite a few toys, but he will get more when we have a "toddler shower". That's another post, another day! Meanwhile, I'm really having fun working on our little guy's room. It helps make the waiting a little easier and I feel like we're accomplishing something. I loved how his little frog blanket turned out. Tracy and I finished it in less than an hour. I bought stuffing for the pillow the next day and finished it up. I suppose this is all the update I have for now. The Holidays are upon us. I SO wish Chanz could be here for them, but we get excited when we think about how different the next year will be for us. So many changes, and a little ray of sunshine to make life that much sweeter.

Still waiting

We still have not received any word that our paperwork is completed, so we've occupied our time with saving money and fundraising. I've sold close to 200 bracelets and they aren't even in yet! About the first 100 pays back the money I had to spend to buy them, but I expect to get enough donations to help with the expensive hobby called Adoption!
I will work this week on getting a care package together to send to Chanz in the orphanage. It may be cheaper to buy stuff online *in* China and just have them ship it to the orphanage. I want him to be warm and have his own things. The weather where he lives is somewhere in the 50s during the day and 30s at night. That's cold for a little kid! By December it will be 30s-40s during the day and high teens-low 20s at night! yikes!
----*-------------------*-----------------------------*---------------------------*
We met Chanz's pediatrician today and LOVE him! He is a very nice, polite Christian man. Somehow there was a mix-up with appointments. I had 10:00 written down, but they had me down for 12:45. He saw us anyway and did not rush through our visit and took his time. He told about his two trips to China and even offered us some heavier coats and luggage to take with us! He said not to worry about eye appointments or any of that until after his first doctor's appointment, and he would make the arrangements. Much relief!

I friended a lady on facebook that had a son with albinism and then adopted a little girl from China with albinism. Her son is in his teens, so she has lots of experience with the condition and I'm going to learn everything I can from her!

Meanwhile, we received a I-797 Notice of Action from Homeland Security. Things are mooooving along!