Adoption #2 - The Home Stretch

Ya'll, we are in the home stretch!

For my fellow adoption junkies, we received I800 approval on November 17, obtained our GUZ# via phone on November 20, finally got in and completed the DS260 on November 23, and were cabled/RTF on November 24. Due to our medical expedite our Article 5 drop off AND pick up were both completed on November 25, and then the arduous wait for TA began. We had a longer than expected wait for TA, but it arrived on December 2 along with our CA which means:

WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!

The plan is for Jordan to accompany me to China while Jason stays home with the other kids. He will have help from both sets of grandparents and a few friends. While I am sad (and, truth be told, a little nervous) that he will not be going with me, I am excited to share this experience with Jordan and for her to experience China and see the Great Wall. We are super blessed that the daughter of a family in our church lives in Beijing, China and has offered to be our guide, friend, and assistant while we are there.

I am so excited! I have truly missed China and I am so looking forward to this trip back, but the highlight and true purpose of this journey, and what makes my heart sing with anticipation, is meeting our new daughter and finally holding her in my arms!

photo of the Great Wall taken on our first adoption trip

 Our basic schedule is as follows:

12/8 Fly to China (US time)
12/9 Arrive in Beijing, China (China time)
12/9 to 12/12 Tour Beijing and hang with Abby
12/12 Fly to Nanchang (Cami's province)
12/13 Meet Cami and take custody!
12/14 Finalize Cami's adoption (& celebrate Jordan's 13th birthday)
12/17 Take bullet train to Guangzhou
12/18 Medical appointment
12/21 Consulate appointment
12/23 Fly home

And now I must go because I have lots of crazy packing and preparing to do! We leave in less than a week! Eeek!

Adoption #2 - Her Name

After many name lists, at least two family votes, and a little back and forth we have finally arrived at a name for our little miss.

So without further ado I would like to introduce Camille MeiYu! We have decided to give her the nickname Cami, which is what we will likely call her most of the time.

We love you Cami and we are coming soon!

Adoption #2 - Announcement & Update

As some of you know, back in the summer of 2014 we started the process for adoption number two. We were not in a hurry at all and had decided to use the same agency we used to adopt Justin. Our plan was to again go the LID route so we knew it would take some time and that was fine with us. We applied and signed with our original agency in June 2014 and updated our homestudy in August 2014. We began working on paperwork and our dossier, and by November 2014 we had our new log in date and the wait for a match began.

By December it was clear that some things were not right with our agency, and we had some hard decisions to make. In early February it was clear that we could not, in good conscience, continue with our original agency and so began a very hard and stressful road that lasted for months (these were difficult months and I am not going to get into all of the details here because the story is long and I want to focus on the good that came out of it). As hard as this time was God had a plan and in June 2015 we signed with a new agency that we absolutely love and would highly recommend. We quickly started working to update our homestudy (again) and compile a new dossier (yes, another one) when it happened.

We went into this second adoption open to either a boy or girl. The list of needs we were willing to consider was extensive and we were expecting that we would go the LID route and be matched with a young boy. It was a Monday evening at the end of July and I was working on our dossier when I happened to check our agency's waiting child list where our agency posts children who are listed as special focus and they do not have any families currently open to the child's need(s) and/or age. And that's when I saw her.

I immediately sent an email to our agency's waiting child coordinator:

N,
I was just looking at the waiting child list and we are interested in Charlotte. If she is still currently unmatched please let me know what we need to do to view/hold her file.
Thanks,
Jennifer

My heart was in my throat as I waited for her reply. I made the mistake of watching the video of her that was posted on their site and fell deeper in love. I called our agency coordinator (because I'm impatient like that) and she told me that two other families had seen Charlotte posted on the website, inquired about her, and were reviewing her file. I was crushed, but she told me she would put us on the list just in case.

I would later find out that Charlotte had been placed on the agency's waiting child list because they thought they did not have any families open to her special need. But they did. We had clearly indicated that we were open to thalassemia on our medical needs check list, but the coordinator had accidentally overlooked it. She felt terrible. I was SO disappointed, but I did not lose hope.

A week later she sent me an update via email:

Hi Jennifer,
I wanted to let you know that one of the families reviewing Charlotte’s file has decided to move forward with her adoption. Just wanted you to know that I haven’t forgotten about you. Sorry that I missed the potential match with Charlotte. =( I’ll make it up to you =)
N

Dagger to the heart. I worked through it. I let it go. I was glad she had a family and would soon be home receiving the medical treatment she so desperately needed. I focused on getting our home study update done and our dossier ready. Since we changed agencies we needed to also file a supplement 3 for our I800a to update it and request an extension on our approval and fingerprints. There was still much to do on the paperwork side so that we could be DTC and get a new LID.

On August 17 I sent a random email to our agency coordinator with a few questions and received a reply along with an additional note to please call her on her direct line when I had a chance. This was a little unusual, so of course I called her immediately. She picked up and we said our 'hi, how are yous,' and then told me that the other family had decided not pursue Charlotte from the website and if we were still interested in her the file was ours to review. I almost dropped the phone. I think I teared up a little. What!? This was crazy! I said 'yes, absolutely!' I called Jason down from upstairs and told him. Our agency coordinator sent us the file to review, but I already knew our answer. There was no doubt in my mind and Jason felt the same. This was our daughter. Only God! On August 19 we officially said yes and sent our LOI to our agency (although we could not lock her file and submit out LOI until her official came in).

Due to her medical condition our little sweetie needed to get home as quickly as possible, so we made the decision to request a medical expedite for her adoption which meant we were on the fast track and had to get our homestudy done and dossier on its way to China ASAP! Luckily we had a little time cushion because her official file was not yet in. It was at this point I turned into crazy adoption mama rushing around trying to get everything done in record time and is the reason I do not have many photos from August through November.

On August 28 we had the finalized copy of our homestudy in hand, and sent it along with the rest of our dossier paperwork off to Washington DC to be certified and authenticated. On September 11 our supplement 3 went to USCIS and on September 28 our dossier was on its way to China (DTC)! After a little wait due to a Chinese holiday we received word that we were officially logged in (LID) on October 12, and had supplement 3 extension and approval on October 13.

At this point her official file was still not in and the wait was killing me! Waiting for the official file was one of the hardest waits of the process, second only to the wait for TA. We did have some very good news during the wait though: China agreed to our request for medical expedite and within two weeks of LID our dossier had completed the translation and review steps.

The official file came in on Friday, October 30 and our LOI was submitted immediately, and by that Monday, November 2 soft LOA was showing in the system. Unfortunately, when the hard copy of our LOA arrived at our agency on November 5, I immediately noticed a typo (her birth year was wrong) which meant a week delay while we waited for China to correct the typo and issue a new LOA. Once we had the new LOA we sent that to USCIS to catch up with our I800 and by November 17 we had I800 approval and things were moving right along.

Meanwhile in the midst of all this our agency visited several of their orphanage partnerships in China and her orphanage was one so we were able to send her a little care package with a photo book, blanket, and stuffed toy. Best of all our agency took new photos and a video for us. Oh, the photos did this mama's heart good!

Travel Day - HOME!!

Today we headed home!

BUT, before I share about our 24+ hour trip home, no visit to China (or post about it) would be complete without a picture of a squatty potty:

Yes, most of the toilets in China are like this. Yes, that toilet is level with the  floor. Yes, you must hover over the hole in a squat position to use it (hence the name). Yes, toilet paper is optional (it is not on the wall in the stall - you either bring your own, grab it from the wall on your way in, or even buy it at the door). Yes, I had to use one (but only once - most of the places we went also had a stall with a 'western toilet').

OK, on to our  trip HOME!

This morning we were up super early (well actually we were awake off and on most of the night because we were so anxious to head home and we didn't want to be late and miss our van/flight). We had to be packed and in the hotel lobby with our luggage by 6am in order to meet our van and head to Hong Kong. It was dark and we spent the last minutes saying good-bye to Zhou and the other families as we all rode in separate mini vans.

We drove for about two hours and  watched the sun rise. Then we stopped at a gas station and switched mini vans and drivers (it was really strange but I think it had something to do with either the driver's passport/citizenship or vehicle license/registration and crossing from China into Hong Kong). Once we switched vans/drivers we drove to the boarder where we had to wait in a long, slow line of cars to get through immigration out of China which was immediately followed by a long, slow line of cars to get through customs into Hong Kong.

After we cleared both of the check points it was only about a half hour drive to the Hong Kong airport, which is massive.

Luckily we were on a flight with two of the other families so once at the airport we found each other and stuck together. We crossed a couple of really neat bridges on our way to the Hong Kong airport.

Hong Kong airport

After check in and luggage check we grabbed a quick lunch with our friends and soon it was time to head to our gate and board the plane. Our plane had 3 rows (2 aisles) - the two outside rows each had 3 seats and the middle row had 5 (I think). We were assigned one of the outside rows and when we booked our flights we booked the two outside seats (plus a lap baby because a regular one-way ticket/seat for Justin would have been almost as much as one round trip ticket) and left the middle seat open in hopes that no one would book it and we'd have the whole row to ourselves. Well, our flight was totally full so our seat was bumped and we ended up with the window and middle seats while another passenger had the aisle. People, it was so tight! There really is no leg room on a plane and I'm short! I know the guy next to Jason was loving the idea of sitting next to a baby for 14 hours (and one of the other families from our travel group was right behind us, but their daughter had her own seat). Happily (for everyone), the guy was able to move to an open seat on the other side of the plane in a row with two other adults so we ended up with the row to ourselves and were silently thanking God for the small miracle.

We took off on time and watched out the window as Hong Kong became a tiny, beautiful island below us (and I must admit that I got a little teary as I thought about how far away Justin was headed from his homeland).

And then we flew. And flew. And flew. For 14 hours. With an 11 month old. It was a looong flight, but Justin did fairly well all things considered. He slept off and on during the flight, but he would not sleep if we laid him down on the seat between us so one of us had to hold him the entire time which meant neither of us got much (if any) sleep (sleep issues will be the topic of future posts). I can't remember how we passed the 14 hours, either because it is mostly a blur or I have blocked it from memory, but somehow we survived. As we touched down in Chicago I was so relieved - I honestly have never been so happy to be on the ground in my life. We were so close! Only one more short flight and we'd be home!

Once we landed we had to collect our luggage and make our way though customs and  immigration. All of this went smoothly and relatively quickly and when we turned in the famous brown adoption envelope at immigration Justin became an official American citizen! Yay!

We then headed to the check-in counter to recheck our luggage for the final leg of our trip and then we headed to the food court to grab a bite to eat. After we ate we had a couple of hours to kill so I checked with the airline desk to see if the  flight leaving for Columbus an hour before ours was full or not (hoping that we could switch to the earlier flight be and be home sooner). Unfortunately, that flight was booked so we had to wait for our scheduled flight (which was also almost full). We spent the time hanging out at our gate and  trying to stay awake. Finally, they started boarding our flight and soon we were in the air bound for Columbus.

The flight from Chicago to Columbus was short (hallelujah!) and within the hour we were touching down in the Buckeye State. I was so anxious and excited to be home I almost couldn't stand it! We absolutely could not wait to see our other 3 kiddos! We missed them so much! As soon as I caught sight of them I was a blubbering mess.

And it is here that I need to insert some news that still makes me a little sad to this day: I do not have any official pictures on my camera from our homecoming at the airport nor do I have a big group photo from the airport :(  (where was Jamie when I needed her!?) Thankfully, we do have some great video footage taken by Jason's parents (yay!) and quite a few phone photos taken by our families (mostly my sister - so grateful).

But even without lots of official pictures we had a wonderful homecoming with many friends and family!

The kids had each made adorable welcome home signs to hold as we came through the gate.

made by big sister Jordan

made by big brother Carson

made by big sister Corinne

made by cousin Tyler

And lots of the most important people in our lives were there to welcome us home (unfortunately, I don't have pictures of all of them but here are some of them)!

A big sister (for the third time) who couldn't be more proud

Grammy with her new grandson

Grandma with her new grandson

Aunt Weazie with her new nephew

For those of you who wanted to but couldn't be at the airport here is some video footage shot by my mother-in-law (who did a fabulous job I might add)

First photo as a family of 6!

After all the hugging and crying it was time for us to head home as a family of six, so once we collected our luggage and loaded up the van we started for home. It was probably after 9pm by this time and we had about a 45 minute drive home. Ya'll, we were SOOO tired. As in, more tired than we have ever been in our lives and can hardly keep our eyes open tired. Jason drove and my job was to stay awake in order to keep him awake and with God's protection we made it home safely. Looking back we probably should have arranged in advance to have some of our family/friends drive us home, but we also wanted to ensure that our newly formed family had some special bonding and catching up time. Our total travel time today (from when we left our hotel in Guangzhou to pulling into the driveway at home) was well over 24 hours, but because of the time difference we technically left China and arrived home on the same day/date.

We got the three older kids in bed by 11pm and Jason and I were so exhausted we could have fallen asleep standing up, but our newest little addition had other plans. He was wide awake and ready to play because he was still on China time (basically 12 hours ahead of Ohio time). Hello baby jet lag! I can't remember much after that, but I think Jason and I dozed on the  floor while he played and then we finally got him to sleep for a couple of hours and then we took turns grabbing snippets of sleep while he slept.

Can I just tell you how amazingly blessed we are?! We adore this new little man, and we are so humbled by all of  the love, support, and prayers of our friends and family who have been there for us since the very beginning of this journey which started 16 months ago. There really are no words for how grateful we are and how much we love and appreciate each and every one of you.


For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

~Romans 8:14-17

Ready for Home - Last Day in China

Today Zhou went to the consulate and picked up Justin's Visa (along with those of 3 other kiddos) which means today was our last day in China ! We leave bright and early tomorrow to head home!!

Officially approved to go home!

For our last day in China we spent time with some of the other families and did a little last minute shopping/visiting.

One of the highlights of our day was lunch with one of our favorite couples - Jamie and Erik (as usual many of the pics in this post are compliments of Jamie's talents and photo taking diligence). We walked over to the mall and had a nice, relaxing lunch at Pizza Hut (I know eating at Pizza Hut probably doesn't sound that great to all of you back home but it was so nice to have some comfort food and just hang with friends) - we ordered by ourselves and everything (Zhou would be so proud)! We feel extra blessed that Jamie and Erik are fellow Ohioans and we are already planning lots of visits once home!

I don't have a picture of them at lunch but here is one taken a few days before

Photo Jamie snapped of us trying to decipher the menu and decide what to order

Since it was our last night all together we decided to go out to eat as a big group at the the hotel restaurant for our final Chinese meal (I was very cautious about what I ate because I did not want any tummy trouble on our long travel day home). 

Family photos were the final order of business for our last night together! I cannot tell you how much we adore every one of these families! And what I love even more is that each one of these photos represents ONE LESS orphan - these precious little ones now part of a forever family! Praise God!

'I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.' ~John 14:18

And one last pic of the whole gang with Zhou!

Tomorrow, along with 3 of the other families, we head HOME!!! (the final two families head home on Thursday)

Consulate Appointment & Zoo

This morning we went to the US Consulate in Guangzhou to take our oath and officially apply for Justin's Visa to travel back to the US. 4 of the 6 families in our group had their consulate appointments today and the other two families have their appointment tomorrow. I did not get any pictures this morning (and neither did Jamie) because cameras, phones, etc. are not allowed in the building so we didn't take any with us (I kind of wish I had gotten a few of  the outside though). The consulate appointment basically consists of waiting in line outside the building, going through security, riding the elevator up a few floors, waiting with 11 other adoptive families, taking the oath, and then one by one going to the window to finalize the Visa application for your child. It was all fairly easy and painless and tomorrow Zhou will come back and pick up Justin's passport with his Visa sticker which is the very last thing we need before heading home!

After our consulate appoint and lunch we headed to the Guangzhou Zoo. It was an ok zoo and was something to do, but here in central Ohio we are zoo spoiled (i.e. home to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the famous Jack Hanna) so we were less than impressed.

Sage & Hailey

Jamie & Kaiya - I love this photo

Lisa & Michael

Chris & Michael

After the zoo we headed back for dinner and bed (between Justin not sleeping well and all of the crazy busy, we are exhausted). All in all, today was a good day and even better is that we head home soon!