Oh Yes, there's still more paperwork!

Just when we thought we were done with paperwork.....
Travel Paperwork!
We just received our latest and biggest batch from Children's Hope yet. This includes the pins to wear so we can be identified and three seperate packets of other stuff and explicit directions to dot this i and cross this t.
Guess I know what my project for the week is.

Multiple subjects

Well, our (hopefully) next to the last last piece of paperwork left on its way to St. Louis yesterday. As expected, I have neither HIV or Hep issues, which obviously is good. The last piece of paperwork should be our SCL, and then we just wait for our TA.

My good friend Jo, who is adopting Hannah out of Acer's group of waiting children, got her seeking confirmation letter from the CCAA yesterday. This will be sent right back to Beijing and then the CCAA will issue a travel approval. We were hoping to travel together because many of our paperwork dates are the same, but the three requests for more information of one sort or another, including this last one, have slowed us down. So now our only hope to travel together is there to be a Chinese New Year slow down, but that would delay her and I don't wish that for her.

I spent most of the day Sunday and half the day Monday at the hospital with my brother James. They still aren't sure what happened, but as he was feeling better they sent him home with a 'follow up with your Dr.' We figure it was a combo of his hurt back, that section of back having the nerves that go to the stomach, having a high blood pressure migraine and then it went from there. The great news is, he didn't have a heart attack and I didn't lose one of my favorite people in the whole world.

My brother and I have (I think) a very unique relationship. We're ALOT alike, our likes & dislikes (but not food ones) our senses of humor, thought processes, and looks. Despite the fact that he's 3 years older, we're often mistaken for twins (why he had to get the tall skinny genes and I the teddy bear genes I just don't know). He's one of my best friends and I was really really scared I would lose him. It really makes me glad that we have the habit of saying I love you. I wouldn't have wanted him dying without knowing that he's my brother and a huge part of my life and I love him for it.

1 set of paperwork on the way

Our ammended dossier items are on their way to Beijing today - Yeah! They've been MIA for a couple days as I forgot to put an Attention: on the 3x5 card I wrote the address on & gave to Bill. Thankfully, I remembered I'd forgotten and alerted our caseworker and she went on a hunt for them.
One of my best email adoption friends whose daughter is from the same batch of waiting children and whose LOI & LID dates about about the same as ours, got her seeking confirmastion letter this week. While I'm sad it doesn't look like we'll be traveling together, I'm happy for them and hopeful for us. It means that (probably) as soon as we get our latest info (my new HIV & HEP tests) back to Beijing, we should get our SCL in that very next batch.
BIG PRAYER NEED - that we would be able to travel & be back by 4/1 before I have to go back to work.

More Paperwork!

Yes, yes indeed, I did just get off the phone with an agency rep. who said that because my HIV and Hep tests were not completed on the day the Dr signed the rest of the paperwork, they had expired and I have to get new ones. I can't get in to see the Dr until next Tuesday. Then it will take time for the results to get back & then time to get over to Beijing. ARRRGGH!!!!!
For anybody who ever doubts, adoption is not getting a child the easy way. There is far more work, and much less pleasant work involved in adopting than natural child production.
Hold on Acer, We're coming for you - really.

Another step in the process added

People who are in the NSN (non special needs) adoption process are required to sign a paper saying that they actually want to adopt the child referred to them by the CCAA. They are then issued a TA (travel approval).
The SN group hasn't had this step before, the TA would just show up, out of the blue so to speak because once a SN dossier was submitted, there was no real way to track where it was in the approval process. The CCAA has just added this step for the SN group too. I don't think it'll slow things down much at all, and it will definitely tell us where we are in the process!
Of course when you're as anxious as we are, every day counts.

paperchasing my own tail (dog analogy)

Well I just spent 6 hours running around; notarizing an edited letter of petition of adopt, getting it and our homestudy addendum certified to say the the notaries were okay, and sending them and a return envelope to the Chinese Consulate where they can authenticate the papers and say that the certification saying that the notarization of our signitures is correct.
Blah.
This is pre-emptive, we haven't actually been asked for these particular pieces yet, but just in case the SN dossier approval lady needs or wants them, we have them. Yeah us.

On the bonus for the day, our package to Acer arrived at the Agency yesterday. We sent a fisher price bouncing giggling elephant (very cool) and a disposable camera for the foster mother/SWI to take pictures. We also sent the coolest little photo album ever. It holds 24 pictures and each pictures holds 10 seconds of message you record.

I wrote out scripts for the members of our families and all those I could get a hold of recorded their bits. I simply translated the Mandarin into phonetic bits so that people introduced themselves and said I love you. I'm hoping that as his eyesight is nonexistant to horrible, these little bits of sound will really help prepare him.

Rumors of referrals

There is a large group of adoptive parents to be who anxiously await every rumor of referrals, we're part of that group even though we don't think we'll be part of this very next referral group.
It appears that The CCAA staff sent out referrals and that the West Coast has in fact received theirs already. In doing math derived from various sources, I've figured that we should hear in Mid-Feb. at the earliest.
I would love to receive our referral for Acer, it would just ease my mind so much. Although I don't believe God would have lead us on this path if we weren't to get approved, I still worry. It would be a nightmare. We've already had Acer in our hearts so long, 5 months, since we made our decision to go ahead.
So I check the rumor mill and fret and wonder.
H

Yeah, yippee, wahoo, the bloodwork came in!

We finally got new bloodwork for Acer and all the numbers look good. All rates are well within normal ranges. We'd asked for his bloodwork update way back at the end of August and it finally arrived today. I was worried because his 6 months bloodwork he had low hemoglobin and platelet counts and now we know everything's normal. Extra reassuring that all is well with our little one.

Dossier Copy Finally arrives back home!

Our Dossier copy was in the mail tonite when I got home. Yeah! We'll need this when we go over to pick up Acer. What was interesting to us were the front couple pages where the agency had put our pictures into a collage-esque effect. They chose to put the picture of our Chinese language class barbecue at our house on the front page. I think they liked the fact that we had a mix of obviously Asian with obviously not Asian. I'll have to email our friends from class Mark & Kristin, who are waiting for their referral, and let them know they're part of our dossier.

Letter of Intent

We received a postcard yesterday that stated our letter of intent had been sent to China 10/27!
Yeah! One more step down the road to Acer!

And now we wait

Our last paperwork is at the agency, to be sent to China soon. Small Urchin ETA 2-5 months.
Waiting is not easy, they do all the paperwork by hand and are very thorough. It's good they're thorough on everybody else's paperwork, but don't they know that they should rush ours? That we, because we are getting this wonderful little boy, should be pushed to the front of the list?
Oh well, reality sets in and I realize that all our paperwork has gone slowly, so Instead of a Christmas Child, I should hope for a Valentine's day child. Or I should still be nervous and hope they don't deny our request. Did I really fill out all those forms correctly?

errgh

Our last piece of paperwork is still sitting on the table. I realize that we had a few days when we weren't home long enough to actually write it out and send it, but It should have gone out yesterday. It only needs one sentence on a second piece of paper and then it can go out. My beloved husband has left it now for 2 mornings! I'm going to remain calm, but every day matters, and 2 days is just goofy.

Dossier to China date

Our Dossier was officially sent to China 10/05/06. Now it goes to be translated, and then will be 'Logged in' at some date in the future.

Hopefully, the last paperwork

I've spent all morning writing, hopefully the last bit of paperwork. We received our pre-approval packet from the agency. No not for a mortgage, but for Acer. We have 2 sheets to fill out, with a plan for the child advantages of nurturing and adoptive expectation. I write or type it out & then Bill fills out the form because he has neater handwriting.
If Acer is still in China when he's 2 we'll be able to send over a photo album with pictures, a small beanie baby type toy and a disposable camera for his foster family to use to take pictures of themselves and their house for Acer to keep.
I was hoping that since the dossier was filled out, that was it for paperwork, but it seems not to be. At least now we have a time frame, somewhere between 2 and 5 months. Yeah Us!