Visas arrived at the Chinese Consulate

Our Visas arrived at the Chinese Consulate in Chicago  yesterday (01/29/2013) and they will be ready to be picked up on February 4, 2013. Thank you Denise at There's Always Hope for doing this for our family! Denise also took care of our Power of Attorney paperwork that needed to be done for us so Shawn can stay home with the children when I travel to China to get Cora. Cheryl will be my travel buddy so I do not have to travel alone... Get ready travel buddy, we will be leaving before you know it.

I-800 application was received

Today we received our notice that our I-800 application was received, we were not expecting to see this until February 4, 2013! We are once again ahead of schedule; we will be traveling to bring Cora home before we know it. I am starting to worry about traveling. There is so much left to do! Now I am thinking about what to pack for all of us. I am back to making lists and reading blogs to get ready.

New Timeline to Cora:

Provisional Approval (2-3 weeks) February 8

Letter from NVC to the Consulate (1-2 weeks) February 15

Article “5” (10 business days) March 1

Travel Notice (2-4 weeks) March 15

 

We received our Letter of Seeking Confirmation

The best birthday present ever! We received our Letter of Seeking Confirmation. Shawn's guess was for the Letter to be here on the 14th of February but when we think about the day the story started we remember it this way... "I asked his guess for a day the letter would be here because he is so close every time but he said he was not feeling like it was the right time and would let me know later. He returned later and said the 14th. I asked the 14th of what January or February and  he blurted out in a very undecided way February". We will leave it up to you to decide if he was right or not. Maybe under the pressure he blurted out the wrong month when I asked him to decide on one.  We know that we are doing the right thing because we can feel that we are being led down this road.

We were able to get it signed and returned via e mail so that Lauren can send out our I-800 paperwork today. 

The new timeline is:

       I -800 application returned in 3 to 7 weeks (Feb 4)

       Provisional Approval "Article 5" 6 weeks (March 18)

       Travel Notice 2 to 4 weeks (April 1)

We are getting very close to travel to Ningbo China and bring home our little girl!

The craziest thing happened

The craziest thing happened and we thought it was worth putting in the blog to remind us about this later but also so other parents look for the little "signs" that they are on track and following the plan that was placed for them. 

I was packing a gift for Grandma for Christmas. Among the items that was being packed was one of those fuzzy pictures we bought for the children to color over Christmas vacation to keep them busy and decorate the house. For some reason I felt that I needed to turn it over and look at the back. I was amazed to see that the picture had a stamp on it "Made in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. I was very surprised to see this. We all are used to the "Made in China" stamps but never have I seen where in China. This is exactly where my little girl is right now!  I wounder what she was thinking about or what she was doing at that exact moment?

It is amazing the little reminders that our daughter is still very much a part of our life that help us feel connected to her even though she is so far away. In China there is a belief that when a child is born an invisible Red Thread connects the child's soul to all those people, present and future, who will play a part in that child's life. As each birthday passes those threads tighten and shorten bringing closer those people who are fated to be together. We are feeling closer to her everyday.

Missing Cora. How is she celebrating Christmas?

Missing Cora and thinking about how she is celebrating Christmas and the New Year with her friends and Nannies.

The small number of Christians in China call Christmas Sheng Dan Jieh, which means Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreens, posters, and bright paper chains. The family puts up a Christmas tree, called "tree of light," and decorates it with beautiful lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness. They cut out red pagodas to paste on the windows, and they light their houses with paper lanterns, too.

Many Chinese enjoy the fun and color that Christmas brings to the drab winter season. Big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are gaily decorated at Christmas. Many people give parties on Christmas Eve, and some people enjoy a big Christmas dinner at a restaurant. Shops sell plastic trees and Christmas decorations for everyone to enjoy, and Santa Claus is a popular good-luck figure.

The Christmas  season is ushered in with fireworks. Jugglers and acrobats entertain, and people enjoy the merriment and feasting. In Hong Kong, which recently was restored to Chinese rule, Christmas Day is just one of seventeen public holidays.

At this time of year, people in Hong Kong also celebrate Ta Chiu, a festival of peace and renewal, by making offerings to saints and reading the names of everyone who lives in the area. On Christmas Eve, Christian children in China hang up their muslin stockings that are specially made so Dun Che Lao Ren, or "Christmas Old Man," can fill them with wonderful gifts. Santa Claus may also be called Lan Khoong-Khoong, "Nice Old Father."

The Chinese lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, begins in late January or early February. The celebration lasts for three days. While not part of Christmas, the New Year is the most important celebration of the year for the Chinese people. People travel long distances to be with their families. They decorate their homes with brightly colored banners. These banners carry messages of good wishes for the coming year. Many people exchange gifts at the New Year. Following tradition, very expensive, special presents are given only to close family members. Token gifts are given to friends and distant relations. Children especially enjoy their gifts of new shoes and hats. People put on new clothes for the New Year celebration. They prepare many special holiday dishes, and families come together at one house to enjoy them. The younger sons of the household serve dinner to the head of the household. For the first celebration, on New Year's Day, people offer rice, vegetables, tea, and wine to heaven and earth. They burn incense and candles to pay tribute to their ancestors and to all living members of the family. Chinese families turn out to watch the spectacular New Year's fireworks displays and the exciting lion dance. Several performers dance inside an enormous costume. They make the "lion" walk, slither, glide, leap, and crouch along the street as it leads a colorful procession. The greatest spectacle takes place at the Feast of the least one lantern for the occasion. Lanterns, when everyone lights at Other special events of the New Year include the Festival of the Dragons and the Fisherman's Festival. Throughout the three days of New Year's celebrations, everyone speaks only cheerful words to each other so they will have good luck in the coming year.

We are hoping that this will be the last New Year Cora will spend without her family.

We have our log-in date

We have our log-in date, November 21, 2012. We also received our packet from Lauren (WACAP), filled out all of the forms, had them notarized, and returned them to WACAP. They are not needed until we have our Letter Seeking Conformation. Now we are in for a long wait again. We are told the average wait time the past few months has been 2 to 3 months. We are hoping for much sooner!

CCCWA website status has changed

Our CCCWA website status has changed from “to be processed” to “in process”. Although the CCCWA has not yet posted our log-in date, this means that our dossier has been logged-in and has already been translated. We are usually notified of the log-in date first, then this status usually changes a few weeks later, but we are told this isn't the first time a family’s status has changed before the log-in date has been posted.

We will continue to follow up to find out our log-in date but this is good news! For now, we will start our 1-4 month wait for the Letter of Seeking Confirmation from this time but keep in mind that our log-in date may have actually been a few weeks ago. Since our status is “in process,” it means our dossier will now go to the review department and then it will be matched with Cora’s (Yan’s) file at which time they can issue the Letter of Seeking Confirmation. The Letter of Seeking Confirmation is the official approval from the CCCWA for us to adopt Shu, Yan.

We are now waiting for the packet that we talked to Lauren about previously. It will include forms and instructions for the next round of immigration paperwork (I-800,
I-864W, DS-230).

Once we have the Letter of Seeking Confirmation we are able to send Cora a care package that is from her Mama, Baba (Dad), and all of her brothers and sisters not from some “mysterious donation family”.