LOI Finally Submitted!!

This afternoon I got a call from Stephanie at Great Wall. She said that she submitted our LOI (letter of intent) to the CCAA today!!!!! Now at least someone in China knows we want this little boy to be our son! One more step closer :) Now, we wait for PA (Pre-Approval). We've been informed that this will take anywhere between 1 day and 2 weeks. You know what I'm hoping for!

Also, I tracked my package to USCIS. It was delivered today at 11:50 AM. Let's hope that everyone there is well rested after the long holiday weekend and in wonderful moods!! Hopefully we'll get our fingerprint appointment in the mail very soon.

I-800A Is On It's Way!!!

Today I was finally able to send our I-800A to USCIS!!! (for those of you familiar with the process the I-800A replaces the I-600A under the new Hague regulations). Now we keep our fingers, and toes, crossed that USCIS will not reject the application and/or the home study. Our adoption agency was very careful about trying to make sure the home study meets all the new requirements, and our social worker was very good about making all the necessary changes. Hopefully, it was enough! Next, we wait for a fingerprint appointment. We will hopefully receive approval from CIS within the next thirty days. That is how long they are saying they hope to be able turn things around. Keep in mind that it's May 23rd and there haven't been any approvals of applications filed since April 1st. Hopefully there will be no problems and they'll get ours done within the 30 days!

Why Ella Loves Jason So Much!!

Ella LOVES her big brother and this is just one of the examples why! Jason always entertains Ella at Brianna's games. He is such a great brother. Every game she brings her pink batting helmet, ball and Dora bat and Jason pitches to her. Sometimes she just wants to have a "catch". The other day, when they were done having a catch, Jason started to spin Ella. She was having a blast. Jason, he was getting very dizzy!! I love these pictures. Look at the smile on her face :)

Brianna's Last School Game of the Season

Congratulations to Brianna's school team who ended the season with a 14-4 win, finishing the season with a record of 15-3. Way to go girls!!! Briannna played second and made the last three outs of the game. Great job B! Here are some pictures from the game

Making the catch--notice the ball in mid air!Play at second (again notice the ball mid air!)
B at bat
Ground Ball
Fly Ball!!

Clearance--Finally!!

Well, I finally got that last clearance. Horray!!! Now we are just waiting for the adoption agency to give the final approval on the Home Study. Once that's done I can finally submit my I800-A to USCIS----and wait again!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Mother's Day wishes to all the moms! Today was a beautiful day. It started with hugs and kisses while still in bed. The kids (with Brian's help) then made me a delicious breakfast of blueberries, a spinach omelette, orange juice, and coffee (I just started drinking coffee again after giving it up nine years ago---thanks Trish!!!). We then went out to dinner with my Mom and Stepdad, my Grandmother, and my sister and her husband. We had a great time. Of course throughout the day I couldn't help but think about Wen and how much I want him to be home. Next year I'll have all four of "my babies" with me :) Here are some pictures from the day.

The women who started it all, my Grandmother and my Mom
Brianna and Jason
Me and B
Ella did NOT want me to take a picture alone with Jason!
Me and my babies

No News

Well, still no clearance :( The woman at the home study agency said that she called on Wednesday to check on things and my fingerprints still were not processed!! I sent them back two and a half weeks ago, so maybe this week we'll finally get the clearance?????????



When my fingerprints were first bounced back, I was greatly disappointed but kept faith that everything happens for a reason. I can now say that I am actually grateful that my fingerprints were rejected!! Last week our social worker sent our home study to our adoption agency for review. As our consultant at the agency was reviewing our home study she found out that USCIS now has new requirements for home studies. She also found out that since these new requirements went into effect on April 1st, USCIS has not approved one home study!! That means that everyone who has sent in their I-800A form to USCIS since 4/1 has had their home study sent back to them for revisions!! So, if my fingerprints were not rejected, my home study would have been submitted with my I-800A without the necessary changes, and my home study would have been rejected. This could have set us back A LOT longer than the whole fingerprint thing!! So, I guess everything does happen for a reason :) Our social worker is currently working on making any necessary revisions and assures me that our home study will be good to go as soon as that last clearance comes back........hopefully this week!