I-800 APPROVAL FINALLY!

Our officer at the National Benefits Center just sent me a wonderful email!  It was a PDF of our I-800 approval!  It seems that this step in the process took much longer than normal because there was a computer switchover in Homeland Security.  Our paperwork got trapped in the changeover.  It arrived on our officer's desk today and was approved.  Now, our paperwork is being sent to the National Visa Center.  Once Amelia's visa is issued, the paperwork will be sent to the US Consulate in Guangzhou for final approvals (it is called the Article 5).  The Article 5 takes EXACTLY two weeks to be approved.  Then, we will receive our travel approval a few days later.  PLEASE pray that the visa approval will be before Thanksgiving holidays!  I really don't want any more delays in the process.  We want to be able to have her in our arms before the end of the year.

Ziplining at Red Mountain Park

David and I decided to do some things that we normally don't do before we become parents.  We decided to go ziplining at Red Mountain Park.  I highly encourage everyone to try it out.  This was our first time to go and we had a blast!  Our guides, Chelsie and Kacy, took us through seven different lines and even taught us how to zip upside down.  We met a very sweet couple, Terri and Vinny, who were a lot of fun!  Terri encouraged us to go skydiving, which we plan to do for dad's birthday when his shoulder heals.  Here are a few pictures from our fun time:

Amelia's First Baby Shower

Yesterday, my precious co-workers threw us a baby shower.  We had such a wonderful time!  David and I truly appreciate everything that went into the planning and preparation for such a meaningful event.  Amelia received so many fabulous gifts that will definitely be useful!  The generosity and love that was shown to us means so much to me!  Here are a few pictures from the big event:

I-800

Today, I decided to call the National Benefits Center of the Department of Homeland Security to check on our I-800 paperwork.  I spoke with a very sweet officer who informed me that our paperwork had arrived and Amelia had been assigned an alien number.  She also told us that our file had not reached our officer's desk yet.  She predicts that our officer should get it tomorrow.  According to the sweet officer (yes, I do know her name but am not sure I should say it), the I-800 should take a couple of days to approve, and then they send it to the National Visa Center.  She gave me my officer's information, and I decided to email her a little note requesting that she let me know when our paperwork is sent.  Hopefully, she will let me know and I can check another step off of our list.  

Here is a picture of Amelia taken in April when she was 9-months.

 

Good News in the Mail and Updates

We receipt our I-800 receipt today from Homeland Security.  This means that our paperwork was received and it has been forwarded to the Hague Adoption Unit in Missouri.  We now wait for the official approval of this document so that Amelia's visa can be issued.  Please pray that this will come soon so that we can be one step closer to travel.

Another piece of mail that we received today was our first baby shower invitation!  One of our sweet church members, Pam, sent out the invitations for our church shower.  We are so blessed to have friends who are as excited as we are about Amelia's arrival!

On another note, I was able to accomplish a couple of things this week.  The first is that I sent Amelia her first care package!  I included a pair of Gap footie pajamas, candy for the nannies, a disposable camera (hopefully they will take pictures for us), a flash drive for any digital pictures they have or will take, a family photo board book that I made this summer so she will be familiar with our faces, a small stuffed toy, a teething ring, and a note that was translated into a Mandarin by our our friend's mother explaining what each item was for.  I also included a list of questions for Lily, the package deliverer, to have answered for us by the orphanage director and nannies.  I forgot to take a picture of the items in the package, but I quickly took a picture of the package at the post office before I mailed it.

The second thing is that we were able to get Amelia into the daycare of our choice yesterday!  She is officially on the list to attend God's House in the fall.  I have several friends who have children who attend or have attended God's House, and everyone has such wonderful things to say about their program.  My grandmother started the school many years ago, and I am happy to say that Amelia will be able to attend the preschool and kindergarten programs.

David's mother, RuRu, purchased Amelia's christening gown for her.  Isn't it so beautiful!  I can't wait to have her wear it during her adoption and christening services.

LOA!!!

Psalm 100:4 - Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

I have prayed from the start of this process that we would received a fast Letter of Acceptance (LOA).  Well, my prayers were answered with the fasted LOA on record - 4 days!  That's right - 4 days!  This part of the referral process usually takes 30-90 days.  I have heard of a few families who received LOA in less, but not many.  David has believed that ours would be fast from the start and I will be the first to say that he is completely right! 

I received an email from Karla this morning asking me to call her as soon as I could.  Since we just turned in our I-800 paperwork for Homeland Security/Immigration yesterday, I thought that there might be a problem with the paperwork.  I would never have guessed that she had such great news for us.  After playing phone tag for 5 minutes, I was able to speak to Karla.  She explained that the LOA was here and I needed to come sign it.  Fortunately, the bell was about to ring to begin my planning block.  I raced over to Lifeline and saw the official document.  Karla explained where to sign and the next steps.  Standing in the lobby with Karla, it hit me that this was truly real.  After waiting for so long, I haven't allowed myself to completely believe that David and I have actually accepted a precious little girl who is our daughter.  We have a daughter and I now have a piece of paper with a check mark in a box that says we accept this child as our own.  It is almost official - we just have to get approval for Amelia to come into the country and travel to get her. 

The paperwork has been signed and delivered to Homeland Security with our I-800 paperwork.  We now wait for Homeland Security to grant approval for us to bring Amelia into the country.  Karla feels confident that we should travel to China in mid to late December.  There is a big chance that we will spend Christmas in China. I'm not sure how our families feel about this, but I hope that they will be willing to hold off on celebrating Christmas until we return.  I would love to be able to celebrate Amelia's first Christmas this year with our families!

Pre-Approval!

Our pre-approval finally came!  I woke up this morning and checked my email and found a wonderful surprise!  We were pre-approved!  This means that China has officially matched us with Amelia.  We now fill out more paperwork and wait for the official letter of approval from China.  Please pray that this approval comes quickly.

We would like to introduce you to our daughter, Amelia Mae Howard, born June 22, 2011 in Chongqing, China.  We hope to bring her home at the end of December or beginning of January.

We ask that you please pray for our us and especially Amelia as we begin this transition into the new world of being a forever family.

Letter of Intent

We received official confirmation that our Letter of Intent was sent to China yesterday!  Now, we wait for Pre-Approval.  It seems there is a National Day holiday October 1-3, so business offices will be closed in China during this time.  It will take a little longer than normal before we receive Pre-Approval, so I will post pictures as soon as we get permission.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

The day I have waited and prayed for has finally arrived!  Tonight, after 30 hours of receiving our referral, we have ACCEPTED!  Before I tell you anymore, let me go back to yesterday morning at 10:50.  For the past week, I have been anticipating the phone call and taking my cell phone everywhere and to every class.  I happened to be in my classroom with students when my phone rang.  I saw that it was Lifeline calling and my heart stopped.  I knew that this was THE phone call.  Karla said the magic words, "I have a file that I would like for you to review.  Is this a good time for you to talk to me?"  Of course it was!  I ran out of my classroom and down the hall to the counselor's classroom.  I told her it was time and that I needed her to cover my students.  She squealed and ran!  Karla said she wanted to go over a few things before she sent us the file.  I told her David and I wanted to be together when everything was discussed, so she asked if I could get him on the line with us.  Now, most of you know that I am very tech savvy, but I have no idea how to do a conference call on my iPhone.  Fortunately, Karla knew what to do and told me that she would call me right back after she got David on the line.  After what seemed like several VERY long minutes (but was probably only 45 seconds), she called me back with David on the line.  Karla reviewed the file with us and asked if we wanted to view it.  Of course we did!  David and I made plans to meet at our house, so I flew from the counselor's room to my room to grab my things.  Now, if you have not worked in a school, you need to know that news travels FAST around there.  By the time I made it back in my room, 10 people wanted to know what was happening and if this was really IT.  I tried to get everything organized with who needed what and was told it was handled and for me to get home!  I literally ran out the door! 

On the way home, I called David, but he didn't want to talk to me.  He wanted to do a few things around the house before I got there, so I called the next person on my important people list - Leigh.  I knew she was in class and would probably freak out, but I had to let her know what was going on with us.  She chatted with me until I was almost home and then had to go back to class.  When I pulled into the driveway, David was working on the landscape lighting.  Being the patient person that I am, I asked him if he was ready to look at the file.  He said he wanted to get his project finished first.  I asked him if he was serious and he said yes.  I told him I was going to go to the bathroom and then I would come check again.  Thirty seconds later, I was back outside and he still wasn't ready.  I told him I was going to pull up the email and I would wait to open it until he came inside.  A few minutes later, he came inside and said he needed a glass of wine because he was feeling very overwhelmed.  He poured a glass, sat down, and said he was ready.  We reviewed the file before looking at the pictures and things looked pretty okay to us.  After reading through everything twice and discussing it, we decided to take a little break to process what we had read and the reality that this was finally happening.  This is how our afternoon/evening went - yard work, look at pictures, discuss, yard work, look at file and pictures, discuss, yard work, make a list of questions while looking at file and pictures, Leigh came to visit (you know she couldn't stay away and we needed her knowledge of hematology), look at file, discuss with Leigh, talk to Karla, look at file, discuss with Leigh, talk to doctor friends, shower, look at file, dinner to celebrate Bailey's birthday, discussion, home, bed. 

Today, we had more discussion and waited for opinions from our doctor friends.  They were so sweet to take the time to review the file and give us their honest thoughts.  After receiving their stamp of approval and asking Karla a few more questions, we told Karla we wanted her.  Tonight, we submitted the required information (yes more paperwork) for our Letter of Intent.  The next step is to await Pre-Approval and our Letter of Approval. 

Until we are pre-approved, I am not allowed to post any pictures or information about Amelia.  During this time, please keep us in your prayers.  We trust that God created this little person just for us.  We know that He has nurtured and cared for her until he saw the time was right for her to come into our lives.  We still have a few months until we will be able to travel to China to get Amelia, so please pray that she will be cared for and loved by the nannies and will be ready to be welcomed into a family who has loved her since before she was born. 

Evie

Yesterday, I became an aunt again!  Beverly Joe Turpin was born September 16, 2012.  She weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces.  She is the second child of my brother, Gaines, and his wife, Karen.  Here are a few pictures of Evie.