Headed to China this week...better get a blog going!!

We are finally headed to China this week to meet Daniel, the newest member of our family! We started this journey in 2012 and all the work is about to pay off.  The most exciting part is about to happen, we get to go pick up our little guy! So here is the requisite blog…yes, I put it off to the bitter end! I will try to post daily while in China, but a lot of it will depend on Internet connection, so no promises. Plus, I will be blogging from an Ipad mini...I can hardly see the little keyboard on that thing, should be fun!

Here's our little guy, in a beautiful collage made by big sister, Kaila:

He's saying, "You! Come on already, I've been waiting!!" 

For those in the adoption world, dates and counting days are very important. Plus, there is a language we learn to speak. It is called Acronymese. In fact, a conversation may go like this:

Adoptive Parent #1: “We are on day 68 waiting for LOA, have you found out if you are LID yet?”

Adoptive Parent #2: “No, we don’t have out LID yet, but we got our PA 9 days after LOI and!”

Adoptive Parent #1: “That is awesome, when were you DTC?”

Adoptive Parent #2: “We were DTC on May 9^th. I can’t wait for you to get your LOA, so you can get your PDF, GUZ#, Article 5, TA and CA!” 

So without further delay, I present what you have all been waiting for, our adoption dates:

7/20/2012 Preliminary Application to Dillon International (Bear in mind this date is exactly 1 week after a cross-country move)

9/2/2012 Formal Application to Dillon International (Hours upon hours of work to complete this pile of papers)

10/1/2012 Homestudy begun

10/29/2012 Homestudy visits completed. Now we wait for it.

12/12/2012 Homestudy received

12/18/2012 I-800A Application sent to the USCIS

2/18/2013 Dossier to China (DTC) (BIG step!!!)

2/22/2013 Dossier logged in with the CCCWA (LID)

2/25/2013 An hour after taking Nyquil for a nasty cold, I receive The Call. We have a referral for an almost 1 year old little boy

2/27/2013 After two days of non-stop prayer, research, seeking advice, and taking one of the biggest steps of faith in our lives, we submit the Letter of Intent for Song Ming Xiang (LOI)

3/11/2013 The CCCWA gives us pre-approval to adopt Song Ming Xiang (PA)

5/28/2013 After 78 agonizing days we receive the Letter of Approval from China allowing us to proceed with Daniel’s adoption (LOA). Oh yeah, we settled on a name during these 78 days. He will be our little Daniel. He has been alone, he has faced lions, he has kept a smile on his face despite what he has endured in his short life, and most importantly we hope he will grow to love of the Lord! He is our little Daniel Song.

5/29/2013 I-800 Approval. You read that right, 24 hours after LOA we have I-800!! Unheard of really. We are expediting due to Daniel’s medical need, and our extremely kind USCIS officer had held our I-800 application on her desk for over 2 months.  She approved it within hours of receiving the copy of LOA from us. Thank you dear officer!

6/3/2013 Receive GUZ# and PDF from the US National Visa Center.

6/6/2013 Article 5 picked up from the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China. This step usually takes two full weeks, but due to the medical expedite it was pushed through faster. The US side of the expedite was very successful for us compared to the other side.

6/18/2013 Travel approval received (TA). Final step on the China side. We have permission to come to China to pick up our boy!

6/19/2013 Consulate Appointment (CA) confirmed. We leave soon!

6/19/2013 Receive our Chinese Visas and passports back from the Chinese consulate in Chicago.

 This is our tentative itinerary:

6/28/2013 Depart LAX

6/29/2013 Arrive in Guangzhou, China

7/1/2013 Gotcha day!!!

7/2/2013 Adoption paperwork day

7/3/2013 Medical exam and apply for Chinese passport

7/8/2013 Consulate appointment

7/9/2013 Receive US visa for Daniel

7/10/2013 Leave Guangzhou

7/10/2013 Arrive in the US. One more American citizen in our great land!