Last night Poppy was putting the kids to bed, and did a quick recheck. Cole was standing on a bed. Poppy told him, "Cole, don't stand ont he bed." Jill pipes up and says, "Yeah, because that's God's law..." Thinking that Jill would say some thing like 'Obey your parents', Poppy asked her, "Which one?" Jill said, " The one where you don't look under the bathroom door when somebody is in there!" Sometimes God's word is just subject to interpretation.
Same day, the family had pulled into the drive. Jenny noted Lindsay's car was home. Jill asked, "Where's the van?" She was sitting in it. It's never boring around here.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Welcome to our additional addition...
Got the official news today that we are approved for a second SN son from China!
We're so excited, just have to share. We were already to the point of getting
printed for INS approval when we received an email about several children whose
files were about to be returned. One of these children was a child we had
considered when we decided to adopt Charlie, also age 3. We went with Charlie
because we had great video of him, and after everything we had gone thru with
Cole's institutional issues, we really wanted to hedge our bets for minimal
adjustment problems until Cole grows out of his a bit more.
So when I read that email, my heart just couldn't let this child's file be
returned, fearing his complex heart issues might lead to him being labelled
'unadoptable'. Nick and I just looked at each other wondering how in the world
we were going to pay for another adoption (start a reality show, lol)? Will the
agency let us do this- four 3-year olds? Will China allow us to do two
adoptions simultaneously for unrelated children? Will they do this if we submit
the LOIs at separate times?
The agency asked the CCAA about it, and the CCAA requested a copy of our LOI.
We held our breath and the immigration approval, as we would need to amend the
home study for 2 kids, and get state approval of the change. The call came
today that China has said yes, and we will be getting prior approval to adopt
our fourth son, Dalton Channing, who we will fittingly be calling 'Chance'.
Still expect to travel this summer to get both boys at the same time- they
reside about an hour apart in Xi'An. We already caused crowds to form on the
walking streets in China because we have two sons, I can only imagine how it
will be with 4 of them in tow.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Charlie and Chance's Timelines
7/21/09 Heard about Charlie for the first time
7/22/09 We commit to adopting Xiaohu aka 'Paul'- to become Charles William. Agency assures us it is OK to wait to start homestudy as CA/N clearances are taking about 3 months. We schedule early Oct. as this was the earliest the SW could do it. We questioned this at the time, noting our previous 2 adooptions had taken about a month for clearances.
7/29/09 Ordered copies of all of the vital docs
7/30/09- Hague info sent to us
8/7/09- Conferred with Dr. Lynn Batten on Charlie's pacemaker. Excellent local pediatric cardiologist who also referred us to Dr. Lau, electrophysiologist.
8/11/09 Submitted LOI packet.
8/12/09- Completed Michigan CA/N clearance request
8/12/09 Charlie was hospitalized with edema. Local Cardiologist thinks it's kidney related.
8/24/09 Provided the scanned dossier to the agency and social worker
9/3/09 Emailed copies of the Texas background checks to agency and social worker
9/3/09 Agency sent out notification that all pending LOIs should be submitted this week as CCAA would be reclaiming the agency specific children's files. We sent our docs again this day. Agency had been trying to wait to ensure we could meet the 90 day DTC date since LOI starts that clock.
9/14/09- Agency working to resolve how to handle marriage license issue
9/21/09 I asked about the CA/N clearances and was told there was 'no word yet' Also asked about our reference letters.
9/28/09 China rep was waiting to hear how to proceed with our marriage license issue and has not submitted LOI
10/4-6/09 Homestudy appointments
10/23/09 Meet with Lifeline in B'ham
Early October: Baby's file returned to CCAA as LOI papers not filed in time. File had to be retrieved- took another week. LOI filed and awaiting on PA
10/30/09 Discovered the CA/N clearances were complete back on 8/23/09, and homestudy is still incomplete and social worker still asking questions that were already answered. We're really not pleased with the situation, and are concerned that we have lost 2 months on the timeline
11/2/09 Homestudy revised and approved
11/6/09 Homestudy to DHR and agency advised we file I-800. PA still outstanding. When I asked for a hard copy, they said we would need to wait for the USCIS paperwork to come through before they would release it
11/9/09- Thinking about Charlie's upcoming third birthday next week.
11/17/09- PA issued
11/19/09- Sent I-800
12/10/09- Heard the homestudy had been sent to NBC
12/18/09- Received invitation for fingerprinting on 1/6/10
1/6/10- Went to New Orleans for printing
2/16/10- Got news the AL DHR will approve the homestudy addendum to adopt another child.
2/17/10- Per PA, we must be LID by this date, but agency has confirmed we will be given an extension.
3/1/10- Initial I-800 approved for both children.
3/2/10- I-800 being authenticated.
3/17/10- DTC on Chance's birthday!
LOI 10/30/09 estimated
PA 11/17/09
DTC 3/17/10
Projections vs. Actual
LID 2/1/10 3/28/10
LOA 4/30/10 6/15/10
I-800 6/7/10
Cabled/NVC 6/15/10
Article 5 18 days due 7/6
TA 7/1/10 5 days due 7/11
Travel dates 7/15/10 or 7/30
CA 8/11/10
7/22/09 We commit to adopting Xiaohu aka 'Paul'- to become Charles William. Agency assures us it is OK to wait to start homestudy as CA/N clearances are taking about 3 months. We schedule early Oct. as this was the earliest the SW could do it. We questioned this at the time, noting our previous 2 adooptions had taken about a month for clearances.
7/29/09 Ordered copies of all of the vital docs
7/30/09- Hague info sent to us
8/7/09- Conferred with Dr. Lynn Batten on Charlie's pacemaker. Excellent local pediatric cardiologist who also referred us to Dr. Lau, electrophysiologist.
8/11/09 Submitted LOI packet.
8/12/09- Completed Michigan CA/N clearance request
8/12/09 Charlie was hospitalized with edema. Local Cardiologist thinks it's kidney related.
8/24/09 Provided the scanned dossier to the agency and social worker
9/3/09 Emailed copies of the Texas background checks to agency and social worker
9/3/09 Agency sent out notification that all pending LOIs should be submitted this week as CCAA would be reclaiming the agency specific children's files. We sent our docs again this day. Agency had been trying to wait to ensure we could meet the 90 day DTC date since LOI starts that clock.
9/14/09- Agency working to resolve how to handle marriage license issue
9/21/09 I asked about the CA/N clearances and was told there was 'no word yet' Also asked about our reference letters.
9/28/09 China rep was waiting to hear how to proceed with our marriage license issue and has not submitted LOI
10/4-6/09 Homestudy appointments
10/23/09 Meet with Lifeline in B'ham
Early October: Baby's file returned to CCAA as LOI papers not filed in time. File had to be retrieved- took another week. LOI filed and awaiting on PA
10/30/09 Discovered the CA/N clearances were complete back on 8/23/09, and homestudy is still incomplete and social worker still asking questions that were already answered. We're really not pleased with the situation, and are concerned that we have lost 2 months on the timeline
11/2/09 Homestudy revised and approved
11/6/09 Homestudy to DHR and agency advised we file I-800. PA still outstanding. When I asked for a hard copy, they said we would need to wait for the USCIS paperwork to come through before they would release it
11/9/09- Thinking about Charlie's upcoming third birthday next week.
11/17/09- PA issued
11/19/09- Sent I-800
12/10/09- Heard the homestudy had been sent to NBC
12/18/09- Received invitation for fingerprinting on 1/6/10
1/6/10- Went to New Orleans for printing
2/16/10- Got news the AL DHR will approve the homestudy addendum to adopt another child.
2/17/10- Per PA, we must be LID by this date, but agency has confirmed we will be given an extension.
3/1/10- Initial I-800 approved for both children.
3/2/10- I-800 being authenticated.
3/17/10- DTC on Chance's birthday!
LOI 10/30/09 estimated
PA 11/17/09
DTC 3/17/10
Projections vs. Actual
LID 2/1/10 3/28/10
LOA 4/30/10 6/15/10
I-800 6/7/10
Cabled/NVC 6/15/10
Article 5 18 days due 7/6
TA 7/1/10 5 days due 7/11
Travel dates 7/15/10 or 7/30
CA 8/11/10
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Summer Vacation 2009
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Staying at Rendy’s Hidaway in Gulf Shores for a while to get rested up- as much as possible with 4 small kids! Jenny, Jill, Corey and Cole have stayed with us all week, with Matt, Ben, Lacey, and Lindsay joining us periodically. The kids have had a great time so far in spite of being sick with colds. The sunscreen is working wonderfully too- I’m the only one burned to date (forgot to get my back done in the scramble to get everyone ready for the beach).
We met a family with 6 kids on the beach, one of which was from China, and saw another family with adopted kids. Seems like families with adoptive kids from China are every where, or maybe we are just so much more aware of them these days. It is nice for the boys to see other families like ours.
We rode into Orange Beach last night and ogled Publix- just love that store and it was nice to get out in the evening a bit. The produce section just makes you want to eat it- such a sensory overload. Of course, the bakery was really cool too- they had the onion bagels Matt has been asking for. We also stopped at a souvenir shop and picked up some flip-flops for the girls and a hermit crab for the kiddos to torture. Jill was so funny, she kept insisting his hand was broken. It took a lot of reassuring and a physical exam to convince her that her nurse-Mimi was credible and the crab was fine.
The kids have built sand castles galore, and Jenny made ‘snow’ angels too. The boys floated stick ‘boats’ in a shallow pool that had formed on the beach. Jill stopped every few steps on our surf side walk to pick up even more seashells, and found a rusty nickel that she hopes to spend. The girls kept drawing an ‘X’ in the sand to mark the spot to dig- they are generally entertaining to watch while they search for treasure. The kids have all had a wonderful time gathering up small clams in their buckets of brine and watching the bi-valves siphons extend. They spent hours gathering the clams and walking the beach for seashells.
We happened on a sand 'jacuzzi' someone had crafted so the waves would fill it up sporadically, and were shocked when a massive wave overfilled it and tumbled Cole kit over caboodle. The surprised faces would have been a great picture according to a nearby beachcomber.
We did make it back out to the state park in Orange Beach a couple of times since we stayed at the beach house where the pics in this slideshow were taken. Every time we take a longer drive Corey asks if we're going to the beach, and if we'll be going into the tunnel that takes us that way. The pavilion there is great and there is a shallow sandbar that is perfect to swim with the kids on. The boys were so content they all fell asleep while we were holding them in the surf- might have something to do with the ocean waves disc they've been listening to every night for ages.
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