LID and new photos!

I recieved an email from our agency today saying that our dossier has been logged in! The log in date (LID) marks the beginning of the longest part of the adoption process. Now we will wait about 2-4 months for our LOA. Wow. It is so hard to believe we are finally here.

Along with the great news about our LID, I want to share some news about Lily! My friend Shelley is in China right now adopting a little girl who, until 4 days ago, lived in the same orphanage as Lily. I am beyond grateful that she was able to take a few photos of our girl.

New Timeline

People always say that adoption is hard for people who like to be in control. Um.....doesn't everyone like to be in control of their own lives? So, it is no surprise that I sometimes sit down and write out our projected timeline.

Here is what has happened so far-

10/25/11- Home study initiated (order paperwork, sign contract for home stud agency, etc).
1/8/12- Decide to adopt from China instead of Ukraine.
4/23/12- Home study arrives at our home! Mailed USCIS application!!!
6/1/12- USCIS approval arrives in the mail!
6/18/12- Old agency says we are DTC!!!
6/19/12- Old agency says we are NOT DTC and will not be until September!
6/26/12- Decided to switch to a new agency.
7/9/12- DTC! (Dossier To China)

Here is what still needs to happen, along with estimated dates based on current averages in China Adoption Land.

7/30/12- LID (dossier log in date)
10/10/12- LSC/LOA (Letter Seeking Confirmation, Letter of Acceptance)
10/24/12- I-800 approval
11/7/12- NVC
11/21/12- Article 5
12/12/12- Travel Approval!
 Early January or Early February- Go to China!

Birthdays

I found out yesterday that we cannot send a birthday cake to Lily on her birthday next month. That was upsetting to me. I know she has probably seen other kids have birthday celebrations and I wonder if she ever wonders why no one celebrates her birthday.

Our 4 year old son seems to think he is entitled to a party every time someone else has a birthday. With every party invitation sent to his siblings, he cries "Why don't I get to have a birthday? I want a birthday!" He just doesn't understand why he has to wait an entire year for his next. We have explained it several times, but either he doesn't care for the logic or he just doesn't get it.

So I wonder if Lily has seen other kids parties and gifts and if she has wondered why no cake has ever been served in her honor?

I know that in the big picture this is really not that big of a deal, but it still stings a little. I want to give her everything our other kids have had.

Today we were swimming at the local Y. I wondered if she has had the chance to swim and remembered last summer when my friend brought home her two children from an orphanage in Ukraine. I don't think either of them had ever been in a bath tub and they certainly had never been in a swimming pool. I'm guessing in an orphanage, it is doubtful Lily has ever been in water.

It's just these little things that hurt today. She needs to come home. She needs to have birthdays and go swimming and pick out pretty dresses to wear and have dolls and toys to call her own.

As much as this makes me sad, it also helps motivate me to push through and get to her. It also motivates me to be a better mom to my kids that are here.  Though I cannot provide the life we want for Lily just yet, we can allow our kids to experience the wonderful life God has given us.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We are selling things to raise the last of the agency fees we had to pay with the switch to Wacap. Our online auction is here and our jewelry sale is here, and of course the vacation auction is here.

Happy Happy Day!!!

Normally I don't enjoy Mondays but today has been a very special Monday!

If you've been reading our blog or know me in person, you know we had a major setback in our adoption.

Well, today we are finally back on track!

Two amazing things happened today!

The first awesome thing was that the very last document our new agency needed to add to our dossier arrived today!!!

The second is that our wonderful new agency, WACAP, was able to send our dossier to CHINA!!!!!

Yes, we are finally  DTC as they say in China adoption land!

Now, we need to wait for a log in date (LID) - 2 weeks
Then, we wait for LOA (60-80 days or more from LID)
After that there are a few more things that take a total of about 2 months.

Thank you for all the prayers, donations, purchases so far! Please take a look at the following fundraisers. We are not asking for donations, but we have some great deals for you that will help us bring Lily home!

Swedish Vacation Auction

Beautiful Handmade Jewelry

Online Silent Auction

What a week!

This past week should have marked one month since our dossier was sent to China.

Instead we are waiting, hoping to be able to send it tomorrow through our new agency.

So, this past week was more than a little emotional for me.

Not only that, but my mom and niece came to stay for the week. We had planned a cheapie staycation, but my mom got pneumonia and my van stopped working so for awhile we had no vehicle that would fit all the kids.

We did manage to make the van work well enough to do a few things, but still- broken van, sick mom, adoption stress...it was a bit much.

We did manage to have quite a bit of fun despite illness and vehicle troubles and I was blessed to receive donations for our Auction Fundraiser.

We had, as usual, an amazing time at the Fourth of July Celebration at American Village.

My daughter Maddie with her friends.

And yesterday we had a great time at The Hope Project's family picnic!

My son Ben with his friend Malachi.

Rope swinging at Orr Park.

Our new Hope Project Banner!

Beautiful display showcasing another family's adoption.

Comments

I've gotten lots of comments lately. If you would like me to respond please include your email address. One person in particular has asked me to respond but I don't know how. Please come back and tell me how to reach you! Also, I do not publish comments that contain sensitive information. Thanks!

Progress!

Thanks to a very short term loan and profits from jewelry sales we were able to make a payment to our new agency so that they have what they need to send our dossier to China.

 We are waiting on important documents right now that were expected to arrive yesterday but didn't. Hopefully they will arrive today. If they do, our dossier will be off to China. Our new agency is on the west coast, so it will be awhile before I hear anything from them, so keep your fingers crossed and pray that today is the day. I'd love to have one more reason to celebrate tomorrow!

If you are reading this blog for the first time, the back story is that our original agency was unable to process our adoption because they were suspended by the Chinese adoption authorities. They failed to tell us this until the day our dossier was to be sent to China. We were left in a position to switch agencies quickly and come up with new agency fees in about a week. NOT COOL. I am still pretty emotional about the way we were swindled out of thousands of dollars.

I am hopeful our old agency will do the right thing and give us a full refund. We still need several thousand dollars to complete the adoption and having that cash back in our adoption account would help greatly.


We are working on two fundraisers at the moment so that we can get back on track. Please help us by sharing the info with anyone you think might be interested.

Online Silent Auction

July 8-15

We are asking for donations of items to be used in the auction.  If you would like to offer an item or a gift certificate, please let me know. If you own a business, I'll link your business on my blog and also in the auction. This is a great way to attract customers online stores as well as brick and mortar stores.

Kindle Nook Giveaway

Ends July 8!

You can win a Kindle or a Nook (your choice!) by making a small donation or by purchasing jewelry from our jewelry page on facebook. Winner will be drawn on July 8.