China, here we come!

Three days until we board our plane to China. Part of me wishes we were taking a boat to China.....the flight from Newark to Hong Kong is 15hours and 55 minutes! Everyone says "Think of it as labor." I just want to know..."Where is the epidural?"

It is hard to believe that in one week I will be holding our new daughter in my arms and a little over three that she will be home with her forever family. We would appreciate any thoughts and prayers that Addison will feel instantly comfortable and loved in her new family & that it will be an easy transition for her. While we have grown to love her over the past few months, we are still strangers to her.

Please follow along on our journey!

Fingerprint Confirmation!

We received a message from CCAI today saying the US Consulate in China had received our fingerprints!! Now there is nothing preventing us from getting on the plane next week. ADDISON - HERE WE COME!!

God Bless Texas!

US Rep. Lamar Smith's (TX) office has really helped us out. Bob met with his office yesterday to see if we could come to some conclusion. He took the pictures of Addison in her crib. The lady asked Bob, "This can't be where they sleep, there is no mattress." I think seeing those pictures put some perspective of this whole issue.
USCIS told the Congressman's office that once they received our updated homestudy addendum, they would send the paperwork to the US Consulate in China. We didn't hear back from her Friday, but I imagine that if they hadn't already sent it, it is on its way. We should be traveling as planned. We just have to have final word from the Consulate that they received our fingerprints. This is great news, but please keep your fingers crossed that the Consulate receives the information quickly.
The most important things is getting Addison home. We are still going to look into the mishandling of adoption cases by the USCIS Fairfax office so other families won't be put through what we have been.

2 weeks and counting

Today is two weeks from the day we are supposed to travel - 11/1/07. I have so much to do, but at the same time part of me is afraid to actually start packing. We have been having problems with the Fairfax, VA USCIS office. The short version is that the lady did not cable some of our info to the American Consulate in China and at this point our Consulate Appt. is in limbo. She likes playing "God" with adoptive families in this area. She is now requiring an additional form and $585 to complete the adoption. She says that there is a code, but no one is able to find it. We are now working with our Congressman's office to try to get to the bottom of it. We have sent in the money and form - just so we can get the paperwork sent off, BUT we still plan to fight this issue. We have found several situations in the federal code that is directly opposite of what she is saying.

Yesterday, she emailed me and said that the homestudy didn't show sufficient evidence that Bob and I are capable, willing and prepared to provide for a child with special needs. It was so outrageous that we had to laugh. She of course hasn't meet Nathan.

Bob is meeting with tomorrow with the Congressional Liaison in San Antonio. We are really hoping that we will at least find out if the paperwork has been sent. That way we can move forward. Otherwise we may have to change our travel dates.

CA!

We finally received our CA (consulate appt.) today! Now that I have actually bought our tickets it is feeling more and more real. 22 days and counting....

Our travel plans now look like this:

Nov 1 - Leave DC Flight to Hong Kong
Nov 2 - Arrive in Hong Kong
Nov 3 - Tour Hong Kong
Nov 4 - Travel to Guangzhou
Nov 5 - Gotcha Day for Addison!!!!
Nov 14 - CA
Nov 15 - Oath Ceremony
Nov 16 Leave for home!!

I have a million and one things to do before we go. All this waiting and paperwork will be so worth it when we have Addison in our arms.

The Pumpkin Patch

Today Nathan's class went to the pumpkin patch. Of course Nathan was the cutest pumpkin there!

TA! TA! TA! TA!

We finally got our travel announcement - YEAH!!!! Right now this is what the schedule looks like:

Leaving DC 11/1
Arriving in Hong Kong 11/2
Touring Hong Kong 11/3
Traveling to Guangzhou 11/4
Getting Addison 11/5
Consulate Appt. 11/14
Oath 11/15
Flying back to Hong Kong 11/15
Flying Home 11/16

We will know for sure tomorrow. China has a national holiday this week and a lot of things are closed. The consulate will be open Thursday & Friday, so hopefully we will get our Consulate Appt. secured and then can buy our tickets!