Article 5 DONE, Waiting for Travel Approval!!

Our paperwork was delivered, Article 5 and all, on Friday. Our wait is officially on for Travel Approval!! Once we have TA, we can book our consulate appointment and buy plane tickets. Oh, how I hope and pray we can travel in November!!! I have the CUTEST Santa Claus PJs for Zeb to wear in the weeks before Christmas. Thank you for your prayers!!

Also, we are going to request to visit Zeb's orphanage. It will be a long journey and adds some expense to our trip. We feel it is crucial to attempt to visit the city where he was born. We will have so few connections to his early days, and we're hopeful that visiting Lianyungang will allow us to have something tangible to share with him when he gets older. Join with us in praying that our request to visit his orphanage will be granted.

Things are Moving!

We received an update from our agency Friday. Our paperwork is at the US Consulate and will be processed so that we can receive an Article 5. If all goes well, that document, along with the last of Zeb's paperwork, will go to the government officials in less than two weeks. Wow! Then, we will officially be waiting for Travel Approval. We are PRAYING that Travel Approval takes no more than two weeks...sooner would be GREAT! Once we have travel approval, our agency will confirm a consulate appointment for us and we will travel by back-timing our trip from the consulate appointment.

And now we wait...

Zeb's paperwork arrived in Beijing Monday. That's the day we began counting down three weeks. We are hopeful and praying that it won't even take three weeks to get our Article 5, but three weeks is really the standard timeframe and there's little variance. By the end of the three weeks, our paperwork should be in the hands of the Chinese government officials. I can't explain why, but the previous documents we needed from the Chinese government came VERY FAST. We had our pre-approval in a matter of days, and our LOA a week after that. I knew that was a blessing, but I really began to appreciate it as I saw some families wait months on their LOA. So, given that our case has moved very quickly on the China side, I'm hopeful and optimistic that once they receive our Article 5, we can get Travel Approval VERY quickly. I recently heard of a family getting TA a mere week and a half after getting Article 5. Still, our agency has advised us to expect a minimum of three weeks before receiving TA. That's three weeks AFTER the three weeks we're waiting to pass now. Ugg. Please join us in praying that these time frames will not take as long as predicted. AND...the final piece of the puzzle will be securing a consulate appointment. We can't travel until we have a consulate appointment confirmed. On the plus side, we are prepared to drop everything and go at a moment's notice, so that allows us to request the earliest possible appointment (some families can't go right away for various reasons and end up requesting CA 2-4 weeks after TA).

We simply can't wait to get Zeb home! He has some DARLING Santa PJs waiting for him, so we are BELIEVING that he will be home for Christmas!

A WAY Overdue Update!

So, since I last posted, Brad has started a new job and we have moved to a new state! Fantastic! The move and new job meant we had to do an updated home study. After much prayer and work, we got the updated home study done very quickly...in about two weeks! We also received updated I-800a approval based on our new circumstances and I-800 approval, which authorizes us to adopt the specific child we want. Amazing! All that paperwork and a lot will start its journey to Beijing tomorrow. It had to sit for a week and a day at our adoption agency due to a national holiday in China.

Also, since my last post, we got new photos of Zeb, including this one!!

You may wonder what happens next. We have to get what's called an Article 5. As I understand it, the Article 5 is the official word from the US side saying we're approved to be adoptive parents and to adopt the specific child we've identified. Sounds like it would be a quick process given that we already have those approvals. But, it actually takes three weeks. Once our Article 5 is picked up, this document along with most of our other documents goes to the China government officials who handle adoptions and we wait for Travel Approval (TA). TA has been happening rather quickly. I heard from a family last week who got TA a week and a half after their Article 5 was picked up! That's great news! Once you have TA, you schedule an appointment with the US Consulate in Ghuangzhou and backtime your trip from that appointment. We are hoping and praying we can travel in November.

For what specifically can you pray? Here's the list:

1. That our paperwork reaches Beijing Monday morning without problems.
2. That our Article 5 will be issued and picked up in less than three weeks.
3. That our Travel Approval will happen VERY QUICKLY after our Article 5 gets picked up.
4. That we can get a consulate appointment VERY QUICKLY after we get TA.
5. That God will prepare Zeb's heart to meet his new family.
6. That God will prepare Zeke and Quilla's hearts to receive their new brother.
7. That God would provide Brad and I with patience, strength and energy.

I-800a Approval!! And our next move...

We are so thrilled to have I-800a approval!! WOOT!!!  After talking to our adoption agency, and having multiple conversations with USCIS, we've decided to wait to submit our I-800 (the paperwork that identifies Zeb as the child we want to adopt) until we have our updated home study and can file the I-800a supplement 3. Yes, it's crazy how many steps there are. Basically, we hope that by keeping all of our paperwork together, we will eliminate the possibility of any delays in China. Once we get the I-800a supplement 3 and I-800 approved, the paperwork shifts to the US side in China and to the Chinese government. At that point, we want everything on the paperwork to be consistent, i.e. have our new address. So, as much as I hate to wait on sending in any piece of paperwork that's ready to go, I do believe this is a wise move in the long run. Our officer at USCIS knows that we are submitting these two forms together, and she says neither will take as long as the I-800a took to get approved. They take higher priority, which is reassuring.

Still, we need to pray. First, pray that our home study update is done no later than August 23. We are hoping to have our one home visit the day after we close on our new house. Then, we hope it takes a week or less to get the final draft in our hands. Please pray that this is the case. Once we have the updated home study, we will overnight it and the forms to USCIS. Pray that they will all get approved in record time--two weeks or less. This will set us up for travel in November. That has been on my heart and I continue to pray that it will happen. Thank you for being a part of our journey to Baby Zeb!!!

Transitions

We are getting closer to making the big leap from our current city, where we've lived since 1998/1999 to our hometown. It's a very bittersweet time for us. We just had a wonderful visit from some friends of ours who were at the airport for Zeke and Quilla's arrivals to Springfield. We just love them and I'm sad that they will not be at the airport when Zeb arrives. They have been such a precious part of our journey, offering prayers and support, throwing us a baby shower at church. This is why we say it feels like we're leaving family here to move closer to family.

On the Zeb front, we are getting closer to having USCIS approval of the I-800a. We're not there yet, though. Also, our agency is going to see if we have to wait until after we move, get the home study update, and have an update I-800a approval before we can file the I-800. We hope we DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT. Will you pray with us that there will be no hold ups in Zeb's adoption as we make this transition, which we believe is in the best interest of Baby Zeb?

One final thought: Please consider joining the effort to Save the Federal Adoption Tax Credit. The tax credit allowed us to get back part of the money we invested in Zeke's adoption, enough to begin the process to adopt Quilla. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of this year. PLEASE pray with us that it will get renewed and get active in advocating for its renewal in Congress. Click on the link at the beginning of this paragraph to learn more about how you can get involved in this critical issue that makes it possible for so many orphans to have homes.

Exciting News!!

First, on the adoption front...we continue to wait on immigration approval. Ugg...It's really slowed down and that's so frustrating!!

On the family front, we are MOVING!!!  And we're going back to Tennessee!! I say back to Tennessee because we will be living in the city where Brad and I grew up. We will have grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and much more for the kids to enjoy right there in town. Brad is taking a new job and he's very excited about it. We are moving before Zeb comes home because it will be so much easier to focus on meeting his medical needs (i.e. surgery) if we are not also trying to worry about the move at the same time.

We've been praying about getting back to Tennessee for years. We're thankful for the way so many details are coming together! We're especially happy that the transition is not expected to slow down our adoption. We are working closely with our adoption agency to ensure we do everything necessary to keep things rolling along!!

Fingerprints are DONE!

We drove four hours to the USCIS field office last Friday and they graciously agreed to do our fingerprints, even though our appointment wasn't until July 2nd. We received an email from USCIS yesterday saying they will note in our file that the fingerprints are done, but our file is not yet up for review. We're praying it comes up for review this week. We will keep you posted! We just continue to pray that the paperwork will move at amazingly fast speeds. We want to get Zeb home!!!

In the Wait

So, now that we are waiting and the process is moving forward again (as opposed to just waiting for the home study to get done), how do we pass the time? Well, we're planning a road trip to visit grandparents this summer. That will be a great chance to have fun and see the people we love. Also, there's more paperwork to get done. While we wait, we're doing paperwork for the next phase. The same day we get the approval for which we're waiting now, we will have a FedEx envelope on standby so we can overnight the next round of paperwork to the USCIS office. We don't want to waste even a single day! Thank you for all your support. It means so much on this long journey!

Home Study Done and I-800a Filed!

I feel like the clock is ticking again!! We got our home study yesterday and overnighted it and the other documents to the USCIS office. It arrived there this morning. We are really hopeful we will be able to have our fingerprints done in just a couple of weeks. And we are PRAYING that we get approval of our I-800a in a matter of days after the prints are done. Please keep praying for things to MOVE ALONG!! We continue to get donations and they are right on time. Various payments for paperwork, fingerprinting, and post-placement reports are coming due. Thank you to everyone who has helped us on our journey to Zeb!!

Cleft Feeding Resource List

Feeding a baby with unrepaired cleft lip/palate will be new for us. We're still learning. Missy is on a Yahoo group for families who have adopted or are waiting to adopt a child with cleft lip/palate. One of the mothers there posted a list of bottles and cups that work well for these babies/toddlers. So, you can check out the list here. We're trying to figure out how best to meet Zeb's needs before and after surgery. We're also making progress on finding a cleft team to treat him once he's home. We're learning toward the hospital where Quilla had surgery. We've heard lots of great things about the surgeons there.

Home Study Countdown

We received an email from our adoption agency today indicating that they had signed off on our home study! Hooray! This is great news, but the home study still has to get approval from the home study agency itself. (Really, you never knew how MANY hoops there were for an adoption, did you?) The home study agency approval is the last step before we get the final, notarized, signed, dipped-in-chocolate-and-covered-in-sprinkles home study. That same day (maybe later this week?), we will overnight it along with some other paperwork that's ready to go to the appropriate USCIS office. Now, a good friend of mine who just went through this part informs me that the wait for USCIS to respond and issue a fingerprinting appointment is fairly quick...about two weeks. So, please pray that all goes well as we move on to the next steps. We've been so pleased with how quickly everything has gone so far...here's hoping the next part moves along too!

The Give1Save1 Grand Finale!

Even after I posted the grand total on Facebook, we got a couple more donations. So, the latest total is $2684!!  We are grateful for every dollar that came in through this one week fundraiser. That's right. We raised that amount in on week. I encourage you to stay in touch with Give1Save1.com and consider giving $1 to the families who are featured each week. Taking our place today in the "Asia family" slot is a family adopting an older child from the Philippines. There's also an "Africa family" featured right now and they're adopting a girl from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thank you for all the love you're showing to families and the children who will be blessed with adoptive parents through this process.

Celebrating Freedom and Those Who Secure It

Our total got bumped up a little overnight. We've now raised $2261!! Given that today is meant to focus on the men and women who have served our country, I'm not heavily promoting our fundraiser on Facebook or any social media venues. I'll just say this: I'm grateful for their sacrifice so that I can live in a country where people of different backgrounds, religions, and beliefs can live together, work together, and play together. We are all richer for embracing this diversity.

UPDATE! We've raised $2136 for Baby Zeb!!!!

We're saying goodnight with a grand total of $2136 in donations. Simply amazing!! Our family video will be featured here til Thursday. We'd love it if you would watch our video and then share the link to this site on your Facebook/Twitter/blog/etc: http://give1save1.com/2012/05/24/new-asia-family-of-the-week/

Someone had asked us our goal. It would be awesome if we could raise $15,000. If you look at the overall cost of paperwork, travel, more paperwork, in country legal and visa fees, that's how much we need. That is not the total cost of an adoption, but it's the part we feel we're going to be challenged to cover ourselves, even with Missy doing freelance work and adjustments we've made to our family's monthly expenses. That's why every single donation matters. We've been blessed with many $1 donations all the way up to $200. Combining all the donations together, we will get there.

I said on Facebook yesterday that it's like the Bible story of the loaves and fishes. Everyone shows up to the party with what they can bring, God blesses it, and multiples it in miraculous ways. Thank you for considering a donation and for spreading the word about our adoption story. I've already been in touch with a couple of families who are interested in adoption. We love being able to encourage others who are deciding whether to adopt.

OUR BIG NEWS!!

We are being featured on this website. It has a video telling the story of our family. We are honored to be on this site and would love it if you watched the video and SHARED it on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media site you use. THANK YOU!!!

Sweet Dreams!

The kids enjoyed a sweet treat tonight!

Something BIG is coming tomorrow!

Ok...What started as a "fluke" has turned into something pretty special. A little more than a month ago, I stumbled onto a website that's dedicated to raising money for adoptive families. At that time, they focused only on families adopting from Africa. Still, I emailed the woman who runs the site and told her our story--How we adopted Zeke from Vietnam and Quilla from Ethiopia, and now are stepping out in total faith to adopt from China. She wrote me back quickly to say she had been wanting to expand the site to feature families adopting from Asian countries. Wow...amazing!

So, we are going to be featured on this website tomorrow and the goal is pretty simple: To encourage as many people as possible (friends and strangers alike!) to give $1 to the Zeb Adoption Fund. Seriously, $1. When I think about $1, even though I'm in fundraising mode, I can still spare $1. You probably have $1 in change jangling around the bottom of your purse or in your car's glove compartment. But here's the coolest part...This website will feature a video about our family. We produced it and it features the kiddos. I'm so excited for you to see it!! As Brad said, even if we don't raise a single dollar, it's priceless to have this video that tells our family story.

First, I ask that you share the video on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, wherever you can because we hope that the more people see it, the more people will decide that YES, they can donate just $1 to our adoption. Second, if you can donate $1, that would be great. I'll post the video here and on my Facebook page tomorrow morning. In the meantime, thank you for all your love and prayers. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a village to adopt one too!

We want your junk!!

To all our friends who are local...We are participating in a citywide garage sale June 8 and 9. We have a lot of stuff to sell, but would appreciate donations of stuff you want to get rid of. Whatever we don't sell, we're going to donate to Goodwill. It's a win-win-win: You get rid of the stuff you no longer need, we raise extra money to bring Zeb home, and your stuff finds a new home, one way or another. If you would like to donate stuff, we will even come pick it up. Please email me for details: zekeandlilysmom (at) gmail (dot) com. If you are not local, you can help with our effort to bring Zeb home with a donation using the button on the right. We've been honored and blessed by donations from friends and family around the world. No gift is too small because the beautiful part is seeing how people are giving what they can, and putting it all together, it starts to add up! Thank you!!

Donation Sent to Half the Sky!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Mother's Day fundraiser!! We had more than enough money to do a shared sponsorship of a child through Half the Sky! We've asked that the money go toward childcare at our son's orphanage in Lianyangang (click here for a map of orphanages in Jiangsu province...Lianyangang is on the coast in the north). We have been blessed by amazing support from friends and family both near and far. THANK YOU!! We continue to raise money and look for specific ways to generate donations. We were pleased that our first fundraiser included an opportunity to help bring home Zeb and support the wonderful work of Half the Sky.

On the paperwork side of things...We got some WONDERFUL news yesterday. Our police letters took only one day to get done!! We are so thankful! There is a new person handling them for the sheriff's office and she was so happy to hear about our adoption. I thought it might take her a couple of days to get our letters done, but she called my cell after 5 last night to say I could pick them up today. That's amazing! Everything else appears to be falling into place too. We continue to hope, pray and BELIEVE that we will bring him home this calendar year!!