Tick Tock...

We have been getting a taste of what the waiting phase of the adoption is going to be like. It's a little bit unsettling. To have nearly all your part of all the paperwork and various tasks done and have to wait on others to do their part is hard. But, it also means we're getting closer. Closer to bringing our precious girl home forever. And that's a comfort.

This past month we have been working on getting our immigration approval. We had to send in our home study and application to USCIS and wait for them to set up an appointment to get fingerprinted. Once the appointment was set up, Paul and I had to go in and get fingerprinted at the USCIS office in Phoenix.

Then we had to wait for them to approve us to bring a child from China into the US. It is called a I-797. We finally got that piece of paper on May 6th. This was one of the big steps in the process that could have taken over two months. For us, it took 23 days. That's actually amazingly quick compared to the average wait time. So, we were pleased with that.

Now, we have sent our home study and the I-797 to be authenticated by the Chinese Consulate in DC. That will possibly take a couple of weeks. So, we are waiting on that to come back to us. Once that step is done we will send those remaining two pieces of our dossier to our agency (CCAI), so they can send it all to China with our application. This step is often referred to DTC (Dossier to China).
What we will be waiting for first is called the LID (Log in Date). This is the date that China receives our dossier and logs it into their system and begins translating the documents. From DTC to LID usually takes a week or so.

Then the real waiting begins. After LID, we will be waiting on our Letter of Acceptance (Approval) or LOA. This is basically China's official approval for us to adopt Carissa. They will send the LOA for us to sign agreeing that we accept their referral of Carissa for adoption. This paper can take 30 to 90+ days to get after the LID. I think for most people it's about 60 days. This wait, according to those who have been through this, is a hard one. You reach the 30 day mark and from that point on you are on edge just waiting for that precious piece of paperwork. It's enough to drive waiting mommies a bit crazy. ;o)
Once we have LOA, we will be waiting for TA (travel approval). Usually travel approval comes 8 to 12 weeks from LOA. There are a few things to get done in between LOA and TA, so that will be a hard wait, but we will be busy with preparations, visa approvals, and packing, etc. So, I'm sure the time will go by a little quicker.

So, we are chugging along. We are getting there. Slow and steady. Our home study took extra long, but now we made up a little bit of time with such a quick immigration approval. Lets pray for the other steps to happen on the quick end too.
If things go well and at the average wait times, we are looking at October travel.

This month, we have also had a couple of really good fundraising events. We sold t-shirts and made $790 to put in the adoption fund. We also had a garage sale with our own items and donated items from many of our friends. We made $600 in one day with that one. So, we feel really blessed. Money to bring our girl home has been trickling in a little bit at a time and it really adds up. God has really been providing.

I have also been filling out grant applications. That process has been much harder than I had imagined. They really make you work for that chance to get a grant! Reality is that not everyone that even qualifies gets a grant. So, this one has been hard for me to get the motivation to follow through on. I look at the list of things required and the long applications and wonder if it will be a waste of time. But, I know I've got to try and if we don't get the grants, then God will work another way to provide. And most of all, every bit of work we need to do to help bring our girl home, is so worth it. She is worth it!

We've got about another $14,000 to fully fund our adoption. Sometimes if feels like so much, but at the same time, we have already been blessed by God's provision by generous donations, successful fundraisers and my job that is helping to trickle in funds. I know we will get there. We are already halfway there and that is amazing!
We still have the links on the side of this blog to our Pure Charity account. This donation is tax deductible and they send the money directly to our agency for agency expenses. So, if you are someone that is looking for ways to get tax deductions, this is a good way to go. You can also share the page with all your friends online.
We also have the paypal button for donations directly to us. These funds will help pay for travel expenses.
And also the amazon link really does work! If you make your amazon purchases using the link, we get a percentage of the amount you spend on that purchase, up to 7%. It's not a ton, but even the little amounts add up.

I just want to thank everyone for the prayers, the donations of items to the garage sale, those that bought t-shirts and the monetary donations. We are greatly blessed by an awesome community of family and friends that are helping to give a child a forever home. A home where she's wanted and loved and cared for. We can't wait to bring her home to such a loving community.