Out of Translation!!!

Finally, we have an update! We got an email from our agency this morning telling us our dossier was "out of translation". All our paperwork has to be translated into Ch*nese before it can be reviewed. Once it's reviewed, we will be issued our Letter of Acceptance (LOA). This is the official letter that states sweet Baby Shawn is ours. LOA's typically arrive 2-4 weeks once you are out of translation. We are hoping to get our letter very, very soon.

We are starting to prep for a little boy. We did a little shopping yesterday and picked these things up:


Quite different from the normal princess attire we pick up. Since Brian had to tell me who some of the people on the shirts were, looks like this mommy has a lot to learn!

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Christmas Thoughts

Every year Brian and I pick out a new ornament for our Christmas tree. I wanted to share this year's ornament:


In the adoption community, the phrase "Forever Family" is very special. It refers to adults and children coming together to become a family...forever. This phrase is very appropriate this year! There's four stockings hanging on our mantle, but only three people living in our home; however, there's a little boy out there who is part of our family...forever.

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Signs

When we received "the call" from CCAI, I immediately prayed that God's plan would become clear to us. We did not expect a referral so soon and I was really needing guidance, and yes, signs. We received the call on a Friday afternoon. On Saturday, following a conversation which ended with us not knowing what we were doing, I decided to take a break and nap with Bella. Within minutes of this conversation, my phone "dinged" to let me know I had been tagged in a picture on Facebook. I clicked on my Facebook app and I was tagged in a picture of this painting:


This painting is now hanging in my living room and I love it; adoption truly is a miracle.

Yesterday, Bella and I were outside playing on her swing set. (As of now its "her" swing set; soon it'll be "their" swing set.) On the cover of the swing set I found about a dozen ladybugs. In the Chinese adoption community, ladybugs are considered good luck. It gave me a little sense of peace that Baby Shawn's sweet spirit was with us as his big sister and I played on their swing set.



Unfortunately, we do not have any adoption updates. We are still waiting on our Letter of Acceptance to arrive. Our agency has warned us this could take anywhere from 3-4 months. As of today, its been 31 days since we were pre-approved to adopt Baby Shawn and 35 days since our dossier was logged in, in Ch*na. Who's counting though? :) God speed for a speedy LOA!

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Made For Each Other

I've often said Bella was "made" for us. I'm very aware that adoption stems from grief and loss; however, it is a miracle how families come together out of this grief and loss. I feel the same about Shawn too. He's not here yet, but he was "made" for us...and his big sister.

Several people have commented that they resemble each other, we agree too. (And NO, we do not think all Asian look alike.). Could this be a "sign" that they were made to be sister and brother? I don't know, but the resemblence is there.

I present exhibit A:


Isabella Ziyu Smith, 6 months

I present exhibit B:


Shawn Xinyu Smith, 6-8 months

Chubby cheeks, rosebud lips, big brown eyes and hair challenged. :) Made for each other? Maybe so. I do know we have been greatly set up for the inevitable question, "Are they real brother and sister?".

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Ready for Christmas

The tree has been decorated,


(There's a reason there's a lot of ornaments in one spot on the front of the tree)

Elmo is with us for the holidays again,


(Bella named Elmo when she was two)

Mine and Bella's first craft we made together to display,



and since Bella and I are both bookworms, she gets to open a Christmas book a day to help countdown to Christmas.





This time next year there's going to a sweet little boy here to celebrate the season with. God speed until he is home.

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Care Package

We were able to send a care package to our Shawn. Big Sister and I went to Target and picked up goodies.


Baby boy clothes and toys! Something new for our home. :) We included a disposable camera. We are hoping its full of pictures when we meet him.


A photo album is on top. It's filled with pictures of his mommy, daddy and sister. (Look closely at the top, left corner of the pictures. Big Sister was there helping me package everything.)
Hoping it makes it to China soon! Wish we were going too.

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Pictures!

Today I learned I can make Shawn's sweet face public! I'm pleased to present the cutest little boy I've ever laid eyes on...



This was one of his referral photos. Here's an updated photo...



I've learned this photo was taken the 11/2/12, the day we received "the call". I'm hoping his sweet smile is a sign. :)

Our Shawn was born in Shangqiu, Henan but is currently in foster care in Shanghai. His birthday is 11/6/11 and he has a big sister who is ready for him to come home!

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Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year. It's been a miracle filled year and its not even over yet.

Today we took a couple of pictures for Shawn's care package. I'm including a photo album so he can see who his ma ma, ba ba and jie jie are. That's mommy, daddy and big sister for you non-Chinese speaking folks. :)

Here's a shot of the three of us:


And a shot of the Big Sister in her new princess nightgown she's had on all day:


Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!
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Life Continues...

Besides the speedy referral, what is different this time around? We have a little someone keeping us busy. Today Bella had her four year pictures made...only two months late. :)



Waiting patiently for her turn to pose in front of the camera

After pictures we visited the mall where I got in a little Christmas Shopping and Bella got a carousel ride in. I had high hopes this was the year Bella would finally agree to a picture with Santa! Nope. Another year with my hopes dashed. Oh well. At least I have a picture of her and Santa when she was one. She's screaming like crazy, but at least I got my picture. :)

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Q and A's

Here's some of the most popular questions we are getting...

1) Why was this time so quick compared to last time? (For those who don't know, it took close to four years to bring Bella home.)

The current wait time to adopt a "non-special needs" child from China is six years. Bella was classified "non-special needs" and we did not have it in us to wait at least six years for Baby 2. This time, we requested a "waiting child" with mild, correctable needs. We even got to select the needs we were open to and we selected either boy or girl. Since we were open to a Waiting Child and since we were open to either gender, we increased the chances of a speedier referral. However, we still anticipated a much longer wait than 24 hours!

2) Are you surprised it's a boy?

I wasn't; Brian was. From what our agency told us, many people in the waiting child program request girls only and there's lots of little boys available. I've been thinking boy all along; Brian was thinking girl. Guess the answer to this question is it depends on which one of us you ask. :)

3) What do those dates on the right side of the page mean?

They each correlate to a piece of official paperwork required to travel to China. Here's what we've accomplished so far: DTC, the date our dossier was sent to China. LOI, the date our Letter of Intent was sent to China. LID, the date our dossier was logged in at the CCCWA. PA, the date we were pre-approved by the CCCWA to adopt our son. Sound like Greek? http://www.china-adoption-online.com/ can explain further?

4) What's next?

We are waiting to receive our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from the CCCWA. Our agency has warned us it could take 3-4 months to receive; however, current the current trend is two months.

5) Why can't we see pics?

Adoption from China has changed so much since Bella's adoption. As soon as we received pictures she was on Facebook! However, sharing online is no longer allowed. This includes information too. I posted information on Facebook and had to remove it. As soon as I can, we will have pics for everyone to see! As of now, when you see us, ask to see pics!




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November 2, 2012

It was a typical Friday. Bella and I had school in the morning and then ran errands. The planned big event of that day was a playdate at the park and then baking chocolate chip banana bread. After lunch, Bella started fussing and was grouchy, so I decided a nap would be a good idea before our playdate. Since I like to cuddle with her as often as possible, I laid down too and dozed off. When I "came too" I realized I had a missed call and voicemail. I looked closer at the phone and realized the call came from Denver, CO...where our agency is located. I went into a state of "mini shock" and immediately called them back. It took me two attempts to correctly use the phone. While it was ringing I was thinking, "This can't be it. Surely they just need more info from us". I was wrong; this was "it". I was asked if we would like to review a file of a little boy who turning one. I think my response was "Ummmm...yeah". (I was still in shock.) We chatted for a few more minutes and I told them I would call them Monday and let them know what we thought. The agency immediately e-mailed his file to us and then everything changed. We had a decision to make....yes or no? Unlike Bella's adoption, this child was matched to us by the agency and we were encouraged to talk to as many professionals as we needed to make our decision. After showing his file to an audiologist, pediatrician who specializes in international adoption and a pediatrician we respect, we decided "yes". This little guy immediately became our son and Bella's little brother. I called CCAI as soon as they opened and told them we wanted this little guy. We want him ASAP, but have to play by China's rules so we will wait. I haven't shared much because we are not allowed to share much online at this stage. I shared a little on Facebook and realized we can't do that now! I deleted my post. Since that Monday morning have been busy with paperwork and trying to decide where Shawn's room will be. Can't wait to buy baby boy stuff. :) I will update soon with some Q & A's!

To bring everyone up to speed...

In May 2011, we decided we were ready to add to our family. Long story short, we were not able to find a social worker who was able to start with us at that time. We had to have a social worker to write our homestudy. Without a social worker, no adoption agency could work with us. Finally, about a month later, we found someone. However...we got a call about a month later and we were informed this agency was closing their adoption program. Fast forward to September 2011, we located another social worker and we got the ball rolling...or so we thought. Another long story short, in April 2012 we realized we were not any closer than we were when we signed with this social worker. We made the decision to try to locate yet another social worker. I'm very glad to say, we did! We were now able to sign with an international adoption agency and start "paperchasing". After six months of working on paperwork and having it notarized, certified and authenticated, we were able to Fed Ex two pounds (I had to weigh it before Fed Ex'ing it) of paperwork to CCAI. This was October 11th, and after a very thorough review by our agency, it was sent to the China Center of Welfare and Adoption on November 1st. We decided to tell family and friend's what we had done and we settled in for a nice long wait....or so we thought.

The future Big Sister is ready to Fed Ex two pounds of paperwork!