I-800 in the mail today!

After 26 agonizing days of wait, it's here!  This still sets us back about a week by being so late, but that's one more hurdle that we've cleared.  What next, you ask?

When our Dept. of Homeland Security officer processed and approved our application and gave us 'provisional approval' she also sent a copy of this official form to the NVC (National Visa Center) by express mail (we hope!).  Once the NVC receives our approval letter, they will upload it into their computer system.  After that happens, they will "cable" (aka email)  our information to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China.  This is the USA's final "OKay" to accept Elliott as a United States citizen after we officially adopt him while we are in China, and it is at that Embassy that we will take our oath and adopt him.  Once this "cable" has been completed, they will notify us that it has been completed.

What this boils down to:
1 week to get NVC cable
1 week to get NVC letter
2 to 3 weeks for our "Article 5" (consulate pre-approval your Elliott's immigrant visa.)
2 to 3 weeks for travel approval from Chinese government.
We hope to travel about 2 weeks after we receive that date, if at all possible.

So in 6 to 8 weeks, we will be packed up and ready to go get Elliott!

Feeling frustrated and sad.

I'm not sure what happened to all of our good momentum.  Everything on the first half of the adoption (home study, I-800A, LOI and PA) seemed to be on the 'early' side of the expected time frames.  Now we are on the back end and slowing down.  We are now over 3 weeks of waiting for our final I-800 approval, with 2 to 2.5 weeks being the average.  I emailed our Dept. of Homeland Security officer yesterday and inquired about our status.  Her reply was that it was being processed that same day.  I don't know why we're running so late.  I know it is mere days, but it all adds up.  And it's going to add up to an October travel date now.  Our early hopes of traveling in August were squashed, and now September has slipped away.  Matthew is entering a work of art into the Grand Rapids Art Prize competition in the end of September, so he is glad that he's going to be in town to install his artwork in the venue he has committed to.  But I'm not happy.  I am trying really hard to control my attitude, and to quit overanalyzing average wait times and what other family got their approval on which date.  But anyone that knows me knows that when I feel out of control I organize.  It's part of what I do for a living, and I do it well.  I've been addicted to the China Adopt Talk website, where all of the waiting families in the paperwork process for China communicate and we all keep track of our milestones on a (wonderful and quite large) spreadsheet.  I'm getting lapped by other families weekly.  What I fear most is that we will get delayed again because of the trade show going on near the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China from October 15-November 5.  That's where we will end up traveling to after picking Elliott up in Harbin, and where we will offically adopt him as our own before heading back to the United States. During the trade show, travel costs go up 2 to 3 times and we just can't afford the extra (few thousand) bucks.  If our travel dates fall in that time frame, we will most likely get slid into a November travel time.  I would never wish time away, especially warm and sunny summer days.  But I want to see some progress.  Soon.

Next step: I-800

Our paperwork for ur I-800 is now on it's way!  This next step of our process alters our paperwork with our United States government from "we want a child from China" to "we want THIS child from China".  We expect approval in about 2 weeks (around July 20th).  In the meanwhile, we are getting paperwork together for application of Elliott's visa. 

We're coming soon, little guy! 

A Wonderful Poem

Legacy of an Adopted Child

Once there were two women who never knew each other.

One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.

Two different lives shaped to make you one.

One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.

The first one gave you love. The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name. 

One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.

One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.

One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home that she could not provide.

The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.

And now you ask me, through your tears, 

the age old question unanswered through years.

Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?

Neither, my darling. Neither.

Just two different kinds of Love.

-Author Unknown