Almost Dossier to China (DTC)

Well we are almost there! DTC! This is what all the work since July has been leading up to. Basically, China wants to know EVERYTHING about us. We were fingerprinted 3 separate times by 3 different agencies, had someone in our house to check it out, had our blood drawn and complete physicals, letters from our employers, financial records, birth certificates, marriage certificates, references from friends, letter promising china we will love Quin, and a bunch of other things all sent to our agency in one envelope.

We've been to Bozeman and Helena to get documents done. It's been a journey for sure!

We are just waiting on one document from Homeland Security saying that our fingerprints came back clean and we are ready to go. Well that doc has to go to DC and then to San Francisco first to make sure it's legit and then we are done. Can yall please pray that it all goes quickly. I'm SO ready to be DTC!

I just checked our adoption account and we have almost exactly what we need to cover all our adoption expenses until we travel! We need to write a check for $3976 within the next few weeks. Right now we have $3974 in our adoption account!!! How amazing is God! I just love how He confirms our journey in the littlest ways (well it's actually a big way).

After that we will still need about $17,000 for travel, orphanage fees, in-country legal fees,  and translators.

Thank you so much for praying for our family and for praying for Quin!

Update #2

We got another update on Quin!

             Height 93cm, weight 15.4kg, head circumference 50cm, chest circumference 53cm, foot length 15.5cm.

He is a fairly active child. He can go to the toilet on his own but needs adults to remind him. He is learning to brush his teeth. We use urea and vitamin E cream for his skin condition. He has two close friends, XXXXX and XXXXX. There are 31 children in his room.  With other children he sings, plays ball, and ride the rocking horse. He’s very adorable when he smiles. When he hears of music he will dance to it.     

He is still not smiling in the pictures they took, little stinker. Maybe next time! However, he is a chunky little thing. He and Anna are 8 days a part but Anna is weighing in at 27 pounds and Quin is 34 pounds. I guess he likes to eat!

After we got this update, I found one of the little boys listed as one of his best friends. His family lives in Washington so we are already planning to get the two together when we all get home!

We have made a ton of progress this week on the adoption front! We just got our fingerprint appointment for the i800a! We will go next week and get those done and get our dossier docs certified at the Secretary of State in Helena.

Update from China

We got new pictures of Quin last week and some questions answered.

 

what comforts him when scared;  holding...giving him candies

 

does he have a favorite toy:  loves to ride on a wooden rocking horse

 

what does he like to eat:  he eats everything.  likes meat

 

does he have a favorite snack:  not picky but doesn't like round, sweet cookies.  However, if it is square and sweet he will eat it!!!!

 

does he play well with other children:  yes

 

does he have a favorite nanny:  yes.  Zhang Yu Ting

 

Is he in school:  not yet

 

Seriously cracked me up knowing that he will only eat square cookies! And I'm going to have to be on the look out for a wooden rocking horse.

 

She also told us this about their interaction:

 

Hey.  guess who I met yesterday??????  The cutest rolly, polly toddler at Weifang!

 

It was a short visit (a couple of minutes) as we had spent much time downstairs with the older kids.  By the time we got upstairs, it was 1:30 and the toddlers were sleeping.  I was so disappointed as I didn't think they would wake him up for a photo session.  BUT they did!  However, he was a bit cranky.  Sleepy eyed and slighly confused.  i couldn't get close to him as he would cry when I reached out my hand towards him.  The ayi couldn't even bring him in the room we were in and just stood outside the sliding window.  he obviously is very attached to the ayi as he seemed content as long as he was with her and not with the strangers in the room.  CUTE CUTE CUTE.  I so badly wanted to hold him (just to make you jealous!) but alas, you will have to be the one to hold him in your arms.  Be prepared for some grieving as he does seem very attached.  As my guide said, that is a really good thing.  I have some photos.  will send two now as anymore seems to clog up the computer.  Mostly they are of the same situation....through a window out into the hall.  Funny story.  the last photo is of him waving "bye" and the only happy moment he had during the whole interaction!  the ayi is laughing because of that!  Sorry the photos are a little grainy.  Poor lighting I think.  rest assured, however, he is a content, well loved little boy!!!  Happy day! 

 

So we are really going to have to be praying for this little love as he grieves and experiences some really big changes.

 

Today we got our homestudy in the mail. I will be mailing that with our i800 form tomorrow. Slowly but surely we are getting closer to China.

 

 

5723 miles

On June 26, 2014 I got an email from an agency with a picture and a very short description of a little boy.

"Owen, born April 2011, is a cheerful little boy, though he’s shy with strangers and was very timid when our staff visited his orphanage. He is very active, and loves to play with balls and blocks. His development is said to be similar to other kids his age. He can run, jump, and go up and down stairs. Caregivers describe him as bright, and he can say short sentences with clear pronunciation. He can feed himself, and though he can undress he hasn’t quite mastered putting his clothes back on! He has a skin condition called ichthyosis, which causes dry, scaly skin. It affects his lower legs and arms, as well as part of his torso, but his case is fairly mild. We have lots of photos and video from our staff trip to his orphanage!"

Well I was hooked. I sent his info over to JM and requested to see "Owen's" file. Eli and I begged JM for the next few days to let us bring "Owen" home and on Sunday June 29th, JM said yes :)

It has been a whirlwind of paperwork and home study visits but we should be submitting our homestudy by the end of  August. We are hoping to send our Dossier to China in October and to have him home by his 4th birthday in April!

Please pray with us as we prepare for this journey. He has been in an orphanage his entire life and we are praying for a quick process so that he can start to live his life in a family. This adoption wasn't in our plan so we are in the process of coming up with a few fundraisers to help raise the money we need. We know that this is God's plan and we know that he owns all the cattle on a thousand hills. We have already experienced amazing generosity from a few friends and are so thankful for them!!!

We will use this blog to keep everyone updated.



We love you all!

Amanda