Scott and Devyn picked up the LSC/LOA IN PERSON at the agency on Friday, and we signed it and sent it back on Saturday. Today our agency sent me an email congratulating me on the LSC, and they attached to the email some paperwork that needed to be signed and sent back with the LSC. Grrrr! Luckily, it could be done by email, which I did. The inefficiency frustrates me, as you can tell.
The signed LOA/LSC will go to China this Friday, as our agency only mails on Fridays. Then we begin the approximately 2 week TA wait.
On the positive side, there were exciting choices to make: hotel rooms and airports! I listed all 3 girls, including their passport numbers, as our little travel party. I asked for 2 rooms in Beijing, Chongqing, and Guangzhou. They quote the rooms in Beijing and Chongqing at 109 dollars each and in Guangzhou at 139 dollars each, which includes 2 breakfasts per room. I guess we'll be buying an extra breakfast. Maybe they'll foolishly give us Devyn's breakfast for free, not knowing the vast quantities she can ingest.
I'd like to fly out of our little hometown airport, but I think the fares will be better from San Antonio or Austin. In fact, I saw a Northwest Airlines flight from San Antonio for 948 dollars roundtrip! My fingers were itching to purchase. But, alas, I can't do that yet.
We still haven't received our "Brown Envelope" from Guangzhou, but I'm not too worried. It has our file number, but our Travel Adviser can look that up for us if we don't receive it. We're talking about Homeland Security here, not known for their speed. You can bet I'll be taking all the proof with me that we are approved and that the consulate in Guangzhou was sent our file.
Waiting, waiting, waiting..... at least the times are getting shorter now.
Next hurdle: Travel Approval (TA)
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Let's get up to date
We are Jolie and Scott, and we are preparing to go to China to get our son. He is 22 months old and in Dianjiang Social Welfare Institute. Actually, he is in foster care associated with Dianjiang SWI.
One year ago, we weren't even considering another child. We have 2 biological daughters, ages 14 and 10, and one daughter from China, age 4.5. And yet, here we go!!!
Last November, we started talking about adding another child to our family, a boy. We felt drawn to China, as our 3rd daughter, Devyn is from China. Also, when we were there in 2005, I knew I wanted to come back for another child. It only took 3 years for me to convince Scott! We decided to apply to the Waiting Child program with the same agency we used in 2005. There are many boys in the Waiting Child program, and they do not have the chance at adoption that the girls do. For whatever reason, most American and European parents adopting from China want only girls.
On December 4, 2008, I sent an email to our adoption agency asking for the password to the Waiting Children list, and telling them we were interested in adopting a boy. The next day an agency representative called me at home; I was only home because I happened to have no cases that day. She said that she had the file of a 14 month old boy whom she had been trying to place for 2 months, and would we be interested in looking at his file? I don't think I've ever been so stunned in my life. I tried to write down his province, SWI, and birthday. I only got the birthday correct. I called Scott in from his studio and told him, which elicited maniacal laughter from him. We slept on it, and requested his file the next morning. Once we saw that picture, we were hooked!
Of course, we had not started one scrap of paperwork, so we frantically began that. Things were slower for us this time than they were when we adopted Devyn, so that was incredibly frustrating. Mistakes were made by our social worker and our agency. Homeland Security took 75 days this time, as opposed to the 8 days it took last time. But here we are! We received LOA/LSC on July 24, so we should be leaving in approximately 6 weeks. That means we will probably get Jon Wiley before he turns 2. Huzzah!
His Chinese name, Ai Qiang, means Love Strong. A great name! His new name was chosen for several family members: Jon is in honor of Scott's father, John. We spelled it with 3 letters because our middle daughter, Mia, is the only one of us with 3 letters in her first name. The rest of us have 5 letters, which has been noticed and commented upon by Miss Mia. We chose his middle name, Wiley, in memory of my grandfather, Jospeh Wiley True. We are planning to call him Jon Wiley, but his sisters are already calling him Jon-Jon.
One year ago, we weren't even considering another child. We have 2 biological daughters, ages 14 and 10, and one daughter from China, age 4.5. And yet, here we go!!!
Last November, we started talking about adding another child to our family, a boy. We felt drawn to China, as our 3rd daughter, Devyn is from China. Also, when we were there in 2005, I knew I wanted to come back for another child. It only took 3 years for me to convince Scott! We decided to apply to the Waiting Child program with the same agency we used in 2005. There are many boys in the Waiting Child program, and they do not have the chance at adoption that the girls do. For whatever reason, most American and European parents adopting from China want only girls.
On December 4, 2008, I sent an email to our adoption agency asking for the password to the Waiting Children list, and telling them we were interested in adopting a boy. The next day an agency representative called me at home; I was only home because I happened to have no cases that day. She said that she had the file of a 14 month old boy whom she had been trying to place for 2 months, and would we be interested in looking at his file? I don't think I've ever been so stunned in my life. I tried to write down his province, SWI, and birthday. I only got the birthday correct. I called Scott in from his studio and told him, which elicited maniacal laughter from him. We slept on it, and requested his file the next morning. Once we saw that picture, we were hooked!
Of course, we had not started one scrap of paperwork, so we frantically began that. Things were slower for us this time than they were when we adopted Devyn, so that was incredibly frustrating. Mistakes were made by our social worker and our agency. Homeland Security took 75 days this time, as opposed to the 8 days it took last time. But here we are! We received LOA/LSC on July 24, so we should be leaving in approximately 6 weeks. That means we will probably get Jon Wiley before he turns 2. Huzzah!
His Chinese name, Ai Qiang, means Love Strong. A great name! His new name was chosen for several family members: Jon is in honor of Scott's father, John. We spelled it with 3 letters because our middle daughter, Mia, is the only one of us with 3 letters in her first name. The rest of us have 5 letters, which has been noticed and commented upon by Miss Mia. We chose his middle name, Wiley, in memory of my grandfather, Jospeh Wiley True. We are planning to call him Jon Wiley, but his sisters are already calling him Jon-Jon.
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