Answers to All of the Questions we Received this Christmas

We have I800 Provisional Approval, we received our NVC Letter and were able to apply for Theo's DS260!!

Say What?!?!?!

As a member of this crazy International Adoption world I get those acronyms I know what that means in the grand scheme of our journey to our boy but I know a lot of you do not and I wish I could sit down with each one of you and explain how this whole process works and that although it's scary and expensive and sometimes unknown holding Theo's picture tight with the hope of him in my arms makes it worth while!

So here I am to answer a couple of the big questions I've been asked over this holiday season of gatherings.

1) When will you travel?
           We hope February! Chinese New Year is January 28 and that is a big deal in Theo's country so things slow down a bit as people take off to celebrate. We don't know what that will do to our travel approval dates but I am anticipating  a bit of a delay. We are currently waiting for Article 5 pick up, that means our agency has a contact that picks up this document from the Consulate and takes it to the CCCWA (China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption) This is scheduled to happen next Thursday January 12, after that is delivered it's roughly 4-6 weeks until we receive our TA (Travel Approval). Once we get TA our agency calls to discuss travel dates and we start booking flights while they put together our in country package based on our appointment schedules in country (this includes in country hotels for 3 cities, guides to help us navigate our adoption appointments and other needs in country).

2) How long will you be in China?
           We will be in China for 2 weeks probably 12-15 days depending on appointments and since he is 3 we have to wait for an additional test to be read before we can leave. We spend the first 2 days in Beijing site seeing, making friends with our travel group and getting used to the time change before we pick up Theo. (Some might not understand this but to us it is important to try and get as acclimated and caught up on the time change and cultural norms before we pick him up as it is going to be such a whirlwind for him and we can't be running on fumes...that will come later in the trip) We then travel to his location, Guiyang City in Guizhou, where we will immediately meet him and he will be with us for the remainder of our trip. We stay there for roughly 4-5 days to complete the adoption in his province. We then travel to Guangzhou where we spend the remainder of our time completing the adoption process there where the US Embassy is located. We will be reunited with our travel group here and get to meet all of their children as well. It will be nice to have a bit of a support system and some friends while we spend the last week or so completing all the necessary steps to travel home.

3) Does he speak English?
           No :) We will be preparing some flash cards/ laminated feelings, needs, communication sheets to help us along the way.

4) How much is this costing you? How much do you have left?
           We desire to be an open book in this process, at the same time we don't want to sound woe is me and declare how much we are needing to raise to get over to him. So I will post this here and that is where it will remain. The total cost of this adoption will range from $25,000-$30,000. Now don't let that freak you out, we are not paying for a child we are paying for the process and the people who are helping us get to him, the people who have translated our documents, who have written our home study, who are coordinating logistics with orphanage and government entities on our behalf!
            We saved for YEARS before we finally applied with our agency, we depleted that account when we sent our dossier to Africa basically starting the China process from scratch. Luckily we received some program credit when we transferred over which was such a life saver! We got through the whole first half of this process on juggling money already in savings and checking and by putting away gift money and the such during the process. Now we are in the travel portion and it's a BIG chunk of the whole cost and to be honest it's a bit overwhelming. We have roughly $15,000 more to pay in the next month/month and a half. This includes our in country travel package, airfare and the last big program fee that is paid while we are at one of our adoption appointments in China. We have just under $5,000 raised through our Lifesong matching grant/story page donations. This will go directly to our agency for our in country package and we have a grant that is under review today!
          If you feel lead please use the Lifesong link on the sidebar of this page to donate directly to our adoption account (it is tax deductible), that will be sent directly to our agency after this week in preparation for our TA notice!!! If you cannot give we totally understand will you please pray? Pray for the board that is reviewing our grant application today, please pray for our Theo and for our kiddos as we prepare to become a family of 6!!


THEO WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!!!!