It's in China!

Yes, all our paperwork arrived at it's destination in China today( well actually last night) so one more thing to cross off my worry list. I thought it would get there by Monday so I never even looked up the tracking number until then, only to see that delivery had not happened because they were CLOSED! What? So the nerves start kicking in but I did remember something about a holiday in May so I did not panic too much. Hopefully in about a week we will be LID!

I also picked up today Sophia's new backpack that I will be bringing to our first meeting(packed full of goodies). I have been so excited to get this. I wanted to get her name printed on it, like I did with Micah, but I also had the idea of putting her chinese name on it too since she should be able to read her own name. It was way more money than I had planned but it was more important that she recognize something that is hers without anyone telling her.

I also found a website that makes custom necklaces with your child's Chinese name. That is the next thing on my list of things to get.

DTC!!

Yes!! We are finally DTC(Dossier to China)! It is on its way to China and I will be watching it through our tracking number. We are now in the hands of the Chinese government as we wait for them to log in our dossier(LID) and then approve us(LOA). It will be about 2 weeks for LID and then 2 months for LOA but I have been seeing a hand full of people receive their LOA in 41-47 days so we are hopeful.

We also sent a care package to Sophia that was suppose to reach the orphanage last Friday. We used Lady Bugs and Love from Above. They were great. Here is what we sent her:

It took me awhile to send this because one of the things you get to send them is a letter which they translate for us. It was so hard to write that letter, I wanted to say so many things but at the same time was unsure of how she will be feeling since she is in a foster home. I ended up writing it more to the Foster family and also sent many questions that I pray they will respond to( We also included a return envelope to Lady Bugs and Love - which they will translate and send to us). We also sent a photo album with pictures of our family. I told Angela that I was not sure if she would get this because she was in a foster home but she told me that her orphanage is very good at forwarding the packages onto the foster family and very quickly. So I was very hopeful after that news.

I did have to chuckle at the doll. Here I have been buying every asian doll that I set my eyes on so that she will have dolls that look like her and the doll that is purchased in China is caucasian!

So the wait begins!!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY MICAH!!!!

Yes my little guy is 4 today! Hard to believe. Here he is in his birthday crown from school. He just loves it. This morning we woke him up singing "Happy Birthday". He just smiled ear to ear and then said "I love my Birthday". We are so happy to celebrate his 2nd birthday with us. Unfortunately, he has spent 2 birthdays without us but he has now spent 2 with us and many many more to come. We love buddy!!!!! We love your birthday too!

Where oh Where have the Canestraro's Been!

We have been on the go much of March, thankfully it has been for fun. See if you can guess where.

First Olivia and I went for 3+ days for her choir concert. She practices for 3 days and then had an amazing concert! It was so indescribable how these kids from 4th grade up through High school can come together after practicing on their own for 3 months, practice together for 3 days and sound so beautiful, just beautiful. Since it was just her and I, I got to have some precious time to myself to read and take some walks, it was a great get away for us. The only downside was the weather. Here is a picture of Olivia the last night we were there( and yes the white dots are snow!)

It was in the 30s that night with wind chill of 22 degrees. Can you guess where we were? Chicago? No. Boston? No. It was DALLAS. DALLAS TEXAS! Can you believe it. We thought we were going to get a little tan while we were there but it was warmer back home most of the time we were there. And they did get 1" of snow that night.

Once we returned, I had a day in a half to unpack, do laundry and pack everyone again for Spring Break. Thankfully this trip was a little warmer. This should be an easy guess:

The Wonderful World of Disney! We had both a great and utterly frustrating time all at the same time. Those who have been there can understand, especially with younger kids. We had a great time, but then there was the tired factor, which for most was ok. Get a little food, sit down and rest while you eat - then raring to go again. However, 3 year olds don't work that way, especially ones that you can't just put in a stroller and let then dozzz. Micah can only sleep when there are NO DISTRACTION AT ALL. Which required retreating to the room, and trying to make it as pitch black as possible. We knew naps were required but the problem was the timing. As each day passed(because of less sleep each day), he needed his nap earlier and earlier. So once his mean obstinate streak would kick in, we knew it was time for one of us to go back to the room. After the first day, he was never back to his normal self until we were home about 4 days. Needless to say, this kids works soooo much better on a schedule.

But back to the good part. It was so fun to be there and share all the memories of the times we have visited in the past, either as kids ourselves or when we went as a family 6 years ago(which only Olivia really remembers). They do a great job of making things pleasant for you. The workers are just so nice and helpful and understanding( especially with a screaming 3 yo) and they really do try to make everything magical. And as Russ likes to says, they do an amazing job of making your money magically disappear too!

So we are now back to reality but thankfully the warm weather followed us home and we can spend time outside playing, which is a great vacation from being cooped up most of the winter. Here is a picture of a tree in our backyard that is blooming:

This is the same tree, if you scan down, that I took a picture of when we had a major snow, fog, frost day. Isn't it stunning how God can make beauty out whatever the circumstance. I just need to remember that each day.

One more thing before I go. We did get our I-800A approval on Friday. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to get all the authentications done that day. So on Monday I will be making a trip downtown and to the FedEx store. If everything works smoothly( which is a big IF in the adoption world), we should have our DTC(Dossier to China) on April 20th! Here's praying that my best laid plans match with God's. I will let you know.

Here is a good bye picture of my boys with Mickey:

One More Step Closer to Sophia

Things have been crazy the last month and I have so much to write about but for now I wanted to focus on my Sophia. I have to say that for awhile, I would think of her and then turn right to all the things that we have to do to get her home. But more and more, I have been thinking about her, what is she doing, where is she(have the moved her back to the orphanage or kept her in foster care) and is she safe. A few weeks ago there was a horrible sand storm that went through Beijing( and Tianjin where she is) and I just prayed that she would be ok and feel safe.

I know that I am starting to ponder these things more now because a lot of the work to bring her home is out of my hands. We sent off our I-800A papers to immigration on 3/1 and have been waiting AND waiting AND waiting for approval. And YES we now have approval from US Immigration to bring her home!! I talked to our officer on Tuesday and we are approved and now I am just waiting( not so patiently) for the letter to arrive. As soon as I get it, I will run around and get the final approvals, ship it off to our agency and then they will send it to the Chinese Embassy to get their approval and then it will be DTC(Dossier To China). It will take about 2 weeks after that to get our LID(Log In Date) and then more waiting begins. I am really hoping to be logged in before May(already?) On average it will be about another 4-5 months until we travel so we are thinking September( Another September Gotcha Day?). Right now it has almost been 5 months since we first saw Sophia's picture so hopefully we are at the half way mark.

Some other wonderful news was that while I was out of town, we got an update on Sophia! No pictures, actually not much info at all but we got some updated measurements from her. She is 3' 6" and weighs about 35 pounds and probably wears a size 11 shoe. So it sounds like she still looks like her pictures, taller and very thin. Micah who is a year and a half younger then her weighs 39 pounds! It is funny how excited I can get over a few numbers. Looking over them trying to figure out whatever information that I can.

For those wanting details on our timeline(especially approval times) they are on the right side.

I will update soon on our fun travels during spring break.

PLEASE SIGN!!

Two posts in one day, don't fall off your chair! I wanted to alert all of you who are not involved with adopting from a Hague Country about a real serious problem that the children we are bring home have to face. Because of the new Hague Convention that is effect for adopting children from China and some other countries( not Russia), we as adoptive parents no longer have the option of getting our children updated on their immunizations once they are back in the states, we are required to get them updated all at one time in China, only a few days before they must travel to the States. Some children are having to get up to 8 shots at one time. This is just dangerous!!!! There is a little girl(First a Pearl, then a Ruby), right now, that has been running very high fevers after her shots. So we need your help - There is a bill in process that could change this and we need you signiture. Please click on the link on the upper right side of my blog and follow the instructions.

We and our soon to be children are so grateful for your effort!

Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork

Ah yes that has been my hobby for the past 3+ months. It has not been constant but more like, do a little, wait for something, do a little more, wait some more.... But now FINALLY we have pushed through most of it and have sent it all off to where it needs to go. Unfortunately that is not to China yet.

First we received our approved home study and sent it off with a few other documents to Immigration in the US. This is so that they can approve us and approve a visa for Sophia to enter the country when it is time. That was sent of on 3/1 and on 3/8 we got an email saying that it was received and being sent to processing. Now we wait for our fingerprint appointment letter, and then try to get it moved up and once that is done we will get our approval letter that needs to be sent to China. Above is a picture of the documents that we sent off to immigration. It looks like just a pile of papers but it has been our life for the past three months. I hate it when you mail it off and they ask about having it insured. I want to say, $1,000,000 but since it is just paper, it is only worth the paper it is printed on!!!!!

TODAY was also a big day, I had our entire dossier(except the letter from immigration) sent off to our agency. With China they require an additional level of approvals at the country level from the Chinese embassy. I could have done this myself but once I figured the cost for authentication and couriers and stress, I decided that I would just pay my agency to do that part. So off it went today for them to get the authentication done. So now I am truly in a waiting state which is really great right now since the snow is melting and the weather is warming up and we have travel plans coming up too!

I guess the fun part of waiting now can start. Retail therapy some say but getting ready for her and buying pink is going to be so fun. We also found a really great program that we are hoping helps us learn enough chinese to communicate with her.

I wanted to end today with a prayer request for a beautiful little girl Emma. I met her and her mom & dad, Darla and Jeff, today. She is having some bad reactions to a surgery last week and she went in today for more surgery which will hopefully help her. Just pray for success, quick healing and strength for her parents. She is 5 and reminded me of Sophia, it just broke my heart to see her in so much pain. Please left her up in prayer.

I hopefully will be getting back with you soon on paperwork updates.