She's Officially Ours (and the Rest of the Story)

Wow- what a week!  There is so much I want to share and yet I’m not sure where to begin.  We spent Monday and Tuesday in Nanjing finalizing ChinaBean’s adoption.  It was an amazing two days that I thought may never come and yet I was fully grounded because I was chasing around 3 girls under the age of 7 years.  They insisted on acting their ages!

I would love to share a little more about our daughter’s story, but some of the details I’ll have to share with you over a yummy mocha at Starbucks.  The fine details are better shared in person!  

Adoptive families become connected with their future children in many different ways.  Some fill out their paperwork and wait for their agency to call with a referral of child that the agency feels would be a good match with the family.  Others see a child’s picture on an agency’s website or an advocacy website and submit a request to adopt a specific child.  We actually experienced both.  Early in 2012 we were called by our agency with a referral for a little boy with cleft lip and palate.  With my background in speech-language pathology and our family’s willingness to adopt a child of either gender, I actually was pretty certain that we would receive a referral like that.  And, the kicker was he was from the province where we are living, which was a secret prayer of mine.

But, we turned the referral down.  Jamie and I had a few long talks and my sweet friend Megan prayed a powerful prayer with me while I did the “ugly cry” prayer (as we secluded ourselves in my bedroom, the only private space away from my very new housekeeper - we didn’t want to scare the poor woman as two foreigners cried their eyes out) and we decided to not accept the referral.  

Just by living in China, we have been given the amazing opportunity to be aware of specific needs of the smaller orphanages.  At the same time as the referral for the little boy came in, we learned that a little girl was in a healing home.  She was recovering from a surgery that occurred while we had been in the US for Christmas.  Advocates were attempting to get her paperwork ready to be processed so that she might be matched with a forever family.  Of course, you can probably guess that our ChinaBean was that little girl!  We worked all summer and fall on submitting our paperwork to specifically adopt ChinaBean and many times we were told “wait”, “probably not”, “we’ll see” until we got that magical call on December 21st when we heard that our agency had received our Letter of Approval (LOA) from China.

December was especially difficult for me because not only had we not heard about or LOA, but I knew the clock was ticking and ChinaBean needed to preparing for her next surgery, which was by far a greater concern than any paperwork.

January brought the news that ChinaBean’s next surgery could wait until the adoption was finalized and we returned to the US with her.  And that brings us to this week!  Nanjing is done and ChinaBean is officially ours.  Next is Guangzhou and to obtain her US visa.

On our way to Nanjing:

EBean's sign 

Day 1 in Nanjing:

Isn't she pretty?!

This is what a tired toddler with no nap looks like!

Trying to get a picture for ChinaBean's adoption certificate.

Day 2 in Nanjing:

Using our right thumbprints over our signatures to
make it official.

Thumbs up! (Don't mind ChinaBean and EBean in the
background.  Big sister was trying to help dole out the
snacks, but little sister thought the snacks were being
taken away!)

ChinaBean had to do it too! 

Just a few more papers.

Answering a few questions about why we wanted
to adopt ChinaBean and promising to always take care of her.

As we were preparing to go to Nanjing, we explained to LBean and EBean about what would happen and why we were there.  Both girls asked if they had to sign any papers.  I told them no and that just mommy & daddy would sign papers.  It did get me thinking about why Jamie and I got to have all the fun, so the night before we left, I created a "Big Sister Pledge".  After Jamie and I finished signing all the papers I presented LBean and EBean with their own papers.  I read the pledge to them and they both signed their names at the bottom.  Jamie says I created some fun chatter amongst the government officials and the orphanage representatives.

I love how EBean is looking at me.  She's probably thinking
"what am I signing up for?"

Please sign here.

Good job EBean!

Jin, our Nanjing guide who helped us file all of the paperwork. 

Look at those three cuties!

This is the best we could do for a family shot.
It's hard to get 5 people looking at a camera!

Home at last!

We were greeted by a beautifully decorated entryway when we returned from Nanjing.  Friends had hung balloons, decorated signs and delivered flowers to welcome us home.  It was such a nice way to end the day.

On the other side of the world my mother-in-law decorated her mailbox to announce the arrival of her newest granddaughter.

ChinaBean's adoption announcement...yes, I know it has her name on it, but from now on she'll be ChinaBean on the blog.  You've just seen some "insider" information!

Thanks to Jamie's cousin, Josie, at Creative Touch photography
http://holstcreativetouch.zenfolio.com
for taking my random ideas (big flowers, the color red,
and make it look like a dictionary entry) and
making them look good!

And finally, just in case you were wondering, ChinaBean is from our province too.  Divine!

We have our dates! (Now to find hotels & flights)

We received an email from our agency over the night that our appointments in Nanjing and Guangzhou are scheduled!  We now have a time frame and we are researching hotels, flights and all the other details.  Yesterday was also an important day as we received our UPS package with original documents from both governments that are necessary to finalize the adoption.

What we know so far is...

Monday, April 8th we travel to Nanjing (2 hours north of Suzhou by car)
Tuesday, April 9th we sign papers making our daughter an official McClintock
Tuesday, April 16th we fly to Guangzhou (which is north of Hong Kong) and complete our daughter's medical exam
Wednesday, April 17th is our daughter's US consulate appointment
Thursday, April 18th our daughter's US Visa should be ready by 3:30 pm
Friday, April 19th earliest day to return to the US
Monday, April 22nd our daughter's first doctor's appointment with her specialist

I also know that we are super excited!!  Today I started packing.  I needed to pull things out of my "not-so-secret" hiding place for Easter and that led to me grouping gifts to take back to the US.  Then I decided I might as well pull together the special outfits (oh yes, there will be matching dresses for all three girls) and group them together.  We will be experiencing a wide range of climates and temperatures over the next month.

I remembered seeing a friend, who was getting ready to move back to the US, labeling the outside of all of her suitcases with masking tape and the contents of the suitcases.  So smart!  I've started my Nanjing, Guangzhou, gifts for the US and US suitcases.

US clothes

That is gifts for "US" as in United States of America, not
"us".  We're already getting the best gift!

Guangzhou

Nanjing & Adoption thank-you gifts

What I didn't know, or at least know to expect, were some of the other emotions that I've experienced this week.  Monday was my last day to lead our Girl Scout troop for this school year and my sweet Scouting moms gave me a card and a tote bag.  Tuesday I told my three speech & language students that I wouldn't be seeing them again until next school year.  Wednesday it occurred to me that my older daughters may benefit from having a "going away" party with their classmates and that we wouldn't be a part of the end-of-school festivities.  And, these parties need to happen within the next two weeks! There are other details about registering the older girls for school in the fall, going through my "piles" (that's how I organize) and getting the apartment ready for our absence.

It is our current plan that all five of us will return to the US together and that the girls (heehee, all 3 girls-love saying that!) and I will stay in Illinois all summer and return to China at the beginning of August.  We don't know what our daughter's recovery will look like, how many follow-up appointments she may have and we've decided that it is best if we remain in the US.  That means 3 1/2 months away from our home in Suzhou and many weeks apart from Jamie.  Of course it is for the best reason possible, but there are still many emotions that go along with trying to pack for a three-month stay overseas.  I told my mom that I hadn't spent more than two consecutive weeks at her house in the last 13 years; this could be a big adjustment for us all!

So, pull out your US flags, your cameras and tissues...we'll see you soon!

Give me a "T", Give me an "A"!

My early morning habit of checking my email paid off this morning.  We received another email from our adoption agency and this one said we had our TA (travel approval)!!!!  As soon as our agency can arrange an appointment, we will travel to Nanjing and take legal custody of our daughter.  This could potentially be as early as April 1st.  We need to have some original documents, which our agency currently has, mailed to us here in China and then we can go.  We will have our first meeting on a Monday afternoon and then we'll return Tuesday morning to sign all of the papers.  At that point we will overwhelm the internet with pictures and video of our beautiful and spectacular daughter.  Please prepare yourself!

Our agency is also working on scheduling our appointment in Guangzhou, which we will travel to after Nanjing.  This is the US immigration side of things and where we will receive permission to bring our daughter to the US and obtain her US visa (she flies in with a Chinese passport and a US visa).

Hopefully the timing will work out just perfect because we chose April 22nd as our first appointment with our daughter's doctor at the Children's Hospital of Illinois so we can discuss her next surgery.

Jamie was in Japan all last week for work and I had an overwhelming need to "nest".  I'm talking about going through bath toys, magazines, clothes, the whole deal.  It's going to pay off because we're headed to the USA baby!

Since the beginning, my blog has been called
Table for Five in anticipation of adding the
fifth member to the family.  The table is set sweet baby,
welcome to the family!

Last Week, Brought to us by the Letter A (as in A5)

I received another great email last week regarding our adoption and we marked off another next step towards finalizing the paperwork!

We received an email from the US Consulate’s office in Guangzhou, China that the paperwork for our daughter’s visa had been provisionally approved and we had been granted our Article 5 (A5).  The next step is for all of our paperwork to be returned back to Beijing for a final look before China will issue our Travel Approval (TA).  

Once we have received our TA, we can make appointments with Nanjing and Guangzhou.  In Nanjing, which is a two-hour drive from Suzhou, we will take legal custody of our daughter and that will finalize everything with the Chinese government.  Then, we we go to Guangzhou and we will meet with the US Consulate’s office to wrap up everything she needs to immigrate to the US to become a citizen.

As we’re nearing the end of the paperwork on this side of the world (we’ll still have to apply for her US passport, complete follow-up adoption reports, etc.), I have started to think about how far we have come.  In 2010, on a spring evening, after Jamie and I had made the decision to adopt from China, we talked about whether or not we would take our other daughters to travel with us to China.  We decided to wait and see how old our girls would be at the time of travel and look at the cost of the trip and then decide.  What an amazing gift it is to know that we will travel as a family of 5 this spring!  It is a short drive to Nanjing and a quick flight to Guangzhou from our home in Suzhou and the “would-we, should-we, can-we?” has been already answered for us.

On a much, much sillier note, I was really excited to get a packet in the mail last week.  For a moment my heart started beating fast and I thought “oh my goodness” China mailed our adoption paperwork to our home (instead of to our agency in the US)!  This had happened to our friends and I couldn’t think of anything else that would be coming through the Chinese mail that I would require a signature.  Alas, I was wrong, and instead I signed for this...

My Starbucks gold card!  Until I moved to China I could count the number of times that I had been to Starbuck’s on two hands and I now I have the “Gold” card.  I am not sure if I should be embarrassed or proud, especially since I don’t drink (straight) coffee!