Travel Notice for BingHui

We did it! We finally received our travel notice for BingHui!! Theoretically, we could travel any time now; however, we are still waiting for the I-800 approval, article 5 letter and travel notice for FengHong. They will be rushing these things though (we hope) because our travel notice for BingHui expires March 10th. I've been looking at flights, and things look good for Jan. or Feb. My fingers are crossed that FengHong's paperwork is swift. We feel like we've been waiting for a long time now.

Article 5

We just received news that CCAA was sent the article 5 letter for BingHui!! Whoo hoo. We should receive the invitation to travel very, very soon. But, of course, we have to wait for the I-800 and article 5 for FengHong too, and that could be a couple more months. At least we know we're not forgotten.

Not Quite

Well, the package from China wasn't our invitation to travel. It was a package from Cheng's family (for Christmas). Drats. We did receive our referral packet for FengHong from WACAP though, and two more letters of confirmation. We had already signed two letters of confirmation for BingHui, and now we have another letter of confirmation for BingHui, and one for FengHong. We don't ask questions anymore; we just sign the forms and send them back. Of course we also make a copy of everything we sign, just in case. We still think we'll receive our invitation to travel any day now. Actually, we're waiting for another I-800 approval for FengHong, and then we should (hopefully) receive our invitation to travel (and article 5 letter) a few weeks after that. According to the wait time we experienced with BingHui, we should receive our I-800 approval for FengHong at the end of next week. Three weeks after that, most people receive their article 5 letter from the consulate. If that is the case, we might be able to travel the beginning of January or early Feb. The middle of Feb. is Chinese New Year holiday, and all the government offices are closed. So, it's either early Feb. or March. We're just taking one day at a time.

Almost there!

We are in NYC this weekend to watch Austin run the Jesuit Championship race, but our adoption journey continues. Victor went to check on our house and said a big envelope arrived from WACAP. That would be our referral packet for FengHong. Then he told us another envelope arrived from Guangzhou. This COULD be it! This could be the travel notice! If it is the travel notice, then we can finally make arrangements to fly to China!! We are still in NYC for Austin's meet, and I can't wait to get home to open our mail. It's funny how mail has become important to me this year. I used to have David get the mail on his way home from work, but since completing our adoption application a year ago, I've run to the mailbox everyday, much like a young child might. I anxiously scan the letters, hoping against hope that there is something from WACAP or the Dept. of Homeland Security. Now, while we're out of town, it looks like we might have received important mailings. If it is our notice to travel for BingHui, we have to find out if we can proceed, or if we need to wait for a second notice to travel for FengHong. Speaking of FengHong, David and I have talked of nothing else lately but his name. We spent hours talking about how to, and if we should, change FengHong's name. We pour over baby name lists trying to come up with a name similar to FengHong that sounds kind of American. No success at this point. We are wondering if he has already taken an English name; sometimes the children take American names for their English class. We want to know how FengHong will feel about an American name. We grapple with this everyday, while we wait to travel.

Letter of confirmation

We received a call last night that WACAP has received our letter of confirmation for FengHong! WACAP will put together our referral packet now, and we can sign all the official paperwork. Then it will all get sent to US immigration so that they can issue the I800 approval for FengHong. What it boils down to is that we MIGHT get to travel in approximately 3 months. This is good news because we've been trying to get an idea of WHEN, and it's been vague ever since we decided to adopt FengHong too. It's been hard to plan our holidays, wondering if we might travel in December, and now we know that it is more likely to be Feb. or March. Moving forward, we are starting to tell people about FengHong. As expected, people think we're nuts for adopting two children. They are especially shocked that we would agree to adopt a teenager. Teens are tough under the best of circumstances, and we are taking a big risk adopting a 13 year old. Oh well. We can't live our lives trying to please other people. We need to do what we are called to do and just trust the Lord. We feel that FengHong belongs in our family and we will address the problems as they arise.

CCAA pre pre-approval

The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs gave a verbal ok for us to adopt two children this trip, and we can begin the preapproval process to adopt FengHong!! I'm just waiting for the medical report (the ok) from the pediatrician. FengHong appears to be a healthy child, but it's best to have a Dr. read and interpret the lab results etc. We haven't told the kids yet that we are going to pursue adopting yet another child, but we have shown them the videos of FengHong jump roping. It looks amazing, really. After we receive the ok from the Dr., we'll break the news to them. Austin's only concern seems to be that our adoption might have an impact on his schooling. Austin loves McQuaid, and he wants to make certain that we can continue to afford his tuition. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we just want to bring our sons home safe and sound.

Video

We received the video of the boy, FengHong, who is 13 and going to "age out" in May. He's darling, and I am happy to say he IS quite athletic, which is a good fit for our family. On the video he jumps rope (all double jumps) and cross overs! We submitted the medical records and video to our adoption Dr., and we're waiting for her to look over everything. FengHong also needs a small corrective surgery, but we don't think that it will be a big problem. Once the Dr. gives the ok., then we have to ask the kids if they are willing to adopt two children, instead of one. We especially have to get Austin to be "on board." Austin tends to be negative, and we want to make certain he's going to be happy with the adoptions too. FengHong is only 6 months younger than Austin, and I'm hoping they will be great friends and brothers.