I have so much going on with trying to get the most information I can on our baby girl. We have already sent her out a care package. It had a little outfit in it, a blankie, a toy, candy for her foster family, a photo album of us and her home, and four disposable cameras. Yes, four. They come two to a box so I figured I'd send them all. If her foster family doesn't use them all, that's ok. At least they have them in case they do want to take lots of pictures. We should get these pictures back on Gotcha Day when we get our little girl.
I have also contacted someone who is sending me her finding ad and the actual newspaper it was printed in. These are invaluable since it would have her very first picture in it. The finding ad is placed in the local paper the day she was found. It is in an attempt to find her family. Since she was found the day she was born this will be a very important picture for us.
I have also contacted someone who is sending me her finding ad and the actual newspaper it was printed in. These are invaluable since it would have her very first picture in it. The finding ad is placed in the local paper the day she was found. It is in an attempt to find her family. Since she was found the day she was born this will be a very important picture for us.We have also contacted a company that is asking the orphanage if they can interview the foster family that our daughter is living with. They will go and visit her and take LOTS of pictures of her. They will send us an extensive update on our little girl. We , as you can imagine, can not wait to get this report. It will take them about two months to get it to us. That actually works out pretty good because that will be about half way through our wait from when we saw her until when we travel.
I have also contacted Grace and Hope. This is an organization that works in China to get children that live in orphanages into foster care. They have told me that our little girl is in their program, but that is all of the information that I have so far.
So what's next......
The next thing we are waiting for is our Letter Seeking Confirmation(LSC - use to be LOA). Right now, that seems to be averaging around 60 - 65 days. That would put us at the last week of May / first week of June. We then need to send paperwork to Homeland Security so they can approve her for this adoption. After they approve her, China will send our Travel Approval (TA). So our best guess would be that we can travel in August. As we get closer we will be able to look at the current trends and gauge our time a little better.
So that's where we are...all over the place. I have to say that this is an amazing journey that God had us on. I feel very blessed that He called us to experience such an amazing gift. Adoption truley is a gift to all that are involved.
5 comments:
I'm so happy for your family, Gretchen! It's been a little busy around since my grandmother went into the hospital on Wednesday night, so I hadn't had a chance to check blogs. I just saw your precious baby girl's picture and had to show my husband b/c she is just too cute! We are going to get fingerprinted on Tuesday and are continuing to wait on our I800A approval. You started your paperwork almost 3 months before we did, so I try to estimate what our time frame might be. It's sooooo hard to wait!!
It's so cool to see little Ashlyn's picture/age up with the rest of your children's photos now!!
Congratulations. That is wonderful news. Okay, I might be crazy, but I swear all the Yulin girls have the same eyes. So beautiful. I am hoping for a speedy LSC for you.
What a roller coaster of emotion, right? I wish you luck and remember, hope will bring her home.
I can't wait until you get more information about your sweet Ashlyn!! Inquiring minds want to know.... :)
Do you know if her orphanage is a part of HTS (Half the Sky) program? If it is, then it's likely she is being sponsored by HTS, and the orphanage will provide you with the finding ad as well as a possible journal kept weekly or monthly by her nanny or foster parents updating her progress, and monthly pictures from the time she was found till current.
Also, thru your guide, you can ask the orphanage director for a copy of her file, and/or anything she was found with. Many times they have the finding ad in the file, but they don't announce that unless asked. Perhaps they assume most parents don't necessarily want it.
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