(If you are reading this blog for the first time, start at the bottom and read your way up:)
John and I were informed today that our petition to adopt has been approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services department in Chicago. This was our last hoop to jump through before going to China next Wednesday. John called me with the good news while I was at school making plans for my substitute. I could hardly concentrate because of the butterflies in my stomach. For some reason, these butterflies come to life around 4 A.M. and flutter about throughout the day.
We have busy planning for the arrival of our new daughter by buying her some clothes, but not too many because we want to take her shopping to let her pick out clothes for herself; something she has never been able to do before. We have also been studying Mandarin Chinese by using the Rosetta Stone, which John was fortunate to get through his job. We purchased a hand-held translator too. We just type what we want to say in English and the translator will speak it in Mandarin. It will also work the other way around, so that Madison can type what she wants to say in Mandarin and it will speak it in English.
We are not sure how much, if any, English Madison knows. Sadly, she was put into special education because of her immobility caused by her leg. She would have learned English if she had received the standard nine year compulsory education.
We think Madison knows by now that she will be adopted; she probably found out last week. However, we can't begin to imagine how she's feeling, her whole world is about to change drastically and dramatically. Please keep her in your prayers, as well as Sean and Mikelle. Even though Sean and Mikelle are excited, they may go through different emotions that we can't foresee.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
We received our flight schedule today. We will fly out of Omaha on January 7 and get on the international flight to Beijing via Chicago. Below is a typical trip itinerary for China:
Day 1 – depart the US from Chicago
Day 2 – arrive in Beijing in the afternoon
Day 3 – sightsee in Beijing (day allowed for adjusting to time change and culture shock!)
Day 4 – travel to provincial capital city and meet child (Child remains with family from that point on:)
Day 5 – register adoption and apply for child’s passport
Day 6 – 10 – sightseeing, bonding with child (waiting for child’s passport to be ready)
Day 11 – travel to Guangzhou, city where US consulate is located. (Child has medical examination in preparation for visa appointment.)
Day 12 – visa appointment at US consulate (January 20)
Day 13 – visa is available at end of business day
Day 14 – travel home
We'll fly out of Guangzhou to Beijing on January 22 where we'll get on our international flight back to Chicago then on to Omaha arriving around 9:30 P.M.
Day 1 – depart the US from Chicago
Day 2 – arrive in Beijing in the afternoon
Day 3 – sightsee in Beijing (day allowed for adjusting to time change and culture shock!)
Day 4 – travel to provincial capital city and meet child (Child remains with family from that point on:)
Day 5 – register adoption and apply for child’s passport
Day 6 – 10 – sightseeing, bonding with child (waiting for child’s passport to be ready)
Day 11 – travel to Guangzhou, city where US consulate is located. (Child has medical examination in preparation for visa appointment.)
Day 12 – visa appointment at US consulate (January 20)
Day 13 – visa is available at end of business day
Day 14 – travel home
We'll fly out of Guangzhou to Beijing on January 22 where we'll get on our international flight back to Chicago then on to Omaha arriving around 9:30 P.M.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Welcome to Our Blog!
Welcome family and friends to our new blog! We're glad you have joined us on the last leg of our adoption journey. We'll try to keep you informed of our upcoming trip to China and the happenings while we are in China.
The past month and a half has been a whirlwind of activity for our family, with most of the activity falling on John's shoulders. He has been working tirelessly on all the paperwork. Before he left for work this morning, I asked him if he had any paperwork or forms he needed to take with him to mail off or fill out, and for once, he did not. Our plane tickets have been purchased and we will get our Visas next week. One of the last remaining hoops to jump through is fingerprinting, which will be done next Monday, December 22. At the time of this post, Madison does not know that there is a family in Iowa working feverishly to adopt her and provide a forever family for her. Most likely, she has not even heard of Iowa.
Madison's Chinese name is Hua Ji. Hua is her "family" name (pronounced hwah), and Ji is her first name (pronounced Gee). She is 13 years old and will be turning 14 on February 4, 2009; two days before John's birthday. We hope to make it the best birthday she has ever had.
Many of you know that we started the paperwork for this adoption at the end of 2005 while we lived in Japan. Had we known that it would take over three years to get a child from China, we probably would not have gone through with it. But God had a plan. We would not have opted for an older child three years ago or perhaps even a year ago, so the wait has been a part of His plan. We did not think we wanted a "special needs" child (Madison has a deformed left leg), but God knew we would love whoever He presented as our Chinese born child. Madison Ji has been living in our hearts since the day we decided to adopt from China, we just didn't know her name, what she looked like, or when we would be united. Fortunately, God knew. It was and continues to be His plan.
There is so much more to write, but we will keep this first post relatively short. We hope this helps to answer questions you may have about the adoption and that you feel a part of our adoption journey.
John and Lori
The past month and a half has been a whirlwind of activity for our family, with most of the activity falling on John's shoulders. He has been working tirelessly on all the paperwork. Before he left for work this morning, I asked him if he had any paperwork or forms he needed to take with him to mail off or fill out, and for once, he did not. Our plane tickets have been purchased and we will get our Visas next week. One of the last remaining hoops to jump through is fingerprinting, which will be done next Monday, December 22. At the time of this post, Madison does not know that there is a family in Iowa working feverishly to adopt her and provide a forever family for her. Most likely, she has not even heard of Iowa.
Madison's Chinese name is Hua Ji. Hua is her "family" name (pronounced hwah), and Ji is her first name (pronounced Gee). She is 13 years old and will be turning 14 on February 4, 2009; two days before John's birthday. We hope to make it the best birthday she has ever had.
Many of you know that we started the paperwork for this adoption at the end of 2005 while we lived in Japan. Had we known that it would take over three years to get a child from China, we probably would not have gone through with it. But God had a plan. We would not have opted for an older child three years ago or perhaps even a year ago, so the wait has been a part of His plan. We did not think we wanted a "special needs" child (Madison has a deformed left leg), but God knew we would love whoever He presented as our Chinese born child. Madison Ji has been living in our hearts since the day we decided to adopt from China, we just didn't know her name, what she looked like, or when we would be united. Fortunately, God knew. It was and continues to be His plan.
There is so much more to write, but we will keep this first post relatively short. We hope this helps to answer questions you may have about the adoption and that you feel a part of our adoption journey.
John and Lori
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