Beijing Part 2

Linh was such a trooper at the Great Wall of China climbing up so many stairs in 95 degree temperatures. One of the other Holt families brought their 6 year old daughter and the two girls became friends instantly when we met in the hotel lobby and they climbed the Wall together. I think they kept each other motivated. At dinner that night Linh was falling asleep at the table. John had to carry her back to the hotel.

Day 2 in Beijing also included lots of walking in 95 degree temperatures, but way less stairs. We went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Both were impressive and both were super crowded. We used our Mandarin phrase Bu Yao over and over to the countless vendors.

Linh and I went to dinner with some of the other families that night. John was so exhausted he didn't make it to dinner. He even skipped the trip to the night market where one of our fellow travelers ate scorpion. I didn't get to the night market either- before our meal was served, Linh fell asleep on my lap. Poor kid. I had to carry her back to the hotel. So glad we went to a restaurant very close to hotel.

 

 

Breakfast buffet at hotel-                                                                             

 

Yes, that is a waffle with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and Linh is sprinkling extra sugar on top.  And no, this is not what I make Linh for breakfast at home. Only in China. 

We arrived in Beijing!

There were three other Holt families on our flight from Detroit to Beijing. It was so nice to start our trip surrounded by others about to meet their new children. The 13 hour flight was long, but I was so relieved we were able to find a direct flight from Michigan. Linh slept the last 4 hours and I tried to sleep a couple of hours. John slept quite a bit of the flight.  I had really forgotten how awful airplane food is and there were at least three meals served. Glad I had a bag of snack food.

When we arrived it was Thursday afternoon in Beijing. By the time we found our luggage and guide, and then drove the 90 minutes to the Peace Novotel Hotel it was after 5pm (China time) which was 5am Michigan time. Linh and John went for dinner with the other families. I could not keep my eyes open so I stayed at the hotel and slept. I knew I would not have a problem sleeping through the night even though I went to bed at 6pm.  I was still tired when the alarm went off at 4:30 the next morning.  But we had to get to the breakfast buffet and be ready to leave the hotel by 8am to drive the Great Wall of China with a number of other families. The Great Wall is amazing. Parts of it are very steep but John and Linh managed to reach four towers. I can't say the same for me. But I went as far as I could.

The day we arrived in Beijing we asked if it was foggy that day, but the guide indicated it was smog. The day we went to the Great Wall the sun broke through the smog - which our guide said had not happened much in July.

 

 

                                            

We're going to China!!

The flights are booked. Hotels and in country arrangements are nearly final. In two and a half weeks, we will be in China. Our Article 5 was finally issued 6/7 after a painfully long wait. We were expecting 2 to 3 weeks to wait. I know delays are to be expected in the adoption process and we have been truly fortunate that all other steps/approvals were received very fast. So I should not complain. But it was a tough wait. Then a week ago, Holt emailed us very late Friday afternoon to let us know Travel Approval had arrived. I didn't even see my email until Saturday morning. It was a fantastic way to start my Saturday!

This week in addition to the travel arrangements, we have been starting to put a plan together of what and how we will accomplish all that is needed to be done. I know - it seems like we have had so much time to prepare, but there are always things that can't be done until you have confirmed dates. So now I have my packing list. I have my to buy list. I have my to do before travel list. I have a honey do list for John. I have a work list. I have a list of things to do when we return home. I have a master list to keep all my lists organized. I think I may need to create a spreadsheet of what needs to be accomplished.  It might be more efficient.

The best part is when most of my lists have been crossed off - because then we get to meet Gigi!!

 

Visas arrived!

Tuesday our passports arrived via overnight mail with our Chinese visas! We are set to go to China! Now we just need a couple more approvals.

We continue to wait for our Article 5 to be issued by the US Consulate. Originally we expected to wait 2 to 3 weeks. It as been more than twice that long. However, the email with our NVC was not received by the Consulate and had to be resent. Then the offices were unexpectedly closed for a few days in May. Hopefully 6/7 we will receive word Article 5 has been issued. This means that my hopeful plan of flying to China on 7/4 is not going to happen. Now I'm hoping we are in the 7/18 travel group.

The process was moving quickly until this step. And I know realistically that we will be traveling this summer. I really should not complain but the wait is just getting hard. I am ready to go and bring our little girl home.

NVC

What does that mean?? That means we received a letter from the National Visa Center. The letter indicates National Visa Center received our I800 and our case has been forwarded to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China. One step closer to our little sweetie! Now we are finishing our visa applications and will send applications out this week to the courier. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get our passports back with the proper Visa attached. In the meantime we wait a few weeks for the next approval which will be Article 5. Then a few more weeks for travel approval. Then we travel to China! Back in January it sounded like so many approvals, but now we only have two more. Amazing! I am so thankful the process has been moving fast since we saw our little cutie for the first time.   

I spoke with our agency today and it sounds as though travel in July is likely. Wow! We have a lot to prepare in our house in the next couple of months. The office/playroom will become a bedroom again. I will post some pictures once we have it ready.

The latest update indicates cutie can feed herself with a spoon and she can put on short pants.  She is already an independent little girl! Have I commented lately on how Holt is fantastic! We have received so many photos, videos, and information/updates on our little girl. We are very grateful to have this information. 

Here are a few recent pictures that came along with the update. Look at how long her hair is. She certainly looks happy on the motor bike. I'm still trying to convince myself that the helmet was only removed to take the photo.

What a surprise!

Back in January, I wrote out a list of approvals we needed before we could travel to meet our new little sweetie. I also wrote down some estimated time frames each approval generally takes. Our Letter of Intent was sent 1/31/2013. I estimated our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) to be about the middle of April and travel sometime between July and September. After LOA, there is I800, Article 5, and travel approval

When I saw I missed a call from Holt this afternoon I thought perhaps they were looking for all of the paperwork that I was planning on going throught this past weekend. Turns out Holt was calling to tell me that they received our LOA! I could not believe how fast that arrived! Holt commented on how quick it arrived too.

Tonight I finished most of that paperwork that I was supposed to work on over the weekend. We will have a couple of papers notarized tomorrow, then we can send to Holt. Our LOA arrives tomorrow and I will work on the next step regarding I800.

The surprisingly fast turnaround means that travel may be sooner than I expected. We may actually travel as early as 3 months from now!! I can not believe it!! We may be in China in the middle of summer! Yay!

We received the call!!!

We still can not believe it! On January 24th, the call came! Our beautiful little girl is waiting for us in Wuhan City, China. She is 23 months old, walking and talking and totally adorable.

We have been told by Holt to plan to wait 6-9 months before this family of 3 can travel to China to become our family of 4.

Here is our sweet little girl-