Happy Birthday, YouXin Fu!

It is difficult to wrap my head around having a child in country thousands of miles away who we haven't met, who doesn't know about us,  and who is celebrating her first birthday without us. I hope her caregivers give her lots of love today and make her day as special as she is.  We will have many more birthdays together, but it's sad to miss the first. 

We will have our own little celebration for her today, complete with birthday cake and candles. Connor and Kenna are making birthday cards for their baby sister, and we'll just have to have the most amazing belated birthday party when she finally comes home!

Speaking of that....we received approval of our I-800a on November 12 (coincidentally, that's National Adoption Day).  That's the approval to adopt a child.  Our next approval is still pending, and that's the approval to specifically adopt YouXin Fu.  It's mostly a formality of paperwork and rubber stamp signatures that somehow takes weeks. We should have that any day and then we can apply for our Visas!

In the middle of all this, I took another look at our official referral paperwork from China.  Part of the process is checking to make sure that all the names on all of the documents match your U.S. Passports.  Of course, Brian's name is spelled "BRAIN" on Keira's referral!  We had to request a new certificate correcting the spelling so that everything matches.  Luckily, this won't further delay anything, but it's just good that it's fixed before we go to meet our daughter.  Who knows what kind of confusion that would have caused!

I'm still estimating that we will travel sometime in January or February.  I'm sure Chinese New Year will interfere with those  plans somehow, but we'll just have to take it in stride.

Happy Birthday, Keira Jane YouXin - we love you!!

Fingerprint Day - Again!

So the thing about fingerprints, you would assume, is that they never change, right?  So you'd think that once a Federal Agency (like, hmmm, the State Department) has your fingerprints on file, then they could check them against criminal history whenever they want.  You would think, and that's what they do on TV.  The strange thing, is that fingerprints, much like milk or batteries or cheese, have an expiration date.  This is odd to me, since if they never change, and somehow if you are ever arrested and your prints can magically appear in a police database years, often decades later. 

But the one thing I guess I've learned in this process is that clearly, government agencies need communications coaches.  They do not know how to talk to each other, and they have selective hearing. The fingerprints in my FBI file do not count.  The fingerprints taken for the State Bar do not count.  The thumbprint I have to give at the bank to cash a check doesn't count. The fingerprints taken 3 previous times for the same Federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security, do not count for the purposes of adopting a child.  But you better believe if they ever hear that I'm ever charged with a crime (like perhaps losing my mind and assaulting a government employee during the fingerprinting process) my fingerprints will magically appear and have no expiration date.

So we make the trek to south Fort Worth again today, to a seedy, decrepit shopping mall above the stinky food court to submit, once again, to the underpaid, perpetually frowning USCIS fingerprinting clerks who have the future of our family in their hands.

The good news is that once our fingerprints are approved (again), we are that much closer to meeting Keira. However, my prints are starting to feel like they are not good enough. All this testing and retesting is not good for their self-esteem.  Intense therapy, inclusive of a spa manicure may be in order after they're done with me today.

We got the call!!

Introducing the newest member of our family! 

This is YouXin Fu. (Soon to be known as Keira Jane YouXin Simpson) She was born on December 5, 2009 and lives at the Fuzhou SWI in Jiangxi Province, China. 

We think she is amazingly perfect -- and I know we're biased, but seriously -- look at that face!!!!

After an excruciatingly long five-year wait, our call came today at 5:25 p.m.  She is our daughter and we are so thrilled!!

Rumors has it....

The latest rumor from China is that the CCAA wait is up to families who were logged in on and before May 10, 2006.  In case you've forgotten, our log-in date is May 16, 2006. That means were 6 (SIX) dates away.

SIX DAYS.....which equals about two months in China adoption land, but let's say that's true......TWO MONTHS????? We're only maybe two months away from referral??????   And then add a few more months for travel approval and then.....!

WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?

Oh, yes.  It's taken five years.....then why am I so ill-prepared?? 

I have a very vivid memory of our very first informational meeting about China adoption in 2005.  We were told that the wait times may go up and down, but China is stable.  That at the end of this process, "you WILL have a baby.  You just might have to stick it out, but have faith.  It WILL happen."  The wait time back then was 10 months, and the concern was that we'd have to wait over a year.  I never could have predicted the massive slow-down and the road our lives have taken since, but those words have stuck with me and have given me hope.  (Thank you, Melissa L.)

And now, we're on the cusp of a new adventure and a new addition to our hearts. 

SIX DAYS, PEOPLE! 

Watch this Space!!

After almost 5 years of waiting, we're nearing the front of the China Adoption line!  We're in the process of updating EVERYTHING so that when the time comes, we'll be ready to meet the next member of our family.  I'm reactivating the blog so that everyone can be in the loop :)  Stay tuned!!