I-800 Update & Fun Note on the Little Guy

Today I received the official form in the mail from Dept of Homeland Security, stating that they had received my I-800 application and it is in process.  The official Receipt Date is 12/19/11.

Also, today I got an email from a mom of a 12 year old girl that was adopted last May from my little guy's SWI. The mom showed Willem's pictures to her daughter to see if she remembered Willem.  She did!  Here's part of the email I received from her this morning.

"From what i understand, the older children did not have much if any contact with the babies. If the children were old enough to go out and play, they all interacted.

Kristen- kira did remember your little man. She got a big smile when she saw his picture. She did not help with him, but did see him on the playground a lot.

He loves to swing and slide, he played nice with the other kids, and did not cry a lot. He was moved from the a toddler room to another room..." 

It made my day to receive that.  :)

Acceptance Confirmation

On 12/22 at 12:45 AM I received the following email from the USCIS lockbox in Texas.  The lockbox is the location where USCIS quickly reviews your Form I-800 application to make sure everything is in order before they send the application to the National Benefits Center (NBC) for approval.  They make sure there aren't any missing pages, unsigned sections of your application, or anything like that.

Sent: Thursday, December 22, 2011 12:45 AM

Subject: USCIS Acceptance Confirmation

Dear Applicant/Petitioner:
Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing. Within 7 - 10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number SIM12xxx. If you have any questions please contact the Hague Unit at (877) xxx.

The email tells me that they have sent it to the NBC, which means that my packet was in good order with nothing missing.   So now I'll be waiting for a Notice of Receipt in the mail stating my receipt date and my case number.  When I receive that I can email the USCIS to check on if there are any updates on my I-800 approval.  Most people have been receiving their I-800 approvals in 2 weeks from the time it is received into the lockbox.  With Christmas and New Year I'm sure mine will be longer.  But, this is one small step forward.  

What Exactly Is LOA? And Now What?

LOA stands for Letter of Acceptance.  Most people still call it that, although it is actually now called LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation).  It is exactly that - a letter from China asking me if I accept this child's referral.  I did, of course, accept his referral.  And then it is sent back to China as fast as it can be sent back.  I sent it off on Friday and it was supposed to arrive back at CHI on Monday, but there was no one to sign for it so they will receive it on Tuesday.  Here is what it looks like.

See what date it was stamped? It gives this still very sad day, a new special meaning. 

Another smile from heaven?

This will probably be boring and not interesting to most to read, but I'm doing it partly just to get it more clear in my mind.  And if you want, go ahead and read, else don't.  I won't be offended if you don't.  ;)

The next thing I had to do was file forms I-800 and I-864W with USCIS.  Form I-800 is my application to the US for approval to adopt this specific child.  Form I-864W is to prove to the USCIS that this person won't be a burden on the US welfare system and that there is someone to sponsor him until he's a citizen. But in our case it's a bit different, being as Willem will be an automatic US citizen as soon as he arrives.  This is just to prove that he's an adopted child under 18 and doesn't need a sponsor.  I had to wait for my LOA in order to do these steps.  This 1" thick packet of paperwork also went out Friday and it arrived in Texas today, Monday.

After USCIS receives my packet they will email and let me know they've received it.  Then in the mail I will receive a Notice of Receipt from the lockbox in Texas, stating that they've received my application and the date they received it.  On here will also be my case number.  I should receive this in about a week.  They forward it on to the National Benefits Center (NBC) where all I-800 applications are reviewed and approved.  It takes about 3 weeks for approval. I will receive an official I-800 approval letter in the mail.

As soon as I receive this I-800 approval in the mail I need to send a copy of this and form DS-230 (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration) to my agency.

After the I-800 application is approved my officer will express mail my approval to the National Visa Center (NVC). It could take up to 7 days to arrive, but when NVC receives my approval they enter my information into their computer system.

Within 1-3 business days the NVC will cable (email) my file to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China.  This is approval of my visa petition.  They then mail me a letter stating that my petition has been forwarded to the Embassy in China.  I will have to send this NVC Letter to my agency, but I don't have to wait for the mail copy.  I can email NVC and check the status of my cable and ask them for an email (.pdf) copy of my NVC letter, which I can forward on to my agency, speeding things up a bit.

After I've (1) received I-800 approval and (2) have been cabled and (3) gotten my NVC Letter it's time for my Article 5 letter to be issued by the US Embassy. This is a step I don't have to really DO anything about, but it is helpful to know what is going on. Once I've emailed my NVC Letter my to my agency, they will forward it to their in-China representative. The in-China rep will take the NVC letter to the US Embassy in Guangzhou along with my DS-230 application and my LOA. The consulate needs to review my new child's visa application (the DS-230), make sure it meets the qualifications for an immigrant visa, and then signs off that everything is in order for the adoption to be completed. This is called the Article 5 letter. I cannot obtain custody of my child until the Article 5 letter is issued! The consulate takes a standard two weeks to complete this process. Once it's picked up from the consulate, it will be delivered directly to the CCCWA for Travel Approval!  I think you can figure out what that means!

What's next?

I spent all evening filling out the paperwork that goes back to CHI and to USCIS.

And I got it done!

Two fat packages back in the mail tomorrow!

Hopefully I can update tomorrow what the rest of the wait might look like.

And we all know that just cuz I say this is what it might look like, it is just as sure that it won't look anything like that!

Oh, the joys of adoption.

Jewelry Fundraiser

Below are several items of jewelry I have available for sale directly from me.  You can also see several other pieces I have available if you click right here.  You can still order and receive your items for Christmas.  They are beautiful!

You also can order directly from the Be a Voice website and have it shipped directly to you.  If you want to do that you can shop and order online right here using 'Qiang' as the password (so that Tammy knows the order is for me). If you have questions you can leave a comment or you can email me at kkhillukka @ izoom. net.

Celtic Cross Design (Pin/Pendant) $10 each 
This is so beautiful I kept one for myself! This meaningful piece is highly polished silver over lead-free pewter and can be worn as a pin or as a pendant. It measures 1 9/16” in length and 1 3/16” across.  ( 10  9 available)  

Celtic Love Knot Bracelets $20 

This is a piece that I received and didn't need from Be a Voice and instead of sending it back I thought maybe someone would be interested in purchasing it directly from me. This is a solid ounce and that is quite heavy. You can also order these directly from Be a Voice  and they would come directly to you.  They come in a nice black velvet drawstring bag and would make a wonderful Christmas present for yourself or for a loved one.  (1 available from me)  

'Believe' Pin $15 

This is also a piece that I received in error from Be a Voice and instead of sending it back I thought maybe someone would be interested in purchasing it directly from me. You can also order these directly from Be a Voice  and they would come directly to you.  They come in a nice black velvet drawstring bag and would make a wonderful Christmas present for yourself or for a loved one.  (1 available from me)

Thank you so much for looking and shopping with me!  I truly appreciate it!

LOA Day!

What a wonderful day!  It is with great JOY and humbleness after waiting 105 days, that I can announce, 'Today is LOA day!'

I can't believe that I finally received it.  And wouldn't you know I missed the call when Heidi first called!  I swear I carried my phone everywhere I went for 3 months waiting for that call.

Today we had a Christmas potluck at work and I was walking around the department looking for Christmas carol clues and left my phone at my desk!  I saw 'missed call' first on my work phone and wondered who wanted what.  I hit the button to see who had called and about fell over when I saw the area code! Heidi called back again pretty quick and I was shaking as she talked to me I was so excited.  I'm sure I didn't hear a word she said after she told me, "Merry Christmas, we have a present for you!"

Then to top it off I won a free jeans day sticker today!

I'm coming precious boy, I'm coming!

I've posted this picture before, but I have to add a note to it this time.  I showed this picture to one of the wonderful ladies at the agency I'm using and she said it looks 'heavenly'.

This is the first smile I've seen in all the pictures I've seen of Willem.  And with his smile and the light shining on his face like that it does look heavenly. I didn't know right away, but I found out that this picture was taken on what would have been my mom's birthday.  When I found that out it gave me a feeling that it is my angel Mom smiling down on me from heaven.

Happy Adoption Day!

I can't believe that it's been 6 years since our sweet and spicy little Bee became part of our family forever.  Thank you God for gifting her to me and giving me the privilege and honor of being her mama.

I also want to thank another mother for allowing her the gift of life.  What a gift you've given us all.  We think of you often and wish you could see her and know how well she's doing and how loved she is. Thank you other mother!

Here's one scared and sad little girl.

And here she is 6 years later!

Happy Adoption Day my sweet cuddly little girl!

Day 100

Well, today is the dreaded Day 100.  Even though I knew it was a possibility and even said it's a possibility, I really never thought I would be one of those over 100 days people.  Really.

So of course I had to email my agency on Day 100 and just see if maybe they thought my dossier had been dropped under the desk or something.  I got an email back from my wonderful contact.  Oh, how I love her.  She emailed me back, "Hang in there girl cuz we have been checking.  The CC*WA was in training all last week and nothing moved. But a little bird told us last night that we'd get all 4 of the SC's (LOAs) that we've been squeaking about... Cross your fingers for a DHL truck to come our way next week."

YAHOO!  So I have my fingers crossed.  Could you cross your fingers too?  And if you could remember us in prayer, cuz once we do receive this piece of paper it is still 3 months til travel.  This is a hard wait!

...
Of course I ponder the why of this long wait.  I've seen many people submit their dossier after me that are zipping up on travel already.  And the long wait I had for my first US approval.  Why?  I don't know.  Maybe there is no reason.  I do believe tho that traveling when we will (now not earlier than March) rather than in December when we would have traveled if my paperwork would have flowed on the same timeline as others, we will save a lot of money in travel costs.  It will be as if one and maybe close to two of us will be traveling for free. Maybe that's why?

Look Who's Smiling!

A wonderful lady emailed me and told me that she had a cake sent to her daughter at the orphanage for her birthday and they sent her pictures of the party.  Well, our sweet Willem sat right next to her at the party and we got 5 pictures of him from her!  Guess who's smiling tonight...and it's not just my sweet boy!

Day 90

Well today was day 90 of waiting for LOA (LSC).

Nothing more to say.

Individual Jewelry Pieces

Following is a listing of individual pieces of jewelry I am selling to raise funds to bring Willem home. These are nice quality pieces and everyone that has bought items from me so far is very satisfied and pleased with what they've gotten. These would make great presents!

Please leave me a comment if you are interested in any of the pieces or email me at kkhillukka @ izoom. net.

Celtic Cross Design (Pin/Pendant) $10 each 
This beautiful and meaningful piece is highly polished silver over lead-free pewter and can be worn as a pin or as a pendant. It measures 1 9/16” in length and 1 3/16” across.  ( 10  9 available)  

Angel Choir (Pin/Pendant) $10 each
This Choir of Angels is made of silver over lead-free pewter and can be worn as a pin/brooch or a pendant. It measures 2- 3/8" wide and 2-1/4" high. (3 available)

Dancing Angel with Shamrock (Pin/Pendant) $15 each
This beautiful smiling little angel with flower hair and petals for a dress has legs that move! She also has gold overlay on her hair and wings, and carries an adorable shamrock charm for luck. She has shamrocks on her shoes, stars at her ankles, and a tiny starfish at her collar.  She is silver over lead-free pewter and measures 2 ¾” in length and 1 5/8” across. She can be worn as a pin or a pendant or would look adorable on a Christmas tree!  ( 3  1 available)

Snowman (Pin/Pendant)  $10 each

This jolly snowman is made of lead-free pewter covered in silver with gold-covered accents. It may be worn as a pendant or a pin and  measures 1-7/8" tall and 1-1/8" wide.  They would look great on a Christmas tree! (3 available)


Christmas Tree (Pin/Pendant )  $10 each

This tree is made of pewter covered in silver with gold-covered accents. It may be worn as a pendant or a pin and measures 2-1/2" tall and 2" wide.  This also would make a good Christmas tree ornament.  (2 available)

Snowflakes (Pendant/Ornament)  $10 each
Made from lead-free pewter with an overlay of Sterling silver.  These can be worn as a pendant, used as a beautiful Christmas tree ornament, or would look so cute hanging several in your window. These are all approximately 2 1/2" in diameter. If you look closely at the one on the right you will see it's a circle of children with joined hands. (Left item- 4  2 available. Right item- 3  2 available)

Even a snowflake for the kitty lovers. You can put a picture of your own cat in the center.  (2 available)

Triple Trinity Knot Pendant on 18” Chain  $15 
This Triple Trinity Knot Pendant on an 18” Chain features three classic Celtic Trinity knots, woven together to form a perfect triangle. This piece is highly polished Sterling silver over lead-free pewter and measures 1 ¾” in length by 1 3/8" wide. ( 1  0 available)

Dolphin Bookmarker  $8
This dolphin bookmark is made of silver over lead-free  pewter. It measures 2-1/4" x 1-1/2". (1 available)


Eagle Bookmarker $10 each
This bookmark blends highly polished silver over  lead-free pewter and  measures a total of 3 ¼” in length. The wingspan of the eagle measures 1 5/6”. ( 2  0 available)

Bracelets $15 each
This Bracelet blends highly polished silver over lead-free pewter. (2  0 available)

A Mother’ Love

This poem was written by Helen Steiner Rice.  

I've always loved her poems and this one really touches my heart today.

A Mother’ Love

A Mother’s love is something
that no on can explain,
It is made of deep devotion
and of sacrifice and pain,
It is endless and unselfish
and enduring come what may
For nothing can destroy it
or take that love away . . .
It is patient and forgiving
when all others are forsaking,
And it never fails or falters
even though the heart is breaking . . .
It believes beyond believing
when the world around condemns,
And it glows with all the beauty
of the rarest, brightest gems . . .
It is far beyond defining,
it defies all explanation,
And it still remains a secret
like the mysteries of creation . . .
A many splendoured miracle
man cannot understand
And another wondrous evidence
of God’s tender guiding hand.

Day 72

Today is 11/11/11 - a magical sounding kind of day. Shouldn’t this be the day that magic happens? Oh, it would feel magical to receive that LOA.

What was I doing at 11:11 am on 11/11/11? Taking pictures of my phone at work and dreaming about LOA. How about you?  What were you doing?

So Day 70 came and went and Day 71 too. Now it’s Day 72 and I’m still waiting.  I do try, I try so hard to say it’s all in His timing and to know and believe that.  Also, to understand in my heart that His timing is best.  It will come and it will be the right time.  But I’m just a little old impatient human being…a mama who wants her boy in her arms.

Each step seems to take so much longer than most every one else this time.  I ponder things and I wonder why.  Now I have been been 'in process' in China for 6 weeks and 2 days.  First, agencies were saying that once you are 'in process' it will be 2-4 weeks til you receive your LOA.  Now they are telling people it's 3-6 weeks.  Well I broke that record too.  Oh, 'in process' means that China is actively looking at my dossier.  It's not just sitting dormant, lonely, and unlooked at in a pile somewhere.  In process is a good thing, I just wonder why it doesn't feel that way!

Here's a cute picture I just had to post.  Jia visiting with Bumblebee the bird.

New Picture Of Willem

Here is a new picture of my precious little guy!  There was a family that traveled to the orphanage today to receive their son and they were able to get a picture for me.  It was nap time and he was woken up in order to receive the toy (delivered by the family for me).  Actually they went and bought a toy and brought it for me. :)  Anyway you can see he looks like he just woke up.  And I want to go and just get him right now!

Can You Help Bring Me Home...

Hi!  I'm Willem. 

Can you please read the note from my mama below my picture? 
I really want to come home to join my family and you can help out!

I am working on a fundraiser for our adoption. Please take a look at the Be A Voice website by clicking right here and see if there's anything you'd like to order. I ordered 4 pieces of this jewelry myself to make sure it was nice and to show as samples. They really are as nice as they look. This is very solid jewelry. For example, the Celtic Love Knot bracelets (below) are a solid ounce and that is quite heavy. They come in a nice black velvet drawstring bag and would make a wonderful Christmas present for yourself or for a loved one.   

If you'd like to order, you can order right online right here using 'Qiang' as the password (so that Tammy knows the order is for me) and the order will come directly to you.   If you order from MN there will not be sales tax, but there would be a small shipping fee. Otherwise, let me know and I can order it for you and get it to you.

Please let me know if you have questions.

Willem and his mama thank you so much for looking.  It means a lot to us.

Day 48

Well, it's day 48 and I'm still waiting. 

Today I got a call from my agency.  They had a document, my Nurture Plan, that had not been signed by me.  Earlier I had sent them a rough draft but didn't have my specific child info in it.  When little Huai Qiang came along and we locked his file, I was heading up to a wedding.  We were pushing hard for everything to be done over the weekend as the paperwork had to be submitted by Sunday night of that weekend or I would lose the lock on my precious little guy.  So the wonderful ladies edited my document changing info as needed and submitted it along with the rest of the paperwork.  So not so good news it hadn't been signed.  But they sent it to me - I signed and scanned back to them.  Good news, maybe?, China IS looking at my file and saw that it hadn't been signed.

I'm coming, precious little one.

Day 37

Well not much to post about.  Just that today is day 37.  Sorry - it's just so hard not to think about what day # it is when day #1 was the 1st day of the month. 

I emailed CHI yesterday just to check if there was anything new on my file (dossier). 

And, well here's my email.  You have to read from the bottom up.  Nothing too earth shattering but, well maybe kinda exciting.  They have done something to my file there in China, it's for sure not just sitting on the bottom of a pile.  :)

********************************************

Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 10:50 AM

Subject: RE: How are things

Oh, that’s ok that you didn’t get back to me. I totally understand how that is. I really have a waiting mama brain right now.

Thank you for checking! That’s so exciting that the CCC WA has a date next to my file! Maybe cuz the US CIS took literally double the time with my I800A than anyone else I’ve ever heard of, maybe the I800 will be quick. Maybe? I can only hope, and pray.

Oh, I would love to meet you too and have you meet my kids! And I’d love to meet Stefani too, and all you wonderful people who help us bring our babies home.

Thank you!

 Kristin

 Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 9:38 AM
Subject: RE: How are things

Hey Kristin-
Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday but when I went on the CHina site to check any progress or postings on your case I got lost in new information for several families

AND ...

YOU WERE RIGHT... the CCC WA had posted a 9-28-11 date next to your file.... this was listed behind your log in date so we are guessing this means that they have actually now review your dossier????

With any luck we should get a SC in the next 4-6 weeks and then it's all up to the governments: US CIS to process your i800 quickly and GZ Consulate and the CCC WA to issue the TA.

It could happen before Feb let's keep our fingers crossed. I'd love for your sis to meet Willem too (ohhh and someday I'd like to meet your WHOLE clan too).

Best wishes,
Heidi

---

              Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 08:38:12 -0500
            Subject: RE: How are things

Hi again Heidi – I have another question for you.

I have a sister who lives in Finland and she is going to be in the US in February. Do you think there’s any way that I will have traveled to China and back by then? She has been back once since she moved there and I so don’t want to miss her visit here. She has 2 girls who are the same ages as my girls and the girls were such good friends before they left. Of course I would love for my sister to meet Willem in person too. J

Thanks! 

Kristin

Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 1:31 PM

Subject: How are things

Hi Heidi – I haven’t bugged you for a while so had to send you an email. J

I just have to check how things are going. Someone who is LID a day before me said she is ‘in review’ in China, which she said means that she will have her LSC within a couple of weeks. Are you able to tell where my file is?

 I also wanted to ask what I should be working on. I know I have to fill out the I800 form. There’s something else that I have to fill out too, I think.

Have a nice day!

Kristin

The Zoo

I really wanted to bring the girls to the zoo again this summer. My summers are so busy at work that I just thought that we wouldn't make it again this year. But I have been watching this beautiful weekend coming up and thought if the nice weather happens we will go.  It did and we did. We went on Sunday and we had fun!

The girls' favorite, I think.  Here's Mei looking in on the Polar Bears.



My favorite Polar Bear!

There were also brown bears and grizzlies.

The Cats...

Female Lion

I told Bee that this one is going to have babies.  She thought we should go back to the zoo the next day to see if we could see the babies. 

Snow Leopard

Giraffes

Blast from the past...August 2008.  See how little they are!

Tortoises (giant turtles)

They look so small from 3 years ago.

Here's the real thing. I wish I would have gotten it with one of the girls in front of him.  He's huge!

The 'Birds'

So beautiful and graceful looking, the Flamingos.

We had to see the Penguins.

Time to sit down for a little break.

And last but certainly not least...

...the monkeys.

They were hard to get good pictures of - they were so active. Mei's favorite monkeys were the Spider Monkeys.  I didn't get any pictures of them, as they never stopped moving.

We all loved watching the Orangutans.

 Here baby is teasing dad. 

He keeps going after dad and dad pushes him away.

Here's baby again

We can't leave the zoo without a few rides.

Sorry...just had to do one more from August 2008.