DTC/LID and CNY

For those of you that do not know, DTC is Documents to China and LID is our Log in Date with CCAA (Chinese Children Adoption Affairs). We didn't think we would ever be DTC. We got hung up in USCIS for 120 days. We finally got our approval on 12/19/2008. Off to Houston went our last document to be Authenticated by the Chinese Consulant. By the time we got it back, got our Dossier sent to CCAI, they reviewed it, it passed with flying colors, got translated and off to China it went. We were DTC on January 9, 2009 and out LID is January 22, 2009. They say it is taking any where from 3-5 months after LID for travel. We are praying that we will travel in April, but thinking it will be May or even June. We know that when the time is right we will travel. It is in Gods hands and I have all the faith in Him. Please pray for us that we do travel soon. We are so ready to bring our little girl home.
We got to celebrate CNY (Chinese New Year) on 1/24/09 with others families that have adopted from China and families that are waiting to adopt from China and other Asian Countries. It was held at UGA and hosted by our childrens Asian Mentors from the university. They are all college students. What a great group they are and they did and outstanding job. We had lots of entertainment and a pot luck meal. The kids were all dressed up in traditional Chinese clothes. They were all so adorable. We will be celebrating CNY with some friends of ours this weekend hosted by a wonderful family that has adopted twice from China. We are looking so forward to this.
Please pray for us a we wait to bring our precious girl home.
Melissa

Here We Go Again

Welcome to our Journey to LeahJean LuoDan. We are adopting one more precious child into our family. Zheng, Luo Dan, born September 27, 2005 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. She is in foster care. She is deaf, but otherwise healthy. We feel so blessed to be adopting this precious amazing little angel. I was explaining to a friend of mine a while back about us deciding to adopt one more time. In the conversation I stated that I finally feel complete. I feel as if my family is complete. When I approached my husband and said we have to go back one more time, we have to adopt one more time. I told him it has to be a little girl this time. I knew that she was out there waiting on us. God had laid this on my heart and I knew without a doubt that this was something we were meant to do. So one beautiful April day, we decided to call CCAI and see what we need to do to start the process again. We knew we would be going special needs. We filled out our MCC and family info form and sent them in. After adopting Parker in 2007 from the Waiting Child program and all that we encountered with his special needs, we had learned so much and new what we could handle, we checked that we would consider lots of special needs. One of which was a deaf child. We were told that with all the medical conditions that we checked we wouldn't have a problem getting a child before my husband would reach that age that he no longer qualified. So we sent in our application and got approval on May 25, 2008 and we began working on our home study and dossier. We figured that we would get a referral in about a year. We figured so wrong:). On June 24, 2008, I was sitting at work getting ready to leave for the day and my cell rang. Well I didn't have very good service in my office so I couldn't answer the phone. I recognized the number so I called Sarah from my office phone. As I was dialing the numbered I thought could it be possible, could they have us a child already, I thought no way. Again I thought so wrong. When I told her who I was, she said I have a file that I would like for you and Keith to look at. She told me she was deaf, how old she was, her name, her size, where she was from and that she was beautiful and that she thought she would be perfect for our family. She told me the meaning of her name. Luo means flowing river and Dan means Cinnabar, the beautiful red plant that grows in China. I think I feel in love with her while I was on the phone with Sarah, before I ever saw her picture or reviewed her file. I called Keith, told him to get on the computer as soon as he got home. I was pulling the file up at work. When I saw her face, it was YES!!, YES!!, thank you God, this is my precious little girl. I called Keith back, told him what I thought, he was looking at her picture as we were talking, he agreed, that was her, that was our soon to be daughter. I called Sarah back and told her that, she was the one, we would defiantly accept her without a doubt. Our LOI (Letter Of Intent to Adopt) went to China July 2, 2008 and we had our PA (Permission to Adopt) on July 10, 2008. I felt complete, at peace. We have gone down a lot of long and winding roads to get to our little girl, but they were and are all worth it, each and everyone. We are so blessed and we thank God everyday. I feel like I have been given a little piece of heaven.
So, please follow us as we continue our Journey to Adopt LeahJean.
I think I got a little long winded here, sorry.:)
Melissa