Baby Shower!

Eight years ago, Scott and I moved to Phoenix..and left all of our family in the midwest.  So, our sweet friends have become our family out here!  And, we are extremely lucky to have them.  Lauren and Kami gave us such a beautiful baby shower to welcome Sophie into all of our hearts. The theme was Cherry Blossoms, and it was so beautiful! I appreciate all they did for this shower, and for all the friends who were able to celebrate with us.  We are very lucky to have such amazing people in our lives!

Thank you~ Lauren, Kami, Daisy, Prea, Shelly, Tina, Christina, Sarah, Kimmie, Jessica, Yvette, Ashley, Megan, Farrell and Jenn~

Thank you, Daisy, for capturing these great memories!

A little bit closer~

Well, we are getting just a bit closer!!  After about 2.5 years, all the paperwork, hoping, praying...we can see the light ;)  Today I received our passports back with a Chinese Visa in each one. Also, our I-800 provisional was approved by US Immigration on 2/6/2014.  This document is important because Sophie is now viewed as our immediate relative. We are currently awaiting our NVC approval. Once this is sent, we fill out the DS-230- and off to the Consulate in China....eventually paperwork to Beijing...and our travel approval will be issued!

Sounds like a lot, but this is the end of the wait! So.Very.Excited!

Happy Chinese New Year 2014!

Each year since we began the adoption process, we have celebrated the Chinese New Year.  This year is the Year of the Wooden Horse.  On January 31st, there was a great festival going on in Beijing...

It has been noted by Feng-shui experts that with this being the Year of the Wood Horse, and with wood being very combustible, there will be a lot of scandals, conflicts, explosions, arguments and natural disasters. Let's hope this is not the case, and the predictions are false!

As in the past, Scott and I had a Chinese food dinner...and the boys had McDonald's ;)

Our food was so yummy, the boys have no idea what they are missing!  We can't wait for Sophie to be with us next year to join in on the celebration!

Of note, Sophie was born in 2012~ the Year of the Dragon! She has this book so that she can learn about the year she was born.  There is a series of these books, also!

Sophie's Care Package~

Now that we had our pre-approval from the CCCWA, we were finally able to send our Sophie a care package!  We have been waiting to send her gifts since September 26th!  So, we gathered up all the stuff we had bought for her and her foster parents, and boxed it up ;)

 I made a book of our family and our home so Sophie could become familiar with our faces before she comes home with us.  We also added a soft bunny, a few outfits and some footed jammies, a book of nursery rhythms, Hello Kitty coloring book and crayons, a Fisher Price fill and spill purse to play with, as well as lots of yogurt melts and puffs!  Mimi also made Sophie the softest, prettiest pink blanket for her to cuddle with, which I just know she will LOVE!  For her foster mom, I added a beautiful red scarf, a candle and a really nice picture frame; for her foster dad, I sent a Nike golf visor and some dark chocolates.  Hope they love all their gifts!

In addition, I wrote a letter to her foster family~ just introducing us, and letting them know how much we love Sophie and that we will provide a great life for her.  We want them to know that we have wanted her for a very, very long time, and that we will love her just was we love the boys.  She is our daughter!

It was so fun to put all this together! We had to wait ~three and a half months from the time we accepted her as ours...that is a LONG time to wait to send our love some gifts ;)  So, now we wait.  We are hoping to travel in about 2 short months!  Praying this time will fly by.....

Letter of Confirmation!

I woke up this morning to an amazing email from Tiffany...our Letter of Confirmation from the CCCWA was mailed!  Yay!!  This letter could take up to 3 months from being locked to our daughter...but it was only about 10 days.  Thank goodness, as now we travel to China to bring our Sophie home in about 3 short months ;)  Relief, say it with me, RELIEF!

Some important dates to note, as of 2013....

April 16,2013- Updated Home Study with Peggy
July 29,2013- Updated Finger Prints at Immigration
September 25, 2013- Got Sophie's profile
September 26, 2013- Accepted Sophie as our daughter AND it was her 1st Birthday
January 4, 2014- Sophie officially posted to the CCCWA database and we were locked together!
January 5, 2014- CCCWA issued our Pre-Approval
January 13,2014- CCCWA mailed our Letter of Confirmation

Christmas Shoot at the Chinese Cultural Center~

This year for our family Christmas photo shoot, we decided to go to the Chinese Cultural Center in downtown Phoenix.  We thought, if Sophie can't be with us, we will incorporate her heritage into our pictures.  I think they turned out great!  Next year, this family of four will be a party of five!

Our Little Love!

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted.  We have our little girl!! Not physically, yet...but she's coming and we can look at her face and dream of the day we get to kiss her all over ;)

It was Hayden's 3rd birthday, ( Wednesday ) September 25, 2013.  Tiffany had sent over her profile for us to look at that morning.  I logged off the computer for work, and read it over.  She was the one, I just knew it.  I looked at her pictures, and studied her profile, all her medical reports and daily activities.  This was a miracle, truly a miracle!  It was such a calming feeling, I remember.  I called Scott, and he told me not to get attached yet~ like that was even possible!

Over the next 24 hours, I consulted with 3 physicians.  First, I sent the file over to Michelle.  She was so excited, as she, too, knew this was our Sophie.  She said, " Em, I think this is your daughter! "  Next was Dr. Nemivant, our pediatrician.  He saw no reason why not to accept her, and gave us a referral for a cardiologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital.  Lastly, Dr. Ochs, our international physician, called us that next evening ( Thursday, September 26 ).  He said she checks out beautifully.  Ahh, what a relief to have 3 physicians, all with the same conclusion~ she is THE one!  One September 26, 2013 * Sophie's 1st Birthday * I called Tiffany and we said, " Yes!  She's our daughter! "

At this point, Sophie was a soft referral, as she had not officially posted to the database as of yet, but was assigned to our agency thru the 1 to 1 partnership with the Xiamen Welfare Institute, in Xiamen, China.  So, we knew she would post to us, but the question was when??  It took just over 3 long months, agonizing months, for her to post.  I was constantly in contact with Tiffany, poor girl.  I was asking for updates, for pictures, for any piece of information I could get.  She had Rocky in Beijing checking with the CCCWA for when she would post...it was an awful 3 months.  We want her here with us, as soon as possible. Period.

Finally, on January 4th, 2014, Sophie officially posted to the database as adoptable.  Tiffany quickly locked us together and uploaded all of our translated paperwork to the CCCWA.  Within hours, we got our pre-approval, which usually can take up to 2 weeks!  She was officially OURS.  Amen.  I cried, as it was such a huge relief.

So, at this point, we are able to send her a care package. We are busy putting this together~ the blanket Mimi made, some clothes, pajamas, a super soft jellycat bunny, hair bows, a Fisher Price purse with keys, toy cell phone, bracelets, Gerber puffs and yogurt melts, and a picture book of our family, as well as a disposable camera to hopefully get some more pictures of her before we get her.

We are over the moon excited for her!  We are prepping her room, had a baby shower, buying girlie stuff...all to fill the time before she is here home with us!