There really is no news. So I'll just talk about where we are at and what China is up to. Once again we are awaiting LOA which we will sign and then send back. It goes, I think, to the US Consulate and then back to the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) which then issues a TA, travel approval. Once we have TA, our agency will set up a consulate apt. in Guangzhou. That determines our dates of travel. You basically back out your trip from there because your apt. is at the end of your stay. So Once we have TA you could conceivably travel a couple days from then or it could be weeks. It has a lot to do with when the consulate can get you in. Our window for getting her home before Christmas is shrinking quickly though, and that does not make us happy.
One of the delays we are dealing with is that as of today China is on a week long holiday, October 1 through the 8th. So as of about 5am this morning they are probably heading home and wont return for a week. So if our LOA didn't get sent this past couple of days, we certainly wont get it until now mid to late October at best. I think to travel by Christmas you pretty much have to have your LOA by end of October and then hope your TA comes before the end of November.
Another delay that has supposedly recently taken place is that several officials from CCAA were visiting the U.S. and Canada and only recently got back to be able to sign-off on LOA's and TA"s, etc. I can't help but think that since I have such bad luck picking what lines to get in say for border crossings, grocery lines, etc. that this is all my fault for getting in line for LOA. Now that I'm in it, it will be the slowest line.
Thats it for today,
JBandFam
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Care Package
We sent our first care package today. It's about a week later than intended but better late than never. Ally's birthday is tomorrow (really though it started a few hours ago because it is tomorrow in China but we'll celebrate her birthday on our 23rd). I'm sure I'll post something but not sure what yet. In the care package today was a letter to Ally, a letter to Ally's foaster family, a photo album of us, a disposable camera, some chocolate snacks, a dress and PJs, and a pink Vermont Teddy Bear in a dress. We hope she gets it first of all and that she gets it soon. Secondly we hope she can begin getting her heart, mind, and soul around us. Big changes coming for this little lady and for us too.
No word on anything out of China, and just wanted to reiterate that this would be pretty early for us to have heard anything. The wait is hard but knowing we that we will complete this journey helps a lot.
Still full bore at the home renovations. Basement is nearly ready for mudding sanding. We have had a longer than expected time planning the basement 3/4 bath, but are now ready to get that finished to the point of mudding and sanding too. Once the mudding is done I'll trim out the areas that need it and also construct two built in units, one for storage and game cabinet and the other is the home entertainment cabinet in the theatre room. When completed, we'll have created a theatre, rec room, storage area, work room and 3/4 bath in the basement. The boiler/mechanical room already existed. We will have added somewhere around 710 sqft of finished space.
the next project is to convert the old rec room above the garage which was roughly 500 sq. into two bedrooms, a hallway, and linen closet. The hard part about that is insulating and drywalling the garage ceiling. Some framing and electrical also but that wont be too bad. Once completed Zack and Beej will move to those rooms and Beej's room will convert to a study/office space and then Ally will get Zacks old room right next to ours. We will redecorate from the jetfighters first though. :)
That's it for today,
Jim
No word on anything out of China, and just wanted to reiterate that this would be pretty early for us to have heard anything. The wait is hard but knowing we that we will complete this journey helps a lot.
Still full bore at the home renovations. Basement is nearly ready for mudding sanding. We have had a longer than expected time planning the basement 3/4 bath, but are now ready to get that finished to the point of mudding and sanding too. Once the mudding is done I'll trim out the areas that need it and also construct two built in units, one for storage and game cabinet and the other is the home entertainment cabinet in the theatre room. When completed, we'll have created a theatre, rec room, storage area, work room and 3/4 bath in the basement. The boiler/mechanical room already existed. We will have added somewhere around 710 sqft of finished space.
the next project is to convert the old rec room above the garage which was roughly 500 sq. into two bedrooms, a hallway, and linen closet. The hard part about that is insulating and drywalling the garage ceiling. Some framing and electrical also but that wont be too bad. Once completed Zack and Beej will move to those rooms and Beej's room will convert to a study/office space and then Ally will get Zacks old room right next to ours. We will redecorate from the jetfighters first though. :)
That's it for today,
Jim
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The latest Info
We are awaiting word of our LOA - Letter of Acceptance. Think of this as the official referral of Ally sent from China to us. We then sign it and send it back. This is a major step and when that happens we could travel as quickly as 5 weeks from then but probably a little longer. LOA though may take as long as another 3 months but could also come any day.
Today though I got the latest info from our phenomenal coordinator at our new agency.
She received this late July but in all the hurry and hard work she did for us she had thought she sent it to us. So the info has been at the agency but just didn't quite get to us at that point. Truly no big deal because we would be very poor now had we known then.......:)
"Updated information on Dang Yi Xi (Ami)
Dated on July 20, 2009
Current height: 93cm, weight: 14kg, head size: 50cm, chest size: 51cm, length of feet: 15cm
Yi Xi has out-going and lively personalities. She is very sweet and likes to talk and please the others. She likes to sing, dance and listen to music. She has strong logic thinking ability and is very clear about relationships between people around her. She is very brave.
She recovered well from her surgery. She only needs to be careful not to bump her head. Her physical condition is generally good. She doesn’t have cold or fever easily.
Her physical development and intellectual development are good."
Love it!!!! Sounds like she is doing great. The assumption is that she does not know she has been matched with us, but they will have to tell her when they get our care package.
For us USA non-metric folks, that's 36 inches tall, 30lbs, 19 inch head, 19.7inch chest, and 6 inch foot. Not buying the head and chest being nearly the same. No biggie though. So the long and short of it is, as of two months ago she is a size 3T. Shoe size looks like toddler size 8 or top end of toddler small. So there you have it, she's no slouch! 3T before she's actually 3!
Well, I think I feel a purchase coming on so it is time for big bad dad to shop!!!
Jim
Today though I got the latest info from our phenomenal coordinator at our new agency.
She received this late July but in all the hurry and hard work she did for us she had thought she sent it to us. So the info has been at the agency but just didn't quite get to us at that point. Truly no big deal because we would be very poor now had we known then.......:)
"Updated information on Dang Yi Xi (Ami)
Dated on July 20, 2009
Current height: 93cm, weight: 14kg, head size: 50cm, chest size: 51cm, length of feet: 15cm
Yi Xi has out-going and lively personalities. She is very sweet and likes to talk and please the others. She likes to sing, dance and listen to music. She has strong logic thinking ability and is very clear about relationships between people around her. She is very brave.
She recovered well from her surgery. She only needs to be careful not to bump her head. Her physical condition is generally good. She doesn’t have cold or fever easily.
Her physical development and intellectual development are good."
Love it!!!! Sounds like she is doing great. The assumption is that she does not know she has been matched with us, but they will have to tell her when they get our care package.
For us USA non-metric folks, that's 36 inches tall, 30lbs, 19 inch head, 19.7inch chest, and 6 inch foot. Not buying the head and chest being nearly the same. No biggie though. So the long and short of it is, as of two months ago she is a size 3T. Shoe size looks like toddler size 8 or top end of toddler small. So there you have it, she's no slouch! 3T before she's actually 3!
Well, I think I feel a purchase coming on so it is time for big bad dad to shop!!!
Jim
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Ally
We are very pleased to announce the referral of our daughter
Aliena (Ally) YiXi Bennink.
She was born on Sept 23, 2006 in the Shanxi province.
We are currently waiting on LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. That could come at anytime and would not be unusual for it to take a few months either. From there is roughly 5 weeks to travel. We hope to travel before the end of the year. Here are some more pictures.
Aliena (Ally) YiXi Bennink.
She was born on Sept 23, 2006 in the Shanxi province.
We are currently waiting on LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. That could come at anytime and would not be unusual for it to take a few months either. From there is roughly 5 weeks to travel. We hope to travel before the end of the year. Here are some more pictures.
Thank you all for your support thru this wait. It’s almost over!
(Oh, for those of you who wondered it's Alley-Ay-Nah.)
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