Today we got our I800 approval letter in the mail. YAY! Here is still the timeline we are following until we travel. Time from I-800 approval letter to our NVC letter is 7-10 business days. NVC letter to DS-260 submission to Consulate is 1 week. DS-260 submission to Article 5 is 2 weeks. Article 5 to Travel Invitation is 2-3 weeks. We listened in on a travel to China conference call today that allowed us to find out what to expect before travel, during travel and right after...oh my! In that conference call we found out that instead of it being for sure 6 weeks from our travel invitation from China to us traveling, it could be as short as 2 weeks...oh my! The longest though will be 6 weeks. That could be stressful if it is 2 weeks. Curious how the rest of our summer plays out for sure. In the mean time we are just finishing up homeschooling for the kids this week and then heading full force into garage sale collecting and prep as we continue to raise money for our trip. I get such a kick out of the cost variations...such as, it may cost $1500 for a plane ticket for each of us...or it may cost $3,000. Crazy to be raising money when we are not sure how much we will need. So our total trip may cost $10,000 to $14,000 just for travel depending on rates at the time of booking. Crazy right?! Plus we still need to travel with the $5,000 for the orphanage donation. Yep, adoption is expensive and I am so thankful for everyone's help already and continued help to bring this all to pass...we are beyond grateful!
June 04, 2014
May 20, 2014
May 16, 2014
May 14, 2014
April 21, 2014
April 17, 2014
April 01, 2014
Letter of Acceptance - April 1, 2014
During the past two months we have worked on our grant paperwork (Elijah's Truth and Show Hope) and also updating our home study because on May 8th it was going to expire. The whole time we have been waiting for our Letter of Acceptance to come so that we can announce it to the world that we get to have this little girl as our own. Up to this point, we could only tell close friends and family the news. What a huge secret to carry around. Yay, the Letter of Acceptance was approved and arrived to our agency on March 31st and we had it in our possession on April 1st...China has approved our request to be matched to our little girl!!! YAY!!! Next stop, our home study being finished and moving on to our 1-800 approval.
March 25, 2014
March 07, 2014
Hanging Out
Photo Taken by Cheryl Eblen
February 20, 2014
February 15, 2014
February 08, 2014
February 04, 2014
February 03, 2014
Longyun's Referral Paperwork
Here is what Longyun/Londyn's referral paperwork looked like.
CHILDREN MEDICAL EXAMINATION RECORD
Date of Examination:
|
Name: ZHAO LONG YUN |
Sex: Female |
DOB: Oct.24,2012 |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Placement Institute (Person): Children’s Welfare Institute of Jinan City |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medical history: hemangioma, CHD |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
General Condition |
Height: 63 cm |
Weight: 7.1kg |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Head Size: 41.5 cm |
Chest Size: 43cm |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Vision: L&R normal vision |
Corrective Vision: L&R |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Color Sense: |
Trachoma: L&R |
Others: |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Hearing: L&R normal hearing |
Ear Disease: L&R |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Nose: |
Sense of Smell: |
Others: |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Throat: (-) |
Oral Cavity: (-) |
Teeth: nil |
Dental Caries: nil |
|||||||||||||||||
|
Lungs: (-) |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Abdomen: (-) |
Liver: not palpable |
Spleen: not palpable |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Heart: (-) |
Heart rate: 124 beats/minute |
Rhythm: regular |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Blood Pressure: 80/60 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Nervous system: |
Nervous reflex: |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Spine: (-) |
Thorax: (-) |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Limbs: (-) |
Motion: sit without help for a while |
Deformity: (-) |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Skin: large area erythema can be found on face and lower limbs, no fading when pressed |
Anus: (-) |
Urinogenital System: (-) |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Hernia: (-) |
Fontanel: 1x1cm |
Others: (-) |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Laboratory Exam: Blood Rt., Urinalysis, HbsAg, HbsAb, HbcAg, HbeAg, HbeAb, Anti-HIV, Syphilis(RPR): |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Laboratory Report |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
HBsAg: <0.01(0-0.5) |
HBsAb: 1.42(0-10) |
HBeAg: <0.01(0-0.05) |
||||||||||||||||||
|
HBeAb: 4.68(0-5) |
HBcAb: 0.85(0-1.5) |
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
HIV: Negative |
TP: Negative |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Conclusion and Suggestion: 1. CHD; 2. hemangioma; 3. anemia(mild) Sign by: XXX Qilu Children’s Hospital of Shandong University(Seal) Jul.16,2013 |
||||||||||||||||||||
Lab Test Result (Blood)
Qilu Children’s Hospital of Shandong University
Name: ZHAO LONG YUN Sex: female
|
Item |
Result |
Reference |
|
WBC |
8.5 |
4-10 109/L |
|
RBC |
3.37L |
3.5-5.5 109/L |
|
HGB |
90.0 L |
110-170 g/L |
|
HCT |
26.4 L |
37-52 % |
|
MCV |
78.4 L |
80-98 fL |
|
MCH |
26.7 L |
27-35 pg |
|
MCHC |
341 |
310-370 g/L |
|
PLT |
318.0 H |
100-300 109/L |
|
LYMPH% |
76.0 H |
20-40 % |
|
MONO% |
6.8 |
3-8 % |
|
NEUT% |
15.3 L |
50-70 % |
|
EO% |
1.9 |
0.5-5 % |
|
BASO% |
0 |
0-1 % |
|
LYMPH# |
6.46 H |
0.8-4 109/L |
|
MONO# |
0.58 |
0.12-0.8 109/L |
|
NEUT# |
1.30L |
2-7.7 109/L |
|
EO# |
0.16 |
0.05-0.5 109/L |
|
BASO# |
0 |
0-0.1 109/L |
|
RDW-CV |
16.6H |
10.9-15.4 % |
|
RDW-SD |
49.6 H |
39-46 % |
|
PDW |
15.7 |
9-17 fL |
|
MPV |
5.5 L |
7.6-13.2 fL |
|
PLCR |
8.1 |
13-43 % |
|
PCT |
0.175 |
|
Date: May 7,2013
CT Report
Qilu Children’s Hospital of Shandong University
Name: ZHAO LONG YUN Sex: female
Image findings:
Decreased of bilateral temporal and parietal medulla density, CT value equals 19 Hu, no obvious expansion or narrowness in brain fluid cavity, midline structure lies in the middle.
Image diagnose:
Decreased of bilateral temporal and parietal medulla density, please combine with clinical manifestations.
Physician: GAO XIN
Date: Nov.4,2012
Ultrasound Report
Qilu Children’s Hospital of Shandong University
Name: ZHAO LONG YUN Sex: female
Ultrasound features:
Features of M type, two-dimensional and three-dimensional echocardiography:
Right location of atrium, cardiac apex points to left, right ventricular loop.
Left atrium: 12 mm, left ventricle: 20 mm, right atrium: 21*22 mm, right ventricle: 11 mm; LVPW: 3.0 mm, IVS: 2.8 mm, RVAW: 2.5 mm, ascending aorta: 10 mm, MPA: 12 mm, left branch: 4 mm, right branch: 4 mm.
Normal thickness and movement of ventricle wall, continuous and complete IVS, suspend 3 mm of atrial septum fossa ovalis echo, no obvious abnormal findings of valves structure and closeness.
LVEF: 0.70 FS: 38%
Doppler echocardiography feature:
1. systole shunt from left to right palpable in atrial septum fossa ovalis, wideness of 3 mm.
Ultrasound hint: PFO.
Physician: XXX
Date: Jan.11,2013
Growth Record for Adopted Children
ZHAO LONG YUN, female, abandoned baby, DOB: Oct.24,2012(estimated). She was abandoned near the rails at the gate of Children’s Welfare Institute of Jinan City on Nov.4,2012, after trying to find her birth parents but in vain, she was sent to this institute by Liufu Police Station of Public Security Bureau of Jinan City.
On admission she is about 10 days, she has purple red birth marks around left ear, whole shoulder, most part of left lower limbs, small part of right lower limbs and both feet, transferred to Children’s Hospital the same day. PE: good reaction, stable breath, poor skin elasticity, has decrustation, mild stained yellow, large area of red spots on face, hip, perineum and lower limbs, slight higher than skin, not fading when pressed, flat anterior fontanel. HR 128 bmp, in order, strong heart sound, soft abdomen, normal muscular tension of four limbs.
After admission the child was given the scientific feeding by the work staff, make reasonable training plan, basically adapt to life in the institute. At the age of 4 months, she enters into infant nurturing project for early education, smile when teased, has 2 dimples. At the age of 5 months, she can turn her head when lying on the mattress, can transfer from lying on back to lying on side, can make eye contact for long time, respond by Ahah ohoh when someone talk to her. She likes staring at her hands, often put thumbs in her mouth and make sounds when sucking.
Currently, she is 11 months old, she likes jump on adults’ legs with armpit holding, likes rattles with bright color, laugh out happily when she hears sound of rattle, grasp toys firmly and shake, raise her head when lying on the mattress, look around and smile to her when someone calls her name. She would cry if you does not feed her first in mealtime, calm down if you hold her and touch her head gently. She is active, has a ready smile, adding supplementary food. She has balanced nutrition and good physical development. She has routine life, has good life habits, has reasonable diet.
Eating and daily life:
6:00: get up
7:00: have formula milk, rice flour and yolk about 200ml
8:00: have water
9:00: take part in activities in activity room
9:30: supplementary food: formula milk, rice flour and yolk about 200ml, adding soft egg custard, minced food made of flour, minced vegetables.
10:30: have water, fruit jar, juice etc.
11:45: take a nap
13:00: lunch: formula milk, rice flour and yolk about 200ml, adding minced food made of flour, minced vegetables, minced meats or bean products.
14:00: free activities in activity room
14:30: have water, fruit jar, juice etc.
16:00: supper: minced food made of flour, minced vegetables, minced meats
18:00: have water, fruit jar, juice etc.
19:30: supplementary food: formula milk, rice flour and yolk about 250ml
20:10: go to sleep
23:00: formula milk, rice flour and yolk about 200ml
This institute has vaccinated the children regularly according to the requirements of the epidemic prevention departments in our country.
Sender: XXX
Children’s Welfare Institute of Jinan City (seal)
Sep.10 2011
State of Growth of Prospective Adoptive Child(0-1 years)
Child’s name: ZHAO LONG YUN
Welfare Institute: Children’s Welfare Institute of Jinan City in Shandong Province
Date: Oct.25,2013
|
Name: ZHAO LONG YUN |
Sex: Female |
DOB: Oct.24, 2012 |
Birth place: Jinan in Shandong |
|
|
The baby is institutionalized: √ Intake time: Nov.4, 2012 Fostered: □ Intake time: |
||||
|
Weight: 9 kg |
Height: 66.5 cm |
Head circumference: 42cm |
||
|
Chest circumference: 43 cm |
Number of teeth: 4 |
|||
|
Health History: hemangioma, CHD |
||||
|
Routine schedule: |
Please describe when the baby gets up, has a nap after lunch, goes to bed at night and his/her meals? How many times does he/she urinate or defecate in a day? She has supplementary food at 5:00, gets up at 6:00, breakfast at 9:00, lunch at 11:30, takes a nap at 12:00,supper at 16:00, supplementary food at 20:00, goes to bed at 19:00; defecates 1-3 times and urinates 6-10 times per day. |
|||
|
Sleep:
|
Deep sleep□ Moderate sleep√ Light sleep □ Crying □ In sleep he/she is liable to suck finger√ or suck soother □ or something else:
|
|||
|
Eating: |
Please describe the frequency and volume of milk per day, and when and what kind of supplementary foods are added: She has dairy products 5-6 times a day, 200-300 ml for each time, adding minced egg custard, minced food made of flour, minced vegetables, minced meats or bean products, juice, fruits jar etc, likes to eat biscuits. |
|||
|
Motor development:
|
Holds his/her head up while lying on the stomach√ Rolls from supine to prone position by him/herself √ Sits alone quite steadily √ Grasps toy near hand √ Tears paper □ Takes a toy block in one hand, then taking another one by using the other hand □ Stands with his/her hands holding onto support □ Picks up small things like beans with his/her fingers□ Crawls on hands and knees □ Uses thumbs and index fingers deftly □ Stands alone for a moment□ Walk with one hand held□ Holds a pen with whole hand and scribbles□
|
|||
|
Adaptability:
|
Locates the direction of sound/voice√ Visually follows moving toys√ Holds blocks on each hand at the same time √ Looks for the dropped toy √ Transfers a block from one hand to the other √ Reach and grasp a toy beyond √ Takes a toy block out of the cup □ Bangs two blocks together □ Put the block into a cup□ Puts the cap on its bottle□ |
|||
|
Language and sociality:
|
Follows you with moving head from one side to the other√ Laughs aloud√ Distinguishes between acquaintance and strangers√ Sounds directed at someone or something√ Eats biscuits without help √ Knows name, turns when called√ Imitates sounds □ Responds to the facial expression of adults√ Imitates words□ Express his/her refusal in a simple way □ Responds to other’s asking for his/her objects□ Points to eyes, ears, nose, mouth and hands with his/her fingers when asked (two of them will do) □ Takes off his/her sock by him/herself√ |
|||
|
Personalities:
|
Quiet□ Active√ Restless√ Fond of imitating □ Fond of listening to music □ Fond of playing with toys √ Having a ready smile√ Fond of quietness□ Quick in reaction √ Fond of reading picture books □ Fond of playing games√ Obstinate sometimes□ Impatient sometimes √ Closest to: caretaker√ or another baby with whom he/she shares a crib or others:
Favorite activity: play toys with caretakers Favorite toy: rattle, toys with sounds
|
|||
Update from January 30 - February 3, 2014
On January 30, 2014 we recieved some emails from our social worker. I had been glancing occasionally at the Waiting List on our adoption agencies site and hadn't really seen any children that were ours. On this day our social worker had noticed a lot of new children being uploaded to the site and wanted to share it with the people she was working with. The first email had three boys on it. We were actually interested in a few of them, but reminded ourselves that the Lord told us we were getting a little girl. Then an hour later she sent another message with 6 more children. There were 4 boys and two little girls.
Minsan and I both saw Longyun and wondered if she were our little girl. This is the little bit we read:
From our social worker:
Here are some profiles of more of our young waiting children from China! Let me know if you would like more information. You should also be able to find them on your Waiting Children portal page. Please pray for these children as we search for their forever families!
Longyun:
Full referral information is available for this child upon request.
**AT THIS TIME, ONLY FAMILIES WITH AN APPROVED HOME STUDY FOR CHINA WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS CHILD.**
Longyun, born 10/24/12, is an active infant girl who loves toys with sound. Found outside the orphanage gates when she was just a few days old, the staff noticed that she has purple-red birthmarks on the left side of her head, shoulder, and much of her lower body. A CT report from November 2012 does indicate some abnormal findings, and a January 2013 ultrasound found a PFO heart condition. Longyun has a ready smile that reveals two dimples. At 12 months old, she could roll over and sit alone, and she knows her name when called. She responds to facial expressions and enjoys playing with toys with her caretakers.
JANUARY 2014 UPDATE:
Longyun's caretakers report that her mental development is normal and the same as a healthy child.
video: https://video.bethany.org/api_v3/international/view_media.php?entry=0_06lrqbi2
After we read it over, we were kinda excited and asked the agency for her full referral information that we could pray over and show our doctors. The agency always encourages you to discuss fully the medical information while making your decision. It was on Friday, January 31st that we received the additional medical information about her to forward to our doctor team and to see a few more pics of her.
On Saturday, February 1st after we had all the input from our doctors, we contacted our agency on the web portal and asked for them to consider us for a preliminary match for Longyun.
Here is what we also posted then on February 2, 2014 and the agency responses:
I am so excited that you would like to be matched with Longyun! We have a couple of other families reviewing her file, at least one of which I know is also seriously interested in pursuing her adoption, so we may decide to put her on hold on the WC listing, which means that families won't be able to view her profile anymore. Don't panic if you can't find her; it doesn't mean we matched her to someone else without telling you. We just want to take some time to seek God's guidance before we move forward with a potential match to any of our families.
I hope to be in touch soon to let you know how we are going to proceed!
Elisabeth, China Team
April
At this point, it is just a waiting game. There were a couple of other families that had asked for a preliminary match too, so we were on pins and needles whether they would pic us or not!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
January 31, 2014
New Glasses
Today was the new glasses day.
Before:
After:
January 28, 2014
Adoption Update - January 28, 2014
The last matching night was on Monday, January 20th. We weren't matched again. Thats okay, we remain hopeful in God's perfect timing for the daughter we are going to be bringing home someday. I have found great encouragement in knowing that we are not alone and many have traveled this path with us.
In fact, on Sunday we were able to visit with a family that adopted two boys from China. They are now 9 and 11 and are absolultely wonderful. Minsan had actually spent quite a bit of time with the father 3 years ago during tball when Duncan was playing at the same time as theirs. At that time the father shared all about their story and it was during that time that we were making our final decision to move forward in the process.
I enjoyed hearing them talk about their adoption story after church and then we headed to have lunch too to keep the conversation. I truly loved hearing about their journey from beginning until the end. I know we haven't been on the waiting list very long, but from the time that we started until now has been 2 years and 7 months. Our process took so long to get on the list, that it feels like we have actually been on the list forever! I was truly encouraged by every part of their words and can't wait until we have our own story to share of our little girl being here.
In any case I eat up every little bit of encouragement I can these days. I am looking to find joy in this journey that happens to be full of a lot of waiting right now. I stole this from someone else’s site who has hit a few bumps on their journey too. It really did encourage me to dig up some more patience as I am waiting and trusting in God's perfect timing.
......But that’s where believing that it’s okay to not completely understand every-little-thing has come in really handy.
It’s made this adventure feel more like….well, an adventure, I guess- ha!
Sure, there have been bumps along the way, but here’s what I’ve learned about bumps: they slow you down, but they don’t stop you. You run up and over them, and they always end up behind you. And circling back to complete understanding- I’m no expert, but I do know this: chasing complete understanding can be mentally exhausting, and loosening our grip creates breathing room in our brains. Take comfort in the Assurance that clarity will always comes in Due time.
Complete living happens from here to the horizon, so here’s to enjoying more of the adventure in between!
Yep, here I am praying and waiting :).
December 30, 2013
October 04, 2013
September 30, 2013
September 24, 2013
Adoption Progress – September 24, 2013
My Facebook post on Friday, September 13th: There it goes, dossier off to our Bethany Adoption Services dossier specialist for final approval before it is sent to China. Hopes it isn't weird to cry in front of the postal worker when sending a package.
My Facebook post on Tuesday, September 17th: The dossier I mailed to our dossier specialist in Michigan got "Nice Work" and a "Congratulations on your progress!" comments. After I scanned and sent a few last papers, all was in order. The next step for our dossier is that it will be sent for authentication of our documents at the U.S. State Department and Chinese Embassy. We are so super excited to be moving on. Can't wait to hear that our dossier is in China being looked at!
Today I left a vm for my social worker to confirm where we were at…definitely getting more impatient :). She replied with:
Hi April,
I got your message and checked in with the China team just to make sure I had my time lines correct. Your dossier is being reviewed and finalized now, should be sent over soon. Once it is sent over, it is generally taking about 3-4 weeks (again this is just a guess from what we have been seeing lately) for a log in date. You will be notified when it is sent.
So exciting!!!!
Yay, loving the progress!
September 03, 2013
Adoption Progress – September 3, 2013
Finally, we have the last of our Minnesota State Sealed documents back and ready to add to our dossier. It took a little longer than I expected for them to come together, but I am fully trusting God for the timing of our little one to be added to our family. I also finally got all our pictures ordered to add to the dossier as well (they want pics of our home, her future bedroom, and our family). You would think a photographer would have lots of pictures of her family to grab from to put in the dossier...not so much! Nice to have those done now too. We are closing in on the finish line folks... Then comes the time when we pray and pray that China approves us too! Here are the pictures I just had printed today.
A picture of us doing something together as a family:
The front of our home:
The back of our home:
Here possible room:
Us as a couple:
Our little family:
Recent Comments