Consulate Appointment Confirmed

Well the last step is finally here.  We have a confirmed consulate appointment.  I will do my best to update everyone on our travel itinerary once we get all of our travel arrangements finalized.

Are you tired of seeing this chart yet?  I'm not because we are officially booking step 15!!!!!!!!!!!

Travel Approval!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TA-Travel Approval-Step 13

I may not have nails by the end of next week.  We should be booking plane tickets and hotels/hostels and all that good stuff by the end of next week.  Pinch me please!!!  This can't be real.

Please pray with us as we hope to travel August 7th but prices are going to be insane and our choices will be limited.  God has this all figured out already.  I pray we just follow his lead.  :)

Article 5 Pick-up . . . and then???

We are in the final stages.  I'm so crazy excited and nervous and at some point someone is going to need to pinch me because this cannot possibly be real.  Right?  

Received an email tonight that our A5 (Article 5) was picked up which is step 12:

Dear Adoptive Parent,

 The Adopted Children's Immigrant Visa Unit (ACIVU) at U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou has finished processing your child's Article 5, and your file has been returned to your adoption agency's facilitator. 

 Next, your agency will deliver the Article 5 and Letter of Seeking Confirmation to the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA), which will issue the Travel Approval (TA).  The TA allows you to come to China to finalize the adoption, so once the CCCWA issues the TA, your agency can email us to request an immigrant visa appointment at the Consulate.  When your agency requests an appointment, they are required to submit your five choices in rank order.  The ACIVU strives to schedule every family for their top appointment choice on which we still have available visa appointments.  We do not reserve certain days for children of certain ages.  All appointments are open to adopted children of any age and medical condition, and they are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.  We then notify your agency of the scheduled date and time . . . 

This is the last leg literally.  We are waiting on step 13, TA, to happen.  Travel approvals are taking longer than normal right now because of issues with a computer system upgrade.  We pray that they work the kinks out soon because without it, we cannot book our travel.  A rep from our specific agency will be in country this week and we pray that perhaps she is able to pull some strings while she is there.  It's a long shot but we know God is excellent at long shots!!  We are also up against the relocation of the US Consulate in Guangzhou.  They are closing this week, July 12-23, to move to a newer, nicer, bigger facility.  What that means for us?  It means we cannot make our consulate appointment (step 14) until they reopen.  And, we may have to fight for an appointment since other families will also be waiting for the reopening.  If we don't receive TA while they are closed, it's a non-issue.  We know God's timing is perfect and this will all fall where it is intended to but having patience on this last leg is H-A-R-D!

We've received replies back on most of the grants we applied for, six total.  Unfortunately, this isn't the avenue God has intended for us.  I'll be honest.  It's hard not to be disappointed.  We didn't want to finance anything because we know that there will be medical bills upon our return to the US.  We've done the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University and have worked hard on becoming financially secure.  This adoption has stretched us financially and it's been hard.  However, we have raised and paid 2/3 of the total needed which is incredible.  I can't lose sight of what God has already done to provide for this adoption.  This is all according to His plan.  We've not yet gone to the bank to seek financing because we are trying to work out the final number needed to travel.  Continue to pray for us and financing as we are hoping for a particular type of loan but fear they may not like our requested dollar amount.  

Here are some new pics from this last week of our Jordy:

Circle of friends.  It breaks my heart that he will be leaving this group of kiddos soon.  If only I could bring them all home!!!!!

Is he going to fit in to the Petrosky household or what?

This precious boy will miss this volunteer.  They are very close!!

<<Sigh>>

For some reason, these past couple of weeks have been particularly hard.  I can't explain why really.  Each and every leg of this journey, I've been able to remain calm knowing Christ has this whole thing already planned from beginning to end.  Something about being so close to the end, makes the waiting seem unbearable.  I'm really DONE with the waiting.  I DON'T want to wait anymore.  I WANT to throw a temper tantrum.  I want to, I WANT to, I WANT TO!!!!!!  And yet, I know in my heart that it's completely unnecessary.  God has ultimate control even if I'm struggling with the trust factor at this moment.  The whole being human thing sort of stinks sometimes.

Here's a brief update on OUR progress that I literally copied and pasted from some else's blog because word for word, it matches our timeline exactly:

Our NVC Letter and Supporting Documents will be hand delivered to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China- hopefully today!

1. We will wait 2 weeks for our Article 5 to be issued and then overnighted to the CCCWA (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption) in Bejing.

2. Then we will wait 2-4 weeks for the CCCWA in Bejing to issue our TA!  Our TA (Travel Approval) is the big date we’re waiting for!

3. After our TA is issued, we have to secure an appointment with the Consulate in Guangzhou (to get Jordy a Visa once we’re in China) and then our trip dates will be finalized!

We were hoping to travel end of July but we have two HUGE hurdles that may hold us back.  First, China "upgraded" their welfare computer program and it's been all but glamorous.  The system isn't really working and our agency said they haven't received any travel approvals (TAs) in 3 weeks.  Yuck!!!  Second, the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China is closing from the 12th to the 24th of July to relocate which means even if we get TA, we cannot schedule travel until the Embassy reopens and gives us an appointment.  

Truth is, we know that all these stupid little hiccups are typical in some way shape or form but we (I) so wanted to be in China before the end of August or September.  Jordy's 4th birthday is September 6 and we'd love to celebrate it at home.

Other things to pray for:  

I'm trying very hard to qualify for FMLA at work which would give me 12 weeks off of work but I have to pick up enough hours in the next month or so.  The stress of picking up hours will wear on us all but it is necessary.  Pray that I'm able to get enough hours and that I can find appropriate child care.  We are launching a new program at work and that is an extra stress for all the Parkview community hospitals.  Pray for the transition mid-July.

Also, pray that I can find enough people to donate PTO hours that I won't have to do any time off without pay.  I have vacation time but not enough to cover 12 weeks.  I've already had a few offers to donate PTO and I'm getting close to having enough.

Travel Expenses.  We will be travelling at a very expensive time of year.  We have no exact numbers on cost but let's just say at best, it's a lot and at worst, it's a lot.  August is an expensive time to travel.  We are so thrilled that to date God has covered all costs up to this point.  All that remains is the travel and legal fees.  Wisdom in knowing how to pay the remainder of this journey is needed!!!

Your prayers are so appreciated and I find when I'm down, I can feel the power of prayer picking me up and carrying me through.

And, I can't resist posting more pictures of our little guy.  His cheeks are going to hurt when this momma finally gets to squeeze them!!!!  :)

Post Yard/Bake/Food Sale

It's 8:30am on Monday morning after our BIG garage sale weekend.  I slept today until almost 8am and I'm still in my pjs.  And, I'm staring outside at the wet landscape of my now empty yard thinking my God is HUGE!

Our sale was BIG.  At least that is what we were told repeatedly over the weekend by garage sale shoppers.  So many friends and family members donated and donated and donated some more.  Our whole entire basement looked like a bad episode of hoarders according to my sister as we collected, sorted, and collected more.

Was it worth it?  Totally!!!!  We were able to raise over $3,000 towards our adoption between our Yard/Bake/Food sales!  That's HUGE.  

There were so many God moments this weekend I will share a few:

First off, the weather.  Set up day was Thursday and we needed every little bit of it.  We started at 7am and I officially quit at 10pm.  Rain was a big possibility Thursday evening but once we started bringing stuff out, there was no turning back because there was no where to hide the sheer volume of stuff we had.  Many people were praying us through Thursday and not a single drop fell upon our efforts.  Not Thursday.  Not Friday.  Not Saturday.  Not Sunday . . . it took us an extra day to get everything tore down.  But Monday, rain!  Thank you!!!!

Second, volunteers.  This was no easy mess to sort and bring out of our basement but we had some incredible people that rearranged their lives to help us put this all together and run it.  Couldn't have survived without a single one of them.  Teresa Hursey & family, Maureen Freeman & family, Kacey Foote & family, Jenny Heffelfinger & family, Heather Ward & family, Dad & Deb Barr, the Scott Household, Chris Woolfington-Cochern & family, Davis Family, Bianca Boles, Trisha Miller, AND the many that donated baked goods, chips, hot dogs, and buns from our church Merriam Christian Chapel.  Thank you!!!!

Third, shoppers.  There was a steady flow of shoppers Friday.  So steady, my husband cancelled soccer practice to stay at home and watch over the sale as people continued to shop even past 5pm.  Saturday was slow to start and we anticipated closing around noon. But as we started packing up a few items here and there, the shoppers kept coming.  I had to head to work at 2:30pm and the shoppers were still coming.  Thank you!!!!!

It amazed me the items that sold.  I would think in my mind, please allow fill in the blank to be sold so we don't have to pack it up or move it.  By the end of the weekend, there were very few items from my list of things that I was hoping would sell.  How incredibly thankful I was for that.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

There were so many people that donated items.  I wish I could name them all personally but truth is, I would forget someone because there were just so many that gave.  We are so grateful.  Grateful doesn't even seem adequate because the response was overwhelming.  We said please donate, and everyone did and in large volume.  UH-Maze-ing!!!!!!!!!  Without those donations, we wouldn't have, we couldn't have raised such a large amount of money.  THANK YOU!!!

And the last blessing was the aftermath.  Of course, we had clothing and shoes left over.  We knew we would.  As a result, the local clothing bank received a very large donation of kids clothing.  I haven't sorted the adult stuff yet.  AND, the shoes?  I'm so excited that these were donated towards another adoption fundraiser for a child from Bulgaria.  We literally filled the back end of Jayme Dee's SUV!!  Even I was shocked by the volume.

I need to also mention what an incredible amazing excellent fantastic super trooper husband I have.  He put up with all the stuff in our house, and garage for two months.  He worked his tail off collecting stuff, setting up stuff, carrying stuff, moving stuff, and tearing down everything.  He made multiple trips all over and with very very very few complaints.  I'm so blessed to have him and I can't wait to travel half way around the world with him!  

Now, our summer officially begins.  Time to sit back and relax as much as we can before our older girls have surgery on the 21st of June.  They are having their adenoids and possibly their tonsils removed to help with sleep apnea.  And then before we know it, we'll be on our way to China.  Time is flying by at record speed.  Whew!

Continued prayers for us are so appreciated as we anticipate the girls' surgery, making travel plans, and funding the remaining balance of the adoption.  God is obviously in control!!!

Need Help. Please Apply Within.

We have a little over a week until the BIG HUGE ENORMOUS garage/yard/tent/bake/food sale.  The donations have been AWESOME!  I've been working feverishly to organize what we've received but there is still much more to organize and lots to price.  If you find yourself with a spare moment in the next week and a half and can make yourself available, I will gladly have you!  Also, set up for the sale is on Thursday, June 6.  We have three people firmly committed to helping that day but as you can see, we could use a village of people that day to set up and organize tables.  We could also use extra hands on Friday and Saturday to help organize tables, help customers, bag purchases, lifting help, etc.  Need help; please apply within.  Okay, so a phone call would work or a FB message would be great!  ;)

In case you have any doubts at the volume, here are up to date pictures taken this morning:

LOA!!!!!!!!

It is with much excitement that I can say, that WE can say, that we are official with China.  Our agency called us today to tell us they received the official Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China which means we have the go ahead to finish Jordy's immigration paperwork.  This means we are on to step 9 and the last steps go really fast in comparison.  It has been our hope and prayer to be in China before September which is Jordy's 4th birthday and Melina's 3rd birthday.  Looks like this is going to be a reality!!!

Words cannot describe just how excited we are for this step.  We are so thankful for God's faithfulness.  Continue to pray for the financial stuff!  We know God has it all figured out and we trust Him.  We have another big fee coming up and are prayerful that our garage sale will get us to the right $.

Time for another picture.  Jordy's foster home took the children out for a swimming outing.  I cannot get over the swim cap.  I love the swim cap!!!!!!