Decorating for Christmas

Advent is a season of preparation.  This year we are going through our normal preparations for Christmas.  Of course there is the decorating, and purchasing gifts.  And of course there is reflecting on what it means to be a Christian, and focusing on what can we be doing to better follow Christ's example.  This year though, the preparation that we are most focused on is getting ready for Kellin to come home!  We are getting so close now!  We can count the stages which remain on one hand.

For those of you reading this, and who have been following along on our journey.  We wish you a very merry Christmas!  Thank you for your support in prayers and deeds throughout the process.

Now what everyone comes to these things for, a cute picture!

Pooh placing the star.

Moving Forward

Things are moving forward now!  Our visa applications have been submitted to the consulate.  Our I-800 form has been approved (should receive hard copy tomorrow).  Our Power of Attorney letters were returned to us certified, and have been mailed off to be authenticated.  There really aren't very many more steps before it is time to make travel plans!

As far as the formal process goes, we still need to:

Get our passports (with visas) returned
Get our Power of Attorney letters authenticated
Receive our letter from the National Visa Center
Fill our the DS 260 form
Receive our Article 5 paperwork
Receive Travel Approval from China
Get our consulate appointment in China scheduled
Make travel arrangements!

Of course, there are still many things to do to prepare for travel, especially figuring out how to pack efficiently and still include all of the many things I need, not only for my myself but also for Kellin.  Adoption documents, clothes, blankets, diapers, wipes, diaper cream, bottles, snacks, toys/books, medication, etc.

I went through all of our toddler boy clothes today, trying to guess at Kellin's size.  His height would put him in 24 month size clothes, but his weight puts him in 9 month size clothes.  I figure I will take 18-24 month size clothes, and hope that at least some of it fits him.  And I'm guessing size 3 for diapers.  That seems so tiny!  Our three-year-old here at home (who, admittedly, is a big guy, and should really be getting out of diapers anyway - but try telling him that) wears a size 6.

We are in the home stretch!

So Many Children Still Wait

Quick update on our process:
We mailed off our Power of Attorney letters to be certified on Friday.  Once those are returned, we will send them off to Chicago to authenticated.  And then probably make a couple copies in front of a notary so we have "notarized copies."  I will need to carry all those with me to China.
This morning, I mailed off our visa applications to Chicago to be approved.  Best case scenario, we will have those back shortly after Thanksgiving.
We hope our I-800 approval will come before Thanksgiving also.

Please, please remember that our Kellin is NOT the only child waiting to be adopted.  There are many, even millions, of children all over the world waiting for families.  Most will never even have the opportunity to be listed for adoption, but for those that are, they have hope.  Please look at these children.  Can you donate?  Tell someone about them?  Think about adopting one of them yourself?

Remember Jesse?  I posted about him just a couple weeks ago.  He has a new picture!  Isn't he darling?
http://reecesrainbow.org/59002/jesse


What about this little guy called Louis?  Minor special need, and he is just too precious!
http://reecesrainbow.org/80554/louis


And look at this little one called Elias.  He's been listed for a very long time, since he was just a baby.
http://reecesrainbow.org/39101/elias


One more - this little girl is called Holland on Reece's Rainbow.  Isn't she just sweet?
http://reecesrainbow.org/70509/holland

We got a video!!!

Just received three videos of Kellin this morning!  All pretty similar, this was our favorite because he is playing.  Even though his weight is low according to the update, we think he looks healthy!

This was an amazing gift.  Hoping things go smoothly and we are bringing him home soon.

Back on the Roller Coaster

As thrilled as we are to have received our Letter of Acceptance and to be moving forward once again, it has been a whirlwind of a week.  All of sudden there are THINGS TO DO to move this process along!  Visa applications (for me and my dad, who will travel with me) - this is a complicated process!  Fill out the application exactly right and figure out how to apply at the correct location (mine is in Chicago, my dad's in Washington D.C.) AND have someone take it in person, no mail-ins allowed.
Power of Attorney letter (basically Eric has to give me permission to sign everything and make decisions while in China since he's not going along) - and this must be notarized, certified, and authenticated.
I-800 form - we've already mailed this in and are waiting for the two weeks in the "lockbox" to be done so that it can be reviewed and approved.  We should be expedited on this step so hopefully it will be approved before Thanksgiving.
And then there's some other stuff that I'll have to figure out soon.  Eek!

It was suggested to us this week that perhaps Kellin's needs are too severe and that we should consider choosing a different child with less severe needs.  Although we were incredibly hurt and angry at this suggestion, it certainly opened my eyes to how much we truly consider Kellin our son.  Exchange him for another child?  Never!  He is the son we fell in love with, he is the one we think of and pray for every day, he is the one our children talk about constantly, he is the one we long to meet.  I should add here that we truly don't consider his needs to be "severe" (he is blind and underweight - those are the only confirmed diagnoses), but even if he does have more needs than we expect, we wouldn't love him any less.  We accept that he may have some limitations, but we will always strive for him to reach his potential.  At this point, we have no reason to think that he couldn't become a productive, independent adult, so as his parents, we will do our best to help him achieve that.

Our journey continues!  Keep checking back for updates!  It's starting to get exciting!

Update!

On Friday evening, we received an email with an update on Kellin.  While we were disappointed not to receive any new pictures, we were encouraged by the information in the update.  Previously, all of his information stated how he mostly cried in his crib, didn't like to be touched, and was usually sad.  Our last update in May also said that he was working on standing and was not talking.  Now here is our update (the questions in bold were the ones we sent):

Is he in good health?

He’s healthy, development well. Except his special need (blindness) he’s very healthy and well featured. 

What does he like to eat and drink?

He likes to drink formula and eat cracker. His main food is formula with cracker and all kinds of baby food, such as noodle soup, mashed potato, mashed pumpkin, mashed sweet potato. Mashed Chinese yam; steamed eggs, apple juice, banana, etc. 
Does he sleep in a crib or a bed?

He sleeps in a toddler bed. 
What does he like to play with?

Most of time, he likes to play alone. He likes to fiddle with his lips to make noise, touch his eyes and face gently. If you give him a toy, he will touch it, get to know what form it is. He will also gently beat the toy. In his bed, he will move his body with the music. He can stand and dance by holding onto bed handrail. 

Does he like to be near other children?

He doesn’t really like to play with other children. He’s insecure. But he giggles when he hears other children’s noise. He can recognize which direction the sound comes from. 
Does he crawl or walk?

He can crawl well. He needs some assistance to walk a few steps. He can stand up himself by holding onto handrail, happily clap his hands and turn his head around. 
Does he say any words?

He can understand simple directions. He can make noise like “en”, “ah”, “ba”, etc. Sounds like singing. He’s very sensitive with other people’s noise. He has very acute hearing. He can understand if it’s praise or blame through nanny’s tone. He sometimes also says “mama”. 
What makes him happy?

He likes other to touch his neck gently, giggle him and kiss him. He likes to hear others talk to him gently. Likes his nanny play and laugh with him. He’s happy and giggles. 
What makes him sad?

He doesn’t like other comment or yell at him or all the sudden take him away from him bed will make him very insecure and cry out loud. 

He sounds like he's made some good progress in the last few months!  We were especially excited to read that he seems happier and more engaged with people.  We also got updated measurements, and while he is still very tiny (just under 20 pounds), he has gained about 1/2 pound since May, so at least he is not losing any more weight.  Overall, we felt very encouraged by the update.