Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Another step completed

Home study update interview with our lovely social worker: Done!

Estimates are that it will take somewhere around a month for our agency to update the home study, send it to the USCIS office, and to have it go through USCIS approval. After that, China will be notified that we are re-approved to adopt.

I have taped a picture of Yiyun to my computer monitor. Is he talking to me? Is he saying, "Mama, Baba, come get me!"?

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Surprise!

It's a Boy!

Our sweet little boy, Yiyun, is currently 17 months old. His birthday is October 11, 2008 - the date in between my dad's and mom's birthdays!

A local pediatrician who specializes in international adoption reviewed all of Yiyun's files from China and gave him a quite glowing evaluation. At nine months of age, he was crawling fast - particularly towards food - and knew his name when called. He was described as active, having a ready smile, and -- shocking! -- fond of playing with toys (just like his daddy).

He is living in Chengdu which is the capital of Sichuan province. Sichuan is located in south central China at about the same latitude as Savannah, GA. Ahhh, Sichuan... spicy food! And the Wolong Nature Reserve, home to the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda is nearby.

At nine months old, Yiyun weighed 19 lbs and was nearly 28 inches tall. We are super-duper anxious to receive updated information, such as his height, weight, pictures of him, and what he's doing. Often the adoptive parents will receive updated information once they start the process of adopting.

So where are we now in the adoption process? On March 16, our pre-application to adopt Yiyun was emailed to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA). On March 18, the CCAA emailed our agency stating our application (sent in June of 2006) was being sent into the waiting children adoption process. Now we need to update our study because (1) we had moved since the last home study and (2) we need to have our agency state we are approved to adopt a child with a special need.

The home study update - which is required in order to update our US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) paperwork to bring Yiyun home as our son, as a US citizen - requires updated background checks, a meeting with our adoption agency social worker, and updated medicals. I got six needles yesterday for a total of 10 vaccinations and two tests; some were for the home study update and some were in preparation to travel to China. Chris only needed two shots! Our social worker comes on Wednesday. I estimate our updated home study would be on file with the USCIS no later than the end of April giving the thumb's up to China that we are good to go on the US side of things.

When would we travel? Not sure, but I would guess within four months!

And here's our sweetie at 9 months!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Adoption Status Update

The latest batch of referrals from the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) was for families whose applications were received April 6 through 11, 2006 (8th and 9th were weekend days). I estimate the next batch to cover up through April 17.