July 23, 2012 - Gotcha Day!!!!
July 19, 2012 - travel to China
July 11, 2012 - awarded $2,000 grant from A Child Waits Foundation
June 29, 2012 - inside China travel booked($5,992)
June 21, 2012- Consolate Appointment Confirmed; booked airfare ($6,656)
June 19, 2012 - Travel Approval!
June 6, 2012 - Article 5 picked up
May 10, 2012 - Home Study update interviews and monitoring visit(state of IL requirement)
May 9, 2012 - our I-797 arrived in the mail (I-800 approval)
May 4, 2012 - received I-800 provisional approval over the phone
April 30, 2012 - we received a receipt from the USCIS stating that our I-800 was received from the lockbox and forwarded to the National Benefits center
April 19, 2012 - we received our LOA, signed it, and mailed it back to Children's Hope (paid $4,375 for international program fee, post-adoption deposit, child's visa and processing fee, and the waiting child fee); submitted I-800 and I-864W to the USCIS
April 18, 2012 - Children's Hope received our LOA; our home study update packet was received by BCHFS
April 16, 2012 - mailed our home study update packet to BCHFS
April 13, 2012 - China date on our Letter of Approval
April 6, 2012 - Doctor reviewed updates; no major concerns
April 5, 2012 - received updated pictures and growth data; submitted updates to doctor
March 26, 2012 - submitted our Letter of Intent to adopt Xiao Wei
March 24, 2012 - Spoke with doctor concerning Xiao Wei, prognosis is good; requested updated pics, growth data, and current echo of Xiao Wei through CHI
March 22, 2012 - We got out referral! Submitted child's medical files to an international adoption doctor to review.
Nov. 14 , 2011 - monitoring visit (mileage $54.39)
Oct. 15, 2011 - received notice of LID in mail
Sept. 27, 2011 - our official Log in Date(LID) is today
Sept. 24, 2011 - fundraiser dinner at church
Sept. 19, 2011 - CHI mailed our dossier to China
Sept. 16, 2011 - Brent received remaining vaccines for travel to China
Sept. 15, 2011 - Express mailed remaining items for our dossier ($4,350) ($18.30 postage)
Sept. 14, 2011 - picked up our authenticated papers at the Chinese Consulate ($100)
Sept. 13, 2011 - hand carried I-797 copy and letter of petition to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for authentication
Sept. 12, 2011 - Lori received remaining vaccines for travel to China; hand carried I-797 copy and letter of petition to have notarized and state certified ($4)
Sept. 10, 2011 - our USCIS approval I-797 arrived
Sept. 8, 2011 - received an email stating that we have USCIS approval
Sept. 2, 2011 - awarded matching grant for $2,500 from Hand In Hand
Sept. 1, 2011 - mailed 11 documents of our dossier to Children's Hope, along with copies of our passports and certificates from our adoptive parent education
Aug. 16, 2011 - received the 11 documents back from the Chinese Consulate with authentication
Aug. 5, 2011 - fingerprinting done for USCIS; mailed 11 documents to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for authentication ($225 + $36.60 Express postage)
July 28, 2011 - monitoring visit (mileage $26.64)
July 23, 2011 - text from USCIS that our I-800A was accepted
July 22, 2011 - homestudy state certified ($2)
July 18, 2011 - mailed I-800A to the USCIS ($975)
July 14, 2011 - received home study approval letter from Childern's Hope
July 12, 2011 - our home study has been approved!!!
May 31, 2011 - our home study was mailed to DCFS for approval
May 26, 2011 - received our Foster Home license
May 13, 2011 - 2nd home study visit /home inspection ( $86.70 for mileage for the social worker's two home visits)
May 12, 2011 - 1st home study visit/social worker interviewed family
April 29, 2011 - received the 9 documents that were sent to the IL. Sec. of State's office for authentication
April 14, 2011 – vaccine booster for me in preparation for traveling to China / received authenticated document from WI
April 13, 2011 – vaccine booster for Brent in preparation for traveling to China
April 11, 2011 – mailed 9 documents to Sec. of State in IL for authentication ($18)
April 9, 2011 – mailed 1 document to Sec. of State in WI for authentication ($10)
April 8, 2011 - We decided to move forward with our home study agency – feeling assured that we will meet the deadline; this is a faith walk after all.
April 7, 2011 – Made appointments for home study visits. We found out that our home study agency is not Hague Accredited like we had believed. We now face a tight deadline to get our dossier to China due to new rules, or we start all over with a Hague Accredited agency.
April 1, 2011 – 10 hour Hague training class at our home study agency ($100) / rumors are confirmed in an email from CHI – China has made changes to requirements (see post for details)
March 31, 2011 – heard rumors of changes for adoptees with China
March 29, 2011 – our home study agency received our packet
March 24, 2011 – mailed home study packet!!! ($1,900)
March 17, 2011 - our son’s medical reports completed
March 16, 2011 – Brent’s medical reports completed / received vaccines for travel to China
March 13, 2011 – required CPR class ($60)
March 12, 2011 – received copy of daughter’s school physical
March 11, 2011 – my medical reports completed / received vaccines for travel to China
March 9, 2011 – my lab work done / fingerprinting for DCFS / daughter’s TB test / had
several papers notarized for dossier
March 8, 2011 – Brent’s certified copies of his birth certificate arrived
March 7, 2011 – TB tests for me and son
March 6, 2011 – ordered certified copies of Brent’s birth certificate ($22)
March 5, 2011 – certified copies of my birth certificate arrived
March 4, 2011- received reports from local police department
March 3, 2011 – ordered certified copies of my birth certificate ($23)
March 2, 2011 – Brent’s TB test and lab work
March 1, 2011- BCHFS application approved
March 1, 2011- BCHFS application approved
Feb. 28, 2011 – requested police reports from local police department for dossier
Feb. 26 – mailed application to home study agency, BCHFS ($100)
Feb. 24, 2011 – mailed adoption agreement to CHI ($900)
Feb. 23, 2011 – received packet from CHI / asked CHI for home study agency referrals / received list of recommended home study agencies / decided on BCHFS for our home study
Feb. 22, 2011 – Application with Children’s Hope approved!
Feb. 21, 2011 – Brent received employment letter for dossier / I wrote non-employment letter for myself (required)
Feb. 20, 2011 – told our families about our decision to adopt / requested reference letters for dossier
Feb. 19, 2011 – attended meeting at CHI and turned in our application with fee ($100)
Feb. 18, 2011 – received certified marriage certificate
Feb. 16, 2011 – ordered certified marriage certificate ($22)
Feb. 15, 2011 – signed up to attend a meeting at Children’s Hope International (CHI)
Feb. 13, 2011 – We made the firm decision to adopt a child from China!
