Medical Appointments

We had a busy week this past week with medical appointments.  We went in on Tuesday for Kora's 4th try at her hearing screening.  The state of Minnesota requires children to have a hearing screening within three months of being home.  We've tried 3 times before to have this done without success, and there's a possibility Kora would have to be sedated if we couldn't get it any other way.  The screening requires Kora to have a little earplug in her ear for about a minute while she is fairly quiet so the machine can read the echo in her ear to determine if her hearing is okay.  We got the right ear completed on try number two, but we haven't been able to get her to cooperate for the left ear.  So this time, we got a prescription for a medicine that helps kids sleep, which is what they give for dentist appointments, etc.  I gave it to Kora 45 minutes before her appointment like they recommended, and then brought her into the clinic in her car seat.  Well, she woke up immediately, was alert, and there was no chance of her going back to sleep at the clinic.  But she did go back to sleep after riding around in the vehicle again and was out cold after about 2 hours after receiving the medication.  So we were able to get the screening done on the left ear, which she passed. 

On Thursday, Kora had her appointment with the ophthalmologist.  This went about the same as any other appointment.  She's okay until the strange people start touching her and trying to do stuff with her.  Then she starts crying and she's done cooperating.  The doctor only got a partial exam completed, but he felt most likely she would need surgery to correct her vision.  He recommended we go to the U of Minn to see a pediatric ophthalmologist because they would be the best to get a thorough exam and the best to perform the surgery.

Other than that, everything has been going well.  Kora is pulling to stand by herself and walking when you hold both her hands.  She waves and claps, and now has 5 teeth.  We're looking forward to celebrating our first Christmas as a family of five.  We hope you all have a Merry Christmas.       

Thoughts

Just before Thanksgiving, we were asked to have an article written about our adoption for the local paper.  At first, we didn't want to because we don't usually like to draw attention to ourselves.  We also didn't think we were any more special than others in our area who had adopted, and they didn't get an article in the paper.  We feel we're just a regular family who followed the path that God set before us.  But we then decided we should do the article because if some other family read it and considered adopting because of us, it would be so worth it. 

People have told us that Kora is so lucky that we adopted her, but it's us who are so blessed to have her.  She has added so much to our family.  It's amazing to think that here we are at home with our daughter when it all started from two small photos and a limited medical history.  What a leap of faith adoptive parents take when they receive their referrals and decide to make those children their own.  But God is so good and has made her a part of our family.  Of course it hasn't been all wonderful.  We've all had to make adjustments.

On the lighter side, we are doing a good job turning this Chinese girl into a Northern Minnesotan.  She says "ya" with the best of them.  Kora also has learned to sign "more", although it is more of a clap then touching her fingers, but that's okay with us as long as she knows what it means.  Sometimes she will do it on her own without prompting, sometimes she doesn't.  She's got a mind of her own, imagine that!  Here is another photo taken before Thanksgiving of all of us.

Home for one month and Thanksgiving

It's hard to believe we've been home with Kora for just over a month.  It's actually seemed like she has been with us for longer since she is adjusting so well to being a part of our family.  I'm amazed how well and how fast she has attached to Jesse and I.  She only wanted to be with one of us and didn't want anything to do with strangers, which is a good sign for seeing that she is attaching to us.  She didn't even want them to touch her while Jesse or I held her.  We're very thankful that she is doing so well with us.       

Kora likes to crawl on Jason and Megan if they are lying on the floor.  She now has 4 teeth and appears to be working on getting some more to come in.  Just before Thanksgiving, she began enjoying taking a bath and loves to splash in the water.  Now, we just have to work on her tolerating lotion.

We traveled back to North Dakota for the first time to visit our families over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Overall, it went pretty well. She rode in the car seat up to 2 1/2 hours at one time without too much complaining.  Kora slept well at night also, except for the last night. She even allowed the Grandmas and Grandpas and aunts to hold her for short period of time without getting upset.   

We took advantage of the nice weather the weekend before Thanksgiving to get a few outdoor pictures.  Jason and Megan wanted to show what they like doing outside.

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First labs and Doctor's appointment

Kora had her first medical tests and appointments last week.  First, she had to go have blood drawn for her labs.  The worst part wasn't the poke with the needle, but holding her still and keeping her right arm pinned down.  But she recovered pretty quickly afterwards.  All her labs were normal, so that's good.  The doctor's appointment was tougher for her.  Kora was okay with the doctor and nurse at first, but by the end she was over her limit of tolerating strangers touching her and trying to do things with her.  She also had to have 5 vaccinations and a hearing test.  She didn't make it through the hearing exam so we'll have to try that again another day.  Kora is okay with strangers as long as they keep their distance.

Kora is getting more teeth, so he has been more irritable at times.  But she still sleeps pretty well.  She's getting better with tolerating baths.  She is okay with her body, arms, and legs getting wet for a little bit, but she absolutely hates her head wet. 

She continues to crawl all over the place and pulls herself up to kneeling against furniture.  She'll stand for short periods if you stand her up against furniture or hold her hands.

Home for 10 days

The first few days we were home, Kora woke up every 1-3 hours at night so still not much sleep for me.  She also got another cold which made sleeping hard for her with her stuffed up nose.  But now she is sleeping through the night and goes to sleep with minimal fussing. 

After spending every waking second with me for nearly 2 days on the airplanes, she started preferring me over Jesse. She wouldn't even want to be with Jesse if I was in the same room for the first few days. That has gotten better now too.  If she hasn't seen Jesse for a few hours, she will go to him on her own with me still in the room.

Smiles and giggles are coming all the time now.  She isn't as sensitive with her hands and face as before.  She only gets mad with touching her face when we are trying to wipe it clean.  She will grab our hands to play games like pull up into sitting or pull up into standing. 
 
We have her on all American formula and rice cereal now and are working on thinning it down.  At the orphanage, they mix the bottle so it is at least twice the concentration as US formula and they put rice cereal in the bottle to make it very thick.  They also don't start solid foods until after a year old.  Since we've been home, she has done very well with solids.  She gets pretty excited when you put her in the high chair.  So far she has eaten squash, peas, green beans, oatmeal, peaches, and applesauce. 

Below are some pictures we've taken since being home.  Jesse especially likes the first one.  He loves to encourage her to stick out her tongue.  But as you'll see on the bottom picture, she doesn't need much encouragement.  Big Brother and Sister also wanted to get in on the pictures.

Nightmare Continues

Once my plane landed in LA, Kora and I had to go through immigration and customs where they processed Kora's adoption paperwork, and she became an official US citizen.  We had over 4 hours for a lay-over this time.  My next flight to Minneapolis left around 12:45 am Pacific time.  There was no extra room on this flight.  It was full, and I had a window seat with everyone trying to sleep next to me.  Luckily, Kora slept for all but an hour of this flight.  I wasn't able to sleep holding her. 

Well, all this time that I have been making my way home, Jesse and the kids had made it to Vancouver and then flew to Denver.  Wouldn't you know it, a snow storm hit Denver ahead of schedule and there were not enough deicing crews available to keep the flights going.  They were snowed-in  at Denver and stayed the night in the airport.  So instead of them getting home on Wednesday night at 11pm, they weren't even able to fly out of Denver until 12:40 on Thursday. 

Kora and I made it to Grand Forks at 10:30 on Thursday morning.  What did we do then?  Sat in the airport for another 6 hours waiting for Jesse and the kids to get there, because Jesse had the keys to our trailblazer.  They got in around 3:40pm and were we happy to get out of the airport.

So we spent around 42 hours in airports and on airlines, getting home 17 hours later than expected, with Jesse and I getting only a few hours sleep.  I now know what sleep deprivation feels like and it is not pleasant.  But thank God, we all made it home safely.

Getting ready to go home

We got packed up and headed down to the hotel lobby to wait for our guide and driver to pick us up to go to the airport.  We were so excited to be going home, we got down there a little early.  So Megan and Jason rode the escalator a few more times before it was time to leave.  Jason came back saying he was so happy that now he too is a "rock star."  Someone had asked to take his picture which made his day.

We got to the airport over 3 hours early.  We had been talking to different people, including the China airlines, immigration officer in Vancouver, our agency, and the Canadian Consulate in Guangzhou about us having any difficulties with Kora going to the United States through Vancouver, Canada without a Canadian visa.  If you are from the US, you don't need one.  And basically all the information we got was wrong.  When we went to the airline desk, there was no way they were going to give Kora a boarding pass without a Canadian visa.  They said the Canadian government has warned them absolutely no Chinese citizen can board without a visa, or else big fines for the airline.  Apparently China and Canada aren't too friendly.  Getting a Canadian visa was not an option, since it takes 30 days to get one.  Jesse even tried calling the Vancouver Consulate to see if they would give us approval, but no luck.  So the only thing left to do was for Jesse and the kids to go home on their scheduled flights and to buy a whole new ticket for Kora and I going straight to the US.

By the time we got this all figured out and repacked carry-on luggage, Jesse and the kids had to go through security to get on their plane that left at 2pm.  I got a new ticket purchased and then had to wait 7 hours in the airport until my flight from Guangzhou to Los Angeles left at 9pm.  Luckily, God has mercy on me and gave me an isle seat with no one sitting next to me for the long 13 hour flight back.  Kora was able to lay on the seat next to me and sleep almost 7 hours.  I slept on and off for a few hours.  I would keep waking up to make sure Kora wasn't going to roll off the seat or hit her head on the armrest of the person next to her.   

Free Day

We didn't have anything scheduled today so he hung out around the hotel for our last full day here in China.  Our guide dropped off Kora's passport with visa this afternoon so we are ready to go tomorrow.  The kids wanted to do all their favorite things at the hotel one last time.

In the Hotel's Garden, there are many ponds that contain Koi fish that people feed bread to.  Megan and Jason also enjoyed feeding them pieces of bread.

 

 

They also went swimming in the afternoon and played in the Children's Playroom one last time.  We asked them what the best part of staying in the hotel was and they answered buffet breakfast (had lots of different donuts), swimming, play room, riding escalators and elevators, feeding fish, and going to Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and Subway for supper. 

Below is a picture from our hotel window of the entrance to the hotel and the street in front of the hotel.  Except for late at night and early morning, there was steady, heavy traffic going by all the time.  For those of you who dislike driving in the twin cities, China is 10 times worse.  Other drivers will cut right in front of you.  Nobody waits for pedestrians to cross the street so they just have to walk out in front of the vehicles.  Bicyclists are darting in and out.  It's pretty crazy, but we felt safe with our driver since he was used to it.

Consulate Appointment

Bright and early this morning, we headed to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou for the appointment allowing Kora to receive her US visa.  We had to go through security to get to the floor where they process the adoption paperwork along with the other families adopting children from China.  All together we repeated an oath about being truthful on everything we were submitting, etc.  Then each family was called up individually for submission and review of the paperwork.  We luckily weren't completely last, but close to it.  If you haven't noticed yet, there is a pattern to all the appointments for completing the adoption in China.  The actual process at each place doesn't take very long, but you have to wait your turn.  The waiting time is by far the longest.  When we were finished at the window, we were free to go.   

We then went to a another local park that had a small amusement park inside.  There were lots of local Chinese people singing, playing instruments, dancing, exercising, etc.  They play a game similar to US hacky sack, and it's not just for the young adults.  Lots of middle aged women were out there playing, too.  Most of the people in the first part of the park were retired adults.

The kids had fun riding some of the rides and playing on the playground.  Jason's favorite by far was the bumper cars.  He went against Megan once and that was enough for her.  Then he talked Jesse into going against him.  The people watching couldn't believe that Jason would go head on towards Jesse at full speed with no fear.  When they hit head on, Jason would fly back several feet from the impact, but he thought it was great.  And no injuries.

 

 

Banyan tree in the park.

 

Here are some pictures of Kora, one with the thumb she loves to suck.  She has been playing more and more with toys and us.  She has started to imitate sounds and actions.  She will copy you clicking your tongue and saying "la" and "da".  Jesse has been working hard on da da.

Folk Art Museum

Today, we went to the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family which is now the Guangdong Museum of Folk Arts and Crafts.  It contains exhibits of artists' sculptures, paintings, carvings, etc.  It also contains several shops where you can buy things at pretty reasonable prices. 

 

 

 

We got something for each of the kids.  Megan wanted a painted scroll and the picture below is the artist writing Megan's name on it in Chinese Calligraphy.   

 

 

Guangzhou Zoo

We went to the Guangzhou Zoo this morning.  Megan and Jason liked seeing the Panda, Rhinos, Hippos, Elephants, and Jaguars the best.  The skies have been overcast and hazy in Guangzhou since we've been here, but today we saw the sun and clear skies.  Only bad thing is that it made it feel hotter.

 

As soon as we got back from the zoo, Jesse and the kids went swimming again to cool off.  We heard the first giggles from Kora today.  Jesse was bringing her feet up to her face and tickleing her legs.  When we have free time at the hotel, we've been going to a play room that's in the office building/apartments that are connected to the hotel.  It's more for preschool and toddlers, but you know the imagination our kids have.  They can make anything fun.  It also gives Jason a chance to be loud and a little wild.  Kora liked the room, too.

 

 

 

Here's another interesting thing we found out about China.   When we were getting a pizza to bring back to the hotel from Pizza Hut, they gave us disposable gloves to eat the pizza with.  I guess you don't need napkins that way.

 

 

 

Orphanage Visit

Today, we headed out early to Yangxi to visit the Social Welfare Institute where Kora is from.  It took 3 1/2 hours to drive there.  On the drive, we saw fields of rice, corn, and sugar cane, and man-made fish ponds.  We also saw water buffalo by the rice fields.  There were lots of hills/mountains covered with a variety of trees along the way, including bamboo and some time of pine.

On the way, we stopped at a gas station to use the restrooms.  Megan, Kora, and I were standing outside waiting when I saw a young Chinese couple hanging around talking to themselves.  Finally, they came up so the girl could get her picture taken with Megan.  This is the second time someone has taken Megan's picture.  Jason was mad because he hasn't gotten his picture taken by anyone, but he hasn't been around at the right time.

Once at the SWI, we were only allowed to see Kora's room and the only picture allowed to be taken in the room was of her crib.  There were about 22 other children in the room, most with special needs.  Two other children had families waiting to adopt them.  The directors and the nannies all wanted to hold Kora.  She didn't care who held her as long as that person was standing or walking with her.

 

 

Here is a picture of us with the director and assistant directors in front of the orphanage.

 

 

 

This is outside of Kora's room.

 

 

After we finished at the orphanage, we went to see the spot where Kora was found.  It was at one of the gates of a local park.

 

 

 

It was important for us to see the orphanage and finding spot, so that we can tell Kora about it when she's older in order to give her some history of her life.  We tried to take everything we saw and heard in, so we'd remember it later.  Seeing how she lived her first year of life also helped us better understand her behavior and developmental level.  After leaving, we were so glad that we didn't wait any extra time to bring her home.

 

 



 



Medical Exam

Kora had her medical exam today.  They basically checked to make sure she didn't have anything contagious that she'd be bringing to the United States.  They looked at her eyes, ears, and noses, listened to her heart and lungs, looked her body over, and took her weight and temperature.  All done pretty quickly.  They were most concerned about her not having a high temperature since she had a fever a couple days ago.  Luckily it was normal so she was cleared to go.

She has been more willing to explore and play today.  This morning she was crawling to try to get the remote and camcorder we put in front of her. 

 

This afternoon, Jesse and the kids went swimming at the outdoor pool at the Hotel.  The water temperature is pretty cold so now that the air temperature is cooler today, they didn't last too long.

 

 

The hotel let us borrow a stroller, so I walked Kora around the pool.  She doesn't mind being in the stroller as long as you don't sit still too long.

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday

I'm afraid to say Kora is still feeling sick, and it has been rough going this morning.  She still doesn't want to eat much and only wants you to hold her while standing or walking.  She will lay on her stomach while you pat her back for short periods of time.  Since her cough sounded worse and coming more from her chest, we gave her an antibiotic.  That made a big improvement in only a few doses.  By evening, she was eating better and willing to play for a short time.

We went out to the hotel garden today and she liked being in the baby carrier.  Here are the kids in front of the waterfall.
 

 

In the afternoon, we went to the police department to apply for Kora's Passport.  Kora found Jesse's hat and glasses during the van ride and was trying to pull them off the entire time he was holding her.  After we finished at the police department, we went to Yuexiu Park which is a large park with a lot of hills and trees and several man-made lakes.   All the paths were paved, and you weren't allowed on the grass.  But it was quieter in the park, than around the rest of Guangzhou.

 

 

 

Here we are in front of the 5 Ram Sculpture.

 





Adoption Registration Day

We went back to the Civil Affairs Office this morning to complete the paperwork to make the adoption official.  We had a picture taken with Kora and Jesse and I and met with an official to sign some paperwork.  Then we went upstairs to the notary office.  We met with the notary who asked us questions like, "Will you abandon her,"  "Why do you want to adopt her,"  "How will you care for her when you go home," etc.  He also asked us our professions, and we're pretty sure he didn't know what physical therapists are, but didn't want to ask.  The actual paperwork part didn't take too long, but it did take some time to wait our turn.  All of the families who received their children yesterday were there waiting to do the same thing as us.

 

Here is picture of Megan, Kora, and I at Civil Affairs Office.

Kora is not feeling well today.  She hasn't wanted to drink much from a bottle and has been sleeping a lot.  After her nap, she woke up with a fever and has been pretty fussy most of the afternoon and evening.   What we do know about her so far is that she sucks her right thumb to soothe herself.  She doesn't like her hands touched, especially the right.  She likes motion: to be bounced or rocked or held while walking around.  She also will bang her head on the crib mattress to soothe herself  at times.  She also does not like to feel water except her hands if she puts them under the water herself.

Gotcha Day

We all ended up waking up at 5:00 am this morning after going to bed at 9 pm.  Not sure if we got up so early because of the time change and jet lag or because of the hard beds that make you feel like you are sleeping on wooden boards.   Later after eating and napping, it was time to get ready to meet Kora.  Our guide, Lucia, picked us up at 2pm to go to the Civil Affairs Office.  There were several other families waiting to receive their children.  After signing a piece of paper, they brought her out.  She didn't have any problem coming to us.  Actually, she never cried at all while we were there.  We found out that she had a cold for the last few days causing her to have a runny nose and cough.  Then we filled out some more paperwork needed for tomorrow, talked to the Social Welfare Institute (SWI) assistant director a little bit about Kora, and then headed out to a supermarket to get formula, diapers, etc.

 

At the Civil Affairs Office with the Assistant Director of the SWI who brought Kora to us

We made it to China!

After 13 and 1/2 long hours in an airplane, we are in China.  We left at 12:30 pm Pacific time on Saturday and arrived at a little before 5pm China time on Sunday.  It was strange to be on the plane that long and for the sun to never go down, making it seem like one long day that never ended.  Megan and Jason did very well through it all.  They only got restless and grumpy towards the very end of the flight and waiting to go through customs. 

Megan and Jason outside the Garden Hotel where we are staying in Guangzhou.

Lobby at the Garden Hotel

Departure Day

We left home for the Grand Forks airport at 3:30 this morning.  Megan and Jason were so excited they couldn't sleep on the drive there.  Here's the family before our first flight which left at 5:57 am.

 

Leaving on a jet plane

We are almost all packed, got the house baby-proofed, and the crib and the rest of the room set-up.  We are ready to bring our baby home!  We leave at 5:57 tomorrow morning.  I'll try to post updates as often as I can while we are there.  Please pray that we will have safe travels and that everyone will stay healthy as we begin our new adventure.

Update on Kora

We received another update on Kora from our agency when they contacted the orphanage to set up everything for our trip.  Here is what was written and a picture:

Height: 71cm, weight: 8.2kg.

She is presently healthy. Her personality is tender and friendly.

She eats only cereal with formula, not cold and hard food. She likes colorful toys.

 

 

 

Now we continue to get all our stuff ready to go.  The items to bring are starting to pile up.  There's a lot to think about when you are packing for 5 people for 12 days in a different country.  

 

 

 

 

Travel Itinerary

Here is what we know so far about our travel Itinerary.

Saturday, October 13 6am:  Leave Grand Forks. Fly to Denver then to Vancouver and finally to Guangzhou.  Since Guangzhou is 13 hours ahead of us, we will arrive there at 5pm on Sunday, October 14.

Monday, 10/15:  Meet Kora in afternoon
Tuesday, 10/16:  Adoption Registration and apply for Passport
Wednesday, 10/17:  Medical Exam and Visa Photo
Thursday, 10/18: Get Medical Test Results
Friday - Sunday, 10/19-10/21:  Free days while waiting for passport and notarized documents
Monday, 10/22:  Embassy Appointment at US Consulate
Tuesday, 10/23:  Pick up Visa
Wednesday, 10/24:  Fly home.  We leave at 2 pm from Guangzhou and fly to the same airports as when we left.  We will arrive in Grand Forks at 10:45 Wednesday evening since we gain the time back for the time difference. 

We also hope to travel to Yangxi to see Kora's orphanage on one of the free days, but we won't have that confirmed until next week when the China government offices reopen after their week long holiday this week.

Both flights from start to finish with lay-overs are about 22 hours.  The longest flight is from Vancouver to Guangzhou which is 13 hours.  So we'll find out how well all of us can sleep in an airplane. 

Map

 

Below is a map of China so you can see where we will be traveling to.  Guangzhou is near Hong Kong, and we will be staying there for 11 days, 10 nights.  The Social Welfare Institute where Kora lives is in Yangxi County which is about a 4 hour away drive from Guangzhou.

Leaving in 2 weeks!

We received our embassy appointment for Monday, October 22.  That means we will be leaving in 2 weeks and meeting Kora on Monday, October 15!  We decided to go so soon because Megan and Jason have a week off of school for teachers conferences/convention Oct 15 through the 19, so they won't have to miss so much school.  Although, sometimes I think that is part of the reason Jason is so excited about going to China.  I will post an itinerary of our trip when we have it finalized.  And now there is so much to do in so little time.  

Travel Approval!

We received our travel approval today so we were able to submit our request for our consulate appointment at the Chinese Embassy which is one of the last stops before we can come home once we're in China.   Once the consulate approves our appointment date, then we will know exactly when we will be leaving and coming home.  I'll post another update when we know our schedule.  In the meantime, we are very excited!

More paperwork

Just when I thought we were to the end of filling out paperwork, now it's time to complete our Visa applications.  4 pages long each, filled out 4 times.  Plus, the passports with the visa applications need to be hand delivered to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago so we have to use a courier service to drop them off and pick them up.  It took me a couple of hours yesterday to get all the paperwork ready and sent off.  But it is worth it to be ready to travel when we get our travel approval. 

One Step Closer

We received our Article 5 letter today from the US Consulate in China.  That means we only have one more step left before we can plan our dates to travel.  It will probably be another couple of weeks before we receive our travel approval.   It was very uplifting news to receive this today.  Not being able to plan anything in the next 1-2 months because we don't know when we'll be leaving and getting back has started to get frustrating.  So hopefully the travel approval will come soon.

Third Day

Here is a link to a music video that our family really likes.  It is Children of God by Third Day.  I think the video speaks for itself. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6jO7xhU_Pw

More Photos!

We received more updated pictures of Kora from a different family who was visiting the orphanage late last week.  It's such a wonderful thing what the families of children from the Yangxi orphanage do for each other.  We hope to pay it forward and take pictures for another family when we visit the orphanage.  Here is Kora pictured with one of the Nannies at the orphanage.  I love seeing her smile.
 

 

The mother who took the picture told us this about Kora:  "There are about 30 babies in her room right now. Just a few months ago there were about 42. Most have minor special needs. Your daughter's crib was in the middle of the room. When we walked into the room all the babies were awake and content. Most were moving around in their cribs. No crying or really any noise for that matter. The nannies in the room seemed very nice. Your little girl was content the whole time we were there. When I began taking her picture she smiled on her own. She is beautiful and looked very healthy and well cared for."

 

I should make a note about the previous picture I posted with Kora in her crib.  It is just a metal crib with a wooden bottom.  No crib mattress for any of the babies for a variety of reasons.  I'm sure it will be a very emotional day when we see where she spent the first year of her life. 

Emotions

We received an updated picture of Kora from a family who was just in China picking up their daughter.    Our daughters are both from the same orphanage.  They were so kind to take a picture of Kora while they were visiting the orphanage and send it to us.

 

It’s hard to describe the emotions seeing her now from her referral picture 4 months ago.  We are very excited to see she looks healthy, and we’re so glad she still has those chubby cheeks.  Looking at the picture does make us think of more questions.  What is her personality like?  How much do her crossed eyes affect her vision?  What will she think of us when we come to get her?  But most of all, it makes us want to get there as soon as possible and bring her home. 

What's left?

These are the steps we have remaining before we can bring Kora home. 

• US Embassy in Guangzhou signs off on Article 5 letter
• Article 5 letter sent to CCCWA (China government office in charge of adoptions)
• CCCWA issues travel approval
• Secure Consulate Appointment Date and start getting ready to travel.

We’re expecting that we will travel mid to late October if no delays. 

Timeline so far

Dossier to China:  2/16/12

Log in Date:  2/27/12

Letter of Intent:  4/19/12

Pre-Approval:  4/24/12

Letter of Approval:  7/12/12

I800 Approval (US Immigration):  8/1/12

National Visa Center Cable:  8/17/12

How our Story Began

A lot of people have asked us why we decided to adopt.  A few years after Megan and Jason were born we started to think there was a reason that we had twins right away, one boy and one girl.  Jesse says adoption is the only way to guarantee just one child!  Seriously, we do feel that God has called us to be a family to a child who does not have one.  There are more than 140 million orphans in the world.  How can we not care for just one?  We checked out all the different ways and places we could adopt from.  We feel China was where He was calling us to.     

So our journey through adoption started approximately two years ago when we decided this was the road we would take to add another member to our family.  We started looking into different agencies and began the process of saving money to pay for the adoption expenses.  We officially submitted our application to Crossroads Adoption Services in Minneapolis in early June of 2011.  We were open to either a boy or a girl with a variety of special needs, but Jesse said he knew from the beginning that God would be giving us a girl. 

Then began the process of background checks, fingerprints, doctor exams, notarizing, paperwork and more paperwork.  I had a nice timeline in my mind that we would finish everything quickly, match with a child and be ready to travel by the end of the summer of 2012.  I had forgotten that God’s timeline is not my timeline.  So we had several delays in paperwork with an error by the US Immigration and one by the Chinese government, and a letter lost in the mail.  But it all taught me to be more patient and trust in the Lord.

On April 16, we were sent a referral of a little 6 month old girl named Song Ying Shuang and we knew she was our daughter.  She lives at the Social Welfare Institute (SWI) in Yangxi County in Guangdong Providence.  She was born on 10/4/11.  We accepted the referral and received our approval from China on July 12.  Here is a picture when we received our referral in April.

In Chinese, Song is actually her last name.  All the children from her orphanage have Song as their surname.  Jesse, Megan, Jason and I decided we will name her Kora Song so that she will keep part of her Chinese name as her middle name.  That’s also where the name of this bog came from.