2:00 A.M. Seriously???

Yes, I have been awake since 2:00 A.M. 

Not 3:00.

I kept rolling over looking at the clock and thinking, "This isn't right...my usual interruption is 3:00!!"

I had a dream (this one's not a God dream y'all...just a stupid entertaining dream straight from my brain) where the lady processing my Visa application had a chemical meltdown at her Visa processing plant. I was standing there watching the whole thing wondering if my passports were ok. 

There's a whole lot in this dream that's just not right...the lady who is processing my Visa lives in a house, not a factory, and you don't process Visas with conveyer belts and chemicals. And I live too far away from her to be watching the whole thing!

It is just once again my brain on adoption overload. My official LOAs are to arrive today by Fed-Ex. I am now officially in the wait for my I800 approval which usually takes only a few weeks. Things begin to happen fairly quickly from here on out, so I am now purchasing things for my trip!! So of course, I'm not sleeping!!!

I cannot explain how much smoother this adoption journey has gone. I have been so much more at peace with the process this time around than I was with Johnny and Lily's, largely due to the fact that I know what I'm doing now, I know and understand each step of the process, but mostly because I trust 100% in God's timing. 

I am amazed that I am on this journey of adoption again!!

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I'm at the tail end of another adoption process and I'm about to go to China AGAIN!!!!

I look at Fu Chao and Lulu's faces everyday and cannot wait to meet them! Johnny and Lily are so excited to have a new brother and sister their age! Brianna has decided she's raising the next two the way she wants to (not happening) and Josiah is just glad the paperwork side is almost done so he can quit being my assistant!

For right now, I'm going to make a huge pot of coffee because it's only 3:30 and I've got a looooong while before anyone in this house wakes up! 

I Can Breathe!

This week has been extremely eventful, to say the least.

It started off Monday with my Supplement 3 Approval and then Thursday morning was our LOA for Lulu. I was in paperwork mode all day Thursday and today. I mailed out my I800 paperwork yesterday and my Visa paperwork today. Prayerfully I can have a little bit of a break before having to do a ton more. 

I have some photography assignments that need to be done, so I promise, I have pictures to come! But for now, I'm going to enjoy my weekend!

LOA FOR LULU!!!!!!

I received the phone call this morning, but I've been doing paperwork all day, so I can officially now blog about it at 10:30 at night...

 

I have LOA for Lulu!!!!!!!!!!

 

I received an email from my agency saying they had received an email from their rep in China stating that both LOAs were fine and they would be received next week. Ok??? What does that mean?? So I sent another email back to my agency to get clarification...had my status changed in the system, what does this mean, do I verbally have LOA??? So I was staring back at the computer saying, "Come on, Candy, email me back. Come on, come on!!! Pleeeeeeeze!" That's when the phone rang. It was Candy, my agency rep. She asked what I was doing and I replied that I was talking to my computer, lol. She asked if I received her latest email, "no I hadn't," I replied, and she said, "Just wait." So I waited...and there it was...Luo's LOA!!!

 

Do you know what goes on behind the scenes of receiving that LOA? You tell everyone in under 5 minutes and then you get right to business. There's no celebrating the day of LOA. You just cannot fathom the paperwork that needs to go out the door the minute that LOA arrives. And not to mention, once it is out the door, then you begin your Visa applications. So that is what I was doing until five minutes ago. Tomorrow I will be filling out my Mother's Visa.

 

This is going to be a riot, y'all. This really should be turned into a reality show. My Mom and I were discussing last night about how ditzy we are and how two nit-wits are going to get through three weeks in China. I actually am looking forward to this...my Mom is fairly adventurous so it should be fun...but seriously, we are kind of ditzy. :)

3:30 A.M.

I've been up since 3:30...again. 

I have China on my brain...again. 

This has happened three times this week and is very familiar to me. I lived this same scenario two years ago in my wait for Johnny and Lily Anna. I've grown a lot since then, I understand the process, and I understand that my way and my timing is not always what God has in mind. 

But when you're in that wait for your LOA...your brain is just there...in China...in the process. You are mentally headed to China. People are talking all around you and you can carry on a conversation while at the same time have an open suitcase in your mind and you're going through your packing list!

I have watched Lulu's video so many times that I've lost count. She seems happy, taken care of, healthy...everything you would like to see in a video, but she's not in my home.

I NEED that piece of paper!!!! Her Letter Of Approval!!!

I've had Fu Chao's LOA now for almost two weeks, so I'm really believing it's soon!!!

There are 3 things I would like to see happen this week:

1. Lulu's LOA

2. Fu Chao's hard copy of his LOA

3. My Supplement 3 Approval from USCIS

These are all huge things...MAJOR things. Will you pray and believe with me that these things come to pass this week? 

I feel it's time.

Update On Lulu!!!!

Ok, once again, Lulu is not, nor will be her American name. Just a current nickname.

I woke up expecting an approval from USCIS, then my agency informed me it was a holiday. Of course it is. School wasn't out today...but, never mind. I'm bitter about all their holidays, which means no one is working on my approval.

So anyway, I had steam coming out my ears, when I decided it was going to be a popcorn and Dots kind of day. Make the most of a stalled adoption process, right? My agency called and informed me that when I asked if Lulu was in an orphanage the rep in China went ahead and asked for pictures and video too! I had no idea that any of this was coming! I found out she is in the orphanage, which kind of threw me. She will be my fourth child from China and the only one still in the orphanage. After the pictures and especially the video, all my fears are calmed. She is well taken care of and looks happy! She is feisty and can hold her own from watching her interaction with other children in her classroom. This has made my day and although I can't wait for her Letter Of Approval to come, I now have something to hang onto until it does!

I will post the video when I can. It uploaded to my computer fine, but anytime I try to send it anywhere else it fails. That's ok, I'm enjoying watching it...and of course, I can't hear her voice...just like Lily's videos that we received two years ago. I'm kind of hoping she doesn't sound like E.T. like her big sister! (Although it is cute!!!!)