Article 5 Drop Off

Today our article 5 was dropped off to the US Embassy in China!  What is an article 5?  This is the NVC letter we received, Emma's visa application, and our LOA- letter of acceptance. The consulate will review Emma's visa application to make sure it meets the qualifications for an immigrant visa.  Then they will sign off that everything is in order for the adoption to take place!  This is called the article 5 letter.  Once our representative in China picks this up (exactly two weeks- Dec.13)  it will be delivered directly to the CCCWA for our Travel Approval!  Yeah!!  Let the countdown begin!! 

We Are Cabled!

This morning I received an email from the NVC(National Visa Center) telling me that we were "cabled" today.  Basically that means our petition to adopt Emma has been sent to the appropriate visa-issuing post(the US consulate in China) where the adoption will take place.  I am sooooo happy!  One step closer to getting Emma.  All we have left are two more steps!

1.  The US Embassy in China will review Emma's Visa application.  This will take exactly two weeks!
2.    China will review all US approvals & give us the ok to travel to pick up Emma(TA-travel approval).  This takes just about three weeks!  By the end of December we should have our TA! 
WOOHOO!

New Pictures!

This is so funny!  My friend "R" who is adopting a little girl from the same orphanage as Emma just received some new "birthday" pictures of her little girl.  I was so happy for her!  When she emailed the photos to me... she told me to take a close look at one of the pictures.  So, after zooming in on the picture I noticed that there was a little baby sitting on the floor in the backround- our EMMA!  How cool was that???  After I looked through all her adorable pictures I noticed one more picture with our little Emma in it!  I was so happy to see her cute little face looking right at the camera!  Thanks "R!"  This was a real treat!
Here are the pictures!

                      Here is the same picture after I zoomed in on it!

Update! Yeah!

This morning when I opened up my email I had an update on Emma!  I couldn't believe it!  The information that I have on her is from 7 months old!  This new information is current- 13 months old!  Here it is:

 Update Infomation
-Song Xiao Tao - (Her Chinese Name)

Measurements
Length: 71.5cm- 28.1 inches
Weight: 7.3kg- 16.1 pounds
Chest circumference: 42.8cm
Foot length: 11cm- 4.3 inches
Teeth: 2

This is what the orphanage had to say about our Emma!

She is very smart, smarter than other kids of her age. She can not speak yet.  She is naughty and she likes to climb over her crib to the crib of other kids.  She gets along well with other kids.

She is healthy, she has no heart disease, and she has had no surgeries before.

I am over the moon with this new information!  I wonder if she'll be able to actually climb out of her crib once we are home!

I800 APPROVED!

I just couldn't wait another day!  I called USCIS today to see if my I800 application was approved yet.  I talked with my officer and she told me that my application was approved yesterday!  Woohoo!  This means that the US Immigration has given us approval to adopt Emma Song!  We are one step closer to getting our precious little girl! 
Only 3 more steps to go!
1.  US immigration will tell the US Embassy in China we are approved to adopt Emma.
2.  US Embassy reviews Emma's Visa application.
3.  China reviews all US approvals & gives us the ok to travel to pick up Emma.
Can't WAIT!

I800

Okay- so I called USCIS today to see if my officer has received my I800 application.  Yes!  She has it!  So hopefully by Wednesday I should have my approval!  I hope everything in these last few stages moves along quickly! 

Baby Shower!

On Sunday I had a beautiful baby shower given by my wonderful mom!  I of course wanted a "ladybug" theme!  So from there we planned, purchased, and made everything we needed for the special day.  We tied bows upon bows, put labels on the water bottles, and put all the food in  containers that matched the colors of my theme.  We started all this work a few months ago! Everything was set up on my patio- tables, chairs, a tent, and even paper lanterns were hanging!   The only thing that could have made this day even more special was to have Emma there to see it all!  Everything turned out more beautiful then I could have imagined!  Thanks for everyone who was there to share my special day with me!  And a special thanks to my husband-the love of my life, my two perfect boys, my mom who has ALWAYS been there for me, my friend Myrna who helped me set everything up, and my sister for flying down from New York!  Here are some pictures of the shower.  Hope you enjoy them!

How cool is this!  A "real" ladybug decided to join the party!

Got the VISAS

Yesterday I received a package from my travel agent with my families passports.  They were all opened to a specific page- when I looked at the page, I realized the Chinese Visa was there!  I had no idea it would be so quick and I had no idea that the Visa was put inside the passport.  I don't know why I thought this, however I thought I would get a booklet or paper at a later date that was our Visas!  Anyways, I am super excited that we have them!  That was super easy and quick!  One step closer to Emma!

I800 Received

Today I received the official notice that our I800 was received from USCIS.  So I am hoping that we will have our approval in the next couple of weeks!  Actually, I am really hoping that it only takes a week... but realistically, it should be approved within two weeks!  One step closer!