Dear Chelsea,

     Merry Christmas!  We can't wait to share with you what Christmas is.  We leave one week from tomorrow to come get you!  In 12 days you will be with us FOREVER!  Love you sweet girl and we can't wait to get you home.

We had a great Christmas.  I can't wait for Chelsea to come home and meet her great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins! We are so blessed.  Merry Christmas!

New Pics!

We received new pictures today! Can't believe how much she's grown (and her hair) since October! One month from today she will be with us. Can't wait!















This is my first post from the iPad app. Got to get all my gadgets ready for posting in China. Hopefully it will work.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Leaving January 2, 2013

Things didn't work out as we had liked in getting our Consulate Appointment so we will not be leaving until January 2nd.  I have spent the last couple of days on the phone with the agency trying to change that but, oh well.  We are very excited to go get Chelsea and bring her home.  January 7th she will be with us forever.  That's a month from tomorrow:)

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!  I'm a few days late getting this post up but we received our TA on November 30, 2012!  Finally our Timeline is complete.  We were really hoping to have Chelsea home for Christmas but are so excited that she will be with us forever before the end of the year!  I posted on Facebook when we received our TA and had so many sweet messages from friends and family.  Thank you all so much for your support and prayers through this journey.  We are sooooooo close!  We have lots to do and learn before we go.  So off to work I go.

We are still waiting on Travel Approval:(  I talked to our agency today and the 6th is definitely out.  As long as we receive TA in the next week or two we should be able to go on the 27th.  Ugh!  We really wanted her home for Christmas but  I guess that is not in the plans.  Please pray for TA to get here so we can leave on the 27th!!!!  Thanks

Just an update.......We should have Article 5 pick up on the 13th and then we wait for our Travel Approval to arrive from CCCWA.  We could wait a week, 2 weeks, who knows.  It seems like people are receiving them faster right now, so we will keep our fingers crossed.  Once we have Travel Approval we have to get a Consulate Appointment.  I found out from our agency that there are only two dates to depart in December and they are the 6th and 27th.  Very frustrating!  

Last year when I was cleaning up the Christmas decorations, I left out a tree to remind myself that she would be here for Christmas 2012.  We added her picture and a picture of the boys beside the tree after we received our LOA in September.  We are praying hard that we can go get her before the end of the year.  Any prayers you want to send are welcome.

 I'll update again next week.  The time is getting near!!

Chelsea's bed is finished!  I hope she loves it and has sweet, sweet dreams in it.  Mom is putting her monogram on her sham and I need to work on accessories, curtains, and paint the dresser.  Plenty to do to keep me busy while we WAIT!  

Last night was Halloween.  Graham & Neal stayed home to hand out candy while Cayden went with a friend around the neighborhood trick-or-treating, while I painted the bed.  Here is a pic of Cayden ready to go...

Next year we will have one more trick-or-treater.  I wonder what she will choose to dress up as?......

We received another update from the orphanage today!  Below are the pictures.  The brown shirt with butterflies is one that we sent and the blue ball she has is from Cayden.  We finally got a big smile out of her!!  We also received two videos.  In one she is laughing.  Too cute!  We are so ready to go get her.  In her update they describe her as active and clever and excellent development when compared with her peers.  Smart girl!

Her hair is growing out too!  It's going to look so cute with a big bow in it!

We received an email from our agency today that our DS-230 and LSC are on the way to China today. We should know in the next month when we go get her.  We can't wait to get our Chelsea home.

Friday we received our email from the NVC with the letter that we need to get our paperwork to the Embassy in China!  I sent all the documents to the agency Friday and they will arrive Monday.  Everything should be on its way to China tomorrow!  Yay!  I also received these pics from the orphanage.

We received our I800 in the mail today!!!!  Finally!  Preparing and gathering all the paperwork to Fedex to our agency today.  We also found out that our information is at the NVC so waiting on our notice from them that our request has been sent to the Embassy in China.  Getting closer!

All of this waiting is taking its toll.  Ugh!!!!!  I received an email Friday from USCIS that our I800 has been approved.  They said that it should be here in 7-10 days.  Surely the mail won't take that long but until it's here I will be stalking the poor mailman.  I spoke with our USCIS officer today and she gave me the tracking number for the 2 day express package they sent to NVC (visa).  It was going out today.  Hopefully my I800 went out Friday.  Why things sit on peoples desk is beyond me!  We are cutting it close to going at Christmas.  I also stalk people's blogs and charts on adoption websites to see when families, at the same stage as we are, travelled last year.  I found one family today that received their I800 on 10/20/11 and travelled on 12/13/11.  I have no problem spending Christmas in China:)

I also received an email Friday from a lady who went to pick up her adopted son from the same orphanage Chelsea is at.  She sent me these pictures.  Isn't she sweet?!?  I also requested a new update with current measurements today and new pictures and videos.  I should have those soon. Her care package is supposed to arrive Thursday.  I requested that they put her outfit on her and take a picture so I can see how it fits.  We'll keep our fingers crossed for that.

So, the waiting continues...............

The last time I tried to update the blog my hard drive crashed right in the middle of it:)  Hopefully I will have better luck today.

We received our LSC on 9/4/2012 and sent our I-800 off on 9/6/2012.  As I kept watching the mailbox for our approval, I knew after 2 weeks something was wrong.  It was.  I received notice last week that I forgot to add Supplement 3 which shows that we had our Home Study updated for a 0-5 year old instead of a 2-5 year old.  Ugh!  We are praying this does not hold us up until after Christmas.  I spoke with our officer at USCIS yesterday and she said that we should have approval by the beginning of next week.  I already have all other forms and passport pic for Chelsea ready to go as soon as I receive it.

It is become very real in the past couple of weeks that she will be here before we know it.  The bedding is in.  I am picking out paint color today.  A carpenter is coming this weekend to expand the closet doors in her room and then hopefully paint next week.  My sweet nephew is passing along his bedroom furniture and I am having it painted also.  Then we can put her room together in the next couple of weeks!  I have cleaned out closets and other rooms.  Nesting:)  I have researched toys and things we will need.  I have registered at a couple of places.  Very strange adding these sorts of things into a busy life of work and two boys (11 & 9).  We can not wait for her to get here and see how our live's change!  We are always talking about "when Chelsea gets here" with the boys.  They are so excited and the end is in sight.

Hopefully I will have an update by mid-week that our last batch of paperwork is in the mail!

WE RECEIVED OUR LSC (LETTER SEEKING CONFIRMATION) TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is the final approval from China for our little girl!  It only took 5 weeks which is on the short end of estimated time so we are moving forward fast, finally!  They estimate that it will be another 3-5 months before we go get her.   We can now start getting her room ready, buying all the things that we will need (car seat, stroller, I can't believe we will need all that stuff again)!  It also means that we can share her picture with you.  So introducing Chelsea Reagan DeForest...................

Doesn't she just look sassy?  This picture was taken just last week when we requested an update on her.  She is described as very outgoing, brave and does not have any obvious dislikes.  She likes to play outside, play with balls and puzzles, and listen to music.  We can not wait to meet her!  The boys are so excited too.

Here are some more pics of her....

They also sent some videos of her.  She is so cute and happy!  We are going to send her a care package soon with pictures of all of us so she can check us out too.  

Good morning!  We just got home from our 8th year at Pine Cove family camp.  We had a great time and have come back energized and refreshed.  We were fortunate enough to have Dr. Tim Kimmel as our speaker this year.  He is the executive director of Family Matters and spoke to us about Grace Based Parenting.  It was an incredible message and one that our family will be working on.  The main message was that we should look through a "grace lens" when parenting our children and treat them as God treats us.  We also have to remember that they are born sinners and until God intercedes we should not be surprised when they sin.  He has written some great books if you think this is something you would like to look into.  Next year we will be a family of 5 and get to introduce our daughter to Pine Cove.  We can't wait!

Now on to the adoption news.....we received our Pre-approval (PA) on July 24th!  One step closer.  Since our home study was for a girl between the ages of 2-6 and she will not be 2 until February we are having to update our home study.  This meant a trip back to the doctor for me this morning to have all my blood work and physical exam, again.  No fun, but necessary.  We will have a phone interview today with the social worker and update any information that needs to be changed.  Moving right along!

While we were in Texas I went to my favorite store there, The Busy B, and bought the first things for Chelsea!  (I don't think I've revealed her name on here but it is Chelsea Reagan).  Very excited to have some pink around the house.  Keep the prayers coming for a speedy process so we can go get our sweet girl.  When we have our definite approval I will post her picture for all of you to see.

One more cool thing, when we got home last night there was a ladybug on our doorstep!

Good morning from the beach!  A lot has happened with our adoption and with a sick Cayden, Summer Spectacular, and packing and getting to the beach, I haven't had time to write a post.

We were given a referral for a beautiful 16-month old girl on June 8th.  After lots of prayer, Dr. McGehee reviewing her medical records, and Neal, the boys, and I making a "Team-D" decision, we filed our LOI (Letter of Intent) (6/21/12) with the CCCWA.  We are so excited to know what she looks like!

I must admit that at the pool yesterday I kept looking at kids around her age and asking the parents how old their child is.  Holy cow!  She's young!  At least she'll have two great big brothers who seem very willing to take care of her.  I love that age and it is going to be a GREAT adventure.  When we receive PA (Pre-Approval), I believe I can share her photo.  We may have to wait for our LOA (Letter of Approval) first though.  I'll find out.  They are saying that may take up to 100 days.  Still a time to wait but she will eventually be here.

Next year, one more set of feet in the pic;)

We received our Log In Date!  It is May 30, 2012.  This is the date that our dossier arrived in China and was logged in.  We are excited!  Now we just need to find that special little girl out there and bring her home!

We went to the lake for Memorial Day weekend and did some tubing.  We had been out in the boat for about an hour and were talking about our China Girl and wondering how she would like tubing and being at the lake.  I looked over and guess what I saw, a ladybug!  Crazy!!  It was like she was right there with us.  We were all very excited!  Hopefully this superstition will be true and we will get a referral soon.

We are reading up on information regarding travel and things we need to start preparing to go.  One of those things is immunizations.  The boys are not excited about that part at all but I keep reminding them it is for their sister.  Hopefully they can be courageous and not to fussy when we go:-)  One of the immunizations takes three shots at different times.  Something to look forward to:-)

We have had a busy weekend and I haven't had time to post our latest news.  WE ARE DTC (Dossier to China) as of Friday!!  All of our paperwork is headed to China as I type.  Within a few days we should have our LID (Log In Date) and hopefully will be matched with our daughter sometime soon.  Keep praying for our family as we wait to find her.

We received our I 797 Notice of Approval from the CIS today.  This is the last document we need to complete our dossier!  It took 30 days from the time I mailed off our I800, which is half the time the agency projected.  So glad to make up for some lost time with the medicals.  I had to prepare lifestyle photos of our family to send with our dossier.  I had fun getting the scrapbook stuff out, I haven't done that in a while.

We are all very ready for her to get here.  The boys talk about her all the time and imagine what things will be like when she is here.  A friend gave us a stuffed panda and a ladybug basket and Graham insisted they go in his room so he can think about his sister all the time.  So sweet!

The next step is for me to send these things off with two more passport photos of Neal and me and copies of our passport and our second payment to the agency.  They will take all our documents, with our Notice of Approval, and put them together to make our dossier which will then be sent to China.  This shouldn't take long to prepare since all the documents have already been approved.  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Happy Easter!  We have had a great Spring Break.  Neal's sister and family came in from NYC and we have spent a lot of time with them.  We went to the lake for a couple of days and had a crawfish boil at Neal's parents' house Saturday.  Easter we went to church and then had lunch at Squire Creek with Neal's family.  My Mom and Dad are off in Texas looking at the bluebonnets.

We received our notice of our fingerprint appointment from the Homeland Security.  We have to go to Jackson on April 20th for those.  Exciting!  One step closer.  Neal and my anniversary is the 17th so we figure we will stay over for the night.  Lucky it was a Friday appointment:-)

Good Friday we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt at my grandmother's house in Ruston.  Below is a pic of all the great-grandchildren.  It's exciting to think that next year there will be one more little girl in this pic.  All of these cousins live in Ruston.  She is going to be such a blessed little girl to have so many "friends" when she gets here!

I'm already back with news to share!  After I posted earlier today, I went to the mailbox and there were our copies of the home study.  Also in the mail was another red thread bracelet.  My first one had run out of red thread and I decided, when our home study was finalized, that I would get another one and hopefully it will still have some red thread in it when we leave for China (my other one lasted 5 months).  I put our I-800A form in the mail today with its supporting documents and will hopefully hear from them within the next 30-45 days.

It's been a while since I've posted anything but we are still moving along at a snail's pace, it seems.  Our home study was approved and finalized last Friday, March 16th.  We still had one reference letter to send so my aunt, Donna Lynn, wrote that and we forwarded it to the home study agency.  We are now waiting for the 4 copies of the study to be sent to us so we can send it with our I800 form to the UCIS for approval which takes 30-45 days.  During this time we will have to be fingerprinted again and then we will have our dossier to sent to China (DTC).  We have been praying that we will find our daughter before we are DTC because I have heard that things go faster if you have your Letter of Intent (LOI) filed for a particular child before DTC.  There are also lots of children that you can't look into adopting though until you have a Log-in Date (LID) which doesn't happen until about 10 days after you are DTC.  Confusing, I know.  Keep praying that things will go smoothly from here.  We are so ready to find her and bring her home.  The boys talk about her all the time and it feels like she is missing.  Thanks for all the prayers and support.

Let's C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E!!!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!  Finally!!! We have been working diligently to get all our documents together to send to the agency so they can compile it with our home study for our dossier.  It has been a very trying process.  Mostly, the medical records and form that needed to be filled out and notarized by the doctor just didn't get done.  They have had our information since the beginning of November.  Finally got them on Monday only to find out that Neal's results had expired (everything must be dated within 6 months of China receiving our documents).  So, Neal had to go back to the doctor Wednesday and have all his tests redone.  For some reason (and I know there is one), God has made us wait.  I know he is trying to teach me patience.  I have learned it!  I also believe that our China Girl is not there yet so we must wait......

This has been my life.  If there was a fire at my house, the first thing I would grab would have been my folder with all of these documents in it!  (After making sure my boys are out safe, of course).  As Graham carried the FedEx envelope out the door I felt like I was losing a piece of myself.  LOL!  Every document has to be prepared and notarized, certified, stamped, whatever that particular form needed.  They all have to be dated within the last 6 months.  Many people have asked what all I have to provide, so here is a list and a picture:

1.  Birth Certificate - Husband & Wife - not just a copy but certified and dated.  Had to order these through vital check.com (could have gone to Monroe but decided to do it online).  I also got 2 copies, just in case:-)

2.   Marriage License (also certified by the Clerk of Court)

3.   Application Letter (signed by both of us and notarized).  This told about us, why we wanted to adopt from China, stated that we would not abandon or abuse our child, that we would provide her with everything we provide our biological children, etc.

4.   Medical Letter for both of us - signed by Doctor and notarized.  This included a letter for each and also a form which detailed our health.  Also, signed and notarized.

5.   Certificate of Financial Status (Prepared by CPA and signed and notarized by me and Neal).

6.   Employment Status -one for each of us since Neal has his own business and I work on commission.  (prepared by CPA, signed and notarized).

7.   Police Letter for each of us, signed by the RPD and notarized.

8.   3 color photocopies of our passports

9.   Power of Attorney, signed and notarized by both of us

10.   Authentication of Notarization (A simple form, 1 for each of us)

This was just to be sent to the adoption agency.  The home study folks had a whole other bunch of documents they needed, pics of the family, pics of our house, doctor note stating they are in good health and are current on vaccinations, a very long autobiography by each, all kinds of financial stuff, reference letters (signed and notarized, thanks to those who helped out), fingerprints taken at the detention center (two sets) for clearances on child abuse with State Police and FBI, and a few other things.  I even made sure our dog was current on her vaccinations, just in case!

I feel like I have reached the top of the mountain but know I am only about 1/2 way there.  Still feels good!!!!

This is my red thread adoption bracelet.  If you don't know the story about the red thread you can Google it.  I got this bracelet several months ago and never take it off.  This is what it looks like now.  It's got lots of untangling to do but I hope it still has some red in there when we go to China.

We are hoping that our Dossier will be on the way to China within the next two weeks.  So excited!

Josh Kelley - Naleigh Moon

This is the song that Amy sent me.  Sweet girl!  Thanks Amy!

Happy Chinese New Year!  We spent the long weekend at the lake and I was reading the above book.  I sat the book down for just a few seconds and came back and found this ladybug on it!  I love the signs.  Still trying to get medical forms completed.  I know there is a reason for the wait but it is really hard.

Yesterday, a friend sent this picture to me of a ladybug that was crawling around in her church Sunday.  Thanks for the pic, Ashley.

Then another sweet friend, Amy, sent me the link to this song.  Watch out for sweet tears...  I think it is going to post separate from this, but I am not so talented at blogging (yet).


We have been so blessed with so many positive words and support from friends and family.  We can not find our sweet girl "a moment too soon".  Keep on praying that our dossier will be submitted smoothly in the next week or two and sent to China.

Love,

The DeForests -1