Mila's Zodiac Sign

Here is some info we got on LiDi

We wanted to post some of the info we got about LiDi.

Wu Lidi, female, was born on September 18^th 2011, and was found in the Zhongshan Park, Jianghan Area, Wuhan City, on August 5^th 2012. This baby was referred to our Welfare Institute by the local police officers.

Her name, Wu Lidi was given in this rule: Wu was from “Wu Han”, the name of the city; the “Li” was given for all the children who went into the welfare institute in that month; “di” was given because she was found in the Zhongshan Park.

When she was first discovered, there was a paper note with her. The results of health check on admission were as follows: height: 73cm, weight: 10.2kg, head circumference: 45cm, chest circumference: 45.5cm, body temperature 36.8 Celsius degrees, and teeth: 2.

In order for her better cares, we sent her into the fostering family with multiple experiences on August 8^th 2012. Initially, she only drunk milk and her fostering mother cooked a lot of delicious food for her. Gradually, she began to eat other food besides milk. When she was one year old, the families drove the car and took her to the children’s fun park; she was so excited and kissed each of the family members. When she was one year and one month old, she could crawl and stand up steadily. She could also walk several steps on the bed. When she was one year and 4 months old, she could say “grandpa” and “grandma”. When she was 1 year and 5 months old, she liked playing in the community yard. In the spring festival, she had the celebrating dinner with her families. When other people asked her how old she was, she reached out two fingers to express she was 2 years old.

Now, she could say 3-5 words, and express something like “mommy, please hold me” and “I’m full”. She could speak clearly. She was hurry to run out for fun, but her fostering mother said to her “if you don’t eat all of the food, I will eat the left”, then she would be back and eat all of the left food in the bowl. When she was taking shower, she liked playing with the water. She would play with her sister before going to bed. In the daytime, her fostering mother took care of her and her brother. Her brother was poor at walking; therefore, she often shared her toys with her disabled brother. There are several children’s bikes at home, and she could ride each of them. She likes exploring something new.

Her daily food includes milk, rice powder, porridge, noodle, rice, steamed dumpling, soup and watermelon. She has 3 dinners and 4 adjuvant food every day. Her favorite foods are cake and porridge. She has good appetite. She does not like food with vinegar.

She is living a regular life. 5:30 wake up and then fall asleep after drinking some milk. 8:00, getting up. 8:30, breakfast, like porridge, dumpling, noodle and egg cake; 10:30 fruits; 12:50, lunch, soup, rice, egg; 13:30 to 15:30, napping; 15:50, snacks, like cakes, fruits; 18:30, dinner. 21:00 cake; 21:30 go to bed. 

We Got a Match!

On Friday July 26 at night around 8:00 pm, Bobby got a phone call from Holt.  Since we are on the waiting list, we get immediate butterflies whenever we see that Holt is calling because it could be something.  Well, our case worker Marissa started explaining that they were getting ready to have a little girl released to them that they thought would be a perfect match for us!  Her name is Wu Lidi and she was born Sept 18, 2011 so in a little over a month, she will turn two.  Just as she was telling Bobby this wonderful news, Larkin walked into the room from a shower and Bobby mouther to her, "WE HAVE A MATCH!"  She was immediately at attention.  Once Bobby switched to speaker phone, Marissa went on to explain to us all the details they had on her...she was abandoned at 1 in a park, they gave her the last name "Wu" after Wuhan City where they found her, her first name "Li" they gave to all the children who were found that month, and "Di" which in Chinese means earth or park because they found her in a park, she is currently living with a foster family.  Needless to say, we are THRILLED!  She said that emails would soon follow with the written details, what we needed to do if we decided to accept the match, and PICTURES!!!  

Here is an excerpt from the first email:

   "Dear Bobby and Larkin

   Congratulations on your referral!

   Here is the child material for Wu Li Di! The photos of this lovely child are included in the PDF and attached. "

We're on the list!

We received official word from our International agency that our dossier has been logged into China's system and now we are on the waiting list to be matched!  So what now?  Well, each month China releases a list to all adoption agencies of children that are ready to be matched for adoption.  This list usually comes out towards the end of the month.  Once our agency gets the list, they review it, and based off of what we specified on our application, they will begin trying to find a match for us.  We receive an email from our agency each month when they receive the list and then at any time after that we could receive a call saying that they have a match for us.  Once we receive the info they have of the child, we will review it with a pediatrician who specializes in international adoptions, and together we will decide if we accept the match.  If we do, then there is some paperwork that gets filled out and sent to china which locks in the match for us and then at that point we are committed.  Now, why would anyone not accept the match?  Well its basically because the child may have medical conditions that we feel we are not capable of handling.  But we know that the Lord has a special child in mind that is reserved just for us!

Dossier Sent to China!

We just wanted to post this good email we got today.  From what we understand, our dossier is on its way to China where it will take 4-6 weeks to be translated and logged into the CCCWA.  Once it is logged in, we will then be on the waiting list to be matched.  Right now they are saying it takes 1-2 months to get matched.  Then it will be 6-8 months to travel to China to get our baby girl!  We also found a doctor at A.I. Dupont that specializes in international adoptions and she will help us to review the medical paper work once we get matched.  She will also conduct the post adoption exam when we bring her home from China.  We are at excitement level 11!

Dear Bobby and Larkin:

CONGRATULATIONS!  YOUR DOSSIER WAS SHIPPED TO BEIJING TODAY!

Your hard work is being rewarded.  Officials at the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) in Beijing will soon begin the process of translating and reviewing your dossier paperwork.  Once your dossier has been reviewed AND you have been matched to a child, the officials at the CCCWA will process your Letter of Seeking Confirmation from Adopter (LOA). Once your Travel Approval has been issued your U.S. Consulate appointment date can be scheduled and you will be able to travel to China to adopt your child. At the time of your assignment, you will be updated as to the timeframes for this process.

Sincerely,

The China Team at Holt

Dossier Finished!

It's been awhile since we posted because we've been busy trying to get our dossier together. That's a huge binder that we compile with all sorts of info in it about us like our financial status, background check, passport info, reference letters, and photos. One of the biggest parts was obtaining our USCIS approval which is the immigration paper work we will need to bring our baby back into the country. All of our paperwork had to have 3 levels of approval, notarization, state certification, and authorization at the Chinese embassy. Luckily our agency handled all of this processing for us. Now that our dossier is complete, it will be translated into Chinese and sent over for approval. Once it's approved then we will be on the waiting list to be matched. Depending on how many children are available and what we are willing to accept for medical conditions will determine how long we are waiting to be matched.

In addition to our dossier, we've also been preparing financially and physically for a new baby to come. In Dec we decided to flip flop our two spare bedrooms making the back one the guest room and the front room the baby's room. Right now the guest room is finished but we are planning on starting in the nursery soon.

Completely New Direction

We just wanted to post an update on what has happened so far with our adoption process. We had kind of a set back because the agency we had chosen, Bethany Christian, told us that they could not work with us because we could not sign their confession of faith. It was a pretty big blow to us because we were feeling like Bethany was the way to go but it was obviously not meant to be.

So, we regrouped and reconsidered our options. There were a few other agencies that LDS Family Services recommended but both were out of the state and after what happened with Bethany, we wanted something that would be really different. So we recontacted Holt International which had been our first choice before starting this whole process. We really liked the idea of adopting internationally because it would be just a unique experience to travel to a completely different land and culture to get our new baby. We decided we would go with the China Special Needs program because we could get an infant, the wait times were shorter and we already felt connected to that program because of the success our friends, Ric and Stevie, had with adopting their girl Marissa from a similar program.

Once that was decided, we contacted Holt to go over some initial questions we had and we also sat through a couple of webinars about adopting from China and how to finance an adoption. Both of these made us feel better about the process and made us really excited to make it happen. We had to get all of our finances in order which meant cutting out a few of our more expensive bills, paying off our credit card, and secure a rather large loan from my 401k plan to get us started. Once this was done, on March 26, 2012 we filled out our application online and submitted it to officially start our adoption! It was actually kind of stressful getting it filled out because we had to put a lot of information on there especially about what types of special needs we thought that we could handle. But we were so relieved to get that major part done.

Now we are waiting to begin the home study portion of our process. We will be working with a local agency in Delaware for that part. We know it will take about 3 months and will be intense with paperwork and interviews that they must complete to get us ready. One day at a time!