Update 2 on Lidi

Just got this...a little bummed that we didn't get pictures too but we will be seeing the real thing soon!

Received 01.27.14

Wu Li Di (F), DOB: 09/18/2011 lives Wuhan CWI, Hebei Province matched with Jones/DE, #3428 (URGENT)

1).Shoe size

Her foot length is 15cm please refer to it.

2).How her potty training is going

She is potty trained but she wears diapers at night or when she goes out.

3). What phases can she say

She can say some phases, for example, I wants to go to park, I likes banana, I am full and I’m going to bed etc.

4). Has her foster parents told her about us

Yes, her foster parents often show her your album and talk her about her new family.

5). Are there gifts or toys that she would like

She likes doll and electric toys.

Travel Itenerary

Feb 13             Thursday                               

Arrive in Beijing at 3:00PM from Newark via UA 89 (12:00NN / 3:00PM) (issued by Lotus)

After you get your luggage, meet your English speaking tour guide holding a sign with your

name at the airport exit near the luggage claim area. Transfer to your hotel. (Transfer and  guide booked by Lotus)

The guide will inform you of the pick-up schedule for the tour.

                                                                                                Beijing Novotel Peace Hotel

Feb 14             Friday                                     Beijing Novotel Peace Hotel (B/L)

Meet your guide at the hotel lobby and explore JuYongGuan Great Wall and Hutong Lane for  a whole day tour. Lunch is included. (Booked by Lotus.)

                              

Feb 15             Saturday                                Beijing Novotel Peace Hotel (B/L)

Today, visit the Forbidden City & Tiananmen Square. Then, have lunch with Holt staff.

(Optional; booked by Lotus. During this tour you will also visit Silk Factory)

Feb 16             Sunday                                                (B)

Airport transfer (Booked by Lotus.)

Beijing/Wuhan flight via CZ 6146 (11:25AM / 1:10PM) (The local guide has your tickets)

Airport pick up and hotel check-in. (Transfer booked by Lotus.)

Wuhan Renaissance Hotel

Feb 17             Monday                                   Wuhan Renaissance Hotel (B)

                 Morning - Meet your child at the Civil Affairs Office and take passport photo at the Public

Security Bureau (Transfer booked by Lotus.)

Feb 18             Tuesday                                  Wuhan Renaissance Hotel (B)

                 Morning - Adoption process: registration and document notarization (Transfer booked by Lotus.)

Feb 19             Wednesday                             Wuhan Renaissance Hotel (B)

Free day for optional activities. (No services from Lotus, Holt staff will assist with arrangements if

required.)

Feb 20             Thursday                                Wuhan Renaissance Hotel (B)

Free day for optional activity (Tower of Yellow Crane). (No services from Lotus, Holt staff will

assist with arrangements if required.)

Feb 21             Friday                                     (B)

Hotel check out, pick up child’s passport and then transfer to airport (Transfer booked by Lotus.)

Wuhan / Guangzhou flight via CZ 3345 (6:55PM / 8:35PM) (the local guide has your tickets)

Meet your English speaking tour guide and driver at the airport exit and transfer to the hotel.

(Transfer and guide booked by Lotus.)

                                                                        Guangzhou China Hotel

Feb 22             Saturday                                 Guangzhou China Hotel (B)

                        Visa paperwork check and Medical check (Transfer booked by Lotus.)

Feb 23             Sunday                                                Guangzhou China Hotel (B)

Free day for optional activities. (No services from Lotus, Holt staff will assist with arrangements if

required.)

Feb 24             Monday                                   Guangzhou China Hotel (B)

                        Pick up medical result (Arranged by Holt; no services from Lotus.)

Feb 25             Tuesday                                  Guangzhou China Hotel (B)

                        Visa appointment and Oath taking ceremony (Arranged by Holt; no services from Lotus.)

Feb 26             Wednesday                             Guangzhou China Hotel (B)

Visa pick up. (Arranged by Holt; no services from Lotus.)

Feb 27             Thursday                                (B)

Guangzhou/Hong Kong train via T817 (12:03PM / 1:56PM) (the local guide has your tickets)

A guide will wait for you at the exit area. You will have private transfer from HungHom train station to your hotel.  The guide will also help you to check in to the hotel. (Transfer and guide booked by Lotus)

                                                            Hong Kong Regal Airport Hotel

Feb 28             Friday

Transfer to the airport via an enclosed, air-conditioned link bridge (No services from Lotus.)

Hong Kong / Newark flight via UA 116 (11:25AM / 1:45PM) (issued by Lotus)

Please be at the airport around 3 hours before flight. End of services!

We're Going to China!

Its been a little while since the last post but man has a lot happened!  Its now February 3rd and on February 12th (Bobby's birthday) we will be traveling to China!  Its hard to believe that we actually know the date now and are so close to going.  Ok, so how did we get here.  Well, after we got our Article 5, things started happening quickly.  First, we got our Travel Approval on January 13th.  This is the piece of paper we needed from the Chinese government saying that we are approved to enter the country to adopt.  As soon as we got that, Holt started working on our travel dates.  They were estimating that we could go either Feb 7th or Feb 14th.  We decided that Feb 14th was better so on Jan 16th we got our Consulate Appointment.  This is the date that we will take Mila to the US Consulate in Guangzhou so that she can get her visa to come to the US.  Our consulate appointment date is Feb 26th.  So then we contacted Lotus Travel to have them build our itinerary and to start getting the trip booked.  Here is a picture of the Travel Approval.

We Received Our Article 5!!!

The most common question we are asked about our adoption is, "When will you be traveling to China?"  Unfortunately, we have been unable to answer that question specifically but have only been able to say, "We hope sometime in February."  Well today we passed one of the last 2 major hurdles in finding out that answer.  And that is, the Article 5 document from the US Consulate got issued!!!  Here's an explanation of what an Article 5 is:

If the Consular Officer determines that the child appears eligible to immigrate to the United States and that the information provided indicates that the adoption process thus far has complied with the Convention and IAA, he or she will notify the Convention country's central authority by issuing an Article 5/17 letter. The Article 5/17 letter will inform the foreign central authority that U.S. competent authorities have determined the prospective adoptive parents are eligible and suited to adopt, that the child may enter and reside permanently in the United States, and that the U.S. Central Authority agrees that the adoption may proceed.

So the US has reviewed all of our paperwork and are now certifying to the Chinese government that we are good to go. 

Here is the email we received:

Dear Adoptive Parent,

The Adopted Children's Immigrant Visa Unit (ACIVU) at U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou has finished processing your child's Article 5, and your file is ready to be returned to your adoption agency's facilitator today. 

Next, your agency will deliver the Article 5 and Letter of Seeking Confirmation to the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA), which will issue the Travel Approval (TA).  The TA allows you to come to China to finalize the adoption, so once the CCCWA issues the TA, your agency can email us to request an immigrant visa appointment at the Consulate.  When your agency requests an appointment, they are required to submit your five choices in rank order.  The ACIVU strives to schedule every family for their top appointment choice on which we still have available visa appointments.  We do not reserve certain days for children of certain ages.  All appointments are open to adopted children of any age and medical condition, and they are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.  We then notify your agency of the scheduled date and time.  

The last and final step will be getting our Travel Approval (TA) from China which means that we can book our trip and we will finally know our date!

Readying Your Room

Dear Mila,

  We have been busy getting your room ready for when you get home. We hope you love it! We want it to be your pink Princess room. We hope that it will be a place where many happy memories are made. We hope you feel safe and happy here and it will be your safe haven from the outside world. 

Love, 

Ma Ma and Ba Ba

Travel While in China

One of the questions we are most frequently asked is "Do you know when you will travel over to get Mila?" Unfortunately, the answer to that is "no we don't." Right now the best that we can give is an estimate. We've been told that from the time we got our letter of confirmation from the national Visa Center, that the time to travel is approximately 10 weeks. That puts us mid February which stinks because we really wanted to go in January but at least it is getting closer. Right now the US Consulate in Guangzhou is reviewing our paperwork for being able to bring Mila home and make her a citizen. This takes about 4 weeks. Once they approve the paperwork, they will issue an Article 5 to the CCCWA stating that we have met the Hague Convention requirements. We will get a copy of the Article 5 when it is issued. Then the CCCWA reviews the paperwork on their end. Another 3-4 weeks. Once they approve it, they will issue our travel approval (TA). This is the document from china that says we are cleared to enter the country for the purposes of adoption. Once that is issued, we will contact our travel agency (Lotus Travel) and they will start putting our trip together including all the places we will stay, setting up our appointments and helping us book our plane tickets. That is suppose to take 2-3 weeks and then we travel!  So that is where the 10 weeks comes from. And with the holidays we are wondering how much that will slow the process down. We hope not by much!  For now, all we know is that we will fly into Beijing, be there for 2 days, then we will travel to Wuhan City to where Mila lives! We'll be there for 5-6 days and then we will travel to Guangzhou which is where the US Consulate is. There we will complete Milas immigration paperwork and she will officially become a US citizen!  For now, here is a picture showing the drive times between where we will go. 

Visa's Are Here!

Big deal today! We got our visas to enter China for the purpose of adoption. It's one of the last big things we had to do on our end to prep for travel. We have been told that from now until we are in China will be about 10 weeks.