Where is Alyssa?

Fuzhou City, Jiangxi

Say Yes

Facing Fears

So why is it I can fly to Russia twice,be left alone for 1 1/2 weeks,bring home a new daughter, fly to China twice, and bring home a new daughter each time but I can not let my son drive with just me in the car? With my oldest who will be 20 in a month I tried it once but it was too stressful for both us. We agreed it just didn't work. To this day I have not been in the car with him when he was driving. Now my next oldest son who is 16 has his learner's permit. He had a seizure last June and couldn't drive for 6 months. In December he could start driving again and needs to make up for lost time. I have improved I will let him drive me as long as his Dad is sitting up front and I can sit in the back and close my eyes. The problem is he can try to get his license in March but he doesn't get enough driving time with Dad. Tonight on the way home from church I told him it wasn't him it was me. It is hereditary, my mom was the same way. He was trying to convince me that we can face my fears together and that together we can overcome them. Isn't that what God wants us to do? In Psalms 56:3 King David says "When I am afraid, I will trust in you". I know God is telling me I need to be more like King David and trust in him but still I struggle. Will this be the week that I put all my trust in him and let Nicholas help me overcome this fear?

Frustrated with Visas

Today was Chinese Visa Application Day. For at least six hours I filled out visa applications, printed, fixed an error, printed again, repeat. The worse part is now we have a couple of questions and the courier is off for the weekend. When there is one mistake you basically have to redo the whole application. You can not save the application so it is like starting over. I think I am passing this one to Dallas. I have done all of the paperwork to this point with him doing the proofreading. I think it is time to switch roles. I wish I had decided sooner to pass this one to Dallas, I can think of a lot of better ways I could have spent my day.

On a positive note the visa applications should be the last time consuming paperwork we have to complete. Plus we will be one step closer to bringing Alyssa home.

We are planning to take Grace, Julia and Zachary with us to China. Grace talks about China often and we really want her to have the opportunity to go back. We can't take Grace without taking Julia. Julia would not understand and we think it would really cause some setbacks with her if she did not go. Zachary is going because he wants to go and it would be nice to have an older child to help with the littles. Nicholas can't go because he is in the 10th grade and on block schedule. We still need to find someone willing to stay with him. Missing two weeks would be like missing a month of school and he has 2 classes that are difficult. With Kristopher being in college it is not even an option for him to go. Fortunately he is in a dorm so we don't need to worry about him.

Now if we could just get those Visa applications completed and sent to the courier.

UPDATE:The visa applications are done except for signatures. I couldn't stand them not being finished so I figured out the answers and got them done. We will gather photos and money orders this weekend and send them to the courier on Monday.

Update

This morning we received an update. We now call Alyssa our little Sumo wrestler. We are so ready to go to China and bring her home. We need to add baby bottles and lotion to our list of things to bring.

Below are the 10 questions we asked and their answers. Not so sure about those measurements. She does have layers of clothes on.

1. Could we please have some recent photos and possibly a video of Fu Hao Ling?
See attachment. She caught a cold, is not a hundred percent, she’s been fussy and crancky, so the pictures didn’t turn out really good.

2. Is Fu Hao Ling potty trained?
When she needs to go, she would squat down on her own, but hasn’t learned to go to bathroom yet.

3. What comforts Fu Hao Ling when she is upset?
Give her some snacks, or hold her and play with her.

4. Does Fu Hao Ling drink from a baby bottle?
Yes.

5. Does Fu Hao Ling have a favorite toy?
She likes all news kinds of toys, nothing especially likes.

6. Has Fu Hao Ling had any illnesses recently?
She is coughing now.

7. What do you call Fu Hao Ling?
We call her Hao Ling.

8. Does Fu Hao Ling have a favorite caretaker or favorite friend?
Her closest person is her foster mom and big sister at home.

9. What words can Fu Hao Ling say?
She can say: Po Po (grandma), Ye Ye (grandpa), Jie Jie (big sister), etc. 1-2 words phrases.

10. Is Fu Hao Ling able to walk and run?
She is walking and running.

11. Her updated measurements:
Height: 87cm; Weight: 13kg; Head: 47.5cm; Chest: 47.5cm; Foot: 13.5cm; Teeth: upper 8, lower 8.

Lockbox Text and Email

Dear Applicant/Petitioner:

Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing. Within 7 - 10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number XXXXXXXXXXXX. If you have any questions please contact the Hague Unit at (877) XXX_XXXX or NBC.XXXXX.GOV

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE

At 1:50 a.m. we got this text and email. Not a big step but good to know we made it past the lockbox. No one wants the lockbox to reject their application. At the lockbox it is checked that all papers are in order and everything that is needed is included. I think the I800 application was 10 pages long and we had a lot of supporting documents to include.

NBC(National Benefits Center) will now look over our application and approve it(positive thoughts) and forward it to the NVC(National Visa Center). Usually it takes 11-18 days for approval from receipt of our application at the lockbox. I am thinking our receipt day is February 13 but won't know for sure until we get the receipt letter in the mail.

Testing

Checking to see if this blog app works.

Welcome

Hi everyone! Welcome to our blog. Until yesterday our blog had an audience of one, me. We received our LOA for Fu Hao Ling(Alyssa) on Thursday so we told the family(we had only told a few people about Alyssa)and made our blog public.

Alyssa is 2 years old and currently resides in foster care in Fuzhou City, Jiangxi. We hope to travel to bring her home in about 3 months. Her 3 brothers and 2 sisters are excited about their new little sister. Grace, our youngest,is the most excited because she does not want to be last.

Paperwork

Since receiving the news of our LOA late yesterday afternoon we have spent 6 hours completing paperwork. We are either extremely slow or very meticulous. Thank goodness it is now headed in the directions it needs to go(a set of papers went to Texas and the other to California). One more thing to check off our list. Still can't believe we are so close to bringing Alyssa home.

LOA!!!!!!

We just got the email that our LOA(Letter of Acceptance)has arrived. We are so excited! We have officially been matched with our little girl. We have some US paperwork to do and then we wait. I think from this point it typically takes about 3 months to travel. We can handle that. We now have a more accurate due date. Alyssa Faith it won't be long now!

We lovingly call this her Urkel photo.

Day 46

We are now 46 days from LID(log in date). I am so tired of waiting. I know it will happen in God's time but I am just not very patient. It's hard knowing it could come tomorrow or it could be another 80 days. God's timing is perfect, I just need to wait for it.

Yesterday while we waiting for the bell to ring so the girls could go into school, Grace asked if we were going to drive to China. Julia and I told her that the only way to get there was by plane. She then said, oh you have to go across the ocean. Pretty smart for a 6 year old. Grace prays for Alyssa every night. She asks God to keep her safe and warm until we get her. So sweet!