UPDATE WITH PICTURES!! HALLELUJAH!!

WE JUST GOT THE MOST AMAZING THING! It had been awhile since we'd had any info on Judi, so I went through the same service we did back in March. Well, two weeks later, here it is, and holy cow, we actually got two pictures!! Remember, Judi is in Kunming; this is a notoriously hard orphanage and foster care to get information out of, so we are truly blessed by these pictures! The funny thing is, pay special attention to the measurements at the end. These indicate she is only 33" tall and weighs 24.5 lbs; the March update had her at 36.6" and 28 lbs. Wonder how it's possible for a kid to shrink 3 inches?! I think I tend to believe this set of measurements because she sure looks tiny in the pictures. Isn't she just scrumptious? All my fears have literally been washed away; it feels so right in my heart to look at these new pictures and think of her as a "Cavender". The kids were just thrilled to see her, and Jazmin is carrying around copies of her pictures in her many purses!
1. Is she showing any evidence of effects from her diagnosis, i.e. learning difficulties, seizures, physical delays?
No.
2. We would like to send a care package, when would it be given to her?
After we receive the care package we will forward it to your child in appropriate time. (I guess it means after their make sure you ARE her family-after you sign the document).
3. What is her personality like?
She is fairly introverted. She is very sweet and she talks gently.
4. Is she in school or receiving any education?
No, she is not in school. She is receiving education from the foster family under orphanage¡¯s guidance, such as play games, sing songs, etc.
5. How long has she been in foster care?
We have mentioned when she was sent to the foster family in the file sent to CCAA, you may ask your agency.
6. Does she have foster siblings?
She has two sisters in the foster family. One is bigger and another is smaller.
7. How does she sleep?
She sleeps well.
8. Does she sleep alone or with a family member?
She sleeps alone.

11. Height: 84cm; Weight: 12kg; Head: 46cm; Chest: 52cm; Teeth: 16; Foot: 13.5cm.

MY BABY STARTED SCHOOL TODAY!!

My babies (even the big ones) started a new school year today. Jessica is in 8th, James is in middle school now (6th), and Jazmin, that little baby we welcomed over 3 years ago, started kindergarden today.
She had her outfit all picked out a week in advance, and loves her new Princess backpack with matching lunchbox! We got her haircut (but so short!), but she does look cute, like a little pixie!
I at least managed to wait until they got on the bus before I cried. Then I got myself together and went in to enjoy my nice quiet house!
When they all got home, they were full of talk; sometimes, I have to pick one to speak at a time, as they all want to be the first to tell about their day, and I only have two ears! Jazmin had a good day, but she fell asleep on the bus home; I think the "no nap" thing this year is going to be the hardest part for her; the teacher said it's because the state has so many learning requirements now, they need the extra time; isn't that sad, that now, even in kindergarden, you have to "buckle down" and get to work!
Have to go now and feed 3 hungry kiddos!
Debbie

WE HAVE OUR I-171H!!!!

In adoption land, this is the absolute best news ever! This was our last big hurdle to getting our dossier to China; finally after soooo long and soooo many delays!! We should have been DTC in June or July, but because of the homestudy and immigration delays, now it looks like we won't have Judi until 2009! This is so frustrating on so many levels; and many others are experiencing even more angst because on April 1st, the Hague treaty went into effect.
This is a new set of regulations the USA and other countries agree to abide by in international adoption. By paying attention to our adoption Yahoo group, we squeaked in under that date, and so we are one of the "lucky" ones who did not have to submit an I-800 instead of an I-600. The Hague has slowed everything down to a crawl; a process that took about 6 weeks is now taking over 3 months! Many families are just lost in the bureaucracy and there is absolutely nothing they can do. There are also much stricter homestudy guidelines and almost every family is having to redo their homestudy to comply. I thank the Lord every day he led me to that Yahoo group and told me to "pay attention"!
Debbie

A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING GOIN' ON......

Wow, what a rollercoaster ride! We're being transferred to Heritage Adoption Services, an agency that is tops by all accounts; I got my dossier back from Adoption House and Heritage has it. All we're waiting on is official approval of the transfer by the CCAA.

In the meantime, I had not heard or seen our approval from immigration. I have emailed and called and gotten no responses; I keep thinking something must be wrong. I finally got fed up and called in the big guns; Ike Skelton, our Missouri State Rep. Sometimes, families have to do this to find anything out or get things taken care of. Their office called immigration for me and when Ike Skelton calls, people listen! I found out they wanted additional information from usI wonder how long this would have taken if I had just sat back and waited?
I have a feeling I know what it's about; my homestudy agency failed to include in my homestudy a copy of their license agreement; my old adoption agency didn't catch this, our new one did! Stay tuned.........

IMMIGRATION IS A PAIN!!!!

Well, to catch up...
I got the letter from immigration and they wanted, as I suspected, the license from the homestudy agency. BUT, and this is the most ridiculous thing, they wanted to know how many times Jr had been married (uh, DUH, did they actually READ the homestudy??), and the address of Adoption House.
Ok, so the VERY NEXT DAY, I had a letter typed up and copies of all the necessary documents; I drove up to immigration to deliver it personally. I walk in and there's two security guards there. It's Wednesday, the "open" day to just walk in. I told them what I was there for and the younger one said "well, there's no one here today that can help you; you'll have to send it in the mail" WHAT???!!! I remained calm and said I had done this same thing with my homestudy weeks earlier. They said well, they weren't allowed to do that anymore. I was seething, but left 'cause I just couldn't think straight. This was clearly simply a case of them not wanting to be bothered to go to any "extra" work.
I got in the car and drove about a block, and then just said "NO WAY!" I am NOT going to sit still for this; I whipped the car around (kids were with me again) and headed back.
This time, I walked in and right off, told them the name of the adoption officer, and that all I needed to do was hand her these documents; that's all! Surely, this wasn't an unreasonable request! Finally, the younger of the two realized I wasn't going to play nice and go away and he went to find the officer.
Turns out the reason I never got an answer to my emails or phone calls was the officer had been out of the office with a broken hip! The guard said, however, there was a new person now, and he said he would deliver my papers to her. I thanked him nicely and left victorious!!
Debbie

JUDI'S ADOPTION IN JEOPARDY!!

Today we got an email and when I opened it, I literally freaked out. It was from our adoption agency and it said "we are closing". I can't describe to you the feelings I experienced with those words; it was a blow and all I could think of was losing Judi; how on earth would I explain this to the kids??!!
I read a little further and the email went on to explain that our adoptions were safe (though trust had gone out the window by now) and not to worry.
NOT TO WORRY??
You should have seen the emails from the families on our agency Yahoo group; they were flying back and forth all night. We all have no idea what will happen; all we can do is sit and wait; some of the families are very close to DTC (dossier to China), including us! In fact, I had just sent my dossier to Adoption House with a big check attached; at 11:00 pm, I called my bank's 1-800 # and cancelled it. This is just crazy; how does something like this happen?
We are praying hard tonight; if God's plan is for Judi to come home to us, He will make it happen. If not, we must trust Him, though my heart will be broken.
Debbie

FINGERPRINTED!!!!!!!!

For anyone not in the adoption world, this is a BIG step! After waiting 3 weeks for our notice to BE fingerprinted (you have to be invited), I had to call. I actually got ahold of a REAL, LIVE person at the office, and she said she would send me the notices asap. Well, I practically camped out at the mailbox all weekend and by Tuesday, no notice. Imagine my disgust and embarassment when I realized she had sent them by EMAIL, for goodness sake! So I had them for 3 days and didn't even know it!
So today, we drove 1.5 hours up to the immigration office, walked in and walked out 10" later, and drove 1.5 hours home. Now, we wait for the real deal, the final immigration approval, the coveted I-171H!
Debbie