Gotcha Day Video ...

Lena was placed in our arms.  We wanted to share the video of us in China when we first met our little girl.  We, along with 16 other families, waited ... and one by one little kids were brought in the room.

Finally, it was our turn ...

Daily Life with Lena...

We are enjoying being home! We've been home for two weeks now.  Lena had her first haircut and we went to the San Diego Zoo! She is very brave and doesn't scare or cry easily. She did well with the haircut and really liked the comb! The thing she liked most about the zoo was the music - they had a 'bell choir' and she loved that part! The orangutan's seemed to be very interested in Lena though!

Our Travel Group - CCAI 1663!

Here is a photo of our travel group! Yep - we're BIG! We hear it may have been the largest group yet. There were 16 families adopting, near 60 folks traveling! It meant a lot of BIG buses! Everyone was so friendly, patient, and kind that it was FUN traveling with a group this size AND everyone was always on time...how can that be???

The group had 11 boys, 5 girls adopted, all coming to the United States. We were the only family from California.
We hope to post the "Gotcha Day" video soon!

We're HOME!

We went from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, a short 2 hour lay-over, then the long flight to LAX. Lena slept a good portion of the 14 hour flight. She did just great the other hours. She is such a good sport about all the travel and changes she has experienced in the last weeks.

Besides jet lag and colds, we are all doing well. Here are a couple of photos.

We'll post more soon...

Homeward Bound!

It seems too good to be true - but tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for home.  We have lots to share about this incredible experience.  We've learned so much about so many things during this process - and it almost seems bitter sweet to be leaving this place - but as much as we've grown through adoption, about China and its culture, about the amazing families that went through this tedious process for the second and sometimes third time, and how important giving homes to special needs children is, and finally how so many brave children like Lena endure.  Janna and I never expected how much this experience would teach us.

We're all packed and excited to bring our Lena home!

Lena!

Here are some pictures of Lena!

Zhengzhou to Guangzhou

We ended another segment of our trip and on to the home stretch.  We've had time to spend with our daughter in between paperwork and meetings.  We received Lena's Chinese Passport (hard to read but it's definitely her photo).

Lena is doing amazing.  She's adjusting well and parts of her personality are starting to show.  She just turned 18 months on Thursday.

The next step is a doctor's visit, consulate appointment and Visa documents.  We can see Thursday, December 9 quickly approaching - that's when we get to take Lena home!

Gotcha Day!

This is what it sounds like - gotcha! We have our Lena. She is absolutely perfect.
We can't describe the emotions of being in a room full of parents waiting for their children to arrive. You reflect on how long this process has been. And the 16 families who before this journey had never known each other - but after 4 days together working through the final preparations had become one big family. We waited and one by one a family's child is carried into the room.

It happens sort of randomly - when representatives from various orphanages arrive with kids in their arms. You hear chants of baby names and then emotional screams of joy
Of course, Lena was in the last group. We knew it was her in an instant.
One of the most emotional days ever.

Crib

We arrived in Zhengzhou and we have our room all ready for Lena! We had a crib delivered to our room and Janna put some of Lena's toys and blankets in there to make it look like home.


We get her this afternoon!!!

Hello from Beijing!!

This morning we visited (more like climbed) the Great Wall. What an amazing site. It was cold but clear and was quite an accomplishment climbing those steps.


And then we stopped by Olympic Village and saw the Bird Nest.
At night we went to an acrobatic show.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Zhengzhou (2 hour flight) and in the afternoon we have to complete some paperwork before we prepare for "Gotcha Day" on Monday.

I think our next post and photos will have us with our Daughter Lena!!!

Ni Hao

We had a busy day touring Beijing. We visited the old quarter ancient neighborhood called Hutong outside Beijing. We toured the area on a rickshaw. After, we visited Tiananmen Square and then the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace).


Today, we hike the Great Wall and stop by the Bird's Next (Olympic Stadium). Tomorrow we travel to Zhengzhou and prepare to get Lena!
Here are a few pictures:

We Arrived!

We arrived in Beijing - with a brief stop in Hong Kong. We are staying at the Traders Hotel in the financial district of Beijing. We are looking forward to some sights tomorrow and will post photos soon!

China Itinerary

We finally received our Travel itinerary today (5 days before we depart). Here it is:

11/23 Leave U.S. for Beijing via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.

11/25 Arrive in Beijing - Happy Thanksgiving!

11/26 Tour Beijing - Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City.

11/27 Tour Beijing - Great Wall/Ming Tombs.

11/28 Depart Beijing for Zhengzhou.

11/29 Take a bus to the registration office to MEET LENA!!!

11/30 Adoption Registration in the morning. Adoption is finalized at this time!

12/1 Free time

12/2 Free time 

12/3 Receive Lena's passport in the morning. Leave Zhengzhou for Guangzhou.

12/4 Physical, Hague-required immunizations, and visa photo taken this morning.

12/5 Free time.

12/6 Consulate appointment.

12/7 Free day while paperwork is being processed.

12/8 U.S. Consulate and receive Lena's visa.

12/9 Leave Guangzhou for USA via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. When we land in Los Angeles she will become a US citizen!

Hang on Lena, here come Mommy & Daddy!

Leaving on a Jet Plane!!!!

We just got word that we will be leaving for China on 11/24! We will meet Lena on 11/29!

Here is the email from our agency:

"Your Consulate appointment is confirmed for 12/6/2010.

Based on this Consulate appointment date, CCAI requires that you arrive in Beijing on, or before, 11/25/2010*.

CCAI will provide an airport pick-up for anyone arriving on 11/25, your group’s arrival date.

You will fly to Zhengzhou on Sunday, November 28th. CCAI will arrange the group’s in-China flights and hotels - details will follow in your Final Travel Packet.

Your group will take the oath on the afternoon of 12/6/2010.

Your group will receive your child’s visa on the afternoon of 12/8/2010."

Gotta go book some flights!

It has FINALLY arrived - the much anticipated TA (Travel Approval)

We received our TA (Travel Approval) today from the CCAA. Here is what our agency sent to us...

"Please note that the options below are according to the earliest possible dates to travel based on Consulate appointment availability.
Option 1
Leave around November 24th and return somewhere around December 9th - 11th.
Option 2
Leave around December 1st and return somewhere around December 16th or 18th.
Both options involve a 3 night/2 day tour in Beijing. Please note that travel dates will not be confirmed until we have a Consulate appointment for your family. The Consulate takes anywhere from 1-5 business days to reply but they try to respond within 1-3 business days."
 
SO, AGAIN we WAIT for confirmation of our CA (Consulate appointment). We are hopeful that it will come on/by Monday. THEN we can make our flight arrangements.
 
Gotta run, I have packing to do!!!!

Welcome Lena - Shower

Our family and friends had a wonderful shower for Lena last weekend. It was hosted at Mary Beth's home and lots of help and creative ideas were given by Joni, Shannon and Christine. The photos will show the beautiful decorations, wonderful food, and fantastic company!

Andy and I are overwhelmed by all the excitement and support! We are so lucky!

Lena,  we can't wait for you to meet your family and friends!!!

Care Package

Today we sent another care package to Lena. We hope the next gifts we give we will be able to do so in person.

We sent:
Leapfrog Stuffed Dog - it says her name! and it plays songs, etc.
Outfits - compliments of Audrey Tichenor!
Goldfish crackers, hairbands, and socks for Lena.
Photo album - of us and our family
Chocolates - for the care takers

YEAH! We got our Article 5!!!

Next Stop - TA = Travel Approval!!!

Here is the email we received from CCAI (our agency):

"We just received an update from our Guangzhou staff stating that they have picked up your family’s Article 5 (signed 2nd acceptance letter) from the Consulate and now it is off to the CCAA.  The Article 5 typically takes about 3-4 days to be delivered to the CCAA. Once the CCAA receives this document, they will have all that they need to issue your family’s travel approval.  The CCAA typically takes about 2-4 weeks to issue a travel approval.  We see this update as great news for your family as you are one step closer to getting you to China!"

Did you get that? Me either. What I do know is...LAST STEP...TA (Travel Approval).

Once we have TA then they can schedule our CA (Consulate Appointment) which is what determines our travel dates!!!! Still hoping for November travel/departure. Maybe we'll be having turkey in Zhengzhou, China! Perfect, we have so much to be thankful for!

It's enough for the Gilk's to all CHEER about...

Two one-year olds in the house - soon!

It was awfully quiet the other day and I went out to find this - he love paper products! Yes, Wrigley turns one soon. We are so looking forward to all the fun we'll have with two one-year olds in the house!
Hurry up TA (travel approval)!!!

Mandarin Chinese

Ni hao,
We are taking a Mandarin Chinese class on Tuesday nights! TA Qing gankuai! (Travel Approval please hurry)!
Zai jian.

Cabled/NVC letter

This morning we received the letter from the National Visa Center (NVC) stating:
"This letter is to inform you that your petition has been forwarded to the appropriate visa-issuing post where the adoption interview will take place."
What the heck? OK, our paperwork has now been sent to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China! Only 2 more steps left before we go to China!!!

You can see our timeline off to the side but here is what all this means:

First CCAI (our agency) Information meeting: October, 2008
Home Study - November, 2008
Fingerprints - how many did we do? I think I did at least 6 sets of fingerprints from 2009-2010!
Log In Date (LID) - the day we got all our paperwork to China and the "wait" begins: March, 2009
Match Day - the day we get "the call" and they have our Lena for us: 7/23/10
Letter of Intent (LOI) - the day we send a letter intending to adopt Lena: 7/24/10
Provisional Approval (PA) - the day China says they "provisionally" accept us for her: 8/4/10
Letter of Acceptance (LOA) - the day the accept us for her: 8/16/10
I-800 Sent - materials sent to China matching our paperwork with Lena: 8/20/10
I-800 Approval: 9/13/10
Cabled: 9/22/10
NVC letter (National Visa Center): 9/22/10
Article 5: ???
TA (TRAVEL APPROVAL) - ????

*Generally travel about 2 weeks after you receive TA!!!! Still tracking for a November departure!!!

Measurements

On September 16th we received an email from our agency with updated measurements of our Lena.
As of 9/6/2010/1 year 3 mo
Weight: 8kg = 17.6 lbs
Height: 71cm = 28 inches
Teeth = 6!

Lena’s Room

We are getting things ready on the home front. Andy painted Lena's room last weekend. We also got a crib, mattress, and bookshelf for her room. It is looking cute!

 

I-800 Provisional Approval

We received our I-800 Provisional Approval in the mail on Monday, 9/13. We are moving along with the paperwork right on schedule. We are still hopeful for November travel!


We also received our Travel Visas for China! Check it off the list – DONE.

LOA!

We received an email that our Letter of Acceptance was at CCAI on Monday, August 16.  They overnighted to us to sign (along with other paperwork).  This is the next step in the process to our Travel Approval (TA).  This letter comes from the CCAA (Chinese Children Adoption Affairs) which is a verification that we have been accepted from the Chinese Gov't to adopt Lena.

We have a few more steps to go before we get our official travel dates but things are moving along great!

Here is a picture of the long awaited document!

Care Packages Sent!!

We sent Lena two separate care packages:

CP#1:  Clothing, a photo book with pictures of our family, toothpaste/toothbrush, animal cookies, goldfish crackers, a disposable camera, and a letter translated in Mandarin ...

CP#2:  Moon cakes, blanket, stuffed panda, disposable camera, and a letter to Lena ...

Our hope is that her foster family will show Lena the photo book so that she will get to know her "forever" family.  Also, we hope that her foster family will use the cameras to take photos until we get there - so that we have a sense of her daily life and environment in China.

PA

We received our PA (Provisional Acceptance) from the CCAA (Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs)!
This is the next step on the process for making our trip to get Lena.  It also means that we are providing the necessary information and paperwork correctly.


A friend that has her adopted little girl home has given us really great advice:  as we wait this process to finally be on our way to get Lena that we should put her pictures in a few places in our house.  This helps us to feel like she is here with us.


As much as you can prepare for this "waiting period" it doesn't go by fast enough.  We are preparing a care package to send to her Foster Granny.  We can't wait for her to get it!  We'll add all the details of it in a future post.

How it Began ...

On September 27, 2008, we officially put this journey in motion by attending an adoption seminar hosted by the Partners for Adoption. That was followed by an information session on October 8 conducted by CCAI (our chosen Chinese adoption agency), which then took us to another session by Adoption Options (a home study agency) on October 16. Three weeks - three seminars. Done.

On November 7, 2008 we had our first Home Study visit and the rest, as they say, is history!

The "Phone Call"

It seemed like it would be a normal Thursday morning.  But, I guess what is normal in the crazy lives of Jandy?  We thought the biggest occasion of the day was going to be taking Wrigley for his haircut first thing in the morning but it quickly turned into one of the best days of our lives.  Janna was at work and I was back at home in the office.  At 9:46 am the phone rang.  I turned my focus from emails to the home phone and it read "Chinese Children..." on the caller ID.  I thought it was going to be another call for additional paperwork requests but it didn't quite turn out that way.


"Andy, this is Pam from CCAI ... would you like to meet your daughter?"  No, this was not going to be a typical Thursday.