Let the Painting Begin!

I 797 Approval

WoooooHoooooo On Wednesday we received notice that we have cleared immigration and are approved to adopt a child from China. Total time for when we mailed in our paperwork to immigration to receipt of approval 42 days. We were told it takes 30-45 days so this is right on track. Next step--either Eric, Mom, Ann or I will take the remaining documents to Austin to be certified by the Sec. of State. Then we take the documents to the Chinese Consulates Office. Then we mail everything to our agency. THEN, everything goes to China. Hopefully, cross all my fingers, we should have these remaining steps done within two weeks.

Ann--bet you didn't know that you were being considered for the Secretary of State stuff--any chance yall are going to Austin next week? Talk to you this weekend. :)

My turn!

Eric is working on completing his part of the room--he still needs to hang the doors, and put all the trim back on. I am responsible for the paint. So today, we cleaned out all the junk and I put a layer of Kilz on the walls. Wow, did it have an awesome smell. I could have flown high if I had let myself.

A Nice Spring Day

Abi loves playing outside on her scooter. Check out her awesome moves. And she loves to wear her helmet--how cool is that.

Jaxon sweetie--I promise we will get you boy toys, we won't make you use Abi's princess stuff.

The Continental Plane!

We treated ourselves to Spring Creek BBQ tonight and as we are enjoying our meal, this is the conversation. "Mommy, can't we just get on the Continental plane and FFFFLLLYYYY to China to get Jaxon." Me: "I wish we could." Abigayle: Well, Mommy, we need to take him to the palace and the Great Wall".

This was actaully the second time today she requested that we head on over to China to get Jaxon.

Geez, as much as I wish the process were faster and simplier, in my heart, I know that it is a good, solid process that is designed to protect the children.

Happy Friday Yall.

The Bedding is Ordered!

Our family is very water oriented. Eric grew up on the Florida beaches and I grew up on Lake Conroe. So whether it is the beach, lake, pool or local watering hole, we are there! It only seemed natural for us to choose a nautical theme for Jaxon's bedroom. Plus, Eric works on navy ships and yachts for his career. In addition, Jaxon has spent the first 2 years of his life in a coastal town of China. We are hoping that we can actually visit his city (Zhu Hai) and orphanage while in China. An added bonus would be to swim in the China Sea. This picture is not his actual room, just a copy of the bedding that has been ordered. We plan on purchasing a bedroom suite over the Memorial Day holiday. Hopefully, Ashley Furniture will have good sales!

Immigration

Hooray for Eric. He got through to immigration and found out that our case, as of Friday, has been assigned to an immigration officer. She indicated that our case should be reviewed this week. WooHoo. Come on Miss Immigration Officer, do your thing--approve our paperwork!

Fingerprints--Check!

Eric, Aaron and I went and had our fingerprints taken yesterday morning. Pretty uneventful. No cell phones and no picture or recording devices of any kind were allowed so this stage of our journey was non pictured. I know you are all sad that you can't see pictures of us getting our fingerprints taken :( Luckily we were in and out of the fingerprint office in about 30 minutes. Upon returning to work, I called the Immigration office only to find out that our case has not yet been assigned to an Immigration caseworker--"Well the supervisor usually assigns them in batches and it is first come, first serve and I don't know where you are in the line.......blah, blah, blah." I thanked them for their time--decided it was best to be nice and polite on the first phone call--don't want to piss anyone off this early--I will leave that to my pushy husband! Love you Eric.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Yall from Abigayle, Eric and I. I can't wait until next year when our family will be complete with Jaxon. Until then.....