next steps

We got an email from our agency on Monday night, letting us know to prepare for a lot of paperwork over the next couple of months. Um, David and I couldn't help but laugh. We thought that we were done with a lot of paperwork. But there is no doubt at all that it is all totally and completely and wonderfully worth it. I mean, look at this face.

I'd give my life for this little guy! What's a few more nights of no sleep, due to filling out paperwork?!

We've completed our I-800A extension paperwork and it's on its way to the appropriate place, thanks to our wonderful agency. We are right on the line for needing an extension, since our original I-800A expires on December 30, but better to be safe on this one. And what's one more trip to Denver and one more set of fingerprints at this point?!

In two days, our agency will send out our I-800, which gives us permission from the US government to adopt this specific child. For some reason, the extension has to be sent out first. I don't exactly know why, but it just has to be done that way.

On a side note:  I had a mini-breakdown when our agency called on Wednesday, telling me that I had forgotten to sign our I-800A extension. Forgotten to sign it?! Oh my! How could I do that? Wonderful David rushed a signed copy off to the post office (when we were supposed to be celebrating his birthday) and we only lost one day in that little fiasco.

Soooo...after we get our I-800 back (in a month or so...?), China can issue our travel approval. I don't actually know how long that is taking these days, but once we get that back we will get our China visas and our consulate date. We will probably have about two weeks notice before travel, and the whole process until that point is supposed to take about 10-15 weeks. We are definitely hoping for 10 weeks!

This whole process with China has been like a dream, so far. Every step has gone smoothly and has been quicker than expected. I know that it's not necessarily like that for every Chinese adoption, but after our experience with India, we are so very grateful for the relative smoothness of China. I keep praying for all of my amazing friends who are adopting beautiful Indian children. It takes a lot of stamina, faith and patience to adopt from India. Would you pray for these families (and waiting children!), as well?

And to end this post, I wanted to share a sweet message that we received from the woman (from another agency) who met our little Stephen Kaikai. We had sent her a message, letting her know that we received LOA, and this is how she responded:

Doing backflips!!!!!! Okay, in my mind anyway, my body won't cooperate. Kyler
is my little man. I so adore this boy. He is my bud. Sarah, get that hand
ready because Kyler is going to want to hold it from the minute you meet. I am
beaming right now!!!! I know you can imagine his sweetness but you just have no
idea how marvelous this child is in person.

Oh my goodness! It's true, I can definitely imagine his sweetness, but I sure can't wait to experience him, in person! It's going to be soon, sweet Stephen Yuankai. Thank you, Jesus! Very, very soon.