I800-A Application is Sent

Our immigration application was sent Friday and received by them yesterday. So our count starts April 19th. Not what I thought it would be exactly, but that is okay! Now the real waiting has begun.


I read a China Adoption Forum and from the stats on there (someone has made a chart for all of us on the forum) it looks like right now the wait for immigration approval  is anywhere from 43-60 days. And that is only if there isn't a "request for more evidence" (RFE). I am hoping with the thoroughness we had with our social worker that there won't be any need for that.

Once that is approved we get that document notarized and authenticated, then off to China! Whew, I can' t wait for that day. Then our dossier sits in China, hopefully getting looked at sooner than later, and we wait for their approval to adopt this little guy.

 Until then, we pray daily for Asher. Our prayers are that he is being well taken care of and loved, that he is healthy and that somehow in his heart he is being prepared to accept and attach to us, Jay and me especially.


We also sent off our application for a LifeSong matching grant. It takes up to 2 months for us to hear about that. Meanwhile, we keep saving each dime we can. We are eating more simply, cutting down on music lessons, not driving around as much, no vacation this year and doing less activities right now. We even sold Jay's car and bought something for half the cost, and only hold liability insurance on it now. This car happens to be better on gas mileage too. It isn't as pretty and a bit smaller than his Saturn was, but it does the job.


This will only be for a season. We typically have so much and in reality don't need half of it. Our kids have been very understanding, especially when we eat oatmeal for the 3rd time that week. They have also been very generous in giving us some of their own monies from jobs they do, all on their own. We have never asked them to do this, nor encouraged it. They just all want to bring Asher home and realize that $30,000 is a LOT of money. I am so blessed.