Round 5...yep, more paperwork. I live for it! (updated with a video clip)

Well, as promised, we received another round of paperwork. This group of documents included paperwork required by the United States Homeland Security including the I-800, a copy of the signed Letter of Acceptance form that we received from China and a few other forms including our signed Letter of Intent. As well as a U.S. Government document which will help Zoe become a U.S. Citizen as soon as she arrives in the United States.  All of this paperwork had to be completed and received no later than February 2nd. So we beat the deadline...I am hoping that submitting early pushes our time lines up just a bit... 

The few things I have learned throughout this process regarding paperwork is as follows:

1. Get as organized as possible and understand what is needed and whom it needs to go to.

2. Plan to spend several hours reviewing the paperwork. 
3. Try to do all the paperwork at once if possible. or it will drive you crazy.
4. Get it done early as possible...don't put it off.
5. Check and double check to make sure you have completed everything they are asking for.
6. Make copies of everything you do.
7. Mail it off using a mailing service that can track your documents until it reached it's desired destination.
8. Make sure you have plenty of cold beers on hand.

So, I had two packets of information to mail out on Thursday and Friday. I have become great friends several of the United States Postal Workers...they have seen me there so often they call me by my name when I come in...and I get first class service.  One packet went to Holt International, our adoption agency who will hold them until they need to be submitted. We sent them one of the most important documents, the original signed Letter of Acceptance (LOA).  This document not only indicates that the People's Republic of China have accepted us as adoptive parents but we (Sonja & I) accept Zoe as our child. This was a huge milestone.  So what does that mean...  well I am guessing that we are probably 8-12 weeks away from traveling to China and picking up Zoe. So, once we signed the Letter of Acceptance there is not turning back.  However, we never have second guessed our decision. Very exciting...I even think Nathaniel is getting excited...that is when he has time to think about it at all.  As long as it doesn't get in the way of his schedule he should be fine.

So, the next step his to secure our I-800 tentative approval from Homeland Security, cross our fingers we provided them everything they needed. Knock on wood, we will hear back from them within 2-3 weeks. Once we secure this approval we can begin working on our visa's to travel to China. 

Finally...here is a video clip we received from China of Zoe Ann (Wen Jia Si Ruo).  From my understanding parents going through the adoptive process do not get a lot of pictures of their child and rarely get video's. Bonnie who works for Holt International indicated that a video was a "gift"! So we thought we would share one of our "gifts" with you....



 Well, that's the latest for now.  Thanks for spending some time with us....

With mixed emotions...

This has been a long and emotional week. It's amazing how weeks and months can go by and rarely anything changes and in a matter of a week your world gets tossed all around.  It started late last week when our son was competing to make his Varsity Wrestling team at his middle school.  He has worked so hard to be competitive and has watched his weight so he could remain at 105 pounds at the dismay of both his parents.  Quite honestly, neither of us understand why he enjoys wrestling. Anyhow, he had to wrestle a number of boys to determine whether he would make Varsity or Junior Varsity.  Although we are not crazy about the sport we wanted him to get varsity since he wanted it so bad.  We were a nervous wreck until he finally shared he made varsity...Woo hoo! Now the stress is off...so we thought...He was so excited he called his grandpa in Bellevue to let him know.

That same evening my wife was working and I had received a call from Holt International, our adoption agency. They informed us that China has officially approved us as adoptive parents.  This was a huge hurdle and very exciting news.  The phone call from Holt was almost one year from the day when we originally applied for adoption...how ironic.  Holt also called Sonja and left a message on her cell phone so I called her to let her know.  She was so excited.  So, we are waiting for some paperwork that we should reecive today including the USCIS I-800.  This form determines the child's eligibility for classification as a Hague Convention adoptee. The petition is filed by the U.S. Citizen prospective adoptive parent to finalize the immigration process of a child who habitually resides in a Convention country. So...hopefully we can get the document completed and sent on its way. So, one step closer to Zoe.

Nathaniel also wrestles for the city club team, the Bellevue Bulldogs.  On Saturday, I took him to the "open" wrestling tournament and he won the tournament in his age group and weight class. Now for many boys on his team, that is not such a big deal as they are much more experienced.  It was a great win as one of the boys he wrestled is a very good wrestler so it was a great day.

Nathaniel wins all his wrestling matches for the day!

So, we had so many things to be happy about...we were going over to my parents house to visit with my father and see my mother who has been ill...my father was working to get inhome hospice in place to help him help her.  The lady from hospice was very nice and it made me feel good that they were their to help take care of my mothers needs. After an spending some time over there we left for the evening.  The next morning I got up early to blow the snow off the driveway as we had gotten more snow than predicted.  A few minutes after I had come in...it was freezing and I needed to warm up my hands.  My father called to let me know my mother had passed. It was a huge surprise. I miss my mother... a lot...tearing up thinking about it. She would be thrilled to hear about Nathaniels accomplishments and our progress closer to Zoe.

Mom...Day Captain at the Henry Doorly Zoo! She loved working at the Zoo...

Until next time...

Easier said than done...Gentlemen (Ladies) please start your engines!

So over the past year we submitted our application to adopt, attended a few valuable adoptive parent training sessions, went through a homestudy, went through several background checks, finger printing sessions and had to get at minimum of 13 documents notarized, certified by the state they originated from, certified the same documents by the United States Secretary of State and Authenticated by the Chinese Consulate located in the United States. In November we were matched with Zoe and now our paperwork is in China and we are waiting for their approval. I think we both appreciate and understand the need for everything we have gone through.  We have tried very hard not to be a burden on our adoption agent, Holt International as they are very busy with a number of prosepective adoptive families. However, with all that said, I am beginning to realize the most difficult part of the adoption process so far has been the wait and our impatience. If I beat Sonja home from work I can certainly expect a phonecall from her asking if I went to the mailbox and what e-mails we received. As you can expect, those have been the primary ways we have received updates from Holt International regarding the prograss of our adoption. This weekend was the first time she had verbally shared that she was growing impatient and is ready to go pick Zoe up.  Needless to say, we both understand we still have several months yet to wait. Until now, we had some control over each stage, meaning we had responsibility to go do something which got us closer however we are in a waiting period to hear back from the officials from China.  So...the wait is continues! So you might be asking what we are doing to fill our time...that has never been an issue since we have Nathaniel (our 13 year old son) who is Mr. Activity. Between wrestling for his club and school, year round baseball practice, his babseball line drive leagues and his school band it is hard to keep track of where he needs to be.  Furthermore, during the wait, Sonja has begun her nesting period...by buying gifts only a young girl would like (frilly dresses, 'Tangled the Movie" toys, etc.)  which is new territory for me. I was so used to buying green plastic army men, dinosaurs and baseball cards that this will be a new experience and know I am going to make some mistakes along the way. Sonja also already has visions of what Zoe's room might look like including her room wall colors (pink & brown) as well as what the bedding might look like.  While she is captivated by shopping for Zoe, I am more focused on making the home child proof and what we might need when we travel to China. I have been in more awkward positions screwing in child locks on our cabinets and drawers.  Gosh, I cannot believe how long ago it was when I was doing the same thing for Nathaniel. Although I have traveled internationally the last few years for business...I am somewhat at a loss for what we are going to need when we travel to pick up Zoe.  So far my main focus is the electronics. I am sure that is a guy thing... Phone, ipad, ipod and camera. It is all about priorities right.  Anyhow...so we do not have a good feel for our travel dates yet and I think we are both becoming somewhat impatient!! We are definitely finding things we need to do in order to get us prepared for travel and when we bring Zoe home. I am surprised our neighbors have not complained to the police about the Teitler mailbox drag races on our neigborhood streets...because...in all honesty I have been like Sonja ...racing to the mailbox as well....so our neighbors are best advised to stay off the streets from 5:00 to 5:30  pm. central time when we leave work.

Just call me Herman....New adoptive parent training...oh do we need it....

This weekend, on Saturday, Sonja and I attended the final training class sponsored by Holt that is required before we are able to travel to China.  The training primarily focuses on helping both you and your new child in making the transition as smooth as possible. There were six couples in class with three couples matched with children from Korea and three couples matched with children from China. Based on what I could ascertain, all the couples were thinking no more than 6 months left of wait time before they would travel to pick up their child.  One thing is for sure…everyone is about paper worked out and are getting excited for “Gotcha Day”.  Many of the concerns we had were also shared by other couples including but not limited to:

1.       How long will it take for one or both parents to bond with the child…more importantly         how quickly or how long will it take for Zoe to bond with us and our family?

2.       Zoe will be 4 years old or there abouts when we pick her up….how quickly will she begin to understand English so she feels comfortable in her new setting.

3.       How long and how quickly will we be able to introduce new foods into her diet versus what she is used to having for meals in China.  Want to make sure we continue providing some of her favorite meals so she does not lose her culture

4.       The difference in times zones, they are approximately 14 hours ahead…there night time in China is our daytime here in Nebraska.

So the class brought out some very good points…some we had thought of and some that were new to us. We had two couples who had adopted before so they shared a number of tidbits that were very helpful.

I think the part that was of keen interest to me was what is affectionately termed as “Gotcha Day.” This is when the parents first get to meet and take their new child back to their hotel before making their trip back home to the U.S.  I have seen a number of “Gotcha Day” video’s on You Tube based on other parents experiences and the children look scared and not sure what is going on….Sonja,  Nathaniel and I will look like Herman, Lily and Eddie Munster…as lovable as we may be our first appearance to Zoe will probably be very scary for her. 

So the training was good and we had a good facilitator (Bonnie Mayer)…it answered many questions we had.  It was another milestone moment for Lily, Eddie and I….just joking….it is another milestone for us…we continue to meet a number of very nice people along the way…so far it has been a memorable journey….

Until next time…



What do you mean you don't want to go to China...really!!

Our biggest challenge is traveling to China.  Our son Nathaniel is not sure he wants to go.  What a great experience for a 13 year old.  However, I need to pause and walk a mile in his shoes.  His biggest concerns are missing 10-11 school days.  He's worried about all the school work that might be waiting for him.  I guess I can appreciate his concerns as I am always worried what will be waiting for me when I comeback from a week of vacation away from the job. However, I am sure we can work out some agreement with his teachers which would allow him to keep up with his studies while he is traveling. I wonder what others have done...I would be very interested in any advice others might have regarding this.... Also, we are assuming we will travel during his baseball season (spring/summer) and he just absolutely loves the game. He would miss a number of practices/games. I know he doesn't want to do anything to jeopardize his status on the team.  I don't blame him for that.  Finally, I am sure he has some apprehension going to a country where he is not familiar with the food, customs or the people.  He is beginning to go through that stage where it is not cool hanging with the parents so that might yet be another issue.  I think the more we talk to him the more open minded he becomes about the idea. I think down the road he will regret not going...but maybe I am wrong.  Ultimately we will let him choose whether he stays home or he decides to travel...I know he will make the best decision for him. I think we will still get him a Visa in case he decides last minute he wants to go.


Also, this weekend...we are going to a one class sponsored by Holt International which is for parents who have been matched with a child.  Although it is a requirement, I think both my wife and I are looking forward to it. The last class they offered really put international adoption into perspective and I hope this class will bring additional insight and continue to prepare as we open our hearts and home to a baby girl. We are getting closer but we still have some things that need to be done.  Crazy as ti sounds I am already thinking about what we will need on our trip, even though our trip may not be for 3-5 months.  I just want to make sure we are well prepared as I know there will be so many things to do and we will lose track of time....anyhow...that's all for now and thanks for reading our posts as we continue our progress towards bringing Zoe home.