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We have made a lot of adoption progress over the past month! If I’d been in town, I would have blogged about it. Instead, here’s the quick rundown.

On the Wednesday before I flew to Michigan, we signed the adoption agreement. The following day, we drove down to Olympia to visit the Secretary of State’s office. There we completed the first round of authentication. We went through a big hoopla trying to get a notary to sign our paperwork. If you are wanting to adopt from Taiwan, email me so I can offer some advice about notarizing “certificate of original” paperwork…

While I was still in Michigan, our agency emailed and said that she was ready to file our I600 and needed us to sign it. Awesome! Hubby filled out the application, signed it, and then overnighted it to me. I signed it and then overnighted the application to our agency so that they could submit it. Two weeks ago, we received a receipt from USCIS saying that our application has been logged into their system. The website says it takes 4-6 weeks to receive I600 preapproval.

In the midst of all of that, we found out that the social worker in Taiwan told our girl that we are trying to adopt her! We were shocked! All along, the agency has been telling us that they will not tell Z about us until we have submitted our dossier to the Taiwan court, which won’t happen for at least another month or two. But the Taiwan agency said that since she’s an older child, they want to begin preparing her now. The social worker sat down with her and told her that a family in America wants to adopt her. Apparently Z expressed some dislike toward that idea. Then the social worker showed her the photo album we sent over last summer. That caused Z to open up a bit and share some stories about when she visited the US with a hosting program two years ago. The social worker said that she is more open to the idea of America but less open to the idea of a family. Z stated that she planned to stay at the orphanage until she is of age and then move out on her own.

The social worker contacted our agency and ask that we please prepare a care package so that Z will become more open to the idea of adoption. No pressure! Usually a care package would be sent just out of love, but we’re sending one because we love her and because we are trying to convince her that a family is good for her. Because I was in Michigan while all of this was going on, there was no way for us to take more pictures or film a video. I wrote Z a letter and told her about us, that we love her, and why having a family is good. Hopefully she’s already received that and has been told that more will come shortly!

Last week and this weekend, we took a ton of new photos. All in all, we printed 32 photos to assemble into a photo album. Then I wrote up little captions for most of the photos and printed them on labels. We also bought Z a stuffed animal, a disposable camera to take pictures with her friends, and a small bag of candy. Yesterday I had the brilliant idea of also buying a cute bag for Z to store the gifts we’re sending her.

This morning we filmed a short video. I wrote out a couple things I wanted to share in Chinese, to show that I am learning Chinese to be able to communicate with her more easily. In the video, hubby also showed off all of the things we’re sending in the care package. The video is roughly a minute 45 seconds. There is so much I want to say to Z but wanted to avoid overwhelming her.

On Monday, we received an email from our agency that said that Taiwan has requested we send over the dossier now without waiting for the USCIS approval. That way they can start the translation process and cut a few weeks off our timeline! That is always good news!

Last summer, I quickly learned that the adoption process is a flurry of activity and then very long stretches of waiting. We just experienced our flurry. I wonder if that will continue or if we should brace ourselves for a long wait. I have a feeling we’ll be waiting awhile for any news on our dossier and we still have three weeks or so to wait before receiving our USCIS approval.

I am so glad that we are able to mail the care package today! I pray that Z’s heart will be softened toward the idea of adoption and that she will be even a tiny bit more accepting of the idea of having parents. All I can do is pray!

It has been a busy, busy week for adoption preparation.

First – We received an email saying that our coordinator has the adoption agreements in hand! That piece of paper that says that we have the guardian and the orphanage’s permission to adopt Z has been signed and is in the United States! Our agency should have them today or tomorrow, will be doing a couple things on their end, and then overnighting the agreements to us. Once the agreements arrive, we rush to the bank to finish notarizing our dossier. Then we’ll be making a day trip down to Olympia to start the authentication process. We are making progress!

Second – Our coordinator expects that she will have an update on Z any day now. She thought she would have it last week but it hadn’t arrived when I checked with her on Friday. Our last update was from July last year so the information is old. I want to know how my future daughter is doing and pray that the agency in Taiwan included a photo with the update. She’s growing up without us.

Third – We received an email on Sunday that requested that we put together a package to send to Z! The Taiwan agency said, “since Z is an older child, we want to start preparing her for adoption as soon as possible. Please send her a photo album, a video introducing yourselves, and a small gift.” I am so excited!! I am nervous about the video, since I want to speak to Z a little bit in Chinese to show her I am learning her language. I had hoped that I would be able to complete more of my Chinese course before attempting to speak to her, but God’s timing is best! I will trust that she will appreciate my humble early attempts at speaking Chinese, rather than it making her nervous that I still have a lot to learn.

Last night we went shopping, trying to find a photo album. We couldn’t find anything at the mall, but we did buy a gift for Z. It’s something we will either give her while in Taiwan or right after she comes home. We also bought her a disposable camera to send over now, so that she can take pictures with her friends. We’ll get the photos developed as soon as we return home. Tonight we’ll again try to find a photo album. I think we’re going to visit a Hallmark store and see what they carry.

All of this is going on, plus we have an appointment tomorrow to speak with a financial planner and I have a parenting seminar on Friday. Busy, busy! If our adoption agreement arrives Thursday, I’ll be skipping the seminar on Friday so that we can start our dossier authentication. But if it doesn’t arrive until Friday or later, I’ll be driving over to Seattle by myself, during rush hour for both directions. Eek! I’m going to be praying like crazy that God will protect this terrified driver as I attempt to learn more parenting techniques that will help our daughter overcome her childhood without a family.

It may be a crazy week, but I’m happy. I’m happy that we’re making progress with the adoption. I’m happy that I might have an update on Z this week. And I’m nesting. If I deep clean our house, we’ll be able to travel to Taiwan faster, right?