Journey: to an update!

 We got updated pictures of David on Friday- so exciting!! It's also a little frustrating that he's growing up in China and not in Waco! We're so ready to travel! Along with the pictures we received an update on David's development.  They haven't done another heart check so that will probably happen when we go to China. His foster parents say that his favorite toy and thing to do is "kick a ball" and play with other children. They also report that he can say simple words- melt my heart!! Seriously, this waiting is for the birds!!
We bought furniture for David's room this weekend along with new furniture for our den. We're deciding what colors we want to use in his room- so many choices! We're so excited to get his room set up! I am having a hard time reining my shopping in... there are certain stores I just can't go in without buying something for our little guy. It's so fun!! I've read some blogs recently that discuss the wait and how to make it easier and most suggest starting a project. I do have to get my summer trip shutterfly book done and with Christmas around the corner there will be lots going on with seasonal activities. Oh, and I do have school every day which does keep me on my toes. My students love seeing David's picture and talking about getting him from China- they're so interested! Guess I need to go upload summer pictures if I'm going to get that book completed!!

Journey: to I-800A

What is the I-800A?
Right now it's the next step in our journey towards getting David!
The I-800A is the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) "Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country." So basically it's the next part of our paperchase. The I-800A includes an application, home study, copies of our birth certificates, marriage certificate, and passports. Right now we're waiting on our social worker to finish the home study so we can send our packet to USCIS. It will take from 40-60 days for our I-800A to be processed and reviewed.
What happens after you get the I-800A?
Once the I-800A is approved (hopefully there won't be any problems, our agency goes through everything very carefully) USCIS will send us an appointment to get our biometrics (fingerprints) taken in Fort Worth.
So what do you do now?
We WAIT! for the I-800A to be mailed and approved- yuck! The I-800A is not the final step to travel, there are plenty more.
We PRAY! We pray for David and the people who are caring for him in China. We pray for his heart, that the hole will close and he will continue to be healthy.
We SHOP! We have a little boys room to set up. We haven't settled on a "theme" but have been looking a lot. We've picked out the crib/toddler bed/full bed as well as furniture for his room. His first Baylor gear has been purchased.
We READ! There are books, blogs and many websites to read. I especially like reading blogs of people who are home from China with their new families!
We PREPARE! We have books to read, friends to talk to and decisions to be made about David's care after the summer and I start back to work. We have to decide on a pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist. We have to child proof our house- plug covers, cabinet locks and stair gates, oh my!
So, you can see we have plenty to keep us busy but the waiting is hard. I especially am ready to get the I-800A sent since that MUST be done next.
We BLOG! I'm going to try and keep things updated with where we are in our process and the fun of the holidays.

Journey: the LSC!!

Our LSC arrived on Friday via fedex (my new best friends!). The LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) is the official document from the CCCWA that says we can adopt David!! We had to sign it and check the box that says "we accept the referrel." It is a very important document that we have to take with us to China. I've made several copies of it and now have it in a very safe place. Usually it can take weeks to get the LSC- we got ours in 10 days!! One step closer to travel!

Journey: to David!

These three pictures are with me day and night. They're up in our house, in our offices, on our phones! These are the three pictures we have of our little boy~ David Steven Cates!

I may be biased but I think he is pretty cute! In these pictures he is 8 months old. He is now 15 months. So how did we get here and why isn't he a she? I'll try to answer all your burning questions as we move along :) So, now you know why it was time to brush off the 'old blog and get busy!

 

We've been in the process of an adoption from China since 2007 with a LID of 1-29-2008. When we started the adoption process we thought we'd wait maybe 2 years but not longer. Boy, were we wrong! With each email from our agency our wait time long got longer and longer and longer. Soon I couldn't even read the emails I just put them into an email folder.
This past spring my sister made some new friends both of who had children adopted from China's Waiting Child List.

The Waiting Child list is different from regular adoptions because the kids on the list have minor to severe medical needs. We had lunch with one of the couple's and their precious kids. We felt like moving to the Waiting Child list might be the right move for us. We met with our agency in May which was great. They were very helpful with our questions. We discussed and prayed about the change and decided it was the right move for us. As we were preparing to prepare our paperwork I got side tracked with the end of school and an update on our kitchen. Then we went on vacation for a month. During all that time we knew what we wanted to do we just needed to sit down an get busy- easier said that done!

Fast forward to end of September- things had finally slowed down a little bit from the beginning of school so we pulled our the paperwork and got to work. We turned in our Waiting Child list on October 3rd while at the same time letting our social worker know we were ready to get started updating our USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). On October 4th I got a call from our agency about our profile - we had had to sort through a laundry list of disabilities and disorders of children that we were willing and able to handle as well as choose the age we were okay with and gender. About 5 minutes after I got off the phone with one worker I got another call from our agency. This time it was a different worker within Waiting Child services who said they had a file for us to review! Less than 24 hours and they had already matched us with a child!! I took some quick notes and said "YES" to them sending the file to us.

Xin Zhengyuan is from the Xinjiang Province in China. His birthday is August 2 (our anniversary), 2011. He has VSD which is a small hole between his 2 ventricle arteries. He lives with a foster family and goes to the child welfare center during the day.
Our agency suggested we send his medical file to a doctor for review. We sent his file to 4 doctors who all agreed that it is a small hole and will likely close on it's own. If not, the surgery would be routine.
We were allowed to keep his file for 2 weeks for review. We sent our Letter of Intent less than a week after getting his file. The LOI was our way of letting China know that he was the one we wanted!
There is so much more but for now you have the beginning of the story.

Journey: to Branson

We are so, so lucky that each year my parents take us on a family trip. In 2011 we spent a whirlwind week in Washington D. C. and it was awesome. After the adventures and LONG days in D. C. we all decided we wanted something a little less active for the 2012 trip. It was decided that we would enjoy the sights and sounds of Branson, MO. What an awesome trip it was!!
We stayed in a house at a Table Rock Lake and it was perfect! We loved being at the lake and spending time at the dock fishing and swimming. We took a boat out for a day which was so fun! Along with our time at the lake we spent time at Silver Dollar City amusement park and the water park as well. Since we were in Branson we saw some shows- of course! We saw the Chinese Acrobats, SIX, Joseph, and the Stampede.

We all decided it was the perfect trip with great fun along with some relaxing vacation time as well. Who knows what next summer will bring but my parents are already planning!

Change in Title

Don't get too excited... Although I do plan on brushing off the 'ole Blog at some point, tonight it's just a name change. Since 2007 the name has been Catesinhewitt but in 2009 we technically became CatesinWaco due to our move (although we have a Hewitt phone number, Midway ISD, and Waco water/trash- go figure). I've been reading a lot of blogs lately especially ones about school counseling and travel as well as keeping up with friends busy lives so as usual I'm inspired to get busy and update ours. So bear with me while I make some changes and try to add some news as well.
Oh, and Happy Fall Y'all!!

Dachau, Germany

We thought that it was important that we remember the tragedies that happened in Germany during our time there. We were close to Dachau and found a good tour to take. Our guide was very good and very informative while at the same time showing respect to the memory of the many people who died there.
Dachau was the first concentration camp that was opened by the Third Reich. It was a concentration camp for 12 years. All children in Germany are required to visit a concentration camp during their school years. The pictures below are of two of the memorials. The last picture is of the gates at the entrance which translate to "work will liberate."