Sunday, December 30, 2007

Come on travel call - we're ready!

According to the records we have seen from other families in our program, 3 weeks is the magic wait time from first ruling to final ruling! It seems like most families wait 3 weeks - the others have waited 2 months, no in between! For those of you keeping track, 3 weeks is Thursday, January 3rd. So cross your fingers, rub that rabbit foot, pray - whatever you have to do!!! If we don't hit that 3 week mark, we may be in for the two month haul again. Since we DO NOT want that to happen, as I might die from waiting, we have used our week off of work to PREPARE!!! The "To Do" list that has been growing for nearly a year is almost complete! Our final task is to get our travel paperwork together and ready to go - which will be done on Wednesday!



-We have started piling stuff to pack in an actual suitcase (yeah, we know it doesn't actually fit yet)

-We have gone over the hump and bought diapers and wipes. What an adventure!

-We have safety locks on the cabinets. I'm surprised I haven't ripped them off - can't quite remember they are there yet....

-We (Alex) has studied and memorized the map of downtown Taipai. It is programmed into his in-head navigation system and his red dot is ready to bleep! (I tease him all of the time that he constantly has a red bleeping dot marking his location on the map inside his head)

-Most important, Leo's cousins have bought Leo his first Detroit Lions jersey, so he can start his life as a disappointed Lion's fan. He also got his first Detroit Piston's jersey - fittingly Rip Hamilton (just call him Little Rip!) Also check out the Big Guy, Little Guy sweatshirts :-)



Okay judge - we are ready!!!! Come on! Let us travel!!! Please!!!!
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Timeline


January 8, 2007 Attend Adoption 101 Information Session in Mesa, AZ
January 22, 2006 - Apply for preapproval from our agencyand Taiwan
January 23, 2007 - Application for USCIS (I-600A) form submitted
January 28, 2007 - 1st Homestudy meeting
January 28, 2007 - Sign adoption contract with our agency
January 29, 2007 - Approved to adopt from Taiwan
February 1, 2007 - Clearance from state of Arizona
February 6, 2007- Maricopa application to adopt is filed
February 13, 2007 - Clearance from state of Michigan, Medical clearances, and Fingerprint invitation arrive from USCIS
February 24, 2007 - Fingerprinted for USCIS
March 11, 2007- Homestudy Complete and Court Certification from Maricopa County received
April 28, 2007 - Homestudy is translated into Mandarin
July 1, 2007 - Finally receive 171-H in the mail
July 6, 2007 - Get new case manager
July 22, 2007 - Sign adendum to contract
August 8, 2007 - Our lucky day! Referral for Lin Kai-Yi, born 6-3-06
August 8, 2007 - accept referral
August 13, 2007 - Sign Child Referral Agreement
August 23, 2007 - Paperwork arrives in Tucson
August 24, 2007 - Paperwork arrives to us
August 26, 2007 - Documents notorized (How many adults does it take to use a stamp?)
August 28, 2007 - Documents certified by AZ Sec. of State
August 29, 2007 Documents sent to TECO to be authenticated
September 4, 2007 - Documents arrive in Tucson from TECO
September 6, 2007 - Documents sent to Taiwan! YEAH!
September 10, 2007 - Update day! We receive 4 pics and a video!
October 2, 2007 - Receive word from TWCA that our hearing date is October 9, 2007 (this happened extreamly fast!)
October 9, 2007 - Keep your fingers crossed for a quick 1st ruling (even better yet, keep your fingers crossed for a final ruling!)
October 11, 2007 - October updates are here!
October 19, 2007 - Receive more pictures and videos from Ray's visit to Taiwan!
November 5, 2007 - November updates are here!
December 2, 2007 - December updates are here! Can't believe there has been no news all month!
December 13, 2007 - FINALLY! Word of our First Ruling! Yippeee! It happened on Dec. 13th in Taiwan (yesterday here)
January 4, 2008 - January updates
February 4, 2008 - February updates
February 28, 2008 - Leaving for Taipei!!!
February 29, 2008 - Arrive in Taipei!
March 4, 2008 - Gotcha Day! Can you even believe it!?!?!?
March 5, 2008 - FINAL RULING FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY! (by the way, our paperwork says the final ruling was issued December 24th!)
March 6, 2008 - First AIT appointment
March 7, 2008 - VISA DAY!
March 10, 2008 - Leave for home!
March 10, 2008 - Arrive home with our boy!!!!!!!!!!!
July 5, 2008 - Find out about Wil's arrival!
March 10, 2009 - Wil Shan-Yi Shaffer is born at 3:38 am 8 lbs. 4 oz. 20 inches long