Journey to Chloe

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Olivia's Story
Journey to Chloe

Our decision to adopt another child was not an easy one to make. After coming home with Olivia in Feb. 2003, we THOUGHT our family was complete. We had 2 wonderful sons and a beautiful Chinese daughter. I had those all too familiar feelings as Olivia turned into a toddler that "maybe" we were not done. I mentioned these feelings to Terry and he thought I was completely off my rocker. I thought constantly about the little faces in the orphanage that we left behind that cold day in February. I knew that we could easily love another child and bring another child into our family. Besides, it was so easy with Olivia. She was MY daughter the first time I saw her tiny little face in the referral photo. There was never a doubt in my mind that God had meant for this child to be our little girl.

The more I talked to Terry about the possibility of going back to China for a second time, he was never on board with the idea. I prayed that God would change his mind or change mine. I thought about it every day and asked God to tell me what I was suppose to do. In January of this year, I called our youth minister at church. She assured me that God was working and let him do his part. I told her that I was happy with our family but also felt God trying to tell me that Olivia needed a sister. I was so torn. I didn't know what to do. I decided to let it go. I was hoping that God would pull on Terry's heart strings as he had done with me.

To my surprise, on February 29th, 2006, Terry and I had just returned from a church service. We were watching TV., when all of a sudden , Terry turned to me and said, "Kim, I want you to be happy. I know you want to adopt again. I know that we can provide for another child so tomorrow morning call the agency and get the paperwork started." I thought I would burst!! I started to cry and the biggest weight was lifted off my shoulders. I know this is what God has called us to do.

So here is a little timeline of our second adoption from the People's Republic of China...

Sunday, February 29, 2006	Our big decision was made!!! We are adopting again. ;o)
Friday, March 3, 2006	Application sent to Living Hope Adoption Agency. The same agency we used for Olivia's adoption.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006	Sent the I-600A to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. This is an advanced processing of Orphan Petition. After it is approved then we receive our I 171H or approval notice permitting us to adopt.
April thru June 2006	We met with our social worker and had our home study done. She came to our home and me met her a couple of times with the kids. This took the longest to do.
Sunday, June 11, 2006	Our social worker brought our completed home study to us! Yeah, we were finally done.
Monday, June 12, 2006	We sent our completed home study to the INS office in Norfolk.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006	Terry and I went to Norfolk to be fingerprinted again. We did this with Olivia and find it very hard to understand how your fingerprints "expire". LOL!
Saturday, July 15, 2006	We received our I 171-H
Monday, July 17, 2006	Had our documents State Sealed in Richmond, VA.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006	Had our documents authenticated in Washington, D.C.
Thursday, July 20, 2006	Our completed Dossier ( all the documents China requests for an international adoption) were FedExed to Living Hope to be sent to China. (We had 14 documents).
Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006	Our dossier was sent to China!!!! We are finally DTC again. Now for the long wait. The wait times for China are running about 12-14 right now. We are hoping they speed up a little. Terry and I are getting older by the day........;o)