Tuesday, October 25, 2011

NVC Cabled!

What does this mean?  Well, I'm in the middle of it and still am not totally sure! ;)  What I do know is that we are SO close to Molly now!  If I understand it right, the national visa centered cabled Molly's information to the US consulate in China.  I sent off our last packet of paperwork to Great Wall yesterday!  WOO to the HOO!!!  Now we wait on our Article 5 and then Travel Approval!!!!  Can NOT believe we are only about 6 weeks away from holding Molly.  It still seems like a dream that we are so close!  


We've been really busy with school and sports, which is making the time go by fast at least.  I went with Reed and his class on a field trip to see a play.  I loved getting to meet his new friends.


And then I took the boys to Reed's school carnival this weekend. They had a blast!  Jon had to miss it because he was in Austin for his half Ironman.  I wish we could've been there to cheer him on, but it's way too hard with Gage at this age.  Especially since he's started bolting from us lately...arrggh!  Jon did great and is ready to take a break from training for a while.  Uhhuh....we'll see how long that lasts! ;)

                              
                                                Reed was so proud of his panda bear that he won.  He was determined to win that panda and used his tickets to participate in the stuffed animal walk 4 times until the sweet lady working it finally felt sorry for him and drew his #.   :)




 Reed had his friend over to spend the night and they were MIA for a little bit.  I went outside and found them selling toys from the carnival and my diet cokes! Lol!    They had signs and everything.  They sat out there for 3 hours and I think they ended up making $5 total!  2 cars and 1 golf cart....that's it.  Thank you golf cart for giving the kids a little hope...:) 



Gage was looking extra cute and in a semi-cooperative mood before school the other day, so I snapped a few cute shots of my little man.





Thursday, October 20, 2011

New pics ~ Molly at 14 months

I woke up to these pics of our beautiful baby girl this morning.  I've been automatically waking up at 4am to check my mail lately, because the lady who sends me pics will usually send them around this time in the morning,(it's 4pm in China). Nothing can make me jump out of bed(esp without my coffee!), but this wonderful surprise obviously can!  Jon and I looked at them together, and we both noticed the same thing, at the same time...her eyes.  Her sad eyes....




                  


I think she even has a little tear in this one..:(
All I know is she needs us and we need her!   It won't be long now until she feels the love of her family, and her eyes will soon be full of life!  

Sunday, October 16, 2011

I800 Approval!!

Yay!!  Finally!!  I don't understand why everything feels SOOO slow right now, but it does!  Maybe because we're at the end, and I'm SOOOOOOO ready to be in China, but my life is seriously...tick...tock....tick...tock....


I called USCIS to check on the I800 approval, which is Molly's immigration approval, 3 times last week.  I'm sure they were so sick of hearing my voice that they approved it so they wouldn't have to hear me again...lol!  On the 3rd call Friday, they said it had been approved on Wed, so what next?  I'll copy what Great Wall sent me instead of typing it all out..:)


Once your I-800 is approved, your USCIS file is sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) to be cabled to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou.  You should receive a letter in the mail from the NVC (or Bureau of Consular Affairs) stating your file has been forwarded ~10 days after your I-800 Provisional Approval arrives at your home. 

Once we receive your package, it will be forwarded to our staff in China on the next business day.  Your child’s DS-230 will be delivered to the U.S. Consulate.  The Consulate will then verify your approvals and issue an Article 5.  This is delivered to the CCCWA, and they will begin processing your Travel Approval. 

We will do all we can to get you to China as soon as possible.  Please note that travel dates will vary based on appointment availability with the US Consulate and Civil Affairs offices.

After we receive travel approval, I think it should take ~2-3 weeks!  From last Wed, we should be in China ~6 10 weeks!!  Oh my goodness!! Can NOT believe I'll be holding my baby girl so soon!  I think I'm still in shock!  

I talked to the lady at her orphanage that I sent her care package to, and she received it last week.  She will send it to the orphanage ASAP and take pics of her opening it soon.  I'll post pics as soon as I get them.  I've studied every picture I have of her and can't wait to get more!

We had a great weekend with my parents this weekend.  They got to watch Ben play football and just spend time with the boys.  Always goes by way too fast!

                                                                Watching Ben...

                                                                                    
                                                                                        Refueling!

                                                                    Pulling a flag

                                                  Sorry for the back shot of Jon, but love the natural               laughs in this one :)              




Things are moving now...Hopefully more good news to post soon!


Sunday, October 9, 2011

still waiting on I800...

Ok, so it'll be 3 weeks on Wed that we sent it off and I'm growing impatient!  It's suppose to be 2-3 weeks, so we haven't run over yet, but of course I've checked other blogs of people who have sent theirs off after me, and got there's in last week! UGGH!!  I'm just hoping that we didn't forget a page or fill out something wrong, which could slow us down a few weeks!  Once we get the I800 back, we should be in China about 6 weeks after, so if we get it this week, we should be there toward the end of Nov to early DEc.  I REALLY want to have this sweet face here before Christmas, so praying we get it approved this week!



I babysat for one of my best friends, Krissy,  last night, and her baby girl just turned a year old.  She and Molly will be about a month apart, so I see many playdates in our future!   We forgot what it's like to have a little one at that age, who's busy, busy, busy, all the time.  It was a great refresher course for us to prepare for Molly!  Raley LOVES being rocked, and Aunt Jenny was happy to oblige.  As soon as she was in a deeep sleep, I'd slowly lay her down in her bed, and she would immediately wake up crying, so we rocked, and rocked and rocked..:)  I really enjoyed it, and watching her sleep peacefully in my arms made me think about Molly, and who is rocking her when she's sad.  Is she getting rocked, or has she learned to console herself because she knows nobody will come?   I still pray that someone at the orphanage has fallen in love with her and is showing her extra attention.  I can't WAIT to rock her and cuddle her for as long as she wants me too.  I have a lot of cuddle time to make up with my precious baby!

                                                                  SWEETNESS :)


This morning, our church had a big tent reunion.  We only had 1 service and everybody was under a huge tent together....SO cool!!   We ate a picnic lunch and they had bounce houses, rock wall, and games for the kids.  It was different and so fun to see people we normally don't get to see because of the different services our church offers.  I love how our church is always attempting to reach out to more people by trying different thing.                                                  


                Sitting with our Favorite Fowler Boys..                  

                      
                                                                      The Big Tent!!


                                                      Gage biting Sprinkles....poor bird!



Gage is usually in Sunday School when we're in church, so he doesn't get to hear us sing.  He sat in my lap and watched me sing.  After a couple of songs, he started belting it out too.  I told him I love the way he sings and he said, " I sure do know I sing beautiful mommy"  Gotta love his confidence! :)


This is the funniest thing little G is doing....his pouty stance when things don't go his way... hands on hips and everything! Where does he learn this stuff...Hilarious!!



Sunday, October 2, 2011

more football...

Playing football in the evenings when Jon gets home has become a daily routine.  Jon calls it the Coco bowl and it always starts out all fun and games...



and eventually things make a turn for the worse, never fails! Notice Ben's already mad about something...



and then one ends up mad or crying and accusing dad of purposely throwing a bad pass because the other is his favorite. This is how it ends up..This time it was Reed...



You'd think they would eventually stop wanting to play since they get so upset, but they beg him to play as soon as he walks in the door.  
Gage will "play" sometimes too, or just play with the cones on the side line.  He was so proud of his "7" here..



Ok so it's a backwards 7, but not bad for a 3 year old! 


He told me this was his "hideout cortcut"(shortcut)....uhmm, ok.:)




Gage and I met Jon for lunch last week and he loved playing along this creek and riding the ducks.  I think he also loved getting all the attention from mom and dad. As we were leaving he said, "I hab much fun wif you mommy!"  ... love my little Gagey!


Both boys had football games this weekend and Gage has been a good sport most games, but was not wanting to be there this time, and said over and over how much he wanted to go home.  After being told at least 100 times that we were almost done,  he finally gave up in defeat, sat in my lap, and said "I just don't wub it here."  He sure does know how to make me laugh!


Ben is on a great team with an awesome group of coaches, but unfortunately, Reed didn't get so lucky.  His coach is one of those "win at all costs" kind of coaches, and was constantly getting in the kids faces during the games, yelling at them if they made a mistake, or didn't pull a flag.  Reed fumbled the ball and he started chewing him out on the field.  It was ridiculous!  Reed walked off the field with his head down, crying, and nose bleeding(this happens to him if he gets really upset). 
 The coach will storm off the field if they lose, without talking to the team at all because he's so mad....RIDICULOUS!! They are 6!!!....and most of their first times to play!   Jon and I decided that this wasn't the kind of coach or experience he needed, so we have pulled him off the team.  We've never had to do this for either boy, but it was starting to affect his confidence, and there's no need to put him through this unnecessary belittling.  He's upset because he likes football and wanted to get his trophy, but we have to do what's best for him.  Lesson learned... make sure we know the coach before we sign him up next season!


And Ben...






We got the 797C from USCIS saying they are reviewing our paperwork.  Hope to get our I800 approval letter this week! 
Molly's room is painted, and furniture is in!  It's BEAUTIFUL!!!!!  I'm getting her mattress and comforter this week and then I'll post pics! 
I'll end with a sweet pic of Molly at her birthday party.  LOVE my little girl! :)