Nothing from USCIS...

Just to update, we still don't have our I-800A approval. On Saturday we received our appointment for fingerprints in the mail, so I canceled our appointment with USCIS for Monday (since our paperwork had reappeared and was no longer lost). The appointment was for next Monday, but we went this Monday instead, and asked if it would be possible to be fingerprinted a week early. Thankfully they were very nice and took us. We were told that as soon as our fingerprints were taken, they would be in the computer and USCIS would have them immediately. It would have been possible to be approved that day (in fact, I have heard of several people being approved the same day they were fingerprinted). However, here it is Thursday and we have nothing. We've had a few very strange communications from USCIS this week (I'll spare you the details), but still no answers. I'm getting terribly frustrated and discouraged...

Caitlin's Name

I have been trying since the day we got our referral to find out the meaning of Caitlin's Chinese name (as well as how to properly pronounce it), but have not had much success. I quickly found the meaning of "Jiang" (her "last" name):

JIANG m & f; Means "river" in Chinese.

(I assume this part of her name comes from the city in which she lives: JinJiang)

Xin Er has been more of a problem; I can't seem to find the meaning anywhere. Any time I put it into a translation website and ask for "Chinese to English", the exact same word (Xiner) comes up! I've tried all variations: Xiner, Xi'ner, Xin'er, etc. (every piece of paperwork that we've received so far has had a different variation of the spelling), but I have not been able to find a proper translation.

Finally I got the idea to ask the friendly servers at our favorite Chinese restaurant here in town. We asked last week, but we were told that they would need to see her name written in the Chinese characters. So we went back today and brought Caitlin's paperwork (which has everything in both English and Chinese), and we finally got the answers we've been looking for! We were told that Xin means "Cheerful", and Er means "Child". So Caitlin's Chinese name means "Cheerful Child"! How cute- I like it!

The kind server also coached us on how to pronounce it. It was so exciting to know one more piece of information about our girl!

Not Good...

Yesterday I e-mailed our agency to ask for their advice about this USCIS thing. They answered this morning and said something to the point of "do whatever it takes- if you're not careful you may be traveling in late November, December, or even JANUARY!!!" They said other things, too, but that's the sentence that caught me- and made me sick. So I went online and requested an appointment with our "local" office. I actually got one for Monday afternoon, so that's better than I expected. With any luck, we will get a very nice agent who will be able to help us and get this thing moving again.

For now, I have to keep calm and pray that things will work out (and quickly)!

Frustration

Still no word from USCIS. I sent in our application for our I-800A over 3 weeks ago, but other than receiving our reciept, we haven't heard a thing. I had really hoped to have gotten our fingerprint appointment by now.

Yesterday I tried calling the national customer service number, but after talking to 2 different people (who both informed me that they could not find our paperwork!), I was told that the I-800A is a local matter so I should contact my local office. I'm not sure why I was told to send our application to the national center if it was only going to be sent back to our local office, but who am I to question the government?

Anyway, I asked for the telephone number to our local office so that I could contact them, and was told that our local office has no phone number. Keeping my calm, I then politely asked for an e-mail address, but was again informed that there was none. No fax, either. I apparently have to go online and request an appointment, then drive up to our office to talk to them in person. Our "local" office is over an hour away! So we have to drive all the way up there- just to ask a question? In this day in age?

Now I am more than a little stressed, and extremely frustrated. We are on a serious deadline here; if we cannot get to China by the end of September we will have to wait until November to travel due to the Moon Festival. I cannot bear the thought of poor Caitlin having to wait until November to get her family!

Hopefully our fingerprint appointment will still come this week. If it hasn't come by tomorrow (Friday), I will request an appointment and drive up there next week. Time is ticking here... each day we wait for paperwork means our chances of traveling by the end of September are dwindling...

BabyHawk

I got my BabyHawk today! I ordered it a few weeks ago (it was my Mother's Day present) and it finally arrived. It's awesome because not only does it hold toddlers up to 40 lbs, but I got to design my own! I chose the fabric and the strap colors (it's pink on the other side, of course).
I couldn't wait to try it out, so I cooked and ate dinner while wearing it. Pooh was my test subject (Libby didn't want to volunteer).
Paul thought it was funny (or maybe he just thought I was crazy). Either way, I had fun!

We Got MORE New Pictures of Caitlin!!

Our agency finally got us an update! They sent us these new pictures today, as well as pretty much the same information as Ann got us almost 2 weeks ago (size and number of teeth). Not that I'm complaining- I'll take any pictures of my girl that I can get! They also gave us an idea about what kind of food she's eating, which is good...

Care Package for Caitlin

This is a picture of the care package we sent Caitlin. It was fun- I love shopping for my girl!We decided to go through Ann at Red Thread. I figured it would cost us about the same to try to mail a package ourselves from the U.S., and with Ann I can be more sure that it will actually make it to the orphanage. If I send it myself it will probably only make it to the local post office, then someone from the orphanage has to go pick it up (possibly by bike). If the package is too big or too heavy, they may not be able to pick it up. And if the orphanage is too busy they may not even be able to send anyone to the post office. Ann knows how to get it sent directly to the orphanage's door. Plus she was able to get us those precious pictures and updated information last week! I cannot recommend Ann highly enough. She is wonderful!

Included in the care package is:

A pair of pajamas for Caitlin

A blanket

A toy

A baby photo album; I e-mailed pictures to Ann of Paul and me, Libby, and our house which she labeled put in the album for us

A disposable camera (we're hoping the nannies will use it to take pictures of Caitlin's everyday life at the orphanage; friends, nannies, her room, her crib, etc.)

Candies for the nannies

We were also able to write a letter to the orphanage, which Ann translated for us

I may try to send Caitlin another package a little later, but for now it just helps us to feel a little more connected to Caitlin. I totally wish I could just go over there and take care of her myself, but since that's not an option quite yet this will have to do for now!

WE GOT NEW PICTURES OF CAITLIN!!!!!

I am just SO excited! What an awesome surprise this morning! We decided to send Caitlin a care package through Ann at Red Thread. I just ordered it on Monday, and today we got these pictures, as well as some updated information on her size: she's up to 20.9 lbs. and 29.9 inches tall. Her lip has been repaired, and she has 5 teeth now! And her hair is growing in! She's just so beautiful and I can't wait to get over there and love on her!

Thank you, Ann!!!

USCIS receipt

We got our receipt from USCIS in the mail today! This means that our I-800A application has been received and is being processed. I had hoped it would come sometime this week, but I really wasn't expecting it this soon- I just mailed it in one week ago today! Oh how I am praying this means that we will be processed quickly!!!!

Update...

I decided I needed to post something (it's been several days since I have), but I really don't have any big news to share, unfortunately. Last Thursday I spent 3 hours on the phone doing a phone conference with our agency and 9 other families who we should be traveling with. However, since our paperwork is not up to date, we almost certainly will not be traveling with them. They are set to travel around the first week of September, but we will be several weeks behind them.

I sent in our I-800A application on Monday, and USCIS received it at 8:30 Tuesday morning. I'm hoping to get a receipt, or something, this coming week from USCIS. Our agency suggested that, hopefully, since we've already been approved for an I-800A once before, things might move faster this time. I hope that's the case!

The very disappointing news last week was that we were told by our agency that if we cannot travel in September, we will have to wait until NOVEMBER!! Apparently China pretty much shuts down for the month of October and families are not allowed to travel to complete adoptions. So I am determined that we are traveling in September, if there's anything I can do to help it! I simply cannot bear the thought of Caitlin having to wait another 2 months to come home.