Our First Munchkin

Last week, on April 18, our little Bohdan turned 3 years old. I can’t believe it – where has the time gone? I keep saying I never gave him permission to grow up! I look at him and have to admit that he’s no longer a baby…he’s a little boy.

But he is truly an amazing little boy. His imagination has started developing, and it’s so fun to watch. Lately he likes to pretend he’s a puppy – complete with crawling, panting, and trying to lick us. He also acts out things he sees in movies, such as wanting me to be the Heffalump that he captures.

It’s also fun hearing him talk and how he says things. I was pointing out some robins outside, and being the Winnie the Pooh fan that he is, he calls them Christopher Robin birds. Other cute phrases are: “Mommy, I carry you” (carry me, Mommy), “That’s my sit-down” (that’s my chair), and “I cuddle you” (I want to cuddle with you).

Bohdan loves trains, so we had a Thomas the train birthday party for him. Jess and I made a 3-D train cake – Thomas and two passenger cars – that he’d been asking for about 5 times a day for a month.

Despite what everyone says about terrible twos, I really enjoyed age 2 and will miss it.

Happy birthday, sweet boy!

Another approval -- THE BIG ONE!

We got a letter today from the Department of Immigration and Homeland Security. They have given us "favorable" approval to adopt and have sent this approval to Guangzhou, China. That is where our adoption will become final. This letter is our I171-H approval -- the big one everyone waits for as their final approval before the dossier can go to China!

There was also a form stating that our fingerprints are cleared until May 6 of next year, so let's all pray we can travel to China to get our little girl before then! If the prints expire, we'd have to redo them and pay for them again.

We've had two minor problems with some paperwork in the last week. One has been taken care of and the other is in the process of being resolved.

We are close to having our dossier sent to China!!

Approved!

We got word last week that our homestudy has been approved by the state! That same day it was sent back out for a "second filing," which means it goes to the US Immigration Dept. for approval. That will generate our I171-H form, which should be the last piece of paper we need to receive for our dossier to go to China! Our agency expects that to come in about 4-6 weeks.

On a discouraging note, I'm hearing rumors on the China adoption boards that the time from DTC (dossier going to China) and referral (when we're given the information on who our little girl will be) could be extended to 12-18 months. We originally were thinking we'd be traveling to get her around March of next year. If this new time frame is true, we wouldn't be traveling until possibly fall of next year. Very disheartening. Please pray with us that the process in China will speed up and we won't have to wait longer than we were already preparing to wait to bring our little girl home.