Official Progress

We received our USCIS approval today! So the Government didn't take that long after all...

What that means: if nothing else, we have the confidence of the US government that we can raise 3 children!

On another subject, I learned from a Chinese speaking co-worker today who to say her name (Qiu Miao) and spell is phonetically... Chu Maow. The Chu is almost like the word chew, but with a hard C and the Maow is almost like a cat's meow but loose the e and replace with a hard A sound. But NOT saying
May-ow. I find it difficult to take the ehh sound off the A.

Qiu Miao information

I have had a few requests to post a picture. I was told by our adoption agency that China prefers the children's pictures not be posted on web sites, etc. In the interest of honoring China's adoption policies, we won't be posting any pictures of her until we are in-country. However, if you are interested in seeing her picture, send an e-mail and we'll be happy to send one that we have.

A few other facts:
She was born May 2, 2011, she is healthy and she is being cared for in a foster home. We have two different papers with two different provinces, those are Jiangxi and Guangdong. I suspect one is where she may be staying and the other may be the orphanage location since they are neighboring.
The last measurements we have are from last September and she was 25 inches and weighed 15 1/2 pounds.

Another way to Donate

I wanted to remind everyone of another way you can help us reach our goal to donate $5,500 and support Qiu Miao's orphanage.
If you want to make the most of your donation go directly into helping the babies and children at the orphanage; you can give a tax deductable donation directly through our adoption agency Hope International.
The direct link to their donation page is:
HOPE INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS
(They are also listed in our Other Important Links in the right margin.)

Once on their donation page you will see three options:
You can donate on-line with a credit card,
You can donate with a credit card by calling Dawn, or
You can mail a check.

If you donate on-line- select "Other" as the category. Then in the Special Instructions line, add our name (Frank family).
For check donations, write our name in the check note.

The bennefit to you is that this is a tax deductable donation (Hope International is a 501C non-profit agency) - The bennefit for us it that more cash goes directly for our cause.

Fundraising Starts Today!

I PROMISED SOON AND HERE IT IS- YOU CAN BUY ADOPTION T-SHIRTS FROM WILD OLIVE TEE’S AND SUPPORT OUR ADOPTION EFFORTS.
By clicking the link in the right margin (It's the big Wild Olive banner) you can purchase t-shirts directly from Wild Olive. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU USE OUR FAMILY CODE FOR US TO GET CREDIT!!
OUR FAMILY CODE IS: FRANK229
Instructions from Wild Olive:
During the checkout process, there will be a coupon code option under the shopping cart. They will click on that box and it will open the coupon code field up in the left hand corner. That is where the code is applied.  It would not hurt if they mentioned the family code, or your last name(the family name), in the comment section when placing their order (though not a necessity!) Please let them know this code will NOT provide a discount on the Adoption fundraiser Tees. The code will be used solely to help us track your sales for your Fundraising efforts. 

We want everyone to know we are not asking for money for us! We are committed to a $5,500 donation to Qiu Miao’s orphanage (we haven’t decided on an American name for her yet). However, if by some miracle of God we are granted, or raise more than our commitment, we will give all the money to the orphanage to help the children we will be leaving behind.

Up to $10 per t-shirt purchased will support our effort!

Please… if you have any problems or questions while trying to purchase a t-shirt, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

February Wrap-up

Last week we got our finger prints done for the USCIS Visa Application. Both Yvonne and I have now completed the required pre-adoption training.
I think we have all paperwork completed... At least as I have reviewed it with Dawn via e-mail, it seems we are done.
Next on the list is passports for me (renew) and the kids. We have the photos, and I have the applications completed, it is just a matter of all of us getting time together (When the acceptance facility is open) to apply in person. They don't make it easy getting the kids passports. Both parents have to appear together, in person with the kids!

Next, or I should say continuing efforts, are to work on raising funds to make this happen. Yvonne has been researching and completing adoption grants and adoption loan applications for the past month.

COMING SOON- ADOPTION T-SHIRTS WILL SOON BE FOR SALE ON OUR BLOG!
We have been fortunate enough to have linked up with Wild Olive Tee's. This web site provides a method for families to raise funds for their adoption through the purchase of Christian/adoption themed t-shirts. They do all the set up and take care of all the details, leaving the family to work on the many other aspects of the adoption. We will get up to $10 for each t-shirt that is purchased... So please check back and buy a t-shirt!

USCIS First Step

We got our notification in the mail today that the USCIS received our application and scheduled us to have our finger prints done on Feb 24.

New Home Study

Today we had our visit with Dawn to update our home study. We also covered all of the documents we will need to update and started our new I800 process (USCIS immigration application).