NVC, GUZ, RTF, DS260: So Many Abbreviations!

We had a fun week with our adoption process progress! On Monday, I sent an email to the National Visa Center (NVC) to request our GUZ# and Invoice ID from our I-800 approval. I needed both of these numbers to fill out the DS260, which is Rynn's Immigrant Visa application. Thankfully on Tuesday morning, they emailed me right back with the information I requested! 

Right away, I went online to start filling out Rynn's visa application. I've heard stories of the website being locked up for hours and not typically working properly. BUT, to my surprise, I was able to log-on right away and get started on her application. I did get booted out every 20 minutes, so was sure to save my work page by page. It took about an hour, but wasn't too difficult to complete. 

The next piece of information I needed from the NVC was called an RTF, which is a PDF that basically says our I-800 approval has been sent to Guangzhou, China. I sent an email on Wednesday requesting this information. 

Here comes the cool part (for me it was, at least :) ).  I hadn't heard back from the NVC for 24 hours, which is their stated time limit for a reply. I was about to type another email on Thursday afternoon. I had the email all typed up and was saying a short prayer before sending it. I just prayed about being anxious to get the RTF and about not wanting to send another email.  I was literally about to click send, when I noticed my inbox said "1 new email". I clicked on my inbox, and sure enough, it was the RTF I had been waiting for! I know God answers our prayers, but I didn't think it would be that quickly! :) 

Sometimes I feel discouraged and overwhelmed by all the paperwork, finances, waiting, unknowns, of this process.  But it's little moments like these that I know God is with us, each step of the way. And we have no option but to trust Him. We still have quite a few obstacles in front of us that will require much faith and trust. But I am often reminded that God can move mountains with even the smallest of faith we have to offer. 

Next and final step before Travel Approval is the Article 5! Update on this to come hopefully later this week!

If you haven't already seen our post on facebook about our puzzle piece fundraiser, I placed it below. :) Ayin wanted to start putting the puzzle together the other day, but is a little concerned at how difficult it's going to be! Haha.

Help bring home our missing piece with this puzzle fundraiser! Buy one piece (or 20!) of Rynn's puzzle for $10 each. We will write your name (or whatever name you would like) on the back of each piece you purchase. The puzzle will later be placed in a double-sided frame to show the love and support from friends and family! Comment below: How many pieces would you like?

There are a few ways to donate:

1. For a tax deductible donation: http://www.connectedheartsministry.org/waltner-family-sponsorship

2. Send a check to our address which will be deposited in our adoption savings account.

3. Get it to us in person anytime or at Rynn's shower on November 5th. 

Thanks so much for your continued love, support and prayers!

I-800 Approval and HER NAME

We did it! Finally, on Wednesday last week, we received a call saying our I-800 had been approved. The official document arrived in the mail on Saturday, and I posted it to our portal today! What does this mean? It's a small step on our journey towards Travel Approval, but an important one! 

Next we will be working on getting our daughter's immigrant visa. This process has a few steps. We will wait for our I-800 to arrive at the NVC in New Hampshire. Once it arrives we need a GUZ#. This number shows our case has been assigned to the Guangzhou consulate in China. (Guangzhou is a city in southern China where ALL adoptions are finalized).

Once we get our GUZ# and Invoice ID, we can fill out a form called the DS260, which is the application for our child's US immigrant visa. After this form is submitted, there are just a few more short steps until we get Travel Approval from China! 

We are still hoping to travel in December and it's still a possibility!

We are also getting our applications for our Visas to enter China ready. We went to Costco this weekend to get our visa pictures taken (only $4.99!). We had some leftover passport photos we were going to use, but we were smiling in those. Turns out, you can't smile in your visa photo! So, we took some mug-shot-like photos and had to laugh at ourselves. Travis made me laugh on the first one, so the photo guy had to take another one. Travis said I look mean in my photo, but I can't ever think of a time where I've posed for a photo without smiling! It was so strange! :) What do you think, do we look tough? 

We also had another photo-op this weekend. Travis's mom took our family pictures out at their farm! Before we took pictures, we had all three kids crying, a poop explosion followed by rinsing clothes and waiting for them to dry, and a kindergartner who got his outfit dirty playing with worms.  I said, all we need is ONE GOOD PICTURE! I think we got one...just barely. Paxx isn't looking but it. will. do.

Jhett with his worms. Shortly after this he got dirt all over his pants. 

Ayin, our best poser. 

The good one. Thanks to Grandma Ginger for taking the pictures for us!

One more little photo I snapped was of our daughter's coordinating outfit. We were thinking about her and how the next family photo session will include her!

 We have some more exciting news regarding our sweet girl! We have decided to give her an American name in addition to her Chinese name. Her full name will be Rynn Jiani (pronounced John-ya) Waltner! Rynn is taken from my grandma's name, which was Matilde Catherine. Rynn, short for Catherine. :)

We will probably call her both names for a while until she gets used to Rynn. 

Stay tuned for some fundraiser announcements. My sister and friend are organizing a shower for Rynn and will be selling puzzle pieces for the home stretch. Check out the facebook event. 

We'll keep you posted, as usual, on the next steps. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Highs and Lows

OK, so you know from my last post that we had a little hiccup with my I-800 form. I forgot to send the payment, because I read the directions wrong. I noticed my mistake about an hour after I left FedEx and have been trying to fix it for the last two weeks. 
I called Texas where my papers were going (they hadn't even arrived yet), and explained my situation. They told me there was nothing they could do. I would have to wait until my packet went to the lockbox facility where everything is processed. So I waited. Then I called the lockbox. They told me I would have to wait to get a receipt in the mail so they could know which account the payment would need to go to. I got my receipt in the mail on Monday and called again. They told me I had to wait until I was assigned an officer to my case file and to call back in a week. I called back 2 days later and found out I had indeed been assigned an officer. I called my officer and she said there was nothing she could do. They don't process the payments, that's done in Texas (the first place my documents arrived). I would have to wait to get my "pink slip" in the mail stating my paperwork has been denied because I didn't send payment. This is what I was trying to avoid in the first place. She said it could take 1 to 3 weeks to receive my RFE (request for evidence) in the mail. TEARS. I am not a crier, but I could hardly talk on the phone to my officer because I was trying to hold back the tears! If this letter takes 3 weeks to arrive, our travel date will inevitably be delayed. Why is it so hard to pay someone $385? I can't pay over the phone. They couldn't email me my receipt number or my RFE. It's all just so inefficient! OK rant over. This has been a yucky day. Let's hope my letter comes in the mail quickly (our officer is sending it in the mail tomorrow) and we can keep things rolling. December travel is still possible, but it might be a tight squeeze. 

On a happier note, on Friday we got two new videos from the orphanage of our girl. It was so fun! We also heard how her name is pronounced. One of Jiani's nannies on the video is calling her Jania or John-ya. So it's fun to know how to actually say her name! The videos, for me, are also just reinforcement that we made the right decision by saying yes to Jiani (John-ya).  She is so sweet and has so much potential to thrive in a family and with great health care.

LOA

This was another big week in our adoption process. On Thursday, our official LOA (Letter of Acceptance) came from China. We quick signed it and headed to FedEx to have our adoption agency send it back to China asap. This very important document tells China that we do indeed want to adopt JiaNi, and they in-turn begin the process of granting us travel approval hopefully within the next 3 months. 

I met the UPS guy at the door and happily said THANK YOU! He probably thought I was a little crazy.

Travis and I signing the LOA. Probably the most important document we've signed since our marriage license back in 2006!

While at FedEx, I also sent our I-800 form to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). This form begins the process for Jia to become a US Citizen once she lands on American soil.  I had a bit of a stressful moment (and some continued stress) at the FedEx office. I had all the paperwork ready for our I-800 (a whole stack) and our signed LOA both ready to ship to separate places. I checked out, and with a big sigh of relief, went out to the van. I sent a quick email on my phone, and was about ready to drive away...when it hit me. I forgot to make a copy of our LOA to include with our I-800 application! I ran back into FedEx and my packages where still sitting on the counter. I waited in line again and explained to the worker what I had done, and that I needed to re-open both packages. I then made a copy of our LOA, put it in the I-800 package and got new envelopes for both packages. Whew! That was a close one. I told the guy at the counter that I almost delayed our adoption process! We both laughed, and I left FedEx with a pounding heart...but relieved.

UNTIL...I got home and was reading through some questions on our China Adoption Questions facebook group. Someone was asking questions about the I-800 application and mentioned a $385 payment...hmm. Why didn't we have to send a check with our application? I had read the directions and thought we could apply without a fee. So I went back to the USCIS website and read the directions again. I read the first page...yes I think we were good. Then I kept reading to the SECOND page. There was a second page?! Well crap. I indeed SHOULD have sent the fee with our application. Now what?

I called USCIS and talked to a super (UNHELPFUL) lady who told me there was nothing I could do and that our application would be rejected without the payment and that it would inevitably delay our process. WHAT!? I said there is NOTHING I can do? She excused herself to talk to her supervisor. She came back on the phone to tell me there was nothing they could do, but she did give me an email address to the Lockbox facility (the facility that would be processing our application). She said the Lockbox has no phone number, but I could try sending an email. Thanks lady.

Having no other options, I sent an email. I received an automated reply saying it could take up to 15 days to get a response. GREAT. 

Well to my surprise I got an email about an hour later! The lady said I had a couple of options. I could resend all of the paperwork and submit a new application with a check this time. They would just reject the first application. Or, I could wait until Monday when they review my application and she could give me further instructions from there. She also asked for my tracking number on the package. I chose the second option, since by the time I shipped another set of paperwork, it probably wouldn't arrive until Monday anyways. She was very helpful and actually seemed sympathetic to my situation.  So now I am really hoping that I will get an email tomorrow with further instructions on how to send payment for our application. And am hoping it can be done without increasing our timeline for I-800 approval. UGH. I was SO mad at myself for making such a silly mistake! 

International adoption is not for the faint at heart! :) I'll keep you posted on our I-800 application. After I-800 approval (which usually takes 2 weeks), we can start applying for our travel visas for China! 

THE MATCH

Many of you saw our big announcement on Friday that things are finally happening on the adoption front for the Waltner household! We couldn't be more thrilled to share this news with family and friends as this November will mark FIVE YEARS since we decided to start the adoption process. If you read my last blog post from a year ago, you can get a quick update on our timeline over the last five years. 

Here's the picture I shared on facebook on Friday with our big announcement. 

I'll give you a quick update on what our adoption process has looked like over the past 9 months. We officially went "off hold" in January 2017 and were able to complete our home study update on January 24th. We then got busy working on our dossier (mountain of paperwork) for China. Our dossier was mailed on April 20th. It became offically logged in to China about a month later on May 23rd. 

We had a conference call with our international adoption specialist at this point talking about what special needs we were open to and which ones we weren't. (This was not a fun call by the way) Although necessary, it was so hard to check yes and no boxes for certain needs, because you want to be as open as possible while still considering how those needs could affect your whole family. On that call our social worker said the wait for a referral could be up to 15-18 months. Uhhh....that was a little disheartening to say the least. Hadn't we already waited long enough? Still, this is news we had to take in stride and trust God's timing for our family and for our adopted child. 

Thirty seven days after our dossier was LID (logged in dossier), China CHANGED their eligibility requirements for international adoption. The one change that could potentially have affected us was that children currently in the home must be at least three years old. With Paxx being about 10 months old at that time, we weren't sure if the new changes would affect us or if we would be grandfathered in since our dossier was in China and already LID. Our dossier still hadn't been through the review room, so that was the one thing that could hold us back at that point. I was trying not to freak out....would we have to wait 2 more years until Paxx was three and redo paperwork once again? Well within a few weeks we found out that our dossier had made it through the review room on July 27th. We were SO relieved that our process could continue and were so thankful that we just squeaked in under the old rules by THIRTY-SEVEN days.

Ok, we were good....now we just have to wait another year or so for a match. I can do this, I am the queen of waiting. On July 28th, ONE DAY after or dossier had been through the review room, we got a call from our social worker. Of course, I DIDN'T ANSWER MY PHONE. It was an out-of-state number, and I just assumed it was spam. Plus, I wasn't expecting THE CALL for another year and a half!  They tried calling me a few times, but I was busy getting a pedicure (something I never do). Finally an hour later, Travis calls me and asks, "Why aren't you answering your phone?! Our social worker has a file of a little girl she would like us to look at." WHAT?!  

We looked at her file and a few pictures they sent us. We were then able to ask her orphanage some questions to help get a few more pieces of the puzzle. It look three long weeks to hear back from the orphanage. They also sent a short 60 second video. At that point, we had an international adoption doctor review her medical file, pictures and video for us. She got back to us within a few days and gave us the ins and outs of what her special needs would potentially be. Like I said, there were only pieces to a puzzle, with a lot of missing ones. With so much we didn't know, could we still say yes? After many prayers, discussions, research and more prayers...we accepted the referral of JiaNi on August 30, 2017. We received our official LOA (letter of acceptance) on September 1st. 

Her Chinese name is Jia Ni. She is almost 4 years old. She seems to be so very sweet and is already dearly loved by her mom and dad. We are beyond excited to meet her and bring her home to her three brothers and loads of other family and friends. 

The next steps include paperwork, grant applications, a second set of questions for the orphanage, a care package sent to her (FUN!) and more paperwork. We were told it's likely that we will travel to get our girl in December or January. 

We have been overwhelmed these past few days and through the years with the support from all of you. It's almost surreal to finally be at this stage in the process. So many firsts to look forward to! Please continue to pray for us and for our sweet girl over these next few months especially.  

It likely won't be another year until my next blog post (yay for this), so stay tuned...more to come!

Oh, you probably want to see a picture, right?! :)

  

Fun Surprises and Not Fun Ones...

As many of you know, we were blessed with a surprise pregnancy in the midst of our two adoption processes (Uganda and China).  It is our adoption agency's policy that we go on hold until our new baby is 6 months old. At that point, we can pick up where we left off and continue the adoption process again. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, we found out that our Uganda adoption likely won't be happening.

Let's do a little timeline review of our adoption process so far.

• November 2012: We started the very early stages of the adoption process.
• May 2013: Completed our first home study and started working on our dossier to send to Uganda.
• July 2013: Sent our completed dossier to Uganda and began the wait for a referral (child match). Wait times at this point were 3-12 months.
• July 2014: Wait times increased to 12-24 months.
• July 2015: Wait times increased yet again to 24 plus months - unknown...
• October 2015: Decided to start the process to adopt from China, since we were still waiting for Uganda.
• November 2015: Waiting for a referral from Uganda for 28 months and found out we were expecting! (If I am being honest, I wasn't super excited to be pregnant...knowing we would have to put our adoption on hold) Of course we are both excited to welcome baby boy #3 into our family any week now!
• June 2016: Found out that the President of Uganda signed a law stating international adoptions must be finalized in Uganda (instead of the U.S.) and adoptive families must live in Uganda for 12 months for this to happened. Obviously this was devastating news for us. We just can't put any more time or money into this adoption, knowing that it won't be possible to move our family to Uganda for a year or longer.

I cried, I was sad (still am). It's just a helpless feeling. We knew going into this process that Uganda was a pilot program and that things could change. But you never expect to be 3 years into a process and then just have it end so quickly. We are emotionally drained. We had been picturing a little girl from Uganda joining our family for over 3 years...and then realized that it wasn't going to end up the way we had hoped.
I don't understand it, but I do still have hope in God's plan for our lives and our children's (both biological and adoptive) lives. His plan is better and it might take a lifetime (or longer) to see how it all plays out.

So what now? Right now we are focusing on the birth of baby boy Waltner who is due in a few short weeks (August 8th). Once he is around 6 months old, or sooner if our agency will allow it, we will continue with the adoption process from China. We had only completed our home study for China when we found out we were pregnant. So we will update our home study and then hopefully get started on our paper work (dossier) to send to China. Our agency has been doing adoptions from China for a long time and have a good and reliable process in place. There is a lot less risk for the program to change dramatically, which can put us at ease that what happened with Uganda would be very unlikely to happen with China.  

Well, that's where we're at in this crazy life. We didn't plan it, but someone greater did. We hold fast to His timing and know His grace is sufficient. Thank you to everyone who has supported us in building our family through adoption. In some ways, I feel as though I have let you down. But I understand that unexpected things happen and that control of our lives must be surrendered to the God who loves us and knows the desires of our hearts.

1 Year Ago...

A lot can change in a year.  It doesn't seem like it, but it's been almost a year since I last posted an adoption update. We are still waiting for a referral from Uganda, as things have really slowed in that program. A short overview of our adoption journey so far...

November 2012: We filled out the formal application to start the process for an international adoption in Uganda. (wait times for a referral were estimated at 3-12 months)

March 2013: We started the home study process.

May 2013: First official home study completed!

July 2013: Took about 1.5 months to finish the dossier and sent it to Uganda on July 8, 2013.

July 2014: Waiting a year. The wait was extended to 12-24 months. 

July 2015: Waiting 2 years. The wait was extended to 36-48 months.

September 2015: We decided to do a concurrent adoption! We will keep our paperwork in Uganda current, but we will also begin the paperwork for an adoption in China! 

October 1, 2015: We were officially accepted into the China program!


So what does a concurrent adoption mean? We will pursue both adoptions at the same time. But once we receive a referral in one country, we will go on hold in the other country until the adoptive child has been placed in our home for at least 6 months. So while we will be doing both adoptions, there will be some time between placements. 

Because the China program is fairly established, it's likely that we will receive a referral from China before we will get a match from Uganda. Wait times for China are typically 1-12 months. 

We just started the process of updating our home study specifically for China. Once that is finished (in the next month or so), we can begin work on our dossier (huge pile of paperwork) for China. My first dossier for Uganda took me about  a month and a half to complete. I am expecting to finish this one in well under a month! :)  

These 2 adoptions are treated as completely separate adoptions. Separate paperwork, email addresses, fees, etc. We will likely start doing some fund-raising again at some point...rummage sale in the spring, grant applications, etc. Fun stuff! Not really, but totally worth it for these kiddos that just need the love of a family and the love of our Savior, Jesus. 

Please pray that we are perfectly matched with the child God has for our family and that we can have peace about some difficult decisions we will be making about accepting a match for a child that might have some special medical needs.

We are so excited to share this news with you all!