Adopting Marnina
 

Our Timeline

April 30,
2007		 Received Marnina's finding ad today (photos of the newspaper and translation). Actual newspaper will follow in a week or two.
April 10,
2007		 We received pictures and all of Marnina's paperwork today. It's in Chinese, so we're having it translated. She's so cute and much yonger than we were anticipating! We're excited to get to see many of her "firsts" that we thought we'd miss.
April 9,
2007		 We got the call and will receive all the details of our referral tomorrow.
April 6,
2007		 The first referral was posted on our October 2005 LID yahoogroup today. So, the packages DO contain referrals and we should get the call on Monday and see pictures on Tuesday!!!! Yippee!!!
April 5,
2007		 Here we go again, several agencies are reporting more packages en route from China. So, we're hoping for good news Monday through Wednesday of next week. Stay tuned....
April 4,
2007		 As with everything in this adoption process, things can change dramatically at the drop of a hat. It looks like we won't be getting the call this week, so we continue to wait. 
March 30,
2007		 We heard that referrals have left China and we expect THE call on Tuesday. We will get all the details on Wednesday when we meet with our adoption agency. We will call family first, but will not let anyone else know until we make an announcment at church on Sunday. We will update this site on Sunday afternoon - so check out the referral page on Easter!
February 14,
2007		 Received our updated I-171H form. We'll need this the day we get a referral in order for China to issue us travel approval. We're still expecting an April referral, but we have everything we need in order to leave ASAP!!
February 1,
2007		 CCAA matched babies with waiting families with a LID of 9/28/05 through 10/13/05. Our LID is 10/26/05. We continue to wait and are expecting to get a referral in April 2007 and travel in late May/early June.
January 4,
2007		 Homestudy update at our home
December 22,
2006		 Spending the week in Iowa with Gretchen's family over the Christmas holiday
December 4,
2006		 Having our friend's 23 month-old stay with us for four days while her baby brother is born
December 2,
2006		 First-Time parents pizza party & gift swap (12 people attended with two adopted daughters)
November 25,
2006		 Filed a new I-600A since the original forms will expire in February, before we travel to China
November 22,
2006		 Gretchen's medical exam for homestudy update
November 20,
2006		 Matt's medical exam for homestudy update
November 13,
2006		 Our 7th wedding anniversary
November 10,
2006		 Mailed inquiry for new criminal record checks for homestudy update
November 4,
2006		 First-Time parents dinner for area waiting families (12 people attended with our groups first adopted daughter)
August 26,
2006		 First-Time parents dinner for area waiting families (11 people attended)
August 24,
2006		 Fingerprints with Homeland Secuity expire after 15 month, so we traveled to Charlotte again to get re-fingerprinted
July 8,
2006		 Changed office into nursery (see Photos)
June 30,
2006		 Gretchen's last day at Progress Energy
June 27,
2006		 Gretchen gets her first baby shower, courtesy of her co-workers
June 10,
2006		 First-Time Parents dinner for Triangle area families waiting to adopt from China (14 people attended)
May 25,
2006		 We were notified that the time frame to wait for a referral will be increasing to 12-18 months from LID
January 10,
2006		 We were notified that the time frame to wait for a referral has increased to 8-9 months from LID
November 8,
2005		 BCS-Grand Rapids notifies us that our official Log-In Date (LID) is 10/26/05 and that we can expect to receive a referral in 6-7 months
October 26,
2005		 CCAA logs our dossier into their computer system
September 29,
2005		 BCS-Grand Rapids sends our dossier to the CCAA in Beijing, China
September 24,
2005		 Neighborhood yard sale (fundraiser for the adoption)
September 12,
2005		 Translation of dossier fees paid
August 30,
2005		 State seals for the rest of the dossier, made 3 copies; Copies sent to BCS-Raleigh, BCS-Grand Rapids (with original), and one copy for us
August 29,
2005		 NC State Seal appointment for all dossier documents, but 4 forms needed to be re-done; Had those forms re-done
August 26,
2005		 Received revised homestudy & copy of agency's license in the mail
August 24,
2005		 Had I-171H, CCAA letter, and financial statements for dossier notarized
August 23,
2005		 Received I-171H form in the mail (approval of I-600A form)
August 19,
2005		 BCS-Raleigh social worker looks over our dossier
August 18,
2005		 Letter to China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) & financial statements for dossier notarized
August 13,
2005		 Took pictures of the “future” nursery and the outside of our home for the dossier
August 9,
2005		 Paid the family assessment fees to BCS
August 6,
2005		 Received police clearance letter
August 2,
2005		 Revised homestudy approved by Director of BCS-Asheville
August 1,
2005		 Medical exams & employment reference letters for dossier notarized
July 28,
2005		 Homestudy approved by Director of BCS-Asheville, copy of homestudy sent to Immigration in Charlotte (for our I-600A processing)
July 23,
2005		 Mailed police clearance letter to NC SBI (State Bureau of Investigation)
July 22,
2005		 Bought a convertible crib while Gretchen's parents where in town
July 21,
2005		 Took several pictures of us for the dossier
July 7,
2005		 3rd & final homestudy visit (tour of our home, final interview)
June 30,
2005		 Received Matt's passport in the mail
June 29,
2005		 2nd homestudy visit (separate interviews at BCS-Raleigh office)
June 25,
2005		 Sent Iowa birth certificates back to State of IA for Secretary of State seals
June 22,
2005		 1st homestudy visit (joint interview at BCS-Raleigh office)
May 27,
2005		 Matt applied for his passport; Gretchen's boss completed employment letter
May 24,
2005		 Attended follow-up meeting at BCS-Raleigh office
May 3,
2005		 Fingerprinting appointment in Charlotte, NC
April 29,
2005		 Completed the Family Assessment paperwork and mailed to BCS-Asheville
April 28,
2005		 Signed our Last Will & Testament, naming guardian for our child(ren)
April 26,
2005		 Medical exams for family assessment
April 21,
2005		 Started working on our dossier paperwork
April 20,
2005		 Notified that we passed our criminal record checks
April 13,
2005		 Mailed request to State of NC for criminal record check with fees
April 8,
2005		 Attended required Adoption Information Meeting in Asheville, NC
April 1,
2005
  • Gretchen gets her passport pictures taken and mails passport in for renewal
  • Visit to NC Vital Records office in downtown Raleigh for copies of Matt's birth certificate and our marriage license
  • Mailed Form I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) to Immigration office in Charlotte, NC
March 18,
2005		 Received Formal Application approval, as well as family assessment paperwork and required reading assignments to be completed before the homestudy would begin.
March 9,
2005		 Completed BCS Formal Application and mailed it to BCS-Asheville with application fee
March 4,
2005		 Received notification of Preliminary Application approval
March 4,
2005		 Called Iowa Vital Records office for copies of Gretchen's birth certificate
March 2,
2005		 BCS-Asheville faxed medical forms to BCS-Grand Rapids
March 1,
2005		 Gretchen's doctor mails the medical form back to BCS-Asheville
February 26,
2005		 Matt's doctor mails the medical form back to BCS-Asheville
February 18,
2005		 BCS-Asheville sends medical form & release form to our doctors at Garner Family Practice
February 16,
2005		 Faxed and mailed a our medical release forms to BCS-Asheville
February 15,
2005		 Called BCS-Asheville for status on Preliminary Application, stated they forwarded our application to the head offices in Grand Rapids who decided they needed more information on certain medical conditions
February 8,
2005		 Faxed and mailed a copy of the Preliminary Application to BCS-Asheville
February 7,
2005		 Called BCS offices in Asheville, NC for status on Preliminary Application, stated they didn’t receive it
January 31,
2005		 Submitted Preliminary Application online with BCS
January 28,
2005		 Decided on Bethany Christian Services (BCS) as our adoption agency
January 25,
2005		 Decided to adopt internationally and from China
January 10,
2005		 Started receiving information from various adoption agencies that handled with both domestic and international adoption
December 25,
2004		 Matt gave Gretchen a book about adoption and indicated that he was ready to look into adopting a child