Joanna, Lucy and I invite you to come with us (virtually) to pick up the latest addition to our family. Claire Qin'ai Connor was born on July 2, 2008 and will be introduced to us on Father's Day 2009 and introduced to the rest of the Connor/Wilson family on the eve of her first birthday. We will be leaving on June 18, 2009 for Beijing, China and then on to the Dianjiang SWI (Social Welfare Institute) in Chongqing Municipality to pick up Claire and tell her how much we all love her and how we couldn't wait to get her. Claire is our second daughter adopted from China. Lucy Xiao Hong Connor is now 3 1/2 years old and is terribly excited about becoming a big sister. Unfortunately, she will have to wait a few more weeks to meet her baby sister because she will be staying with her Gaga, Aunt Mimi, Buddy Bear and her cousins Tia and Kare Bear while Mommy and Daddy travel. To catch you up to date with all that we have done to get to this moment, here is time line of our journey so far.
7/10/2007
First meeting with A Helping Hand to begin the application process for Claire. The CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) requires a one year delay between adoption from China and new application. This means that we cannot send our application until November 2007.
8/4/2007 to 8/23/2007
Four home study visits with May Brisco
7/25/2007 to 10/31/2007
Completion of paperwork/dossier
10/27/2007
I-171H -- USCIS Application for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition accepted
11/9/2007
Dossier sent to the CCAA in China
11/15/2007
LID - Log In Date -- our reserved spot in line via the CCAA
11/15/2007 to 2/27/2009
Wait
2/27/2009
Referral Day -- While on vacation with Granny and Grandpa, we received the wonderful news that we were matched with our beautiful 8 month old daughter
3/2/2009
Updated home study -- change application to special needs program
4/16/2009
Updated I-171H
4/27/2009
LOA - Letter of Adoption -- This is the official notice of China's acceptance of our application to adopt Claire
5/20/2009
Notice of Travelling to China for Adoption Letter (TL) sent
5/29/2009
Airline Tickets Purchased
5/31/2009
Pack
6/11/2009
Final Travel Meeting
6/18/2009
Leave for China at 10:45am -- will provide more on itinerary after final travel meeting
7/1/2009
Arrive home from China at 9:45pm
7/2/2009
Claire Qin'ai Connor's 1st Birthday
So it's officially Claire. Yeah!! Although we think her name is lovely (if we do say so ourselves!), we'll be calling her Cupcake when she's tottering around on her walker.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to meet another of our extended family and to hear all about your adventure. We'll miss being there.
- Elizabeth
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ReplyDeleteWe can't wait to meet Claire/Cupcake! What a beautiful little one ... give her an extra hug from us when you finally get your hands on her! We are soooo excited to have "new" neighbors!
ReplyDeletethe McIntoshes
I'm so excited for Claire to come home and for Lucy to come to Newburgh!!!
ReplyDelete-Larren
Dearest Nana and Uncle Mike:
ReplyDeleteSince calls from China are terribly expensive, I plan on posting pictures and keeping you updated on the various events that we have planned for Lucy. I know you'll miss the little princess terribly, but between gaga, mom, kailey, dad, larren & myself, she'll be in excellent hands. I'm counting days until you come home! & the infamous surprise i've created will be unveiled.
Love,
Kara.
The blog background looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh wait, I DID THAT.
Hey!! I hope your flight went well and all goes smoothly these next 2 weeks. I'll be thinking about you every day you're are gone.
ReplyDeleteKara, tell Lucy I said HELLO!!
haha, i will do!
ReplyDelete& nana, be sure to check the "while you were in china" blog each day! i promise to put up new pictures and videos every single day. call when you can!
Hi Mike and Joanna,
ReplyDeleteHope you made it to China safely! What better way to pass my time here at Rite Aid than to follow Claire's journey home? It is so exciting!
Kim Mitchell
Thought you might be interested to know that I called Granny Billie today. She and August are making it fine, so far. He was only loud once and the rest has been quiet meowing, she said. She said she's feeling pretty good and had been out early this morning but has been in this afternoon because it is so hot. I will stop by and check on her soon!
ReplyDeleteMike and Joanna,
ReplyDeleteHope your trip over was OK!! Joanna I hope your flight over was a little better this time and I will certainly be praying for your flight back!! Can't wait to see some updates and photos of Claire (aka Cupcake)!! We are so happy for you guys and wish we were there with you again!!
Love and Prayers,
The Younger's
Hey - just checking in, can't wait for an update!
ReplyDeleteHurry home little one. Joanna, we just got back from Louisville with mom. We had a great time and told everyone we met that our other sister was busy bringing her baby home. Can't wait to hug you.
ReplyDeleteI print copies of your jouranl entries for Billie. We all love them. Mike you have a future in journalism if the ortho gig does not work out. We all feel like we are a part of your journey, keep posting
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ReplyDeleteATTENTION ALL READERS!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from China
I'm sorry that there have not been any posts to the blog so far. I am having trouble gaining access to blogspot - my niece is posting this for me. We are keeping another online journal at the Journey to Me website. Please click the link below and log in to see where we have been. Remember that the username and password are case sensitive.
http://www.journeytome.com/stories.cfm
username: CQC
password: July2
Thanks for viewing.
I just have viewed the new pictures as well as some videos of Lucy. I am overwhelmed with joy and can not wait to meet Claire. I will share this with Billie today. Take care! I love you all!
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