One down...Two to go...

Well, good news!! We got Pre-Approval on Wednesday 2/11/09!! We are relieved a bit but still cautiously optimistic. And now you’re probably thinking…and Pre-Approval is???

So, here’s the skinny on the various hoops we have to jump through:

1. Pre-Approval (PA) – Basically this is a preliminary approval, given by the adoption officials, based on the electronic application (very brief) that our agency sent over when we got the referral and were matched w/Mali. Supposedly the agency sent over one of the doctor’s letters with this application so we’re hoping that the Chinese are now aware of Shawn’s previous brain tumor and it won’t cause any snags for us.
2. Letter of Acceptance (LOA) – After PA, the adoption officials will pull our dossier (the mound of paperwork referencing pretty much our entire life history) out of their thousands of dossiers just sitting over there, and begin to translate it from English to Chinese. Once this is completed, they will review it in it’s entirety, clarify any information if needed, and then if all goes well, will give their “blessing” and send us an official Letter of Acceptance stating they agree we are capable parents for Mali. This can take anywhere from 2-3 months. We will both breathe a lot easier once this is in hand :)
3. Travel Approval (TA) – This happens much quicker, taking probably another month (or less) after the LOA. Basically, this is given once all of our appointments have been arranged with the Chinese Consulate and other government agencies. This tells us what approximate time frame we will be able to come over. At this point our agency will begin booking our hotel and flight information. Travel usually occurs within a few weeks to a month from the TA.

We still have a few pretty big hurdles, so you can understand the “cautious optimism” I mentioned earlier.

For the time being, we are continuing to work on the house and nursery, gather our travel documents, work on updating our home study with the social worker, get our visas for China, think ahead on what to pack for the journey, and put together a care package to send to Mali and her orphanage workers. We should have an address we can Fed Ex it to next week. We are going to include various things in the package, some of which are a teether photo album for Mali with our pictures in it (so she can hopefully recognize us when we meet her for the first time), clothes and toys (for both Mali and the other children in the orphanage), a disposable camera (for updates and candid shots), a letter for Mali’s caregiver(s) to introduce ourselves and express our gratitude for the work they have done and will do for Mali and the other orphans, chocolate (our agency actually told us to include some of this for the caregivers…I guess a few bribes couldn’t hurt, huh?), and also a soft pink blanket for Mali (Shawn and I have been cuddling with it lately and hope it will still have our ‘scent’ on it when it gets to her). I’m debating on trying to record a message for Mali on a portable recording device that they can play for her too…I’m not sure about that one, but it would be neat for her to hear our voices, then maybe we would sound more familiar when we arrive to get her. I’ll keep thinking on that one.

We have our work cut out for us for now, but it’s definitely good to stay busy for the next few months.