Baby Greavu #2

Weeks ago I announced that we have pre-approval for our sweet, little guy in China. Not a whole heck of a lot has changed since then as we got stuck waiting on our approval from USCIS. It finally arrived after 72 days. Once we received that approval, we had it authenticated as quickly as possible. On Monday, October 30, our dossier was officially sent to China. A dossier is a compilation of documents gathered to give the Chinese government a blueprint of who we are. It includes our birth certificates, marriage certificates, financial records, medical records, police and FBI clearances, photos, and our home study. Praise God, as now the majority or our paperwork is complete! DTC (literally dossier-to-China) is a BIG step in the adoption process!

Our next step will be to get logged in the CCCWA. For many, LID is a very important mark in the journey. This is the point at which your agency can begin the process of matching you with a special needs child. As we already have pre-approval for our little guy, LID isn't quite that big of a deal, but still comforting to know that our paperwork has been received. Our next big hurdle will be to receive our Letter of Acceptance (LOA). This represents our formal acceptance of our match with our little one and is necessary to file immigration paperwork that allows for US citizenship. Our number one question we receive right now is "when will we travel?" and at this point, our best estimate is March or April. We should have a better estimate for travel windows once we receive our LOA.

So those are the details on the timeline and where we stand in the process. What I really want to tell you about is Baby Greavu #2. Now admittedly, as he's already 16 months old, he's not technically a baby, but I still call Garrison baby at 32 months, so I'm fine with the title of "baby." I'm anxiously awaiting the point when I can request another update on our sweet guy, but for now, I just re-read his file when I'm feeling the need. The information in his file is dated from February of this year, when he was about eight months old. At that time he could keep his head stable when supported, raise his head off the bed, track moving objects, and gaze at people. He laughed loudly if being teased and felt happy when seeing food and expressed a desire to eat. He is described as extroverted, active, ready to smile. They report he likes listening to music, likes being cuddled, and will cry loudly when he is unhappy. As you can see, we don't know a whole lot. My most favorite thing in the report is that it is noted that he is a deep sleeper...welcome to the Greavu family, buddy. You are going to fit it just fine. This mama LOVES good sleepers!

Photo from his original file

He is now 16 months old, and I know sooooo much could have changed since then. We got a few updated photos when we were reviewing his file, but even that was months ago. At that age, they seem to change every week, so I will admit that it's hard. I know we're missing out on some really sweet moments. My absolute favorite months with Garrison were about 13-18 months old, and I know we will miss all of those. However, we are over the moon to welcome him home next year. We are busy preparing, fundraising, cleaning out closets, sorting boxes of boy clothes. I'm painting the guest bedroom and we're trying to figure out when to switch Garrison over to his big boy bed (his crib will go to his brother). I will definitely say that I feel the nesting desire this time around. It's a weird feeling, one that I've never experienced before. I'm probably already driving Sam crazy, but things. must. get. done. The next few months feel big. Really important. Preparing our hearts, our home, Garrison, school, church, friends, and family for all that is about to change in our world. I'm both scared of messing up, of making the wrong choice, or not doing the right thing or reading the right book, and at peace with the fact that we're entering into the unknown. Learning to do the right thing is just going to take some time and figuring out who our little guy is.

Updated photo from the end of July.

We are thankful for all the prayers, donations, and love that we have received thus far in our journey. I cannot wait to share more about Baby Greavu #2 with you in the coming months. And hopefully, by that time, he'll have a name.