I see the light...

You know that point in pregnancy when you still have so long to go, but your belly is big and huge and you think "DEAR LORD.... HOW MUCH LONGER????" And then you convince yourself that 37 weeks is full term and you will be THAT woman who delivers early... then you are a week late and totally miserable. But finally, the doctor gives you an induction date, an ending, and everything is right with the world again. Well, us paper pregnant women encounter similar emotions. The waiting is unbearable. You think things will fly through the system and be over quickly, but then a paper gets lost or the entire country of China shuts down for a week while they celebrate a New Year. But then an ending is in sight, and you know that this too will pass.

We received our NVC letter today via email. Let me back up a little bit. Once you get your LOA (this came Jan 14), you have to apply for an I800. Once you get that approval, you will get a NVC letter about 2 weeks later stating that your application has been cabled to the Consulate in Guangzhou. Once you have that letter, your I800 approval and an application called a DS-230 (has to do with her visa...) then everything can be dropped off at the Consulate. In exactly 10 days, what they call an Article 5 will be ready. Our agency will then pick up the papers and they are hand delivered to the CCCWA (Chinese Government) and you wait for travel approval, which takes 1-3 weeks. Then, you get on a plane and LEAVE! Our coordinator emailed me last week and told me to send her everything (except the NVC letter...) so she could go ahead and ship it to China. I obeyed because I will do anything to save time. So, our papers have been in China waiting for this silly NVC letter. It came via email this afternoon, I forwarded it to my contact, she forwarded it on to China and first thing Wednesday morning it will be delivered to the Consulate. Ahhh, I love technology.

So, our article 5 will be ready on March 6.

It will be delivered to CCCWA on March 8 or 11. (We are praying for the 8th, please join us in that prayer!)
Then, we wait for travel approval. It was 11 days with Emma. It can take up to 3 weeks. We are praying for a one week wait for Travel Approval.
Why? because I want to be on a plane the first week of April. That is my spring break, and it would be a HUGE blessing to have my kids at home and not racing around with crazy school and sports schedules. It would also be "free" days missed from school, which I really need.
It also gets her home. Which she desperately needs.
Our sweet coordinator says that the first week of April is a stretch. We get that it is a stretch, but we also have faith.

We are hoping that our papers get to CCCWA on March 8.
We are hoping our TA will be issued on March 15.
We are hoping to be on a plane the first week of April.

The end is in sight... please pray for perfect timing in the final hours of this journey!