The Cheeky Robinson Clan: Medical Exam

We thought we might have the morning off after traveling last night and being up so late. But we did not have such luck! Today was the day all of the Lifeline Children Services (our agency) families were scheduled to go to the international medical clinic for our children's medical exams. Getting a medical exam for our baby is a required part of the process, and we were happy for it. It's great to get a check up before we go home.

This was also the first time we got to meet the rest of the Lifeline Children's Services families that are here. (We've been traveling with another Lifeline family all along, who I'll blog about later. They are amazing, and they have a new lovely 5-year old!!) It was sooo fun to see all the new adoptive parents with their new adoptive kiddos! Let's just say we were quite a sight to behold...eight children, 16 parents, two guides and several strollers, backpacks, ergos and bobas. :) We took a big huge bus to the international clinic with us and our stuff. Here are picture of this adventurous 2.5 hours!

Arrival at the clinic with our gorgeous girl.

So in love with this girl. Is it just me, or is she simply stunning??

Adoption = waiting, and even after you've adopted, the waiting still continues. :) Here we are waiting for our exam.

While waiting, Abi Mei decided she wanted to roll around on the floor. Normally, we'd rather she not roll around on a potentially (and highly likely) dirty floor, but if she's happy while waiting by rolling on the floor, shoot, roll all you want girl! (As you can tell, I'm unscathed by her rolling on the floor, and am making smiley faces at another adopted child across from us.) :)

There were so many people at the clinic; this was probably about an eighth of them. All of the folks in this picture are with our agency.

And she's still rolling! Sidenote: All of the other kids were in their parents arms. Some were crying, but most were content just hangin' out. But our kid? Rolling on the floor and giggling.

Ready for the exam! There were three exams altogether. This was the second one, and it was with the ENT doctor. The first one was with nurses, who just checked her height, weight and temperature.

"Baba, instead of taking the picture, can you just get me outta this exam already?"

Keeping Abi entertained while we wait for the final exam. She loves hanging upside down!

Cutest face in the world.

Other Lifeline families waiting for their turn.

Still keeping her entertained...She was so cute with this tambourine! She loves music.

Finally made it to the last exam. This one was with a doctor who was checking her motor skills and such.

Mama is happy but baby is not. Mama is happy because she's trying to help baby be happy. :) PS: I love Abi's scrunchy face when she gets mad.

And here's our girl just two minutes later...all done and happy again!

"Yahoo, I'm all done with my exam! I tried telling you I was cute and perfect and I did not need an exam!"

Darling baby

One of the sweet ladies helping the Lifeline families. (Is she cute or what?)

All done and waiting for the other families to finish.

And as usual, food helps everything! By the way, this girl really is our cheeky monkey...this was her third banana in just one hour!

Our cute wobbler.

Pure delight

We did it!! Time to go back to the hotel! (Remember the big huge bus I told you about...here it is!)

Adoption Timeline At-A-Glance

March 28, 2009: Made the decision to adopt from Nepal.
March 30, 2009: Google-searched for an agency that has a Nepal program (there weren't any in 2008 since we had searched at that time), and found Adoption ARK.
April 6, 2009: E-mailed Adoption ARK expressing interest in Nepal.
April 6, 2009: Linda Podas (adoption consultant) at Adoption ARK e-mailed back, and sent the pre-qualification application.
April 7, 2009: Completed the application and faxed it to Linda.
April 8, 2009: Linda lets us know that we pre-qualify, and have been put on the 2010 Nepal waiting list.
April 16, 2009: Linda e-mails letting us know that our name has come up on the Nepal waiting list and we can officially apply into the Nepal adoption program!
April 17, 2009: Linda sends us the official contract, and says that we need to turn it around within 72 hours, along with money. :-) The contract is 35 pages (!).
April 20-22, 2009: Read the contract, filled out all the pages, and sent it in the mail with our money by April 22.
April 23, 2009: Linda e-mails saying our contract has been accepted, and that we are officially in the program. She said our case manager would be in touch with us within 48 hours.
April 24, 2009: Alina Radoslav e-mails us introducing herself as our case manager. Sends us lots of information and lots of attachments to fill out!
April 30, 2009: Phone call with Alina to meet each other and go over what we should be working on right now.
May 1 - June 9, 2009: Worked on our home study.
June 17, 2009: Overnighted our home study packet.
July 14, 2009: Mailed I-600A form to USCIS.
July 31, 2009: Home Study interviews in Seattle.
Aug. 28, 2009: Home Inspection at our house.
Sept. 30, 2009: Heather has her doctor's appointment for dossier medical report.
Oct. 3 and 4, 2009: Psychologist interviews; MMPI-2 test (457 questions!); Rohrschach test; intelligence test; and some other test that I don't know the name of.
Oct. 5, 2009: Meeting with psychologist to discuss report findings and review letters written by psychologist for our adoption agency. (Note: Tests confirmed that we are not crazy. Whew!)
Oct. 13, 2009: Andrew has his doctor's appointment for dossier medical report.
Oct. 22, 2009: Home Study approval reports received in the mail. (!!)
Oct. 22, 2009: Home Study approval reports sent to USCIS for I-600A application.
Nov. 10, 2009: Found out the USCIS address they gave us to send our home study report to was incorrect. Had to re-send to a different address.
Nov. 18, 2009: Sent all of our notarized documents to the Secretary of State for certification approval.
Nov. 30, 2009: Fingerprinting for USCIS approval.
Dec. 1, 2009: Dossier sent to Adoption Ark.
Dec. 7, 2009: Dossier sent to Nepal.
Dec. 11, 2009: Our agency's in-country Nepal represent receives our dossier.
Dec. 15, 2009: We are officially on the Nepal 2009 list! We are #500.
Aug. 6, 2010: The US closes adoptions to Nepal. We plan to keep our file there, praying that the doors will open again. May the Lord move mountains so these precious children can be with their forever families!

A New Beginning - China
Mar. 21, 2011: Chose Lifeline Children's Services as our agency.
Mar. 22 to Oct. 5, 2011: 10 months of all of the same stuff as above. :)
Oct. 21, 2011: Received USCIS approval to adopt from China.
Nov. 9, 2011: DTC! (Dossier To China)
Nov. 23, 2011: Our agency confirmed that CCCWA has received our dossier.
Dec. 20, 2011: Matched to our amazing 12-month old daughter!!
Dec. 30, 2011: Pre-approval received from China for our daughter!
April 24, 2012: Letter of Approval (LOA) from China
May 16, 2012: i800 approval (USA approval) for our daughter
May 25, 2012: USA approval cabled to US Consulate in Guangzhou. Now the Consulate will prepare the "Article 5."
June 11, 2012: Article 5 picked up from the Consulate and taken to the CCCWA.
June 25, 2012: Travel Approval (TA)!
July 13, 2012: Leave for China!
July 16, 2012: "Gotcha Day" – family of three!
July 17, 2012: Official adoption day with China.
July 25, 2012: Consulate appointment – Abigail became officially ours according to the US, and officially an American citizen!
July 28, 2012: We returned home to Walla Walla as a family! Abi also became an American citizen the moment she stepped on American soil.

Adoption blogs I follow (all but the first one are Nepal adoptions):

http://hernkekid.blogspot.com/ http://achairtospare.blogspot.com/ http://aboyfortheharrells.blogspot.com/ http://pebbletostone.blogspot.com/ http://apennyanickeladollaroradime.blogspot.com/ http://themelsersfaith.blogspot.com/ http://yoloholloway.blogspot.com/ http://bfsmoms.blogspot.com/ http://oak2ktm.blogspot.com/ http://nepaladoptionadventure.blogspot.com/ http://bugbeanandreed.blogspot.com/ http://kjernald.blogspot.com/ http://www.nepaladoptionblog.com/ http://jsjobeadoption.blogspot.com/ http://whenwebelong.blogspot.com/

5 comments:

Mummy JJuly 21, 2012 at 8:33 AM
She is precious! What a blessing for you three to have each other. I'll be praying for an easy transition at home. Looks like she is doing so great already. I hope you will continue to share with us more after you get back home, and how the settling-in process goes, etc.
LDS Aspie WifeJuly 21, 2012 at 9:44 AM
I LOVE her little mad face! She just has cute faces, no matter how she's feeling! :)
FeliciaJuly 21, 2012 at 1:45 PM
Whatever to how pickin' cute she is!!! And the scrunchy face - how can you resist? 3 bananas in an hour? Hee hee...
JamieJuly 23, 2012 at 7:21 AM
Oh my goodness, her scrunchy face cracks me up! I agree with Felicia, how can you resist telling her no after she gives you that look? ha ha And that look when she's eating her 3rd banana?? Hilarious! Hunter used to be our cheeky banana eater- we used to call him Jack LaLanne, because he'd devour them like a "juicer" using his hand as the push stick, shoving them in until his cheeks were so full of banana the juice would drool out of the corners of his mouth. LOL
I hope you are able to update a few more times throughout this week. I'm just amazed by how easily you've all transitioned into being a family! All your dreams are coming true! ♥ I can't wait to talk with you once you're home.
UnknownJuly 23, 2012 at 3:40 PM
Heather she is amazing we are so happy for you guys! What a beautiful little girl you have!!

The Carter's

The Cheeky Robinson Clan

Medical Exam

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