{cabled in & year of the rabbit}

we got word on friday that we are "cabled in" with the national visa center. i think it has something to do with our information being emailed to china, and i'm pretty sure it gets us to the next step of Article 5, along with a stack of paperwork that was couriered to china on friday. it is at this point that i realize i should have paid better attention to what all of the forms are and what all of this means. in all honesty, it felt like we would never get here, so when i saw anything about "after you get your referral" or "preparing to travel" i skipped over it. it felt way too far away and impossible. all of the sudden, we are one of the ones waiting. not for 75 steps, or even 10, or 5. as of right now, we are 2 steps away. Article 5 and Travel Approval!! holy smokes. this is really happening!

i'm sending a little something to emery for her birthday (may 26th). it's the year of the rabbit in china right now, so this little gift is a traditional item that commemorates the current year. we're sending a note and family photo and another camera, in hopes of capturing a shot of emery and her foster family or caregiver. i am  asking specifically for birthday photos, and i am praying praying praying that they take a whole roll of film. oh how i long for pictures of her with her caregivers. i want so badly to have a link to her past so she can have a visual of what life was like in china.

the tricky thing is, you can't just up and mail something to your waiting child in china and expect it to arrive. if you send a note it must be translated. if you want it to actually arrive, you must send to a third party and have them repackage it and send with chinese postage and writing so it isn't so obviously from overseas. after sending a care package and spending a whopping $50 in postage, not to mention the 3rd party fees, i decided to use a company in china who specializes in sending items to waiting children. there are several companies who provide the same service, but this one is really unique and special. they are a smaller operation, which gives them the ability to provide awesome customer service and really beautiful products.

 i got my jing liu (emery's chinese name) necklace from them a few months ago, and haven't taken it off since.

i got this photo from Jiayin Designs on friday, letting me know they were shipping emery's gift.

how many companies do that? they are fantastic to work with, and graciously met our request of adding a camera and family photo. if you are adopting from china, this company is a great asset!!