On Monday we received the call that we have a consulate appointment on April 17. That means we will leave next Wednesday, April 3, land the night of April 4 (ugh!!) and spend a couple days in Beijing, preparing and getting used to the time change.
Then on Sunday, April 7, we will fly to her province of Henan and stay in the capital city of Zhengzhou. On Monday, April 8, they will bring her to the community affairs building where we will meet her for the first time. This is called her gotcha day. She will come back with us to the hotel and we will have a trial 24 hours, where we can change our minds.....yeh right!! Never gonna happen!!! But this does allow families to change their minds on the rare, but possible occasion that the child they received does not have the same medical condition or is much worse than they were lead to believe. I can't even imagine the emotional turmoil that would bring. We don't see that being even a remote possibility for us since we have been able to talk to her foster home, but it is still part of the time line.
Then on Tuesday, April 9, we go back and make her ours. This will be forever Caitlyn day, the day she becomes a permanent part of our family and we will celebrate it forever, just like an extra birthday!! This is a glimpse of hope coming from such a sad situation.
On Wednesday, April 10, we will make the journey by bus to her home city of Jiaozuo, where we will apply at the local police station for her passport. They will question us to determine our eligibility, which from my understanding is just for their own curious nature because she will already ours. But we still have to gain favor or they could sit on her passport and cause us delays. We hope to be able to visit her orphanage, which from what we understand, does not generally allow visitors, and we really hope to visit her foster home, Eagles Wings. The foster home is completely open to us visiting, so we hope that it can logistically happen, with the guide's schedule and transportation.
The next few days will be paperwork and waiting on passports.
On Sunday, April 14, we leave Zhengzhou for Guangzho, Guandong, China, which is where the American Consulate is.
Monday the 15th, is her medical appointment. This is a US requirement to make sure she is healthy enough to enter the United States.
Tuesday, April 16, we will have a free day while those families with children over 2 have to go back to the clinic to have the Tuberculosis test read.
Wednesday is our consulate day. This will give Caitlyn her visa to enter the United States. We will also be shopping in the afternoon.
Thursday, April 18, we should receive her Visa packet.
Friday the 19th we take a van to Hong Kong and on Saturday morning we fly back to the US. We land in Atlanta at 7:55 Saturday night. As soon as Caitlyn lands, she is an American citizen.
We hope that anyone who wants to, will join us at the airport to welcome us home, but then we will go in to hiding for a week or two to adjust to our new family. Caitlyn will not be away from David or I for the next 90 days, no babysitters, no nursery at church, but we will start to slowly introduce her to people as she is ready.
From what I understand, coming home is the hardest part of the trip and we are scared to death to put it all together and deal with the jet lag, all three kids, Caitlyn's needs being in a completely new environment and the boys' needs dealing with a new little sister and just normal school and sports stuff. It will be a rough adjustment, but we know that we will eventually fall in to a routine and we pray that it happens relatively quickly. We hope and know that you will support us during that time.
In mid May, Caitlyn will go to CHOA for her evaluation and we hope to do surgery in June to allow her the rest of the summer to heal.
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