Manila Trip - Citizenship Paperwork Filed

We had our appointment yesterday at the U.S. Embassy and it went really well. Yay! Now her citizenship/visa paperwork is filed and the outcome looks very favorable. We also met with our social worker and she was so excited to meet Michella. She even teared up telling me about when she first saw her photo and saw how beautiful she is. We scheduled our post-placement home studies tentatively for November, January and end Feb/early March. We are required to have three in the six months following placement. Once we complete this, we will get the final papers from the adoption board that will allow us to finalize her adoption in the U.S.

We will finalize in Alabama where my parents live. We learned recently that we will have to go through a bit of a home study process there as well. Not sure how long we'll have to be there but we are making early April the target for travel to the U.S. We should have her visa ready to go early next year. It will be so great if we can be at the annual prayer gathering of the organization Andrey works for. This is a highlight for us each year. We are super excited that it is looking likely that we will be able to go. Andrey has to be in DC in early April regardless so of course it is ideal if Ella and I can join.

We have been enjoying Manila. Ella and I have been hanging out a lot while Andrey works. She continues to appear more and more comfortable with life in general, especially with me. She continues to move in the direction of warming up to Andrey. Our social worker said that it was the same with other families she's worked with and it took about 3 or so months for the child to attach to their daddy. We can deal with that.

Ella and I did a little shopping yesterday and I was so excited to find a Gap. I bought her her first pair of jeans and a really cute 3/4 length sleeve top. I figure we'll need at least one outfit she can wear to arrive in the US in the spring time. And then I found this adorable little shop called Gingersnaps. I did not prepare myself for the strong desire to buy stuff for her! I have done very little shopping for Ella so far - only 2 pair of short and 2 t-shirts - so I decided to get her a few things. Mainly a few casual shorts and t-shirts for day outings. These will be some nice hand-me-downs for Ella's cousin Annika someday. Even though she is tall for her age, the 2T stuff I've bought is too big! Even the 24 months shirts I bought are a little big. The jeans I bought were sized 18-24 months and they are really big. I love how clothes for this age come with adjustable waists so she can wear stuff big and grow into them. These jeans should last for years given how baggy and long they are on her. She's tall but very petite. I hope to fatten her up a little. ;-)

We are heading back to Cebu this afternoon. Gotta get going. It's time for lunch.