Adoption is NOT for the faint of heart~

Over the last few months, we have been doing a lot of updates and renewals with our home study and immigration paperwork.  This has not been easy.  We had another updated HS with Peggy on April 16th, 2013.  She sent the update into AGCI, and we had a few bumps with getting it back... now, I have to call immigration to extend our expiration date to avoid having to pay an update fee.  This is just the surface of what has gone on...no one's fault in particular, just a bump in the road.  It's frustrating, time consuming, and I just wish we had Sophie here with us. 

I happened to meet Kelly Rumbaugh, the creater of Lady Bugs n Love website.  She was able to help me place a call to an orphange in China last week on a referral.  We were able to connect thru an email, and she felt my heart thru the email.  She has adopted 8 kids from China, and referred me to her post on her blog...

"Adoption is not for the faint of heart. Adoption is a gamble. Adoption has many unknowns and you have to be willing to accept it.  I don't feel it should be this way, but we enter into adoption knowing it will happen this way.

When you are adopting, think of these few things...
- I will love my child no matter what.
- I realize there may be more issues to handle than what is in the file.
- I realize these children did nothing to make them the way they are...they were born into an unfortuate situation and given less than they deserved for whatever period of time they were without a family.
- You cannot control many of the unknowns of adoption.
- You can prepare yourself as much as possible by educating yourself about the effects of being in an institution.
- Your child is not cured just because they have had surgery.
- You can prepare yourself by realizing that bringing a child into your family thru adoption will be very hard. It is not rescuing the child and making everything ok. It is taking them from everything they know and removing them from what they feel is security and home. It will take a long time for them to acclimate to your home, family and our country.
- Your family may go thru some rough times and it affects the other children in the home as well.
- Your trip to get your child will be exhausting and full of difficult times. It's not a vacation.

Once you wrap your brain around all of this...Strap your big girl panties on and stand tall...
- You are about to do one of the hardest things in your life with the biggest blessing on the other side.
- You are about to be the hands and feet of Christ to a child.
- You are about to show others the possibilites of infinite love for a child even if they are not "yours."
- You are about to show other in your family, church and community what unconditional love is."

I don't think it could have been said better.

The Year of the Snake~

We have come to a new Chinese New Year, the year of the Snake! Again, this year, we ate a Chinese Food dinner in honor of the holiday.

This 2013 year of Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create. The 2013 year of Snake is the Water Snake. Water Snakes are lucky with finances, they always seem to have money flowing their way. They are adventurous spirits and love to take risks. They are also very intelligent and often a wellspring of creative ideas.

( Im ) patiently waiting...

This past photo shoot for our Christmas pictures was a lot of fun.  Although always stressful, Daisy captures amazing moments!  We were in Cave Creek, Arizona, between two cowboy bars.  We took our pictures in front of this really old, yet cool-looking truck.  The boys had fun on the truck...until Scott told Connor there were mice running around in the front!!  Anyhow, the pictures turned out great...and the only one missing was our little girl.

Altough our little girl was not there with us presently, she was in our thoughts...

Kisses in the Wind~

This past weekend I was talking to Kami about our adoption and how things were going.  We both realized that our girls will probably be about the same age when ours joins our family.  You see, we have about 1 and 1/2 years, they say, before we bring our little girl home.  She will probably be about 2 years old at that time...which is how old Addison will be!  We are praying for this to be true, as it will be so good for our little girl to have a friend her age right next door ;)

The next day, I was looking at several other blogs, and came across this poem/prayer.  I thought it was perfect, as our daughter is probably already born~

KISSES IN THE WIND

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

~Unknown

Log-in Date~

I got an email from Tiffany stating our dossier was sent to China on July 5, 2012.  It was off to Beijing to be submitted to CCCWA and to expect a log-in date in 3-4 weeks.  Our official log-in date with CCCWA was July 19, 2012!!  We are now in the database...what a huge relief, as we have been waiting for this date to come since September of last year ;)

Here are the packets of our dossier went sent over to China~

Also, with this being done, we found out the wait for a healthy baby girl is now 6 years.  So we have considered a special needs child.  With much thought and discussion with Michelle, we decided on a little girl with a hole in her heart~ either a VSD or ASD.  So, we will wait....impatiently....

I-800A Letter of Approval!

We finally got the last approval needed here in the States to move forward! Once this is authenticated in Washington, DC, our entire dossier is off to China.  After a few weeks, we will be logged into China as a family available to adopt a little girl.  Very exciting news for us~ and for me personally, as this marks the end of the paperwork portion of our adoption!

Dates to add to the list:

April 18, 2012~ FBI fingerprinting done at the Immigration Office
May 10, 2012~ Letter of Approval from I800A

Many Prayers

Last night Scott and I went to dinner, again at Tutti Santi...our favorite date night restaurant!  As we were waiting for our dinner, Scott asked me, " Do you think our daughter is born yet? "  I said, " I don't really know, maybe."  Then Scott continued, " Well, I pray for her."   At that moment, I broke down in tears.  It was just nice to hear him say that, and to think that she could have been left somewhere for someone to find her just breaks my heart.  Scott assured me that she would be very well taken care of  by her own " Carrie Sue. " 

At this point in our adoption process, we are just about done with the paperwork.  Woo-hoo!  Here's an update of our journey thus far...

September 19, 2011~ Signed Contract with All God's Children
November 14, 2011~ First Home Study
November 28, 2011~ Second Home Study
January 10, 2012~ Home Study sent to Court
February 18, 2012~ Dossier sent to AGCI for Authetication
February 27, 2012~ Home Study approved by the Court
March 12, 2012~ Dossier Authenticated in WA, DC

Currently, I am wrapping up the Immigration packet.  Once this is approved, our Dossier is sent to China!