23 Months Old Today

My baby is 23 months old today!

Mommy hopes you have a great day!

Only one more month and then you will be two years old!

Hang on, sweetie, we will get there as soon as we can!

88..the Number of the Day

Just wanted to give a quick update. Yes, we are on day 88. Yes, I am ok. Thank you all so much for the many calls from my sweet friends who love me enough to know the "tone" of my typing and feel the need to call and email to comfort me. I love you all more than you know. I absolutely have the BEST friends!

I did get some good news from my agency last week. They checked on our paper work and we are in the review room...which is a very good thing. At least we are not still in translation or lost! Our agency was told to "give it a week or two" (translation: in the next 2 - 4 weeks we will probably get it). I am just happy that we know that it is right where it is suppose to be. I do not expect anything this week since there were a lot of LSCs that came out last week. I am praying for next week, but we shall see. So please keep praying that this very important paper makes its way to us very soon. Travel from LSC is about 9 weeks right now. We are now looking at a September travel date. Come on LSC!!!!

Sad News

Last night we received some very sad news. The baby girl that we were sponsoring

from China passed away on Tuesday. She had a heart condition and ended up having heart failure.

She was only three months old. Baby Hope

February 27, 2009 -

June 16, 2009

You have found your forever family in heaven with Jesus!

"Lucky Girl"

Here is Hope's story:

Baby Hope was found outside her orphanage with some formula, 150 rmb and an IV indwelling still attached to her head. The parents were probably given the news at the hospital that their little girl was very sick and they made the gut-wrenching choice to abandon her in the hopes that someone would be able to help her.
The 150 rmb is very telling-- as that is a lot of money to a poor Chinese family. My heart breaks for the mother who left this beautiful baby girl.

Be Anxious for Nothing

Today we have hit the big 80. It is so hard to wait. Our agency says that the average wait time is 30 - 60 days.........all I want to do is scream "What about us?" "What about my baby girl?" But in my frail human state God comes to me and gently speaks soothing peace to my mind and heart.

While I was doing my Bible time last week I came across this verse and it was perfect for where I am.

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The key here is to pray your requests and add some thankfulness to it. There have been (unfortunately) many cases for me to put these verses into action since I read them. I think He is trying to say, "Do you get it now? It really does work." And it does. Since I have been burdened by many things this past week I have had the honor of praying in this way and the peace does come. You have to believe that it will and it does. It makes whatever your circumstance is seem a wee bit smaller and at that point I will take anything! I am so blessed to be absolutely adored by my Heavenly Father. The same Father that is holding my little girl, who is so far away, right in His hands.

From this point on I am getting on with life. Adoption is a very consuming event. It can really take hold of all of you. And then those around you have very little of you. That is not how this is suppose to work. As hard as the wait is, adoption is really an amazing thing. I would do it again in a heart beat because in the end the reward is great and it will all have been worth what we go through and so much more. But for now I need to enjoy this time with the amazing family that is right here with me. I need to wait on God's perfect timing for the day that my husband and I will get to fly to China and meet our beautiful little girl!

Never Thought I Would Be Here

Today is day 78...........AAAHHHHH!

Hangin' On

We are on day 62 and no news in sight.

It is what it is and we will just keep hangin' on until we receive our LSC.

Tomorrow Ashlyn will be 22 months old...

time just keeps ticking by.

Hopefully we will have our LSC by her 23rd month.

Only time will tell.

Where We are Now

There is some good news in the China adoption community. China has sent out referrals and LOAs again! That is good news because the hold for the flu only lasted for about a week and a half, so it keeps everybody right on track. We are day 56. I saw someone get their LOA and they were on day 122! I definitely don't want to think that we are only half way through the wait. I'd much rather think that we should be receiving ours soon. There doesn't really seem to be an average so much at this point. People are receiving them anywhere from 30-100+ days. Most are at the 50 - 70 day range, I would guess. So we shall see.

Day 52.....

.....but what's the point in counting! China is on hold right now with adoptions, so the number of days is kind of thrown out the window at this point.

I did want to share something that my sweet friend, Susan, emailed me this morning. I thought that it fit perfectly with where I am right now in my relationship with God.

I must settle once and for all where my responsibility rests. God challenges me, “Who's going to run your life?” If it is I, then I must bear the responsibility; if God, He must bear the responsibility. My Bible tells me that when Jesus found me He placed me on His shoulders (Luke 15:5). Peter says, “Throw all your anxiety onto Him, for his concern is about you.: (I Peter 5:7)

I cannot have two masters; therefore, I must make a choice. If I choose God as my Master, I must relinquish all responsibility to myself. This means I cannot be perplexed about God's will for my life, for if it is His responsibility, then He must inform me, not I Him. All anxieties should cease for, if they do not, then I have assumed charge once again. For God will make clear to me at the right time what I need to know and what I need to do. All restlessness should cease, for restlessness means that I am not in control, I am not on top of things. Being “on top of things” is now God's business and not mine. Therefore I rest.

My sole responsibility is not responsibility but response. I merely look to the “hand” and the “eyes” of my Master (Psalm 123:2) and respond to His wishes. Then I hear myself saying with the psalmist, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God” (Psalm 40:8).


What a sweet reminder for me that all I have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

Look What Was in My Email!!!!

She has got to be one of the most beautiful baby girls I have EVER seen!!!!

Ann at Red Thread is the most amazing and patient person in the world. If you use her, do not take for granted what goes on behind the scenes. This picture and the three others that she sent are nothing but a HUGE answer to prayer! I am still shaking and doing the happy dance.

Some of you know how badly I needed this big gift.

God is so good!

Day 40 and Still Waiting

We are on day 40 of our wait for our LSC (LOA). We are anticipating that we will receive it in the next week or two. At that point we will have 9 - 12 weeks before we travel to get our little girl. So we could possibly be leaving in July! Wow! Back when we sent in our LOI we were thinking that we would be leaving in September or October. The fact that we could possibly be leaving in July sends my head spinning...but in a good way. You see, my baby's birthday is July 30th and she will be turning two!!! I have prayed from the beginning of this adoption that whatever child God gives me, please don't let me miss more than one birthday. Hopefully this is His will.

I have started working on the nursery. Taking down wall paper is easy, getting all of that glue off is another story. Thank goodness it is only one wall. So we are in full gear now to get everything done by July. I have my packing list put together. I don't think I missed anything, but if you want to help me out please feel free to.

I also received my approved addendum to our homestudy today. I'll need it if our LSC comes because I have to mail like a gazillion pieces of paper to USCIS with my I800. Yes, we are a Hague family. So, everything is ready on my end. I just need that coveted piece of paper saying that we can come and get her! Please pray it comes soon! Thank you, all of my amazing bloggy friends!

What is God Asking of You?

I have learned a lot about myself throughout this adoption process. Mostly, I have learned that I am a new person every time I follow God's lead and I am obedient to His direction. I can look back and say that I am not who I was two years ago. God has opened my heart to what my life is truly suppose to be about. My purpose for the rest of my life will be to advocate for the orphans of this world. I am at a place in my life that I love (for I have felt the Heart of God) and I never want to go back!

Music has a significant role in my life. I find that there are songs that I can sing that say exactly what I wanted to say, but I could not find the words for. This is especially true with my favorite song which is sung by Matthew West. His song seems to be coming straight from my heart. His song entitled "the Motions" is absolutely where I am living right now.

The following lyrics are words that I feel we all need to hear, but not to just listen to with our ears...listen to them with your heart.

This might hurt, it's not safe, but I know that I've gotta make a change

I don't care if I break, at least I'll be feeling something

'Cause just okay is not enough. Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions

I don't wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,

"What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind

Let Your love make me whole. I think I'm finally feeling something

'Cause just okay is not enough. Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

Take me all the way.

I know I'm finally feeling something real.

Because of this adoption and because this song has pushed me to do more with my life I have had the honor of starting an orphan care ministry at my church. It is already bigger than I can believe and I just presented it a couple of weeks ago. When you let God lead, He can take off with what He has asked you to step up to the plate for. Like the song says, "This might hurt". I am so out of my box with this ministry. I really enjoyed my role of stay-at-home mom with my four kids, minding my own business, volunteering where needed. But my God said, "That's not enough." And it's truly not. We need to get to the end of our lives feeling like we have really lived life to the fullest. We can not let fear stand in our way. And we definitely can not keep saying that "I will do it after...." After may never come. What if life was to end next year, next month, next week? Most of us would live differently than we have been, and that is where we lose out. You will experience more joy if you are living life to the fullest. God will lead you, you just have to be brave enough to step out of the box with a little bit of faith. He will do the rest...I promise!

Please watch this video of Matthew West's "The Motions". I pray that it will move your heart the way that it moved mine.

21 Months Old

Happy 21 month Birthday, my sweet baby girl!

Momma and Daddy are coming to get you soon!

This Nasty Flu!

There is a lot of talk today on the adoption boards about the swine flu. There is talk that China my not issue TAs (travel approvals) because of this flu. My initial thought was, "Well, does this mean if they are held back does our wait get pushed back also?" After I was saddened by that thought the verse that God gave me at the beginning of this adoption process came to my mind.

Habakkuk 2:3 (Amplified Bible)

For the vision is yet for an appointed time and

it hastens to the end,

it will not deceive or disappoint.

Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come;

it will not be behindhand on its appointed day.

ITS APPOINTED DAY!

The day we are to meet our beautiful baby girl has an appointment made by my Father in Heaven! He made the appointment, not me, not my agency, not China! Who could change that appointed time? This is all part of the wait He speaks of in the above passage. It was always planned to be this way. Knowing this gives me peace. If we are "delayed", I now know that we are not truly delayed we will be there on the "appointed day". I will just continue to pray that the day is soon.

Closer....But Still So Far Away

We are on day 30 of our wait. On one of the sites I check it seems that people are now averaging 50 - 60 days for their LSC (formerly LOA) approval. That means that we are half-way there. I can't believe that we could be in China in August! That is only three months from now! I still have a bit to do to get ready for our baby girl, so three months is not looking like a very long time. I do miss her, though. It is so hard to think of your child being half-way around the world from you. I do pray that God shows her love every day through someone in her life.

I did get a surprise in the mail today. We received Ashlyn's finding ad! She is such a beautiful baby! I also received a translation of the ad and it did answer a question I had about the information we received with her file. She was not abandoned on the day of her birth. She was abandoned when she was three days old. There was a little confusion in her paper work. One paper said she was found the day she was born and one said she was found three days later. The second one was the correct one. I am glad that I was able to find out. I am a very detailed person. I need to find as much information as I can on anything that I am involved with. God knows this about me and blessed us with alot of information on our little girl. What a blessing this will be to her when she grows up. The two years she was not with us will not be a complete blank for her. She will have enough information about her time in China to feel like that part of her life is not completely missing. There are a lot of holes, but the significant parts are there. I do not take this for granted. I do know what a blessing it is for my daughter.

So as you see, we are closer to going and getting our little girl. But my heart reminds me several times a day of just how far away she is from her Momma right now.

Where is She?

The teacher in me is coming out so here is a little bit of Geography for those of you who want to know where Ashlyn is right now (and where we will be going in a couple of months). Ashlyn is in the province of Guangxi. It is the yellow province in the southern part of China on the map above. If you look on a map it is a little bit further south than where we are in Florida. It is actually comparable with climate in Florida but it follows on the same latitude as Cuba.
This is a map of her province. The capital is Nanning, which is where we will be traveling to when we go to get her. She is actually in Yulin, but from what I understand they do not take us to Yulin. We will stay in Nanning for the week that we have to complete the China side of our adoption.

Here is some information about where she is from.
Located in the southern part of the country, Guangxi is bordered by Yunnan to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast, and Guangdong to the southeast. It is also bounded by Vietnam in the southwest and the Gulf of Tonkin in the south. Guangxi is a mountainous region. Rice is an important crop in Guangxi.
South China Karst (mountains) represents one of the world's most spectacular examples of humid tropical to subtropical karst landscapes.

Rice Terraces

Karin, hope this helps fill up some of that inquiring mind (smile)!

What's Next

I have so much going on with trying to get the most information I can on our baby girl. We have already sent her out a care package. It had a little outfit in it, a blankie, a toy, candy for her foster family, a photo album of us and her home, and four disposable cameras. Yes, four. They come two to a box so I figured I'd send them all. If her foster family doesn't use them all, that's ok. At least they have them in case they do want to take lots of pictures. We should get these pictures back on Gotcha Day when we get our little girl.I have also contacted someone who is sending me her finding ad and the actual newspaper it was printed in. These are invaluable since it would have her very first picture in it. The finding ad is placed in the local paper the day she was found. It is in an attempt to find her family. Since she was found the day she was born this will be a very important picture for us.

We have also contacted a company that is asking the orphanage if they can interview the foster family that our daughter is living with. They will go and visit her and take LOTS of pictures of her. They will send us an extensive update on our little girl. We , as you can imagine, can not wait to get this report. It will take them about two months to get it to us. That actually works out pretty good because that will be about half way through our wait from when we saw her until when we travel.

I have also contacted Grace and Hope. This is an organization that works in China to get children that live in orphanages into foster care. They have told me that our little girl is in their program, but that is all of the information that I have so far.

So what's next......

The next thing we are waiting for is our Letter Seeking Confirmation(LSC - use to be LOA). Right now, that seems to be averaging around 60 - 65 days. That would put us at the last week of May / first week of June. We then need to send paperwork to Homeland Security so they can approve her for this adoption. After they approve her, China will send our Travel Approval (TA). So our best guess would be that we can travel in August. As we get closer we will be able to look at the current trends and gauge our time a little better.

So that's where we are...all over the place. I have to say that this is an amazing journey that God had us on. I feel very blessed that He called us to experience such an amazing gift. Adoption truley is a gift to all that are involved.

PA! PA! PA!

I am SOOOOO excited! I got the call from my agency while I was sitting in the Veterinary's office....we have PA!!

I am proud to introduce Ashlyn Rae Yu You Sloan!!

Chinese name:

Hua Yu You

(means China's Dancing Rain)

Birthdate:

July 30, 2007
She is in foster care, but was in the First SWI of YuLin (orphanage) for the first year of her life. She was found the day she was born. She has a repaired cleft lip/ cleft palate.

Her middle name will be Rae (my husband's mom's middle name) and Yu You. This way she can keep her Chinese name too.

We are so excited...I can't stop doing the happy dance!!

Updated Homestudy

I received our updated homestudy in the mail today. I will get my paperwork together today and send out my package to USCIS tomorrow. Last night I was able to finish my Hagaue credits so now we are just waiting for our PA.

Please continue to pray for little Kate. She still has a fever and her body is still not retaining the fluid that they are pumping into her. She is still on the pacemaker...they would like to get her weaned off of that soon. Thank you all for praying for this amazing family.

Please Pray!

I just have to post a prayer request for my dear friend. Her little girl, Kate, just had heart surgery yesterday. You can follow their story at Our Treasures from Afar I know you will read this, Karin.....so I just want you to know how important you are to me, my sweet friend!

No PA Yet

I really don't have anything to post. I am just posting because I have become aware that there are quite a few people that are following this blog and want an update. Thank you so much for praying for us!

My agency says "No news yet". So I am waiting alot better than I was the other day, thanks to my wonderful friends who encouraged me with their very loving words. All of your comments greatly touched my heart.

Right now we are in the process of updating our homestudy, so hopefully I will be able to send that out this week for approval. We needed to change her age on our homestudy. The only other thing that I am doing now is finishing up my Hague credits by taking courses online. Only two more of them to take and I am done with my 10 hours of training. I am also in the process of learning more about where she is from. It helps me to feel closer to her. She is so far away. Noah asks me where Ashlyn is all the time (as he walks around with her picture). I tell him she is far away in China. He tells me she's waiting in a vroom vroom (car). It tickles me to listen to a two year old explaining how he thinks things are.