We Have a Date!!

I just finished booking our tickets for our flights to China and then home!!

I am honestly so relieved that this part is over.  It feels so good to know exactly when you are leaving and when you will be coming home. 

I do hate that we did not receive the consulate appointment that we wanted, but God knows best.  What it means is that we will be spending two extra days in China and will be gone a total of 15 days from my sweet kids.  Last time it was 17 days, so this is definitely better.  But I was REALLY hoping for 13 days.

So we leave on December 30th and return on January 14th.  Nine days after we return Makinley will celebrate her third birthday with her family at home.  Right where she belongs.

How Cute Can Cheeks Be?

I actually dream about those cheeks!

Feeling Better

Ok, so our TA did not come on Friday and needless to say it was a very bad day for this waiting Momma.

But I am definitely feeling better today.

I have Thanksgiving to prepare for....

Orphan Sunday to prepare for......

Oh, and my agency told me that my TA came today!!!!!!!!

Yes, I am drastically relieved (and that is an understatement)!!!

So we put in to leave on December 31st and we are waiting to make sure that we can get our Consulate Appointment.  Then I can book my flights and it will finally be 'for real"! 
(Those of you waiting or who have waited know exactly what I mean by that.)

Prayer of an Adopting Momma

Please, oh please, let our travel approval come tomorrow!!

Waiting For Travel Approval

Last week was a great week because everyone ahead of us waiting for Travel Approval actually got theirs.  So we are NEXT!!  I am really hoping that we will be getting the call this week letting us know that our TA has arrived.

When we get the call we will be letting our agency know that we want to leave on December 31st.  Your trip is based on your Consulate Appointment and all of the Consulate Appointments that we would have taken to go before Christmas have been filled up.  That is why we are asking for a later trip.  We do not want to be gone so close to Christmas and leave our other children at home.  We will be leaving the first available day that we can after Christmas, and that just happens to fall on December 31st.

It will be very hard to not have Makinley home for Christmas.  Especially with us travelling so soon after for her.  I just want to touch this little girl so bad that it hurts.  I want to hear her voice and see her smile.  I want to know her cry and be there to comfort her.  I want to rock her to sleep and tell her how much I love her.  I want to see her interact with her Daddy and siblings when we get home.  I just want to know who she is.

My mind has a very hard time wrapping around the fact that my baby will be three years old and I know nothing about her.  What she likes.  What she dislikes.  What makes her happy.  What makes her sad.  How she goes to sleep at night.  What foods she enjoys.  How she plays with other children...etc.  These things CONSTANTLY roll through my mind EVERY....SINGLE...DAY.  There is not an hour in the day that my thoughts do not turn to this sweet little girl.  I've said it before, I do not know how you can love some one so much and you have never even met them.  God is so amazing that way.  He opens your heart to a love that you could never fathom obtaining on your own.  A bond of the heart.  My heart is definitely locked to this child.  The same way it was when I had not yet met our Ashlyn.  I am always wanting to know what she is doing.  I almost automatically look at the time to figure out what time it is in China.  Being 12 hours different, she is almost always sleeping when I check the clock and I just pray over her as I envision her sleeping in her crib in an orphanage half way around the world.

Look at What I Got This Morning!!!

Oh, I can not WAIT to go and get this little munchkin!!! 

What a smile!! 

My heart is just gushing!!

The Ups and Downs of Adoption

My sweet friend is in desperate need of prayer today.  She will be travelling to Ch*na in a couple of weeks to pick up her little boy.  Problem is, China might say no.  You can read her story on my family blog here.

As for our ride, we are now waiting for our Article 5 to be issued.  The pickup date should be November 2nd.  Then we wait for our Travel Approval.  Last week Travel Approvals were issued anywhere from 10 days to 27 days.  The latter was because of the holiday.  So we could POTENTIALLY leave on November 19th, November 26th, or December 31st. Yes, welcome to the world of adoption.

Needless to say I am in high gear.  I have started collecting some things for our trip and the suitcases will probably make an appearance next week.  Packing for Ch*na is unlike any packing I have ever done.  It is utterly exhausting.  But it does get me excited! 

I am waiting for an update on Makinley....hopefully it will be tomorrow.

Sent with a Prayer

This is the part of the process where I finally feel like I can breathe.  All of the final paperwork was shipped to China last night by our agency.  Now we wait for our Article 5 to be approved.  Then China will issue Travel Approval.  Now my brain needs to switch to packing mode because we are leaving soon to go and get our baby girl!!!  If the process goes as it has been, we will be leaving on December 31st.  That is only 79 days from today!!!!  I have a month and a half to pack and buy everything for the trip because I refuse to be concerned with that over December.  The only things that I will need to pack after Christmas is our clothes.  Time to start making sure that I have enough clothes for Makinley.  I can not wait to see her chubby little face.  I am so very excited!!!!!

Almost There

We just received notice that our approval was cabled to Guangzhou on October 6th.  We are still right on track.  At this rate we should get our travel approval by mid November.  Then we can book our flights for Decemeber 31st!!!!  We're coming, baby girl!!!!

One More Step Checked Off

On Friday I received a phone call from our agency that our I800 was approved on Wednesday, September 28th.  Only three more steps and we can start making plans to go get our sweet little girl!  We anticipate leaving on December 31st and meeting Makinley on January 2nd.  Hopefully everything will continue to go smoothly.

One of Those Days

You know, one of those days when you just seem to go from one thing to another and not really get anything done.  One of those mopey kinda days.  Not because anything is wrong, but just because.

Well, I am having one of those days.  It is now 3:00 and the day is almost over and I know that I have been doing things all day, but I just can't say that I was able to scratch anything off of my list or really recall actually DOING anything today.  Hmmmmm...gotta get up and do something significant...I know, like the laundry!  That way I can tell my hubby that I did do SOMETHING today.

LOA!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the call!  I got the call!!

We have our LOA...which means....that we will be able to get Makinley before Christams!!!!

Thank you, all, for praying for us.  We should get our Travel Approval in November and then we will be booking our flights to go get our baby girl!

.......Sigh............

That is just how I feel today.  It is also raining and gloomy looking outside....to match my mood.....sigh...

Today is day 41 of our wait for LOA (Letter of Acceptance) and do not get me wrong, I know that is not a long time, it just 'feels' really long today.  The wait right now for where I am is 49 days.  Not getting my hopes up though because there are still a lot of people ahead of me waiting for theirs.  It also probably would not bother me if I didn't know that there was a deadline for getting her home before Christmas.  We are coming dangerously close to that line. Feels like de ja vu from Ashlyn's adoption...and we missed the deadline and had to go a month later than we should have.  Same scenario here.

I also know that God's timing is best.  I just REALLY wish that He would let me know when that was.  If he tells me that it is going to be later I would be ok.  I could prepare.  I know it sounds silly.  Why don't I just plan for the latter and if it comes sooner..Yay!!  I would love to do that, but my Momma's heart can not let go of the hope.  So I just torment myself.

My heart has also been hurting for the people that have waited way too long for their LOA.  One is at 125 days!!  We waited 107 for Ashlyn's and that was way too long!  I know how they feel...totally defeated.  They want so much to go and bring their babies home.  I do want them to get theirs before I get mine.  I have waited before, I can wait again.

I just need to focus on the fact that in 5 months Makinley will be at home with us, where she belongs.

Update on Makinley's Leg

As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country. ~ Proverbs 25:25

I just received news that Makinley's leg is fine.  The brace is being used to help her walk better.  Right now she walks with a gait.  It breaks my heart that it hurts her to walk in it, but what a blessing that she is in such an incredible orphanage that has the ability to help her with the treatments that she needs.  We are truly blessed!

Now come on LOA!!!!!

Update ~ Heart Ache

Actually, the update is that there is no update yet.....sigh.....

Maybe we will hear something on Makinley's leg tomorrow.

Please keep praying for our little girl.

Heart Ache

I received new pictures of Makinley yesterday from my sweet friend, Annie.  She is adopting her precious little girl and was visiting the orphanage.  In the pictures I noticed that Makinley has a brace/cast on her leg.  I am trying to get information about what happened to her.  I know that she is at an excellent orphanage, I just want to know what happened.  My heart just aches that she could have gotten hurt and I was not there.  This poor baby has gone through so much pain in her life that it just aches my heart.  I need to get to her and bring her home so that her Momma can take care of her.  I REALLY need to hug my baby girl.

I LOVE Email Lately!

Thanks to another family who was visiting the orphanage, I received this in my email this morning!

I am forever grateful to all of the families that have gone before me and take great efforts to get me a picture of my child who hates her picture taken by strangers.  She constantly shakes her head 'no'.  Out of 5 pictures, this one was my favorite. (Even though her mouth is full of congee).

I can not wait to go and visit Zhongshan so that I can pay it forward and give such amazing blessings to those who are waiting for their children.

On another note, I am still having dreams about Makinley every night......sigh.......I really pray that we will be able to get her before Christmas.  My heart is just not complete when a part of it is on the other side of the world.

Random Thoughts

No updates.  We are just in "wait mode" for the next couple of months.  If we can get our LOA (letter of acceptance) by my birthday (beginning of September), we still have a shot of making it this year to get our baby girl.  It would take a miracle because that would be less than two months of waiting for LOA and the trend is longer than that right now.  But I know God can do miracles....we will see if that is His will.

Feeling a bit somber the past few days.

Yesterday was Ashlyn's birthday and as the party was winding down my thoughts were shifting to her birth mother.  Was she thinking of Ashlyn?  Was she wondering what ever happened to the baby that she left on the hospital steps so that she could get medical attention?  She could not care for her.  She could not feed her.  Does God give her a peace that her baby is being cared for?  I hope so.  I pray that her birth mother has a peace that the baby she left four years ago did make it and is thriving.  I know that every abandonment story is completely different.  I am not trying to say that every birth mother gave up her child in love.  I know some do, but I also know that some do not.  We have purposed to only give our daughter information that we know to be true when she comes to us later in life with questions.  We do not want to presume anything.  It is not our story.  However, in Ashlyn's case there are specific things that we do know.  We will be able to share precious information (as little as it may be) with our daughter and then she can fill in her own blanks with what she feels is right.

Makinley has been in my thoughts constantly this week.  I have had vivid dreams with her in them multiple times this week.  I am not a dreamer and even when I do dream I tend to not be able to recall them.  Every dream is about me going to get Makinley, but they are all different.  There is a common thread though.  She totally accepts me in each of them.  Weird, because I watch her in videos and think that she will have a hard time adjusting to strangers.  She doesn't seem to like them very much (gives me a giggle at how she has responded to friends who have tried to get pictures for me).

Anyways, China seems to be tugging at my heart more than usual lately.  I pray for many things, but especially for us to be able to get our baby girl soon.  I can not wait to get back to China.

Update on Makinley

I just received an update on Makinley.  Yes, we are doing the Snoopy dance here!!

Let me start out by saying that Makinley is a year and a half younger than Ashlyn.  She is three inches shorter than Ashlyn.  She weighs 2 pounds less than Ashlyn.  And her foot is two shoe sizes bigger than Ashlyn's!!  I don't know if that last part is correct.  Back in February her foot was almost 5 inches and now it is supposedly 6 inches!  That means she went from a shoe size 6 (same as Ashlyn at that time) in February to now a shoe size of 9!!!  Is that even possible in 5 months???!!!

Anyways, along with all of this wonderful information we also received TWO NEW PICTURES!!!

Love, Love, LOVE these pictures!!!  She is actually smiling and not crying in them (hee hee).  But doesn't she look so big? 

This was her picture back in February.  Sniff...sniff....she looks like such a big girl now.

Ok...let's get this process moving!  I want my baby girl!!

We Did It!!

Tomorrow our Dossier will be on its way to China!!

Our (BIG) part is finally done.  Now we wait on China and the US to finish the process.  At this point we could still travel this year.  It is looking like end of November to beginning of December.  We would like to be able to leave by December 3rd so that we would be back the week before Christmas.  If that doesn't happen then we will probably be leaving December 31st (the week after Christmas).  We just can not miss Christmas with our kids at home.  But at least we are one step closer to meeting our precious baby girl.