More Kids 4 Me

GIVEAWAY and March Fundraising Families!!

2012-03-05T01:11:00.002-05:00

I have some very special families fundraising this month! I am so excited to introduce you to them! All of their fundraisers can be found by going to http://www.mythirtyone.com/AnneLittle/ and clicking on "My Events".

Fundraiser Hosted by

Christy Martin

to benefit

The Taylor Family Adoption

Christy Martin is hosting this fundraiser to help her friend, Sandra Taylor, with the final travel funds needed to go to China and pick up sweet baby Kylie. This is what it's all about folks; a friend stepping up and hosting a fundraiser to help a family bring their child home. I LOVE THIS! I wonder how many more orphans would have families, if there were more Christy Martins in the world. Click over to Sandra's blog HERE. She is traveling soon! You’ll want to bookmark her blog!

The Worrell Family

The Worrell’s are heading back to China again! Last year they adopted their son, Luke, who is 11 years old and profoundly deaf. Now they are paper chasing for handsome Elias! He is 8 years old and also profoundly deaf. The Worrell family is well equipped to parent Luke and Elias, as their WHOLE family signs! So click HERE to visit their blog and follow this amazing family’s adoption journey!

Postiglione/Youngerman Family

The Postiglione/Youngerman Family is adopting darling little Talia Mei from China. They are well into the process, and are anxious to bring Talia Mei home. Talia Mei was premmie weighing just 3 lbs at birth. She has a heart defect, some speech delays, and a blood disorder. This little angel needs to get home!! You'll find the Postiglione/Youngerman family blog HERE.

Fundraiser Hosted by Ivy Scott

I have one more fundraiser in progress this month, and it's being hosted by Ivy Scott. She, like Christy Martin, isn't adopting herself, but is hosting this fundraiser to to benefit a family who is. Thank you, Ivy, for supporting adoption!! (No blog link available for this event.)

Now for the giveaway!!! YAY!!!

This month I've decided to give away a Thirty-One Lil' Hostess Apron!!

This print is retired! So you can't buy it anymore! Isn't it adorable?

Now for size, consider my Ellie is a tiny 2 year old in this photo. Also, the back is wrapped all the way around her and the neck strap pinned to bring it up a bit. So, this apron, can be worn by a child as young as 2 up to about 8 to 10 years old depending on their size. My Thomas is 7, and with some coaxing (and a couple of marsh mellows) I convinced him to try it on for size. It fits him beautifully, but for some reason, I couldn't get him to pose for a photo for y'all. :)

Do you have a little cook who would love their own special apron? If so, enter to win!!

All you need to do is visit each of the amazing families' blogs I listed above. Then, come back here and leave a comment that you did. Also, though not required to be entered in the giveaway, if you wouldn't mind spreading a little bloggy love, I'd appreciate it if you'd become a follower here at MoreKids4Me if you aren't already one. And if you have a blog, I'd really appreciate it if you would consider putting my "Assisting Adoption" button in your sidebar. This would be a big help in getting the word out to families in the adoption process that I offer free fundraisers to help their fundraising efforts. Thank You!!

DON'T FORGET to leave me your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Winner will be selected from a random comment on March 31.
Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

And the winner is.....

2012-03-01T10:12:00.000-05:00

A big thanks to all who participated in my giveaway! I hope your heart was touched by reading about these amazing adoptive families. I sure have loved getting to know these families this month. They are all so special! I also really enjoyed reading all your comments! So much, in fact, I think I'll do this giveaway thing again in March. Give me a few days to get it together, and then hop back over to see March's fundraising families and enter to win another Thirty-One lovely. :)

I also have some big news for me personally. I just met the requirements to become a Thirty-One Director in Qualification. If I can meet the requirements again in March, I'll promote to director, and I'm pretty stinkin excited about it. :) I would sure love your help making sure I meet those requirements, so if you're fundraising for your adoption and would like to have a fundraiser with me, shoot me an email! morekids4me at gmail dot com. And if you're not fundraising for an adoption, but would love to earn a whole bunch of free Thirty-One goodies, let me know! The commission from your party will still go to a fundraising family, and you'll get all the hostess incentives. It's a sweet deal all the way around.

So.... are you ready for the winner of the February giveaway??

Drum roll.....

The winner is

AMY SCROGGS

and she left this sweet comment:

I visited and read some of each lady's blog... So happy to see a family adopting and older child. God Bless each one of these families... I LOVE the Fowlers, and I LOVE my Thirty-one bags!! I would love to own this purse!

Well, Amy, you OWN IT!! YAY!!!

Email me, and I'll get your purse in the mail tomorrow!

February Fundraisers PLUS Giveaway!!

2012-02-01T11:00:00.014-05:00

Over the last 15 months, I've been blessed to help almost 3 dozen families fundraise to bring their kids home. It has been ... amazing. It's so much fun to "meet" these families, hear their amazing stories, and get to be a small part of their journey to their child. It's good stuff.

I have 4 families fundraising in February. I usually list them on my adoption fundraising FB page, but I have a confession. Getting all those links and all that info to show up on that FB info page makes me insane. I really should read a book on html one day. But in the mean time, I thought I would just post them here, where fonts, centering, and links are my friends. :) All of their Thirty-One fundraisers can be found HERE under "My Events".

First up!

The Peduzzi Family

The Peduzzi's are adopting a P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S. little boy from Russia! And they are traveling to pick him up THIS MONTH!! I'm pretty stinkin excited about this, as I've been following Melissa's blog now for months. Good stuff over there, BTW. In addition to their Thirty-One fundraiser, they are also having a giveaway! So be sure to check out her blog!

The Vantrease Family

The Vantrease's are adopting beautiful Faith from China! They are getting REALLY close; currently waiting on TA. Faith's sweet mom, Anita, has been my cyber friend for a long time now. :) I'm so excited for her! Visit her blog HERE.

The Fowler Family

The Fowler's are just beginning their adoption from Columbia! I just recently "met" Ashley, and have been enjoying sneaking over to her blog. She reminds me of me. :) She's all about her husband, her kids, and homeschooling. Start following her blog now, and you'll get to see the whole adoption unfold! If you've never followed a family from start to end on the journey to their child, you're missing out. It's good stuff.

Fundraiser Hosted by

Trisha Lowney

to benefit

The Swarthout Family Adoption

I'm super excited about this fundraiser, as it's being hosted by Trisha, a friend of the Swarthouts, to benefit their adoption! I LOVE it when someone steps up to fundraise for an adoptive family! The Swarthouts are adopting gorgeous Shaina from Haiti. Shaina's mom, Kate, has a blog HERE. You definitely want to visit, as she also has a fundraiser in progress with the most awesome Haitian made bracelets!

To add some bloggy fun and encourage you all to hop over and visit the blogs of these special families, I'm giving away a Thirty-One purse! It's the Pop Crossbody (item 3452)! This GREAT purse is currently offered by Thirty-One for $49! The print I'm offering it in is retired. So if you like this print, you better enter!

Ellie decided she was ready for spring today in her butterfly sundress. And since today is the premiere of the Thirty-One spring catalog, I thought it appropriate for her to model for you!

Just so you know, I have the adjustable strap clipped really short for this photo. It's a long strap with plenty of room for a grown up mom to wear it across her body.

This is such a great purse! It holds a lot, but you can wear it across your body and keep your hands free for all those little hands that need holding. The bottom of the bag unzips to make more room if you really need to stuff it!

You want it, don't you? It's ok. I know you do. :) So, how to enter? All you need to do is visit each of the amazing families' blogs I listed above. Then, come back here and leave a comment that you did. Yep. We're on the honor system here. Also, if you wouldn't mind spreading a little bloggy love, I'd appreciate it if you'd become a follower here at MoreKids4Me if you aren't already one. Thanks!! Giveaway open to US residents only.

I'll give the purse away to a the owner of a comment picked at random on February 29. Good luck!!

BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL, so I can contact you if you win!!

Do you sew?

2012-01-08T22:24:00.000-05:00

If you do, I have a blog you just have to visit! This blog isn't an ordinary sewing blog. Yes, this blog talks about sewing projects (actually, there's a new project each month), and yes, this blog has TOTALLY AWESOME giveaways (one going on right now!). But there's something that makes this blog really, really special.

This blog is all about helping others. And they spread the love far and wide.

Over the last year, this blog owner and her readers have:

made pillow cases for DCS,

made dresses for girls in Cambodia and Ghana,

repaired cloth diapers for children in China and Ghana,

made bibs and ragdolls for orphans in China,

made activity/coloring bags for a children's hospital,

made cloth pads for girls in Cambodia,

made baby layette items for a crisis pregnancy center,

made preemie diaper covers for children in Cambodia,

had a "Sew Along" to benefit Create Hope Designs,

and even sewed for some very special people in each of their lives; their families.

This is a pretty great group of folks, don't you think? So, if you sew, head on over to this awesome blog, Hopeful Threads. Kristy, the blog owner, just did a post on the why behind Hopeful Threads you'll want to read. Spread some bloggy love and become a Hopeful Threads follower. Then scroll down (or just click here) to enter the current Hopeful Threads giveaway. And if YOU want to be part of this amazing group, join in the current sewing project which benefits orphans in China.

Remembering Abraham

2011-12-23T14:49:00.001-05:00

Six years ago today, a baby boy was born in China. This little boy, Abraham, was blind, and shortly after his birth became an orphan.

Luckily, someone at Abraham's orphanage cared enough about him to get his adoption paperwork filed. Only a small percentage of orphans ever become paper ready for adoption as it is a long and costly process for the orphanage.

Abraham's papers were ready, and his file even made it to an agency waiting child list. There was such hope for this little boy. A life in America would mean education, a future, a family.

But Abraham never made it to America. He never received an education. He never had a future. He never had a family. You see, no one came forward for Abraham. Not even one family asked to review his file. He wasn't even considered.

Abraham died in China, an orphan.

Why didn't anyone claim baby Abraham? Was it because he was blind? Or because he was a boy? Or was it simply funding?

The fact is that most kids, regardless of their special need, find families when they have large grants associated with their adoptions. This tells me it isn't a lack of willing families, but a lack of funding that prevents orphans from finding homes. And finding a family can mean the difference between life an death to an orphan. This is important folks. Dollars deciding whether children live or die.

During this season of giving, I want to challenge you to support a family who is fundraising to adopt. For many families funding an adoption is hard. Really hard. And not because they don't want to take the money out of their 401K or get a home equity loan. I realize there are exceptions and not everyone is honest about their needs, but I believe, for the most part, families don't take fundraising for their adoption lightly. For most families, the fundraising road is a tough and humbling journey, and not a trip taken lightly. Most families, if they could, would fund their adoptions without ever asking for help.

There are around 2000 kids on the China Shared List of paper ready children. How many of them will die while waiting for a family to choose them? If every child on that list had a grant covering a large part of their adoption, I wonder how many of them would still be waiting in one month.

Be a sender this Christmas season and support a family's fundraising efforts. And if you are a fundraising family, I would love to include your button in my list of "Families Needing Senders". Email me (morekids4me at gmail dot com) with your link, and I'll get you added.

Christmas Frenzy

2011-11-21T00:26:00.000-05:00

If you're a fundraising family, go over to Stacy's blog and get in on her Christmas Frenzy linky!! And if you're not fundraising, how about being a sender to a family that is?

While you're at Stacy's blog linking up or shopping, take a look around. She's one amazing mama!

Blessed By Adoption!

2011-11-02T14:51:00.002-04:00

Camping...not

2011-10-09T23:00:00.001-04:00

We packed our big ole van for camping, drove to the state park, and rented a cabin instead. :) I didn't hate it. Not a bit. :)

The weather cooperated and warmed up enough in the afternoon for the kids to play in the water. Thomas had his shoes off first and went out searching for the perfect rock.

Savannah found her perfect rock.

We went on some short hikes and found a couple of swinging bridges.

If you have little boys, you know what they do when they cross a swinging bridge. They jump! They had all the girls, including me, screaming. Thus the reason I didn't get any photos of them jumping. I needed both hands to hang on with!

I did get everyone to stand still long enough to get this one. Sure wish Jack was in it!

The kids loved the water and the hikes, but this trip the biggest hit was the playground near our cabin. It was very old, metal, and HIGH! They LOVED it!

Savannah went down the slide with Ellie no less than 100 times.

Finally she was ready to do it on her own.

Here's Will contemplating the fire poll...

And Thomas contemplating the fire poll....

And Rich giving fire poll instructions...

:)

And a playground wouldn't be complete if Ellie didn't get to swing.

I so love play time with my family. :)

Happy 4 Year Forever Family Day, Thomas!

2011-09-18T14:17:00.000-04:00

We've had our sweet Thomas for 4 years now! I can't believe it has been 4 years. Here's the photo of our agency's travel group at the White Swan in Guangzhou.

Thomas is 7 now, and such a special little boy. His presence makes every day better! :) I'm so blessed to be his momma. I simply can't imagine life without his nutty self in our family!

He and Will are BEST friends. When we adopted Thomas, I didn't realize what an incredible gift those boys would be to each other.

And check out the build on Thomas! It's hard to believe he came to us a teeny tiny SKINNY little thing.

I love you, Thomas! Everything you are and everything you are becoming! I'm so proud of you!!

Goodbyes

2011-09-04T18:56:00.000-04:00

My oldest son, Jack, left this week for China. He won a scholarship to study Chinese at a university in Wuhan for 10 months. Yep. 10 months.

Jack is my first little bird to leave the nest, and it was ... hard. I had prepared myself for him to go to college. Possibly even to move out of our home to go to college. And even to go to another city to college, if that's what he chose. But, I guess my heart wasn't ready to put him on a plane to China for 10 months.

We spent the last month busy with all the preparations - mostly paperwork - to get him ready to go. Then, the last week, as his departure was becoming imminent, the reality of him leaving really began to hit home.

We had a going away party for him. He has been blessed with so many really good kid and adult friends.

I love this photo of Jack shaking hands with his church pastor.

And this photo of Thomas eating spicy chicken wings.

And this one of Ellie. She's beautiful even when she sweats.

The next 2 days went by in a flash, and before we could blink, it was time.

I got Rich to take a photo of me and my little boy.

And then we left for the airport. I cried the whole way.

We got out of the car and I looked at Jack carrying his things. What you see is all he took to China: a carry-on suitcase and a backpack. He will be gone for 10 months.

We made it to the hallway just outside security, and waited. The little kids ran around and played. I don't think the reality of Jack leaving had really hit them yet.

Then some of Jack's friends showed up. It was perfect. They lightened the mood, and got Jack, Rich, and I smiling. :)

Did I mention Jack has wonderful friends?

But the clock kept ticking, and we had to say goodbye.

Savannah (she has autism) had her La-La Loopsy Doll wave goodbye.

It began to sink in for Will.

Jack picked up his tiny suitcase and walked up to security to check in.

And my heart broke.

Jack made it to China after 30 plus hours of traveling and got all checked into his dorm. He starts official school stuff tomorrow.

This mama stuff is hard.

Ellie Sweetness

2011-07-04T14:14:00.001-04:00

I think everything this kid does is beyond precious. Every morning when I get ready, she stands in the bathroom with me. She loves putting on lipstick. And, well, I think she is so stinkin cute doing it. So I taped it. :)

Here's some more Ellie sweetness. :)

This last photo was taken by my friend, Ellie, in the Chick fil a! She's amazing with her camera!!!!

Princess Ellie Live

2011-06-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

Ellie sings. All the time. :) It's so precious. But every time I try to get her on video ... SILENCE. Well, that is, every time until today. :) She decided she would sing the "I Love Mama" song (one of my favorites, of course), if I would sing it back to her. So, here she is singing. :) Please try to ignore my part!

It's Official

2011-05-23T00:26:00.001-04:00

She has blossomed.

She has been home seven months now. We had our share of grieving to work through, but I'm happy to say it's all long gone. (Well, actually not that long... but long enough.)

And that Daddy she took some time to warm up to? Well, he's definitely in now.

And it's hard to tell who's happier about it.

Everything is a new experience.

And she's loving it all.

She is such angel.

I am so blessed.

BE A SENDER

2011-05-14T17:15:00.003-04:00

A while back, I posted about Goers and Senders . Simply put, Goers are folks God has called to "go", and senders are folks God has called to "send" them. When it comes to orphans, everyone has the blessing of being one of these things. Some people are blessed with being both!

There are many families working, saving, and fundraising to pay their adoption expenses. And most of the time, it’s a very long, hard road.

What if every Christian did something once a week to help a family fundraising for adoption? That really doesn't seem like a lot to ask, does it? That all of us who profess to be Christians actually step up and do what God has commanded in regard to orphans.

What can I do, you ask? Well, a lot!

Obviously, supporting adoption financially is an awesome way to help. How about considering committing a few dollars a week to a fundraising family? Start small (or big, if you can) and put it in your budget. Get your kids involved. Get a jar and tell them you’re going to put your change in the jar every week and give it to a fundraising family; and ask them if they’d like to contribute a little from their allowance. This is a wonderful experience for kids. Most of the time, the family has a blog where they can see who they are helping and even watch the story of the child coming home unfold. It’s an awesome faith building experience as your children can watch a family step out in faith into the journey of adoption and see God provide.

In addition to supporting adoption financially, there are other ways to help.

Pray! Pray regularly for fundraising families and their needs.

Spread the word! If you have a blog, a FB page, an email, or a phone, you can help a fundraising family by spreading the word about their fundraisers. This is easy, only takes a few minutes, and can reap big benefits for the fundraising family.

Hold a fundraiser! Yep… that’s what I said. Hold a fundraiser and give the profits to a family in need of adoption funds. What a GREAT family service project this is! TALK about making an impression on your kids! They will SEE you being the hands and feet of Jesus and be able to participate themselves. Other ideas…get your small group at church, book club, or just a group of your friends to band together for a fundraiser.

For most of us, funding an adoption is a huge task. And, sadly, it’s the big hurdle that keeps lots of great families from adopting waiting children. I know lots of families, us included, who would adopt a waiting child in a second if funding wasn’t an issue. It breaks my heart that money stands in the way of these kids having forever families. Does it break your heart, too?

Fundraising under Fire

2011-05-08T22:58:00.155-04:00

There is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child,
and an instinct to make any child who needs her love her own.

Author unknown

I saw this quote on my friend’s blog, and boy did it hit home. I keep thinking about it. Especially today, Mother's Day. I have been so incredibly blessed by my children. Every one of them is such an amazing gift. Three came to me by the miracle of epidural; two by the miracle of adoption.

I hear some moms say, with certainty, they are “done”. They have this inner peace that their families are complete. They are sure of it.

What’s that like?

Even with the craziness of our busy little house, I can't help but dream about another blessing. I know looking at the situation with reason that we “should” be done. Yep, we’re old. Yep, house is pretty darn full. Yep, it's loud here. Yep, we're pretty busy. And funding another adoption?… yuck. The Ellie fundraising fiasco is still pretty fresh in my memory. Talk about stress… eee.

I saw fundraising for adoption come under intense fire on one of my adoption groups recently. I never commented, just watched all the words fly. I was so shocked there are adoptive parents who are, by their own words, “offended” that someone would fundraise to adopt a child. I just sat in my chair and thought – wow. I was glad that Ellie’s adoption was over when the mini war was going on, as I’m sure it would have felt like I was being hit by a cannonball had I been in the midst of fundraising.

What if there was someone reading those posts who was planning to adopt, but knew they would need to fundraise for some of their funds? What if reading those posts made them decide not to adopt? I wonder if the folks posting all those negative comments ever considered that. I wonder if they ever considered that their post might have cost a child a family.

I do think God calls parents who don’t have $30K sitting in the bank to parent orphans. I know that He blesses families who fundraise over and over with multiple miracles to provide the funds they need to go get their children. Seeing these miracles leads me to believe God is okay with fundraising for adoption. And if it’s okay with Him, …. well then.

With all the children who are waiting for a family, I have to think it’s better to have old parents, than no parents. Better to be living in what our culture considers close quarters with brothers and sisters, than to have no brothers or sisters. And better to have a family that fundraised to adopt, than no family at all. Because I sure don’t see a line of young couples, living in big houses, with the funds to pay cash for an adoption, fighting to adopt the nearly 2000 children on the China special needs list.

There are good families who would love to adopt these children. The real reason these children don't have families is money. We see that even when hard to place kids get large grants, they almost always find families.

Fundraising is hard. Occasionally you will see a family receive an enormous amount of donations with one fundraiser. This is the exception. Most families who fundraise to adopt, work at it hard... for months and months.

The world needs more adoptive families, not less. And if fundraising makes that happen, .... well then.

Baby Bella at Starfish

2011-04-29T13:33:00.000-04:00

Baby Bella is a sweet little girl who has spina bifida. She needs surgery on her bladder and some other medical evals. Currently, her fundraising seems to have come to a screeching halt! Please donate if you can, and please help spread the word about sweet baby Bella!!!

Just look at that sweet face!!

Go to http://www.risingstarfish.blogspot.com/ for all the details on how to donate and to read Bella's story.

Warming Up!

2011-03-20T22:55:00.002-04:00

It's beginning to look a lot like...

SPRING! :)

And we sure are enjoying it!

Ellie LOVES Babies!

2011-03-06T18:43:00.000-05:00

My sweetheart LOVES the movie "Babies"!

It's on Netflix instant streaming right now, and every time Ellie walks past the TV she points to it and says, "baby movie?"

She's crazy animated when she's watching it, shouting out things like, "Baby washing!", "Baby crying!", "Baby peeing!", "Baby pooping!"

In one part of the movie they write on one of the baby's feet. Here's a screen shot from the movie:

EVERY TIME Ellie sees this part, she INSISTS that I write on her feet.

So, of course, I do. :) :)

Our little angel is still stuck to me like glue. "Mama up" is definitely her favorite phrase.

Rich thinks perhaps it's less about being adopted and a bit more about "Princess Syndrome". I haven't admitted it to him yet, but I think he might be on to something there. :)

And you get a vote....why???

2011-02-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

A very dear friend of mine just announced that she and her husband are adopting again. And, they are adopting 2. This will be adoptions 7 and 8 for them. And they have a couple of older bio kids too! All of their adopted kids have special needs. And the mom is a cancer survivor. This family is amazing.

I was reading my friend's post about her 2 new family additions and smiling away. Then near the end of the post this sweet, amazing mother asked if those with negative opinions about them adopting again would please keep their negative thoughts to themselves. I must admit, a little steam puffed from my ears.

W.h.y. do some people feel the need to express negativity to families who adopt?? I'd really like to know WHAT in the world makes these folks think they get a vote.

We even got some "flack" when we decided to adopt Thomas and Ellie. And they were only kids 4 and 5 for us! With Thomas it was, "another child will take too much time away from Savannah (our daughter with autism)". And with Ellie it was "just concerned that it would be too much, too expensive, and aren't our hands already full". ACK! And these "concerns" come from people who do not see us on a regular basis, have no idea what our day to day life is about, and frankly, just are not the people I want to grow up to be.

There are enough obstacles in the way when adopting without the additional stress of people telling you it's a bad idea. If you don't want to adopt, then don't. But don't try to stand in the way of the rest of us.

From my chair, the only people who get votes on this issue are God (who is the director of the WHOLE thing), members of the adoptive family (immediate ONLY - as in the people living in the house!), the social worker doing the homestudy, USCIS, and CCAA (or whatever the agency is that is over adoption for the situation).

If you're not on that list and you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

"Special Focus"

2011-02-13T12:18:00.000-05:00

Four years ago, there was a little boy on an agency specific list. This was before the days of the Shared List or the term "Special Focus". Back then, all special needs children from China available for adoption went on agency lists. This little boy was on a list with lots of other kids.

Days passed and children were matched with their families. It was all very exciting. The girls, the very young, the children with minor special needs... they were chosen quickly. There were a few kids, including the little boy, who continued to wait. And wait. And wait. For days. For weeks. For months.

In today's terminology, this little boy would be a Special Focus child. Here are his referral photos.

He looks sad and lifeless, doesn't he?

All this little boy needed to bring him to life, was....

some brothers.....

a sister...

enough food...

a dad...

and a mom...

This child is SPECIAL!!! And I am so glad that he is MY FOCUS!!! Because he a blessing beyond words! I mean, seriously!!! HE IS PERFECT!!!

The agency who we used for Thomas was Children's House International. They have just received a new "Special Focus" list of children. (And CHI can now place kids in every state!) Each and every one of them is a big, fat blessing just waiting to be unwrapped. JUST LOOK!!!!


There's Piper

Angelina

Spring


Wills


Poppy

Reed


Valentino

Chole

Jerrick

Lillianna

Pamela

Romeo

To read about the kids, join the CHI Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHIWaitingkids/

Or email Heidi at heidigoestochina@msn.com

Why not add a little special focus to your life? YOU WILL BE BLESSED!!

Yep, we've been busy

2011-02-10T17:02:00.000-05:00

Boy, time sure does fly when you're having fun. :) We are all doing well and enjoying being a family of SEVEN.

Ellie bug gets more relaxed every day. I've even been able to run out to the store without her. She's not too happy about me leaving, but she's fine by the time my car makes it out of the driveway. :) She is a smart little cookie and pretty good at manipulating mama it seems.

The whole crew here has been staying busy. We have been hitting our school work hard and having fun with it. Ellie is even getting in on school too. She's so cute climbing up on the sofa to "read" her books. She loves to color and draw... and CUT. :) Her favorite thing to make is confetti. The vacuum has been working over time!

Our very old Mac finally died. We tried to get it repaired, but were told it was a "vintage" machine and couldn't be fixed. The new one makes me feel like I've gained about 10 years in technology!! I didn't realize how slow things were moving with the old one.

So.. now that we have a computer again, I've been able to upload some photos.

So Rebel, do you recognize that coat????

Grants

2011-01-09T01:33:00.000-05:00

I get several emails a week from folks who are fundraising for their adoptions asking for ideas and suggestions. I'd say 3 out of 4 ask if it's worth it to apply for the grants. They all seem to have heard that the competition is steep due to the poor economy (more folks applying and less grant money to give away), and that they really feel like it would be a waste of time.

I tell every one of them.... apply for the grants! Apply for any of them you remotely think you qualify for!

I spent HOURS and HOURS filling out the grant apps. And some of the stuff those grant apps ask for - WHEW! You would think the depth of personal info revealed in your homestudy would be enough. Well, apparently it ain't, sister. Each granting agency has their own requirements about what they want to know about you and most include separate letters from the husband and wife. I LITERALLY stood over my husband to make him write the stuff he had to personally submit. (He's just not a "share my deepest feelings with these people I don't know" kind of person.)

Then there is the financial stuff. It's all in the homestudy, but all the grant folks have their own financial forms and they are all different. And in some cases, WAY more detailed than the homestudy financial worksheets. You also face the task of trying to prove to the grant folks that you really need the grant, while at the same time your homestudy agency has said how financially sound you are and that you can easily afford to adopt this child.

And there is the going back to your friends... AGAIN... and asking for recommendation letters.

Yes, there is a lot of competition for the grants. Yes, it's a LOT of work filling out the applications, getting all the supporting docs together, and asking for yet MORE letters of reference. BUT... if you get just ONE grant, it can make all the difference. We were blessed with 2 grants for Miss Ellie bug. WHAT a huge difference these made to our family!

My suggestion on the grant thing is this, apply for them all and do it with all your heart. Write good, sincere letters that really show your need and your heart for adoption. Don't just throw this stuff together just to "get it in". Make your application stand out by spending some time writing so the granting agencies get a chance to really know your family. Show them what your family has done to save and work to fund your adoption. Tell them how much you have, and how much you still need. Let them know that you are still actively fundraising and saving. Pray over each application and letter when you are preparing them. Ask God to show you what to include and to give you the words to say.

And, if you do all this and don't get any grants, it wasn't for nothing. The act of praying, writing, and sweating over all those letters that show your heart will, in the end, be such an encouragement to you. The process makes you KNOW, without a doubt, that you are doing what God has called you to do.

Foster Family Pics

2011-01-01T20:15:00.003-05:00

I was finally able to get Ellie's foster pics moved to the computer. The delay is a long story involving the fact that our poor, almost 7 year old computer, is on its last leg. But thanks to Jack and his handy dandy new external disc drive (yay Santa), I finally got to see them!

When we were in China, I didn't get to meet Ellie's foster mom. To tell the truth, I was terrified to. I had made up my mind that if the opportunity presented itself, I would cowgirl up and meet with her. Even through my terror, I knew that I would regret it if I had the chance and didn't do it. I'm embarrassed to admit I was secretly relieved when my guide told me that the swi would not allow us to meet. And now, after seeing the photos of this lovely woman with Ellie, I am so sad I did not get to meet her. Sad for me, and sad for Ellie. So, my advice, if you are given the chance to meet you child's foster parents, do it even if you're terrified.

These pics are from Grace and Hope for Children. If you have a child in their foster care program, you can buy a disc of the photos and foster care reports they kept while your child was in their care. It's such a blessing to have this history for my baby, and to know that she lived in a nice home with a foster mom who loved her. I am so incredibly grateful to this woman, and I really wish I could tell her so.

Ellie is 5 months old here. This is the earliest photo I have.

8 months old

11 months old

LOVE THAT PRECIOUS FACE!

Anyone seen Ellie's foster sister on a list anywhere???? :)

14 months old

17 months old

(China date stamps show day then the month, so this is May 12, 2010 - about one month before we were matched)

20 months - I received 2 photos from this day in an update from Lady Bugs n Love.

And, here are a couple of recent photos of my precious angel since we've been home. :)

24 months

It's a new year....

2010-12-31T13:30:00.000-05:00

Wow! Can't believe that in a few hours it's gonna be 2011! Time truly does fly when you're having fun. :)

This post from Amanda at Starfish Foster Home in China is a MUST READ, so I had to post it here! Go, read, and be inspired to DO SOMETHING in 2011 to make a difference.

Read Amanda's Year End Post Here

You're Invited

2010-12-23T12:13:00.000-05:00

Abraham would have been 5 today. But, he died. He died in China, an orphan, waiting for a family to claim him. He had made it to a waiting child list. But he was not chosen. Not even one family asked to see his file.

Was there not one single family who would be willing to adopt a blind little boy?

I wonder... I really wonder... if a loving family would have adopted Abraham if there had been no financial obstacles. What if there had been a grant to cover the entire cost of his adoption? What if finding a family for Abraham was 100% about finding a family for a little boy who couldn't see? And not about finding a family for a little boy who couldn't see AND who had the financial resources to pay for his adoption?

I'm having a birthday party for Abraham, and you're invited. Would you be willing to get Abraham a balloon? Some party plates? Streamers? How about a toy?

There are many, many families this Christmas season working, saving, and fundraising to give a child a home. I challenge you to give to one of these families today in remembrance of Abraham's birthday. I think he deserves to be remembered. Don't you?

Winner

2010-12-17T17:18:00.002-05:00

Mandie won the zipper pouch!!! (Picked at random by Thomas!) Thanks so much to everyone who posted!!!! Please keep spreading the word about these adorable calendars!!

Starfish Calendars!!!

2010-12-14T15:57:00.001-05:00

HOW stinkin adorable are these calendars???!!!

It's all those ADORABLE babies from the Starfish Foster Home in Xian!! That's where Jack volunteered over the summer. He lived at Starfish for 2 months and says that it is an AMAZING place. He also says that Amanda (Starfish founder, director, person in charge, mama to all the babies, adoption dossier preparer, medical care/surgery getter) is one of the most incredible people he has ever met! SOOOO... you know that if you buy one of these calendars, your money is going to one of the best causes on the planet!!

Click here to see the whole calendar.

To order, send $35 ($30 for the calendar and $5 shipping) by paypal to Michelle at michelle@bindandremember.com There are price breaks on shipping for multiple calendars, so email Michelle if you want a bunch!

(Choose "personal" and "gift" when checking out through paypal to avoid Starfish losing money to paypal fees.)

After you buy your calendar, PLEASE post about it on your FB or blog!!! Everyone needs a calendar for the upcoming new year! Why not help special needs orphans in the process!!

And, as a little, tiny incentive for you to repost, how about a chance at a large Thirty-One Zipper Pouch? :)

Leave me a comment and a link to where you posted. I'll choose someone at random on Friday at noon and send them this awesome pouch! Good luck!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2010-12-12T18:41:00.000-05:00

My sweet princess turned 2! She wasn't too sure about the whole birthday thing. Out of 176 photos (yep, I'm serious) of her standing in that chair looking at the cake, this was the closest thing to a smile we got. :)

She had no idea there was STUFF in those wrapped packages. She walked around them for about 2 hours before her party. Will was more than willing to get her started. :)

I love her serious face! She looks like she's thinking, "These people are crazy. They've been hiding toys in loud paper!"

Little did she know at this point how fun Elefun would be. :) She ended up absolutely squealing in delight when the butterflies start flying out of that thing!

After the first present, she had the idea and started ripping paper off the next one.

Yep! She got the hang of it!

And she LOVED the frosting on the cake! Which was kind of surprising to me. I thought she would think it was too sweet. Thomas still gets a little "sweeted out" sometimes. But not my girl..!!!!! She can eat butter cream roses with the best of them!!

The question I'm getting asked the most these days is, "Really, how is it going?" Well, it's going GREAT!! REALLY!! :):) She is a mama's dream come true! And a "rest of the family's" dream come true, too!

Today my kids have said:

Jack - "She's a really great toddler!"
Thomas - "She's so kissable!"
William - "She has the most adorable voice!"
Savannah - "Come on little Cinderella." and "I'm so glad I have a sister."

She's talking.. a lot.. and has used the potty several times. She has asked to go! She puts on her lipstick with me in the mornings, and pretends to put in HER contacts. She puts her sunglasses up on top of her head - like her mama -, and alerts me if the washer or dryer buzzer goes off. And she'll sit still and let me put bows in her hair.

It's pretty much not stop stinkin fun!!! :):):)

Our only real problem right now is car sickness... uuuggg... It happens so quick. Any trip more than 15 or 20 minutes and we have .... a problem. If anyone has any suggestions on that front, I'd love to hear them!

Finally got the real camera charged

2010-11-21T15:10:00.000-05:00

The real camera? Well, that's what I call the big one. :) The other camera, the little one, is this point and shoot, waterproof thing. Rich and Jack made me take the little one to China. Rich was afraid the big one would get broken, and well, Jack didn't want to have to carry the big one.

So, home from China for three weeks now and have been on a big camera charger hunt for two. Found it! Charged it! And.... the blasted lens is giving me issues. ACK! It's already done this once and we had to send it off - for what seemed like forever - and now it's doing it again! Double ACK! It just won't focus sometimes. And, well, it's VERY annoying. Especially when a mama has a precious new daughter who needs her picture taken..... and blown up..... ridiculously huge.

Here are a few shots that seemed to be in focus ... or almost...

Will wanted to know why I kept "doing that" to her hair. :) He says she looks like a brussel sprout!

I'd love suggestions anyone might have on a great REASONABLY priced place to have adoption announcements done. I'm having sticker shock!

One Month

2010-11-14T17:23:00.000-05:00

I met my precious Ellie 4 weeks ago tonight. (Because tonight is already tomorrow in China.)

She was a quiet, scared little girl when I met her.

But, my prayer was answered. She let me hold her and comfort her even though she was sad and afraid.

Every day she loosens up a bit more. She's getting used to this house full of crazies.

And...

she likes it! :)

(....yes. That is half of a globe and a cross bow. What can I say? I have boys.)

Miss Ellie still has quite a ways to go, but she's making strides every day.

I am still pinching myself. She is absolutely, positively a dream come true.

A HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU to all who supported our journey to Ellie. We are so grateful!!

LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!

2010-11-08T15:00:00.000-05:00

Are you a goer or a sender?

2010-11-07T23:48:00.007-05:00

The orphan problem is everybody's problem. Whether you choose to believe it's your problem is simply a decision you make. And that decision doesn't change the fact that it is indeed your problem. It is everyone's problem.

If a starving orphan knocked on the door of your comfortable, warm house, what would you do? Would you turn your back and close the door?

Well, I'm here to tell you that there are millions of children in need RIGHT NOW. They are starving. They don't have safe water. They need medical care. They need parents. They need someone to stand up for them. Someone to defend them.

If you are thinking there is just no way you can adopt, well then, I have many other options for you. :) YOU can make a difference and save a child without adopting. Sponsor a child. Feed a child. Pay for a child to have life saving surgery. Help a community build a well so they can have safe drinking water. Support someone else's adoption. YES!!! SUPPORT SOMEONE ELSE'S ADOPTION. And I mean, REALLY support someone else's adoption. Organize a fundraiser for them. Help them with a fundraiser they are having by working it like it was your own. Search your heart on how hard it would be to come up with nearly $30,000 ( and yes, Ellie's adoption was very close to that despite my very best efforts to keep all the costs down ) and FEEL that family's struggle to bring their child home.

Ellie's adoption took saving at a crazy level for our family, gifts from friends, multiple fundraisers, grants, and a loan to get that baby home. And you know what? She is so worth every bit of it! And you know what else? Every other child that is waiting for a family is worth it too.

There are families willing to bring these children home, but financial obstacles stand in the way. I remember my Sunday school teacher from when I was a teenager saying God has "goers and senders". If you can't be a goer, maybe God is calling you to be a sender. If you can't adopt, can't go to Africa and build a well, can't hand out food to orphans, then maybe God's role for you is to send someone who can. There are lots of people and programs in place to help children out of hopelessness. But they need support. I tell ya, I am so, so grateful for all the senders that helped us bring Ellie home.

What are you?? A goer? A sender? Or both?? I dare you to search your heart and ask God to reveal it to you. And you know what? YOU will be blessed for it!!!!

I am going to work on putting together a list of wonderful people and programs that would benefit from some "senders". So, stay tuned. :) But for right now, here are just a couple to get you going!!

http://milesoftheheart.blogspot.com/

http://feedingtheorphans.blogspot.com

http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

http://www.bringingsophiahome.blogspot.com/

http://www.heleadsus.blogspot.com/

http://www.beebebits.blogspot.com/

Homemade Icecream

2010-11-06T19:28:00.001-04:00

Yep. Chocolate.

She seriously liked it.

ALL OVER!

We moved into cleanup mode. She has come a l.o.n.g. way on the bath thing. She loves them now. I developed the foster family photos, and there's one of her taking a bath there. In a bowl. Like one you would have in your kitchen for washing vegetables. It was tiny. She must have thought a regular bath tub looked like an ocean.

Hard to get a photo of her out of the tub, as I'm always holding her. We used the mirror to our advantage.

I saved the onesie. I know you were worried. :)

Those are size 12 month jammies. The pants will not stay up. The child has no butt.

A 15 second interval playing in her bed. Seriously, barely long enough for me to take the photo. But she looks just darling in there, doesn't she?

Our little angel is doing really well. She's saying lots of things in English. MaMU (her favorite!), Daddy, Will, Thomas, Sasa, Jack, Maggie, kitty, meow, open, bubbles, all done, yum-yums, coke, ... and, she's still saying LONG sentences in Chinese. She is absolutely, positively precious in every way. :)

Another precious little girl waits to come home

2010-11-02T07:24:00.000-04:00

Just look at this precious little sweetie!!! Her name is Sophia. Wouldn't you love to be part of this angel's homecoming?

This precious child is waiting for her mama, who is a very special friend of mine, to come and get her. She is expecting her TA for this angel ANY DAY and is still about $5000 short on travel funds. Friends, I know from experience, that knowing your TA is imminent, and being thousands short on travel funds is terrifying. When you think about the total spent on an adoption, the last $5000 really isn't that much of it. But, when you don't have it, and you're TA is coming, it's EVERYTHING!

Mandie, Sofia's mama, is making it EASY to be part of Sophia's homecoming. She is having an awesome giveaway where you can sponsor a puzzle piece and get a chance to win some great prizes. The grand prize is a totally rockin netbook!! I so want one of these, and I bet you do too!!! They are small enough to ft in a decent size purse, and let you blog, email, and yahoo group where ever you are!!! Here's the link where you can enter.

http://bringingsophiahome.blogspot.com/2010/10/netbook-giveaway-and-more.html

So, come on!! Click on over there, and get yourself a puzzle piece!! Who knows, you might just be typing on your new netbook next week!! The drawing is on November 8!!

We are home

2010-11-01T11:35:00.000-04:00

We are home. :) And boy does it feel good. We've been sleeping at odd hours trying to get our clocks turned around. I'm hoping for a somewhat normal day today.

The trip home was l.o.n.g. Ellie did as well as could be expected on that long flight. She slept 3 different times. She accompanied me to the bathroom when I went. (Remember, she can't let me out of her sight.) Thank goodness, the bathroom was a little larger than the one we had on the plane on the way to China. We read books, played stickers, had snacks, and I narrated the entire 101 Dalmatians movie - I'm sure our neighbors loved that - to try to keep her entertained. She simply loved Pongo and would shout out his name when she saw him. She still had her moments. But, frankly, I would have like to have a few moments on that flight too. It's just awful being cooped up in that tiny area breathing that dry air for so long. The flight had quite a bit of turbulence too. Not fun.

I did get to watch the Blind Side while she slept one time. I sobbed. I highly recommend the movie to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Ellie is doing really, really well. She is enjoying the crazy Little house, and is getting more and more comfortable. She has even ventured into rooms WITHOUT me for a few minutes! YAY!!! She is still pretty much glued to me, but I can tell it's getting a little better. She's still waking up crying - I think this is still foster family grieving - but she's not screaming out their names anymore.

She is doing really well with the other kids, and is warming up to Rich too. She's even offered him cheerios and juice.

She is an absolute precious angel!!!! And I feel blessed beyond measure!!

Here are a few photos from China that I never got a chance to post. :)

She wasn't sure what to make of the little kid statues.

Red couch at the White Swan

Happy tub photo in GZ!! And I'm not even in there with her!! YAY!!

Pictures from Anne

2010-10-27T10:55:00.001-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Guangzhou and the medical appointment

2010-10-24T03:46:00.000-04:00

We made it to Guangzhou, and are so glad to be on the last leg of this trip! I'm so ready to get home to the rest of my babies!

We arrived late Friday and then had the medical appointment Saturday morning. We went through the usual stations and then they decided that, despite her extensive shot record, she needed 7 shots. All I am going to say here about it, is that it was horrific. I had Jack video tape the torture. I'm planning on sending Hillary a copy.

Well, I wish I could say that the shots were over and all seemed well now, but it doesn't. Ellie's been running a fever last night and all day today. Her fever was 103 this afternoon, which was 26 hours after the US mandated torture. She been on motrin the whole time too. I'm very worried about her. She is eating and drinking, so that's good. Hopefully I can keep her fever down and won't have to take her to the dr here.

Other than the shot thing, we are all doing well. Ellie is simply a delightful child. She is smart and funny. She and Jack have this whole teasing thing going on where he asks her to give him a kiss and she turns her head away really quick. He then tickles her until she just cackles. Then they start all over again.

We had a successful bath last night! No tears. Well, just a few at the beginning, but a HUGE improvement over all previous baths!!

She is still grieving for her foster family at night. She wants me to hold her through it all, so of course I do. She always has to have me in sight, and prefers for me to be holding her. I'm loving every minute of it, but it doesn't leave much time for anything else. I've had lots of emails asking if we are okay because I haven't been posting much. Rest assured, we are great. I feel like the luckiest momma on the planet to have this precious girl. I'm reading the emails on my phone, but just haven't had the opportunity to email you all back. But I'm reading them all and am so grateful for all the encouragement!

I will try to add some photos later. I have to have Jack's help for that, as we have his little netbook and it's ..... different. Hopefully I can add some when he gets back. He is out on a sweet milk search for our little angel.

We are doing great!

2010-10-21T22:08:00.002-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Sorry I haven't posted! I have a sweet little princess who basically wants me 24-7. And I've been a mother long enough to know that when she sleeps, I must also sleep!

Ellie is doing really well. She is grieving for her foster family, but now it's only at night and she lets me comfort her. She's getting more playful everyday. She HATES taking a bath. And I even get in with her. She refuses the formula the swi sent. I had our guide confirm that she was drinking that stuff, and the answer was yes. Three bottles a day. Well, all I can say to that is that she must have developed a recent loathing for it during the van ride to the civil affairs office to meet me! She does love those little sweet milk bottles, though. :) She eats tons of real food, so I don't think she is really missing anything.

She loves Jack and giggles like crazy when he chases her. She is very engaged and interactive with us. She is a precious angel. I can't wait to get her home to meet the rest of the family!!

We are off to Guangzhou in a few hours. I have to go get us all packed!

Gotcha and beyond

2010-10-19T08:14:00.002-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

And here she is...

2010-10-18T09:09:00.003-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

She is totally amazing. It went better then we could have dreamed. We had a long day, as we completed the adoption due to the holidays. She is officially ours.

I am exhausted, but here are some highlights.

She is the bravest person in the world. She likes me. She took my hand to take me places. She called me mama. She let me rock her to sleep. She would only get in the tub if I got in to. So I did. :) She ate a hamburger and french fries with ketchup She loves Jack. She talks up a storm. We have no idea what she is saying, as she speaks a rare local dialect. So even our limited Chinese is useless. I think she is left handed. She is tiny. The 12 month clothes fit her. She acts way older than 22 months. I'm in love. She is amazing.

More tomorrow. I must go to sleep!!

Less than 3 hours

2010-10-17T19:55:00.000-04:00

We will meet miss Ellie in less than 3 hours!! Pretty stinkin nervous here. But crazy excited too.

I'm beginning to feel like I'm in the land of the living after all the planes. I decided that I officially dislike flying. :) Nanning has been great. It's warm, but not awful. :) The Majestic Hotel is in a great location. We have a wonderful market/shopping center right across the street. They have everything, except diet coke. But they do have coke zero, so I'm surviving. :)

Our guide, Cindy (certainly not her given name), is wonderful. Our plane was almost 3 hours late getting into Nanning, and she waited for us. It was 4am by the time we finally arrived. She is super nice, her English is great, and she really seems to know her stuff. YAY!! SUCH a total 180 from the guide we had in province with Thomas.

Jack and I have been out and about. We took a cab to Walmart yesterday to look around. I've decided I like the market across the street from the hotel better.

Uploading photos has been hard. The internet keeps cutting out and it stops the upload. We will do our best to get pics of our precious girl up, though.

Ellie should have been picked up from her foster family by now. Please pray for her precious heart.

Ok. Time to pace. :):)

We made it!

2010-10-16T21:22:00.000-04:00

We made it to Nanning!! We've been having internet connection issues, but I think Jack has figured it out! YAY Jack!

We thought we were getting Ellie at 3 pm on Monday. We found out from our guide that due to the holidays (local holidays - International Folk Song Festival) that we will be getting her at 10:30 am Monday!!! That's in about 25 hours!!

We are going out for a bit, but I will make sure we can upload pictures when I get back. :)

We made it!

2010-10-16T20:50:00.000-04:00

We made it to Nanning!! We are having internet connection issues, so I am trying to post this from my phone. Hope to have it resolved by the time we get Ellie!

In One Week

2010-10-10T23:03:00.000-04:00

William had karate testing last Friday, and there was a mom there with her little girl. Turns out, the little girl is almost exactly 2 months younger than my Ellie. The little girl was ALL OVER the place, and the reality of having a "little" one in my house again hit me. All I could do was smile! And then I started thinking about everything in my house I needed to "move", as very soon there will be two very busy little hands reaching for everything in sight! :) I had a wonderful time watching the interaction between this darling child and her mother.

One week from tonight (because China is ahead of us by 12 hours) I will meet my new daughter for the first time. I am so excited, I can hardly stand it! In many respects, Ellie's adoption feels like it has taken an eternity. Yet there is part of me that just really can't seem to believe it's time.

I've spent a lot of time gathering stuff for the trip, packing suitcases just so, and thinking and praying for my precious girl and her foster mother. They are both about to suffer such a loss. It makes me so sad that to join our family, Ellie has to endure losing her foster family - which to her must certainly be her family. And that her foster mother has to lose the child she has cared for and loved for so many months.

There are so many things about adoption that are hard. But loss has to be the hardest.

Friends, would you please join me this week in prayer for our adoption and trip? Specifically would you pray that:

God would prepare Ellie and her foster mother for this transition.
That He would give them both peace that only He can give.
That He would calm Ellie's fears and that she will know that she is safe with me.
That she will allow me to comfort her during her grief.
That all of our paperwork will be done without any issues.
That Jack, Ellie, and I will stay healthy throughout the trip.
That we will have safe travels.
That my children, husband, and sister (who is coming to help with the kids staying home) will all stay healthy and happy during my absence. I've never been away from my kids for this long. This is going to be hard.

I would be so grateful for your prayers. :) Really, I would.

Jack says he is on top of the blogger blocking thing, and that I will be able to access the blog in China. So, I'll be updating here during out trip. :) We leave for Nanning on Thursday. :) It's a long trip. A long trip. I've finally convinced Jack that we do indeed HAVE to check luggage, as there is too much to bring to just carry on. :)

I can't believe it's time to go get my girl. Last year this time the idea of actually adopting again seemed like a dream. And now... it . is . time . :)

Look at this Face!!

2010-10-09T11:55:00.002-04:00

Doesn't this precious child have the most adorable smile???? This little sweetheart's name is Kaleb, and he has a family!! He has a mommy and daddy who are working very hard to bring him home. And his mommy is a very special friend of mine. :)

Kaleb's family is a fundraising family. They are fundraising because it's the only way they can bring Kaleb home. Wouldn't you like to help this precious little boy be united with his family??? You can!! Would you make a donation to help Kaleb's family be able to go and get him?

As a little incentive, Kaleb's family is having a giveaway to encourage folks join them on their journey of faith.:) They are giving away a netbook!! Yep!!! A computer!!!! And it's one of those little ones you can stick in your purse - that is, if your purse is the size of mine. :) - You can bet your sweet petunias I'm gonna have my name in that bucket! - There are also 2nd and 3rd prizes of some awesome jewelry!! You SO don't want to miss getting in on this giveaway!! And you better hurry!!! The giveaway is short! Which means, you could be typing on your new netbook soon!! Click HERE to see all the giveaway details and ENTER!!! :)

And would you do me a favor? Would you help spread the word about this giveaway on your blog and FB page? This is so easy to do, and it makes such a difference to fundrasing families when folks take 2 minutes to help them spread the word. I know. I've been there. So, would you??? Pretty please??

Now, go enter!!! :):):)

It is done.

2010-09-20T23:48:00.002-04:00

Our actual TA was delivered to our house by Fed Ex today. I knew it was coming, but there's still something exciting about seeing that big Fed Ex truck back into your driveway with the golden ticket you need to go get your baby in China!

And you know this is a really big deal to me, as I had Rich take my picture holding it! I avoid being in photos, pretty much at all cost. So, this is definitely a special occasion!

I wish words could describe the feeling of being done. Done with the paper chasing. Done with the wondering if your paperwork is moving. Done with the stressing over whatever step is next. Done with worrying that you filled out a form wrong. And... drum roll please.... done with the adoption funding. YES!! IT'S TRUE!!

It is with a very, VERY grateful heart that I share with you that our financial needs have been met!!

God orchestrated every penny of this adoption! He used crazy saving, fundraisers, a grant, and the generosity of amazing friends who wanted to be part of Ellie's adoption to make it possible. It is done!! Ellie's adoption is paid in full!! :)

I wish I could say that I waited through this adoption never doubting that we would have the funding we needed. But, I can't. If I am perfectly honest, I must admit that a couple of weeks ago when I knew our TA was imminent, I felt like I had 2 ton truck on my chest when I thought about how much money we still needed. I've seen God fund other's adoptions over and over again. Why couldn't I have been sure - sure enough to get that truck off my chest - that He would do it for us? WHAT a faith building journey this adoption has been!! GOD IS SO GOOD!

We are praising God for His incredible provision! He has worked through so many different people to make this happen, and we are so grateful for every single person who has participated in this amazing journey with us. THANK YOU!!!

It.is.done. WWWWWHHHHHHAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!!

God funds what he favors. And God favors adoption. Our journey is a testimony to His faithfulness.

Now it is time to concentrate on packing and getting ready to meet my precious girl. Please join me in praying that God would prepare her sweet heart for her adoption. She is in foster care, and it will be so, so hard for her to leave her foster family. Please pray that God will calm her fears and let her feel safe with me.

Thank you all so much. Thank you.

My baby :)

2010-09-19T10:42:00.002-04:00

I first saw sweet Ellie's face June 22. The 3 photos from her referral info were taken 6 months earlier in December 2009. These are the photos that came with her referral.

I tried to get updated photos or information, but was unsuccessful. I had resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't get another photo or info on my girl until I saw her on gotcha day, which I know now will be October 18.

AND THEN... I woke up to this..........

and this....

And a short update, TOO!!!!

Her foster family calls her Xi Ruo.

We are all practicing saying that!

She drinks from a bottle.

How precious is that?

She sleeps with her big sister.

Savannah just melted when she read this!

She looks like an introverted girl. But she actually is a smart, active, and extroverted girl.

Sounds like she'll fit right in here with this bunch!

She has a ready smile.

I can't wait to see it!

Her favorite food is congee mixed with mashed meat.

Uh...bet that doesn't last! But she can sure have it, if that's what she wants!!! I will be a congee making woman!!!

Her favorite toy is any toy that is new to her.

I gotta get some GIRL toys! This house is full of boy stuff!

Her current measurements are: Height: 79cm; Weight: 9.5kg; Head: 46cm; Chest: 46.8cm; Teeth 12; Foot 12.8cm.

That makes her a size 12 month for weight and a size 18 month for height! What to buy???

We are very close to having all the money we need to travel, we got our TA on Thursday, I bought plane tickets yesterday, and today I received this! I can hardly type for the tears! The Lord has blessed me beyond measure!

Although I don't have final numbers on our exact travel costs yet, I know we will leave for China on October 14 and fly to Nanning. I will meet my precious daughter on October 18, and finalize her adoption on October 19. We will be in Nanning for the International Folk Song Festival!!!! And then travel to Guangzhou where the Canton Trade Fair will be running at high speed! Our consulate appointment is October 25 and Ellie will meet the rest of her new family back here in Knoxville on October 29! Festivals and trade fairs are no problem for God. He has it all under control!

We still have 3 fundraisers going on until the end of this month. So if you would like to be part of God's miracle of provision for Ellie's adoption, click HERE if you like jewelry, click HERE if you like awesome Thirty-One bags, and click HERE if you have your own precious sweetie who needs some pretty hair clippies! Thank you all so much! Seriously!! THANK YOU!!

And now, because I simply can't resist, here are the photos cropped to just show her precious face!!!! OH MY WORD!!!!!

Very Cool Tshirts!!!

2010-09-19T00:09:00.001-04:00

My sweet friend, Mandie, is adopting a precious little special needs sweetie from China. Her name is Sophia. And she's beautiful.

Told ya. :)

Just like us, Mandie and her family are fundraising to help pay their adoption expenses and are selling some really awesome adoption tshirts!! QUICK!!! Click HERE to zoom over to Mandie's blog!! Tomorrow is the last day to place your order!! You don't want to miss out on these!!

And look at Sophia's sweet face. I think she's saying, "Would you please buy a tshirt to help my mommy come and get me?"

Breath in, breath out

2010-09-17T11:06:00.000-04:00

We initially asked for a CA of Oct. 12. This would mean rushing Ellie's passport in Guangxi, but would have us out of Guangzhou before the trade fair madness. We were told this wouldn't work. Second choice, CA of Oct 18 .... or 19 or 20!!! No, no, no. All full. Next available CA - Oct 25, which, by the way, seems like an eternity from now to this waiting momma.

I receive the email last night that we are confirmed for a CA on Oct 25. An eternity away, but I pick myself up and start looking at hotels in Nanning. Guess what? They are having an International Folk Song Festival then! I kid you not. An International Folk Song Festival... in Nanning the week I need to be there! Hotel rates are triple. So we will be in Nanning for the folk song extravaganza and in Guangzhou for the glorious trade fair! Breath in, breath out...

I don't have a total yet. I'm sure it takes the agency travel people a few days to come up with that. But, they better hurry, before they run out of rooms in Nanning!

TA!!!!!

2010-09-16T15:15:00.000-04:00

It's here!! It's here!!!

Working on a consulate appointment. Hopefully, we'll have travel dates very soon!!!

TA... not:(

2010-09-14T21:19:00.000-04:00

I sure thought we would have our TA by today. They've been coming so fast. But.... nothing.

I read on Rumor Queen that the person who signs the NSN TA's was out. ...so no TA's were going out. I don't know if the person who signs the NSN TA's also signs the SN TA's. But, it makes a waiting momma wonder if the TA signers are out somewhere together.... not signing. sigh

The Wait for TA

2010-09-13T14:00:00.000-04:00

I think it's safe to say that with each piece of paper you need for an adoption, the wait gets worse. We are at the end. Just waiting on our TA from China. And the waiting is EXCRUCIATING!

Our TA could come today, tomorrow, next week, the week after that. All we really know is that it will come sometime in the future. I'm yellow on the Rumor Queen chart. That means we are 2nd in line for TA. There are 3 Article 5 dates still ahead of us. But, that's really just a guess, as it doesn't always go in order. So, I wait, jumping up and running to my phone everytime it dings saying I've received an email. I even have it set to ding at night. So, yep! I'm checking all night too!

We had another yard sale this past weekend. We had about 4 good hours of dryness on Friday. The rest of the day Friday and all day Saturday was wet, wet, wet. We packed up everything Saturday afternoon and passed it on to two other families who are also fundraising for adoptions.

In the 4 short hours we were able to sell on Friday, we had one "customer" who... well... just threw me for a loop. I wish I had been able to respond with something better than I did, but it seriously caught me so off guard that my mouth was just hanging open.

The customer was an older guy. Maybe late 50's or early 60's. He saw an item I had marked at $20. This was a swinging deal for this item. Anyway, he comes over to me and says he will give me $10 for it. I told him that we were fundraising to adopt a little girl from China and asked if he would pay $15 for it to help us bring our daughter home. This man looked me right in the eye and said, "I don't want to do that! We don't need anymore of those people over here! And now, people are even going to get the (obscenity removed here) Haitians!

I was so totally caught off guard! Never has someone said something so directly hateful in my presence. I just did not know how to respond. The first thing that came out of my mouth was, "but these are precious children who have no parents." His response was, "I don't care. We have enough problems here already."

Needless to say, he didn't buy the item. He left. Which was probably a good thing, as my husband came out shortly after and wanted me to point the man out to him.

I wish I had been ready to respond with something better. Something that might have made an impression on him. It's so hard to come to the realization that such hatred exists in this day and time. And such hatred from someone who lives here. Someone who has the blessing of living in the US with all it has to offer. Someone who should have compassion for those who live in circumstances we can not even imagine. Why do people see it as "them" and "us" when it's "we"?

Article 5 - CHECK!!

2010-09-07T15:04:00.000-04:00

Our coordinator just confirmed that our Article 5 has been picked up and overnighted to CCAA in Beijing!! That was the very last thing we needed from the US for the adoption, and we are now officially waiting on our travel approval!! WWWHHHHHOOOOO!!!!

Party Time!! :)

2010-09-01T23:17:00.000-04:00

A very sweet friend of mine, Margaret, is hosting a Thirty-One party for me!!

It gets better...

She's a Thirty-One consultant and is donating 100% of the profits from the party to Ellie's adoption fund! Yep!! She's donating her entire commission!

AND... it gets even better... :):)

Because she really wants to help Ellie come home, she is donating a City Weekender Tote to the person who drums up the most sales!!! A City Weekender Tote!!!! That's an $89 bag girls! And it is to die for!

The party will run the month of September, so you have a whole month to shop for Christmas, birthday and just because gifts! The catalog is online, but if you are a "I need to touch the catalog" person, Margaret will mail you one. :) Just email her. (Her contact info is below.)

This is an awesome opportunity to get some of the stunning Thirty-One line for yourself or for gifts, and benefit Ellie's adoption fund at the same time!! You are going to love this stuff!!! And, I'm here to tell ya, the catalog just doesn't do it justice either. I know you'll be thrilled with whatever you order! It's so much cuter in person!!

City Weekender Tote Giveaway Details!!!

Email your friends, post to your FB wall, and blog about Ellie's Thirty-One Fundraiser Party. Tell your friends to let you know if they place an order, and keep a list!!! (These must be folks who didn't receive an evite from me) Then, at the end of the month, email your list to Margaret. The person whose friends have the greatest total sales wins the amazing City Weekender Tote!!!!

Margaret is donating this bag to give everyone an incentive to spread the word about this fundraiser for Ellie.

THANK YOU, Margaret!!!!

To see cool Thirty-One stuff visit Margaret's site at:
http://www.mythirtyone.com/margaretrob/

On the right, at the bottom, you will see My Events.
Click it and choose Anne Little's Thirty-One Adoption Party. This way, Ellie's adoption fund will get credit if you see something you just have to have. :)

If you have any questions, email Margaret at
bcr1111@comcast.net

THANK YOU!!

AACCKK!! Correction!

2010-08-28T19:16:00.000-04:00

September 6 is Labor Day and the American Consulate in Guangzhou is closed! Our Article 5 won't be picked up until the 7th. :( On the positive side, at least they aren't making us wait until the next scheduled drop off/pick up day which would have been Thursday the 9th.

The wait is killing me

2010-08-28T12:33:00.001-04:00

For some reason, I thought the wait for Article 5 would be easy. I mean, there's no guessing with it. It takes 2 weeks. No more. No less. :(

You would think this certainty in an otherwise very uncertain process would be relatively easy to endure. Well.... it's not.

Our Article 5 is due to be picked up on Sept. 6. Exactly 2 weeks after our paperwork was dropped off. And then we wait for TA. A family with our agency just got their TA a week after Article 5. Yea.... one week.

Even if we got our TA in short order, we are looking at October travel at best. October is an insanely horrible time to travel for adoptive families. Some agencies won't even let their families travel then. You see, there's a trade fair in Guangzhou for 3 weeks of October. This makes finding a flight into Guangzhou and a hotel room there at best crazy expensive and likely impossible. And what about that other week in October when the trade fair isn't going on? Well, that would be a week of Chinese holidays. All government offices and the American Consulate will be closed.

I don't want to wait until the end of October to travel. I just want to go pick up my precious little girl as soon as possible. For some reason, waiting to travel because your paperwork isn't complete is one thing, where waiting to travel because it is so stinking expensive is entirely different.

We've been.....

2010-08-20T12:41:00.000-04:00

We have been cabled!! Praise the Lord!! This means our file has been forwarded from the National Visa Center to the consulate in Guangzhou. I've received a PDF of the letter we need via email and forwarded it to our agency. We should be able to have our paperwork dropped off on Monday at the consulate!!

There is a 2 week wait for the consulate to issue our Article 5, and then the wait for TA begins!! WWWHHHOOO!! We could have our TA in 4 weeks!!

And, yes, I'm getting Thomas a haircut TODAY!!! Good golly!!!! I didn't realize it was so long!!

Over 2100

2010-08-18T18:47:00.000-04:00

There are over 2100 children presently listed on the China Shared list. That's 2100 kids who are ready to be adopted.... 2100 kids who had someone pay for their finding ad to be placed and their medical exam to be done .... 2100 kids who had someone in China get their dossier done... TWO THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED CHILDREN who are PAPER READY to be adopted.

That's a staggering number. And it goes up every month when new files are released. And you know what? That's only a drop in the bucket. Not even a whole drop even. There are so, so many more orphans who haven't had anyone prepare their adoption dossier. And you know what worries me? How large is that shared list going to grow to, before someone in charge says, "enough"? Then what happens to all the orphans who need to have their adoption dossier prepared to even have a CHANCE at being adopted?

Friends, those 2100 kids need families. Not only for them, but for the future of all the orphans who will be coming after them.

ADOPT!!! It is SUCH a huge blessing! Another child in your home to love!! WHAT could possibly be better or more important?

Recently, I was out shopping with my kids. We were getting into the car, and I was helping Thomas climb in and buckle his car seat straps. All of a sudden, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It would be so easy for me not to have him. If I had let one of the doubts, one negative person, one paperwork hurdle, one of about a thousand other things get in the way, I would not have this amazing blessing in my life. I had a mini breakdown in the Lowe's parking lot that day, and I praised God for allowing me to mother this amazing child.

Now we are on the countdown to little Ellie. Again, we were faced with ten thousand reasons why we shouldn't adopt. Too old, too broke, too many kids already, bad economy, tiny house, autistic daughter who needs LOTS of attention, Thomas who will need a valve replacement in the near future, etc, etc, etc. I'm praising God again today for the courage to answer His call to receive another amazing gift and blessing! I can't wait!

AND....Clippies for Ellie, too!!

2010-08-13T14:06:00.003-04:00

A very sweet friend of mine is having a fundraiser for Ellie!!! She makes the most ADORABLE hair clippies, and is donating 50% of the sales to Ellie's adoption fund!!

The best way to see these clippies is to check out her Facebook Store. YEP!!! You can have a FB store!! This was news to me, but it is way cool and super easy to use!

Find her on FB at Yogi & Cecil's Clippy Creations

Then look up at the tabs at the top and you will see "Shop Now". Click it to see all the precious clippies! If you decide to purchase anything, choose "Little Adoption" at check out, so Ellie gets credit. Easy peasy!!

And if you just aren't a FB person, she has some things listed on her blog too. Leave a comment to make a purchase and she'll get back to you!! www.yogiandcecils.blogspot.com

AREN'T THESE ADORABLE!!!

And, please remember our jewelry fundraiser, too!!! Details in the post under this one!! :):):):)

Hip Mom Jewelry Fundraiser for Ellie!!!!

2010-08-11T00:09:00.004-04:00

Ann over at Hip Mom Jewelry is having a fundraiser to benefit adoptive families!!! This is the first month of the fundraiser and we are thrilled to have been chosen as one of the first families to participate! This is awesome jewelry, and if you purchase something from the "Adoption" page and check out with our family code of LITTLE10 (~~in the "comment" box and in the "discount coupon"~~
Ann has added a FAMILY CODE box!! Please put our family code there! ) 30% of the purchase price goes to Ellie's adoption fund! This only lasts for a limited time!! Our Hip Mom Fundraiser will end on September 30!!

This fundraiser couldn't have come at a better time! We are on the home stretch to pull together the funds we need to complete Ellie's adoption. Our time to do this is getting short. We expect to receive our I800 Provisional Approval very soon. Then it's off to the National Visa Center for a few days to get their approval and have it "cabled" to the consulate in Guangzhou. Once we are "cabled", there is a 2 week wait until the consulate issues our Article 5. Then we wait for TA. We've seen some VERY fast TA's lately, with 2 to 3 weeks being the average. So, when you add all that up, we are hopefully about 6 weeks from TA. Not a lot of time when you consider the thousands we still need.

So, if you've been considering purchasing yourself some cool hand-stamped jewelry, here's a GREAT excuse!!

This would also be a great time to shop early for Christmas presents!!! These make great gifts for all hopeful moms, moms, and grandmoms!!

Remember!! Only items on the ADOPTION page count towards our fundraiser, and you must use our family code, LITTLE10, at check out for Ellie's fund to get the credit!!! Put the code in the FAMILY CODE box. This way, Ellie's adoption fund will get credit!

Click on the link below to check it out!! There are lots more beautiful necklaces to see! THANK YOU!!!

Crop to Adopt is a Huge Success!

2010-07-31T21:48:00.000-04:00

We had our Crop to Adopt to benefit Ellie's adoption fund last night! The event was sold out! WWHHOO!! A huge thank you to everyone who attended!! There was major scrappin going on, as well as lots of snackin. :) We had such a good time!

Scrappin' in the City is the coolest place!! They have tons of room to scrap. We had ladies on two floors and in three different rooms. And they have toys! OH MY do they have toys!! I can't believe how much scrapbooking has changed since Jack and Savannah were little. (I confess. I hadn't scrapbooked in about 12 years! I remember being excited when patterned paper came out!) Anyway, if you live in Knoxville, you HAVE to go down to Scrappin' in the City. It is an AMAZING place.

The best part of the night was visiting with all the scrappers. I got to sit and share some time with some very dear friends that I haven't seen in forever! Don't you just love friends that you can just pick right up with no matter how long it's been since you've talked?

I also got to meet lots of new ladies and share my adoption stories with them. :)

We drew names for the raffle and gave away all the groovy stuff that was donated for our crop! A huge thank you to all who participated in Ellie's homecoming by donating something for the raffle!

Two very special ladies were super duper crop helpers! They seriously saved the day as I received news our LOA was on the way on Thursday (the day before the crop when I should have been running around getting snacks together). And, you know, I thought I was paper ready for that LOA to arrive. Good Grief! No telling how long it would have taken me if I hadn't been ready! :) A very special thank you to Debbie and Katy for all they did to make the night yummy and pretty.

My friend Kristy couldn't make it to the crop, but I know she was there in spirit. :) She has been such a support through this whole adoption, and her name must be in my list of thank you's. She's helped me with everything I did to get ready for the crop. Also, her precious daughters helped me stuff goodie bags, too! Thank you Cora and Audrey!

And a triple HUGE thanks to Yvette (Scrappin in the City owner), for hosting this crop for Ellie! Without Yvette, there would have been no crop! Thank you so much for doing all the prep work, selling tons of raffle tickets, sending emails advertising our event, signing people up, putting up tables all over the place, picking up dinner, staying up late, and everything else you did to make Ellie's crop a success!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

I didn't take a photo of Yvette! AACCKK!! So, I stole one off the Scrappin' in the City website. :)

Ellie's adoption account is a bit fatter tonight. :):) YYIIPPEE!!!!

We're moving on...

2010-07-29T20:11:00.000-04:00

We received our LOA today. :) This is the piece of paper that comes from China that says Ellie is ours for real! PRAISE GOD!! Our agency is fedexing it to us and I am to sign and send it back tomorrow. Our coordinator is going on vacation for 2 weeks, but she's going to take care of our LOA paperwork first. I just love her!

In addition to the stuff that goes back to our agency, there's another envelope of stuff that goes to USCIS. Uggg. I am not excited about sending anything else to that TX lockbox. It's kind of like a pit. A swirling pit. Your stuff goes in and when it surfaces it gets logged in and sent to MO. Why, you ask, can't it just go straight to MO? Well, if you find out, let me know. I think it's insane.

When it arrives at USCIS on Monday, I will happily take my place in the Hague Plague line and hope that we beat the averages just a little each leg of the journey. It's all US Gov. holding up the adoption now. Just paper moving. Before Hague, this same paperwork was done on your adoption trip in Guangzhou...in a week. Now, it's more like 2 plus months. I think this is crazy no matter how you slice it. It seriously seems like the heads of these gov. agencies could pow wow and streamline this process.

And don't forget our KINK... Jack's birthday...AACCKK! What was I thinking having that boy in September??? (Actually, I was thinking that I was hot and ready to have a baby - anyway...) We've sent in the supplements (to the dreaded TX lockbox pit), and now we are waiting for his fingerprint appointment. I've emailed our USCIS officer and asked, in the most nicest polite sort of pleading way, that since our LOA has arrived if she would expedite his fingerprinting. I know other officers have done it for other families, so it can be done. Please pray our officer is feeling gracious when she reads my email. I'm sure it will take at least a week for our paperwork to surface in the pit, so fingerprinting anytime next week will probably keep us moving at regular Hague Plague speed.

We are so excited tonight, as we weren't expecting our LOA this soon. God is so good.

Also, I have more great news! Our Crop to Adopt Fundraiser is sold out!! YAY!! It's tomorrow, and I simply can't wait! I am so grateful to all those who donated stuff and to all those who are attending!! I wish Ellie knew how many people are working to bring her home!!

Information

2010-07-28T23:18:00.001-04:00

I've "known" my daughter now for over a month, and I have no more information about her than I did the first day I saw her photo. This is so totally different than our experience with Thomas. Thomas was at a big orphanage that does lots of international adoptions. There were families traveling there almost every month. Sometimes more than once a month. Of course, these parents were all members of the SWI yahoo group and knew all the waiting families. They would get photos and videos of the waiting kids and upload them right after their visit to the SWI. Literally, I would get photos of Thomas that were just hours old. I would stay up all night waiting for traveling families to post photos and then sit in front of the computer and cry like a baby when I saw him. The SWI had volunteers too! Yep. I tracked them down. One volunteer even traced Thomas' foot for me so I could buy him a pair of shoes that fit! I was able to learn so much about Thomas through this info. I never took any of this info for granted as there were so many of my friends who got nothing. No updates. Nothing but the referral info and photos.

Well, here I am on that side of the bridge now. My husband walked into my room today and I was on the computer. He said, "Why don't you have more pictures of our daughter yet?" My heart sank, cause believe you me sisters, I have tried.

Ellie is in foster care. This is an enormous blessing! I know this. And given a choice, I would choose foster care for her. But it means that I most likely won't receive any more photos or any more info on her before the day that I meet her in person. This is h.a.r.d. Really hard. Especially since I know that somewhere on the planet is Ellie's foster care sponsor. A person who I am indebted to for sponsoring my daughter and giving her the gift of a family to love her while she waits for me. But, I ain't gonna lie. It's really tough to see an announcement posted that foster care reports for my daughter's orphanage have just gone out knowing that someone, somewhere is getting a photo and update on Ellie. Someone who, I'm sure, is pleased to know she is doing well. But someone who, I'm sure, probably isn't crying like a baby from the glimpse of a photo that I'm sure would have me blubbering in a millisecond.

You don't even want to know how much time I have spent searching for blogs of folks who sponsor a child from Qinzhou through Grace and Hope for Children, hoping that, by chance, they may have posted a photo of Ellie.

So, here we are on day 35 of our wait for LOA. I am still months away from my girl. I think about what she might look like now. The 3 photos I have of her are 7 months old. I pray for her all the time. I pray she is healthy, happy, and that God would prepare her precious heart for her adoption in a few months. And then, when I start praying for her, my outlook lifts and it's not so bad anymore that I don't have updates or current photos.:) I am so humbled, thankful, and grateful that God has chosen us to be Ellie's family.

Blessing :)

2010-07-20T22:37:00.000-04:00

Today we were blessed with adoption money that put a big dent in our remaining funds needed. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW! This enormous blessing came the day after we found out we would indeed have to add Jack to our USCIS approval and pay all the fees that goes along with that.

We still have quite a chunk to come up with before it's time to travel, but today closed the gap a bit and sends me off to bed thanking God for His provision. God funds what He favors. And God loves orphans. Today is proof of that.

More money

2010-07-20T14:27:00.000-04:00

Yes. I had to change the thermometer again. I changed it a few weeks ago when I started looking at actual costs families traveling are incurring in China. My first estimate was just too low. Now, I have had to change it again. This time, due to Jack's birthday. Jack is turning 18 in September and has to be added to our homestudy and to our USCIS approval as an adult. There was some talk that we might not have to add him if our I800 was approved prior to his birthday, but no such luck. Our USCIS officer has sent an email telling us to add him, so we will.

We've updated the homestudy, filled out I800A supplements 1 and 3, and shipped it all off with all the fees to USCIS. Now, we're just hoping that it all gets processed quickly and doesn't end up slowing us down.

We are thankful that we are being allowed to start this process now. We were initially told we would have to wait until Jack's actual birthday to add him. So, I'm concentrating on the positive here, and looking at the photo of my sweet little angel waiting for me in China. It's all worth it.

Really Brothers

2010-07-18T11:00:00.001-04:00

My sister came for a visit. She lives in Florida, and we live in Tennessee. My kids adore her. She stayed for almost a week and as the time for her to leave approached, my 16 year old daughter conspired to go back to Florida with her. It would be just for a few days, as we were headed to Florida ourselves several days later and could pick her up.

Well, my little boys started talking about an Aunt Barbara Florida trip of their own. Thomas, who is only 5, was really considering this Aunt Barbara vacation thing. Of course, Aunt Barbara is doing everything she can to convince him it's a great idea. She's naming all this fun stuff they would do, all the yummy food they would eat - in case you didn't know, Thomas is really big on the food thing - , and even about going fishing!! You can see in Thomas' face that he is just torn. He wants to go, but he wants to stay, too. My sister sees this and asks him if there is a favorite stuffed animal or toy he would like to bring. Thomas' response, "YES, there is! My William!"

William is Thomas' eight year old brother. They are best friends, best buddies, and brothers.

I had someone the other day notice how well they played together and they said, "Gosh, they are so close, if Thomas wasn't Chinese no one would ever be able to tell that they really aren't brothers." Believe it or not, I remained calm.... on the outside... and stated that THEY ARE BROTHERS in every since of the word. I also then felt compelled to clear up an confusion that might arise later on whether or not Thomas is my real son. So, I, very calmly, launched into that topic so there would be no misunderstanding on that at a later date. I think this person is now very clear that Thomas is 100% my son, a sibling of all the other kids at my house, and our family member!

Isn't it funny how some people think family is about genetics? These people are missing out on so much.

Brothers sleeping in the same chair after a day of rock hopping in the mountains together. :)

For my adoption fundraising friends...

2010-07-16T15:42:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine sent me a link to a blog post about adoption fundraising. I am in the midst of experiencing lots of the s.t.u.f.f. this post talks about. I found it so encouraging to read this and realize I wasn't alone. I wanted to pass it along to all my friends who are also fundraising to bring their babies home. I hope it encourages you, too.

http://embracingtheleastofthese.blogspot.com/2010/07/fundraisingand-why-i-think-everyone.html

Crop to Adopt - The Details!!!

2010-07-14T11:26:00.001-04:00

The Crop to Adopt to help bring Ellie home is July 30th in Knoxville, at Scrappin' in the City!! I am so grateful to the wonderful ladies at Scrappin in the City for hosting this fundraiser for us!! I am also totally floored by the generosity of so many folks who have donated stuff for a raf*le type giveaway for the event! The goods will be on display at Scrappin' in the City the week before the crop, so plan to get your name in the hat so you can win something cool!

Click HERE for details on how to sign

up for the crop and to see the giveaway items!

CROP to ADOPT!!

2010-07-03T00:17:00.001-04:00

I am so excited to announce the amazing ladies at Scrappin in the City are hosting a fundraising Crop to Adopt to help us with Ellie's mandatory $5200 orphanage donation! We are so grateful!!

ALSO..... some really generous folks have donated some fabulous items to raf*le off the week of the crop. The winners will be drawn during the crop, but you don't have to be present to win. So, get your name in this hat!!! There's some cool stuff up for grabs!! I'll list all the items on my blog next week with pictures and everything!!! So, come back and check it out next week!!

The crop will be on Friday, July 30, from 3pm to 11pm. There will be cropin, food, and fun!! So if you live in Knoxville, call the Scrappin in the City ladies (247-6879) to reserve your spot at the crop. You will have a great time and be helping us bring our little girl home! It's gonna be a party you don't want to miss!! See you there!!

Introducing......

2010-06-30T02:43:00.000-04:00

It is with great joy and thankfulness that I introduce our daughter, Ellie! We saw her precious face for the first time about a week ago and fell in love. We submitted our letter of intent and just received word that we have pre-approval from China. We are THRILLED!!

Our precious girl is currently 18 months old and waiting for us in Guangxi. We have discovered she is in a wonderful foster care program call Grace and Hope for Children. We are so thankful our girl is getting great care and knows the love of her foster family.

Needless to say, WE CAN'T WAIT to go get her. It's hard to say for sure at this point when travel will be. There's still lots of paper that has to move around. In addition, Jack turns 18 in September which adds a kink. We will have to update our homestudy to include him as an adult, and he will have to get fingerprinted in Nashville. Happy Birthday Jack. I will, of course, do everything within my power to move all that along as quickly as possible. So travel? The very soonest best case would be November with December looking much more likely. I'll keep you all posted as the paper moves and update the travel estimate as we get closer.

The next piece of paper we need is called LOA. This comes from China and is issued after they review our dossier with a fine tooth comb and decide that we are "fit adopters". Families are currently waiting about 2 months, give or take, for this piece of paper. So here we go!!

Praising God for this amazing blessing!!!

Jack is home

2010-06-27T10:28:00.000-04:00

Jack is home, safe and sound. (big sigh) He has grown up a lot over the last 2 months. Living in China and taking care of special needs orphans will do that to a 17 year old. I'm so thankful he was given this opportunity. I'm so thankful for what he learned. I'm so thankful he embraced it and let it change his life. And, I'm really, really thankful he is back home!

Here are a few photos Jack took in China.

Here are 6 babies that came to live at the foster home while Jack was there. There was a little bug going around the regular baby room when these kiddos arrived, so they stayed in the volunteer apartment for 2 weeks until they could be safely moved in with the other kids.

This is my favorite photo. Jack holding the hand of precious little one.

I think all those babies wore Jack out!!

That's not really his bed, of course!

Jack got to go out and see some of the country side. He went with some local folks he met to hike up a mountain.

I'm not sure how I would feel about crossing a "terrified" bridge. Hmmm.

While out in the country, they saw these kids...

And their family was selling this...

Which Jack said was delicious.

Jack is still telling us stories of all of his adventures. Most of them are about the babies he met and grew to love. Jack said Amanda told him that now that his volunteer time was over to go home and do something big with his life. You know, ... I think he will.

My boy is coming home!

2010-06-24T19:04:00.001-04:00

Jack will start making his way home from China in just a few hours. He's leaving Starfish for the Xian airport at 10:00. (AM on Friday to him, PM on Thursday to us) I simply cannot wait to have him home! I know he has had an amazing experience. I can't wait to download the photos he has taken, and sit on my bed with him while he tells me all about his adventure. But mostly, I just want him HERE! :)

And I keep getting asked what's going on with our adoption. Well, let me just say it has been a pretty wild and emotional couple of weeks here. But, things are much brighter now, and I should have some very exciting news to share very soon. But ...... I have to wait on two little letters from China first. :)

Thomas

2010-05-30T23:17:00.000-04:00

Thomas is Mr. Adventure. He is always ready to try anything. We went to Dollywood last week courtesy of my bestest friend Kristy and her free "bring a friend" passes! :) Anything Thomas was tall enough to ride, he was up for. Yesterday he asked me if I could get him some taller shoes to wear the next time we go. :) LOVE THAT BOY!!

I didn't get photos at Dollywood. It was Kristy, me, and 6 kiddos. We knew they would want to get wet, so I decided it was best to leave the camera at home. My sweet husband did get some photos of Thomas this week, though. They went on a Daddy and Thomas day. So, I'm stealing his photos for Sunday Snapshot. :)

Rock hopping.

He looks like he's on a mission to get somewhere.

I think it was colder than he was expecting! :)

Yep. I'd say it was definitely colder than he was expecting.

Wet feet, but he survived the cold water.

I know I'm biased and all, but is he beautiful or what?? :)

From Jack - 336 Hour Anniversary

2010-05-27T14:41:00.000-04:00

It has been two weeks since the death of the blue orphan Harrison. If you are not familiar with Harrison and the events that transpired 336 hours ago, go look in my notes, and read about him.

Over these past two weeks, I have thought about Harrison. I have thought about life and death, about meaning and mystery, about love and pain, about God, about his plan and coincidence, and where all these things cross and intersect. When I wrote about Harrison before, I suggested two possible ways to view the situation. I said I was not sure, and even now, I do not claim to have a conclusive answer. But if I was on Millionaire, on Jeopardy, on some game show where I was forced to give an answer, I think I know what I would say. If I had to put money on it, here's how I'd bet:

I asserted that God was either a part of the situation, or he was not. Given time to reflect, I do not believe that the answer (or explanation) is quite so clear cut. Complex situations seldom have simple answers. Let me explain.

I believe that Harrison probably had a heart defect because sometimes, people have heart defects. Could be any number of reasons. Anywhere from maternal substance abuse, to inadvertently breathing too much secondhand smoke, or any factor that could compromise his prenatal growth. Harrison was born and then abandoned. Probably not because of some intricate divine scheme to get me and Harrison together, but perhaps because his parents could not afford surgery, or since they only got one shot at a child, they did not want a sick one. Harrison was found by Amanda, and brought to the foster home. That's what Amanda does. She finds sick babies and cares for them. I came and met Harrison, became attached to him, and the rest is history. Harrison was born, lived a short and painful life, and just could not handle the world he was born into. This is unfair. It's not right. Sometimes we do all we can, but it is not enough.

But here's the kicker. At the moment that Harrison took his last breath, I believe God took over. As I mentioned before, Harrison is now doing better than any of us now. God took Harrison home and is safely keeping him there.

God even tells us that darkness is the prince of this realm. We "live in a fallen world." It's not that God can't have control, I think he just chooses not to. It's not how he works. We really have to understand what it means to say that God gave everyone free will. With nearly 7 billion people doing whatever they want all the time, things are bound to get a little crazy. It's not that God just spun the world and stepped back, God spun the world and we asked him to leave. As soon has Harrison got off this plane, God took his child home. It was not fair, but it was just. God is just, not necessarily fair.

I also believe that God can use Harrison's life and death, his story, to bring about justice and fairness to others. But only if we are willing. If God just does whatever he wants all the time, then why do we have free will? Why are we here? So God can run us around like puppets? No. We are his hands and feet, given the same free will as everyone else. He is there and ready to help us pick up the pieces of a situation, and make something greater than the sum of its original parts. But, as I concluded before, we still have to get up and do something. If God was going to call down the angels and save every orphan, every HIV positive starving African, every child slave, I would wager he would have done it by now. That army isn't coming. We can pray for God to help hurting people all over the world, but if God does not work like that, then what are we really doing? Should we really expect for God to honor a request that we do not care about enough to address ourselves? You no longer have the excuse of not knowing about these issues. You are no longer blameless and innocent, you belong to this world, and it is fallen. What are you going to do? Remember Harrison, and know that his story is taking place in millions of children right now. We are all accountable for our actions, good and bad, and one day we will reflect on our lives. What do you want to remember?

Your world is broken, and it needs to be fixed. Go.

DTC SALE!

2010-05-24T23:22:00.000-04:00

As someone recently told me, God provides what you need when you need it, not necessarily when you want it. I've found this to be quite true during the paperwork phase of this adoption. :) My personality certainly tends to want to have the whole amount set aside from the start. The lessons fundraising for an adoption teaches you.....hhhmmmm....

It's time for us turn our focus to saving up the funds we need for the China side of the adoption. Estimates vary depending on plane fares and time of travel, but by the time you add planes, hotel, food, mandatory orphanage donation, China government fees, US visa fees, and misc. expenses the total comes to between $13 to $15K.

So, here. we. go!!

To celebrate the completion of our dossier and kick off the China side of our fundraising, I am having a week long "Nothing Over $10 Sale" on my fundraising Hyena Cart! In addition, I am offering a Free For Shipping item EVERY day this week!

Please hop over (and tell your friends, too!!!) to my Hyena Cart and see the beautiful stuff friends have donated to help our adoption fund efforts. EVERYTHING on the cart has been marked down $10 or less!!! Some of this stuff is worth way over $10!!

Also, be sure to check it everyday this week and register for the Free For Shipping Item of the day. Each new FFS item will be listed at noon EST. Entries will be accepted for 48 hours and then the winner will be selected at random. Monday's FFS item is up! It's a cloth pocket diaper donated by ZooNique Baby! And Tuesday's (a Baby Buddie from Under the Nile!!!) is there for you to preview, but you can't enter the drawing for it until tomorrow at noon.

If you're new to Hyena Cart, you'll need to register with them. It's quick, and easy peasy!!! DO IT!!! :) Then after you register for my FFS items, you can type in FFS in the main Hyena Cart search box and see ALL the FFS items being offered by cart owners. There's some cool stuff there!!

AND THANK YOU!!!! Seriously, THANK YOU to everyone who has supported us so far!

Dossier to California

2010-05-23T02:21:00.000-04:00

My dossier arrived today all authenticated. :) I went to kinkos and made about a zillion copies and then packed it all up to ship off to our agency in California on Monday.

A very popular question with folks who haven't adopted is, "What goes to China?" Well, a China dossier is made up of 13 documents, for us, anyway. (There are situations where a couple may have more than 13.) There are birth certificates, one for me, one for Rich; our marriage certificate; health forms, one for me, one for Rich; police clearances, one for me, one for Rich; employment letters, one for Rich, and a "non-employment" letter for me (yep, I write a letter and say that I don't work); a letter to CC*A that says we want to adopt; a financial statement; our homestudy; and our immigration approval.

Seems relatively simple, doesn't it? :)

Each one of those documents has to be notarized. I blurred out the notary's name. I don't know why. I just felt weird about leaving her name in there.

After it gets notarized, you have to take it to the county notary office and have the notary's signature certified. Knox County charges $5 a document to do this. Plus you have to drive downtown. And pay to park.

They staple this paper right on top of the notary's signature.

After the county certifies that the notary is legit, you have to get the State of Tennessee to certify that Knox County is legit. This has to be done in Nashville at the Secretary of State. So, either driving or FedEx is involved. The Sec. of State in Tennessee only charges $2 per document. AND they staple a LEGAL size piece of paper with their seal, plus a decorative blue sheet. :) Guess they want to make sure you get your $2 worth. Now, everything is legal size and you get to move up to the big FedEx Envelope.

Then, it's off to Washington D.C. for the U.S. State Department to certify that the State of Tennessee seal is legit. They attach their certification and give each document its on special little number at the top (I blurred that out. Again, I'm not sure why. Just didn't feel right having my State Dept. number out there.) They don't just staple, they put on this handy little rotating gold thingy migig. (What are those things called?) They get $8 for each document. (Plus, you pay to have a courier take these docs through for you. Oh yeah, and Fed Ex.)

Last stop is the Chinese Embassy. They are smart. They don't staple, put a rotating gold thingy, or give extra paper. They simply put a sticker on the back of the State Dept. authentication and charge you $20. You do get a "special number" with them, too.

All of you documents, get all that done to them. (Except your birth certificates and marriage certificate. They get to skip the notary and county steps since they are issued by vital records. Go figure.)

So, all those documents, some photos, passport photo pages, and a few checks make up the package that is sent to China.

All this gets shipped.... FedEx again.... to our wonderful coordinator Xiaoqing at BAAS in California. I'm praying everything will be perfect and can go to China with the next batch of dossiers on Friday. :)

SO GLAD THIS IS DONE! YAY!

Chrissie

2010-05-19T15:40:00.001-04:00

In the early morning hours of this Wednesday, Chrissie's battle ended, and she went to meet Jesus. I have never met Chrissie. I have never met her mom, Lorriane. But, I feel a terrible loss at the passing of this precious child.

Her family was only with her for a short while, but they gave her love without reservation. They didn't hold back. They didn't wait to be sure she would survive this incredibly complicated heart defect before giving their hearts to her. They dove in head first knowing they were risking broken hearts themselves. And, because they were willing to love with abandon, Chrissie knew the love of a family. She left this world as a family's treasured child, and she will always be remembered.

I know their hearts are breaking now. Please pray for peace for this precious family.

Lorriane's blog can be found at http://allarepreciousinhissight.blogspot.com/

I hope that from Chrissie's story I have learned to love without caution. To give my heart away freely. To love till it hurts. And, I challenge you to do the same.

Dossier Documents

2010-05-17T19:30:00.002-04:00

I received our I797 back from the Tennessee Secretary of State this morning. I put it in the Fed Ex envelope with the rest of our dossier documents and shipped them all off to the courier in D.C. to be authenticated at the U.S. State Department and finally at the Chinese Embassy. Once I get them back... and once we have our final agency payment together... our dossier can go to China! YAY!

Love and Tragedy

2010-05-14T22:04:00.000-04:00

It has been a very sad day here. I'm waiting for Jack's skype bubble to turn green so I can call him and see how he is. I know he is missing his friend. I know today will be terribly hard as he enters the room of babies and knows his friend is missing. I so wish I was there to hug him. I wish I could go and just be there to support him.

I was thinking today that I would do anything to have spared Jack this hurt. And immediately something I heard him tell his father last week popped into my mind. Jack was telling Rich about Harrison and his heart defect. He was saying that it was really, really severe and that it was a miracle Harrison was even alive. Rich said something that I couldn't make out, but Jack's response was, "I know Dad, but I'm just like my mother. I fall for the one that is the sickest. The one who needs the most help."

It was then that I lost it on my kitchen floor. My precious boy was suffering this hurt because he was just like me. Falling for the ones who are the sickest.

I prayed.

I follow the blog of woman named Lorriane. She has a daughter, adopted from Serbia, that is in the hospital fighting for her life after open heart surgery 26 days ago. The courage of this woman is amazing. The blog is Precious in His Sight. Go. Read. Pray for Chrissie.

After I had my kitchen floor break down, I went to the computer and checked Lorraine's blog to see how Chrissie was doing today. Lorriane had posted this from CS Lewis:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell." ~CS Lewis, The Four Loves

I am praising God that my son doesn't value senseless hobbies and luxuries. That he freely gives his heart away. I can't protect Jack from the danger that comes with love. And, now, I realize that I shouldn't want to.

Harrison

2010-05-14T12:13:00.001-04:00

This is from my precious son, Jack, who is in China volunteering.

As some of you know, I have recently fallen in love with an orphan named Harrison here in Xi'an. He is 10 months old, very cute and has 2 of the 10 worst heart defects a person can have. We have spent the last 2 weeks together and built a report. He smiles at me, he feels comfortable in my arms, I am able to console him when other cannot.

Now, let me tell you about today:

It was 0930 before I got upstairs. I slept a little late, and had a few things to do around the apartment. I went upstairs to see the kids - and Harrison. Last night he had been his same old self, laughing and engaging everyone. When I walked in, everyone was playing and being their normal rambunctious selves. Harrison was sitting in the back of the room, a nannie rocking him. He was crying. There was a bottle near by, and he did not need his diaper changed, but something was obviously wrong. Upon inquiry, I came to learn that Harrison was sick. We took his temperature: 104 F. My roommate Ellisa, also a nurse, gave him some medicine to reduce the fever. I held him, I fed him, I kept a cool rag on him. He cried when we sat down so we walked around the room together. I held him and sang to him, praying the fever would break. We took his temperature again... still 104 F. We consulted Amanda and kept a close eye on him. We walked around the apartment again and again, waiting for the fever to break. Again, we took his temperature and saw that it remained undeterred by the medication. Harrison started wheezing and gasping. Lao Chin (nannie), Felix (volunteer), Harrison, and myself loaded up and headed to the hospital. I held Harrison in my arms in the taxi as we sped and wove in and out of traffic. We finally arrived at the hospital, Harrison looking as bad as ever. Our entourage went inside, got checked in, and saw a doctor in minutes. I laid Harrison down on the bed, and the doctor began to work. The doctor hooked him up to oxygen almost immediately. Things seemed normal for the first few minutes; but soon, it became evident that things were not OK. He was becoming less and less responsive. Doctors and nurses flooded the room, they shoved us out and rolled in machines. I prayed. The helpless feeling of your friend dying in the next room is not one you want to experience. We waited, I prayed. We waited more, I prayed more. A doctor came out, and babbled in Chinese to Lao Shin and Felix. Felix, who speaks some English, relaid some simple sentences. All I got out of it was: Lungs failing. Heart very very bad. The doctor went back in. Soon, another doctor came out. Felix said something. The doctors reply was short and stern. Felix began to cry. She said,"He said, 'No hope." I got on my knees in front of room 807 in the hospital in Xi'an China. I prayed. I knew that nothing was to big for my God. I prayed for a miracle. I prayed for divine intervention, I told God He would get the glory. But, today, May 14, at 4:56 China time, my friend Harrison took his last breath.

Now, lets do a little exegesis. Right now in the wake of tragedy, I see this going either one of two ways. Either, God was apart of the situation, or he was not.

1. Gods' in the room

The first possibility is that God was in room 807 today. He heard my prayers. He told me no. He knew that even if Harrison was flown to America to get his multi-million dollar surgery, that his prognosis would not be good. (Which is very likely by the way.) He could very easily have died in surgery, and even after his quality of life would not necessarily be the best or what we would consider normal. Perhaps the rest of Harrison's life would be like it has been, full of suffering and pain. Perhaps God did Harrison a favor, was looking out for Him, and helped him better than I ever could have.

2. The Forrest Gump Bumper Sticker

The other possibility is that, God was not apart of this situation. Perhaps Harrison just got sick and died. It happens all the time. Some people have congenial heart defects, and they are more susceptible to such things. They just don't have the right hardware to handle the job they need to preform. Sometimes, crap happens. God heard my prayers, but it's not His duty to bend to our every whim.

The truth is, I don't know. I feel that it could be either. It could also be something totally different I do not see or can not see. I do not believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do not believe that God has left us out here to completely fend for ourselves. I believe that it is a balance that we will not and can not ever completely figure out. But here is what I do know, and it is not contingent on premise one or two being true or false.

God took care of Harrison today. Harrison had a tough short run, but he is fairing better than any of us now. I feel pride and honor to have known him; especially to have been with him in his final days, but even more so to have loved him and been his friend. I am proud to have stood beside him when others would not, to have loved him when others abandoned him. I loved Harrison, but life goes on. Life goes on for so many others like him. Children whose lives are filled with pain and suffering. These others have no one to stand beside them, no one to advocate them. No one comes when others leave them. We need to remember Harrison, today, tomorrow, and always. He represents the "plight of millions" and we, as people who live in this world need to be doing something about it on a global scale. Sadly, we are not.

I love and miss you all dearly. This world is making me grow up fast over here.

Jack

Do you live in Knoxville?

2010-05-13T19:44:00.001-04:00

Then go out tomorrow or Saturday and support the Bebe family's adoption fundraising yard sale. This precious family is working on their dossier to adopt 1 or 2 children from Ghana. They've had this yard sale planned for some time, and thought they were going to have to cancel as they have had a death in the family. BUT.... their friends are holding the sale for them!! :) Here's the yard sale scoop!!

ENORMOUS YARD SALE
FOR ADOPTION
10+ FAMILIES
FRIDAY 8-3, SATURDAY 7-2
SUGARWOOD SUBDIVISION IN FARRAGUT
12339 BUTTERNUT CIRCLE, 37934
YOU NAME IT, IT WILL BE THERE -
UNLESS SOMEONE BEATS YOU TO IT

And if you can't make the yard sale - actually, even if you can - you should check out their cool Africa fundraising Tshirts!!

And here's the link on how to order a tshirt and support the Bebe's adoption. :)

What's your favorite number?? Mine is 797!!

2010-05-12T19:10:00.000-04:00

I am THRILLED to report that the United States of America Citizenship and Immigration Services has determined that we meet the eligibility and suitability requirements as adoptive parents of a child who will be adopted under the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption!! That's a mouth full, but what it means is that we have the

L.A.S.T.

piece of paper we need to send our dossier to China!!!

With the I800A, this approval is called an I-797, Notice of Action :)

Makes us sound all official now, don't you think?

This new 797 looks way more offiicial than the old 171(I600 adoption) did. It even lists all the special needs you are approved for. Since we weren't going to be matched with a child when our dossier went to China, we made a list of the specific special needs we were open to. The 797 actually lists them!

The next step is to send the I797 to the SOS for authentication. When I get it back, all of our dossier documents go to the courier in D.C. to get our US State Dept. and finally our Chinese Embassy authentications. Then is DTC, baby!!! :)) That is... once I have my DTC money!! YIKES!!

Happy, happy day at the Little House today!!!

Pics from Jack

2010-05-06T07:49:00.000-04:00

Jack is having a great time so far. :) Gmail isn't working at all. We've tried two addresses for him, and they both got disabled. What's the deal with gmail in China? Anyway, we've switched it again to a yahoo address. If you'd like to send him an email, leave a comment or email me and I'll send you the new address.

He was able to upload some photos. :)

Here's one of his bedroom. :)

And the view from his window.

His building.

Amanda took him shopping for a few groceries. This is what he said about the store:

"A western style "grocery" store. It was more of a cross between office max, sams club, and Kroger. It still had some very strange things in attempt to appeal to the eastern pallet. Like a fancy bag with the words, "Yak Marrow Bone Dust" When I saw that I looked at Helen, a national, and said, "I'm sorry but I have to ask, what is in this bag?" She just shrugged her shoulders."

Jack's caption, "When I went to eat my frosites this morning, this was the greeting I received. Dreams flying in the sky, how are you?"

Going to try to skype Jack shortly!! I can't wait!!!

Crazy Love! Threads of Hope

2010-05-05T23:08:00.000-04:00

Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity is having a Crazy Love Challenge for families fundraising for their adoption! This just couldn't be better timing as we still need approximately $2000 to complete the fees on the U.S. side of our adoption and send our dossier to China.

For those who might not know us, we are the Little Family and are working to adopt a waiting child from China. This will be our 2nd special needs adoption and our 3rd special needs child, bringing our little blessings to a total of five. :)

Threads of Hope is our Hyena Cart store with things folks have donated for us to sell to raise adoption funds. We would be so thankful if you would hop over and shop, donate something to our cart for us to sell, or pray for our adoption process and our waiting child. Every single penny from our cart goes to our adoption fund. Thank you!! And thank you A Place Called Simplicity for sponsoring the Crazy Love Challenge!

Threads of Hope Boutique Hyena Cart

Gmail. AACCKK!

2010-05-04T21:35:00.000-04:00

Gmail has disabled Jack's email account. I don't know if it has anything to do with his travel or not, but from the forum boards I've found online, it's not something that is typically quickly fixed. I'm working on getting him info on a new account I set up for him. Hopefully, it will work, and he'll be able to send pictures soon.

I just received an email from Amanda and he's already helping take care of a baby. :) aaawwwww.....

He Made It!

2010-05-04T09:47:00.000-04:00

We just talked to Jack, and he is at Amanda's! :) PTL! He sounded great!

He said he has his phone charging (The Panda phone didn't want to charge in the US for some reason and when we got it, it only had one little bar of juice! We were so afraid it was going to die on him before he got to China electricity!), and that, other than being exhausted, he feels good. :) I'M SO PROUD OF HIM!

He said he would try to get some pictures uploaded in the morning (which is tonight to us). I can't wait! I'll post them when I get them! :)

I think I slept about 15 minutes. I'm going to have the kids do their reading and math, and then watch the most educational thing I can find while I N.A.P!!! :)

Jack Track update...

2010-05-04T02:47:00.000-04:00

Jack called! He's in Beijing. He has cleared customs and has found the gate for his connecting flight! YAY Jack!!! One more short leg and he'll be at Amanda's. His flight to Xian leaves at 4:30. He should be at Starfish in 4 to 5 hours. :)

Jack Track...

2010-05-03T23:09:00.002-04:00

Tracking my boy....

2010-05-03T19:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'll admit it. It's been a very stressful day. But, look what I've found! Flight tracker!!! Now, I can sit here and keep hitting refresh and watch my boy land in Beijing. The whole flying over the North Pole thing is just a bit scary, don't you think?

Just tracked him, and this is where he is right now. :)

Jack leaves for China in the morning!!!

2010-05-02T19:56:00.000-04:00

Jack is about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime. He's going to China for TWO MONTHS to volunteer at the Starfish Foster Home in Xian. Thomas is from Xian, and we visited Starfish when we adopted him in 2007. It's an amazing place, run by an amazing lady. Her name is Amanda, and I want to be her when I grow up! :)

I'm trying really hard to remain calm. I'm not being too terribly successful. This is HARD for a momma! I will feel so much better once I know he's at Starfish. The travel part is what's getting to me.

Jack's all packed.

He's taking... next to nothing. That zipper compartment has his medicine in it. And that's it! When I travel, I have to have help to zip up my zipper compartment!

I don't think he was thrilled about me taking a hundred photos of him zipping up his suitcase.

These are the 2 bags he is taking with him to China. This is all he needs to live in China for 2 months!

That photo just doesn't do their small size justice, so I put Thomas in the photo as a reference.

Thomas's shirt is a 4T. The shorts are a 3T. The child is tiny. The bags are tiny. And they weigh hardly anything.

Jack hugging Thomas. aaawww.

I'm so proud of the young man my little boy has become. :)

Friends, please pray for a safe trip for my precious son. Thank you!

Yard Sale Reflections

2010-05-02T01:24:00.000-04:00

We had our yard sale yesterday and today. We had beautiful weather all day yesterday and were able to get in about 4 hours today before the rain rolled in. Our sale was a huge blessing to our adoption fund! PTL! We are getting close to the total we need to be DTC. :)

I'm new to yard sales. This was my first. It was a learning experience for sure.

The first morning, the shoppers came in droves. I think these people were serious garage sale shoppers. Most of these folks were not at all interested in the fact that we were fundraising for an adoption. They just wanted what they wanted. But they bought a bunch of stuff, so we were blessed by their attendance. :)

Some of the folks who came to our sale came just because it was an adoption fundraiser. They had seen our ads and wanted to support us. When you are trying to come up with the huge sum needed for an adoption, these people are so encouraging to meet and talk to. These folks were such a blessing!! :)

We had a few folks come to our sale to give us stuff to sell! They saw we were fundraising and blessed us by not only shopping, but by donating things as well. :)

Then there were some shoppers who... well... left us scratching our heads. They would seriously seem insulted by the asking price on an item. I'm not talking about the folks who looked at a price and said, "would you take this much for this?"or "can you come down on this?". Most of those folks were really nice and perfectly pleasant whether or not we came down on a price. I'm talking about the few who acted like we were committing some kind of yard sale extortion or something. And it usually wasn't over a big ticket item either! Like, a designer name girl's party dress for $3. I had a lady tell me, with a rather disgusted look, that she shopped garage sales all the time and that was way too high. I thought, HOW can it be way to high? It was only priced at $3 to begin with!! As in only $3 from FREE! What should be the right price on something like that? Would $2 have been perfectly fine? It was bizarre and troubled me in a way that I can't really pinpoint. The same lady then turned around and bought a bottle of water for $1!!! I was thinking WHAT?? $3 for a $50 dress it outrageous, but $1 for something that is free out of the tap is just fine? That math just doesn't add up in my book. (BTW, the dress sold later in the day for $3 to a lady that was very happy to pay it.) I'm not really sure what good yard sale thrower etiquette is when someone seems insulted by a price. Are you supposed to immediately lower it? Just give them the item? I'd love for someone to let me know how to handle that, because just leaving the price where you had it seems to really put them out. Dealing with people like this made me really uncomfortable. But, even the shoppers who seemed "insulted" by our prices were a blessing, as most of them ended up buying something. :)

Another blessing, I got to meet a yahoo group friend in person. THANK YOU, Maggie, for coming out to our sale!! Maggie is adopting a little boy from the same orphanage that Thomas is from. And she lives right here in Knoxville! How cool is that? I met her on a yahoo group and we've been emailing a bit. It was so much fun to meet her live and in person!!

THANK YOU so much to everyone who donated stuff, donated money, shopped, or prayed for a successful sale. I also want to say a special thank you to those who helped me on the sale days. Not only were they a huge help, they made it so much fun! Thank you Julie, Paul, Joyce, Karen, Kristy, Audrey, Cora, Jack, William, Thomas and Savannah!!

And and extra special thank you to my friend, Kristy, for being the most awesome best friend a girl could have. :) She has done more to help with this adoption than I can even list! I am so thankful for her!!

I was pretty busy during the sale, and didn't take many photos. Here a a few. :)

Kristy posing with Santa. :)

When it started raining, we got everything cleaned up as quick as we could. The kids loved playing in the rain made a homemade slip n slide. :)

Fingerprints D.O.N.E. :)

2010-04-27T22:38:00.000-04:00

Rich walked in the door just as I was about to call him about our fingerprint letters coming and said, "So, are we going to Nashville, or what?" I just love that man. You know, I think he's not listening much of the time, but then he'll come through with something like today that shows me he really is "keeping up". :)

So, off to Nashville we went. In a storm. It rained hard on us much of the way. My wonderful husband was completely unaffected and drove along as if he was on a flat, dry road on a sunny day. All the way there I was practicing my "nice speech" in my head. You know, the one where I tell the USCIS officer that I realize that our actual appointments aren't for another 3 weeks, but that we would really like to go ahead and get fingerprinted today. Well, we walk in and before I can say anything at all the guy asks for our letters. I hand him the letters and begin my "nice speech". "Sir, we are adopting" --- He cuts me off and says, "Then we will fingerprint you right now." :) No "nice speech" even necessary. We did our paperwork, got fingerprinted and returned to the storm outside. I'm so glad THAT'S done! :) PTL!

We also went to the Secretary of State Office and got all of our documents authenticated. We will still have to get the immigration approval authenticated when we get it, but this way I'll only have to send the one document by mail to them and not the whole dossier. Just makes for less stress for me.

So, tomorrow I'll call USCIS and give them "nice speech #2" which asks if they would please note in our file that we were fingerprinted early. This approval is the last piece of paper we need to send our dossier to China. I will be so glad when I have it in my hand!

Now, on to bigger things.... all of the money we need to be dossier to China. We aren't there yet. We are having a big yard sale this weekend that I pray will take a big chunk out of what we have left to come up with. So, if you live in Knoxville, come over and shop with us please! My kids will have a refreshment stand, so come hungry and thirsty, too. :) And Rich will be making keys and remotes! This is a great time to get a spare!!!

Fingerprint Appointments Arrived!!

2010-04-27T11:45:00.001-04:00

YIPEE!! Seriously!!! YIP, YIP, YIP!!! Our fingerprint appointments just came in the mail! I'm calling Rich to see if we can go to Nashville today!!

Sunday Snapshot - Family

2010-04-25T22:10:00.000-04:00

My precious Thomas.

He's 5 years old and has been home for just over 2 and a half years.

Today, he told me he was a happy boy because he "had the greatest family". :)

What Savannah Sees and Hears

2010-04-24T16:08:00.000-04:00

If you know Savannah very well at all, you've probably seen her "meltdown". I found this video clip today made by an adult with autism. She's attempting to simulate what it feels like to experience sensory overload.

She says, " I am an autistic adult who is sick of so-called "experts" trying to explain what they think an autistic person is going through. They think they can "fix" autistic children by forcing them to act normal. Watch this video and see how normal you think ANYBODY can act when they're going through what I simulate for you all."

CAUTION - There's one "bad" word in this, so you might want to watch it without your kids in the room. :)

Savannah has always had major issues with noisy places or large groups of people. Just like the video says, she has to escape. And she will do so at any cost.

Love Without Boundaries Auction

2010-04-21T20:59:00.000-04:00

The LWB Auction starts tomorrow on ebay. I know first hand how important the funds raised through the auction are. I was a LWB volunteer for a year and half working to help the heart babies get surgery.

The photo above is of a little sweetie named Yvonne. Her heart surgery was sponsored by funds raised during last year's auction.

People from all over the world donate stuff for this auction. It's really GOOD stuff!! So head over tomorrow to
http://stores.ebay.com/Love-Without-Boundaries-Store/Born-in-My-Heart-Art-Auction.html
and get to bidding!!! The babies need you! :)

Get the word out

2010-04-16T23:32:00.000-04:00

Hope in the Dark was a fundraiser hosted by the Kalu Grace Foundation to benefit orphans and Africa. It was last night, here in Knoxville. I still can't believe I got to go. It was totally amazing.

First, I learned a lot! I learned about Mike and Beth Hamilton. Mike is UT's athletic director, and he and his wife have adopted 5 children. Two domestically, and most recently, 3 from Ethiopia. Their youngest daughter's name is Kalu. After they adopted her, they found out her name means "get the word out". They felt like God was telling them to tell the story of the orphan crisis. The Kalu Grace Foundation hosted Hope in the Dark to benefit two organizations: Blood:Water Mission and Show Hope.

The Blood:Water Mission was founded by the band Jars of Clay to help communities in Africa combat the clean water and HIV/AIDS crisis. I could type a bunch of stuff about how great they are, but here's a video to make it easier on both of us. :)

Show Hope is, of course, amazing. LOVE THEM. Thomas is home with us today with the help of a grant from them in 2007. Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman were at Hope in the Dark talking about their grant work to help families adopt. Mary Beth gave a wonderful little talk about Show Hope. I like her so much. She is such a down to earth person, and so passionate about helping orphans.

The Watoto Children's Choir performed at the benefit. They are all orphans who live at the Watoto Children's Village in Uganda. I was so impressed by these children and their performance. The costumes were beautiful, and the children sang and danced ... PERFECTLY. They were SO good!! And their energy was ENDLESS!! Every single child was giving it 200% effort for the hour plus long program. I was exhausted watching them! If you ever have an opportunity to see them, don't miss it!

Nothing like a night of intense orphan, clean water and AIDS crisis awareness to make a girl want to do more. Time to GET THE WORD OUT!

Paper Movement!!

2010-04-09T07:55:00.000-04:00

I received notification that USCIS has our I800A and that I should be receiving our fingerprint appointments in 7 to 10 days! :) YEA!!

I Heart Faces - Dramatic B & W

2010-03-30T18:53:00.000-04:00

We have lots of drama at our house. Pretty much every ~~day~~ hour. Although I'm very experienced in drama, I had difficulty trying to picture what a "dramatic" photo would look like. I don't really know if this photo qualifies, but I sure do like it. :) It's my precious boy. He has been home with us for 30 months. Thirty GLORIOUS months!

Go check out I Heart Faces for some great photo inspiration!

Sunday Snapshot - The Map

2010-03-21T21:18:00.000-04:00

You know how you get a map when you enter the zoo?

William decided he would be the official navigator and head-which-way-er of our zoo visit.

He got everybody interested and helped them tune-up their map reading skills.

Look! A private lesson. What a kid. :)

And resourceful too. When he had enough sun and heat, he used it as a visor. :)