Still waiting...March 9,2012

Since receiving our letter of acceptance, we have accomplished several tasks. We immediately filed our I800 which is the immigration approval to declare Laikyn an immediate relative. We also sent our her Visa form to our agency on Thursday. We also have a travel packet that we are now trying to complete by next week. We have it all filled out and now have to take Jillian for a travel physical and have everything notarized. The next step will be to apply for our Visas. We are hoping and praying that everything stays on schedule! I had forgotten that we had so much paperwork to do between approval and travel. I have been sick with a virus this week and have spent a lot of time in bed. I found myself on YouTube watching Gotcha Day videos that people had posted and imaging what our day will hold. Of course every child seems to have a very different reaction. Some scream, some shut down, some look indifferent and very few look happy. When Jillbug was handed to me, she was wide eyed but quiet. Since she was so small, I was able to hold her to me and cry for a while. I'm not sure how a two year old will take to a trembly, blubbering mom! I'm imagining she will be very fearful and maybe hysterical, but I hope not. I'm trying to think of all kinds of goodies and toys that might help distract her , but in the end, I guess we will just have to work through whatever happens. Whether it is beautiful and sweet, or traumatic and frustrating, Im sure it will be everything I've ever dreamed of.

LOA

JOYFUL NEWS YESTERDAY!!! WE WERE APPROVED!!

Since our dossier was logged into China's CCCWA on January 16th, we were told that it would be approximately 8 weeks until our letter of acceptance. As our dossier worked through various depts. we would not receive any news and to consider no news to be good news. I made it to week 5 without too much fretting and then last Wed. through Fri. we got a series of emails from our agency about travel. I began to wonder if that meant they knew our LOA was coming. So then the fretting began. I had a really grumpy and emotional weekend! When I didnt receive a phone call by Monday afternoon, I resigned myself to the fact that it just wasnt time yet. So as soon as the last bus left, I settled at my desk to finish some paperwork and check email. The very first email was from CCAI and said, "Congratulations, your letter of approval has arrived!" I'm glad the students were gone because I cried like a baby! Happily Rob had just pulled into our school for a fundraiser meeting, so I was able to tell him right away. The siblings were all thrilled and couldnt stop talking about Laikyn. She has already been part of this family since August and they are so ready for her to be here. For me, the milestones have been the hardest part. When she turned 2 on the 13th, I could hardly stand it. I am so thrilled to be so close to bringing her home and loving on her. As I went to bed last night, I was scanning through Pinterest and it was so cool that an adoptive mom had posted pictures of some of our favorite memories of our last trip to China; the White Swan, Lucy's and our coming home Barbie. Amazing how those things happen at just the right time. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt God called us to this. It was only one year ago that we moved from turmoil to certainty that we were to make this step. Now this has confirmed what we already knew! She is really ours!! What's next for us? Tonight we finished our acceptance letter and Visa application. We will overnight it back tomorrow and from there it is estimated that we will travel in about ten weeks. We will wait for her Visa and then China will cable the travel approval which is an invitation to come get our baby! From there, the agency will make our consulate appointment and travel arrangements.

DTC: January 6, 2012

Yesterday we cleared another hurdle in the adoption process. WE ARE DTC!!!

The agency finished reviewing and translating our dossier and has now been sent to China. This date in adoptionese stands for Dossier To China. It should be in route for 3-5 days and then will be logged in to CCCWA in China. We will be notified by email from our agency's China office as soon as that happens. Now we just have two hurdles left.... Letter of Acceptance and then Travel Approval! The timeline looks like about 8 weeks or so for each step, so I am thinking we could be ready to go get our daughter by May. That still seems so far away, but I know that as busy as we are with this school year, that it will sneak up on us before we know it! I am more than ready to bring her home, and I'm sure the waiting and wondering is going to be hard, but I know the timing is in God's hands. I am so thankful for how far he has brought us in the last 9 months! We finished our Hague adoption classes over the break and only have to read one more book and complete a child CPR class. We also need to organize bedrooms and play space to prepare for a toddler, so we have plenty to keep us occupied while we wait. Here's hoping for speedy travel approval!

Christmas 2011

We had a blessed celebration of Christ's birth again this year! Our first party began on Friday the 23rd at our house with the Kruse's. We ordered a boston butt and then all made side dishes to go with it. Everyone had a great time eating, talking and opening gifts, especially Granny's traditional junk boxes! The only tragedy was when Korbin was trying to trapeze between the couch and recliner and ended up with a black eye!

On the 24th, we spent a lazy morning and then visited with Dad in the afternoon until Brandon got off work at Bill's. While we were at Dad's, Santa came and left a gift for each child as well as a full stocking with candy, bath stuff and ping pong equipment. They didnt understand that one since we dont have a table. They each opened all their gifts and then found one more gift in the garage that was to all three of them.... A Ping Pong Table!! :) Since Christmas we have had some exciting and competitive games in this house, with Brandon making up new rules as he goes along. Jillian's gifts were UDraw for Wii, Farkle, Jungle Racer, Brain Break, movies, clothes. Korbin got Mario Cart game and Mario K'nex, Joker House with figures, Angry Birds, and clothes/boots. Brandon got Beats by Dre headphones, which he shopped and paid for with money we gave him for Christmas along with some money he had saved. Laikyn had a magical teapot set under the tree and she will get to open it when she comes home.

Christmas Day began with a Christmas service at church. We were able to meet our new cousin Noah who has just come home from Ethiopia and is sooo adorable! We declared the rest of the day as pajama day and just played with toys and games all day.

On Monday the 26th we had our final celebration at Gay's house in Tennessee. We had our traditional meal and then had the kids exchange gifts with whoever they had drawn. The adults played a Secret Santa game with at least 5 of the gifts being Cracker Barrel cards. We discussed banning gift cards next year. Next, we played Newlywed game with Brandon and Savannah being this year's winners. Dana and Kassidy came in 2nd!! Seems like the real couples need to talk a little more! :) Rob and I had discussed answers before the game and unfortunately Gay changed all the questions. We decided we do worse when he takes it seriously anyway!

All of the kids had a great time with their cousins and look forward to the next family get together!

The Name

and the winner is...... Laikyn Hope Mingzhu

Okay, I know that she will have to spell and pronounce her name for her entire life, but it had to be unique and still have the same ending as the other 3. I really had a hard time with this one. We decided very early on a boy's name as the agency told us we could get a boy or a girl. If it was a boy, his name was to be Holden Tanner with the Chinese name. Thought she might want to know this since my other kids have enjoyed knowing what their other gender name was to be.

Last summer, I was looking at pictures of Owensboro Dance Team and saw a little girl with the name Laikyn. I thought it was pretty so I wrote it down. Later, I looked it up in a name book and found the meaning was "from the still waters." I loved that since I had been quoting Psalm 23 to myself many times through the process. When we got our referral, I found that Mingzhu means bright pearl. I think that when you put it together, it should be bright pearl from the still waters! I love it! Hope she does. I put off the decision for a long time and a couple of weeks ago, I was Christmas shopping. As I was in the children's clothing at Macy's a mom and a grandmom were right next to me. The grandmother held up to dresses and said, "This one is for Rayghan and this one is for Laikyn." Those were the two names I had been considering! I laughed and thought to myself that God was telling me to just pick one and get on with it!

We announced her name on our Christmas cards and the day that we sent them out, we got an update from the orphanage. They have moved her to foster care since summer with parents and 2 foster brothers. She has gotten so big! She has gained 7 pounds since being with them. Her feeding schedule shows that they now are feeding her 7 times per day, so that may explain it! Haha! They also had her wrapped in many layers of clothing as is traditional for the Chinese. She can now run and climb up and down stairs. She is still on her seizure meds and has not had any more. It also said that she is quiet, introverted and likes to play by herself. I am praying that she was able to get our care package that we sent. It should have arrived this week.

The Dossier

The dossier is the collection of documents that goes to China and has taken us many months to complete. It includes background, financial, and health checks, immigration clearance, petitions, vial records, employment records, home study, passport copies, and pictures. When everything is complete, each document is notarized, county and state certified, and then sealed by the US State Dept and Chinese Embassy. Each time we thought we were finally finished, we found some problem that seemed to delay us even more. What I thought would be ready by October, dragged into December. The day we received our last documents in the mail, I fell in the floor and had a good stress relieving cry. It's kind of like labor, you forget the pain, until you're right back in the midst of it. I remember starting this process thinking that I was an old pro and would whiz right through! Kicked myself for that thought so many times. Ours was finally sent to our agency on Saturday, December 17th. They logged it in on Tuesday. Now it is in the critical review process which takes about 9 days. If everything is perfect, it will be expressed to China and logged in there. If it's not... well I dont even want to think about that! That log in date is known as LID day. It's typically about 4-5 months from LID to travel. The Christmas season is keeping me slightly distracted from my nervousness at this point. Shopping has been hard though. I cannot stay out of the toddler aisle and being there makes me emotional, wishing she could be here for Christmas.

The Referral: August 2011

And then we saw your face. In a moment you were wrapped up in our hearts ~ So Far to Find You

Since starting the adoption process in April so much has happened. As we completed our home study last spring, there were many days that Rob and I would look at each other and say, "Are we really going to do this?" We began to question and doubt so many times and every time those doubts arose, Rob would say to remember the end result. What kept me going was the picture of that little girl and her hopeful eyes. Our home study was final by June and we were ready to start the paper chase to compile our dossier. I worked all through the month on preparing documents. In early July, our agency called and asked that we review a file of another little girl. We asked about Jessica again and were told that another family had committed to her when her file was released. I realized by that time that she was never supposed to be with us, but that God had used her story in a huge way to lead us to who was destined to be our child. We wouldnt have even known about this particular agency had it not been for that phone call to Show Hope to inquire about Jessica. We eagerly prayed and met with our doctor, hoping this would be the one. After much turmoil and about a week of delaying,we felt God leading us to say no and wait. I just hadnt realized until that point how gut wrenching that decision would be. I held on and prayed that we wouldn't have to go through that experience again. Ultimately what helped me past it is that a few weeks later, I saw her description on a matched child list and realized that she was also supposed to be with someone else. At this point though, I wondered if we would ever find our child.

On a beautiful, sunny August 5th, I was doing some housework and got a phone call about 1:00. I recognized the agency's number, but instead of rushing to answer, I found myself frozen and staring at the phone, missing the call. I was convinced that it was going to be a repeat of what we had been through the month before and I wasnt ready to face it again. As soon as I composed myself, I prayed for guidance and called them back. I had to leave a message and just wait. When Rob got home at 4:00, I was really upset because it was Friday afternoon and they still hadnt called back. Now, because of my hesitation,I would have to bite my nails all weekend. We headed to Subway to eat and then to Dad's for a visit. While there, I finally got the call. Sarah at CCAI had another file for us to view. It was a little 18 month old girl named Ming Zhu. This alone caught my breath because that was Jillian's nickname given to her by her nanny when she was in the orphanage. I also learned that she had a corrected heart condition and was on meds for seizures. When we arrived home from Dad's, instead of running to the computer, I went to my room, prayed again and opened my Bible. I asked God to show me whether or not this was the child he had planned for us. I opened my Bible rand my eyes fell on the words, "This is the day you have waited for and you have lived to see it." I really knew at that moment that this was a yes and I hadnt even looked at her file. At this point I RAN to the computer and opened the email. As her picture opened, I just smiled. I felt like I had always known her. I was amazed that she reminded me so much of Jillian. The medical information was not very clear to me, but I knew that this was my daughter and we would handle whatever faced us. I forwarded her file to our doctor and waited for a reply. When we entered the waiting child program, we knew that we were asking for a child with some type of medical condition. The hard part is when there is so much uncertainty of what that condition is. When we started,we had done our research and met with the doctor to find out what kinds of conditions that we were best suited to handle. The thing is, when you see your child, it doesn't really matter anymore.

On Tuesday, August 9th, our pediatrician called with very happy news. She was very positive about her condition. The heart defect was a blood vessel that hadnt closed properly and was an easy procedure for a heart surgeon. She had had surgery within 3 weeks of entering the orphanage and had recovered very well. We decided to accept and request more info about her seizures. This was received about two weeks later complete with CT scans and EEG. Everything on these reports was encouraging as well, so we felt a huge sense of relief. Now to finish our dossier so we could get her home to us!!