This is a little late but Olivia's visa (Article 5) was picked up from the US Consulate and sent to the CCCWA.  Now all we are waiting on is China to say "Come get her"!  I am hoping it comes the first week of January.  We really don't know, it usually takes 1-3 weeks for travel approval.  We are SOOOOO close!!!  Luckily we have Christmas and New Year's to keep us busy in our waiting......I am also using this time for some much needed time with my 3 kids here that have seriously felt my spaceyness lately.  I have been a little scatter brained, to say the least (some may call it "placenta brain", with out the placenta.....)  I hope these next couple of weeks while they are home we can really have some much needed family time.  We are just waiting on the TA, there is finally NO more paperwork to do, so I can devote my time to them and enjoying them. 

A few examples of our God's love.....

Yesterday, Taylor and I had lunch with my friend Michelle and her beautiful little girl Ava.  Ava came home in October and has been an absolute blessing to Michelle and her family.  Read about them here.  Ava is just precious!  She is so happy and I love to just watch her, you can tell there is so much going on in her little mind.  I think mainly she is saying "What in the world?"  She just watches everything and everyone.  It's so amazing to think how God has blessed this family with this little miracle and blessed this little girl with this family.  Just two months ago she was living in an orphanage and had no idea what it meant to be loved and wanted and now she has a family that absolutely adores her!  I love spending time with Michelle and getting all the tips she has for China and what it's like adjusting to her new life, but I also feel a little closer to Olivia.  Sometimes it feels so unreal, Olivia is half a world away and all I have are a few pictures and a short video, you can easily get wrapped up in the minute and the travel part of it.  Trying to plan and prepare for 2 weeks in China with a 3 year old has taken a lot of my brain capacity here lately....LOL.  Anyway, being with them brings me back to reality and the fact that I will have a little China princess soon! I will soon be doing the whole toddler thing again, I will have a little one to carry and teach new things to. Oh how I can't wait to meet her and learn her little personality, what she likes and doesn't, what makes her laugh or cry, and even more to show her that we love her and that she will, FOREVER, have a family! 

Last night we went to the kids Christmas program at school. It was so nice to be reminded of what this time is really about, Our God and His love, by giving us His son, Jesus Christ.  The school had a Lessons and Carols, where the kids sang Christmas carols (true Christmas songs, not Rudolph) and they read scripture about the birth of Jesus.  It was Awesome!! It may have brought a few tears, hearing those little voices singing such beautiful and meaningful songs.  Here are some pictures.....:-) Chase is officially too old for this....:-(

Friends....

I have some AMAZING friends!! They have organized a bake sale at work to make money for us for the adoption. Today they baked multiple baked goods including yummy pumpkin rolls that people have PREORDERED!! I am so thankful for the blessing of friends. Today is a terrible day for America. After a man walked into an Elementary school in CT and killed 18 little angels. We have to find thankfulness in the things that REALLY matter. Our friends and family. This time of craziness and preparing for Christmas in which we all over spend and buy things that are by needed, we lose sight of what really matters. We have a God who loves us more than we can fathom and in this time of heartache we must not forget that. He puts people in our lives for a reason, just as He has given us Olivia Kate, he has also blessed me with some wonderful people to share my life with.

Article 5 Drop off

So I have been patiently (yeah right nothing patient about this) waiting for the I800 approval, that we got last week, to be sent to the National Visa Center, to then be sent to the US Embassy in China.  Well it finally happened today!! We will now wait 2 weeks and then it will be picked up on Thursday 12/20.  After it is picked up we will only be waiting on Travel Approval (TA) from China.  Once we get our TA we will be assigned a date for our Consulate Appointment, which is the American side of the adoption that is finalized in Guangzhou, China, at the US Embassy towards the end of our trip.  TA can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks and we could leave a week or so later.  So this time next month I may finally have an answer to the million dollar question "When will you go get her?"  These are the last few steps y'all, we are SOOOO close!!!!  :-)

I800 Approved!!!

Today was a good GREAT day in the White House!!!  I called USCIS and found out they approved our I800 yesterday!! The I800 is the approval we needed on the US side to approve Olivia Kate as an immediate relative.  This means as soon as we go through customs in the airport when we get home, she will become a US citizen. :-)   We are so close y'all, it's almost hard to believe.  In a couple of weeks this information will go to China and 2 weeks from then it will be picked up from the US Embassy in China and we will only be waiting for China to say "Come get her"!!  Of course with Christmas coming, things could go a litte slower than normal, but I can see the light so I will try to have some patience......

I am so happy it is Christmas, my favorite time of year, and I can enjoy this time with my family (minus 1 precious little girl).  It helps time to go by a little faster as well.  It is hard to think about Olivia being in an orphanage and not having a family to celebrate Jesus with. The only way I can comfort myself is that she doesn't know any different.  This is where she has spent her entire life, this is the only place she knows.  At this point she considers it home.  And yes people this kills me!! I hate that she goes to sleep in a large room full of beds lined up and no one to tuck her in, that she has nothing of her own, the clothes and toys are all shared through out the orphanage.  And, I also know, she's not really waiting for us, she's only 2. 

  I pray daily that God will prepare her little heart for us. I know God is with her and He tucks her in at night and He kisses those sweet cheeks.  This I find the most comfort in!

  When we get her, we will be taking her away from everything she knows, everyone she knows.  She had not asked to leave her "home" and all she finds comfort in, to go with people who look, smell, and talk funny.  Yes this has been compared to as kidapping.  I hate to type this because it is heartbreaking to think she has to go through trauma to come to her family.  So I pray constantly that she will soon realize how much we love her and that we will forever be her mama and baba (daddy in chinese).  I KNOW God has His hand in this, that He has been guiding us and leading us to her.  He has been preparing us for this journey for years.  And I am SO thankful for this AMAZING path He has us on!

 

Today I also FINALLY received the pictures of her with her celebration cake.  I sent her a care package 3 weeks ago, when we got our LOA.  I knew if I sent a cake I would get pictures of her with it, so I have been anxiously waiting for these.  The cake and the hat she is wearing do say Happy Birthday, which is kinda funny, her birthday isn't until February.  :-) Oh well, I still get to see that precious face!

 This is the what the care package looked like, hopefully they are showing her our pictures....

 

I love that look! (and those cheeks!!)

 The cake is about as big as her and she looks really confused...:-)

 

 

 

Yard Sale Fundraiser

This past Saturday we had a multi-family yard sale at our church to raise money for the adoption.  It was AMAZING to say the least.  We had enough stuff donated that we could have opened a consignment store.  We are so greatful for all the support everyone has shown.  People not only donated items but many people also donated there time.  Lots of time.  We spent all last week organizing the many, many things we had, and the fact that people graciously gave up there time to help us, brings tears to my eyes.  Sorry, not trying to be dramatic, but it's true.  Saturday people spent several hours with us, setting up, selling, and taking the left overs to Goodwill.  Good friends and people we have never even met.  I wish I could show just how thankful we are for all the help we had, yes I told them and will tell them again, but it doesn't seem like enough.   I wish I could buy them all a day at the spa or a vacation. I will also say that God is good!  We all know everything He does is for a reason, 7 years ago when we walked in to our church for the first time and I had a sudden peace that this was where we belonged, I didn't know why then, but many times I have been shown.  He is faithful and He loves us and even more He loves our daughter and will make sure she comes home!

Oh, and she finally has a name!!! Olivia Kate Yuning.  :-)  Friday I had to send out some documents, yes more paperwork (I have decided it is NEVERENDING), and we had to put her name on the visa application.  Well lets just Mike and I racked up some minutes on our phones in about 3 hours.  We were back and forth all morning.  Finally I said it's Sarah Kate, and he said he REALLY didn't want to name her Sarah, so I compromised with Olivia Kate. 

I have to admit, I love it!!!

LOAaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

I'm so happy to be writing this post!!! Our agency emailed us to say we have our LOA from China.  This is the official approval letter for the adoption of our little girl (who still does not have a name). She has a Chinese name, just still haven't decided on whether we will call her Sarah Kate or Olivia......

Anyway, I am SO THANKFUL for this.  God has moved mountains and cleared paths so that we could fullfill His plan to adopt.  I am giddy with excitement....I can't express how happy I am to know that we have been approved and will be going to China in 8-10 weeks to get our youngest daughter!

As I posted earlier, our church is having a yard sale for us this Saturday to help with some of the adoption expenses.  Well all week we are sorting and pricing the many items, people have so graciously donated.  We have furniture, a washer and dryer, clothes, toys, a microwave, more clothes, tons of books, and little knick-knacks. I am blown away by the support we have felt this week from so many people offering their things for us to sale or their time to help us prepare.  If any of you are reading this, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!!!! 

Well, I was alone in the santuary tonight pricing some things, Mike had left to take the two little ones home and I was waiting for Chase to finish with youth group, when I got a surprising email......It was from our agency saying they had received our LOA from China and would be mailing it to us to sign. WHAT?!?!?!?! I think I screamed then a flood of tears came.  I tried calling Mike but he didn't answer (he did call back pretty soon).  And then I thought where better to be, than right here in God's house to receive this gift, from no one other than Him!  Because let me tell you, we have gotten this far, only because of God and His will for us.  It was perfect in timing, of course God's timing is ALWAYS perfect, for me to be there alone. You see the email had actually come a couple hours earlier, I just didn't see it. I sat and cried and Thanked Him for this AMAZING blessing He has given us. Oh how I can't wait to meet this perfect child He has planned for us.  I look at her face and picture probably a thousand times a day, seriously, she is on my phone. :-) I just want to hold her and hug her and let her know she is loved and has a Mama and Baba and 2 brothers and a sister.  I have tried so hard to not let myself think about where she is living, I just can't. go. there.  I'm sure it's a nice place, it looks nice by the video anyway, but she has never felt the love of a parent, she goes to bed alone, and probably hungry, I'm sure her Nannies hold her and feed her, but there are way more kids than nannies.  I can only think of it as a daycare that you never leave. I can only hope it's as nice as our daycares..............Enough of that.

We got our LOA!!!! Not much longer sweet girl!!!! :-) 

November

November is the month of thankfulness and the month of National Adoption Awareness.  I will post somethings throughout the month that I am thankful for.....hopefully one of those posts will have 3 certain letters involved (L, O, and A), I am trying SOOOO hard to have patience......but it is SOOOO hard......We are at day #49, 7 of those days China was closed, so I guess it's still early.....however, when you can only think of your child in an orphanage, without the love of a family, it becomes more like dog years......(7 x 49=343 days). 

Day #1 of Thankfulness-

November 1st.............My baby boy turend 6, WOW!  We had a great day, just the two of us.  I took him shopping for his birthday present.  I have never done that before and it was so much fun!  He was like a little kid in a candy store, but we were in Toys R Us....LOL.  Anyway, he just walked around for probably an hour, trying to decide what he wanted....We ended with a guitar (may regret that later) and 3 Avenger figurines.  He kept saying, "I'm not a little boy anymore, I'm 6 now, Mom".  I wanted him to hold my hand in the parking lot and he would say it again, so cute! Then he wanted to eat "where they cook in front of us" for dinner.  My mom, sister, BIL, and nephew joined us, it was really nice to enjoy each other and celebrate together .  I baked a cake but we have yet to eat it.  Keep running out of time.

I am so thankful for this little boy.  He is AMAZING!  He has the biggest heart, a personality that keeps us smiling, and more energy and love than can be measured. I wish I could put into words just how much I love this kid! 

Thank you God for this precious boy!

 

 

Different things on my mind......and our Yard Sale.

So we thought we were going to name our daughter

 Sarah Kate, however it just never really clicked with me, then last week Mike said he wasn't sure he still wanted to use that name, he likes "Olivia".  However, now I can't move on from "Sarah Kate" I have been referring to her as Sarah Kate this entire time, and now I am not sure that I can change.  And like I said before it never really clicked, I had some reservation about it, but now I am having a hard time with changing it......

I may not have the pregnancy hormones running around, but I do act and feel like I do, ha. 

So as for now, she doesn't have an American name.  I think that may be part of the problem. She has a Chinese name and her file had an American name, so it is hard to look at this little person who has a name and think of another one.  We shall see how this ends.......

obviousley she has to have a name. 

 

We have decided that the kids probably will not go with us to China (insert sigh). I don't know how I'm going to leave them for 2 weeks and be half-way around the world, but I do know God will take care of them. 

I can write excuse after excuse, but the bottom line is money......(insert another sigh). God continues to provide for this adoption.  After my "freak out" over the whole financial part of this adoption, God gave me an overwhelming feeling of calmness, that it would all work out.  And it has.  We will only need to have 1 maybe 2 fundraisers to help with some of the cost.  However to take the kids, we would be adding another $6-8K to the cost of traveling.  That would be a lot of fundraising, that I don't think is possible.  But again, God does provide, so if it His plan for the kids to go, than I know He will make it possible. 

 

Speaking of fundraising, we are having a Yard Sale at our church.  Have I mentioned just how wonderful our church family is?  They are amazing! We have felt an ENORMOUS amount of support from them since Day 1 of this adoption journey. 

We will be having a multi-family yard sale on

 

Saturday, November 10. 

 

So if you have any items you would like to donate or some money burning a whole in your pocket, this is the perfect way to get rid of both!!

Family time.....

This weekend was so nice.....we had a great family trip to the mountains. Mike has school 3 nights out of the week and I work 3 other nights out of the week, so we don't have much family time right now. The one night we are all home, usually consists of some type of ball practice or game. Well this past weekend I was off, so we decided to let the kids miss their games and have a nice relaxing weekend as a family. It was perfect. We drove up to my mom's cabin on Friday, went to an apple farm Saturday and then went to my brother's that night to spend some time with them and watch the Georgia game.....(not quite the game we were expecting). They live about an hour away, so we don't get to see them very often. We got home Saturday night and were able to attend church Sunday as a family, without me struggling to stay awake from working the night before. It was exactly what we needed. I am so thankful for these moments!

There were a lot of Asian children at the apple farm, or maybe it was because we were surprised to see such diversity in the GA mountains, however I couldn't stop staring. I know, we always teach our children not to stare, but I just kept seeing them and thinking about Sarah Kate. Oh, how I wish she were here to enjoy these times with us. I know she will be soon, I know God is planning the perfect time for us to meet but I still miss her.

 

I also kept seeing pregnant women.  I see pregnant women ALL the time, thanks to where I work, but it is so different when I see them out, rather than in a bed laboring.  I kept thinking awww, they're pregnant, then I thought, hey I'm expecting!  The paper pregnancy can be great, there's no weight gain, no stretch marks, no morning sickness, no hormonal changes, yet still tons of crazy emotions.......  However, I don't look pregnant, so most people don't know we're "expecting", I don't feel her moving inside of me, telling me she's ok, I don't have her with me 24/7.  I only have faith, faith that God is protecting her, as I would be if I were pregnant. We have a picture from a year ago and we (very thankfully) have a 20 second video of her.  She on the other hand has NO clue as to who we are, I pray daily God will prepare her heart for us, so that she will have some kind of comfort in us.

 Sarah Kate, I hope you ALWAYS know that you were loved and wanted long before we ever met!

Today the kids were stuck inside all day, they were off for Columbus Day, while I rested after working last night.  About 4:00 I had them get dressed, yes they were still in their pajamas, and we went to get a pumpkin. It was short and sweet but atleast they could get some fresh air.  If you know our kids, you know they are FULL of energy, the longer they stay inside the more energy they have.  How I wish they could share some with me!

Out of Translation......

Our Dossier is out of translation!

This isn't a very big thing, but it does mean that things are moving along.  As long as things are moving I am happy!  I would be happier however if we received the LOA in record time.......:-) 

 

This week China is closed, yes closed.  The country shuts down for an entire week for the National Holiday, October 1, 1949 was the day China became The People's Republic of China. 

This also comes the day after (September 30th) the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.  This is a very old Chinese tradition of appreciating the moon, family time, eating moon cakes, and remembering family members that are far away. Learn more here about the legend of Chang E and the moon.

Coffee Fundraiser

We will be doing a little fundraising over the next few months to raise money for the adoption expenses.  I am posting a coffee fundraiser now, all you do is go to the website HERE, so our account is used, and order whatever you want and we will get a portion of the sale!

Remember you have to use this address so we will get the money......

https://justlovecoffee.com/whitefamilyadoption

 

Thanks so much for helping us bring Sarah Kate home!!!

Sarah Kathrin Yu Ning

Here she is, Sarah Kathrin Olivia Kate Yuning

(These pics are from a video of her, so they are a little fuzzy.)

 

 

 

PA AND LID!!!!!

Today is a GOOD day!!! We found out we received our Prelimenary Approval for our Sarah Kate!! We also found out our LID (Logged In Date) was yesterday.  What do these mean? Well, as much as I can understand, the PA says that now they will start the process of an official approval for us to adopt Sarah Kate.  The LID means that our information is now in China's system, if we did not have a specified child, it would just sit there and wait until we did.  However, we do have a specified child so they can now begin translating the many documents we sent them, making sure we are worthy of adopting this little one. 

 

Now what happens you ask???

We wait......some more......it could be a month or it could be 3 months before we get the final approval......once we get the final approval we will hopefully be traveling to China about
 2-3 months later!!!

 

 

The Waiting........

I loved this post from another adoption mommy.........it is so true!  Over the past two weeks I have literally been stalking my email.  It's so hard to relax and have patience when you're waiting, waiting for a doctor to reply to your many emails about a file of a little one you are IN LOVE with or waiting for all these other people to decide if you're able to adopt an orphan who has nothing, even though your willing to give them EVERYTHING they could possibly need, the most important being LOVE, possible medical treatments, a forever family, and a place to call home. Ugh, oh well, we wait on.  We get one thing we have been stalking waiting for and then we wait again for the next needed thing to come........

DTC!!!

We are finally DTC (Dossier to China)!!! Yayyyyyy!! Our adoption agency sent it to China on Friday.  So happy about this.  It has taken us a little longer than it should, there have been delays every where there could be a delay.......hoping that things go faster from this point.  I'm ready to get to China!!  Check back soon, hope to have some more good news!! :-)

My journey to God.

I just posted this on a FB group I am apart of and thought I needed to include it here on our blog.......

Thanks, this is a great group to be a part of! We started this adoption process as a selfish attempt to finally have a 4th child that I had desperately been wanting for many years (we have 3 bio children 11, 7, and 5). However, this has turned into much more than ever expected. I had prayed, not only for another child, but also to have God a part of my life more than just on Sundays, or at night when I pray, but to have a true and constant relationship with Him. Living and working and breathing for Him. Never did I imagine that He would answer my prayers in more ways than one. I absolutely LOVE this path we are on. Eventhough it is stressful and crazy and even a little scary at times, I have grown so close to God and know that He is here with us every step of the way.

This blog is my journal of this wonderful, amazing, and stressful journey that we are on, I want to share this with you as well as our children one day. God works in us all the time, however we don't always realize it. I have never felt closer to Him, never felt such excitement, such love from Him and for Him. It is absolutely, with a doubt, His plan for us and I am so thankful that He chose us for this amazing experience.  

Hebrews 10:23- "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

Just found this verse.  God is so good!  Just what I was needing!

I800A Approval

We got it!!!!!!!! The I-800a approval which says we meet the eligibility requirements, per the US, to adopt from China!!!!! So happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Now, I just have to get all these papers that I have been chasing for the last 6 months and put them together for China.  We should have everything to China next friday (the only day it's sent), be logged in in China in about 2 weeks from then, and hopefully find our daughter soon........... Keep praying for us and our little girl! :-)

Whitehouse craziness....

I forgot to update after we found the dog.  He was hiding in my closet for about 8 or 9 hours on a box under some hanging dresses.  A few days later he got out of the fence and I found him under the grill about 14 hours later.  What a crazy dog.  He was very sweet, but there is no way we can handle 3 dogs and 3 almost 4 kids.  So this past weekend, Mike took him to a lady who foster's chihuahua mix puppies. 

We did have somewhat of an eventful week last week.  It was the kids first week of school.  Chase started 6th grade, Ella is now in 2nd grade, and Taylor is a now a kindergartener...:-(  They are growing so fast.  It is very nice however that they are all together at the same school, FINALLY!!! I cannot express how happy I am with this.  The past 2 years they have all been spread out so to finally have them together is just wonderful.  They had a great start.  Taylor only goes Mon, Wed, and Fri, so he is home with me on Tues and Thurs.  I am really excited about this as well.  We will have time to spend together and we will be doing a little homeschooling on those days.  He was sick this past Thursday, but we still had a good day and got some school work done. 

Chase started baseball practice last week, and Ella is playing softball for the first time which also started last week.  Taylor is playing soccer but that does not start until next week. 

Another thing that happened last week was our dog, Georgia, whom we gave to my mom when Taylor was a baby, died last week.  She has been sick for about a month and after many tests they found masses in her chest and abdomen, so mom had her put to sleep.  She was just miserable the past few weeks, so we know she is much better off now.  They did an autopsy and found she had pancreatic cancer.  Mike and I were doing ok that day after mom called us and told us what was going on, we had said our good byes the day before.  I couldn't figure out when the perfect (if there could be) time to tell the kids.  They have grown up with this dog.  So after practices and dinner I gently broke the news.  It was worse than I could have ever expected.  They were heart broken!  After about an hour and a half of constant crying, by all 3, and Ella and Taylor competeing for loudness, we all got into our bed and they fell asleep.  It was just pitiful.  They have never lost anything or anyone they were very close to, so this was their first experience with death.  I pray they don't have to experience this hurt and pain again for a very long time.

Tonight, starts the beginning of the Whitehouse Craziness, as if it wasn't already.  Mike starts school tonight.  Last semester was a little hectic but we made it.  Thankfully, my Mom is willing to help me with getting 3 kids in 3 different places all at the same time.  So pray for us!

One other prayer request, please continue to pray for our adoption journey.  We are waiting on our

I-800a approval (from Immigrations), which will hopefully come this week.  I had mailed in everything, so I thought, from my list of what to send them.  Well, last week I got a letter in the mail stating we needed to submit our Marriage certificate, how did I forget that???

I had it overnighted and spoke with our officer who said once she got it, we should be approved.  So, hopefully it will come this week....One more thing to slow us down. 

I just keep reminding myself that this is God's plan, not mine, and it is happeneing the way He wants it to, all in His perfect timing.



I800A Fingerprints done

We finally had our fingerprints done today for immigrations!  So exciting to be taking another step towards our daughter......:-)

Earlier today when I was getting ready, I thought about how many people adopting (and others too, I have just read more from adopting parents these days) feel Satan tries to stop them from following God's commands and plans He has for us.  I honestly was thinking what if we were to get into an accident to prevent us from having our fingerprints done today.......

Well we arrived safely at the immigration office and successfully "walked" in (our appointment wasn't until the 16th). Everyone was so nice and had no problem with us being there 2 weeks early.  We left there and I then went to a local community pool to meet up with my sister-in-law and my mom, who had the kids.  We let the kids play a couple of hours and then left, well not even a mile down the road, I had looked down at the radio and when I looked back up a car was stopped and I couldn't stop fast enough.  I swerved to the right to miss the car, skimmed his bumper and then hit the guardrail.......  The van is still driveable but needs a lot of work done on the front end.......

The kids were with me, Mike was at church and my sister in law wasn't far ahead of me, so she came and got the kids and Mike came and we waited for the police.  I felt, still feel horrible.  The guy driving was only 19, very nice, actually in school to be a nurse, but his car really only had a scratch on it.  I just can't believe I did that to the van.

All I can say is Thank You GOD for keeping us safe! Thank you for that guardrail keeping us from going down the hill into some one's home. 

GOD will prevail, we will follow His plan He has made for us!

However there is another issue we are having tonight......
Last Saturday someone dumped left a dog on our driveway with a crate, food bowls, and even a toy. How nice of them.......
However we don't want another dog. We already have 2.  2 is plenty!!!  After taking it to the vet, to be evaluated and $120 later I found out he was 7-8 weeks old, a mix of chihuahua and something else.  Well tonight he has disappeared.  Literally DISAPPEARED! 
We can't find him ANYWHERE.........
I let him out after we got home, then got food out of the garage and fed him, he ate. But for 3 hours now, he has been missing.  We have searched EVERYWHERE.  Mike came home about 10:30 and immediately shut the door and was greeted by the other 2 dogs, but no puppy.  I have no idea where he could be. He loves to bury himself under pillows or blankets, so I'm worried he has burried himself and cannot get out....I don't know what to do.

My last post I wrote how we weren't sure what was going to happen, well I of course got very scared and freaked out a little, maybe a lot.  I also prayed a lot.  I prayed for God to please move some mountains, please make this happen.  So for the next week, I started hearing more songs with the lyrics God can move mountains, faith can move mountains, on church signs I was reading faith moves mountains.  I love it when god speaks to me, it is AMAZING to say the least.  I came out of that uncertainty with a more certainty than ever before.  I have been saying from the very beginning that I felt God put us here for a reason.  I felt that God had been paving the way for us to adopt.  So why was I so worried?? If I honestly believed that this was God's plan then it would happen, no matter what.

Well I am happy to say our Homestudy is finally complete!  I was able to review it today, next it will be reviewed by our placing agency, once it is approved we can finally move on to the next step.  The next step is immigrations, we have to be approved by the USCIS and then finally we will be able to send all of our paper work, which is a lot, to China.......It is somewhat overwhelming, I try to take it one paper at a time.  I know God has a plan and I am to wait and allow Him to put it in to place as He plans, I have done really good lately about having some patience and not being quite so worried about the timeline.  I know it will happen and we will have our child that God has planned for us, but to those of you that have been pregnant, remember how 20 weeks seemed like it would never come.....I just want to find our precious child and look at her picture and know that she is mine, just like you can't wait for that 20 week ultrasound, to look at that little heart beat fluttering away and maybe find out if it's a boy or girl. 

Tonight I ran into someone who I don't really know but our paths keep crossing.  We were talking about adoption and she was telling me how she feels that it is God's calling for her to adopt, however her husband doesn't agree.  I was telling her that we were in the exact same place about a year ago.  My heart was aching inside for another child and Mike was not feeling the same want or need for another child as I was.  I told her all I can say is to pray, pray for her husband and pray for God's guidance.  That was what I did, I prayed for God to soften his heart and open it to the possibility of adoption.  I completely believe in God's plans for us...."plans to prosper us not to harm us" (Jeremiah 29:11)  and even though we want it here and now, God's timing may be a little different. Maybe Mike was not ready then because our child was not yet born.  I obviously do not know for sure why God does what He does or when He does it, but I do know God makes no mistakes and we will find our child only when God presents her to us, all in His perfect timing.

I have read so many adoptive blogs and talked to many adoptive parents and there is always a comment about the "bumps in the road" and how stressful the process is.  I have been thinking this whole time that things were going so smoothly and we hadn't really had any "bumps".  Well today we came upon a ditch.....I can't go in to much detail right now but please pray it all works out.  We will find out more tomorrow, so for now just pray.  I have strongly believed that we were led here by God and only God, so I know He has a plan for us, I honestly believe His plan for us is to adopt.  So I will pray and put all my trust in Him; that He will make this happen as He has planned.

I love this!!!
We finished our homestudy about 2 weeks ago, so we are just waiting on it to be completed and approved.....I continue to try and have patience with this and know it is all in God's hands, but I am so anxious and ready to meet her, or atleast see her picture. 
We will be very busy this summer with baseball.  Chase made Allstars!! He is so excited! He has been working so hard and doing so good this season, pitching, catching, and hitting.  I love watching the three of them play sports.  Since we have started this process a lot of things have become more apparent to me.  For instance orphans probably don't get to play sports on a team, they probably no nothing about organized sports, and even more they don't have parents cheering them on, with anything they do or accomplish.  I find myself thinking of these things often.  Last week while we were in Las Vegas for a nursing conference I walked around these beautiful hotels and watched Cirque de Soleil and ate WAY too much food and thought how the orphans have probably never even been in a crowd or seen many things outside the orphanage walls.  We ate at Maggiano's, Yummy, However, I felt SO guilty.  We had ordered more food than any of us could eat, how could we just throw it all away, so we packed it all up (there were 6 to go boxes packed full of food) and passed it out to the homeless.  As greatful as I am for my life and where we live and all that we have, I am constantly realizing how much we don't need and how the things we think are neccesary, really aren't.  These kids need nothing more than love, forever love and they deserve that.  I mean can you imagine growing up without your parents, without a family, without a home?  I can't and if I can help just one to have a forever family than that's one less orphan out there. 

~For He has Risen, He has Risen indeed........
We had a great Spring Break, enjoying some time with my mom at her cabin in Blue Ridge.  It's so peaceful and relaxing there.  The kids loved playing in the hot tub and taking the dogs on walks.  We went to the movies to see "Mirror Mirror".  Cute movie, the theater was very interesting, only 2 theaters in the building and one man working the window, snack stand, and the actual movies themselves.  Oh and they did not take debit cards.......We came home Wednesday, Thursday night Chase started running a fever but seemed fine Friday.  Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt with family and friends and on the way home Chase threw up ALL OVER the back of our NEW van........poor guy, he felt horrible.  Then today, on Easter, at church, he took a terrible fall and has banged up both knees, hip, and shoulders.  In fact I'm a little worried about his knees, they are both so swollen but look so different......not good I know. He was playing and walking on them fine earlier but since we got home tonight he has been in a good bit of pain.  Wait and see how he is tomorrow.....
     So today was Easter.  I had to work last night so I was unable to go to church with the family this morning.:-(  No Easter pics yet, I will be putting them back in their Easter outfits for a picture, of course.....We went to my Mom's this evening for dinner and another Easter egg hunt, I got rab'd (means they weren't busy and didn't need everyone schedued) so I didn't have to go back to work tonight, well not yet anyway, I'm on call.
     Nothing new on the adoption front as of now.  Still trying to plan our last home study meeting, we all 5 have to be here together.  Not so easy right now with Mike in school and the kids in sports and me working nights.  All in God's time.......

"6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7