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!! :-)