Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma's

I didn't expect to post again so soon but knew I would need to once the older kids admitted that they had "packaged snooped" and found a gift for Lia Grace tucked under the Christmas tree at my parent's house.                                                                                                                                       

 

We let the older kids open her present in her absence this year.

 

I know I had mentioned to my mom that we wanted to get Lia a nice baby doll for her arrival home but we didn't aggressively look for one as we knew that we still had plenty of time to shop for one for her. The doll my parents got her is perfect and beautiful! Her name is Calin Yang, and we will keep her in her box until Lia is home to receive her.

 

So, I guess in a small way, we did have a "mei mei" home with us at Christmas. We are looking forward to next year and can't wait to share Lia Grace's first Christmas with her!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

"We all have a past, but thank God, we all have a future."

Joyce Meyer

 

Merry Christmas! As we have prepared for the season and celebrated with family, we have not forgotten about the daughter who is not here with us this year. She has a tree in her room just like her brother and sister, she has a stocking hung, and she even had some presents under the tree waiting for her. (Santa delivered early this year due to our travel plans, and Lia Grace was not forgotten. Santa delivered her a new mini back pack, a ladybug sippy cup, and the board book Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You for the long plane ride home from Ch*na.) She is part of our conversations and preparations, and there is no doubt that we all look forward to next Christmas with Lia Grace home.





Lia's tree topper is her first "mei mei" plush toy that will be sent to her in her first care package.
 



I ordered these beautiful handmade wired ornaments from Scarlet Threads for her tree. They are the Chinese characters for Grace, Family, Faith, Blessing, Love, and Hope.

 

 

Lia's stocking was also hung by the fireplace with care. :)

 

But, at the same time my heart hurts so much. I hurt because I know that a world away there sits millions of orphans in institutions who don't know what Christmas is about. They don't know anything about our Savior. They don't know the word love or what it means to be loved. They don't know what family is or what it means to be a part of a family. They don't know what it means to feel safe. They don't know if their needs will be met or how long they will have to wait for those needs to be met. They don't know what it is like to have something to call their very own.

 

I placed the quote from Joyce Meyer on this post because I want our daughter to understand that our past does not define us. She doesn't have, or even know about the joys of Christmas now, but she will. Boy, will she ever!

 

We cannot wait to point her to the throne, teach her about Christ, and help her hide away His words in her heart. We cannot wait to decorate trees (all of them! If you know us, you know we have ALOT!), bake cookies for Santa, visit and take pictures with Santa, open gifts, and listen to the giggles that come with it. We cannot wait to tell her the words, "We love you.", give her hugs and kisses, and prove to her that no matter where we go or what she does, she will NEVER be an orphan again. We cannot wait to introduce her to her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, and friends. She has no idea how many people love her already and have been praying for her. We cannot wait for Lia Grace to see that she does have things that she can call "her very own".

 A friend sent this to me and I wanted to share it. It is a beautiful tribute to all the children and families who are waiting.

 

As always, please keep praying.

And from our home to yours...

 

Merry CHRISTmas!

Matthew 1:18- 2:23

 

 



LID

Wow! That was fast! As of today we are officially logged in with the CCCWA. *insert happy dance*
What this means is that we are ready for a referral now from Ch!na. I think I'm still in shock that we actually got this news so fast. Stay tuned...I'll update more soon! :)

DTC!

  The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it. 

1 Thessalonians 5:24
 

 Yes, He will. It's hard to believe that we are at this point now and that I can actually write that our dossier is on its way to Chin@. Seriously, someone pinch me! :)
 "THE" email:
 

The news came as I was waiting in the hair salon this afternoon. As soon as I read the words, the tears came. I could not even finish reading the whole email before I had to text the good news to friends and family. The sweet receptionist asked if I was okay, and I had to assure her that my tears were tears of joy. 

 

We celebrated by eating Chinese take out for dinner, of course!, and we planned to send a pink and purple lantern off into the night sky (to Ch*na with the dossier) with wishes for Lia Grace written on them but it was too windy. We will send them off another evening this weekend. Our neighbor, Jen, was so gracious and took the photos for us to document this milestone. Thank you, Jen, for blessing us with this gift! We are so appreciative.  



When I look back on this journey, there were days when I wondered if we'd ever make it to this point. The time seemed to stand still. It was during those idol hours that the questions and doubts crept in and it was in those same idol hours that I could hear the voice of God even louder. The doubts and hesitations were removed just as quickly as they came and the peace was restored.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

 

*For Lia Grace:
Your big brother and big sister painted the letters DTC and made the date for you. They are so excited to meet you and can't wait to do all the things that siblings do together. Your brother says that he can't wait to "teach you things" and your sister says that she wants "to be in charge of your clothes and your hair". Yes, Emma is dressed. Your brother and sister saw that costume and wanted her to wear it for Halloween this year in honor of YOU! We decided to wait until this milestone to actually let Emma wear it so that it would not get damaged. Lia Grace, have I told you lately how much you are loved?



What I Am Most Thankful For Today

"Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours

Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause

As I walk from earth into eternity"

~"Hosanna" Lyrics (Hillsong)

As I reflect on all that I am thankful for, the one thing that I am most thankful for is: broken hearts. It is our broken hearts that saw the need, heard the call, and are now stepping out in faith, and in obedience, to answer the call to adopt. These are some of the (thousands of) images that broke our hearts.

Orphans spending most of their days in cribs like these with only 1 nanny to care for so many children at a time.

The children often lay on wood, or particle board, so conditions are kept more "sanitary". The children really do not have any toys or belongings to call "their own".

 

 

So why would I be most thankful for broken hearts? Those hearts led us down this path. Without them, we would not be on this journey. We would still be making excuses as to why it "didn't make sense" or why it "wasn't a good time" to adopt. Because of our broken hearts, we are constantly, like in every breath breathed constantly, reminded of our TOTAL reliance on our Heavenly Father. We would not be learning all the lessons we are in patience, and for those that know me, this is so hard!  We are reminded to fully trust in His timing and not ours.  We are reminded that He will provide for us and our daughter. We would not be able to share the good news and minister to others about adoption (We are ALL adopted! Ephesians 1:5, Matthew 18:5, 2 Cor. 6:18- to name a few), and because of our broken hearts, there will be "one less"!  

 

"The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted." ~ Mother Teresa

 

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Although we do not have Lia Grace's referral yet, I am thankful, and hopeful!, that this will be the last Thanksgiving that she will be without her forever family. And, I am thankful for broken hearts.  



 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Psalm 107:1

 

DT....CO! :)

Dossier to....Colorado!

 

 Wonderful News~ I just received the call from our agency that our dossier has officially made it out of critical review. It is on its way to Denver where it will be bound (all documents ordered and lined up and all our photos mounted) in the "red folder" and then translated into Mandarin for the CCCWA. Once the translation is complete, it will be international express mailed to Beijing. So excited!

For Lia Grace....

Lia Grace, you are so loved baby girl. We can't wait to meet you! 

"Paper Pursuit" is over! :)

"There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart...pursue those." - Author Unknown

I'm happy to update that our dossier was submitted to our agency this morning! Michael delivered it and now it will begin going through the "critical review" process. Our agency will check it to be sure that everything that needs to be there, is there. (As if! I only checked over it a gazillion times before releasing it-ha!) Then, it will be overnighted to the main office in Colorado where all of our photos will be mounted , paperwork translated, and bound into a nice red folder like the CCCWA (Chinese Center for Children Welfares & Adoption- central government organization that manages the international adoption process) prefers. Once our dossier has made it through the "critical review" process it will be international airmailed to Ch!na! 

Here are some pics of our dossier getting checked in:

 

The night before he submitted the dossier:

We made a mad dash to the UPS store to make the last photo copy needed (the authenticated 797 from the Houston consulate).

 I checked, double checked triple checked, well, you get it!, a dozen times all of our paperwork to be certain nothing was missing before wrapping it up in its pink folder....

 

 This is what it looked like! :)

 

 

It is hard to believe that it took 6 months to get all that documentation together. Looking back, it wasn't that hard to do. Yes, it took time. Yes, it required resources and TONS of patience. But, I couldn't imagine NOT doing it for our daughter.  The hard part, for me, was having to rely on other people to do what they needed to do.

 

 I have to remind myself hourly that I am not in control and that this is a  FAITH journey. I have to remind myself hourly that He is the one that equipped us to run the race, and that through Him this journey has been birthed. I have to remind myself hourly that He will continue to provide for Lia Grace until we arrive and that He has a hedge of protection around all of us until we unite. At the end, there is a beautiful beginning. Until then, please keep the prayers coming, and thank you all for your continued encouragement! 

XOXOXOXO..... 

74 Days...

"To get through the hardest journey, we need take only one step at a time,

but we must keep on stepping."

- Chinese Proverb

74 very long days we have waited from the time our I-800A was receipted by the USCIS to today. 

Happy Day! The news that we had been waiting on finally arrived: 
We have approval by the USCIS to adopt a "foreign born child" Lia Grace! This was the last step, and the last piece in the paper chase, that we needed in order to bring our girl home. Huge step, lots of tears, thankful we are another step closer... :)

"Labor Pains..."

"For those that do not believe you have labor pains when adopting, let me fill you in on a secret....

The labor is worse when adopting! I have done both and know that the physical labor pain goes away quickly, but when adopting the "pain" starts when you decide to adopt and does not end until that baby is in your arms!"  

 ~ Maria Hickman                

Oh, how I can relate to this! We are only 4 and 1/2 months into our adoption but it feels like we have been working on it for much longer than that. It is intensified because we are finally "at the finish line" and are waiting on the last piece of paper, the I-797,  so we can be DTC (Dossier to Ch*na). So close, so, so close...

What have we been doing while we have been waiting on the I-797? Well, we mailed the rest of the dossier documents, minus the 797 of course!,  to a courier who walked them in to the Houston Consulate on our behalf. (Thank you to Cindy at My China Docs for your superior service and for taking such good care of our valuable documents!)

 The Dossier consists of the following documents, all of which had to be notarized, county clerk certified, and Secretary of State sealed before going to the Consulate for their authentication:

• Adoption Petition-written by us to the Chinese government stating why we want to adopt and pledging certain requirements
• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Certificate
• Financial Statement
• Home Study
• Police Background Reports 
• Physical Exams with Comprehensive lab/blood work
• Employment Verification Letters

Here are some pictures of our package as it was leaving for the courier in Texas. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck but was thankful my mom was with me. She was my encourager and reassured me that they would be fine as we watched the UPS truck pull away with all our important documents.  

 Off they went!

We also made copies and compiled all the required photos for the dossier. We needed 3 photos of just Michael and I (waist up) and 8 "family life" photos, along with 6 2x2 headshots of each one of us, and copies of our passports. I checked everything a gazillion times to be certain that I was not missing anything. *Once the 797 arrives, the original will be kept with us but a copy will go through the sealing process, just like the other 12 documents. After that one comes back, we will be ready to submit our dossier to our agency for critical review before it is sent international mail to Ch*na. More to come when we get there, but have I mentioned that we are close now? ;)

I did not blog on the day that we were fingerprinted but here is a picture of us outside of the Application Support Center:

Unfortunately, I was not able to take any electronic devices, or a purse!, in with us so I could not capture any photos of the actual fingerprinting process. It was very organized and went pretty quick.

When we got home my birthday present from my sweet parents had arrived. How timely! It arrived on the same day that we were fingerprinted! :)   Its contents are pictured below:

 A beautiful necklace with Lia Grace's name engraved on the back of the heart. Love, love, love it!

Our girl is faceless,  a world away, but is so much a part of our family already.



The Process Part 2

"The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

~ Lao Tzu

Besides all the initial paper chasing, there have been other "steps" that we had to complete in order to bring Lia Grace home.

There were the home study visits. Here is a picture of our social worker meeting with our children.
(I wish I would have snapped a few pics when she was at the house. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20!)

She also had to speak with Brandon, our oldest, over the phone since he is not local, and he had to complete some paperwork as well.



We completed parent training.

We took family pictures for the Dossier. Our neighbor, and friend, Marie blessed us abundantly with that gift. Again, a huge "THANK YOU!" to Marie for taking all of our family pictures. Words cannot express our gratitude to you.

 

                                  

And most importantly, we educated ourselves, and continue to! We read books on parenting adoptive children, began learning about the Chinese culture and traditions, and familiarized ourselves with the HUGE country of Chin@ and the Hen@n province, since we were told that that is most likely where Lia Grace will come from.  We also viewed many documentaries on the one child law, child abandonment, and state run institutions in Ch!na.  Yes, of course, we talked with other adoptive families and asked LOTS and LOTS of questions. :)

                 

We were not the only ones busy educating ourselves.  I "caught" my dad reading one of our books one morning while drinking coffee.

                                      

My mom has spent hundreds of hours reading various blogs and has also asked LOTS of questions about adoption and our journey. My parents are supportive, and like us, are anxious to see Lia Grace's sweet face and meet her.  

So, as I have stated before, it is a long process. More to come soon! :) But, as always, in the meantime, keep praying...

Home Study Approved!

"Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we're waiting for."

~Charles Stanley

The "object" we were waiting on was our home study. The great news is that on Tuesday, August 13th we received official word from our agency that we were home study approved and that our I-800A application to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office was mailed via priority mail. We are "over the moon" excited as we are one more step closer to seeing our Lia Grace's face and bringing her home.

On Friday, August 16th, we celebrated by eating Chinese food for dinner. Our family ate Panda Express, one of our faves!, and enjoyed it at home. Across country, in the small town of Cody, Wyoming, my parents went out to eat at a local restaurant to celebrate, too. Here are some pictures that my precious mother sent me from their evening out celebrating:

While they were eating, the owner of the restaurant came to them and asked them what the occasion was and they explained. Long story short, the owners have one adopted daughter from Chin@, and they used the same agency we are using!, and they are also waiting on a referral for their 2nd daughter. What a small world! 

Two families, miles apart, celebrating another step in the process done. Lia Grace, you are so loved already baby girl!

And, finally a poem for our youngest daughter:

I am so very special

I have been from the start

Before they held me in their arms

my family held me in their hearts.

And like a single drop of rain

that on still waters fall

My life and love will ripples make

and touch the lives of all.

So read this precious story

as step by step I grow.

I am a blessing and gift

as each page here will show.

~Author Unknown



The Process Part 1

"Despite the reams of paperwork, obstacles worthy of a horse show, and a wait that can rival an elephant's gestation, adoption feels no different on the inside."- Scott Simon,

 Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption

What steps have we gone through, so far, to bring Lia Grace home? Well, it started with our application and references. Two references were from close family friends, one from a friend, one from my parents, and two from my previous employers, since I am in direct contact with children on a daily basis. Thank you to all our references! You are also part of Lia's story. The only way that I know how to truly capture the process is through the photos we have taken up to this point. Here it goes!

The very, very beginning. The application was mailed off!

We were approved! I received the call during field day but later got this email:

Next, we met with our case manager, reviewed the whole adoption process, reviewed the dossier guide, discussed the trip to pick up Lia Grace, and submitted our first set of docs in order to begin the home study. All smiles, and I will admit, more tears of joy! A GREAT way to begin summer!! :)

 

Then, we began compiling the documents needed for our dossier.     

*Once all of these documents are notarized, county clerk certified, state sealed, and authenticated by the Ch!nese consulate in Houston (or in Chicago for one of my documents since I was born in MI), they can be mailed to Ch*na, along with family, couple, and passport photos. This is the most time consuming of the whole process. Once all of these super important documents have been through the "authentication process", our agency will critically review them before mailing them to Chin@. That is referred to as "Dossier to Ch*na" or in the adoption community, DTC. More to come on that later :) *

The "Paper Chase" Began. The very first document the kids and I chased was our marriage certificate. We drove to the courthouse and the judge, thank God she was there that day!, was gracious enough to sign it right away for me. The kids and I were thrilled that it went so smoothly and there was virtually NO wait!

 

The rest of the documents are kind of a blur because they were chased simultaneously. Here are a few of the photos from the various places we went:

Once we had all the dossier documents that were in OUR control, we began the sealing process. We are very thankful for our neighbor who is a notary and who is more than willing to help us notarize our documents. Thank you Becky! Words cannot express our gratitude to you!

Once they were notarized, they had to be county clerk certified. So, off to the courthouse they went...

Done! :)  Michael's employment verification statement was notarized by a notary from Coweta County (Newnan, GA) so we had to travel to that courthouse for that county certification.

The next stop in the sealing process was the Secretary of State's office.

Now that all the documents were notarized, county certified, and state sealed, they had to be authenticated by the consulate. Off to Chicago went my BC and the rest, once we get them, will go to Houston. Here are the documents that are ready to go to Ch!na as of today:

So you see. It is a process. A long, slow one. Keep praying friends~ we covet them and our sweet daughter needs them too.





 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.