No travel dates or riding roller coasters - YET!

Sorry no travel dates yet! I paperwork has finally found its final resting place, though a week later than expected. It will be miracle if we now get to travel in January, it is looking more like mid February. We have been busy trying to get everything together to take with us and getting our house in order. Its like waiting for the go ahead to have your life flipped upside down. Oh life flipping please come soon!!!

It was just a little over a year ago, that Jeff turned to me while we were riding in the car and asked if I still wanted to adopt. We had originally talked about adoption early on in our life together because we weren't sure if we would be able to become pregnant due to some previous health problems. That myth was soon dispelled. Over the years I would jokingly throw adoption around, but nothing really serious. That was something other people did, not our family. It was about 4-5 years ago, God really brought it to my attention. A friend from college, adopted a little girl from China. Their journey pretty much rocked my world and my thinking. Our friend even suggested we think about adopting, too. Yeah right! Again that was something other people did...

None the less, I decided to put adoption on the last page of my journal and I mentioned it in my prayers. I was revisiting that list last December and went whooaa. It still was on my mind and heart. I started looking at my life, too. We were really at a nice comfortable time in our lives, did I really want to rock this boat? Hello? - we have a child going to college soon and we were in the midst of our ten years of fixing up the house. Hello? - my kids go to bed by themselves and no one is in diapers. We had no toys in our living room! No big stores of cash hanging around to finance an adoption either. And we can all finally ride all the roller coasters together we want ( ok that one was lame!).

So, I changed my prayer a bit... I asked God if this was something he wanted us to do please make it ok with Jeff's heart and have him come to me. Jeff is my planner and he is so practical and sensible. A trait that I originally didn't appreciate, but I really have come to love. I needed to hear it was a good idea, not just a crazy idea of mine. I also needed to hear he wanted this as badly as I did and that we at least had a chance to make it happen. I also mentioned in my prayer, that if Jeff never came to me or didn't have a heart for it that I would be ok with that, too. So when he turned to me in the car a few weeks later, his heart really was in the same place as mine. God does answer prayers. Over the past year, when I have felt overwhelmed - Jeff has been our biggest cheerleader. It is an amazing feeling to jump off the side of a cliff holding hands with Mr Practical. Thank you God for giving me just the person you made for me.

It also has been a tough year. Can I tell you something weird though, it has given us the ability to step out of our everyday lives and look at everything in a totally different way. The stuff that mattered last year, doesn't really seem to matter so much this year. Two people that were "done having kids" have aching hearts to be parents to a little boy that they don't even know, who will leave toys in the living room, wear diapers and not be able to ride roller coasters in the near future. Money that was no where near budgeted, has "shown up" along the way just when we needed it and we squeaked by. People have said Matthew is so blessed to be getting a family, but the bigger blessings are really ours and more are yet to come.

Merry Christmas!

Getting Closer...

We are headed into the home stretch to bring Matthew home. We hope to receive our travel dates in the next weeks. We have a slight chance to travel in the end of January and a better chance later in February after Chinese New Year.

We have Matthew's room ready, but we are pretty sure he will end up sleeping in our room. We have been told to expect he might even still take a bottle. It is more the norm there, regardless it will give us a better chance to hold and bond with him. We still haven't received an update since his last measurements in the spring. I at least have a little bit of clothing covering the entire 18 months to 3t range. I have told Shelby to expect to go shopping while we are over in Ch!na as we figure out more of Matthew's needs.

Some other families that have recently travelled to pick up their children suggested we bring him his own bag to hold some of his own things. So we did pick up a tiny Thomas backpack to take with us and Jeff requested that our littlest future Asian Zip's fan have his own Zippy, too.

So excited to be bringing him home soon. Just want to hold my boy...

List of random acts of kindness

I saw this on another blog to do random acts of kindness...

*Cupcakes to bank
*Leave encouraging notes or gift cards on cars
*Volunteer your time
*Buy someone’s breakfast/lunch/dinner
 *Send flowers or giveaway flowers
*Doughnuts to school
*Take balloons and/or treats to hospital
*Pump someone’s gas
*Go caroling
*Carepacks for homeless
*Feed parking meters
*Leave a big tip
*Anonymous chalk art or door hangers
*Food gift cards for homeless
*Give gift card to shopper or leave in shopping carts
*Gift cards for single parent
*Birthday/Christmas bag drop
*Make & leave bookmarks at library or bookstore
*Hide $1 bills at Dollar Tree
*Over pay for Contributor newspaper
*Sticky notes on public bathroom mirror
 *Treat for Salvation Army bell ringer
*Donations to Crisis Pregnancy Center
*Tip drive-thru worker
*Muffins to pediatricians office
*Hold the door for shoppers
*Decorate someone’s porch or mailbox
*Leave change at laundromat
*Return shopping carts from parking lot
*Tape change to vending machine or bubble gum machines
*Pay strangers over due fees at library
 *Gift wrap presents for free
*Treats for library workers
*Adopt a family for Christmas
*Bag of groceries with recipes to a family
*Pass out candy canes
*Paint rocks and leave for others to find
*Popcorn, candy & movie rental bucket to a family
*Babysit for couple/single parent
*Handmade cards to nursing home
 *Pay for someone’s Santa picture
*Giveaway balloons/stickers/books to kids shopping w/parents
*Treat for mailman, post office workers, trash collector and/or police & fire station
*School supply donations to a classroom
*Bring up neighbors trash can
*Gift or flowers for custodian at school
 *Give genuine compliments
*Card for loved one
*Pay for car behind you in drive thru line
*Mail handwritten letters of encouragement
*Pick up trash
*Coffee for people waiting for bus or outdoor workers
*Donate blood
*Treat for bus driver
*Donate non perishables to food pantry
*Gift card for all night gas station/store worker
*Share Sonic happy hour
*Leave surprises at playground (Coins, small toys, filled Easter eggs)

Tis’ the season for kindness…you know you want to do it too.

We got the Golden Ticket

I came home Thursday after running some errands and there it was sitting in my email.  I know what Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka felt like when he got the golden ticket - we finally got our LOA (letter of approval) to adopt Matthew after an 80 day wait.   This doesn't end the paperwork yet, but it's a HUGE step and it also gives us a better idea of when we will get to go to Ch!na. Looks like 10-12 weeks from now, but I am sure we will need to figure in some holidays (both American and Chinese). End of January or February is looking like our time to travel.

 

Jeff celebrated a birthday this week, too.  Since we are in penny pinching mode (nothing like Christmas and finalizing an international adoption all at the same time - yikes!!), he got to have "practical stuff for our trip" birthday this week.  He was so excited that I gave him travel toilet paper (public bathrooms in Ch!na don't usually have any), new socks & underwear, Pepto Bismol, and a new shaver.  Lots of anticipation for Christmas - maybe Santa will bring us some hand sanitizer and a travel power adaptor???   

 

 

We are so thrilled, humbled and nervous to be going ahead. It's so crazy going into this next part of our lives with so many unknowns.  I feel like we have won the lottery and are getting to jump off the side of a cliff x 1000000 all  at the same time.   Soli Deo Gloria

Impromptu picture in Jeff's office to sign the "golden ticket".

 

Never say never

This has been the year for "never thought I'd be doing that...". Almost 17 years ago, we put together our first baby items. Who would think we would be doing it all again?

Last week, my dear sweet buddies Diane and Rhonda gave me baby shower (again never say you're never be having one of those again). It was a china and tea room theme - two of my favorite things. We received many nice things and what a blessing when you are starting from scratch. People also brought baby items to be donated to the orphanage when we go to China.

With the money and gift cards we received, we were able to buy a car seat, monitor and stroller. Jeff and I had a rare night of shopping, and we went through the baby department at Target. It almost felt like we were going to get caught and we really weren't supposed to be there. Having been a younger parents the first time around, I forget that plenty of people in their 40s have small children and really not so uncommon.

I even got to do a test run of some of the new items this week. I watched my godson yesterday who is the same age as Matthew. The new grocery cart was a hit (as was the box it came in). I have also determined, we will need baby latches on the cabinet that houses the DVD player and Robbie's room will need a latch or gate (too many exciting things within reach). I was also amazed how little 19 months really is, but reaffirmed what a fun age this also can be. Boy is our life gonna be a changing!

Discounts

Shelby came home with an interesting story yesterday. As they were discussing Ch!na in one of her classes, a person spoke up and said "I have this friend on facebook and her family is adopting a little boy from Ch!na with a facial disfigurement. Since he has that problem that get a discount on him."

Huh? Funny enough the person didn't even realize that Shelby was in her class at the time when she said it. And what about this discount?? Not sure where that came from, but I would like to reassure everyone there wasn't any discount. I am thrifty though and I don't mind admitting that. Our Matthew is worth a billion catrillion zillion dollars just for the record - no discounts though.

I was split on whether I should even bring that person's comment up. It's hurtful, but and I know Matthew will one day read this blog. By that time I am sure he probably had heard it all before. There is a lot of ignorance in this world and I too have been a big offender. A lot of grace and a little re-education can go a long way to change how a person perceives someone.  Hopefully that's enough to open their heart a little wider, too. 

So Matthew when you read this please just roll your eyes, shake your head and be armed with a lot of grace.  We dreamed of you, excitedly hoped for you, prayed for you, and checked our emails every 15 minutes for 9 months to hear even the slightest bit if information about you - you were created at the exact time for big reasons just the way you are. Did I mention handsome too? And no we didn't have a coupon.