Travel Approval Received!

We received our travel approval!! Waiting to have our dates confirmed!

Still Waiting...

I didn't  want anyone to think we weren't updating the blog... but we are still waiting to hear about our travel approval.  It could be tomorrow or even two weeks from now.   We are going into Chinese New Year and government operations will be shutting down for 7 days next week. So if we don't hear something very soon, we will be waiting some more.  We should still be leaving during March, we just might have a shorter notice to leave than I would like. 

We sure could use your prayers during the last part of our wait

• that our travel approval would come soon!
• prepare Grace's heart for when we rock her world upside down
• Matthew would be at peace with all the travel back to China and changes in our family
• for my back to feel better, it's just bothersome for the most part but I don't want it to get any worse 

Article 5

Well we have received our last piece of paperwork from the US consulate (article 5) in China and we are now we are waiting at the last step to receive travel approval (our invitation to travel to China). We also received a few new pictures of Grace from a mom who visited the orphanage this past week.  I am so grateful for all these updates and pictures.  With Matthew, we didn't have any updates till 10 days before we traveled.  It was a lot of running around at the last minute for sure.  I have been so thankful for the updates.  It looks like we will start travel either the first week or third week of March.

Grace looks like she is doing great.  All reports keep saying she is very happy and a bit naughty.  We know she has spent her whole life at the same orphanage and care center.  From her videos, she seems pretty connected to her caregivers.  My best guess is that she has hardly ever ridden in a car.  She is also very afraid of strangers, and I can only imagine how scared she will be of us.  I am thankful to have Matthew with us on this trip to sort of bridge the gap to our crazy American family.

CCAI

 We had the great opportunity to travel to Michigan a few weekends ago to meet up with other adoptive families and the founder of our adoption agency, Joshua Zhong. I have uploaded the video from the conference below.  Joshua's part of the program starts at around minute 37.   The video talks about Christy's Legacy of Hope (a sweet organization that helps orphans), an adoptive mom of 9 also shared her story, and lastly Joshua shared his story.  I highly recommend watching this video, it will give you a huge peak inside the world of adoption.    When we started the adoption process with Matthew, we really weren't certain how to proceed.  We had made some phone calls and really felt more confused than ever.  Kind of by "chance", I requested information from CCAI.  There were the only agency that had all their information completely printed and perfectly organized.  We immediately had the list of every homestudy agency in Ohio, referrals from over 50 families living in our area and a break down of all the costs, simply laid out.  I had tried for months to figure all of this out and here it was just like that.

Matthew and Joshua

We had never heard about CCAI before this.  We decided to sign up for a phone conference to learn more about them.  This is where we talked to Joshua the first time.  We were blown away.  We were really impressed that we got to speak to Joshua himself, not just a representative.   CCAI is a huge organization and the top person was handling all the incoming families personally.  We loved that the founders were Chinese and that they started it over 20 years ago.  Joshua is a pastor and his wife Lily is an attorney.  They not only have a huge staff in the USA but in China as well.  After using them with Matthew's adoption we didn't have any regrets at all.  Financially they were spot on.  They were there for us all the time if we needed something and travel with them was carefree.  All travelling families are given Lily's personal cell phone to call day or night in addition to a whole list of contacts when you are in China.  And guess who called us when we returned home? -  Joshua himself.  

 I really can't say enough good things about CCAI.  The conference we attended was really amazing.  Really the best part was meeting all the other families.  It is so profound to see all these adopted children walking around who just months or years earlier were living in orphanages.  We were even able to meet another family that lives within an hour of us who are at the same stage of the adoption process as we are.  We might  even get to travel with them! Funny we have to travel to another state to meet each other. 

                    

Two years home - Happy Family Day Matthew!

Family Day 2013

I can't believe we are celebrating Matthew being our son for two years.  It's an amazing milestone because he has now been in our family longer than he hasn't. What a beautiful yet sometimes hard two years it has been.  Funny when we started out on this journey, I was so worried about his medical condition and traveling.  Those were the easy parts!  

Matthew is still such a sweet little guy and he has a great smile.  However he still sometimes struggles with being left and with sleeping.  I used to believe that the struggles would somehow just disappear, but I am coming to realize that when a little one loses their whole world over and over again, it's not something you just get over in two years.   It takes time... If you lost ever care giver in your life four different times before you were two years old, why would he ever think the next one would be forever? 

Thankfully all the sweet moments fully outnumber the harder ones and he has come so far. His hugs are the best and and he is always telling us "I love you all the time big" and " I so glad your my mama".  He loves to help out.  And surprisingly enough, he has no anxiety about  going to preschool and Sunday school all by himself.  

I am also astonished at what he has learned in the past two years.  He speaks very well and has a great vocabulary. Most people assume he is receiving services at the preschool he attends, but he actually is one of the peer role models.   He can count and knows all the sounds that each letter of the alphabet makes.  Matthew knows how to wrestle with his brother and this boy loves to craft with his sister.  He has even started to relearn Chinese a little tiny bit. He likes to practice my Chinese lessons with me and picks up things a 100 times faster than I can.  He is also my first child that has ever enjoyed doing flash cards.  We have also discovered his love affair with playing board and card games.  And yes, he continues to dress up in his football jerseys to join the daily game of football in the living room with the rest of the boys.  The picture frames on the wall will never be the same, I am thankful for super glue!

before his surgery

Medically, Matthew is doing great.  He has grown 7 inches and gained 13 pounds in two years. He is done having surgeries for now.  His scars are healing nicely and he doesn't need to go back to his clinic for a whole year.   His surgeons were really pleased with his healing.  As he gets older, he may have a few nip and tucks, but nothing needed just yet.

April 2014

I have become very humbled and grateful with this little boy God has entrusted to us.  So sweet Matthew - Happy 2 year Family Day!  I am so honored to call you my son and I am looking forward to seeing you in your new role of Big Brother. You have given us far more than we can ever give you in return.    I pray that God continues to heal your heart and fills you up with His joy and peace.  

Final update and provisional i800 approval!

Today we got what will probably be our final update on Grace before we travel.  It sounds like she is doing well.  She is walking up and down stairs, can climb out of her crib, likes dolls & children's songs and is affectionate.  They say if someone cries, she will give them a tissue or try to comfort them with a toy. She can also say mama, baba, older brother (Gege) and older sister (jiejie).  This leads me to believe they haves shown her the photo album I sent which has these four words listed with our pictures.  Her caretakers report that Grace is also an extrovert, guess this family is finally due one, sorry baby girl.    They also were able to answer some of our questions regarding her medical condition, it was very reassuring.  Grace is now 26 pounds and 34 inches tall - still a little on the small side for her age, but ok. 

We also received our provisional approval for the next round of immigration.  Travel looks like it will happen in March.  We have been busy getting Matthew and Grace's bedroom decorated.  Shelby and Robbie helped take down the old border and Jeff and I patched and repainted the walls.  Big surprise, we went with a Disney theme! Since Gracie is climbing out of her crib, good thing we went with the twin bed, too.

We have also been doing a little shopping collecting items for our trip (lots of Pepto bismol) and a few cute girlie things.  Still completing paperwork, but knowing it will end soon.  I have been able to take a Chinese class and I really love it.  I am hardly fluent, but trying to learn a little bit so I can communicate with Grace.  " are you hungry? It's time to go to bed.  Do not hit ;) " I have been wanting to take a chinese class for a very long time and just not had the time to do so.  God provides and how awesome that sweetest lady offered to teach free beginning mandarin classes within walking distance of our home.  Matthew has really enjoyed learning with me too and singing songs in Chinese when I practice at home.  

This is getting real!!

Lily Orphan Care Center

Another mom who has a daughter from the same area as Grace, was able to direct me to a video that has Grace in it. This video was shot last spring and talks about the Lily Orphan Care Center that Grace has received care at.   She appears around 30 seconds into the video for just a few seconds.  I can't begin to tell you what every second of video and every picture means to an adoptive mom's heart as she waits to go bring her child home.