Flying

Flying

 

So day one was flying flying annnnnd more flying. But it started with the hardest moment I think I have ever experienced.  From the we arrived at the airport everything step seemed like an out of body experience. I am not and probably never will be a world traveler. I like to stay in my safe predictable surroundings…with my children! So when we got to the airport my mind didn’t know quit how to operate. I felt like I should focus on the task at hand, tickets, luggage figuring out where to go, but I also didn’t want to miss one second of being with my sweet babies and saying goodbye. So we went to the last stop before getting onto the train to our gate and said our goodbyes to the kids. All had smiles and a part of my heart felt happy that they all seemed as ready as we were to go get the rest of our family and come home. Until it was time to walk away. I turned to see Levi fighting to run down the hallway with us which broke my heart and instantly brought tears to my eyes. I didn’t want to turn to look at them again so I could be brave for them. When I finally got far enough away that I didn’t think they could see my face I turened back around but they were gone which triggered even more tears. We stepped onto the tram and when the doors opened they were on the other side waving at us. I saw tears in their eyes as they all waved and the doors closed. Such a hard moment, I cant even really begin to explain. We rode it to security and the first man we came to asked why I was crying and asked who we were leaving behind? I told him our children and he half laughed and said well your not going to be gone forever right? I knew he was trying to cheer me up but that wasn’t going to happen. I told him we were adopting and that we would be gone for a little less than three weeks and he said, “oh yea, that is a long time.” Thankfully we went through all of our security check points and all other points with no problems at all. In fact when we got to Chicago I went to the bathroom and was surprised to see clear seat cover on the toilet that changed with just a wave of the hand!!! When I came out I asked Josh if he has seen them and he didn’t believe me so he had to go back in himself and check them out! Okay yea, so I told you we aren’t world travelers! LOL

Once in Chicago we skyped with the kids which was so hard. We heard Emma sobbing in the background which broke out hearts and she wouldn’t come on the computer. Eventually she calmed down and showed us her brave face.

 We were also a little puzzled about what to do with the hot towels they handed us on our way to Beijing, but when all else fails, steal glances at what  everyone else is doing…okay so we’re taking a “hot bath”.  The flight itself was very uneventful. Josh and I were trying to enjoy the long flight there since we knew there was a very good chance the flight home may not be as enjoyable.  Everything went smooth the food was not too bad and we met a sweet young Chinese girl that was happy to talk to us about the adoption. And the flight wasn’t too crowded and the row we sat in had five across and there was 4 of us to begin with but one person moved up a row so we ended up with just 3…plenty of leg room.

We landed safely in Beijing earlier than expected and went through cutoms easier than we imagined. In fact, Josh’s cousin Ben told us foreigners don’t usually pay attention to customs, just walk though but we stopped and asked the guy and he said just put one bag through, which ended up pulling off part of the machine…ummm I guess it’s not used much! Ben met us and we went to the car. The air was VERY thick! And

And the driving wasn’t too bad, but maybe because I had expected it to be a little nuts. A lot of horn honking, which is more out of respect for the other driver, letting them know your coming move out of the way, and lines on the road, eh they are more fun to drive on top of! Red lights, obey them if you want but if you’re a huge truck carrying coal, well your bigger so go through it! So basically there are lights signs and lines, but they are only suggestions. We ended up getting back to Ben’s apartment where we crashed pretty hard. It was a cold night as China’s government controls when the heat comes on and it hadn’t yet so it was about 60 degrees in the building with cold tile floor. I took Melatonin and slept till 5am and then again till about 8am.

It was a long and hard day, but we were both so thankful for the many many texts, emails, facebook status’ and comments we got from all of you! They really did honestly carry us through the whole trip. With every message I felt like someone was right next to us cheering us on and pushing us to China! Thank you so very much for your love and support!!!

 

 the driving wasn’t too bad, but maybe

The Time Has Come

Ohhhh my head and my heart! I am all over the place and so here all at the same time. I have moments of pure excitement and joy and anticipation, then moments of shear FEAR! I honestly have felt the prayers and thoughts of so many as I have not been crazy worried or sad as often as I thought I would, but yesterday I heard a Christmas song that about threw me over the edge! Christmas!!!! You mean life will still go on as SOON as I get back!!!! AHHHH! But I breathed in and out (where are those paper bags?!) and thought to myself, get home from China, let those things happen when they happen. No expectations!
Last night my husband and I were surprised at our two different small groups (men and women's) by a BABY! SHOWER! It was so beautiful and i had such a great time being showered in love by my friends in Christ! I don't think they will ever know really how much that meant to both Josh and I! That same morning we were also blessed by our church for $2000 to help with the cost of our travel! God's hands and feet moving in our lives! HE is SO good!!!
Here are a few of the pictures from my shower, of course Josh's man shower doesn't have any pictures! LOL

Amazing shirts my friend Amy did for me!!! The boy panda ones say Little Brother and the Lady Bug ones say Big Sister.

SO I thought I'd give you all a few of the details on how our trip is going to go. :) You Welcome!!!

We leave here Saturday and get to China late Sunday. We will be met by my husbands cousin and will stay with him for 2 nights. (Yes he has a cousin in China, crazy right?!) He is a teacher and teaches English to children and we will be sightseeing with them on Monday and going to his class to let them practice their English on us! Should be interesting. 

Tuesday we will fly to Isac's province and rest, maybe get out and see some of his province.

The next day will be the day we get to meet him!!! Before we meet him we will meet with his foster parents to thank them for all they have done to take care of him for the least 2 years. Please pray for their hearts as it can't be easy for them to say goodbye. And pray for Isac's heart as they are all he knows.

Thursday and Friday we have a few papers to sign and some time for shopping and seeing more of his province.

Saturday we fly into Nina's province.

Sunday we will get to rest and relax and enjoy her province.

Monday is the day we get Nina!!!! Pray for her heart as they are taking her from her orphanage to be picked up at a different orphanage where she wont know anyone, until we come get her. Sign many papers and get to know our children more. 

Tuesday and Wednesday rest and adjustment.

Thursday a little bit of sightseeing. 

Friday pick up papers and fly to our last province for the end of our trip!

Saturday kiddos medicals and pictures.

Sunday rest.

Monday paperwork.

Tuesday U.S. Consulate (CA appt). 

Wednesday fly back to Beijing for our flight BACK HOME!!!!!

*Phew...anyone else really exhausted!!! :)

Please pray for not only our hearts but ALL of the hearts of all our kiddos. It is going to hit them all at different times what changes are going to happen and I just want them to always know they are loved cared for and we are here. (Though not physically for all.)

I AM FINALLY HERE PEOPLE! Crazy! 

Love you all!!! Thank you for following our journey!

My Friend's Guest Post-"The Orphan Cry"

I don't know if you know this or not (if your my facebook friend you know ;)) But this Sunday is ORPHAN SUNDAY!! November is National Adoption month, a month to focus on the orphan crisis. Many churches around the U.S. take time the first week of November to bring attention to the many orphans around the world who need us.

A dear sweet friend, who I have had the privilege to get to know through this adoption process, came home about 3 months ago with her own little man and is starting the process again to go back for her sweet girl. She starting writing a series of post leading up to Orphan Sunday. With her permission I am re-posting her first blog post as I am really hoping it helps you all see and understand the high and lows of the love of adoption...

The Orphan's Cry

*This coming Sunday is "Orphan Sunday" November 3rd.
Church's around the world take part in bringing awareness about the fatherless and ways to get involved. I am going to do a post a day about orphans, the fatherless, adoptive parents, and they ways we as Christians we can be involved and put to action the verse 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world 
              James 1:27

One of my adoptive mommy friends and I were chatting the other day about how our kids were adjusting since coming home. We both have had similar issues with our kids, and upon sharing experiences discovered both our kids have a particular "cry." It's a cry we both had discovered is not like the other cries we have heard since they have come into their family. It's a very distinct, sad and haunting cry. We both agreed this cry we hear stops us, it haunts us, it makes your heart beat out of your chest and you loose your breath.  Hours later I  was thinking back to our conversation and realized this was 

"the Orphan's cry"

Yes our kids are no longer Orphan's! Praise Jesus! But there are always reminders that stop you in your tracks, you find yourself having moments where you flash back to life before "YOU" before they were in our arms, they were somewhere else. They were in an institution- even the nicest of orphanages ( like Regis's) they were without a momma and a daddy, they were missing that very relationship we all are designed by our heavenly father to flourish under.  My boy lived almost 4 years without that relationship. 
We as adoptive parents enter that journey of redemption with them, we take on their pain, we take on their grief.....


we sit with them when they are crying and grieving

we watch them "glaze over" or "shut down" when there maybe too many people around, or they have too much stimulation. 

We take them off the playground because some other child has startled them so badly its reminded them of being in the orphanage and they can't stop crying

We sit with them during night terrors, not allowed to touch because that will set them off even more.

We sit through pediatric, dentist, ENT, cardiac, orthopedic, and so many other specialist doctor appointments while our child flails and cries and yells because their only experience with doctors has been rough and hurtful, and without compassion..

WE are filling out form after form that serves as a constant reminder our child was once an orphan because we don't have the answers for "family medical history"

we get to hear "they are so lucky to be in your family" when when we know nothing about their past wast was lucky....

We find we can't put "footed pajama's" on our child because our she was restrained at some point in the orphanage and this triggers terror 

We get asked question after question about their "real parents" 


we get asked whats wrong with our kids feet, or eyes, hands, or head

We hear them yell "don't leave me mommy" when we leave to run an errand,  knowing they remember being left by their birth mom

we get stares and second glances and questions about how much our kids "cost"

we have to go to their rooms to see if they have woken up in the morning because they have learned not to cry upon waking, because no one comes

we find food under their pillows, stashed away in their rooms because the fear of running out of food is still so fresh in their little minds

we sit with them when they cry that cry that takes our breath away

we love them through the screams and tantrums and screams of "your not my mommy"

we see them regress and shutter at the sound at someone speaking mandarin or their native language to them.

we rub our hands on the back of their sweet heads, so flat from being left in crib for hours on end - a reminder for life that they were left alone, left too long....

but WE also

Get to see them blow bubbles for the fist time

Get to see them slide down a slide and play on a play ground for the first time

we get to see them try a new food for the first time

we get to see them slowly gain trust in us

we get to hear our deaf child say " I love you" after of weeks of hard work and determination to communicate.

we get to see them try cotton candy for the fist time and see the cutest sticky faced grin!

we get to see their hair start to grow, their little ribs not to show so much, and they finally get to be "On" the growth chart at the doctors

we get to see them gain the strength to sit up at  24 months of age, to stand, and to begin to walk.

we get to tell our "story" to complete strangers and see them smile

we get to see their lips "pink up" for the first time in months after their heart surgery

we get to see them "light up "  around their new brothers and sisters, establishing relationships that will last a lifetime! 

we get to experience all their "first" through their eyes

we get to see JOY
WE get to feel it
WE get a glimpse, a taste of the Joy our heavenly father experiences in US, when we join HIS family

and you know what? These ALL outweigh the "hards" and the "tantrums" and the "cries"


Our children who come to us through adoption have a lifetime of hurdles, they are not all of a sudden "ok" when we bring them home. They are resilient yes, they are miracles. 
As adoptive parents we have chosen to walk the path with them, sometimes it will be easy, sometimes we don't or won't know what to do. So we pray for the Fathers help, and we pray for the day when they take the step and ask 
the savior to come into their sweet hearts and they finally experience the real "redemption" and healing only Jesus can provide.

http://mylifesongkb.blogspot.com/

Love you all!!! Have a great week! Wear those adoption shirts this Sunday!

Getting So Real

If you had not heard yet-WE GOT T(ravel) A(pproval)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are going to China in 2 weeks!!!!
I have to say watching the hours and minutes pass by Friday night was AGONIZING to say the least. I kept telling myself, do not let it bother you, it could happen Monday and it wont make a big difference if it does, but my heart was sinking fast. And as I sat on the couch that night with my husband watching silly movies with the kids, and i had to tell one more person that there was no news, the flood gates took over...I was heart broken. I was just so tired of hoping and waiting, I wanted to GO. Finally I took a few breaths and tried to let myself enjoy the moments I had with my family of 6 at home. Then my phone made an odd ring. A ring tone I had set up to sound weird so it was a sound that I would only hear if my social worker was calling me with news or information and again I was fighting back the flood gates. I almost couldn't answer it because I knew I'd sound crazy crying before I even really knew what she was calling for. Josh just looked at me asking me who it was and I could barely get out that it was Kelsey. I rushed to the room so I could talk (you know Murphy's law for mom on the phone=must ask her every question I have ever had since birth).
Kelsey and I went on to say a few words and I wanted the whole time to stop being polite and say PLEASE TELL ME YOU CALLED WITH TA?! But I didn't...but she got to the part where she said well it came in! And I lost it! Still trying to keep my cool, answer the kids and Josh, and have a calm grown up conversation while dancing with joy and excitement inside!
My heart hasn't stopped beating fast since! When I announced to my Facebook world tons of our friends and family joined in with celebration, love and encouragement. And you all will never truly know just how much that touched our hearts to see!!! REALLY TRULY TOUCHED!
My mind has been on Nina a lot. Wondering if  I am ready to take on her special need. I have never been much of a fighter, and honestly having 4 healthy kids, I don't think I have really had to. But Nina will probably need that at times. Someone who knows her and knows what she needs and will fight to make sure she gets what she needs. Am I really the one God created to be her mom? And wouldn't you know in church Sunday something my Pastor said, "what I believe defines my self worth". And what I believe is God created me to be the woman who follows his calling, I believe God has called me to step up and fight for Nina and Isac. So He has made me to be the mom they need. After church I was talking to Pastor and he was asking me about our adoption and I was telling him how nervous I was about being ready to handle her special need and be all she needs me to be. His words brought tears to my eyes as he said, what really matters is that God trust us to call us to be their parents. So mind blowing that God trusts us with His precious children.
The love that we have gotten from our church family this morning was amazing! We never got two feet before someone gave us a hug and was rejoicing with us! I just can't wait till Nina and Isac one day realized just how loved they are!

Prayer request:Getting things together, keep praying for our sweet children's hearts as they are leaving so much. And pray for our own children's heart as they are about to have two new siblings at home.

Have a great week! LOVE YOU ALL

"What to Expect When Your Expecting"

Some of you mamma's out there probably remember reading this book. I myself read a lot of the pages in it, though not all. Page upon page about what to do if your baby is crying, what that small rash is forming on their tiny little legs. How to help them fall asleep and how to wrap them up tight before bed. Something I never remember reading was how it is clinically proven that the love, soothing tone and loving touch of the mothers skin on her new born baby, helps the babies brain to develop. Or that by simply feeding your baby when it is time to eat, or changing their diaper when they are wet or dirty, teaches your baby that they are loved, they are secure and that they can trust this woman called mommy.

I suppose one of the reasons it isn't in the book is because it seems like a no brainier to most to love nurture and take care of our baby and give them what they need. Yet, for an orphan, many of these things were lacking in their young infant lives. Many were dropped off at train stations, left behind on buses or in the hospital rooms, or at gates of police stations or the orphanage gates. Many never had the chance to be taught to trust, having to cry and have no one hear them, be hungry and have no one bring them food, sit in a dirty diapers for hours before someone took the time to finally look their way, or just simply lay in a crib for hours on their backs while time ticked away. Then later learn to trust even less as the older children fought to take their food and have no one to take the time to step in and help them.

       All of this is likely how both of our sweet children have been living all of their lives. I am grateful that Nina seems to be in a nice orphanage, as far as orphanages go, and Isac is with a foster family who I pray stepped in and filled in the gap for his biological mother until we can go get him. That's not to say that any orphanage or foster family can take the place of being with their forever family though.

    I say all this to give you a glimpse as to why doctors, physiologist and adoptive parents who have been there, recommend cocooning. Cocooning is when a family comes home with a child from an orphanage and they try to stay close to home for a month (or more or less depending on the children). In a sense helping them to trust their small home environment before they step out into the rest of our families lives outside the home. Our children will be losing allll that is normal to them. Their sights, their smells, their care takers, the children around them and even people who look like them. All of this will be very very overwhelming and may take a while for them to process and get used to. We want to create a trusting environment for them that they know is their safe space and theirs.

We need to be the ones to feed them, wipe away their tears and give them snuggles, as a way to build that newborn-parent relationship.  Isac may have some idea of what a family is, Nina not at all, and they need to learn when they are hungry or need security, we fill in the roll of the ones who do that for them. We need to build trust that we will always be there to protect and provide for them the very best we can.

In all this we need your help as well (you all thought you were done helping us didn't you. ;)) Children in orphanage settings have a really hard time not attaching to anyone and everyone, especially those they may see often or who give them things so it is very important that they don't get excessive hugs or kisses from anyone other than us for awhile until they are very secure with their role with us as the parents as it can hinder that relationship. That is not to say we want you to ignore them or anything but a simple short hug or high five is fine. And we ask for awhile that we are the ones giving them any gifts or food or attention as most of their lives they have gotten what they wanted from other caretakers by "being overly friendly" (a survival trait)  and them trying to get that from others can harm their attachment to us.

      We say all this knowing ALL children and families are different, no two are the same, so what we do is something we have prayed and learned about ourselves and not what we think everyone should or needs to do themselves. I write all this to give you a heads up on how we will start off when we get home. We may get home and discover that Nina and Isac never seemed to pick up on the normal orphanage habits. I know some have expressed wanting to bring meals and/or meeting us at the airport which we would LOVE and be so honored. Know we love each one of you and are so so very thankful for all the love you have poured on us! Just as a mom with a newborn, we know our cocooning is only a season and may not need to be as intense as we are planning on. Only God knows that, so for now we are following what we feel He has led us to do! And that we will be out in the real world again, coming to birthday parties and play dates again!

Thank you all for your love, support and encouragement! YOU mean the WORLD to us!!

*Prayer request-we are on day 5 of our TA (travel approval) wait!! We so hope to get it this week!!! Please pray that when we do we can find good plane tickets for Josh's mom and aunt who are coming to help take care of our children!

Love you all! If you have ANY questions about any of this we would be more than happy to answer any that we can. Here are a few more sites that explain some of what we were talking about.

http://mylifesongkb.blogspot.com/2013/05/coming-home-post.html

http://filledwithjoyfamily.blogspot.com/2013/06/cocooning.html

A Moment of No Words

                WOW!!!! What a week. As we are nearing the end of our adoption I'm thinking back to the fear and uncertainty we had to saying yes to this big step. International Adoption is not cheap as you can see from our goal and the fear that slipped in often as to how in the world we are going to raise that much, took over my heart quite a few times over the year. But time and time again, My God showed up over and over again proving He is bigger than the number, bigger than my fears and bigger than life! Through family, through friends and even through complete strangers!!! As of last Wednesday we were still $7000 short of our goal. To see that we had come that far was amazing in of itself. We were not too stressed as we had just found out the day before that we received approval an interest free loan to pay off the rest. So we had all but laid the fundraising mindset down to continue getting ready for our children, when we got some shocking and exciting news on Wednesday afternoon. A family friend on my husbands side donated $5000 to our adoption!!! My husband walked in that day with a huge grin on his face but neither of us had much time to rejoice together in it as we had church and dinner and bedtime. Finally as Josh was finishing up the kids bedtime routine and I sat to catch up on Facebook before heading to bed I got a friend request from someone I didn't know but had mutual friends so I accepted not thinking much of it. Then my new friend sent me a message...

• "Four years ago, my husband Andy could barely run one mile without being totally out of breath. Since then he's ran multiple 5K's, 10K's, 15K's, 50K's, half marathons, the Chicago marathon, Bourbon Chase Relay, the Peace, Love and 50 miles trail marathon in Hell, Michigan, as well as his first 100 mile trail marathon at the Indiana Trail 100 in Albion, Indiana. When Andy first started talking about wanting to run 100 mile trail marathons, he had a strong desire to simply finish the race in the 30 hour time limit. He ran the Indiana Trail 100 in 27 hours and 30 minutes under some of the absolute worst weather conditions for Indiana in April. When he talked of wanting to run more 100 mile races, he discovered a passion to start running for a cause. We talked and prayed about it and decided his next race in Leadville, Colorado on August 17 would be a great opportunity to accomplish that goal and help bring a sweet two year old boy named Tucker home to Ryan and Amy Abell; however, God clearly wanted us to do more, so we set a goal to raise twice the amount of money that they still needed to fully fund their adoption in hopes of helping other families, as well.
• On August 17th and 18th, Andy completed 100 miles in 28 hours and 44 minutes. Our friend Matt Limeberry ran 50 miles with Andy and I ran the last 5 with him. We were even able to talk with Amy on speaker phone the last half mile while we crossed the finish line. Andy wouldn’t have finished the race without the help of family, friends, many prayers, but mostly the motivation to help bring these sweet ones home to their forever families. God rocked our world when we found out we had raised all $10,000 of our goal almost right after crossing the finish line.

  Read Andy’s race report for a more detailed description of the race:

  http://bauies-run.blogspot.com/

  
  

  Since then, we have raised a total of over $11,300 for the Abell family and five other families who are choosing to be obedient to God’s desire for their families to adopt a child. We have prayed over this money, as well as the families we feel God is leading us to bless with these funds. So many people were involved in getting us past our $10,000 goal! Over 100 #runningtuckerhome t-shirts were sold, a 12 year old girl held a China themed babysitting night for our community, doctors, nurses, children, Andy’s patients, family and friends donated to help bring Tucker and other sweet ones home to their forever families.

  God put a desire in so many individuals to donate to #runningtuckerhome. Most of them have never met and will never meet the Abell family or yours. We know that adoption, whether international or domestic, is incredibly expensive, but we are so excited to help and be able to pass along these donations to your family and continue seeing your adoption process. We have written and will be mailing you a check for $1,000."

  
  

                         How amazing is our God that He would allow a family all the way from Indiana take up a wonderful cause to help another sweet and great family, and in the process help other families bring their families together!!! That is what it is all about! God's family is a body! A complete body of fingers and toes and heads and feet and legs and arms...EACH one of us playing a roll to do HIS will. We not all called to adopt-SHOOT we're not all called to run 100 miles! I like to run but I don't ever see 100 miles in my future! But it was in Andrew's! And he and his wife said yes to the cause of helping the orphans! And they are going above and beyond, simply because they said yes! As my friend Amy Abell said in her BLOG :
  

  
  

   "We are not special. We do not have super human powers. We are just a husband and a wife, living in Indiana with our two of our sons, and we said YES to God's plan for our lives. Initially, we didn't feel joy...just submissive obedience, but within days the JOY of our decision covered any sadness we previously felt about the change in our life's plan. Now that we're living God's plan, I am so grateful that we said YES! This life is better than anything I've ever imagined. ".

  
                    While I was sitting there in shock my husband must have told the girls that someone donated $5000  to us because one by one each girl came running out saying, "mommy mommy, is it true someone gave us a lot of money to go get nina and Isac?!?!" I looked up at them and couldn't speak at first, I just stared at them while the reality was still sinking in that God has single handedly lifted the rest of our adoption goal! I just said yeah and looked up at my husband, who was grinning, and said, "and someone else just gave us $1000 more!!!!" The girls were so excited and were jumping all around. The love these kids have and the way their little hearts have grown by this journey still blows me away. 
                         I just pray all of us will step out and say YES! There is far too much work left on this earth for all of us to take a back seat! The joy, the blessing and the chance to see God do AMAZING work is something I will ALWAYS ALLLWAYS be grateful for!! To see Him raise $40,000 in a year for two children that HE cares for so deeply, to have the chance to meet other amazing families going all out to bring their babies home, to meet friend after friend who understood what we were facing and was a listening ear and a crazy laugh away, to watch others give so sacraficially and love us enough to give, to see a life story of  beauty from pain, and most of all to watch a beautiful story unfold from a Creator who knew every beautiful step before we saw it happen. Truly walking with Him, and growing with Him and SEEING Him, has been a beautiful journey. And I just can't wait to see what else He is planned for us!
  
                                  For all those wondering our next steps we are scheduled to have Article 5 drop off 10/8, which means our documents are being sent to Bejing. After that we WAIT FOR TA (Travel Approval)!!! So our thinking is probably around November 1st! Fitting since that will mark a year from China officially granting us Pre-Approval! :)
  
                              Well all I hope you have a wonderful Saturday  Pray we have a quick TA! I don't know how much longer can handle my brain and heart being half way around the world! :)
  

  XOXOX

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Where We Are Today

Hello! It's been awhile since we have chatted. So here is a little recap on all that is going on. We are moving on in our process and are nearing the finish line!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!  We just got our approval for the kiddos through Immigration and right now we are waiting to get the process of their Visas done and sent to us. Once we get that checked off all will be sent to China where our Article 5 will be dropped in Guangzhou, China where it will be processed for two weeks and then picked up and sent to  Beijing where we will wait for our Travel Approval!!!!! (See I told ya we were getting there!! :)) China has some pretty big holidays in October where they close every thing down completely so while it seems like we should be traveling in October that is going to hold us up.  

Other news, we are still selling our necklaces to raise money.  

Our first necklace was Our Connected Hearts or the Connected Red Thread

      

Next is our China LOVE

One of  our necklaces can be customized by country and colors. It has the verse Isaiah 1:17 over the country. We have a bronze pendant with ball chain or silver pendant with black leather necklace.

And last but not least is the FOREVER and FAMILY necklace. 

  

All of these can be seen on facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=405206946256946&set=pb.397732770337697.-2207520000.1378673875.&type=3&theater

Or you can email or message me on here! They are $15 plus free shipping.

My feelings at this point...

I am soooo excited to be this far. I look at how far we have come and I am AMAZED at how God could allow me to be apart of all of this! I have always said I wanted to adopt, but to actually step out on faith and do it? I am in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM patting myself on the back, I still can't believe it, but God makes us stronger than we think some times to do bigger things for Him, if we are only willing. To know how far we have come, spiritually, financially and emotionally. I have seen God in ways I never dreamed possible. We have talked, cried, wrestled and laughed with God. He has stretched me soooo much. And shown me more and more how to take Him out of the small box we have Him in. He can do things people, BIG things that we think are beyond what should or can happen. We started with NOTHING financially, to start this process, but through working and the hearts of family, friends and strangers we are so so much closer to being fully funded. And my love for God's children all over the world, has grown in ways that I never thought would happen. My heart for adoption has forever been touched. I have met friends who I truly believe will be lifelong sisters because of the laughter, tears and prayers we have shared along this journey. People have made comments about how amazing we are and I am so truly touched by them, but honestly, it is not me, it is the God that touched our hearts and allowed us the front row seat to His amazing Big picture.
But though we are soooo excited and learning and growing, I am honestly nervous too. I wonder what life will be like with 6 kids. I wonder how Nina and Isac will adapt to our family. I wonder how all of us will adapt to them. Will I be able to handle the special needs, I have friends who have children with special needs and I have always seen a special super woman quality in them that I am not very sure I posses.
 I am a true worrier at heart and as a very sweet friend of mine says very frequently, you think too much, but I am still trying daily to lean on Him and let Him lead us day by day.
 I can not WAIT for the day that my heart and mind aren't half here half there! (Although I am sure it will be again some day ;).) Until then....BRING IT ON I'm ready to go get my babies!!!!

Please pray we will be able to get the rest of the funds and that our progress keeps moving forward!

Thank you for hanging in 'till the end friends! We are soooo close!

SIDE NOTE--Those of you who come up to us at church and anywhere else for that matter and ask how much longer we want you to know how much we LOVE IT! Seeing your excitement makes us feel loved and excited to know our babies are loved so much!!! <3 <3 <3