Wow, here we go!

I got the biggest packet of information from our agency - ever!  Initially it was pretty intimidating since it was so huge.  I quickly came to the realization that it was actually only HALF the amount because there is one copy for us and one to return to the agency.

The next thing I noted was that MOST of the information was stuff that we already had read - like medical reports, developmental notes, photos, etc., that we just need to initial so they can prove we did, indeed, receive the information.

BUT, the stuff that we do need to attend to is really important!  And the immigration forms look pretty hard.  These are our OFFICIAL referral papers, our immigration and visa forms, and (gulp) a bill for our final agency fees, international processing fees, visa fees, post placement translation and transmittal fees, etc. etc. Yeah, it is big.  And no, we don't have it.

On Friday I shared on this blog how God has these things under control.  He has shown His faithfulness over and over through this process of adopting.  I'm drawing on those experiences big time now.  This bill is due in three weeks, and honestly, I have no idea where the funds will come from.  There is no time to receive grants before these are due.  It's going to have to be a "God thing" for sure. Our family is currently brainstorming ideas for raising funds, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, we have about 160 puzzle pieces left.  We'd love to get this thing finished and glued down.  If you'd like to sponsor a piece, (or several!) you may do so using the puzzle fundraising widget to the right and down the page a bit.  Pieces are sponsored at $5 each.  We plan to frame it in double glass so Abigail and Jennifer can see the the back too, with the names of those who helped to get them home in this way.

The end of the year is nearly here.  If you itemize your taxes and are contemplating a charitable donation, we'd be honored if you used the Reece's Rainbow donation button - Lanz Girls Grant.  All donations to their homecoming through this organization are tax deductible.

Thanks for your continued prayers for us.  We are really making progress and HOPE to have our girls home in 3-4 months!

A special thanks to those who purchased bracelets!

You may remember the alarm I felt not that long ago when our septic required unexpected work, and the funds we had saved for a particular agency bill were gone.  I'm doing a happy dance today for how God works out the details.

Many of you know that we had partnered with The ApParent Project in selling upcycled paper bead bracelets.  They trickled out of here a few at a time, and I was afraid we would have to return at least half of them.  I REALLY believe in what they are doing and it was a major DO NOT WANT TO RETURN them issue for me.

Shortly before Christmas, things kicked into high gear and we sold every single bracelet!  We could have actually have sold a few more had we had them!  I am so happy to tell you that with the bracelet sales and some Christmas money that we were given, the agency bill due TODAY has been paid.  AND just as exciting really, we were able to contribute $960 to ApParent Project through their portion of the sales!

Thank you to everyone who purchased a bracelet.  It REALLY made a difference - to us and to families in Haiti.

Closet Fun!

Look what I did today!  I've never had so much fun sorting clothes and organizing a closet.  I was given a huge box of clothes by a good friend whose daughter had outgrown them.  I honestly had a lot of fun sorting them, hanging them up, and getting things ready for Jennifer and Abigail's homecoming.  It somehow makes the waiting a little easier to be able to actually DO SOMETHING for them.

Great thing about these hand-me-downs (besides the fact that they are super cute free clothes!) is that they're sizes 4, 5, and 6. My best guess from the last measurements of the girls are that we are looking at current sizes of 4 and 5.  Jennifer is six months older than Abigail, and a little bigger.  BUT, even if I'm wrong, I can easily swap out to a 5 and a 6.

It is so fun to see these little clothes hanging in there!  My husband jokingly asked me tonight (in my giddiness) "What's the deal, you never had girls before?"  (These are daughters #6 and #7!)  But don't let that fool you.  He was nearly as silly over it as I was.   

Contemplating what to say...

So here I sit on Christmas night reflecting on the holiday. I loved having most of our family home for a couple of days before Christmas, and being able to go visit with our son this evening.  The entire holiday was a little "off" though.  My thoughts are never far from our two little girls who are a half a world away.  I want them home!

We are at the point in this process that we will soon be able to communicate with them.  Once we get our LOA - Letter Of Approval (which is estimated to be 4-6 weeks from now) we will be allowed to send a letter, photos and a care package. 

We spent most of the driving time this evening discussing what photos to send, and what to say in the letter.  I think we've pretty much decided on the photos, but what does one say in a letter to six-year-old girls to announce that we are their parents?  What evidence can we present to assure them that we love them and will take care of them?  What can ease their minds that they will be coming to a good place, especially when it is so far away and different from anything they have ever known?  If you think of us, please pray for wisdom that we'll know what to say.  And please pray for our daughters whose lives are going to change in every possible way.  This is going to be very scary for them, and my heart aches at that thought.

We are OOT!

Just heard from our case manager that we are OOT - Out Of Translation!  Here is what she had to say: "Just a note to say that your case for both girls switched to In Process on the CCCWA’s website today. Our understanding is that means they have translated your dossier and are moving your case to the next department! Congratulations! This doesn’t necessarily mean we will receive your Letters Seeking Confirmation any faster as it’s more dependent on LID, but it is a good sign that things are moving along smoothly!"   YESSSSSSS!

On another front, we solved one problem last night.  Our girls are both diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, with their lower limbs affected more than their upper limbs.  They both have some issues with walking, with Jennifer being dependent on a walker at this time.  We have been wondering how to handle the probable long walks at the airports. 

I found some small carry-on luggage with wheels on sale on Amazon last night.  The "Trunki" is made by Melissa and Doug, and I've always been impressed with their products.  These are bags that the girls can sit on, then either scoot themselves around as if they were on a riding toy, or be pulled with the attached webbing.  We ordered little saddlebags for them also which will not only pad the "seat" a little more, but gives storage pockets for their crayons and small toys.  What a great find!  Now let's hope they don't have any balance problems.  (smile)

It is official!  December seventh is the date when our dossier was logged into China's adoption system.  Now we wait for our OOT which will mean our files are Out Of Translation, and LOA - Letter of Acceptance.  Our case manager's best guess (based on current trends) is mid-February for our LOA.  Looks like we should be able to introduce ourselves (through photos) and send a Chinese New Year package to our girls!

Merry Christmas for me!

This post departs from the usual adoption post.  It's just a glimpse into my life, and the happy time I had today.  Don't worry though, the girls are never far from my thoughts as you will see by something I did later on in the day.

While I enjoy music a LOT, I'm not the type to go to many concerts.  I don't enjoy the crowds or attempting to see over the people in front of me - and they are usually standing up to further complicate things for this short gal.

There are, however, two artists who have been so instrumental in my spiritual journey that I'd make extreme efforts to see them. I'd sit in a freezing cold stadium or stand in the burning heat and be happy for the experience.  Sadly, the first one is someone whom I will never have the opportunity this side of heaven to see. Keith Green challenged me in so many ways, but he has passed on to the afterlife.  The other is Matthew Ward. 

I saw Matthew in concert with his sisters (in the group 2nd Chapter of Acts) when I was about fifteen.  Um....that is closer to four decades ago than I care to admit!  Their music was vitally important to me as a teen.  Matthew's music continued to minister to me as an adult.  His cd's "My Redeemer" and "Even Now" were so meaningful to me when I was going through a really difficult time in my life about a decade ago.  The songs spoke to me like nothing else could have at that time.

I was just asking Ruth this week, "Is Matthew Ward performing any more?"  You can imagine my surprise and delight last night when I "just happened" (love those stories!) to be going a few minutes down the road to the grocery store and I heard an ad on the radio.  It said that Matthew Ward would be in concert in Cincinnati on Sunday.  WHAT????  Seriously, I nearly wrecked Rachael's van!  I immediately called home and told them to get on the Internet and look this place up!  It gets better.  Not only was he giving a concert, it was FREE!  With our extremely tight budget these days, that was the perfect price!

We rushed across town after attending our church to get to the concert early, convinced it would be standing room only.  What we found was a small and intimate place, set up more like a theater/coffee house really.  We sat in the second row with a clear view - even for Tikvah!  There were seriously only about fifty people in attendance.  I'm not sure if Cincinnati wasn't aware of the concert or if they didn't realize the great treasure that was in our midst. It was a fantastic concert of his favorite Christmas carols.  I had such a wonderful time!  It was seriously the best Christmas present I could have been given - well unless our little princesses could have come home in time for it.

Tikvah (who has been listening to Matthew Ward all of her life) was tickled to get her own Christmas cd autographed, and get her picture taken with him. He had a little trouble with her name, so she had to spell it for him.  He was very sweet to her.

Matthew Ward and Tikvah

I talked with him a bit about his family.  He raised three girls and has grandsons now.  One of his daughters is expecting again, and he is hoping for a grand daughter this time - yeah, he admitted he is somewhat partial to girls.  Taking that cue, I pulled out a photo of Abigail and Jennifer, handed it to him and asked that he pray for them if he thought of it.  Yes, I actually did.


If you need a refresher on the history of Christian Contemporary Music check out Matthew's biography, or if you are familiar, you'll enjoy the stroll down memory lane!  Check out Matthew's stuff if you are not yet a fan.  His early music is quite rocky, you can sense growth and maturity in his more recent music, and he is just, plain GOOD!  If you are a fan, did you know all of his solo albums - even his old ones - are available on cd now?  Cool!

Perfect afternoon!  I feel so blessed today.  

Life Books

I am a long time believer in the importance of preserving family history through scrapbooking.  We have a huge bookshelf dedicated to our family scrapbooks.  All of our children have one, and there are multiple books that record the life of our family.

I feel that Jennifer and Abigail must each have a book when they arrive home so they can see that they are important to us.  Enter the LIFE BOOK.  Apparently these have been popular in the foster care and adoption movement since the 1970's.  It takes the scrapbook just a little bit further, in that it begins with a history that we were not a part of, so as to retrace (as much as possible) their past before coming to live with us.

Since 1999, the orphanages in China have been required to run a provincial newspaper advertisement for children that are found and brought to their orphanage. These are referred to as "Finding Ads," and are a part of the process of making the child "paper ready" for adoption.  These ads contain information about where and when the children were found and which orphanage is caring for them. Originally these were text-only ads, but most provinces now include photographs in their ads. These photographs are usually the earliest available pictures of the children.

Brian Stuy, a dad who himself has adopted children from China, has obtained the ads throughout the years and catalogs them for parents like us who are looking for answers for our children concerning their personal history.  I was able to get the finding ads for both Jennifer and Abigail through Research-China.  These ads were a great find as I now have an early baby photo of both girls as well as information as to how they came to be cared for at the orphanage!

I have been very pleasantly surprised at the amount of information and number of photos I have been able to collect for the life books.  I have them sorted and laid out by page, and am now collecting the scrapbook papers, stickers, etc. to do it up pretty.

I've also ordered a couple of books to give me ideas since these are a little different from the scrapbooks I would typically create. I'm using these as reference/idea books:

Lifebooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child by Beth O'Malley.  Description from Amazon: The lifebook process prepares you to talk about delicate subjects as well as adoption basics. Best of all, in the end, your child has an unique book that captures their often complicated life story. In this adoption classic, Beth ( who is both an adoptee and adoptive parent) guides you step-by-step and page-by-page just as if she were right there with you. It's all explained in full detail with a light touch of humor.

Would you rather see how someone else completed an entire lifebook before you get started? That's covered, too, with three full-length examples in the back section which include: Domestic/Infant , Foster-Adopt , and International.



 
and

  Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginnings  by Cindy Probst  Amazon's description " easy-to-read workbook for international adoptive parents and waiting parents who wish to document their children's early lives for them, in the form of a lifebook. Through exercises and text, readers become more comfortable telling children the truth about their beginnings while emphasizing their strengths and resilience. Adoption specialist Cindy Probst guides parents through such topics as talking with children about their birth parents and orphanage or foster care experience, answering "why was I adopted?" questions, and using empowering adoption language. 'Adoption Lifebook: A Bridge to Your Child's Beginnings'is an invaluable resource for helping children feel good about who they are."

I purchased the three-ring binder type of scrapbooks that will allow for easily inserting extra pages as I come upon new discoveries.  I'm  looking forward to getting things glued down! 

We have DTC!!!

Yay! The agency called to tell me those words I've waited for nearly five months to hear, our dossier is on its way to China!  This is a big step!  A week or two after our dossier arrives in China, it will be logged into the CCCWA. (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption)  The day our paperwork is logged into the system is when we acquire our next set of acronyms, known as LID meaning Log In Date.

We will then begin waiting for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance).   This is our official approval  to adopt our girls.  It can take anywhere from 1-5 months, with 52 days being the average.  This is also the magic date that triggers being allowed by our agency to send care packages to the girls at the orphanage, and finally being allowed to put photos of them on our blog.

Some have asked, "What all is in the dossier, anyway?"  Well... if you really want to know, here is a list of what we needed to include:

Birth Certificates for Ethan and me.  His was complicated since he was born out of country to missionary parents.  These had to be certified copies which then had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.

Marriage Certificate, a certified copy - notarized, verified and authenticated.

Financial Statement with notarized signatures then verified and authenticated.

General Physical Examination forms.  Our physician had to complete the form, sign it, and have it notarized, then it was verified and authenticated.

Police Clearance Reports for Ethan and me.  This one had to be completed by our local sheriff department after doing a criminal history check.  Of course it too had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.

Letter of Employment for both of us. This is interesting because they want the employee to spell out "prospect of continuous employment" which in today's economy is tricky, huh?  I had to type a statement as to why I am NOT employed, and that I basically mooch off my husband!  LOL!  And...you guessed it  notarized, verified and authenticated.

I-797C Notice of Action: Approval Notice.  This is what we received back after being fingerprinted for immigrations and asking for approval to adopt foreign children on the I800-A.  Of course it was  notarized, verified and authenticated.

Adoption Application Letter (with several required points), notarized, verified and authenticated.

A copy of our Homestudy - it ended up being a summary of 15 pages.  (The list of requirements for completing the homestudy was even LONGER than this list!  It was the one that reduced me to tears reading it last summer.)  Again,  notarized, verified and authenticated.

Homestudy Agency form

Copies of Passports

Additional copies of passport photos

Six photos of our home and family

Whew!  As I looked at that list, and the list of things we submitted for our homestudy, I remembered those days, just a few months ago, when the paperchase dominated my days.  Let's hope now that we are on the waiting end that it is a little bit easier.  There are still a few key, REALLY important documents to file as we near travel, but the bulk of our paperchase is done.

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at the home of one of our daughters in the Indianapolis area.  Most of our "kids" were able to come, and all of the grandchildren.  Add in Ethan's mom and a nephew with his wife, and it was a house full!  It was great to be together, if even for just a few hours.

I will admit to holidays being just a little "off" for me right now.  Don't get me wrong, I am engaged and enjoying the here and now with my family, but my thoughts are never far from our two little girls who live a half a world away.  As we celebrate our traditions, and as we go about our normal, every day lives I wonder what they are doing and experiencing. How strange will our life here seem to them?   Next Thanksgiving we will make room for a couple more little princesses at the kids' table.  I can't wait to share our fun times with them!

Princess Dormitory!

We are working on transforming the big bedroom into a dormitory for three princesses!

 Of course, a princess must have a canopy bed.  Let me tell you that three canopies in one room, and all in a row is a LOT of bed AND a LOT of curtain! It is pretty adorable though!

 I cannot wait until the other two little princesses are home!

DTC is just around the corner!

I got an update from our agency today.  All of our documents went to the Chinese embassy in DC last Friday  (November 9) for the last authentication step. They say it typically it takes 6-7 business days for them to turn around documents, plus shipping time on each end.

Our case manager said that theoretically our documents should be back at the agency by Wednesday, and they'll be able to mail them to China before they close for Thanksgiving.  That all sounds good,  but she also added that the Department of State has been a little more variable on processing time recently, so it might not get there in time. They are closed both Thursday and Friday for the holiday.

Hopefully the "usual" will happen and our documents will be back at the agency on Wednesday.  I'm told they are typically able to send the dossier the same day it arrives back from authentication, so whether it is Wednesday or the following Monday, we are really close.  Once the dossier goes out we are looking at anywhere from 4-8 months until we travel.  In looking at the timelines of others online, China seems to be moving fairly quickly right now.  Here's hoping for the shorter side of waiting!

Blankets for Plane Travel

I've been carefully evaluating what we actually need (and want) for the China trip.  While we don't want to take lots of baggage (I'm thinking backpacks would be ideal!) we do want to have some amount of comfort.  Tikvah it seems is always cold.  Let's face it, there isn't a lot of meat on her body to keep her warm!  One thing she requested was a blanket to take on the plane.  So, she and I have been looking at blankets for weeks.  Some have been too big, some too flimsy, some not pretty enough....  It has to give a decent amount of warmth, but it must be small enough to stuff into her carry-on.

At the same time we have been contemplating what to send in our "care packages" to the girls at the orphanage.  While many agencies allow sending packages on their birthday, or really any time after pre-approval, ours forbids any contact until we receive LOA. (Letter of Approval - shortly before travel)  One thing that has consistently been suggested (from various sources) to include in a care package is a soft blanket.

So, you can believe I was pretty excited last night to find fleece princess blankets from the Disney Store on sale for half price.  Want to make a sweet deal even better?  They also offered FREE personalization and FREE shipping!  Wow!  Yes.  I ordered three.

 The purple one will say "Tikvah" on it.

The blue one "Abigail Dawn"

AND.... Jennifer Lin will complete the set with the pink one!

Jennifer is "MeiMei's" name in her English speaking preschool, and Lin is Chinese for beautiful jade.  She will also have her Chinese name from the orphanage on her birth certificate as a second middle name.  I like that name pretty well, so you may hear it as often as you hear Jennifer!

We Have It In Writing!

Sometimes I don't appreciate government notices that arrive in my mailbox.  The recent demand by the county health department to update our septic system was one such notice I could have done without.  However, we received an official document from the government today that has me smiling from ear to ear.  The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) sent us a beautiful thing today!  We have received our written APPROVAL NOTICE.  It states, "You have been approved to adopt two children from the following Convention country: People's Republic of China"

I faxed a copy of this to our agency.  They say that it will be heading to the Secretary of State tomorrow. Once this document has been certified/authenticated our dossier will be DONE.  I'm loving National Adoption Month so far!

Speaking of which, have you noticed the really GOOD videos that have been coming out in response to the special focus on orphans this month?  One of them is by Third Day.  It is relevant to all believers.  There is a message for us here.I hope you'll take five minutes to watch it.

I800A Approval Granted Today!

Today was a great way to kick off National Adoption Month!  I received notice that our I800A form (immigrations) had been approved by USCIS.  The full name of this form is Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, the convention country being China in this case.

This was the final document needed for our dossier.  Once the hard copy arrives in the mail next week, we must notarize, state certify, and authenticate it for our dossier.  For those who are trying to keep track of these things,  the dossier is the all important file of documents that will be sent to China. It contains the application and letter requesting permission to adopt a Chinese orphan, home study, police reports, immigration approval, reference letters, medical reports, marriage certificate, birth certificates, letters of employment, and photos of our family and house.

It may take a month before the I800A has all of its certifications, then we will be DTC which is Dossier to China.  It is approximately five to eight months from dossier log in until travel.

I can breath a HUGE sigh of relief that most of our paperwork this side of travel arrangements is done.  Or not.  Next week I start applying for grants.  International adoption is quite expensive, and most people need help to complete it.  We'd appreciate your prayers as we enter this phase that we would find favor with the organizations that are able to assist.

We received a huge blessing of new photos of our girls at their orphanage, this time photos of them together!  An online friend "happened" to be there and got permission to take photos.  We didn't have many pictures of Mei Mei, so we were REALLY especially extra happy to get those! Our agency does not allow us to post photos of the girls online, but I would be happy to show them to you next time we meet.  Just ask -that is, if I don't immediately pull them out to show you!

Lastly, as we enter the final two months of the year, some of you may be thinking about donations, especially tax deductible donations.  Our girls were accepted for fundraising by Reece's Rainbow (advocates for special needs orphans) this past week.  We'd be ever so thankful if you considered them worthy of some of these end of the year donations.  There is a donation button in the right margin on this blog, or you may find our family's page on Reece's Rainbow by clicking here!  Donations through Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible.  Thank you!

Save on your household expenses, help bring our girls home!

-- DUE TO LACK OF ORDERS, THIS FUNDRAISER HAS BEEN CANCELLED --

New Fundraiser that helps us all!

This is a fundraiser for our adoptions from China.  We are selling Tide & Gain Formula Laundry Detergent,  and also Downy Formulated Fabric Softener in 5 gallon Pails. All detergent and softener is available in regular or HE for high efficient washers.  All Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener buckets are $40.00 each and come with a dispensing pump.         

  

Five gallon pails contain 672 oz. I did a price comparison at Walmart on line.  The largest containers of Gain are 150 oz for $14.97.  You’d need more than four of them to equal the bucket.  Comparing Tide at Walmart, again the largest size of 150 oz  with a cost $17.97 each.  You’d need more than four bottles with a total cost of $72.00 plus.  Largest Downey was 103 oz for $9.00.  You’d need more than six bottles!  Save money in your household budget while helping to bring our daughters home!

We purchased a Tide and a Downy.  I’ve found that keeping the buckets in the garage and refilling a smaller jug as needed works very well, and has saved us a lot on our laundry expenses.  If you’d like to purchase from our fundraiser, please print and fill out this order form.  We must pay for the order when we place it, so prepaying would be greatly appreciated.  If you prefer to use Paypal, that is fine, but we will still need your order form emailed to us.  You can pick up your product at our house, or we can arrange to meet you in the Cincinnati, Ohio or Lafayette, Indiana area when the product arrives.

Buyers Name:

Address:

Home Phone:

Cell Phone:

 

	Regular Quantity	HE Quantity	$40.00 each
Original Tide Formula
Tide Formula w/ Downy
Tide Formula w/ Bleach
Gain Formula Original
Gain Formula w/ Bleach
Downy Formula Blue
Downy  Formula Lavender
Downy Formula Green