THE WAIT

Waiting, waiting, waiting.  I have been online a lot lately trying to get a better feel for the trip we will take when we get to go and pick up Grace.  I don't know if it is helping or making it harder.  It is so exciting to follow someone else's journey through the process, but I want to fast forward our journey so we can get to the really good part.  I know it is probably not the best idea, because God teaches us so much in the waiting.  Looking back, I know I am learning to rely on God and His perfect timing.  I am learning to feel thankful for each little thing, like learning that our paperwork has moved forward one step.  I am also learning that the time of waiting can be so painful, and hopeful all at the same time.  I know my baby girl is out there alone without her family, but I know she will be in our family for the rest of her life.  If there is anything I have learned raising our 4, it is that a year and a half can fly by with hardly a notice, so her little life of 16 months will seem so small and insignificant after she has been in our family for the next forever.
So on a more practical note, there is a lot of information out there on what to pack.  I would have never thought of many of the objects on the lists.  We have to get some sort of converter in order to us our iPads with their internet service.  I guess they have more security in place.  There is also discussion about converters and snacks for the kids and so many other things.  I should probably start thinking about it, but I think I am waiting until we hear back from China and get our stuff on its way to the US government.  I know our time line will then be 10-14 weeks.  Plenty of times to get packed.

I am getting ready for my sweet daughter's first ballet recital.  I remember dancing in the recitals, and how special I felt when mom would spend all that time fixing my hair and doing my makeup and making sure I would look my best on stage.  I am hopefully creating some memories for my sweet girl. She had a nice long bath this morning, her hair is up in curlers, and she had a complete mani/pedi courtesy of me.  She seems to be enjoying it.  We are having a low key, watch movies kind of day.  I am loving being the mom of a little girl.  The boys are fun, but it is super special to share girly things with someone.  It will be fun to have Grace to share it with, too.

We were shot today

OK, dramatic title I know, but it is true.  I was shot 4 times and Mike was shot twice.  They were vaccinations, but it sounds way more dramatic if I say we were shot.  We went to the public health department with our crazy 4 and inquired about vaccinations required for a trip to China.  When I was going over my records, I realized I had been delinquent in my Tetanus, and my MMR.  So along with my typhoid and Hep A recommended when traveling to China, I was also brought up to date on my others.  The whole time I am sitting there calmly, remembering that all of my kids have received 4 or 5 shots at one time and lived.  They were all so brave, so the least I could do was sit there like a big girl and get my shots.  Mike was a lot more current on his vaccines, and only had to have typhoid and Hep A.  So after going through that bit of procrastination, we are one step closer to being ready to travel to China.  I need to get on the internet and order a kit of medical supplies that are recommended accompaniment when traveling to get our baby girl.  It includes things like lice treatment, and scabies treatment, a common antibiotic and eye drops for infection.  We just don't know what we will be receiving along with our daughter.  I am so excited to bring her home.  We have just passed by the first 2 month waiting period.  We are expected to wait 2 to 4 months to hear back from China, so technically any day now we could hear from China.  I am so anxious waiting, I get excited every time I see an email waiting in my inbox, thinking it might be our much anticipated letter of acceptance.  Once we finally receive that, we will file our paperwork in the US and hopefully in about 3 months, travel to China.  So much waiting right now.  It is like the end of a pregnancy, or as my sister described it, trying to get pregnant, because you wait every month to see if this is the month we will finally be pregnant, then when we aren't it is very disappointing knowing we have to wait another month.  We rarely dealt with that, because heck I was usually pregnant before we even really started trying, but I can imagine it would be very hard to wait month after month.  All I know right now, is that I love my family and we are drawing closer together through the wait.  My kids are learning to anticipate something very exciting and life changing.  They are praying for someone they don't know, but will become very important to them.  We are learning to love someone we can't see and feel pain for someone we have never met.  We can't wait for the opportunity to bring our new daughter, and sister home.

Wyatt graduating from Kindergarten

Brandt at his end of year gathering reading from a  list of characteristics his classmates recognize in him

So while we wait, life goes on.  We traveled to see my niece perform in her year end recital.  It was fabulous.  Brandt took part in his first soccer tournament as a member of a premier soccer team.  He did wonderfully.  The kids have finished up another grade in school.  I am now the parent of a 5th grader, 3rd grader, 1st grader and pre Ker.  They came home with glowing report cards and sweet memories of a successful school year.  We are gearing up for Hoopfest and a half ironman, and a sprint tri, and a trip to Dallas for a MOPS convention.  The summer is swamped and we have just begun.  We hope all our activities make the time go quickly and distract us from the waiting, which I think I mentioned before, Mike and I are not good at.

Oh what a big day.  Brandt turned 10 today.  I remember the day he was born and how he was so tiny and dependent.  He is such a sweet, kind, leader sort of kid now.  I am so proud of him.  We spent the day exploring the Whitman Mission site in Walla Walla.  What a story.  The Whitman's left everything familiar and easy and ventured to an unknown wild because of their desire to spread the gospel.  It was awe inspiring to stand where they stood.  Their story ended tragically, but they knew they were going to a place that was dangerous, and they willingly went.  They knew God was calling them to go and they listened.  We know God has called us to go get our daughter from China, and though it is scary, we are trusting him.  We visited today with a mom who had adopted 2 little girls from China.  She gave us some great advice for when we travel to China.  She said to take lots of little packages of kleenex, because they don't usually have toilet paper in bathrooms outside the main cities.  Interesting little tidbit that I am very glad I found out before we left to go over there.  She also said that we would fall in love with the people.  I am looking forward to experiencing the culture of our daughter.

Wyatt had a park day to celebrate the end of Kindergarten.  He is going to make it through and start 1st grade in the fall.  Way to go Wyatt.

This is Brandt on his field trip today (Ainsley came too).  We were on the Oregon trail.

This is Brandt's entire 4th grade class.  It was a great time and they are a very neat group of kids.

And here we are at dinner, Red Robin of course.  It is the choice of all the kids when it comes to birthday time.

Coincidence?

Mike and I have run into several situations that would appear to be mere coincidence, but since we know we serve a living God, we believe he has lined these things up for us.  It is amazing to look back and realize God's hand is guiding us through this entire adoption process.  I want to remember these things, so I am going to write them down here.  When Mike and I were right in the middle of the paper chase, I was beginning to feel frustrated.  I was visiting with a friend at the park, when I had another women eavesdrop and interrupt our conversation.  I was complaining about how endless the process was, and how I felt about having to jump through so many hoops just to bring home a child no one else wanted.  This woman said to me, it is all worth it.  The process is long and painful and frustrating, but when you get your child, it is all worth it.  She was a mother of 2 adopted little girls.  I believe God put her there to encourage me that day.  Ok, another incident.  Mike was at his company's international meeting.  There were hundreds of individuals from all over the world.  He sat down for breakfast one morning and guess who he was sitting next to.  It was a co worker from China.  Not just China, but the same region our daughter is from. He was very friendly and invited Mike to give him a call when we finally head over to China to retrieve Grace.  Today, I talked to Mike after his flight from Spokane to Salt Lake.  He said he happened to glance at the computer screen of the man sitting next to him, and he saw children with cleft lip and palate.  He struck up a conversation after admitting he was snooping, and found out the guy is a plastic surgeon that had just been in China repairing orphans who have cleft lip and palate.  These are only a few of the incidence that have occurred over the last 9 months since we decided to adopt.  There are many more that have impacted us as well, including Steven Curtis Chapman speaking at the MOPS convention I attended last year.  He has adopted several times from China.  God is so good.  He is the encourager and he will see his plans through.  He will not leave us or forsake us.  With those types of promises, what do we have to do but rejoice and wait patiently.  Glad I  could remember to right these down and give God all the glory.

A lot like grace

Sitting in church today, there was a lot of discussion about Grace.  So it wasn't our Grace, but every time the pastor would say grace, our Grace was brought to mind.  We have noticed it a lot lately.  She is always on the edge of our thoughts.  We are so excited to welcome her into our family and introduce her to her sister and brothers.  She will be so loved.  There is a song by Matt Maher called New State of Mind. When it starts, the first line is "She's a lot like grace".  It is on my running playlist, so every time it comes up when I am out for a run, I am reminded to pray for her and think about her and plan for her.  We are approaching the 2 month mark from when our Letter of intent was received.  We were told it would be 2-4 months from the time we had our letter in.  Of course Mike and I are hoping it will be closer to the 2 months, but we are prepared for it to be closer to 4.  Our paperwork was received so close to the time we were matched with our Grace that we are probably going to have to wait longer for them to finish translating.  It is frustrating, but God is in control and His timing is perfect.  

Where babies come from.

OK, I know 2 posts in one day is not going to happen often, but I had to share this adoption related story. For the past 2 months, we have had my sister and her newborn baby as guests in our house.  We love having a tiny baby in the house, and we have all embraced our new family.  We will be sad when my sister leaves to be reunited with her husband after his 9 month deployment in Afghanistan.  Ainsley has been very observant over the last several months, having seen my sister very pregnant, and then a brand new baby arriving.  We have also been talking about the adoption with the kids.  Ainsley went with us yesterday to meet another family who have a little boy they adopted about a year ago from China.  All of this has contributed to her understanding of where babies come from.  I love the four year old brain.  So today, she comes downstairs with her baby Grace doll under her shirt and she tells me she is going to have a baby and the baby is going to be from China.  I just grin and don't feel like explaining the birds and the bees, so she believes that is where babies come from.  She fell asleep in the car with the baby still under her shirt.

Why are you adopting?

So I have decided to continue the blogging experience after a few year break.  We have embarked on a new amazing journey, and I would like to document it so we will remember it.  About 10 years ago Mike and I heard about Chinese adoptions.  We heard that girls in China were not appreciated, and we both were intrigued.  Fast forward 10 years and 4 babies later, the thought of adopting seemed strange.  Why would a couple that has 4 kids want to adopt another one?  Strange, huh?  Well we both arrived at a point of realizing if God wanted us to do this, why would we be concerned with how many kids we already had.  Why would we question if it is was the acceptable thing to do.  So the idea began to grow in both our hearts.  I won't forget the day when Mike was out mowing the lawn, and he called me over.  He had been thinking and praying (great time to do it) and he asked me what we would name our daughter if we decided to adopt.  I looked at him and thought maybe this was a trick question, then I gave him the name Grace.  He just looked at me and said something to the effect of this being a conspiracy.  That was the exact same name he had been thinking as he was mowing away on the lawn.  Well, from then on, we knew we would be welcoming Grace into our home.  We submitted our application, and when we got the acceptance over the phone, it was like seeing a positive pregnancy test.  We were thrilled and scared and excited and scared and overwhelmed.  And did I say scared.  There were so many variables and unknowns involved in the process.  Financially, it can seem impossible, but God provided all the funds for the adoption.  Mike didn't receive a huge raise at work, we didn't win the lotto, we weren't given some huge inheritance, the money was just there.  We have cash money to finish the entire process.  God is amazing.  Emotionally, it can be overwhelming.  We are not patient people, so when we are told, ok, now sit and wait for 10 weeks for this to come back to you, we are not happy.  We want it done now.  I was an expert on quick turn around, so as soon as the paperwork came in, I would send it right back out.  We received some paperwork while we were in Hawaii on vacation, and we spent a day running around the island getting the paperwork notarized and sent back to our agency.  It was important for me to feel like I was accomplishing something.

Here is the stack of papers we had notarized, certified and authenticated over the period of about 6 months.  On March 19, our papers were officially logged in in China.  What a relief.  We were then ready to wait again.  We had constantly looked at our adoption agencies list of available children, but we never felt ready to move forward with any of them.  We just felt God would make it very clear the child who was meant to be our daughter, so we waited.  The wait wasn't long.  For some reason, we were together as a family, Mike stopped by the hospital to do a few things, and the kids and I went to the local Starbucks to get a snack.  While we were sitting there in their waiting room, after answering the, yes they are all mine question, I got a phone call from our agency.  There was a file they wanted us to look at.  We need to look her over and let them know in the next couple of days.  Well she had cleft lip and palate, and she was already over a year old.  After not a seconds hesitation, I said yes, please let us see her file.  It was within minutes I had our baby girls file sent directly to my phone.  I was crying as I looked at the email and realized there were pictures.  4 wonderful pictures, and without any sort of responsible checking with our doctor, talking to Mike sort of thing, I knew she was our Grace.  I did of course send her file to Mike, and we did send it to our pediatrician, as well as talking to a plastic surgeon friend of ours.  There were no major red flags, so by Thur. we had officially accepted Grace as our daughter.  We received word from China that they had received our LOI on April 10th.  We are now in the no news is good news waiting period.  China will take 2-4 months to translate our documents, then the US will have our paperwork for an additional 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 months.  After that, Mike and I will be traveling to China to pick up our baby girl.  She was born Feb. 9, 2011, which just happens to be the day we celebrated the life of Mike's mom after her very short battle with brain cancer, and on such a sad day, we rejoice that our baby girl was born.