Brielle's Baby "Sprinkle"

My sweet, sweet friends hosted a little baby "sprinkle" for us! Greta had warned me a couple of months ago about surprising me after we surprised Jenn w/her baby sprinkle. Well...I am not good with surprises. I actually was glad we were leaving so quickly after TA because I thought it meant they wouldn't have time to plan something! ;) Little did I know, they had already chosen the date weeks before. It's not that I don't appreciate their kindness or the surprise, it's just very humbling to be loved on so much! I literally almost threw up in Greta's van because I was so nervous. When we arrived, they let off balloons. The girls loved it. Feeling a little unsure about what was happening. :)The theme was ladybugs. Loved it! The ladybug is a symbol of good luck in the China Adoption world. They made all of my favorite snack foods too!

Mandy, Me & my girls, Greta, Tonya & her girls, Rose, and Mandi in the back.

Abby, Abbie, Jenn, Alison, & Krista in the front.

"I love you like Crazy Cakes", a book about a little girl adopted from China- from my sister-in-law Mandi. She also got Brielle an adorable pink & black bracelet with ladybugs on it.

Abby made a ragdoll for Brielle that even has her name on the its tooshie. ;)

So many lovely and thoughtful gifts were given. My little girl is so very loved!! The best part of the whole day?! My friends covered me in prayer. I cried. They cried. It was such a special moment (even after Braylee came in and said, "Hey what's going on!?"). Thank you all for encouraging me on this journey and being so excited for us as we reached each step in the process. I've been meaning to post about the shirt I was wearing for awhile now. WildOlivesTees.com designs faith-based shirts that are sold to help families raise money for their adoption expenses. The shirt I am wearing was designed for a heart baby named Esther. Unfortunately, Esther died in China before her family could bring her home for her life-saving heart surgery. In honor of Esther and other heart babies in Chinese orphanages, WildOliveTees is now donating their proceeds from these shirts to help fund surgeries for other waiting heart babies. So, even if you feel like God isn't leading you personally to adopt, here is an easy way to help orphans in China. Plus, it's a really cool shirt. ;) The back has John 3:16 on it.

Here are the rest of the Sprinkle pictures: Sprinkle Album. (Ignore how tight my pants are...they fit much better 6 lbs ago!!)

China Trip- Days 1 & 2 {We made it!}

Wednesday morning, Alex’s parents took us to the airport. I held back my tears so the girls wouldn’t be upset and they both did really well. We had a short layover in Chicago…just enough time to eat lunch at Chili’s. God knew I needed that last serving of chips and salsa before we left! ;)

Last picture as a family of 4!

The flight to Beijing was not bad at all. We received a free upgrade to Economy Plus so we had plenty of leg room. The only bad thing about the entire flight was a cute little boy who cried quite a bit towards the end. I put in earplugs, put my headphones on over them, and could still hear his screaming roar. It made me think that I should buy handfuls of ear plugs for the passengers sitting next to us on the way back! We watched several movies and TV shows, read/played games on our Kindles, and even got a few hours of sleep. I loved watching our path on the map. At one point, it said it was ­-75*F outside. We flew up over Alaska and Russia. The girls will be disappointed, but we didn’t see Santa…just lots and lots of snow. We did meet one of my online friends though. They are from Atlanta and are adopting their 1st child.

Headed to Beijing

Amanda and I, after 13+ hours on the plane

Our hotel in Beijing. (You can see the smog in the air.)

Within an hour of being in Beijing, I had already seen a squatty potty (but didn’t have to use it), experienced the crazy traffic, and was told to put a jacket on because it was cool outside (They prefer to dress warmly.). We made it to our hotel around 5pm Thursday (5am Thursday morning at home), so just at 23 hours of travel time. We weren’t too tired when we arrived so we cleaned up, went out for a stroll, found some dinner, tried to Skype with the girls but had some computer issues and are now getting ready to try to sleep…on the very hard bed. It’s like a box spring with a sheet on it. We aren’t really complaining about any of these things...just want to share the details. We are trying to soak in our experience here and enjoy the differences from home.

China Trip- Day 1 {The time is really here!!}

I have chills reading the comments from yesterday. So thankful to have many prayer warriors on our behalf!! I slept very little last night, which isn't helping with the anxious feelings this morning. I have been quoting scripture from Isaiah in my head as I get ready...asking God for that perfect peace.

An exciting update... The plan right now is for the orphanage staff to bring Brielle to our hotel room on Monday, April 23rd around 11am, which will be 11pm on Sunday night in Indiana!! Please be praying for her little heart to be open to us. I also pray that God will just flood our hearts with an overwhelming love and protection for this little girl we have never met but already call our daughter.

We are headed to Chicago and then on to Beijing. If we can survive a 24+ hr bus trip to Mexico, I think this trip might not be too bad! ;)

Itinerary, Nursery Pictures, & Lots More!

Lots of questions being asked! When do we leave? What will we be doing there? When will we meet Brielle? Do we have her room ready? I am happy to fill you in on all of it!!

Itinerary

Wed 4/18- Leave Indy at 10am, connect in Chicago, settle in for long flight

Thurs 4/19- Arrive in Beijing around 2:30pm local time (2:30am Friday EST)

Fri 4/20- Tour

Sat 4/21- Tour, Overnight train to Nanchang, Jiangxi

Sun 4/22- Arrive in Brielle's province! 

Mon 4/23- Gotcha Day! Meet Brielle!

Tues 4/24- Adoption Day- Officially ours!

Wed 4/25- Enjoy Nanchang, visit the orphanage and foster family in Fuzhou?

Thurs 4/26- Tour

Fri 4/27- Receive Brielle’s Passport and fly to Guangzhou, Guangdong

Sat 4/28- Medical Exam

Sun 4/29- Free day

Mon 4/30- Consulate Appointment

Tues 5/1- Free day

Wed 5/2- Receive Brielle’s visa, travel by train to Hong Kong in the evening

Thurs 5/3- Head Home!! Arrive in Indy around 5pm (will feel like 5am Friday to us!)

Answers to some of those FAQ:

We will arrive in Beijing to get acclimated to the time change and do some sight-seeing. China is 12 hours ahead of us. So while you all are sleeping, we are starting the next day! No actual adoption stuff will be done there.

The adoption will take place in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province. Brielle will be brought by the orphanage workers to meet us either at the Civil Affairs office or our hotel. We will meet her either on Sunday or Monday, which is our "Gotcha Day." We will complete papers to be guardians for the next 24 hrs. This is referred to as the "Harmonious Period" to decide if we want to proceed with the adoption. The next day, we will go back and complete the adoption. At that point, she will officially have our last name and be ours FOREVER! We will then need to stay in her province until her Chinese passport is issued.

To complete the American paperwork, we will travel to Guangzhou, Guangdong. The US Consulate is located there so all American adoptive families end their journey in GZ to take the Oath of Citizenship on their child's behalf and to be issued a visa for her passport.

Once we meet Brielle on Gotcha Day, she will be with us the rest of the trip.

The length of our trip is based on the amount of time it requires for all of the meetings and paperwork to be processed. Just like in the US, a passport is not issued in a matter of hours. While we will miss our big girls tremendously, we are thankful for the bonding time we will have alone with our new daughter. Unfortunately, it may not be quite enough bonding time to enjoy the 15 hr flight home from Hong Kong. :) Prayers are appreciated!

We hope to visit her orphanage and meet her foster parents. Once we are in her province, we can request to go to Fuzhou, but we won't know for sure until we get there. I would love even just a few minutes to talk to her foster mom about her likes/dislikes, milestones, sleep & food routines, etc. We know this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity and we pray our request is granted.

The room we've been preparing for our little princess. 

The awesome growth chart my sweet friend Abbie got her!

I still have a few more things to add...like photo frames and big baskets for the shelves but for the most part, it is complete. This was originally the playroom but when I decided to go with lavendar, green, and aqua, it seemed silly to paint the other room the same colors. So we moved the toys into the plain white room and set up the nursery in the painted room. I hope she likes it. :)


A glimpse at what we have been doing in between packing and booking flights/hotels/train tickets:

The girls drew "our world" then a ship across the ocean and "China world" with a pagoda and Great Wall.

Our last weekend before travel, we asked the girls what they wanted to do. They picked bowling and Mr. Gatti's. They had a blast. Brynna watches the bowling balls like a hawk. ;)

Yesterday, we cleaned up the high chair. Brynna practiced being a big sister.I wrapped gifts for the girls to open each day while we are gone. I hope it makes the 2 weeks go by a little quicker for them.

Bringing out all of the baby toys is like Christmas morning! I heard them talking about their horses and harvest while playing with the barn last night. ;)

Braylee earned her 1st white ribbon (level 3) at gymnastics for vault. She was pumped! (I have been having C.R.A.Z.Y dreams lately! After seeing this picture, I dreamt last night that I only had one leg!)

We are so excited to finally be heading to China to meet our youngest daughter! Just like labor, the horrible paper-chase is becoming a distant memory and our eye is on the end reward!

We are so humbled God chose us for this journey and can't wait to see what He has in store for Brielle's life!

Easter 2012

I am behind on the rest of Spring Break and the week after but I may just not get to them. Too many things going on around here...you know, like packing for three people for a 2+week trip in a foreign country.

On Saturday before Easter, we finally planted some trees around here, 6 of them actually. More like large twigs, but it's a start (and free too)! The girls also got some egg-decorating time in. They each had 8 eggs and I am pretty sure 6 of Brynna's were pink. ;) The other two in the carton were for Miss Brielle. Next year she will be dunking her own eggs!
That evening, we had dinner at Gramma and Pappy's, and the girls opened their gift bags. Brynna loves her new bakery book!The next morning, the girls woke up early to see what the Easter bunny brought them...books, movies, legos, and candy. This mommy sure was glad to see the bunny brought Reese cups too. 😉 They enjoyed a quick egg hunt in the living room and then it was time to get ready for Sunday School and church.

We serve a RISEN Saviour! What an amazing thing to celebrate!

Alex and I often call Braylee "spastic" and these pictures show that! 😉 You can see just how sweet she is too though- with Sydney & Lillie.
After church, we went to my Grammy's house for dinner and the big egg hunt. It was beautiful weather! We missed having Tom and Tomi's families home, but otherwise, it was just about perfect. Of course, we all missed our Grampsy too.
My mom gave the grandkids their Easter treats in Chinese take out boxes. One of the goodies was silly string! Fun!

Most of the great-grandkids

Thankful for my family, my church family, and the gorgeous sunshine we enjoyed that day but most importantly, I am thankful for my Risen Saviour!!

Travel Approval!! We are headed to China!

We have reached the last step! The TA is basically China saying "Come get your baby!"

I just love our agency girl, Nicole. When she called, she said, "Go ahead and scream and then I will tell you why I am calling!" ;) With the girls being out of school today, it was so fun to share the excitement with them too! We called daddy on speaker phone and Braylee kept yelling, "We got the call! We got the call!" Brynna immediately asked me to hold her and said she needed to soak in mommy-loving since we are leaving so soon!

How soon?! Well, we are hoping to leave next Wednesday, the 18th! Our agency is putting in our request for a consulate appointment the last week of April/beginning of May. Once it is confirmed, we can book our flights!

I have never shared the video of us telling the girls about our sweet Brielle. It was a long-awaited announcement! Braylee said she was too excited to speak at first. :) This was September 27, 2011... We are coming soon, XinMeng!!