Blessings

The last two weeks have been hard. Who wants to be 9 months pregnant without a due date? Not me, but that's how I feel! :) God has been sending lots of encouragement though, through the kind words of our friends and family, through the words of worship songs, from hugs of little 16 mo old girls with brown pigtails that happen to come into my office, and even through some fun surprises...especially this one.

You might remember this post. I prayed for this special heart baby to have a forever family and hoped it might even be ours. I have wondered about this precious little soul since August... I knew she had a family but I didn't know who. Then yesterday, I was put in contact with her family's blog! They are naming her Ivy and they are traveling to China NEXT week! I feel so blessed to be able to follow their journey! I emailed Ivy's mommy and she gave me permission to post their blog here. I hope you will all join me in praying for this special girl, with a very special heart.

Click here for their blog. (This will be their second adoption from China.)

Click here for their referral announcement. I have stared at this picture so many times...

What a blessing that this little girl will be coming home to a loving, Christian home! Thank you, Jesus!

So Disappointed...

Our wonderful agency has now checked on our LOA for the second time. The news wasn't good. They were told to expect another two weeks before it's issued. My heart sank. When our agency checked 3-4 weeks ago, we were told our paperwork was "in process" meaning it was out of translation. Typically, once you reach this point, an LOA is issued in about 2 or 3 weeks...add in Chinese New Year and I have been anxiously hoping it would arrive any day for the last month. I know God has this perfectly planned out but it's so hard to see the big picture when your heart is hurting. I must tell myself a hundred times a day, "Show me YOUR ways, O Lord. Teach me YOUR paths."

The truth is...in many ways our wait has not been that bad. When others have waited years for a referral, we waited 4 months. When others have waited 90 days on an I800A (immigration) approval, we waited 47 days. When others wait 14 days for a PA, we received ours in 4. I shouldn't be complaining when there are others who are on day 135 or 144 of their LOA waits...but let me tell you...day 93 stinks too. :( On an adoption board I visit, we have the horribly dreaded "century club" for those who have waited 100+days. Thankfully, you always get booted out of the club at some point but no one should ever have to join. I have a feeling I will be inducted before it's over...but a quick ousting would be appreciated!

**sigh** I am sad because I really hoped to get to my baby around the time she turned 18 months at the end of March. With a wait time of 45-60 days, it would have happened. March travel went out the window and I thought...this is ok. April will be wonderful weather, and we don't have a lot going on in April. That's probably not happening now. At this rate, it looks like we may be in China in mid-May but the thought of missing my ballerina's dance recital and her preschool graduation...oh this momma's heart is so torn! I mean really...the dance recital is HUGE for my twirly girl! Obviously I want to jump on a plane as soon as we possibly can but leaving my older girls for 2 wks is hard too.

So, let's think about the positives...
1)We won't miss the girls' Spring Break at the end of March.

2)We may get to spend our 10-yr anniversary (May 18th) in tropical, southern China.

3)We won't have to pay higher hotel prices when traveling during the April trade fairs in Guangzhou. (We'll ignore the fact that flight prices increase May-August.)

4)My "maternity leave" will coincide with summer vacation! (Love this one!)

5)They did say about "2 more weeks" vs. saying something much worse.

6)We WILL have her in our arms soon!

Baby Shower and Disney on Ice

Last weekend, I spent the entire time in bed with a fever over 102 and sore throat . I felt so sick on Saturday that I didn't have a single Mello Yello.  It was a rough weekend...for Alex too who had to play Mr. Mom.

A couple of weekends ago, we showered my little sister Trista with lots of love and gifts at her baby shower. We held it at our parents' house.

Braylee was getting Hadlee to make silly sounds.

Kooper enjoyed helping Aunt Trista open her gifts.

Tracee, Mom, me, Trista, Emilee, and Heather

On Wednesday the 18th, we took the girls to Disney on Ice again. Last year was Toy Story and this year was princess-themed. They loved it, except Brynna was a little disappointed that Sleeping Beauty and Belle weren't featured more. Braylee was the lucky one who got to see her two favorite stories, Cinderella and Rapunzel.

The next day, the girls swam at the hotel in the morning. Then we did a little shopping and went to an indoor playground and arcade. At the mall, Brynna decided to buy some fake glasses with her Christmas money. She thinks they are pretty cool. She does look really cute in them. 😊

I tried not to think about all of the germs...but that could be why I am sick now!

These are the cute little Viking cheerleaders I got to sit by at the basketball game on Friday. They had some major dance moves when the band was playing.

Struggling with the wait...

Not going to lie...this wait for LOA is making me crazy. I stare at the phone, willing it to ring with the happy news that we can start planning to go get our sweet Asian baby. Every day that goes by is another day that she spends without her forever family. It's another day that we miss giving her kisses and teaching her new things. It's hard. It's annoying. It's making me cranky.

Most families travel within 6 months of getting their referral. Many of the families who received referrals in Septemeber are traveling in February or March. Ours worked a bit differently because we had to switch agencies. Amazingly, the month it took to switch agencies flew by because I was still on cloud 9 with the referral of Xin Meng! We received a quick PA and then the official wait for LOA began. I hoped and prayed we would get lucky and have a quick LOA so we could travel in March but really planned on traveling in April. As I mentioned before, there is no rhyme or reason to how long you wait...just depends on if you get in the line with the faster worker I guess. Most people wait about 60-90 days. I was expecting average...but hoping for shorter, so really hoping for LOA around Christmas or New Years. We are now on day 80. While it still falls into the "normal" range, it is hard to see people who received PA after us get their LOAs before us (I can't imagine how the people who have been waiting 140 days feel!). I believe without a doubt that God's timing is perfect and that for some reason, He doesn't want us to travel to China in March...and maybe not even April at this point. Saying I trust Him is easy, tolerating the wait isn't so much. :) With Chinese New Year next week, all of the Chinese offices will be closed. The good news is I won't have to hold my breath and pray for a call, but the bad news is there is NO chance of a call after Monday.

So enough of the whining, here's my request... Could you all pray for me to have more patience and to not focus so much on when the call will come? I know we will go to China soon to get our baby. I don't want to miss out on being present with my family right now because I am so preoccupied with adoption talk. If you want to pray for that LOA to come on Monday, well, that would be ok too. :)

Beginning of 2012 {& Locks of Love}

We've tried to take advantage of the spring-like weather. On the 7th, the girls had a big playdate with Lillie, Sydney, and Addie. They started the morning in their "spa" and then spent the afternoon "camping" in the backyard. I love their imaginations.
The girls sang "1 Corinthians 13" at church on the 8th. Brynna gave a big sigh in the middle of the song which was pretty cute.
That evening, we helped our niece Ella celebrate her 3rd birthday at a pink and purple princess party. We got her this little ballet purse with her name on it. Last week, my sister came down for me to take some maternity pictures. They turned out pretty decent for a free-amateur photographer. ;)
When we were done taking pictures, Brynna's big moment had arrived. She has been talking about cutting her hair for Locks of Love for quite awhile now. At times she and I would both get anxiety at the thought of cutting her beautiful hair and then there were days when we were both so ready. We finally just set the date and made the decision. She was so excited...but a little bummed that Aunt Trista brought a plain drape instead of the fancy "flip flop" one that Braylee got to use last year! ;) We measured her hair to make sure we had at least 10 inches...
And just like that...it was done.
Minus 11 inches and she's still as cute as ever. :) She was pretty proud of herself when we it took it to the post office.

Final Christmas Festivities and New Years Celebration!

On December 27th, we celebrated Christmas with Alex's family. Braylee read the Christmas story before we started opening gifts.
One of our gifts for Ella was a pair of REAL ballet slippers!
Brynna opening new ice skates for her AG doll from Gramma and sitting next to her fancy "Cutie Boutique" from Uncle Adam. Braylee had thrown up several times during the night/morning, so she was kind-of puny during the festivities. She livened up as the day went on though.
Mandi and Andre' sent the girls on a scavenger hunt to find the sleds they got them...which was the perfect gift for a snowy day.
Pappy pulled them on the sleds and helped them build a snowman too.

On the 29th, I met up with some of my high school friends and their kids. Evelyn, Jan, Elynn, Nicholl, Brynna,Me, and Braylee in the back. Penny w/ Deacon, my cousin Tomi and her boys Aiden & Noah, Kellen (Nicholl's boy), and Shana w/ Reuben & Aniston in the front. It was so fun to catch up with them!
On New Year's Eve, we went to the bowling alley with friends. We ate yummy food and let the kids bowl, then we went back to our house to watch the ball drop and laugh at the kids!

Brynna & Emma Lillie, Maddie, and BrayleeLillie and Braylee back at our house. Karson let Brynna use her new "Cutie Boutique" on him. :) Abby, Pierce, and KevinOur 14th New Year's Eve together

When the ball dropped, Brynna first started celebrating with some dance moves. Then decided she wanted to give Karson a kiss! And I caught it on film!These two were cracking us up!! They said they are just "BFFs." ;)
But we're not so sure?! We will have to keep our eyes on these little peanuts!
First day back to school was delayed due to snow. The girls went out to play for a little bit before school which Braylee thought was pretty cool.