pre-approval!!!

Yahoo! We received pre-approval for our boy in China last night!!! The picture above shows him with a buddy who is also being adopted. Looking at this picture makes me realize he's a BIG boy! :)

Today I spent the better part of the morning trying to put together a package to send to Eli Tao. (Yep, that's his name! Eli is the American name we've given him; Tao is his Chinese name. We *think* we'll be calling him by both for a while, but honestly....we aren't set on anything. Some of it depends on what he thinks!)

What a task....just what do you send your child the first time he hears about you?? We created a photo book with our pictures and will be sending him a small pillow with Cars movie characters on it as well as a small toy school bus like the one his big sister rides. :)

Hopefully I'll answer some questions that we've been asked in the next post. Its been sort of crazy around here!!

oh, the paperwork journey

I seriously thought I'd never have the patience or tolerance to go through this paperwork process again. Putting together Norah's dossier was so incredibly consuming for me that I literally got ill at the thought of pursuing another.

However, it is really amazing how knowing what to expect lessens some of the burden.

It isn't without the craziness, though! Thankfully we are working with two really great agencies, who are used to dealing with stressed out parents.

Just when I thought pre-approval was submitted and all was quiet on the homefront for a few days, we received a call today saying that China needs some bloodwork. Like yesterday. Unfortunately, Jim's doctor did not draw for the bloodwork the day we had our physicals like mine did. So my labs are in, and he rushed off to the office to have labs drawn a few minutes ago.
This too shall pass.

As far as the process goes, our timeline to bring him home looks like it averages out to around 6-8 months from now. We have submitted for pre-approval. Once we receive pre-approval, we have three months to submit our dossier or an extension. After the dossier, most are taking 3-4 months for a Letter of Approval (LOA). Following that, we wait a few more weeks for travel approval and then off we go!

I know we've had a lot of questions since we've announced this....I promise to answer more of them over the next couple of weeks.

For now, I'll leave you with just a picture of the cutie pie when he was a little younger.....

a crazy calling

We know that God calls people to do crazy things sometimes.

My husband and I have commented more than once how much easier things have recently become. Will's school has helped him tremendously, which in turn has made things easier on us. Norah has settled into our family, weathered most of the really awful twos and seems to be coming around to the other side. Caroline, for her part, has always been pretty easy and helpful.

So just when we thought we were comfortable, we heard a calling.

It started with a picture.

And then another.

Until I finally realized that the reason I could not leave this little face was perhaps that MY plan...the one where I adopted again when Norah and Will were in school a full day...the one that included paying off Norah's adoption first....wasn't the plan at all. It became really clear that His plan included this child.

And so it begins. One more crazy, awesome journey.

Big girl, fun times

** For those who are wondering, Norah is wearing a shirt from church. We are in the middle of a series about being free, but I thought it was hilarious regardless. No, I'm not giving her away. Yet.**

Norah has decided that she wants to be just like her sister. She follows her around, wants to know where Caroline is when she's at school, and copies her every move.

Since it was spring break for my kids, I decided now was probably a good time to at least introduce the potty, even if she wasn't ready. The first couple of days were....well, um, interesting. As I cleaned her mistakes off of my floor, I assumed she wasn't ready. But all of a sudden, at the end of the week, a light bulb went on and she can now stay pretty dry as long as she wears no pants. Or panties. Or anything really.

So, since Will is still on spring break this week, I'm continuing to let her run around naked or with panties only. So far, so good. I'm hoping that if we continue this, gradually she'll just get it even when she's clothed. That way, this summer, I can concentrate on potty training Will via ABA methods. I'd be grateful to only have one to have to concentrate on!

We are also painting a big girl bed for her since she can climb in and out of her crib at will. This summer we plan to move her into her sister's room. Both girls seem okay with the idea, so we're getting things ready!

Just when I thought I might abandon the blog...

Things are buzzing in my house.

I can't spill the beans right now, but please say a prayer for my family as we pursue something that would bring about big changes in our home. More details to come this week. I promise!!

Birthday Party: Vietnam style

Norah turned two recently. We decided to have a relaxed party at our house with close friends and family and cook some yummy Vietnamese food. I may never eat another spring roll again, however. Frying food is not my favorite hobby.

Here's the birthday girl and her sister, dressed in outfits from VN.

Blowing out the candle. Grandma and she practiced this for months! :)

Pho, the main dish and a Vietnamese staple. My favorite. Here's the recipe.

Be kind...

"Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle"--Plato

A friend of mine has this posted under her signature on an online forum I frequent. Today I was reminded of it while reading another friend's blog.

I've spent a lot of time the past two weeks planning a respite night at our church for 50+ kids. I'm pumped. I'm also exhausted. Reading through registration forms and pairing the kids up with volunteers has left me drained...mostly on the physical end, but emotionally it wears on me as well.

There are lots of people out there fighting a hard battle. It isn't always noticeable to the naked eye. Some of these kids look okay on the outside, but are fighting battles on the inside.

This is a part of what I'm doing, starting with respite night tonight. Clicking on the link will take you to a website that, for now, is a placeholder. But as churches grow in number to provide respite for families who desperately need it, our coalition grows. What an amazing, awesome idea!!