Gearing up!

The time has finally come to gear up for the arrival of Abby!

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork.  Last week I sent off another chunk of papers to US immigration asking them to start the paperwork to accept and welcome Abby as an American citizen. (the fact that this sentence just made me cry should show you where my heart is....)  I sent another chunk of papers to be authenticated at the Chinese Consulate.  I sent all of our final travel documents to HOLT.  I am about to send off all of our visa applications, also to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco.  Oh, the paperwork.  I have been a bit bewildered by the fact that this time around I have felt like I am almost constantly buried in paperwork until it finally dawned on me why.....Our other two adoptions have been a 15 and 13 month journey....and THIS adoption journey is on track to being JUST a little over the 6 month mark! It has been going soooo fast and so I have constantly been having to move right along to the next step!  Holy moly! In the timeline to the right, I have added all of the final steps that have yet to happen till we get to welcome Abby into our family FOREVER!  The end is in sight.....or should I say, the beginning is in sight!!!!

We've just started clearing out the girls room to attempt to make room for a third roommate, their sweet little sister.  Not sure how that's going to work out yet....I figure we'll have Abby in our room for a while anyway.  I am setting up a makeshift closet and a few shelves in my room to start getting her things organized.....

Started looking at more adoption blogs and reviewing their packing lists that so many of them have included...and just began our own list of what we need to take to China this time around.....Here is the link to a great list for those of you who will be making your own lists soon:  http://www.babeofmyheart.com/china-adoption-pack-list/

Speaking of traveling to China, we finally made the final decision for just Marc to travel this time with our two oldest sons (ages 8 and 10).  I will stay home with the other three rascals.  It was not an emotionally easy decision but a decision that the Lord made clear.  And I have total peace in this plan.

I am trying to think through and have things as prepared for Abby as possible when she gets to hang out with her daddy and two brothers in China.  I found this music that I am really excited to load onto Marc's itunes.  Here is the link:  http://alittlemandarin.com/music/  Luke and I were listening to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star last night and almost fell asleep, it sounds so peaceful.  I hope it brings comfort to Abby too.

And, I am back on You Tube watching all sorts of Chinese Gotcha Day videos....oh, they are so fun!

And so, on all fronts, we are gearing up for ABBY!!!!!!!!  yahoooooooo!!!!!!

In closing, I want to share a link that my good friend, "g", sent me to watch of the things NOT to say to adoptive families.  It cracks me up....ofcourse, because it is soooo reality!  Enjoy!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFp61HAj-nk&noredirect=1#t=160

LOA, baby!!!!!

today was not a great day.
bleh bleh bleh.
but then at 3 o'clock the phone rang.
one of the kids said, "it's a call from Eugene."
Knowing that any call from "Eugene" was/is a call from our agency, I screamed from the other side of the house, "HURRY, ANSWER IT!"

I took the phone from my son and then I heard a sweet voice say the words that EVERY adoptive momma LOVES to hear, "I have some good news for you."

She then proceeded to tell me that our Letter of Acceptance arrived today at their office.

OH.MY.WORD.

It was suppose to take 2-4 months to arrive.  It took 26 days.

OH.MY.WORD.

And so the process moves forward.  The ball is now back in our court and all of the sudden I am sitting here under another mountain of paperwork.  The good news is that this remaining paperwork is much more predictable (barring any unforeseen glitches) and we can now estimate our travel dates.  Best estimates put us in China the second week of December.

OH.MY.WORD.

T - 3 months ....and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

We love updates!!!!!

We got updated pictures and information on Abby this week....

which is really fantastic!

 

We are all smitten with her!

And it was really fun to discover that her current height and weight are the exact same as Levi's.

Twinsies!  

Last Summer Hoorah!

Camping in Central Oregon with some of our bestest friends.

This massive tent barely fit us.  yikes.

 

 The Metolius River ran through our small campground.  Um, beautiful!

The children.

   One group of hikers we passed asked us, "Are you guys a church group, or something?"  Ba haa ha ha!
Nope, just 2 families.

 

A long weekend away to do nothing but be with our friends and enjoy God's AMAZING creation.

A perfect way to end our summer.

Thank you, Lord!

Dossier: Logged In!!!!!

And this is what our email from Holt said today:

"We received verbal confirmation today that there were no problems or issues with getting your dossier logged in on time. We have been assured that your dossier was logged in without issue."

Yes, I cried.  Tears of joy.  Tears of amazement.

God is good.

And so the process moves forward.
We now wait for the LOA (Letter of Acceptance) to come.  That is the letter where China says that we are a suitable match for Abby.  The estimate is for that Letter to come anytime between Oct.22 and Dec. 22.  I am hoping for sooner!

Thank you sooo much to all of you who have been and are continuing to pray for our sweet Abby.

This is the great adventure!!!!!

A Father's Joy

I married Marc because he was my best friend.  I deeply loved him and I knew that I wanted to walk alongside him through all of life's adventures.  By the grace of God, it was the best decision I ever made.

15 years later, I still marvel at the fact that God gave him to me.  He cannot stand it when women gush all over their husbands on the internet so I will TRY to refrain from too much gush (although he deserves it because he is awesome!) ....but I can't tell you the name of our 6th child without mentioning just a little bit about how amazing my hubby is.

We are going to name our daughter, Abby. 

We had a very short list of names that we both were "okay" with.  However, when I looked up the meaning of the names, I had no doubt that "Abby" was it.  The meaning of the name Abby is "A father's joy", or "the joy of the father".  Um, YES.  The way that Marc loves our children and the way that he is so selflessly and bravely and boldly following the Lord to our next child....our SIXTH child!....oh, she already is his joy!  And ONLY God could have given him that joy for her in his heart.  My prayer is that she will KNOW that she IS her heavenly Father's joy just as she will no doubt feel and know that she is her daddy's joy. 

Her father's joy,  Abby Ruth.

 

no news.

We have not had word yet about if/when our Dossier was logged in in China.....

Our adoption agency, frankly, ROCKS, and they have told us that no news is good news and that they are "optimistic" that it was logged in on time and if NOT then they have assured us that they will strongly advocate for us.  They do not seem worried.

I am not sure what to think....so I am choosing not to think...ha ha.  God is in control...and if anyone can get er done for us, it's HOLT.  We are in good hands.

"Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."  Psalm 37:5