6 DAYS!!!

Just One More Week!!!

Actually, we catch our first flight out of St Louis on 10/21 to LAX. So technically, I guess it is really 6 days - but who's counting.

O.K. me - I am counting every moment until I leave. :)

Wow - this was exactly what I needed today...

Believe it or not, I am still amazed at times when God does things that totally blow me away. You would think that after all this time I would just come to expect that when I am at my lowest and worrying tirelessly, God has a plan.

But I loose site of that and start to sink into my own pit (for those of you who are Beth Moore fans, you will know what I mean by that). But anyway, I was up half the night - worrying.

Ya' see, we received our final costs from our agency and they were substantially higher than I had expected. I was blown away - to say the least. Immediately, I began to worry. How could we do this? Where was the money going to come from? It was painful - I was so distraught.

Then I clicked on a fellow bloggers site - and Mandi had this posted. And I was quickly reminded that He has a plan and I just need to be quiet and listen.

Till later....

Only 8 More Days!!!

We are now in single digits...

TRAVEL FUNDRAISER

Now that we have booked our travel, the reality has really set in. The expense of the adoption has been a tough challenge for our family. We recently learned that we did not receive any of the grant we had applied for. This was really tough to hear.

To help defray some of the costs, we have decided to offer one last fundraiser. The auction style fundraiser will take place on a secondary site located at - Harlow Adoption . There are more details on the specifics of the fundraiser and how to bid, located on this site. The items featured have been donated by our family and friends or are items from our children's clothing company.

We would like to again thank all of our friends and family who graciously donated items for our auction.

Please spread the word....

10 Days and Counting!!

A Special Little Girl

Since earlier this year, we have had the pleasure of sponsoring a special little girl in China through an organization known as New Day Foster Home . The moment I clicked on their site, I saw the face of a beautiful little girl named Elise. Her smile could lite up a room. We chose to sponsor Elise at New Day, until she found her forever home. Since we had not been matched yet with Tia, it made the wait easier. I would receive monthly pictures of Elise. It was wonderful to watch her grow and pray for her as a family.

Fast forward a few months. Through the wonder of blogs, I had the chance to "meet" Elise' soon to be mommy. Elise is now Khloe (isn't that a beautiful name!) It has been a wonderful experience to walk through our adoption journeys together.

I had made a list of the things I really wanted to do while we were in China - other than GET MY BABY!!! At the top of the list was to meet Khloe. Well, my wish has come true. On Friday, October 23, we will be visiting New Day Foster Home and hanging out with these amazing kids. I cannot wait!!!

I encourage you to check out New Day's site and consider sponsoring one of this awesome children.

Till later....

We Have A Date!!!!

I just received the call from our agency and our consulate appointment has been confirmed. This is our tentative itinerary

10/22 - Depart St Louis

10/23 - 25 - Site Seeing in Beijing

10/25 - Fly to Kunming City

10/26 - GOTCHA DAY!!!!!

10/30 - Fly to Guangzhou

11/4 - Consulate Appointment

11/7 - Depart for St Louis

We are still working on the final details with our travel agent. As soon as I have our flight information, I will let you know. We would love for any of you in the St Louis area to greet us at the airport.

Till Later...

A New Look

So, what do you think?? I decided to put a "fresh coat of paint" on the ole' blog.

I am also excited to finally include a picture of Tia in the headline. It makes all of this seem so real.

And by way of an update on our travel - the C*AA reopens tonight (Chin* Time). Our facilitators in Chin* will send our request for a consulate date. Our hope is to leave St Louis on October 21. We will fly to Beijing for a few days, and then on to Kunming City to meet Tia. We will finish our journey in Guangzhou. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Till later....

My Two Favorite Letters....

Gotta Love Those Little Faces

I took a moment this evening when I was practicing with my camera to interrupt a tea party hosted by Trenton and Tessa. They had invited some of their animal friends and were having a wonderful time. I was able to get a couple of quick pictures.

Why We Are Doing This

I was having a pity party today. I think I have refined them to an art form. I should just hold off wearing mascara for a little while, because it was smeared all over my face. This is not a pretty site.

Anyway, at the height of my lament, I received an email from our local FCC group. They had attached a new video from Holt International. The song was by New Song and is entitled Every Child Deserves a Home. Well, I cried a lot more. Definitely no mascara left today!!!

But after my pity party was over I woke up to the realization that this is not about me. I have forgotten why we went into all of this. God called us to adopt a child. This is not about how it makes me feel or my time lines and agendas. It is about a little girl who needs a mom and a dad. This is part of HIS plan, not mine.

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.

Till later...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQjObgmNbmE

New Friends

I have found that some of my closest friends are those that I have met in our adoption process. Some are fellow adoptive moms, others just love us and support the direction God has taken us. I had the chance this week to "meet" the mom that I believe will be our travel partner to China. I won't give too much detail, because I like to protect other people's privacy. But I will tell you that I know God crafted all of this by His plan. She has quickly become a special friend and prayer partner.

I would like to ask that you join us this weekend in prayer for our adoptions. We are praying for a "Miracle TA". We know that no matter when we travel to bring our children home, God had it all worked out before we even entered this process. So, my bloggy friends, I ask that you pray with us over the next few days. And as you know from my previous posts, I believe in praying very specifically. We are praying first of all for safety for our children. That they will know their parents are anxiously preparing to bring them home. Secondly, please pray that our Travel Approval arrives this next week. Let me tell you, that would be a miracle - but we know that our God is very much in the business of performing miracles in our lives. And last but not least, please continue to pray for our adoption fund raising efforts. We both have grant applications pending right now and every little bit will help.

Thank you my friends,

ARTICLE 5

HURRAY - it is signed!!!! I just got an email from our agency that our Article 5 has been signed by the US Cons*late. So, now our documents are on their way to the C*AA for the last step.

Thank you all again for your prayers!

An Update

O.K. - so this is where we are today. I spoke with our agency this morning and our documents have been corrected and are now able to be viewed by the Consul*te. They said they have given us "priority" status. I am not really sure what that means - but I hope it means they will approve our documents quickly and send them off to the C*AA. After that, we wait for our travel approval. Our agency still believes we will travel in October - they are just not sure when.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragement.

PLEASE Start Praying

Hello my friends - I am really needing your prayers right now. For the past few weeks, I have had an uneasy feeling about our paperwork. Maybe it was mother's intuition - who knows. Anyway, I received a call from our agency a little while ago. They spoke with the U*S Consula*e last night. There is an error with our file and they cannot process it. It seems that when it was uploaded from the National V*sa Center, there was an error. We were told that this was fixed on August 28, but apparently it was not. So, our documents have been sitting there this entire time, not going anywhere. So, what do we need to happen now???

1) Someone at the NVC needs to fix the file ASAP
2) The Consulat* needs to be notified that it has been fixed
3) The Consulat* needs to process our documents and get them to the CC*A.

I am so frustrated and tired right now. Please pray that someone in our government takes pity on us and gets to work on this today.

Thanks!

Passing the Time

I decided that I needed a diversion to keep my mind off of the wait. So, I began to sew. For those of you who may not know, I own a children's clothing company called My Red Thread. Cool name - huh...

Anyway, I have finally started making clothes for my two little China girls. I tried to get Taylor in on a act, but at 15 she adamantly refused to wear anything I make.


So, without further delay - here are some of our latest designs.....



This is Tia's first backpack. We do a lot of these bags throughout the year.






I love this one because of the message - she is soooo worth the wait.



The Consulate wardrobe - all decked out in Red, White and Blue. This is a three piece gingham set that features the jumper, pantaloons and bloomers.




Yep - that is Tia's name in Chinese. We have approximately 900 girls names in our database. We can embroider the names on any of our items. This one piece romper is available in 4 colors and up to size 18 month.



And finally, my favorite. I have been waiting for quite a while to make matching "sister" clothes for my little girls. I love this set! it features a long sleeve t-shirt with coordinating leggings. This set is available up to size 5/6. I love the embroidery design. The two little girls faces are adorable. We have a variety of designs to choose from.

So, that is it for now. You can plan to see a few more designs over the next few weeks.

Till later....

Where was I five years ago today....

The answer - St Luke's Hospital with my beautiful baby boy - Trenton. That's right, my baby BOY is now five years old.

Wow - where did that time go????

We started the day today with 5 powered sugar donuts with candles in each. He loved this!!! We also brought treats for his Pre-Kindergarten class. The final decisions have not been made as to his birthday dinner - I think we are leaning towards Chinese food. He did however make sure that I knew the "plan" for today.

Step 1 - Get up and go to school

Step 2 - Come home from school and eat dinner

Step 3 - PRESENTS!!!!

It was so cute to watch him hold up each finger and describe the "plan".

I feel so blessed to be his mother. Happy Birthday Buddy....

Till later...

The Words I Want To Hear

I keep chanting this to myself - "The paperwork will be done soon...." I know all of you adoptive parents can empathize - this waiting is terrible. I am trying to enjoy the wait, but that is just not happening. I check my email daily to see if I have any updates from our agency. They have been wonderful, but this process is out of their control as well.

Please continue to pray that we receive some good news soon. Right now, we are waiting on our approval of the Article 5 by the US Cons*late in Ch*na. After that is received, our paperwork will go to the CC*A for our travel approval. After we receive this approval, we will be able to bring our baby home.

Till later...