Adoption updates (*new update added)

Well, it looks like we may be hitting our first bump in the road after being matched with Sophie.

Due to the concern over the swine flu, it looks like China is extending TAs that were issued between Mar 1 and Apr 30, from 3 to 5 months, and if they are doing that, I'm guessing they will probably hold off on issuing new ones for the time being. With that said, it's unclear at this time if the CC@A is not allowing travel for those who have TA now, or if they are just advising against it. You can read the announcement from the CC@A here.

Time will tell for us on whether our June time frame for travel will come to fruition or not. I was doing OK with the wait until this, as I have to say, my heart is heavy right now, as I really just want to hold my baby!! I know I need to trust in His plan and that His timing will be perfect, as always. I do feel blessed with the access we have to Sophie, and my heart is at peace with the care and love she is receiving at New Day while we all wait.

That brings us to Sophie's quilt. I have a little over 50 squares/wishes now. (I plan on posting pictures soon!) PLEASE, if you could contribute, there is still time. I would love to hit 100:-). I'm remaining positive that if there is a travel delay, it will be short, and Sophie WILL be home in a timely manner. Therefore, I need to set a firm deadline to receive fabric by May 10th. I plan on hanging her quilt in her bedroom, and I would love to have it completed by the time she comes home. If you need my address, just contact me via email, found in my profile. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this.

As for travel to China, John and I have decided it will just be the two of us.

Thank you to all of you who gave your input. It really did help with our deliberation. It was a very hard decision, as there are pros and cons to both ways, but in the end mostly due to financial constraints, the amount of in-China travel we will have, and the fact that this will be the only block of time Sophie will have with our undivided attention, John and I felt leaving the boys at home was the best choice for us. The fact that Sophie will have waited close to 4 years for a mommy and daddy,(PLEASE God let her be home for her Aug birthday), and has had to share attention all her life, it weighed heavily on our hearts that we give her this 'one on one' time with us. I hate leaving the boys behind, and I really don't know how I will do as I have never been away from them for this amount of time, but they will be in good hands and I can imagine will be kept very occupied. I do plan on having a little something special for them to open or look forward to everyday from us, and we will have sk*ype which should help a bit with the distance and time apart. Well, that's it. The decision is made, and I need to move forward.

And...just for fun....


Time for a hair cut:-)??

As always, God is good!

**update as of 4:00pm EST...My agency confirms that the CCAA is issuing a travel alert, but WILL CONTINUE TO ISSUE TAs, and if the family wishes to postpone travel they will extend their TA.

So, as for now, it looks like we're on schedule.

I sure hope this swine flu burns itself out soon!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Give me an "L", Give me an "O".....

And YES, give me "A"!!!!



Our agency just called to inform us they received our Letter of Acceptance today!!!

Never having done this before....45 days from receiving PA seems pretty quick, doesn't it:-)??

I guess it looks like June for travel:-).....Woo Hoo!!!

Things are definitely going to get kicked into overdrive around here.

As always, God is good!

An Appropriate Ending? The Beginning

I'm finally getting around to my last post in my 'Our Journey to Sophie' series. I guess this makes Part VI (wow!), and I'm ending this miraculous story, where else, but at the beginning.

As most of you know, Sophie lives at the New Day Foster Home, and I was led to their website through Sara, Mya's mom. I remember the day that I found out Sara had been matched with Mya. As I watched her video announcement, I became very emotional. Much more so than I usually did when I read about a family being matched with their child, and I didn't know why. I think I chalked it up to seeing a lot of similarities in our families, and probably a bit of hormones at the time.

I continued to follow Sara's journey, and one evening I was on her blog watching a beautiful video she posted that was put out by New Day. While this was going on, Nathan was reading and Owen was drawing at the table behind me. As I played the video, Owen was putting the final touches on his 'masterpieces'. He came to me with two drawings. Keeping my eyes focused on the playing video, I asked him to please wait until I finished the video. His pleads told me he was VERY proud and excited about them, so I looked away from the video to give him attention. He had drawn 2 separate dragonflies. I was surprised, as he had never drawn dragonflies before and the subject seemed to have come from out of the blue. After Owen had had his fill of praise, I looked back at the video, and the very next second a picture appeared of a little girl running with a kite that had two dragonflies on them!!

It's fair to say, I got some serious chills!!




I knew this was more than a coincidence. Not only did I scan his pictures, (I just knew I would want these some day), but more importantly, I knew I needed to look into this New Day place!! I found their website and started to look at all the adorable faces. I soon came to realize what a wonderful place New Day Foster Home was, and as I searched the scrapbook for the girl with the kite, I quickly became captivated with 'Cheryl'. Whenever I came across a picture of her, she pulled at my heart like no other. Soon, without even realizing it, I found myself searching for just 'Cheryl'. After numerous photos, I finally did find the photo of the girl with the kite. It was sweet Emily. While I was happy I found what I was initially looking for, I knew in my heart it wasn't Emily I was supposed to find, it was 'Cheryl'. Emily was the one who led me to 'the one' destined to be our daughter.



As I was writing this post, I noticed the date on the scanned pictures; the date this all took place; Aug 22, 2008.

Sophie's given birthdate is August 24th.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

God is good!

'Sophie Night' Highlights...

Yes, last night was Monday night...and you know what that means....it was 'Sophie Night'!!

At first, sky*pe wasn't working on New Day's end, so we talked to Sophie over the phone while they tried to fix the problem. Man-o-man, one time on sk*ype, and BOY did we ALL get SPOILED!!!! We tried everything to move the conversation along, and make the 'best of it'...as I just finish typing that, I'm thinking geeezze...'make the best of it????' What's THAT about??? Weekly conversations with our daughter a half a world away...in China....make the best of it?!! Back to the point...when I say spoiled, I mean it quickly became apparent the traditional phone conversation wasn't doing it for Sophie as well! On the phone, John and I tried to ask her questions, talk about her upcoming field trip to the aquarium, tried to sing a song etc....to no avail....NOTHING was working...Sophie just kept asking OVER and OVER to SEE..... guess what?? THE DOGS!!!!!! Oh, man...she was NOT easily diverted, and can she 'turn it on'. Her sweet voice kept getting more and more pathetic with her pleading. While we were waiting to see if rebooting the computer would work, we could hear Sophie's melodic pleads like a skipping record over the phone....it was heart wrenching!

Praise the Lord...the reboot worked and all was right in our world again;-)! John gathered the peacefully sleeping pooches (80lb Labs)and lifted them up to camera height....and voila....a huge smile!!!!! 'I want to see the dogs' in Chinese will FOREVER be imprinted in my mind:-). Too funny!

Speaking of funny....it gets better. Sophie started calling John 'Ye Ye' last night. John didn't know at first what she was saying (and I wanted to keep it that way) but she kept repeating it when she saw him on the screen. I couldn't control my laughter, and I had to let him in on it. Thank goodness he was a good sport about it...but I wouldn't be surprised if he comes home from work today with a bottle of Just F0R Men;-). Lauren came on at the end and apologetically clarified that EVERY man with gray hair is a Ye Ye to the kids. I don't know if he fully bought that, but thanks Lauren;-).

All in all, Sophie's personality is emerging more and more with each conversation. She was very animated last night...full of energy. Maybe it was the jell0 jigg*lers she had right before our conversation? Hummmm?;-) I know I'm biased, but Sophie has a beautiful voice!!! She sang "Twinkle Tinkle Little St@r" to us in Chinese, and she was simply captivating. I think we may have a future start on our hands. Nathan plays the Sax and electric guitar, and Owen loves the drums (no surprise there;-)...Sophie will fit in nicely as their lead singer!!

How lovely!!!! Or as Sophie was more fond of saying last night....'That's AWESOME'!!!

God is good!

Sophie all dressed up!

We sent Sophie an Easter package and we were able to watch her open it during our last sky*pe conversation. Very special:-).

We also included a gift for Emily, who has been having a difficult time watching many of her friends be matched with families. It warms my heart to see a smile on Emily's face and hopefully ease her pain if just for a short while.

My daughter

We enjoyed 'Sophie night' again this week, and this time it was extra special!

We were able to talk with, and SEE her on sky*pe! It was AMAZING, to say the least. When the video turned on and I saw Sophie for the very first time 'live', my heart literally skipped a beat. Then, I experienced a special feeling, deep within my heart, that I've only experienced twice before in my life; when each of my sons were born, and I saw their face for the very first time as they were placed in my arms. It's a powerful feeling that rushes in in an instant, and your heart is transformed to hold a lifetime of everlasting love.



She IS my daughter.

Not that I doubted, but I honestly didn't expect to feel what I felt via a webcam:-).

I can't imagine what it will be like when I finally meet her in person.

THE GIFT OF LIFE

I didn't give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true!
No, I didn't give you
The gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.

Author Unknown

To God be the glory!

Easter humor...compliments of Owen

I don't have much time to post this morning, but I just had to share these two conversations with you all, and hopefully give you an Easter chuckle...

On Saturday, I told the boys we were going to run to the store to buy something 'special' for Easter dinner.

Owen chimes in and asks....'What are we going to have? Rabbit??'

Nathan quickly says..."Owen, you'll be lucky if the Easter Bunny leaves you a basket after saying that!"

There is a family that lives down the road from us with 10 children, and we know the youngest girl is adopted from Russia. The youngest boy is in Owen's class, and we were talking about what it would be like to have that many brothers and sisters. During the conversation, I asked if Owen knew if any of the other children were adopted, and Owen nonchalantly says, "Oh no....she laid them all".

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!

Christ is risen, indeed!!! Hallelujah!

'Sophie Night'

We were able to talk with Sophie again this week, and we have affectionately named Mondays as "Sophie Night". This week however, due to problems with the phone lines at ND, "Sophie night" took place last night (Tuesday). Oh, it was worth the wait!

Each time we call, Sophie becomes more and more talkative, and she does a great job translating what we say into Chinese for the people in the room at New Day:-). The whole phone conversation dynamic is pretty funny, to say the least, and I know I keep saying this, but I WISH I could learn more Chinese overnight!!! I say MORE like I even know SOME, LOL.....I only know a few phrases, and I'm not even sure if I say those correctly...ha!! It's hysterical as Miss Sophie says things over and over in Chinese to us, and she gets s-l-o-w-er and LOUDER each time, like THAT is going to help us....bless her little heart!!! I just have to laugh, or I think I would cry.

Anyhow, it doesn't seem to matter. I just LOVE hearing her voice and Sophie seems to feel the same, as each week our 'connection' feels closer and closer. These phone calls are such an unbelievable blessing, Praise the Lord!

Sophie did say one thing to us during our call that made our hearts suddenly feel like a 10lb brick and ache terribly. She was looking at our photo album we sent, identifying things she saw, and then said in Chinese, "Ma-MA, I want to come home.....I am ready to come home NOW"

OH, my mind immediately raced to 'OK....I'm getting on the VERY NEXT PLANE out of here....I'm coming!!!!!'

Then, in the next second, reality hits.....as much as I want to, and BELIEVE me, I WOULD...I simply CAN'T.

Then I thought, THANK GOD, SHE IS AT NEW DAY.

Times like this I just hate bureaucracy.

We did say to Sophie (between the tears) how much we love her, and how we can't wait to come get her and bring her home. She quickly moved on to pointing at Sawyer and Finn and said, "big dogs:-)". Thank you God for the saving grace of the attention span, and easy diversion of a three year old, and even more so, for the caring people at New Day that who helped her 'move on'!!!

New Day has sky*pe now, so I will be going out to buy one before our next "Sophie night". Now we'll get to talk AND see her....unbelievable!

I have to send out a big 'thank you' to Lauren who is an intern at New Day, who helps out so much with our conversations:-). You're the best!

Changing topics, Sophie was fitted with a new brace recently, and it is working out really well from what I've heard! It is much more comfortable for her than her old one was, and she is able to get around a lot easier.

Does New Day rock or what??!!!!

You can tell from the photos below, she's really likin' and showin' off her new foot!!!! Gotta love it!!!



We're comin' baby....as fast as we can!

As always, God is good!!!!

I'm so excited!!! I've started to receive fabric and beautiful blessings for Sophie's 100 wishes quilt. I'm so emotional over every one that I receive, I can't imagine how I will feel when the quilt is put together!! This is so very special. I wanted to share with everyone the fabric pieces and heartfelt wishes sent by Kim, Kathy and Desiree. Ladies, thank you so much for your contributions:-).



If you would like to be represented in Sophie's quilt, please know, you are more than welcome ....just email me, and I can send you our address.

It's Monday, and you know what that means.....it's 'Sophie night' tonight:-) Woo Hoo!

'What's in a name'? Part 2

I have two small stories left to share that make up the much larger story of our journey to Miss Sophie.

The story to follow is about how 'Sophie' came into the realm of names for our daughter.

The name was actually introduced to us through Owen. In May of 2008, (before we even saw 'Cheryl') he wrote the name 'Sofhie' out of the blue, on a box that was in our bedroom.



Now mind you, there is no one named Sophie in our family, circle of friends, or in Owen's class. I don't think he's ever heard that name before, let alone spell it. When I saw the name, I was stunned. I could tell it was Owen's handwriting, and in all honesty, writing a word like that was beyond his ability at the time. He was spelling one syllable words like 'am', 'do' and 'dog'. I asked Owen what he wrote, and he said he didn't know, they were just letters that 'came into his head'. I started to think maybe God wanted us to consider this name for our daughter...whoever she might be. I looked up the meaning of Sophie and found out it meant 'wisdom'. "Nice name" I thought, and moved on.

Fast forward several months to 'the waiting period' of seeing if we would ultimately be matched with "Cheryl". I was having one of those days where my strength was waning, and I started to doubt my sanity in the endeavor we were on. I went to the Bible, and opened it. The scripture my eyes went to was this....

Choose my instruction instead of silver; knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 8:10-11

'Sofhie' immediately entered my mind.

When you read the above scripture both literally and figuratively, it speaks volumes. This was one of those 'gifts' that instantaneously renewed my strength in our journey....reminding me, He was leading...we needed to continue to trust and see this through to the end.

At that moment, I knew what Cheryl's new name would be WHEN we got her file.