An Update

1. An update on where we are in the process to adopt our baby girl.....we are currently sitting and waiting.  It has been almost two months since our paperwork left our hands and made its way into the hands of the adoption affairs office in China.  Each month, though we missed the cutoff to be considered for the September list, a new list is released from China with available children.  There are always children waiting to be matched but we are requesting a baby girl, under the age of 2, with a minor/correctable special need, and these children are hard to come by.  Our agency has stated that we could likely wait up to six months.  Though we hope and pray this is NOT the case, we are settling into this lull and soaking up life as we know it for the time being.  
2. An update on fundraising....this is the first adoption we have fully funded through grants and fundraising.  We are so happy to report that we are down to what we hope will be the final stretch in our fundraising attempts - TROT TO ADOPT 2014.  This will occur in January.  We are one of three fabulous families, two adopting from China and one adopting from Ethiopia, participating in this fundraiser!  This will be the fourth annual trot and we look forward to spreading the word on adoption in our community!  
3. An update on the name of our little one....it changes DAILY.  Hourly some days.  I love the name Meryn.  But then there is Mary-Gentry.  And I love the family history with the name Mary-Gentry.  Mason-Kate says it is soooo boring being the only one in the family with a double name....her vote is, of course, for Mary-Gentry.  And so goes the naming....
4. And, drumroll please, who is going to China???  Each time we have adopted,everyone reacts with their initial, "Congratulations!" and then they move right into, "Now, are the children going with you to China?" We are preparing as if they will all go.  Again, the realistic part is that we do not have any one or two people who we feel are going to be able to keep all four children together for 2 1/2 weeks.  Our parents are long out of the stages of running to and fro from piano to multiple practices to ballet to youth while keeping in line with feeding them three times a day plus making sure they are bathed and showered with their teeth brushed before reading them night time stories only to go to bed and wake up bright and early again to do it all over again.....I am tired just typing that and I left out the schooling part, the children are with us 24/7....school is done at home so there is no time for an afternoon nap before the bus appears!  Ryan helps so much and we make a great team when doing all of the above together.   Separating them is out of the question.....little Maddox would not know what to do without all of the above....and MK would not know how to live without Pryce - she adores him and looks forward to each and every moment they spend together.  We want to take everyone to meet our baby girl and sister.  We are trusting that this will be possible.  

And, so, that is all for now on the adoption front....we are gearing up with excitement as we watch our friends travel to meet their baby boy in Ethiopia!  And right behind them, we will be THRILLED to see little Jonah come home - his mommy has waited too long for the moment she will become a mother!