Pre Approval

Our paperwork journey, to say the least, was a bit of one obstacle after another - partly due to our overlooking some specifics and partly due to others overlooking some specifics. Unfortunately, it seems as though our post-referral journey is going to be defined as one obstacle after another as well. We were a bit discouraged Friday to learn that our Pre Approval for little M has not yet arrived. Pre Approval is the first document that is received after you accept your referral. PA, as it is referred to in adoption land, is basically a document stating that China acknowledges your wish to adopt a specific child and they "pre approve" you to do so. Others received theirs last week. We did not and the really bad news is that we will not receive it until next week due to a Chinese holiday. Patience is being practiced in our home. Meanwhile, we are so excited about a fundraiser our friends have put together for us. The support that our family has received during this adoption has been phenomenal and it simply takes our breath away to know how much this little girl is already loved by so many!

(C's letter to M)

Dear M,
I am Colin D., your new older brother. Today is September 21st, a Tuesday. Monday morning, at 12:30AM, we got a phone call about you. It said we had a match. They gave us an online file and some pictures of you. Mom and Dad were thinking hard about you. They didn't know if you could sit up....then today we got an email. It told us you could sit up. It also told us you were crawling and you had 4-inch feet. Mom and Dad really wanted you and they told the agency this. We will travel in March and we are looking forward to seeing you. By the way, your Chinese name is *****.
Love, Colin.

To Baby M

(I had the boys write letters to Baby M on the day we received her referral)

Hi. I am Pryce. Well right now we're preparing to get you and this is a happy day! Well, in 24 weeks (we hope) we will be in China getting you and you'll be part of our family. Hip, hip hooray! Mason-Kate really wants to see you bigtime. By the way, Mason-Kate is my sister. She is 3 1/2 and her birthday is January 15. Mine is May 3. Well, I gotta go so good-bye. See you in 24 weeks!

Accidents Happen....

It is a known fact that I don't do pain well....my pain is one thing but seeing my own children in pain is a whole different ballgame and knowing that it could have been prevented is heartbreaking. Thursday evening, Ryan and I were preparing dinner, the boys were outside playing and MK was milling around. I asked MK to please go get her shoes from upstairs because when we did finish dinner, we were going to Pryce's baseball game and we needed to be ready. She went upstairs and a few moments later we hear a clump, bump, clump, clump, bump....and then a loud scream! We get to the bottom of the stairs to find MK upside down with her princess shoes and pretty purple hat strewn about the stairs. Keep in mind that I asked her to go get her shoes to go to the baseball game not the BALL! Walking down stairs in two inch heals is not to be done by a 3 year old! She cried and cried and cried....and we held her and made her move every inch of her body to make sure all was well. A bump on the head and the tears soon disappeared - she was whole again but I don't think she will be walking down the stairs in heals again anytime soon!

The children helped us so much with the yard sale. They all three tagged items and helped display them. The boys eagerly greeted customers and, because of them, we sold a few items that may not have sold otherwise. To say that they are quite the salesmen is an understatement! Following the sale, Pryce was helping with loading items back onto a trailer. Somehow, someway, in just a matter of seconds, Pryce managed to get his arm pinned under the tailgate. Pryce doesn't cry unless he is in real pain. He is a tough cookie. When the tears came on Saturday, I knew he was hurt bad. He had a scrape on his neck, a scrape on his chest, a scrape on his leg and then his whole arm, from the wrist to his elbow, was one big blue bubble. I did what I do best and panicked. As Ryan carried him to his parent's house to be seen by his sister, a nurse, I had to lay down in the neighbor's yard as I was about to faint. Thankfully, all was well. His arm was not broken. He could move all fingers and his wrist. He was most upset about possibly missing out in his next baseball game. We promptly told him we would Ace bandage him up and he should be good to go. Meanwhile, he looks as if he battled a giant and the giant won!

With children, accidents do come and they come all too fast. We are hoping they come less around here this week :)

Meaning

One thing that keeps ringing in my mind is the meaning of her Chinese name. It means "kindheartedness." When we began the process last Spring, we encountered a lady that we will forever be grateful to. She provided for us, not because we asked or because she had to, but because she sincerely wanted to. I am thirty-ish :) and I can honestly say that I have never experienced that sort of kindness in my lifetime. It was unsolicited, and truly heartfelt, kindness. This was only the beginning of the showers of kindness we have felt during the last four months. Whether we have been encouraged by words, or actions, we have truly felt God's presence. He knows our needs. And everytime we get that all to familiar lump in our throat, He is there. We know we can provide for this child. And we know we will provide for her whatever she needs just as we have our other three children. This, we do not doubt. However, without the kindness of others, without the presence of God's hand, we know too that this miracle would not be occurring in our lives.

We did a yard sale this weekend. Ryan and I really do not save a lot of things we do not use, I don't do clutter well :) That being said, we really didn't have a lot to sell but we had some items and we found a few others. The largest part of this was what others offered to give us....people approached us about giving items for this sale. When it all came to be, we had an abundance of "for sale" items. Again, an act of kindness straight from the heart. People donated, Aunt Rachel offered to keep an eye on MK, GDad made signs and sorted through the selection as people delivered stuff to his house, Gran and Pop, after catering late into the night before arrived before the sun came up to help with set-up and take down, Uncle Roger and cousin Brian helped haul stuff to and fro, and GMom, feeling all too tired, held down the fort at home and made sure everyone was fed appropriately! That was the sale side. The other side was the customer side. We did not have a sign up that stated we were adopting a baby. However, the adoption inevitably came up in conversation and the smiles and words of congratulations came on big. Support and genuine kindness was how we felt when talking with these complete strangers.

I write all of this to say that our little girl's Chinese name is no mistake. I love that it means "kindheartedness" because that one word sums up how we will remember this journey always!

And Then There Were SIX!

Wow! So we were DTC Friday, Sept. 3 2010. I asked our agency on this day if there was anyway we would possibly be up for a match with the new list that was to come out on Sept. 20. The representative said possibly and that they would contact CCAA to see if our Log In Date had been assigned. We received an email after this conversation that stated our LID was September 9, 2010 and that we would be eligible for a possible match. We did some communicating about the needs were up for and the ages and BAM! Sunday night/Monday morning at 12:30am we received THE CALL! That evening we went to bed and I placed our phone on a chair across the bedroom. When the phone rang I sprung up so quick (all back pain aside!) and began to shake as I knew the ringing meant we had a daughter! We were matched with a 13 month old baby girl from Guizhou Province. She is precious and tee-tiny! Can't wait to show her off!

MKisms

MK asked me today what Baby M's middle name is going to be. I told her I really wasn't sure. She said, "Why did you call me XueMei?" I explained to her that XueMei was her Chinese name that the ladies had given to her while they cared for her in China. I went on to tell her that it meant "Snow Plum." At this, she just laughed out loud for a few minutes. When her laughter ceased she said, "Hey, I know, let Baby M's middle name be Tree Clouds, you know like in the sky." Ok. I said, "Tree Cloud?" and she said, "No, you really need to practice your 's' sound mommy. I said Tree CloudSsss!"