October in New England

Hay Rides.

Pumpkins.

Fall Foliage.

Smiles.

Love.

183 pieces sponsored and more news!

183 puzzle pieces sponsored... 817 to go! WOW!!!!

We are SO thankful to everyone, near and far, that have sponsored a puzzle piece for Grace.

Now the challenge, we need to keep this momentum going somehow.

So, if you haven't sponsored a piece yet ($2 a piece)... please, please consider. (see this post for an explanation) Every $2 really adds up!

Or, if you haven't yet... please post our fundraiser on your facebook page or on your blog. You get an entry into the raffle for every post on FB or a blog!

Again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has sponsored so far!

ALSO, BIG NEWS on the paperchase to Grace!!!

We received our Log-in Date (LID) today! LID is the day that our dossier is officially logged into the system in China. One more step closer to our little sweetie!

We were told that it might take 4 weeks to get logged-in, and that it could take up to 4 more weeks for China to notify our agency that it was logged-in. We were logged-in and notified in just TWO DAYS!

The next thing we are waiting for is for China to thoroughly review our dossier and then (hopefully) issue the Letter of Acceptance (LOA)... the official approval from China that we can adopt Grace.

I'm sort of feeling bad that others out there that I "talk" to in adoption-land have been waiting more than a month for their log-in date. I wish we all move together through this process.

While we've been told there is a method to this madness (whose paperwork gets processed first, second and when), it sure seems like it's just luck. And we're getting lucky.

China in January? February? or will it be March?

There are still a lot of steps that we could get stuck (for a month or more) so I'm trying not to get too excited.

Sponsor a Puzzle Piece - Sponsor Grace!

We're getting close... close to going to China! About a year faster than we anticipated. We're really NOT complaining. :)

A couple months ago, B and S spent hours putting together this 1000 piece puzzle....

It's a painting (puzzle) by a San Francisco artist. This particular puzzle is of Chinatown in SF.

As a unique and memorable fundraiser for our adoption... we are asking people to sponsor a puzzle piece (or 2... or 10.... or however many you want).

$2 a puzzle piece.

Perhaps you want to sponsor a piece for every member of your family?!

Every piece counts!

We will keep a journal with the puzzle and write down each and every name/family that sponsor's Grace. In the end, we will hang this puzzle in a prominent place in our home... as a reminder to us about all those that helped bring our daughter home. We will keep the journal for Grace, so she knows how many people loved her and helped bring her home.

After we have all 1000 pieces sponsored. We will randomly select one sponsor to win a $200 gift card to merchant of their choice (Target, Home Depot, Pottery Barn... you name it!).

So, please... go ahead and use the chip-in button on the top right of our blog to sponsor. This chip-in feature uses Paypal. However, you do not need a Paypal account.

Also, we don't know 1000 people... so we will need all our bloggy friends to help to get the word out about this fundraiser. If you post a link to our blog post on your blog or you post on facebook... we'll give you an extra entry into the raffle for the $200 gift card. Please, leave me a comment (or send me an email) if you post somewhere.

If you read here you'll understand why all this fundraising. And you'll understand how HARD it is for me to ask ANYTHING of ANYONE. But, this cutie is calling us... and we need to go get her. So, I'll stretch way beyond my comfort zone... for her....

Thank you everyone!!

Happy Birthday Grace!

On September 23rd we had a birthday celebration for our littlest...

Happy FIRST Birthday Grace!

How else do you celebrate the birthday of your Chinese daughter...

Dinner at our local Chinese food restaurant, of course!

I know General Tso's chicken probably isn't considered very authentic. In the future... perhaps I can try to get the chinese cook book out and try to make something that more closely resembles actual food that is consumed in China. But, we did the best we could. :)

Followed by singing happy birthday and cupcakes!!

We were happy to eat chinese food and cupcakes in honor of her. But, how I wish we were together to celebrate this milestone. I'm grateful that this will be the very last birthday she spends without her family. We look forward to many, many more birthday celebrations TOGETHER!

Our Daughter...

Finally....

We are SO EXCITED to introduce our precious daughter...

Grace Xiao Yun

Grace just turned one on September 23rd! We had a birthday celebration for her (birthday party blog post coming soon!) We think this picture of her was taken back in May or June.

Grace is waiting for us at the Jiaozuo City Welfare Institute, Henan Province.

We are very fortunate to have gotten our hands on a few other pictures of her that were taken a little bit later in the summer.

There are no words to express our absolute joy and love for our beautiful baby girl.

Some say she is "lucky" to have us. Actually, it's the other way around...

WE are beyond blessed to have her.

Even though we haven't yet held her in our arms... she has changed us in ways we never thought possible.

She is, most certainly, a perfect gift from God.

Some Would Gather...

Some would gather money

Along the path of life;

Some would gather roses,

And rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children

From among the thorns of sin;

I would seek a golden curl,

And a freckled, toothless grin.

For money cannot enter

In that land of endless day;

And roses that are gathered

Soon will wilt along the way.

But, oh, the laughing children,

As I cross the sunset sea,

And the gates swing wide to heaven -

I can take them in with me.

-Author Unknown

(Carl Larsson)

DTC!!

DTC TODAY!

For all of you following that aren't living and breathing the China adoption process.

That means...

DOSSIER TO CHINA!

Remember this... (our dossier)....

Our adoption agency FINALLY mailed our dossier to China today! It's been sitting at our adoption agency for over a month, but because we received our referral (!) we had to make a few changes to it. Then China decided that they were going to go on holiday and the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has been (and will be) closed for FIVE days. So, our adoption agency held onto it for a few extra days so the dossier could be hand-delivered by agency representatives in China as soon as the CCAA reopens Friday.

Now we wait. Again.

Yeah... what he said...

Below is an exert from a blog post by http://berzenji.blogspot.com/

I'm not blogging about this to judge others. Adoption isn't for everyone. I know that.

I just thought is was a good post about what drives me a wee bit crazy...

That people think WE are crazy.

You'll see what I mean...

"I see families go out and spend thousands of dollars on a new car... when they already have two fine cars.

I see families go out and spend more money on their home theaters than we spent on our first home!

I see families add extensions on to their homes, adding bedrooms for children they will never have.

I see families do all sorts of "crazy things" which for some reason seem culturally acceptable. In fact these things are deemed normal!

But adopting a child?

Well... that's just... CRAZY!

When did it become crazy to help a child?

When did it become crazy to open up your family to someone who is lost, and alone in this world without someone to love them?

When did WE become the crazies who decide to welcome a child into our lives instead of buying that new motor boat? big screen TV and sound system? BMW? etc..."

Yeah... what he said.

LOI!

Our Letter of Intent (LOI) was just sent to China for our BEAUTIFUL little girl that we're still not allowed to share details about on the blog.

OH.... I just can't wait to be able to post her picture and show you all! :)

Aching heart

Today, my heart is aching for a mother I have, and will never, meet. The mother that carried our Grace in her womb for 9 months. The mother that suffered the pains of child birth and was likely the first to hold her as she took her first few breaths on earth. The mother that held her, comforted her and loved her for two days… and then made a decision I cannot bare to even think about.

We don’t and we will never know the reasons for the decisions Grace’s biological mother had to make. When Grace is older and she asks “Why?” I will have no answer to give her. This pains me more than you can even possibly imagine.

Today, I have been in deep prayer for Grace and her biological mother. I pray that on the day Grace is placed in our arms that somewhere deep in her mother’s soul there is a sense of peace. Peace that comes not from understanding or knowledge but peace that only God can provide.

And, from one mother to another, from the very depths of my soul, I thank her.

Dear Loyal Blog Followers...

Please be patient.

I may not write anything about the adoption for a little bit because a particular foreign country asks that we don't until things are official.

That's all I'll say.

Oh, just one more thing...

I'm in love. Again.

Don't forget Hip Mom!

If you haven't gone and bought yourself or someone else a beautiful necklace from Hip Mom Jewelry yet...Now is the time! Our fundraiser ends on September 30th.

Beautiful hand-crafted necklaces... there is something for everyone!

Hip Mom Jewelry - Adoption Fundraiser

Don't forget to use our family code - MIGNAUG10 when you place your order. Hip Mom is donating 30% of the retail value to us for our adoption.

Read more about this fundraiser here!

Thank you everyone for your support!

Almost Monday

I never thought I would look forward to Monday's and the start of a new work week.

But I do.

Because referrals don't come on the weekends.

My heart feels especially empty today.

Every time I see the three kids playing, every time we drive somewhere in the car, every time we sit down for dinner, every time I make a lunch, give a bath, read a book... it becomes MORE AND MORE utterly apparent that our family is not yet complete.

In His time. I know.

But, is it Monday yet?

Labor Day Weekend

Some say the end of summer. I say the beginning of fall.

We spent Labor Day weekend in Vermont. If you've never been to Vermont...

Go!

Uncle D and Aunt N live on a dirt road in a small Vermont town, population approximately 1,500. From the pouring of the foundation to the nails on the roof... they have built their beautiful home with their own hands. It started as a weekend retreat many years ago and now, in their retirement, they live there year-round.

It's a joke to say they are retired. They have acres of land to maintain. They have multiple gardens to harvest (50+ tomato plants!) and wood to chop.

They have a stream that runs through their property, they have a pond, and they have a pine grove perfect for campfires and hammocks.

AHH....

It is our Labor Day retreat. And it is gloriously beautiful.

All weekend, Uncle D had a fire going in their stone fireplace in the living room. Perfect to come in and warm up your chilled body from the fall like temperatures.

All weekend... and I mean ALL weekend. Four boys fished (B plus his three cousins).

One little girl sat in a paddle boat and watched four boys fish. There were only a few screams when fish landed in her lap.

And one little boy followed the big boys around from fishing hole to fishing hole.

There were tromps through streams, meadows and beaver ponds.

There were hay rides up and down hills on dirt roads.

There were cider donuts eaten. Maple syrup tasted. Marshmallows roasted.

And spring water sipped right from the spring.

K cried when we got home, "I miss Vermont already".

I do too, Sweetie. I do too.

195

CCAI matched 35 children with their families in the month of August.

195 since April.

195 precious children have families.

One. hundred. and. ninety. five.

That just makes my heart leap for joy.

Blink of an eye

How does a little baby girl...

in just a blink of an eye, grow into this...

How does a Momma not get a little teary when this happens...

But, when her baby girl comes off the bus from her first day of Kindergarten looking like this...

You just know that the time has come for her Momma to let go of her grip just a little and let her angel test out her tiny wings.

As long as Momma can grab back on three hours later.

The Dossier

13 documents that tell the story of our life on paper.

Birth certificates, marriage certificates, financial statements, employer verifications, physician's statements, home study, immigration approval.....

All these documents are supposed to tell authorities in China who we are and why we want to adopt a little girl from their country.

HA! This is something that cannot be described 100 documents, let alone 13.

13 documents that took us almost 5 months to gather, culminating with the I-797 - approval from the US government to allow us to bring a child into this country.

All must be notarized. All must be certified by the Secretary of State. All must receive that, oh so important, Chinese Consulate sticker of authentication.

I just can't adequately describe the amount of paperwork it took to gather all of this. In order to reduce our carbon footprint, we will have to plant a few trees in Grace's name when she is home.

You all can read here, how scared I was when we started this paperchase. I REALLY thought I might not be up for the task.

BUT...

Here it is.... our dossier.

Our 13 magnificent, lovely, don't you just want to gaze at their beauty, documents.

As if gathering these documents wasn't hard enough. We also had to send three pictures of S and I alone. OK. We managed that alright. But we also had to find EIGHT pictures of S and I together in a picture with other people. We BOTH had to be the pictures.

I TAKE the pictures. I'm not IN the pictures! This was a bit more tricky.

So, there it is. Our family story (until now) wrapped up in 13 documents and 8 pictures.

What's the dossier missing?

It doesn't seem to convey the love that we feel for our daughter who is strangely missing from these pictures. How I wish there was a way.

New York Consulate

Yeah, I know I brag about my husband a lot on this blog. But, I simply MUST once more.

I've done most of the paperchasing thus far. It's a labor of love really.

And, honestly, if S said he would do it all, I wouldn't let him. Because, well...

I'm sort of a control freak.

BUT, we had to make (what we thought) were two trips to NYC in a matter of three days. I knew I must share this responsibility. It was simply too much for one person.

I over-instructed my husband with maps, questions, extra copies of everything. It's a wonder he didn't kill me. He left at 6 am on Friday morning to begin the trek to the NY Chinese Consulate. 8:15 express train to Grand Central, 9 long blocks of walking and he made it at about 10 am. That's four hours of commuting.

The great news was that they said they would process the document the SAME DAY. We were going to have our FINAL document fully authenticated in our (his) hands at 2pm!!!

When he got it, I told him to guard it with his life. And he did. Can you EVEN IMAGINE if something happened to that document on his way home. Oh my.

3:00 express train home. And then an almost 3 hour car ride. Friday evening drive on I-95. Ouch. He arrived home at 7 pm.

It was a 13 hour day.

But, at the end of it, he had in his hand a white envelope with our I-797 fully authenticated. Here it is... it's just a sticker believe it or not that is stuck on the back of one of the pages of the document.

Some may wonder "what's the big deal?" But to get here... oh.... you have no idea.

I'm so happy that he got to do this. I just love that I have in my memory the thought of my dear husband on this most important mission through the streets of NYC... all for his daughter half a world away.

He didn't complain of course. He never complains.

And the truth is... he wouldn't have had it any other way.

OOPS

Well, I really didn't think I would get through all this paperwork without messing something up. But, it's fixable... so it's all good.

I somehow missed our agency's announcement that the NY Chinese Consulate is no longer accepting documents via USPS. I don't know HOW?!?! I am literally on their website every day, sometimes more than once a day.

So, after receiving our I-797, we promptly had it notarized, certified by the Secretary of State (who turned it around in just TWO hours) and then I sent it the NY Chinese Consulate via USPS.

Oops.

The next day I realized my mistake. At some point we'll get the document back with a note saying that they know longer accept documents delivered by USPS. But, it will probably be a month before we get it. So, our agency has suggested just starting the process over and then hand-delivering it down to the Consulate.

Tomorrow I am getting it notarized AGAIN, and then dropping it off at the Secretary of State for certification AGAIN. And then... S will drive the documents down to NYC to hand-deliver the document. Unfortunately, they also no longer process documents same-day. So, I'll have to go back to NYC next week to pick it up.

I guess this is just God's way of slowing us down a little. I'm pretty OK with that. Things ARE moving fast. Very fast. Last week I was panicked about how fast. This week... I'm a little bit more at peace. Thank You God for answering prayers.

Countdown - July Update

CCAI reports 36 matches for the month of July.

Here are the facts... I'll let you interpret.

There were approximately 250 families ahead of us at the end of March.

They have matched 160 children with their forever families since April.

In. Just. Five. Months.

Being "logged-in" is a big deal in the China adoption world. Basically, you generally aren't matched until you are logged-in because of rules established by China. Right now, CCAI is reporting that once families are logged-in, there are some families that are being matched right away.

If all goes smoothly, we will probably be logged-in in a couple weeks.

Now, go and read my last post about "Why all this fundraising?" :-)

Why all this fundraising?

I don’t know for sure but I’m guessing people are thinking... “Geez, they wanted to adopt, but yet can’t afford the adoption?”

It’s a fair question… so I’d thought I’d try to answer.

So, yes… God has set it on our hearts to adopt a beautiful little girl from China. We don’t know her yet, but we dream of her every second of every day. We just know this is the plan for our family.

But, not too many people have the money sitting in their savings account to cover the cost of adoption. It’s quite expensive.

Many people ask me… "Why does it cost so much?" Honestly, it just adds up. You are paying for many services. The adoption agency is a service that makes sure you have the mounds and mounds of paperwork just perfect for it’s travel to China, they are the ones that match us with our child, they arrange travel and schedule all the government appointments in China, they have staff in China to help us while we are there. We pay the Chinese government fees for all the paperwork they must process. We pay the US government fees for immigration processing. Plane tickets to (and in) China, 14, 16 or 18 (?) days of travel in China. And the list goes on and on.

But, that still doesn’t answer the question does it?

I often post updates on here trying to answer the “how long until you go to China?” question.

If you haven’t been following… We were first expecting that it would most likely be 18 to 24 months before we would be matched with our little girl and travel to China. Of course, we knew these were just estimates, and things might change one way or another. And change they have!

Our Grace will probably be home with us MUCH SOONER than any of us expected. Maybe even a YEAR sooner! That’s great news! Grace will be out of the orphanage, into our loving arms and she will have a family, our family. We just can’t wait!

The challenge... this good news leaves a LOT less time to save all the money we need. We are putting our faith in God that He will provide all we need to bring our Grace home.

One of the ways He is providing for us is by giving me the courage to ask others for help.

Truth is… I HATE fundraising. I don’t even like it when B has to sell popcorn for cub scouts. Usually, I just write a check for $50 and eat a lot of popcorn. But, I know, in this case, that I must swallow my pride, and ask.

So, in addition to scrimping and saving every penny we can, we are dollar by dollar fundraising our way to Grace.

Please see this post about the latest fundraiser that Hip Mom Jewelry is helping us with. This is a great opportunity to Christmas shop early for the women in your life AND help bring our Grace home.

Awesome t-shirts, lovingly designed by two of my very good friends, will be coming soon!

And S and the kids have been working on a little something as well to bring their sister (daughter) home. More info coming soon!

I hope this helps people understand. And I hope everyone knows that we are SO grateful for every person, every family, every friend that helps along on this journey.

Thank you.