August Referrals

Refrrals came in for August almost two weeks ago. I just haven't had a chance to post about them yet. They only covered through November 21, 2005--so not a whole lot of progress. It is really sad that there are babies in orphanages and parents who want them, and the CCAA is just taking their sweet time to match them up. They claim that there are not enough babies, but most waiting adoptive parents agree that there are not enough "paper-ready" babies. The orphanage directors have to send in paperwork for the babies to be matched with the waiting adoptive parents, and apparantly they are limited on how many they can send in. China does not like being the world leader in international adoption, so they are making it appear that they don't have as many babies as they used to. In actuality, people have been to the orphanages and have seen the cribs lining the walls with babies and young children everywhere. There are some orphanages that are relatively empty, but in my opinion this is because the CCAA is moving the babies to foster care, so it looks like there aren't as many babies. I am glad the children are being cared for in real homes, and I pray our Molly is in a foster home, where she is getting a little more attention. But, it still does not alleviate the problem of all the babies and children who need homes. It makes me very sad to think about these babies.

With the wait continuing to grow we are certain we will find our baby through our agency's waiting child program. We are very excited and can't wait to meet her, even if it is going to be awhile. We really hope to get a referral by the end of the year or beginning of next, and travel in the Spring of 08. There is alot of money that needs to be saved between now and then if it is going to happen, but we know that when our baby is ready for us, God will provide the means to go get her! Please continue to pray for us and our family to take on the challenge of coming up with the money, as well as the adventure of bringing a new child into our family.

On another note, we went to our first outing with our homeschool group today and we had a blast. It was just a "play-day" at the park, and it was soooo hot (right at 100) that not many families were able to come. Paul met 4 other children, 3 of which are his age and one just a year older. They all played really well together, even Zach played right along side the big kids, and since the kids are used to having siblings of varios ages around, they were fine with the little brother being there! The Moms got some time to talk and compare notes on homeschooling. It was refreshing to see that other Moms have many of the same struggles that we face day-to-day. It will be nice to have this group to bounce ideas off of as we start our homeschooling adventures. Paul is looking forward to getting started, as am I. We hope to finish the room we are setting up for our schoolroom this weekend, and then I can get everything going next week.

Thanks for reading our blog!

Happy Birthday Zach!!!

I am a couple of days late on posting this but our little guy turned 2 on July 31. I cannot believe he is already 2 years old. In many ways it seems like we just went and picked him up a few weeks ago, and it has already been two years! He is such a blessing in our lives. He wears me slap out most days, but he is truly a joy to have around.

A little about Zach for those that don't know him--He is a bundle of energy!! He does not stop for anything and he runs EVERYWHERE he goes. He was a sick little guy for the first few months, and then after that he was very subdued and laid back. Until he turned about 8-9 months old and it was literally as if he woke-up! He has not stopped since! He started walking just shy of 11 months old and within a month he was no longer walking, he was running!!! He has to try and keep up with Paul, and he actually does a pretty good job. He LOVES to talk, but Steve, Paul and I are really the only ones that can understand him. His speech is getting better, but I think he just doesn't have time to slow down and think about what he is saying!!! He loves to laugh and does so quite often, he has the best belly laugh! He can also be quite defiant, but he knows he is cute, so he gives us that "I'm too cute for you to be upset with", and of course Mommy gives in! We are working on Mommy not giving in so much, but those big brown eyes are hard to not give in to! (Daddy is going to have the same problem with our Molly's big brown eyes when she comes home) He is such a sweet boy, and when he knows he has done something to hurt someone he will say "huggie" and give you a hug and say "I sorry". He loves "huggies" and ask for them out of the blue sometimes, Mommy is always happy to give them, and he often gets them even when he doesn't ask!!! He loves to wrestle with his brother, and Paul thinks Zachary is "hilarious". They sleep in the same room, and Paul just cracks up at him in the evenings when we put them to bed. I try to tell Paul to ignore him but he says he is just too "hilarious" to ignore! Zachary adores his big brother, and doesn't like it when he is away, he will ask me "where Paul" quite often if Paul is not at home. Zach is NOT a tv watcher, he does like Diego, but not for more then about 10 minutes at a time. Which, is not a problem, since I don't really like them watching tv anyway. He also likes Buzz Lightyear and Woody, and anything that has to do with animals, especially Dinosaurs! Zach is also VERY smart. He loves to be read to, he knows all his colors, and can count to 10 (he skips 8 but he is getting there). He are also working on recognizing the letters in his name, so far he knows "Z" everytime, and can find them all over town. He sometimes knows "A" "C" and "H"

I have rambled on enough about my baby boy. I will try to post a couple of pics from his birthday party a little later today.

Camping Pics of Zach

Watching the fire and enjoying marshmallows


Checking out the tent!


Enjoying some Root Beer


"I want to fish too!"


Enjoying the Boat Ride

Zachary is a little scared of almost everything, so we were nervous about taking him on the boat, turns out he is NOT scared of boats! He loved it! He is also not scared of tubing--go figure! He loved being "ow-side" all the time!

He didn't quite get the concept of staying in his sleeping bag, so he fell asleep with Mommy and Daddy the first night, and then was so exhausted the second night he fell asleep in Daddy's arms while we were roasting marshmallows. Both boys LOVED waking up in the tent. We were very lucky that they didn't wake up at the crack of dawn. We were all able to sleep until 8 am both mornings--that NEVER happens!

Camping Pics of Paul

Paul enjoys the live bait!


Paul is learning patience


Roasting Marshmallows!


OH NO. It's on FIRE


Checking out the Tent

Paul thought camping outside was really neat! He loved everything we did! He really enjoyed fishing with his cousin, Tyler and Tyler's friend Alexander. We let him go with them a couple of times without us, and he thought he was so big! He was a little disappointed that he didn't catch anything--maybe next time!

As I already mentioned he loved tubing. He fell out several times but didn't care. One time he told us he was scared when he fell out but "Jesus protected him". I love how he relates everything to God and Jesus!

Anyone that knows Paul knows he HATES shoes, so being outside all weekend and trying to keep shoes on his feet was challenging. I scrubbed his feet for 20 minutes when we got home! I have never seen such nasty feet! They were literally stained with that wonderful Georgia red clay!

More to Come

There are LOTS more pics of the camping trip, I will try to post a few more later!

Also, wanted to say THANKS to Kelli and Shafter for inviting us and showing us a WONDERFUL time! We had a BLAST

Adventures in Camping!

We decided to take the boys camping this past weekend. We went with my sister and her family, they have a camper, but we wanted the boys to have the full effect of camping for the first time, so we wanted to "do the tent thing". The boys LOVED it. We enjoyed it as well, but our air mattress deflated on us, and it was quite difficult to get any sleep! I could not be "Man vs Wild"!!!! We did have a GREAT time fishing, tubing, roasting marshmallows, and just relaxing! On Saturday evening Steve and I took the boat out with just the boys. I made the mistake of telling Paul he could tube for as long as he wanted. After probably close to two hours of him on the tube, with one short swimming break, we told him we had to go in. Zach tubed for a short time with Paul as well. he was a little unsure at first, but once we got him going, he LOVED it! Here are a few pics of the trip

Family Time

We took the boys to a friends to go horseback riding today (actually pony riding)! Paul LOVED it. We were just happy that Zach wasn't screaming, and eventually actually touched the horse! Maybe next time he will want to sit on the horse. Zach enjoyed being outside, playing with sticks and climbing the fence! Shelly and the girls came as well, and Samantha rode one of the horses. She loved it as well. We had an absolute blast, and can't wait to go back. It was such an enjoyable and relaxing day. The boys were absolutely filthy when we got home; if dirt is any measure of how much fun they had, then they had more fun then they have had in a long time. I don't know if the dirt will come out of their clothes, but it doesn't really matter. This is what family time is all about. Relaxing, playing and simply being together! Also, the little girl in the picture is the daughter of the friends house we went too, they were her ponies we rode.

This Months Referrals

Well, referrals came in for this month, and everyone who has an LID through November 14, 2005 is seeing pictures of their baby for the first time! How exciting. What is not so exciting is that CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) is still working on November 2005, and it will most likely take atleast 2 more months for them to get through November 2005. So, for regular referrals the wait is going to grow very quickly to 2-3 years. We are hopeful that we will receive a referral for a "Waiting Child" much sooner then that!

Cool Site to learn about China provinces

Just ran across this site and thought it was interesting. It appears to be a really cool site to learn about the different provinces of China. Of course we have no idea what province Molly is or will be in, but I am looking forward to learning about the different provinces and then I will know about the province when we do get our referral.

The site is
http://easia.imb.org/peopleplaces/province.htm

Check it out when you get a chance!

When we travel to China (hopefully next year) we will first travel to Guangzhou, which is in the GuangDong province, and then we will travel to the province that Molly is in (wherever that may be) and then back to Guangzhou to complete paperwork. So, in order to avoid as much travel we would of course hope she is in GuangDong province, or atleast close by. Obviously it doesn't really matter where she is, we just want to bring her home!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July!

Hi. I just wanted to see what everyone thinks of our blogs new look. As I get more experience with blogging and have more time to figure things out I hope to "jazz it up" a little. I am very excited that I learned how to add a picture of our boys in the title.

Waiting Children List

As I have mentioned before we are on our agencies list of families who are interested in children on their waiting children lists. Our agency typically receives a new list every 3 months and it typically has 7-9 children who are currently available for adoption in China. This is different then a typical referral (which we would probably not receive for atleast 2 years). These children are considered special needs children, and are considered difficult to place. Many times they are older children (over the age of 2) and even more often they are young children who have minor and or correctable special needs. We have indicated to our agency that we are interested in a girl younger then age 3 and we are open to reviewing any special needs except Hepatitis B, and moderate to severe special needs such as cerebral palsy and spina bifida. (most often children with moderate to severe special needs are not placed on a waiting child list because China does not allow these children to be adopted internationally).

I spoke with our agency yesterday and found out that we are currently 15th on their list for a waiting child referral, so that is great news for us! It doesn't really tell us exactly how long the wait will be, because it all depends on what children the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) sends our agency. If all they have on their list is children whom they cannot place with any of the 14 couples ahead of us, then we will continue to wait until all 14 in front of us have their referral or they have a child that those in front of us do not feel comfortable parenting but we do. Most of the couples in front of us are requesting a girl as we are, but it is my understanding that many of them are not open to some of the special needs we are open to, such as Cleft Lip and/or palate. Which in my research and opinion seems to be a very correctable special need.

We are hopeful that we will have a referral around the beginning of the year and we will be able to travel in the Spring of 2008 (hopefully before the Olympics start). This of course is just my hopes and prayers. Steve is excited as well, about having a little girl, but the costs of another adoption and a third child scares him a little.

Nothing New

Just wanted to say Hi to anyone reading our blog. And let everyone know there is nothing new to report. We are hoping that things will speed-up in China, but that is not looking good. There is a lot of speculation as to why things have slowed down and when it will speed back up, but noone knows for sure. Chinese officials are currently in the US meeting with adoption agencies across the country, hoping to learn something, but not much has been reported as of now. China can be very peculiar about what information they allow to be reported, so chances are we probably won't hear much.

Our agency did receive a new list of children with Special Needs, and they received it about one month earlier then they expected, so maybe the Special Needs route is speeding up and we could possibly be matched with a waiting child by the beginning of 2008(then we just have to come up with the money faster.) We are open to many special needs and have requested a girl under age 2, so it really depends on what children are on our agencies list. The special needs that are generally listed are typically minor and sometimes correctable special needs. I have seen children with missing toes that are considered special needs, so it can really be anything. We know God will lead us to our baby girl, we just don't know when! Please pray for God to give us (especially me) patience during this wait. The wait for our boys was non-exsistent so this is all new to us, and I don't like it!!!

On a different note we have decided to keep Paul home next year and homeschool. He will be starting kindergarten, and I am very excited about having the opportunity to teach him so many wonderful things. The biggest challenge is going to be keeping our wild man, Zach, occupied while Paul is doing his school work. Zach will be just over 2 when we start school, so hopefully he will calm down a little and be able to sit and color, paint, or play pla-doh while we do school work. Wish us luck as we start this wonderful adventure!!! There are many reasons why we have decided to do this, and I know many people will have questions as to why. Overall, all I can really say is it is what is going to work best for our family right now. We are not sure if we will continue this for more then a year or not, but for now it is the plan, and I know Paul will do great!

Thanks for looking at our blog!

ChipIn

Some of you have asked if there is anyway you can help with the adoption. First and foremost, please pray that things will go smoothly, that Molly is being well taken care of and is healthy and that she will be home soon. Secondly, as many of you know the expenses of adopting a child are quite astronomical. We are simply setting up this "ChipIn" account as a way for anyone who would like to help us cover the agency fee of $2900 and China's application fee of $820. It is very easy to use, and you can transfer money through paypal, so it is secure. Just click on the ChipIn button in the sidebar and it will walk you through it. Thanks in advance!

It's Official!!!!!!!

We are officially waiting! Our official LID (logged in date) is May 25, 2007. Not too exciting for most, but for those in the adoption world, it's a big deal! How China works is they refer babies based on your LID date. They are currently working on referring babies to those that were logged in in November of 2005. Once a month, or so, they send out a group of referrals to agencies all over the world and they include people logged in up to a certain date. November 2005 is a HUGE month as far as number of dossiers logged in to China, so it may take a while for them to get through November, and then hopefully they will speed right through 2006 and quickly get to our family and referring us our Molly. That's all for now!

OUR FAMILY

This is our family. We are Steve and Michelle and we have two wonderful boys. Paul is 5 and Zach is almost 2. They are such a joy and blessing to have in our lives. I thank God for them daily. We can't wait to add our third child, Molly, to the bunch. We know her two big brothers will adore her, and she will have Daddy wrapped around her finger!

We are DTC

After 8 months of paperchasing we are finally DTC as of May 21, 2007. What this means is that all our paperwork has been sent to China. They will then give us an LID (Logged-In-Date), and we are officially waiting. The wait is currently at 19 months, and our agency says they do expect it to get longer. We are praying that God will give us the baby he has for us, no matter when that may be. We are open to a child with minor and/or correctable special needs so the wait could be shorter if the right child comes along. We know God is in control! We are just so excited to finally be done with the paperchasing part and be officially waiting!

This is my very first experience with blogging. So this is really just a test! We are in the process of getting started on our adoption journey to China for our Molly. We started the process on September 12, 2006. We will hopefully be logged in with China by the begninng of 2007. I know it will be a long process, but with my wonderful husband and two wonderful boys to fill my time I am sure the wait will go by quickly.