Praying again today!

We received no news yesterday so we are praying again today that our LOA will come TODAY!

Also, please pray for the safety and warmth of our Molly as well as all the other people of China. There has been a HUGE snowstorm hit central and southern China. One of the hardest hit areas has been Jiangsu Province, which is where Molly is. Many houses have collapsed due to the weight of the snow. Also, trains and trucks are not able to get through to deliver coal and gas for heat. Our agency is checking with several orphanages to see how they are doing. It would be such a helpless feeling to know that my baby is on the otherside of the world and there was nothing I could do. But, I can do something, and so can you---PRAY. God can take care of her!

So, pray for us to get our LOA, so we can start making plans to go bring Molly home, and pray that she is safe and warm!

Praying for LOA Today!

I just wanted to ask anyone that might read our blog today to please pray that our LOA comes TODAY! Steve and I have both been praying that it comes soon. I have decided to be more specific and ask for it to come TODAY! God can and does answer prayer! I have faith that He can do this for us!

I want my baby girl HOME!

We are on day 63 of what is an average 90 day wait to get our LOA. I don't know how I will make it through the next month! I want my little girl home. We cleaned out her room (the boys' old playroom) today and hopefully will get it painted this weekend. It will be pink with butterflies and flowers, and just sitting there waiting on her to sleep and play in! Our agency is going to ask for updated measurements sometime around the beginning of February, so hopefully we will get some idea of how big she is (although everyone has told me that the babies are usually atleast a couple of pounds smaller then what their measurements say--so we will see), and maybe, just maybe the orphanage will send a picture or two! I would love to see her and I am sure she is growing. Steve is hoping she will have a little more hair! I just wanted to post and ask everyone to pray that our LOA comes QUICKLY! Many agencies are expecting some tomorrow, so maybe we will be so blessed!

God's Good!

We took a good look at all of our finances and the contributions to the "Molly Fund" and got a better estimate on how much travel is going to cost us to go to China. If everything goes as planned we are now only about $2,000 short of the money we need to go get our Molly. God is so good! Thanks to everyone who has helped us along the way. We greatly appreciate the generosity of friends, family and even strangers. There have been so many blessings throughout this process and we have been constantly reminded of God's goodness and His power.

Blessings From Others!

I joined a Yahoo Group for the orphanage that Molly is in and received a special blessing from two of the ladies on the group. They were in China in June picking up their babies and they had the privilege of going to the orphanage. They were able to take several pictures of the babies and children there, and they have one of our Molly when she was only 1 month old. There were only three infants there at the time, and the other two were a bit older then Molly would have been. So here is a picture of Molly at one month old!

LOI to China!

It is official! Our LOI (letter of intent) went to China today. So we officially begin the wait for our LOA (letter of acceptance). Our agency estimates that the LOA will take about 90 days, so we should get that mid-February, and then travel 4-6 weeks after that! We want to be there NOW to get our baby girl, but we are trying to be patient. There is alot to do during the wait. We went and applied for the boys passports today. We also have to update our homestudy--ugh! And then there is the fun stuff we get to do while we wait like shop for girly things and decorate her room! And of course there are the Holidays that are upon us! So, hopefully the next 90 days are so will fly by and we will have our LOA! I am posting a picture from below here as well, just because I want her picture back up top for a while!

More on My Dad!

It has been over two months since my Dad passed away and life has seemingly moved on as normal. But it's not normal, and it will never be normal again. I so want to call him or go by and tell him all about Molly, and I can't. I do believe that he sees her and is having God watch over her especially for us, but I still want to talk to him about it myself--and I can't. Sometimes I think it just isn't fair, and then I have to remind myself that life is not fair. I also have to go on with my normal life and raise my kids with a smile on my face. Which is exactly what my Dad would have wanted.

As a special reminder that my Dad is always with us God did do something wonderful with our referral of Molly--besides just the fact that she is wonderful, and we are ecstatic to have a baby girl, he did more then that, because He is God! My Dad smashed his left thumb off in his twenties, and always had half of a thumb. Well, our sweet Molly, along with the malformations on her right arm only has half of a thumb on her left hand. I like to think that my Dad made that request so we would know that he is watching us and enjoying his grandchildren from Heaven, even though he can't be here!

I miss him terribly and sometimes it is still not real that he is not here! I love him so much and want him here!

More current info on Molly!!!

God reached down today and gave us one of His special blessings, or "handfuls on purpose". The CWI that Molly is in emailed some pictures and new measurements to our agency today, and they of course forwarded them to us. The pictures that received at referral were almost three months old, so we are so excited to see some new pictures of our little girl, and to know that she is being loved and cared for by the wonderful staff at her orphanage! Here are the new pics!!!!
Also, they sent new measurements. She is 15.4 pounds and 25 inches long. So right on target for her age--6 months! We are beside ourself with excitement. We were not expecting new pictures anywhere near this soon!

New pictures of Molly!!!!

Molly's Pics!

Several people have had a little trouble viewing the slideshow of Molly below, and some have said they want to see the pics for longer then the 7 seconds on the slideshow. So, here are the pictures just as pictures! Sorry for any trouble the slideshow gave anyone!

All About Molly!!!

We have recieved the referral for our Molly!! Her Chinese name is Jiang Zinan. Jiang is the last name, and Zinan her first name. She will be Molly Elizabeth to us! We are so excited about adding this baby girl to our family! She is currently 6 months old--which is as young as they refer babies from China! The pictures below were taken when she was a little less than 4 months old. At that time she weighed 11 pounds and was 23 inches long. She is currently living in a Children's Welfare Institute (CWI) or orphanage in Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province in China. We have already emailed with a few people who have adopted children from this same CWI, and they all say that the children are very well taken care of and the babies are very healthy!

This has happened so soon because she has a minor special need. Her right hand is turned sharply inward because one of the bones in her forearm is not as long as it should be (radius bone). This causes the other bone (ulna) to flex and turn the hand in. She also does not have a thumb on this hand since it is usually formed at the end of the radius bone.

We have prayed long and hard over this and feel perfect peace that God has prepared this child for our family. She is beautiful and it is going to be agony waiting the 4 to 6 months that it will take before we bring her home.

We definitely need your prayers as we prepare for our exciting journey to bring Molly home!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Boys!!!

I haven't posted much lately because we have been super busy. October is always a busy month for us. There has been some discussion on one of the adoption forums that I am on about adopting boys or girls. Many people adopt from China because they want girls. And one of the reasons we are adopting from China is this very reason, not because we don't want boys--but becaus we already have two. So, I just wanted to take a moment and say what a blessing my boys are! We knew they were miracles when God gave them to us in miraculous ways, we just didn't know what a blessing it would be to have two wonderful and unique boys in our lives. They are both ALL boy, and very energetic and active, but that's what makes life so much fun! Paul is my sweet, caring, compassionate child, who hides these qualities behind his very rambunctious personality. So many people don't see the very emotional and caring side that is within him. Zach is my truly crazy child. He thinks EVERYTHING is fun, and the world revolves around him. Though some of this is because he is 2, we can also tell that this is simply is personality. He is a bundle of energy who will try to get away with everything, and then give you the cutest smile in the world to try and get out of the trouble he knows he is in. And, of coures Mommy is often a pushover because of those big brown eyes, so he gets away with more then he should sometimes. I don't really have much else to say, I just wanted to share with anyone out there who might be thinking about adopting a boy, that they are WONDERFUL and truly a blessing from above!

October Referrals Arrive

Well, the referrals for October started arriving at agencies yesterday. It looks pretty dismal. The CCAA is out of the office all week for a national trade fair holiday, so we don't know the official cut-off day. All indications show November 30th, 2005 as the cut-off. That is only 5 days--again. 5 days per month: There are approximately 545 days until our LID (05/25/07) is referred so at this rate of 5 LID days per month, we will get a referral in 9 years! Again, that is why we are going with a Waiting Child. You never know what the CCAA will do, and they could decide next month that they will start referring a month at a time again, but that is probably not likely. I can't imagine what people who don't have any children yet are going through. God has blessed us with two wonderful boys, and they make the time fly by! Not that I would want to wait anywhere near 9 years--even with the boys to keep me busy. I would definintely be looking at other means of growing our family if it weren't for the waiting child program. I pray that we can be a blessing to a wonderful little girl that needs a home. I know she will be a blessing to us! I cannot wait to meet her!

September Referrals and the Waiting Child Program

This is a little late but I wanted to update everyone on the September referrals. In early September the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) referred children to those waiting parents logged in through November 25, 2005. That is only 4 days worth of referrals, in one months time. At this rate we will be in our 40's before we would receive a referral. I have mentioned before that the wait is growing, and there seems to be no end in sight. Because of this, as well as many other reasons, we have decided to also be on our agencies "Waiting Child" List.

I have discussed the process for the Waiting Child Program in previous blog entries, but will revisit the process, for those that are interested. We notified our agency at the beginning of this year that we would be interested in adopting a child on the Waiting Child List. This program works as follows: an agency is sent a list of children with special needs. Typically the special needs are minor and/or correctable. The children range in age from 6 months to 12 years. After the age of 6 a child is considered "special needs" because of their age. Each agency receives a different list and is responsible for "matching" these children with interested adoptive parents. Each agency handles this "matching" process in their own way. Our agency handles it in what we feel is a very fair manner (unlike many other agencies). When we notified our agency that we were interested in this program they had us tell them what age and gender we were comfortable with, as well as what special needs we would consider. We told them that we would like a girl under the age of 3, and that we would consider any special need. When we made them aware of our desire they put us on a list with all the other prospective adoptive parents who were signed with them. When each new waiting child list comes in (every 3 months or so) they go in order and match the children with the parents they have on their list according to the parents list of acceptable special needs and the childs special need. If no match can be made they then allow those who are not signed with them already to request information on the child. Our agency received their last list in mid-August. After matching all the children on that list we are now around 9th on the list of waiting adoptive parents. The agency recieves a list of about 10 children, so we could be next! However, because most of the people in front of us are also requesting a girl around the same age as us, it is more likely that we will be matched in the list after the next one. We are very excited that we could see our baby girl's face sometime in the next 6 months are so. After we recieve a referral, and accept it, it will then be approxiamtely 3-4 months to complete all the necessary paperwork and head to China. We are really hoping we will be able to get to China before the Olympics begin in Beijing next August. Traveling during the Olympics (although we do not have to travel to Beijing) would be very expensive and much more difficult. Personally, I would really like to see China in the Spring. I may be too optimistic, and it may be more likely that we will see China in the fall. Whenever we go I know it will be a wonderful journey, and I can't wait to meet our baby girl.

As for now, I can't help but think that my Dad is in Heaven and he is looking down on China, and watching our baby girl! He was a big supporter of our adoption, and it makes me very sad that he will not get to meet his granddaughter, and she will never know the most influential man in my life. I will be sure and show her lots of pictures, and tell her lots of wonderful stories about her PawPaw!

My Dad

If this is rambling, please excuse, but my Dad passed away yesterday, September 13th. I cannot sleep and there is no planning left to do and no cleaning that can be done right now, so I am going to try and get my thoughts out.

For those of you who don't know me and/or my Dad, he was the most wonderful, caring man around. We had a relationship that many Daddies and daughters dream about. I was Daddy's Little Girl. I could call him anytime of day or night and he would be there. He loved his family tremendously, and we loved him more then words can say. I can't help but think about all the things that I am going to miss about him. Of course, his hug, and simply him being there. He was always there. He has been retired for the past 4 1/2 years, and he worked fulltime for his kids and grandkids!!! So, he was always there! He was always the one I called if I something had happened that I wanted to tell someone. There were times when the kids would do something and I just needed to tell someone and I would call him. If I needed ANYTHING, he was there. I remember I had been sick one day, shortly after Steve and I got married. I was laying on the couch in our home, and My Dad came to the door with a HUGE package of Snickers, my favorite candy bar. It was a simple gesture, but made me feel so much better. There are so many stories like that, and I just can't even remember them right now, which makes me sad, b/c I want to remember everything he ever did or said. We were talking about things I will miss. He made the BEST steaks in town. He wanted to make us steaks one night this week, we never set a night, and I will never have those steaks again. He and I made grilled cheese sandwiches as midnight snacks when I was a teenager, I will never eat another sandwich made by him; I will never eat another grilled cheese without thinking of him. When we were little he worked so hard, but he was always there for us. He made it a point to find an area that had good schools and a good community, and that is where they moved, to raise a family. He drove over an hour each way to work, just so we could stay in a good community. He sacrificed for his family, that is a true Daddy! He got up really early every morning so he could get to work early and be back home before we got home from school. Mom had to work evenings, so Dad was there. He wanted to give us everything. Mom and Dad didn't have the money to give us everyything, but they sure tried! They would do without so we could have what we needed, and for the most part what we wanted. I remember going to the fair every year, and having the best time. We took very few vacations, but we did alot together around here. We had Six Flags season passes every year, and Mom and Dad would take us when Dad got home from work, or on the weekends. Dad didn't particularly like the roller coasters, but he rode them with me, because I wanted to. We spent most of our summers at Sun Valley Beach, Mom would take us and we would spend much of the day, and Dad would drive straight there after work, and spend the afternoon and evening swimming and playing with us. If we weren't at Sun Valley, we were at home, swimming. I loved to jump off Daddy's shoulders into the water. We only had a small above ground pool, but we had the best time. Later, my parents put in a nice inground pool for the grandkids. He took immaculate care of that pool. He would complain that he had to do all the work, but he loved it, and loved it when we would all come over and swim or just hang out. We would often end up staying for dinner, and he always had plenty for everyone. Though he would never admit it, he loved having a house full of people. Growing up, our house was the house we all hung out at. Dad made everything fun. He also gave me so much good advice growing up. We would stay up late at night (waiting on my older sister to come home) and he would tell me all kinds of stories about him growning up, and give me lots of advice on life! I am so glad we shared those times.

He loved his grandkids! He loved my boys, and had a special relationship with them, since he was adopted himself. Paul spent many hours with PawPaw in the garage, "working on" something. Recently he gave Paul a can of spray paint, and let him paint the sea of a mini-bike he was rebuilding. Paul thought he was so big, and he was so proud of that seat! He was so looking forward to having another grandchild, his second granddaughter, Molly. My parents didn't have any money, but over the last couple of months anytime he sold somehting on Ebay he would take half of the money, and put it in our "Molly Fund." He wanted to help in anyway he could. He knew that I didn't really want to be asked question after question about the adoption, but he would check this blog daily, so he would know if there were any updates. He was a great man. I know my horrible grammar and rambled thoughts are not making much sense, but it has helped me tremendously. There are so many things I can say, and so many memories that I have, but I just can't write them all right now. I will probably be back with more ramblings about my Dad. Please pray for our family as we struggle through the next few days, and prepare to get on with our lives. Pray for my Mom, she is a very emotional person. She is going to have a very difficult time, and at this point doesn't want to go on. My brother is in town, and will probably stay for a good while, and that will help her tremendously. She also has a wonderful friend, who has not left her side. I don't know what we would have done without Wanda. Kelli and I had so much to do yesterday, to get ready for the viewing and funeral, without Wanda being there for Mom, we would not have been able to do it.

One more thing. It is so wonderful to have a brother and a sister to get throught this with. so many families have so much division in their family, and would not be able to work together to plan a funeral without considerable arguing. Dad and Mom raised us to love and care about each other, and everything that we had to plan and do went very smoothly.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

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