My Baby is back in town!!

and boy how I have missed her (my sis and brother in law too!!)

We have had such fun since she arrived on Saturday night!

A baby shower, a couple of ice cream outings, a slumber party at our house (she is staying with Mom this time) a zoo expedition and I babysat my beautiful neice while everyone else went to the new Transformers movie (I guess I am glad that I didnt go...it wasnt very good from what they said) I so very wish that they lived closer to us!

They will be in the midwest for 2 weeks before heading home! I can't believe Isabella is 5 weeks old already...She is getting SO big! It was so nice to see my kids meet their newest cousin...Emily is quite the little mommy for sure. Nothing like competing with your own daughter for Isabella time!

All in all it has been a quick but great visit. They are spending time with some friends as well as Charles' family the rest of the week, but we will see them some more over the weekend at my Dad's house for our annual 4th of July bash!

We have been keeping busy these past days with my sister, but we also managed to visit one of the new local parks which came complete with a splash pad (on a 90+ day)


and had a backyard campout with friends complete with the campfire and lots of s'mores! It was so cool to watch them play Ghost in the Graveyard....I so remember playing that growing up!

On the adoption front...
-Our Visas have been processed and are on their way back to us with our passports
-Travel approvals have been rolling in today on Rumor Queen....ours isnt one of them but averages are that they come every 12 days or so....I am really praying that ours is in the next batch or even possibly the one after that so we can still leave on the 7th. All in Gods time though!
-We are heading to Albion tomorrow as soon as I get off of work for our travel meeting!! Our last meeting with our adoption agency before we leave WOOHOO
-We are just waiting to see if the "happy couple" from my last post has given birth to our Article 5 yet!

We are getting so close to bringing our boy home!!! We are coming Sammy!

Blessings

Amy

Frustration and comfort

Now to those of you reading who arent into the adoption lingo...let me start from the top:

-We got our LOA on 5/21 and signed it that day
-We recieved our I800 approval on 6/5 and it was cabled to the consulate in Guangzhou on the 16th.

Ok now at the consulate you have your I800 approval (the man) is supposed to meet up with the LOA and DS230 (the woman) that will be brought from our agency. The man and woman are to get married at the consulate and produce the Article 5 (child)...Does that analogy work for everyone??? So I am just waiting patiently (NOT) for our Article 5.....HOWEVER, I find out that our LOA and DS230 are not at the consulate yet so my man is just hanging out by himself....Ugghh and has been for 8 days!! In Hauge land it takes about 11-12 days for the man and woman to produce the Article 5 ....so we are now looking at appx another 11-12 days before we get our approval. I was so bummed to hear that today!

I was feeling grumpy and out of sorts about the whole thing for sure...That meant that it is gonna take a whole 8 days LONGER to go and get my son. Now 8 days to most people isnt a big deal, but this has been quite a long pregancy for us already!

God spoke to me tonight though....I signed up quite a while ago for daily bible verses to come to my inbox.
Every night one of Gods promises comes to my inbox. Tonights definately was special to me:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who
comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able
to comfort those who are in any affliction with the
comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

He is the God of all comfort! Funny how when I stopped focusing on my own frustration and focused my thoughts on Him how my entire outlook changed! I am so very blessed and am reminded that, as always He is in control and there is no reason for me to stress!! I keep saying that a lot on here, but it is so important for me to be reminded of daily!

Blessings

Amy

Some bummer news

I was really really hoping that this post would have some new super cute pix of my gorgeous little guy!

I was really really hoping to add some more pictures to my "stalker mama" wall at work :-)


(I am really lucky my coworkers love me!!!)

I thought that I had it all planned out, not one, but 2 wonderful families were heading off to Nanjing to pick up their beautiful children and had agreed to take pix for me! One family took a small gift of stickers, candy, a photobook and a car that we sent for Sammy as well. However, due to H1N1 and all the hoopla neither family were able to see our little guy :-(

The one Family was able to get a quick update saying he is "doing well and growing up very beautiful" So atleast we know he is alright (and cute!!)

and the other family was able to atleast send our gift, but not visit the orphanage at all ..

Thanks so much for trying though! My "stalker mama" wall will have to wait until I get home to get pictures added to it I guess!(Lucky Valerie!!)

Another bit of bummer news is the news of this family They and their 3 children journeyed to China to pick up their 4th child...and were unfortunate enough to sit near someone who tested positive for H1N1 upon landing. They have been in quarentine and now the Dad has tested positive and is seperated from them in a Bejing Hospital. We are praying for them! They have had a really rough time with all of it!

Here is the link that our adoption agency has just sent us regarding the travel warning that is out about china Go Here

There are some talk that adoptive families will have to lengthen their stays in order to prove to be H1N1 free before recieving their children. Due to the scheduling of all the appts it is difficult to say the least if one would test positive or sit near someone who did and end up quarentined for 7 days. This is not fact yet, but is a possibility. Tim only has 2 weeks off of work so this definately affects us if it is implemented.

Yet we are trusting totally in Him

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:3



For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Is. 41:13

There are so many unknowns in our adoption, so many fears, questions, uncertainties. I am just so blessed to know that God knows all the answers, has all the facts and is Always in control.


Blessings

Amy

One Step Closer...

So Ya know how I wrote that previous post on the 16th about my I800 not being cabled yet??? Since I had called the NVC on the 15th and they said the end of the week???

Well, I called again today since we are leaving tomorrow am for a wedding in Ohio to see and guess what????

It was cabled on 6/16!!!! The average wait for approval of Article 5 after the cable is 12 days. So sometime late next week or early the following week!
Then the average for TA is 23 days, so we are looking at the end of July now...we will see what happens.

We are again asking for your prayers and relying on Him for everything!!

Blessings

Amy

The things I know...

I know that this:

is a really scary package to mail! It is our Visa applications for China...and yes we have to MAIL our passports EEEK!! The applications are being sent out tomorrow so we have plenty of time to recieve them before we leave.

I also know that as of last night, our I800 approval has NOT been cabled to Guangzhou to meet up with our LOA. The good news is that they do HAVE it and the agent thought it would be cabled by the end of the week. Next step, our LOA and I800 meet up in Guangzhou to be issued the elusive Article 5 (aka second LOA) Which completes all the Hauge requirements...then on to the TRAVEL APPROVAL! We are still hopefully on track to get our travel approval mid July!

I also know that God is in total control. I know that no matter what, this is His plan, His journey and totally based on His provision in His timing! Please keep us in your prayers!!

Blessings

Amy

Family Time...In pictures

What to do when in need of serious family time with very little extra cash???

We went

(and brought a friend along...)

We roasted



We ate


We relaxed


The next day.........

We climbed...


To see this....


We hiked..


Ended up all the way up here


Played for a while



and then we ran down...


to play here...



to be buried..



to body surf


and sunbathe...



Then we went to play this...



and somehow ended up like this...


Then back to do more of...


and this


and didnt even use any of these




A total success!!! (even though it rained ALL of the next day!)

Blessings

Amy

Woo Hooo

Just wanted to do a little "shout out" for my incredible immigration officer!
Agent C got my I800 application across her desk on June 5th and approved it the same day!!! We were approved a week ago and now on to the next step....But for now I am thrilled with this news!!! WooHoo...We are coming Sammy!! We are on day 20 of waiting for our TA (Average is 58 days) so not too much more to go. God is SO GOOD!!!

Blessings

Amy

Nesting

I am driving my hubby CRAZY! I have been in serious nesting mode around here all weekend! I have tried to explain to him that it is a necessary thing for me to do at this time but he just doesnt GET that I need to rearrange the boys room, go through all the clothes ect...in preparation for our new son. The boys are sharing and it is a small room so it is definately in need of serious organization!

Taylor and I took a road trip to IKEA in Michigan on Saturday and scored new dressers for the boys for 79.00!!! Gotta love IKEA... I also managed to find some lights for their room that actually bolt to the wall. Now to understand why this might be necessary, we have lived in our house for a almost 2 years now, and Zach and his buddies have accidentally broken both the lamps. the table top lamp got knocked over by a miss-aimed stuffed animal and the floor lamp got tipped over and melted the covers...PHEEWW! So I found desk lamp like lamps that actually bolt to the wall and are up HIGH for 8 bucks! They are metal and hopefully undistructable.

I am working on the challenge of combining the military camoflaouge that Zach loves with some younger bedding for Sammy. I will post pix when I am done :-)

I am also working on packing. I am a HUGE overpacker and figure it will take atleast 5-6 times of packing and repacking until I can get it down to 2 bags. Tim is totally laughing at me on this one...Oh to be a guy and be able to pack in 5 minutes! When I went with my sis in law to London for 1 week I took 2 huge bags...plus 2 carry-ons...JUST FOR ME! See my problem??? Im a thinking that if I practice until we go I might just make the weight limit :-)

The summer is flying by and before you know it, it will be gone and I will be IN CHINA!!! Somebody pinch me please....

Blessings,

Amy
PS...please keep us in your prayers this week. We are waiting on some news on a loan application that we sent in to help with our costs. We are praying for guidance and wisdom in these last weeks. God WIll provide!

Schools OUT!!

and I have the happiest kids in the city! They are thrilled to be on summer break and I am too! I just love when the kids are home and can just be kids without having to balance, fun, friends, chores and homework! It makes a nice break for all of us.

I now officially will have 4 kids in 3 different schools...and one at home! I cannot believe Taylor is going to be a freshman, Emily in middle school and Zach in 3rd grade. How did they grow up so quickly??

We are offically waiting on our TA which is averaging 53 days. It takes around 12 days for the I800 approval (immigration) and about 7 days to cable that approval to the consulate and match it with our LOA. Then another 12 days to issue our Article 5 (sometimes called the second LOA) and then about another 23 days for the CCAA to issue our Travel Approval! Total of like 58 days which puts us at July 17

Right on target for us to leave on Aug 7. Gods timing is SO perfect!! It works out great since we could then celebrate Sammys birhtday with him in CHINA! Doesnt work so great b/c school starts really early this year and that makes childcare difficult, but we are so blessed with awsome family and friends so we will manage!

I cant believe this is finally really happening for us!! WOOOHOOO!!!

Blessings

Amy