China bound & Travel site

Our tickets are purchased and we’re China bound this Thursday, September 3. We appreciate your continued prayers for safety, health, and our union with Zane on Monday, September 7. Thank you for your love and encouragement through our adoption journey.

This will be my last post here until we return from China. We have a travel site and will be posting our journey there. You've probably received an email with those details. If I happened to miss you, email me and I'll give you the link.

“Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.” Ephesians 1:4-5 (The Message)

Creme Brulee

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE creme brulee from Whole Foods! It is my favorite dessert and indulgence and WF's is the best I've ever tasted, besides my homemade, which is pretty awesome! ;) They make it in these little to go cups and even the sugar top is crusty-hard! It's not cheap at $2.99 a cup, but for every once in awhile, and only consuming half at a time, I'm getting two desserts out of it! :)

I picked one up last night and just had the first half...it is soooooooooooooooo delicious! I was just enjoying the creme coating over my lips and how incredibly delicious it is when I thought, 'BUT NOT BETTER THAN FINALLY HOLDING ZANE'! :)

Travel Praise

Our travel is confirmed for September 3-17 and we have tickets! We received an earlier consulate appointment allowing us to return on the 17th, so we'll be able to make the surgeon appointment on the 18th. We appreciate all the prayers that were offered - God answered and supplies all our needs!

If you were here right now, you'd hear...

Elle: China 5 days. I so happy!

Mama: I'm soooooooo happy too!

We've decided to fly into Beijing (had kicked around the idea of flying into Hong Kong) and opt out of a day of the regular tour (that we did last time) to go on another adventure. I'll post more about that when we get confirmation.

Today we are doing chores, cleaning, finishing last minute projects, laundry, etc.... Packing will probably start tomorrow. Right now, most of what we're taking is just all piled up - ready to be placed in its spot.

We are praying over Zane - his protection, preparation, peace and our union on Monday, September 7. Can't wait!!!

"When a woman labors, she has a hard time, there's no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain." John 16:21

3 Years Ago, Yesterday

My SIL reminded me yesterday that it was three years ago that we first laid eyes on our girls (we adopted our girls from China at the same time)! It's hard to believe it's been three years - three wonderful years! With TA yesterday, we experienced all that same joy over again. What a great day August 25 is; I love August 25; it's my new favorite day!

Holding Elle this morning and anticipating Zane - God has been so good and His ways are best - we are so blessed by our children and we are so grateful.

Here was our first look at Elle and another video of her practicing some Chinese vocabulary - she's getting good. :) (Can you believe that this past January we were concerned that she wasn't speaking and now she's bilingual! LOL!) Also posted is a video around Elle's bday in 2008. She was almost 2 years old and we were visiting my parents. Eric was testing downloading video from tape and condensing for easy upload for our trip and used this clip, so thought I'd share. I can't believe how 'baby' she was just 1 1/2 years ago!

God says YES!!!!!!!!!!!

We have TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land." Proverbs 25:25



Excuse the food in Elle's mouth. :) It's a little somber - but we had already got all our screaming and jumping around out and were pretty exhausted by this point! :)

While we were screaming, 'God says yes, God says yes!' and jumping around, Elle stops to confirm that indeed there will be fruit and oatmeal in China. She's been asking me this several times a day as she's a bit concerned about the food situation - I tell you, a daughter after my own heart, she is! :)

The word is that our agency received an "extremely large number of travel approvals"! This is so exciting - praising God for all the good news to families waiting and looking forward to hearing the details!

We are scheduled to leave next Thursday, September 3 and returning the 16, 17 or 18 -- this is to be determined at this point. Our agency will request our CA (consulate appointment) today and we'll hear back from China within 1-3 days before booking tickets.

Praising God for this good news and still shaking with excitement! We'll keep you posted!

Waiting on God

"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Is. 40:31

We're aching to go get Zane, but finding strength in the knowledge that He has this all in the palm of His hand.

While we've been waiting, some medical care options have come to light that we are pursuing and we are so grateful for the time we have to pursue this before leaving for China - how about that?! God is good - He knows best!

A friend asked me if Elle understood that she was getting a brother.

She understands, but does she really understand??? I don’t know....

She did give me a kiss yesterday and said, ‘I share you, Mama.’ I asked her who she was going to share me with and she said, ‘Ain.’ (Ain is her word for Zane)

Ahhhh, sweet – and a good sign she’s getting mentally prepared for...I don’t even know if I understand! Two kiddos...whew – it’s going to be fun! :)

Praying that God says 'YES' very soon!

Showers of blessings!

Yes, no travel this week...sigh.... I've been dragging to post as posting makes it reality. ;) I think I'm holding on to a bit of hope that we could receive TA this week and somehow leave next week???? I know, I'm delusional! :) There are 13 SN families, with our agency, waiting for TA (travel approval) right now and nobody has confirmed travel yet....

You know, it's not like 'we', in the adoption world, aren't aware of this TA wait, but when in it, it seems like the most frustrating thing EVER! And it cracks me up how, like with Elle, I think there's going to be some miraculous exception/MIRACLE that's gonna catapult us to Zane in some extraordinary way - 'Beam me up Scotty!'

Listen, I know reality; I'm a grounded person; I know the rules - I live by the rules; but somewhere, down deep in my sinews (Yes, I said sinews! People! I'm trying to make a point - this is very important!) is the hope, the BELIEF!, that the utterly impossible will unfold!

We believe that Zane alone is the most amazing, miraculous, incredible gift of God and blesses us so! How could we ask for more?! But I do! I just want to get there, NOW! :)

This all will probably be very painful for anyone to read - me whining...but this is it folks, my raw self just, blaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh....

I do have something VERY WONDERFUL to share and after last night, I feel encouraged, loved, energized and ready to face reality with a post!

'Girls' from church threw me a surprise baby shower on our scheduled girls' night out! They were clever and I'm quite impressed with their sneaky skills. When I arrived, they welcomed me with Cheshire grins and a sly, 'Sur---prise!' It was so sweet, so very kind of everyone! We had already been blessed with a shower for Elle and felt we had most of what we needed and confident that God would provide. But, the very generous and thoughtful gifts were just what we needed and then more! All the adorable, cute and handsome boy clothes just put me in the mood - bring our boy home, we're ready! :) The girls decorated with blue tractors as was also displayed on the most delicious cake, accompanied by strawberry punch and blue, mint teddy bears. There were also several h'orderves - veggies, chips and pinwheels - yum-o! And the lovely hosts had two beautiful flower arrangements - one just for Elle that she has smelled at least 100 times today. :)

The shower concluded with a time of prayer for Zane and our family's journey and then we visited and ate some more of that cake - oh it was good! Thank you dear friends, everything was just lovely and we were so encouraged by your kindness, thoughtful gifts and generosity.

With these blessings and the prayers of saints, we have hope and believe in His perfect way. Hold on Zane - we're coming!

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17

Typhoon Hits Fuj*an

A typhoon hit Fuj*an's coast today...some damage and one death from what I've read. Zane's orphanage is quite a bit inland, so don't believe they would have been affected.

'In F*zhou, capital city of Fuj*an province,' (and where we will be staying during our time in Fuj*an) '34 domestic flights were canceled and 20 delayed because of unfavorable weather conditions. The city also suspended most passenger bus services.'

We pray Zane and Gut*an SWI are well and that this typhoon won't delay our safe travels.

Still waiting for TA

Well, no TA (travel approval) this week. "We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer." Proverbs 16:1

So while we wait for His best, we continue to pray TA arrives next week to secure an August 20th departure. We've been packing and getting ready and things are coming together!

Eric got the curtain rods up and finished fixing the dresser/changing table. He took an existing dresser that we had and fabricated some legs to adjust it to changing table height - it looks great - now we just need a crib. No worries - it will all come together.

We also ordered and received 72 cl/cp (cleft lip/cleft palate) bottles. We are going to take these with us to China and give them to Zane's orphanage. I will take out a few to have on hand for Zane. Babies born with cl/cp are able to have their nutritional needs met using the right combination of positioning, feeding supplies and techniques. These cl/cp bottles have a soft, thin-walled nipple that is cross cut. The long nipple is designed to direct the milk flow past the cleft. The bottle is soft and can easily be squeezed in rhythm with the infant's suck and swallow. This technique overcomes the baby's inability to create the vacuum needed to suck milk from the bottle. Hopefully one of the four feeding supplies we'll have on hand will be something Zane takes to.

I did have a chance to lay out all of Zane's clothes today and make sure we had enough of everything for every day - and we are good to go! I love his USA hat and 'all boy' shoes. Probably save the hat for the plane ride home - home sweet home! In the below picture, do you notice the absence of pink? Never thought I'd be looking at brown, blues and reds - amazing! :)

Elle got a new car seat - she had all but grown out of hers so we'll pass that on to Zane. She is sitting pretty comfortable in her new 'throne'.

A special 'shout-out' to Edie and all her prayer 'warriors' in Illinois who are praying for our Zane and TA! Thanks to all for your continued prayers - blessings!

Ecclesiastes 3:11

"God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all that He has done." Ecclesiastes 3:11

We continue to pray for TA (travel approval) to arrive and believe that His timing is perfect. Resting in His care for Zane - God loves Him more!

We did do the big Walmart run for all the trip supplies - felt so great to check off all those things in our packing/to-do list and felt so good to get more things for Zane. Love that boy!

Somehow Elle understood that China travel would be in about...'two weeks'. So she'll ask several times a day, 'Mama, China, two weeks?' A lot of times I have answered, 'First we have to wait for God to say yes. Let me know if He tells you yes!' Sometimes she says, 'Mama, China now?' And I say, 'No, we have to wait until God says yes!' Today she was emphatic about it - every 30 minutes she'd say, 'Mama, China, two weeks?' Just before bed and while changing her into her pajamas, she says again, 'Mama, China, two weeks', and then it occurred to me, it's two weeks until August 20, the day we are praying to leave....'Yes, Elle, that's what we're praying for - did God tell you yes?', and she says, 'Yes.' :)

Funny from this morning - I'm slowly getting around in the kitchen and Elle is 'begging' for breakfast...

Elle: 'Mama, eat, eat, Mama eat?'
Me: 'Hold on Elle, I'm getting it.'
Elle: 'Two weeks?'
LOL!
Me: 'No, a little sooner than that!'

Another fun/funny/great Elle story...

We've noticed that while we're praying before bedtime, Elle's body shakes. So I peeked a week ago and she's shaking her head left to right, like she's saying 'no'. A few nights later I realize what's going on here....she has noticed that I nod my head in agreement when others pray and sometimes say the word 'yes'. So she's trying to pray in agreement, but she's gotten her shake and nod mixed up! :)

So two mornings ago she starts shaking while I'm praying at breakfast. I peeked again and she was passionately shaking left to right with her eyes closed. After I finished, I explained that we nod our head in agreement when others pray, to express our unity in prayer. I demonstrated a nod and explained that we move our head up and down like so, as if we are saying 'yes, I agree'. She's really quiet and takes it all in and then says, 'I pray.' I already prayed, but whatever, so 'okay.'

Elle (nodding): 'Ear God, yes, yeeeees, y-e-s! Yes, yes! Yessssssss, yeeeeeees, yes! Amen.'

Yes, I laughed - hard!