LOA!

It's finally here: Our LOA! Next, we send in our I800 and our visa application. Then we sit and wait for our travel approval (TA). This is a wonderful anniversary present! Mike and I have been married 7 years today.

Last week I was longing to see LilyBeth and to bring her home, so I did the only thing we are allowed to do at this point; I sent her a care package. I picked an over-the-top package with 7 outfits, lots of toys, blankets, shoes, hair clips, and treats for the staff. I hope that LilyBeth will get the package this week and HOPEFULLY we will get some photo updates soon. It's so hard to be on the waiting end, but at least I know she will be home in God's time. This time around it's a bit easier to wait. Of course I have a bunch of kids to keep me busy during the days.

On a sad note, we found out today that Bo, our gorgeous English Cream Golden Retriever has hip dysplasia. I am so bummed--he is only a year old. Bo is truly the sweetest dog I have ever met. The kids climb all over him and all he wants to do is make us happy. He never misbehaves--he's afraid of disappointing us. So, we've decided that we will try some different medications until it's too hard for him.

These pics aren't Bo, but darn they look just like him.

Lots of updates

Well, we got our dossier off to China in February!
Log In Date: February 23rd!

Next up, waiting on our LOA (confirmation letter from CCAA)

While waiting for China to process our paperwork, we have been busy with everything else. And we got a medical update on LilyBeth. She's 20 pounds, 30 inches tall, and doing great. We were disappointed to see that she has another medical condition that was undiagnosed until recently. It's ok though, we are familiarizing ourselves with her condition and have learned that she will have a pretty normal life--despite check ins with doctors on a regular basis.

We expect to receive our LOA this week, and once we do; look out cuz paperwork will be flying all over the Ward household! We will be mailing in our I800 application, our DS230 application, Visa application for me, and then we wait for our TA!

I still have so much to do before she comes home though. Bedroom to paint, clothes to purchase, two beds to purchase--not to mention a larger kitchen table, Josh's adoption to go to, and then the mayhem known as packing will begin. I am so excited that I will be able to visit New Day while in Beijing--that's where Thomas lived for nearly 20 months.

God has blessed us abundantly and we are thrilled to be moving along.
I have been thrilled to learn of so many adoption buddies who are adopting again! Wahoo! But, I was also saddened to hear about the news in Ethiopian adoption circles. Praying that things get fixed quick!

Continuing to pray for Japan and her citizens.

Sharon

USCIS

As I type this, I am sitting with the phone to my ear waiting for a representative from USCIS. Adoption is so much fun......grrr...

I realize that we started this process six months ago. Since then we have switched agencies twice, completed our homestudy, raised most of the money needed to complete the adoption, been fingerprinted, examined under a microscope (in some cases, literally), answered a million questions from friends and family--and, at times, strangers, begun homeschooling, started potty-training Josh, and found our daughter. Since we found our little girl the waiting has become so much harder. I find that I think about what she is doing throughout the day; I wonder if she is sick, sad, happy, angry. I think about a little girl who has never known a life outside of an orphanage. She has no idea what a mommy or daddy are, she shares her crib with another baby and gets attention when she absolutely needs it. She is likely nobody's "favorite" and probably doesn't have anyone to just cuddle her, or tickle her until she turns red. She doesn't know what a "pet" is, or even a dog for that matter.

Hey! I got a live person...and he keeps saying, "one moment, Ma'am..."--Darn! I'm on hold again! At least he has a nice deep bass-ey voice. If I could just get the FDL in the mail, I would stop bugging these nice people! I just need to know how long it will take to get my dossier to China and then how long to travel....I'm so ready to go!

Christmas and Fingerprints

It's amazing how this waiting is flying by, and dragging along at the same time. Last week we received notice that our fingerprints had been scheduled for the first week of January! What a huge blessing. The adoption journey is long, but it's not so bad if you break it down into bite-size pieces. We wait to get our prints done, and then wait until CIS sends us our FDL, then send it to ASIA for translation, then wait for it to be logged-in to the CCAA, then wait for confirmation, then wait for travel dates. Crazy!

In the meantime we celebrate the blessings God has given us--our family, our home, our health. God is so good! Here are some pics of Christmas:

Even with a little snow, the kids were out sliding.

David, our oldest son, gave the kids a Buzz Lightyear rocket tent. This is a view from the top looking into the rocket.

Sam wanted a volcano, or other natural disaster for Christmas--he cracks me up!

A good friend came over to babysit so Mike and I could have a date. She gave them shaving cream to play with--she's the best!

Waiting

I'm so happy to be in this process again. God is good and has blessed us abundantly throughout this process. We are now waiting to receive an appointment for our fingerprinting. After that we wait for our FDL to send to ASIA and then we wait for China to invite us to pick up LilyBeth.

China is very cautious about their children and prohibits us from placing identifyably photos of our children on the internet prior to the adoption being granted. So, I decided to edit our little girl's picture a bit so I could show her off. What do you think?

God's Amazing Provision!

I am amazed at how good God is! Yes, I know God is good--all the time--but to see Him in action when I know I don't deserve His blessing is humbling.

About a month ago Mike and I were struggling to figure out how we would pay for this third/fourth adoption. I know God can provide as much money as we need, but will he do it? If I look at myself and think of how selfish I am, I know that I don't deserve any blessing, but thankfully God doesn't look at whether or not I deserve it--He does what He wants to glorify His name.

So imagine my surprise when we got a letter from Mike's company offering to purchase back stock options that were never exercised because the company didn't go public. The offer was for several thousand dollars--Yup, thousands! We were shocked at God's goodness! That meant that we were more than 2/3 of the way to our goal. So we continued to pray for the money we would need to finish the adoption.

Our kids pray every night for LilyBeth--for her health, safety, and the money to bring her home. On Monday Mike returned to work after his hunting trip. He called in afternoon to ask how much money we needed to finish the adoption--and when I told him he told me that he was getting a bonus from his employer this year. The amount was enough to fully fund our adoption. God truly amazes me.

Paperwork is DONE!

I just got back from mailing our DOSSIER and our I-800A application!!! I'm so happy I could jump up and down--I think I will: Be right back......


OK, I'm back. I can't believe it's in the mail! Wahoo!