I'm not even sure how to adequately give this update. So much has happened. Over the last few weeeks - time has stood still, yet it has flown by. Ive been filled with anxiety adn also rested in His perfect goodness and peace. Its actually very difficult to explain. When i first saw AnaLeis picture the beginning of December- something happened instantly inside of me. I couldnt explain it then and I can't explain it now. I can tell you there were tears. Lots of tears.
During our churches annual Global Impact Conference - I felt the Lord stirring my heart towards another adoption. Danny and I commited to pray for Gods will. However, for the next 4-6 weeks - we felt God fell silent. We were confused. Did we not really feel His calling - was it our imagination? And then, I saw "Ella" as she was called in the advocacy sites. I inquired about her and there was a 4 minute video of her. From that moment on - it was over for me! As we found out how dire her circumstances - human fear entered in. Suddenly there was uncertainty again. Then, on one Sunday afternoon - God just gave us clarity adn there was no looking back. We had our first homestudy on December 16th and here we are 2 1/2 months later - with a travel approval and consulate appointment and doctors appointments directly upon entering the United States at the #1 Childrens hospital in our nation and arguably the world - Childrens of Boston. Many have asked us why not CHOP as they did Olivias surgery and were simply wonderful! We dont have an answer other than divine intervention has led us to Boston through supernatural events. We believe there is no doubt that Boston is Gods plan for AnaLei so we are trusting him in that even though CHOP would have been more comfortable for us.
I will write more later! Just wanted to give an update. We leave for China in less than 2 weeks - on March 12th and I should hold my new daughter on my 12th wedding anniversary to the greatest man I know on March 15th.
I've requested an update from the orphanage so i will update soon!
Julie
Monday, March 2, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Happy 3rd Birthday AnaLei!!
Today our little girl half a world away turned 3 years old!! It's hard to believe we are adopting again but even harder to accept that we were not with her today. It was her last birthday as an orphan! We took the girls to TCBY and got yogurt as a mini-birthday celebration for AnaLei and sang Happy Birthday :). We pray we are only a month away from meeting our little angel. That is hard to believe considering our first homestudy was December 16th. For those that are not in adoption land - it usually take 9-12 months to successfully complete an adoption - Olivia's took 7 months as we knew she needed to come home. This adoption process has just been God filled! 3 months is like ridiculous - in the BEST way!
Our I-800 has been held up a bit b/c it hasn't reached our officer's desk yet. Its a little frustrating b/c we sent it early to avoid the wait but we are still waiting. We just got our LSC SUPER early so it didn't give our i800 time to get to where it had to go. It's a good problem sort of. Usually it's the opposite - you are waiting on the LSC. The good news is that we are on the US side of things during the CNY that has officially started. So, we should receive our 800 approval this week and then it moves directly to the NVC (the National Visa Center) where that can take 5-7 days and then everything goes to Guangzhou, China to get our article 5. Once that is picked up - it goes to Beijing where our Travel Approval is issued and we pray that comes the first week of March so we can leave March 12th and have a Gotcha day of March 15th - hopefully a Consulate Appointment at the US embassy March 24th and fly to Boston for an echo/ekg/MRI/heart cath - all starting March 26th. Whew! Well, that is what I've come up with so let's see what God says and what he has in store.
We do know that Children's of Boston is prepared to work with us. :) That is a huge answered prayer. We should get a phone call this week confirming we can have the MRI/heart cath during the same trip as our apt with the cardiologist and echo/ekg. That way - they can fully determine if she is operable and if so - what operation needs to take place. She will most likely need more than 1. We just pray she is operable. So, as bad as heart surgery is - we pray we get to do it!
Also, sorry for not updating on our fundraising efforts but Lifesong's reporting system has been down. I did get confirmation that we did meet our matching grant by AnaLei's birthday! Thank you so very much!!!! People have asked if we are done - we are sadly not! There are still many expense to pay so every donation still counts! So, if you feel called to give - you still can and it will still go 100% towards the adoption. They have us send receipts of only adoption related expenses and they are very thorough to go through each one. We are thankful for you giving and thankful you have decided to join us on this journey -whether it be financial giving, prayer, encouragement, or all 3!
God has been oh so good! I wish I could post everything here what God has done but i'd be typing for days :).
CANT BELIEVE I WILL BE HOLDING MY GIRL IN JUST OVER A MONTH!!!! Its surreal! Please pray that God is preparing her sweet heart to meet us and love us - and also for surgery :).
I"m already packing and want to be ready to go when we get the call. Please also pray for Danny and the girls as this will be a VERY hard separation. Olivia and I are like peas in a pod! We do not separate well and this is going to be VERY difficult on her. Elle is a little to small to understand so I think she will do fine but it's Olivia that I worry about. I also worry about me being away from those 3 :(. Last time in China - Danny was my rock and I was just sort of there :). I lost my mind for a few days wondering what had just happened to us. LOL! It's funny to look back on, but trust me - it was not funny then!
Much Love! I will update when we get our I-800 approval. We sent AnaLei a birthday package - we've asked for maybe a video of her opening it or a picture and will post if they send anything. We hope they do! Its medicine for our weary souls longing for our girl.
Julie
Our I-800 has been held up a bit b/c it hasn't reached our officer's desk yet. Its a little frustrating b/c we sent it early to avoid the wait but we are still waiting. We just got our LSC SUPER early so it didn't give our i800 time to get to where it had to go. It's a good problem sort of. Usually it's the opposite - you are waiting on the LSC. The good news is that we are on the US side of things during the CNY that has officially started. So, we should receive our 800 approval this week and then it moves directly to the NVC (the National Visa Center) where that can take 5-7 days and then everything goes to Guangzhou, China to get our article 5. Once that is picked up - it goes to Beijing where our Travel Approval is issued and we pray that comes the first week of March so we can leave March 12th and have a Gotcha day of March 15th - hopefully a Consulate Appointment at the US embassy March 24th and fly to Boston for an echo/ekg/MRI/heart cath - all starting March 26th. Whew! Well, that is what I've come up with so let's see what God says and what he has in store.
We do know that Children's of Boston is prepared to work with us. :) That is a huge answered prayer. We should get a phone call this week confirming we can have the MRI/heart cath during the same trip as our apt with the cardiologist and echo/ekg. That way - they can fully determine if she is operable and if so - what operation needs to take place. She will most likely need more than 1. We just pray she is operable. So, as bad as heart surgery is - we pray we get to do it!
Also, sorry for not updating on our fundraising efforts but Lifesong's reporting system has been down. I did get confirmation that we did meet our matching grant by AnaLei's birthday! Thank you so very much!!!! People have asked if we are done - we are sadly not! There are still many expense to pay so every donation still counts! So, if you feel called to give - you still can and it will still go 100% towards the adoption. They have us send receipts of only adoption related expenses and they are very thorough to go through each one. We are thankful for you giving and thankful you have decided to join us on this journey -whether it be financial giving, prayer, encouragement, or all 3!
God has been oh so good! I wish I could post everything here what God has done but i'd be typing for days :).
CANT BELIEVE I WILL BE HOLDING MY GIRL IN JUST OVER A MONTH!!!! Its surreal! Please pray that God is preparing her sweet heart to meet us and love us - and also for surgery :).
I"m already packing and want to be ready to go when we get the call. Please also pray for Danny and the girls as this will be a VERY hard separation. Olivia and I are like peas in a pod! We do not separate well and this is going to be VERY difficult on her. Elle is a little to small to understand so I think she will do fine but it's Olivia that I worry about. I also worry about me being away from those 3 :(. Last time in China - Danny was my rock and I was just sort of there :). I lost my mind for a few days wondering what had just happened to us. LOL! It's funny to look back on, but trust me - it was not funny then!
Much Love! I will update when we get our I-800 approval. We sent AnaLei a birthday package - we've asked for maybe a video of her opening it or a picture and will post if they send anything. We hope they do! Its medicine for our weary souls longing for our girl.
Julie
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
When daddy is away-the girls will play :).
So my precious husband had to got out of town this week for the first time in our married life! I will say that it is a little weird for him to be out of town and not me. You see, for the first 11 years of our marriage-it was my job that constantly took me out of town and my career we were following. Of course, introduce Olivia Mann and God changes things :)). Nonetheless-it's so weird for me to be home when it's always been him. We've done well so far. Oh-did I forget to mention. His mom had to come up to stay with is. You see-I'm afraid to be by myself. Yes, that's an actual problem! It's embarrassing-totally! But sadly true. Even worse, my mom is leaving to go visit my sister who moved to Alaska! Jonas, her husband is in the airforce and they are insanely stationed there :). Funny thing-my mom will no more land and unpack her bags before we head to china :)). Since daddy is out of town-Olivia gets to do her most favorite thing in the whole wide world and sleep with mommy :). Truth is-I'm loving this precious time before the craziness of what is about to happen. I am so excited about what is to Come but know it will be a sacrifice of time for my other two precious girls. I pray for that time already.
We joyfully received an email copy of LSC today so I was able to send off the applications for our chinese visas :). It's scary bc you have to send your passport too! So far, it looks like it will be mom and I and I think my dad has decided to go. He acts like he isnt sure but I think he really wants to go. I think mom and I will be fine solo but it makes everyone else happy that we will have a man with us :). It doesn't matter to me-I just want our girl. It will be nice if dad can video like he did with Olivia. We will also probably go see AnaLeis orphanage which is something we didn't do with Olivia. You go like 3 days into your trip and I rememebrr Olivia just wasn't doing well that day-grieving the loss so we didn't think it was best. But I think we have to go to her city to apply for her passport so we will most likely stop in. I'm excited to see where she's been and thank those who have poured love into her. It will be hard to see but if she's been able to live it-surely I can spend an hour seeing it.
We got a scare today that boston may not take our insurance. I think it's going to be fine but I will feel better once I confirm that all is well. I believe it is bc I believe God has led us there but I will update once we hear.
That's all for tonight. Just updating bc Danny isn't here to talk to me and felt like typing. :). Thanks for following our story to AnaLei. Like we've said-we never expected to adopt again so I can't even believe I could be just 5 weeks from meeting our daughter :). God has crazy plans sometimes :). Just thankful we didn't miss this one!
Julie
We joyfully received an email copy of LSC today so I was able to send off the applications for our chinese visas :). It's scary bc you have to send your passport too! So far, it looks like it will be mom and I and I think my dad has decided to go. He acts like he isnt sure but I think he really wants to go. I think mom and I will be fine solo but it makes everyone else happy that we will have a man with us :). It doesn't matter to me-I just want our girl. It will be nice if dad can video like he did with Olivia. We will also probably go see AnaLeis orphanage which is something we didn't do with Olivia. You go like 3 days into your trip and I rememebrr Olivia just wasn't doing well that day-grieving the loss so we didn't think it was best. But I think we have to go to her city to apply for her passport so we will most likely stop in. I'm excited to see where she's been and thank those who have poured love into her. It will be hard to see but if she's been able to live it-surely I can spend an hour seeing it.
We got a scare today that boston may not take our insurance. I think it's going to be fine but I will feel better once I confirm that all is well. I believe it is bc I believe God has led us there but I will update once we hear.
That's all for tonight. Just updating bc Danny isn't here to talk to me and felt like typing. :). Thanks for following our story to AnaLei. Like we've said-we never expected to adopt again so I can't even believe I could be just 5 weeks from meeting our daughter :). God has crazy plans sometimes :). Just thankful we didn't miss this one!
Julie
Exciting News all Around - God has been Good!
The adoption process is a funny thing. There are extreme highs and there are extreme lows. You are busy, busy, busy doing all the work and then you suddenly wait, wait, wait... There are frustrating times when adopting a child with particularly special needs that needed to come home long before now. However, we knew from the beginning that God was in this, that God made her our daughter before time began. And although we do not understand His timing and her spending 3 years in an orphanage - we Praise His Name b/c we pray and believe that He will get the glory for her life.
I will start our GREAT news with another story first. I have been calling physicians locally and afar to get the opinions on AnaLei's file and what we should do to best take care of her in China and on the plane flight home. We have felt very much "blown off" to say it best. They don't mean to - its just hard to give opinions or recommendations on a child they have never met. Yesterday, I actually had someone say to me, "Can I ask you a question" "Why would you adopt such a child? A child that will undergo such traumatic surgery IF she is even able to have surgery and then possibly die in surgery or a few years later? Why not adopt a child with more minor needs and one that can grow and learn and who knows - become something great?" Now - before everyone goes up in arms over the VERY inappropriate/ hurtful/unbelievable question - his intent was not to be offensive. His question was rather honest. In his defense - he wasn't a stranger and I had gone to him for medical advice. I thought back to this past Sunday when our pastor preached his first sermon on a seven sermon series of "The 7 saying of Jesus on the cross". One of the examples he gave is what I thought about on the way home. There are lives we consider "valuable" in this world and lives that we do not. But who are we? Did Jesus not ask for forgiveness for the very men nailing him to the cross? He died for them too! So, did he die in vain? OF COURSE NOT! Every life is valuable b/c every life comes from Him.
AnaLei has spent 3 years (as of next week) in an orphanage with no idea of what a familyeven is. She has spent her days calling numerous nannies, "mama". She hasn't experienced the love that we already feel for her. God has given us a love for her and a desire to bring her home. This is divine people! This is also the work of a Holy God. He says in his word that he will not leave the orphans. Well, for AnaLei - it's because He has called us to GO! I know everyone isn't called to go. But we are.
Now - off the sermon - sorry - that just had to be said! On to the GREAT NEWS!! We have been officially approved by China to adopted AnaLei as our LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) has been issued. Our agency will have it this week and scan it to us to send to the USCIS to meet our I-800 and then we move on the NVC (National Visa Center) where I have to get a number and fill out a DS-260 and then that goes to China (just as the new year ends) and they issue what's called an article 5 (have no idea what this is) and then finally our TA (travel approval). I honestly expect this the first week of March :)))
The other great news!! We found someone who values her life and hopes to give her hope! Through GOD SIZED events and contacts - God has led us to Children's of Boston! This is completely unexpected! However, when we reached out to our other options - we just didn't feel it was right this time. Nothing AT ALL against these institutions - it just wasn't God's plan for AnaLei. A precious adoptive mom who talked to me late one night - gave me the information I needed to contact the actual surgeon at Children's Boston. On a whim at midnight Saturday - I poured out my heart and sent him her entire file. To my DISBELIEF - he emailed me back THE VERY NEXT DAY!!!! No - not his assistant saying to make an appointment, or more - we just can't know until she gets here, but a thoughtful, precious email where he says what she is potentially a candidate for and is even asking questions like, how is her breathing, can I get images of her echo's from China? It's like he is my next door neighbor and we are just having a conversation. I am in awe of how obvious God can make His will when he knows we may not see it otherwise! Boston won't be easy for our family and logistically not our first choice! But they are #1 in the world for like everything - including pediatric cardiac care. We are just thankful. I got on my hands and knees yesterday morning, face to the floor and just praised His holy name! I'm not saying she will make it. I do not know God's ultimate plan for her. But I do know what He would have us do - and coming home - it is Boston Children's. The rest of His story will be written after that. I thank Him for his goodness and pray I will do the same even, when and if, bad news comes.
YAY for the LSC and YAY for finding the perfect medical facility for AnaLei! :) God can change plans - so who knows - but this is our plan as of today :)
I will start our GREAT news with another story first. I have been calling physicians locally and afar to get the opinions on AnaLei's file and what we should do to best take care of her in China and on the plane flight home. We have felt very much "blown off" to say it best. They don't mean to - its just hard to give opinions or recommendations on a child they have never met. Yesterday, I actually had someone say to me, "Can I ask you a question" "Why would you adopt such a child? A child that will undergo such traumatic surgery IF she is even able to have surgery and then possibly die in surgery or a few years later? Why not adopt a child with more minor needs and one that can grow and learn and who knows - become something great?" Now - before everyone goes up in arms over the VERY inappropriate/ hurtful/unbelievable question - his intent was not to be offensive. His question was rather honest. In his defense - he wasn't a stranger and I had gone to him for medical advice. I thought back to this past Sunday when our pastor preached his first sermon on a seven sermon series of "The 7 saying of Jesus on the cross". One of the examples he gave is what I thought about on the way home. There are lives we consider "valuable" in this world and lives that we do not. But who are we? Did Jesus not ask for forgiveness for the very men nailing him to the cross? He died for them too! So, did he die in vain? OF COURSE NOT! Every life is valuable b/c every life comes from Him.
AnaLei has spent 3 years (as of next week) in an orphanage with no idea of what a familyeven is. She has spent her days calling numerous nannies, "mama". She hasn't experienced the love that we already feel for her. God has given us a love for her and a desire to bring her home. This is divine people! This is also the work of a Holy God. He says in his word that he will not leave the orphans. Well, for AnaLei - it's because He has called us to GO! I know everyone isn't called to go. But we are.
Now - off the sermon - sorry - that just had to be said! On to the GREAT NEWS!! We have been officially approved by China to adopted AnaLei as our LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) has been issued. Our agency will have it this week and scan it to us to send to the USCIS to meet our I-800 and then we move on the NVC (National Visa Center) where I have to get a number and fill out a DS-260 and then that goes to China (just as the new year ends) and they issue what's called an article 5 (have no idea what this is) and then finally our TA (travel approval). I honestly expect this the first week of March :)))
The other great news!! We found someone who values her life and hopes to give her hope! Through GOD SIZED events and contacts - God has led us to Children's of Boston! This is completely unexpected! However, when we reached out to our other options - we just didn't feel it was right this time. Nothing AT ALL against these institutions - it just wasn't God's plan for AnaLei. A precious adoptive mom who talked to me late one night - gave me the information I needed to contact the actual surgeon at Children's Boston. On a whim at midnight Saturday - I poured out my heart and sent him her entire file. To my DISBELIEF - he emailed me back THE VERY NEXT DAY!!!! No - not his assistant saying to make an appointment, or more - we just can't know until she gets here, but a thoughtful, precious email where he says what she is potentially a candidate for and is even asking questions like, how is her breathing, can I get images of her echo's from China? It's like he is my next door neighbor and we are just having a conversation. I am in awe of how obvious God can make His will when he knows we may not see it otherwise! Boston won't be easy for our family and logistically not our first choice! But they are #1 in the world for like everything - including pediatric cardiac care. We are just thankful. I got on my hands and knees yesterday morning, face to the floor and just praised His holy name! I'm not saying she will make it. I do not know God's ultimate plan for her. But I do know what He would have us do - and coming home - it is Boston Children's. The rest of His story will be written after that. I thank Him for his goodness and pray I will do the same even, when and if, bad news comes.
YAY for the LSC and YAY for finding the perfect medical facility for AnaLei! :) God can change plans - so who knows - but this is our plan as of today :)
Thursday, February 5, 2015
No Way Around It - Just an Emotional Day
Okay - so this blog is like my therapy. And there is no way around the fact that today was an emotional day. Like the kind where you start laughing during dinner but then it turns into an ugly cry. The kind of ugly cry when you almost choke on your dinner and therefore are forced to spit it out. U.G.L.Y.... My poor Danny sure wished he had kept that last comment to himself ;) Poor thing couldn't know I was on the tipping point. I didn't even know until it happened.
The first thing we heard today was great news - we are now in the "process of being translated" :) YAY! That is great. That means our dossier is being translated and will then enter the review process before going into the matching process before finally being approved we pray! So, that is wonderful!
Upon reading in one of the new FB groups that I am a part of now that we are adopting AnaLei - I read pulmonary hypertension patients can have a hard time breathing at high altitudes, including flying. Someone mentioned it might be good to have oxygen on the airplane. I am so thankful for that person for informing me of something so important! Of course, I am completely naïve when it comes to PH, so I'm thinking that getting oxygen is like getting Tylenol or something from the pharmacy. "Hi doctor, we'd like some oxygen for the way home just in case" and the doctor in my mind said, "sure, let me call that in" All is well. Only if....
Turns out - this is a SUPER complicated thing! Actually, it turns out it may actually be impossible before going to China. The Chinese airlines actually do not allow ANY type of oxygen on their planes and the US airlines make you have a "fit to fly" letter I've learned. Also, you can't take a tank, it has to be a compressor type thing. And, one battery would never last long enough for a 14 hour flight- so I would have to get like 3 extra batteries. Oh yea, did I mention my cardiologist said he couldn't prescribe this for a patient he has never seen. HA! It's like it's a big joke someone is playing on me. Anyway, of course now I'm terrified my sweet baby will have a hard time breathing on the plane and that her oxygen stats will drop and put her in danger. Danger of what i'm not sure, but I've been told it wouldn't be good. We will have one short flight in country as we leave her province and go to Guangzhou (where everyone must go to get the child's visa and medical exam) so we should get an idea of how she does. If it's bad - I don't know what i'll do. I guess have to take her to a Chinese hospital and get oxygen and a letter to let us have it??? Your guess is as good as mine.
I know all of this sounds self-inflicted so to speak (or as some have said) but please know this is a path God has put us on. We couldn't have done it any other way. We are human and we are scared! But we take comfort in knowing He has worked all the details out. I know He has gone before me and prepared a path b/c He has made me her mother. Therefore, He will provide what I need to take care of her. This adoption has gone in world record time in adoption world so we know He is in it! Please join us in prayer nonetheless :) The human side of me, as evidenced by my ugly cry during dinner, is scared of how to take care of 3 girls, 2 having CHD and 1 going through way more than a 3 year old should ever have to (leaving all she's ever known, pokes and prods by our medical staff, a new home, new smells. new food, new bed, etc). We know she is coming to a family and we take comfort in that, but that does not yet bring her comfort. So, please pray. Pray for her. Pray for us. Pray we stay on His path and that we lean on Him in our weakness so that He may be glorified in it all.
Julie
The first thing we heard today was great news - we are now in the "process of being translated" :) YAY! That is great. That means our dossier is being translated and will then enter the review process before going into the matching process before finally being approved we pray! So, that is wonderful!
Upon reading in one of the new FB groups that I am a part of now that we are adopting AnaLei - I read pulmonary hypertension patients can have a hard time breathing at high altitudes, including flying. Someone mentioned it might be good to have oxygen on the airplane. I am so thankful for that person for informing me of something so important! Of course, I am completely naïve when it comes to PH, so I'm thinking that getting oxygen is like getting Tylenol or something from the pharmacy. "Hi doctor, we'd like some oxygen for the way home just in case" and the doctor in my mind said, "sure, let me call that in" All is well. Only if....
Turns out - this is a SUPER complicated thing! Actually, it turns out it may actually be impossible before going to China. The Chinese airlines actually do not allow ANY type of oxygen on their planes and the US airlines make you have a "fit to fly" letter I've learned. Also, you can't take a tank, it has to be a compressor type thing. And, one battery would never last long enough for a 14 hour flight- so I would have to get like 3 extra batteries. Oh yea, did I mention my cardiologist said he couldn't prescribe this for a patient he has never seen. HA! It's like it's a big joke someone is playing on me. Anyway, of course now I'm terrified my sweet baby will have a hard time breathing on the plane and that her oxygen stats will drop and put her in danger. Danger of what i'm not sure, but I've been told it wouldn't be good. We will have one short flight in country as we leave her province and go to Guangzhou (where everyone must go to get the child's visa and medical exam) so we should get an idea of how she does. If it's bad - I don't know what i'll do. I guess have to take her to a Chinese hospital and get oxygen and a letter to let us have it??? Your guess is as good as mine.
I know all of this sounds self-inflicted so to speak (or as some have said) but please know this is a path God has put us on. We couldn't have done it any other way. We are human and we are scared! But we take comfort in knowing He has worked all the details out. I know He has gone before me and prepared a path b/c He has made me her mother. Therefore, He will provide what I need to take care of her. This adoption has gone in world record time in adoption world so we know He is in it! Please join us in prayer nonetheless :) The human side of me, as evidenced by my ugly cry during dinner, is scared of how to take care of 3 girls, 2 having CHD and 1 going through way more than a 3 year old should ever have to (leaving all she's ever known, pokes and prods by our medical staff, a new home, new smells. new food, new bed, etc). We know she is coming to a family and we take comfort in that, but that does not yet bring her comfort. So, please pray. Pray for her. Pray for us. Pray we stay on His path and that we lean on Him in our weakness so that He may be glorified in it all.
Julie
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
LID
YAY! We received the news today that we are officially logged in in China giving us our LID. This is what we must have in order for our dossier to be translated and ultimately approved. We are so excited! We are praying to get our girl in March but it could easily be April. We will keep updating as we progress. An approval at 2 months in a process would be a God speed for sure. No doubting He intended her as our daughter :) Here is a recent picture.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Yesterday was a hard one
Well, yesterday was a hard one! We are all bound to have them right? God was gracious to me through it all - it was still just a tough day. I'm not even completely sure why. Olivia is doing much better (thank goodness - we think she had a bug rather than it being her heart -though we will follow up with cardiology anyway) but now Elle has gotten the bug. Elle loves to love on her big sister so it was almost guaranteed. Not sure why i'm surprised she got it :(. So Danny and I are going on many days/nights with less than adequate sleep - and that always makes things worse.
We got a packet from our agency yesterday that we had to sign every page of to indicate we understand the severity of AnaLei's condition. There were some pages in there that we had not seen. As a mom - I just found them unsettling. Not in ANY way that changes how we feel, now we love her or our commitment to her but rather just things that made me hurt FOR her. I want to wrap my arms around her so badly TODAY! I won't post it now because I would never want to put our adoption in jeopardy but can tell you that in July she was hospitalized b/c she couldn't breathe. Her diagnosis upon admission was 1. acute respiratory failure, 2. bronchitis, 3. CHD -complex (lots of things listed here poor girl), 4. Chronic heart failure. We had never seen the words chronic heart failure. It tears me up inside that she is alone. They say she is a quiet girl who keeps to herself. I am one broken momma! I also hurt for her for all she will endure here while we find out what is really wrong and how to fix it. I hurt for my other 2 girls who want and need their momma by their side. So, yesterday was hard. I cried many tears. Tears for my girls here and tears for the one I love but don't even know.
Please join us in prayer for AnaLei! She is going to need it in the days ahead. Our adoption is moving so rapidly and I believe whole heartedly God is doing this great work. Also, thank you for your giving financially toward our adoption! I can't tell you what it means! We are only about a $1000 from our matching grant! If only it ended there. Our remaining expenses as of now equal about $16,000. God has been faithful and we know He will continue to be. I hate adoptions are so expensive b/c it keeps families who might otherwise be able to open their lives, homes, and hearts to these children. God didn't call all families to adopt, but all children certainly deserve to be in a family and call someone mom and dad. We can't wait to hear those words from AnaLei!
Much Love,
Julie
We got a packet from our agency yesterday that we had to sign every page of to indicate we understand the severity of AnaLei's condition. There were some pages in there that we had not seen. As a mom - I just found them unsettling. Not in ANY way that changes how we feel, now we love her or our commitment to her but rather just things that made me hurt FOR her. I want to wrap my arms around her so badly TODAY! I won't post it now because I would never want to put our adoption in jeopardy but can tell you that in July she was hospitalized b/c she couldn't breathe. Her diagnosis upon admission was 1. acute respiratory failure, 2. bronchitis, 3. CHD -complex (lots of things listed here poor girl), 4. Chronic heart failure. We had never seen the words chronic heart failure. It tears me up inside that she is alone. They say she is a quiet girl who keeps to herself. I am one broken momma! I also hurt for her for all she will endure here while we find out what is really wrong and how to fix it. I hurt for my other 2 girls who want and need their momma by their side. So, yesterday was hard. I cried many tears. Tears for my girls here and tears for the one I love but don't even know.
Please join us in prayer for AnaLei! She is going to need it in the days ahead. Our adoption is moving so rapidly and I believe whole heartedly God is doing this great work. Also, thank you for your giving financially toward our adoption! I can't tell you what it means! We are only about a $1000 from our matching grant! If only it ended there. Our remaining expenses as of now equal about $16,000. God has been faithful and we know He will continue to be. I hate adoptions are so expensive b/c it keeps families who might otherwise be able to open their lives, homes, and hearts to these children. God didn't call all families to adopt, but all children certainly deserve to be in a family and call someone mom and dad. We can't wait to hear those words from AnaLei!
Much Love,
Julie
Friday, January 23, 2015
Peditrican Appointment turned VERY long day :(
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| Olivia having a TON of fun with "fire dog" at her chest xray appointment |
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| Daddy needed to "lighten up" during our vet practice so Olivia decided to treat him with a frozen head piece and scarf :) |
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| Baby Elle taking it all in and just wanting to play with big sis |
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| Standing super still for her chest xray |
Please keep her in your prayers as I just want her to be able to do the things she wants to do without hindrance. I want her to sleep well for her sake, not ours. Anyway - that is just what happened on the fly today. Not in the plans but that is where the day took us. Thank goodness for my precious mom who kept Elle while we were gone on that escapade! Don't know what I will do while she spends almost 3 weeks in Alaska with my sister (my BIL is in the Air Force and they are stationed there).
No news with the adoption. Just hoping to get our fingerprint appointment letter Monday and hope our officer has a softened heart to our case and approves same day so we can get this dossier to China.
Julie
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Praises to Celebrate and Prayers to Pray
Well, as I type this tonight, I want to start with a prayer request. Olivia is always non-stop so we rarely think about her heart condition. She is so active, big personality, and on the go and we just look and think about her as a healthy child. Well, today I am forced to remember that God knit her together a little differently. She isn't just a healthy child with a normal body. She is unique. Unique is good and unique can also be scary. When Olivia runs (as usual) she always gets more winded than the other children - we are used to that. After a bath - her hands and feet turn blue - we got that! When she gets winded - she coughs - again, got that. When she coughs - she often will throw up - been doing that one since day 1 - no problem. But today she has me a little worried. We went to gymnastics as usual and before the warm up was even over (and we are talking 4 and 5 year old warm up - not P90X) - she was completely out of breath. She looked like she had been at it for 45 minutes! I haven't seen her quite that bad before. My dad came to watch her at gymnastics today and that reminded him to say he had noticed her increase short of breath and coughing lately. She isn't sick so within seconds - as any anxiety filled mom - I'm instantly worried something is wrong with her heart. Tonight - it has only gotten worse and I found myself with my face to the floor asking God to heal my sweet baby and make everything okay. I asked him to help me help her if something is wrong. Likely - it is nothing - maybe a viral infection. But b/c she also has severe reflux - I can't tell if it's a wet cough and I automatically worry about fluid in her lungs. Remember - she has no spleen so there are certain things that are VERY dangerous for her and fluid in the lungs ranks right on up there. So, I pray that I worry for nothing. I pray that if it is something - that we find out immediately. I am calling the pediatrician and cardiologist first thing in the morning. Like I said, likely nothing! But I just can't make myself comfortable thinking that - I need to KNOW that! She is getting to the age where she gets self conscious of her throwing up - sometimes even holding her hand up to try and keep it in. It completely breaks my heart and we tell her just to get it out of there. If others ask why she throws up - we have told her to tell them, "Its just how God made me." So anyway - I've gone on about my worries now for a LONG paragraph and again - it's probably nothing. :) If I just keep saying it - it will be so right :) This all makes me think about our sweet AnaLei also. How severe is she? They note she already has severe pulmonary hypertension. So, does she walk around out of breath all the time? Is she cared for and loved and helped? Oh how I pray God is preparing her sweet heart for us. I know the day we meet will be a wonderful day for me and the scariest day ever for her. Adoption is beautiful and wonderful, but it has another heart wrenching side! I pray for her. I pray that despite what our doctors say - that she will be operable (though I don't look forward to the operation) but oh how I pray she is able to have what she needs. And I know what she needs is a heart surgery or 3.
Well, I think it's time to move onto the praise!! One of the things with the adoption I have been most worried about is this fingerprint appointment. Its the last big thing that we have to do on the US side of things before our dossier goes to China. (The dossier is the massive stack of paper people spend 6 months gathering - medicals, home study, police checks, background checks, child abuse checks in every state you've ever lived in, state fingerprints, federal biometric fingerprints, you name it - we've done it - which is why BTW adoptions run up into the $30,000 range - it's craziness!) They send you an appointment letter with an appointment. Well, I know that appointment will not be until mid to late February and my mom leaves for my sisters in Alaska on the 11th, not to mention my baby is critically ill and needs to come home today!! So, I drove to the USCIS field office in Memphis and to prepare for our "walk in" next week once we receive the letter. She tells me there are NO Walk ins anymore! As I begin to cry, possibly like a toddler, she agrees to go ask the person. I give her our doctors letters, her list of diagnoses and she comes out - gives me a hug - tells me to stop crying and they will let us walk in. Glory be to our Great God!! I was speechless and just cried harder (was that even possible?!?!) I think I embarrassed myself sufficiently b/c even the guard at the front hugged me before I left :) I ran to my car (just kidding - it's really a minivan now - I just say car to sound cool) and jumped for joy at the great news. Now - just to get the USCIS to expedite our prints to approval and then bam - time to get this dossier off to China before the 2 week Chinese New Year Holiday where the entire government shuts down the last 2 weeks of February.
So, there you have it. A praise and a prayer request just like my title said :)
Well, I think it's time to move onto the praise!! One of the things with the adoption I have been most worried about is this fingerprint appointment. Its the last big thing that we have to do on the US side of things before our dossier goes to China. (The dossier is the massive stack of paper people spend 6 months gathering - medicals, home study, police checks, background checks, child abuse checks in every state you've ever lived in, state fingerprints, federal biometric fingerprints, you name it - we've done it - which is why BTW adoptions run up into the $30,000 range - it's craziness!) They send you an appointment letter with an appointment. Well, I know that appointment will not be until mid to late February and my mom leaves for my sisters in Alaska on the 11th, not to mention my baby is critically ill and needs to come home today!! So, I drove to the USCIS field office in Memphis and to prepare for our "walk in" next week once we receive the letter. She tells me there are NO Walk ins anymore! As I begin to cry, possibly like a toddler, she agrees to go ask the person. I give her our doctors letters, her list of diagnoses and she comes out - gives me a hug - tells me to stop crying and they will let us walk in. Glory be to our Great God!! I was speechless and just cried harder (was that even possible?!?!) I think I embarrassed myself sufficiently b/c even the guard at the front hugged me before I left :) I ran to my car (just kidding - it's really a minivan now - I just say car to sound cool) and jumped for joy at the great news. Now - just to get the USCIS to expedite our prints to approval and then bam - time to get this dossier off to China before the 2 week Chinese New Year Holiday where the entire government shuts down the last 2 weeks of February.
So, there you have it. A praise and a prayer request just like my title said :)
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Just Words Today
Well, I am not tech savvy enough to connect my phone wirelessly to my computer and pull pictures off so I have no pictures of the girls today. Right now I have to email them to myself, save to my computer and then then upload - is there a better way?? If so, some of you savvy people need to let me know!
Olivia and I didn't make it to church today b/c Olivia wasn't feeling well and wasn't really herself. We could tell she didn't feel great. I don't think anything severe - just a little out of the norm so we kept her home. I felt especially bad b/c Danny was teaching our Connect Class today. He always gets a little nervous about that so I would have liked to have been there to support him.
We had a good week of progress this week with the adoption. On Thursday, I noticed the USCIS had deposited our check we sent with our I-800a - which means they received our paperwork. YAY! That is step 1:). I'm hoping that on Tuesday I will receive our USCIS receipt and then a week later receive our fingerprint appointment. Please be praying that God softens the heart of the officer that is assigned our case and of the workers in the building where we are going to have our fingerprints. This is all b/c the day after we receive our appointments - we are going to "walk-in" to get our fingerprints and just pray that they let us do it. We will then call our officer and as if he will approve same day!! That is a lot of "if" statements :). IF all of that works out - and I can get an email copy of our approval immediately - we will have it notarized and then I will attempt to pull off a trifecta event with the approval going to 3 different people without ever coming back to me - that way we don't lose even a day! IF all of that works out - then we could send our dossier to China by February 6th - a Friday. That would give them a full week to work on translation before the entire government of China shuts down for the Chinese New Year! They do not re-open until Monday, March 2nd. In Julie's perfect world - we would have our LID (log-in-date) before the shut-down. But God would have to move mountains for sure for it to happen.
We also have not yet received our pre-approval :(. When the CCCWA re-opened with it's new system - it had some glitches. They have corrected most of them but the issues that still remain are uploading passport pictures. So, even though we have her file locked - our "pre-approval application" is technically not complete b/c they can't upload our pictures. Oh well - trusting God to work all that out. Can't wait until we get that pre-approval.
We also applied for mom's and Olivia's passports! :) That is exciting but I'm also a nervous wreck about this b/c we had to send originals off and for Olivia those were the only originals we had! I'm also not 100% sure we sent the correct documents b/c the lady that was helping us wasn't 100% sure either. Guess its not everyday she deals with a family like ours. We will work to re-adopt Olivia and AnaLei once AnaLei is home. A re-adoption will give them each a US birth certificate which will make life much easier on both of them (school, jobs, etc). We have wanted to get Olivia a passport for some time now and this adoption finally made us do it. I just hope it's a passport we get in the mail and not a notice of "insufficient documentation". In most states - you can just go to the local court clerk or vital records department - fill out some paperwork and get a birth certificate. But not in MS :(. In MS - you have to have a lawyer and it costs so much more b/c of that :(. A $200 process will run us most likely over $1000. Just one of those things I guess.
Elle is growing so much! She really is showing the most adorable personality. She adores Olivia - Olivia just isn't adoring her quite as much just yet :). I think that is typical of a younger and older sister. Elle is 17 months old now and learning so much. She imitates very well and mostly her sister- good and bad :).
Life is good - God is great and we are just trying to run to where he has led us. Please pray for us on this journey and thanks for caring enough to read and follow along with us.
Much Love,
Julie
Olivia and I didn't make it to church today b/c Olivia wasn't feeling well and wasn't really herself. We could tell she didn't feel great. I don't think anything severe - just a little out of the norm so we kept her home. I felt especially bad b/c Danny was teaching our Connect Class today. He always gets a little nervous about that so I would have liked to have been there to support him.
We had a good week of progress this week with the adoption. On Thursday, I noticed the USCIS had deposited our check we sent with our I-800a - which means they received our paperwork. YAY! That is step 1:). I'm hoping that on Tuesday I will receive our USCIS receipt and then a week later receive our fingerprint appointment. Please be praying that God softens the heart of the officer that is assigned our case and of the workers in the building where we are going to have our fingerprints. This is all b/c the day after we receive our appointments - we are going to "walk-in" to get our fingerprints and just pray that they let us do it. We will then call our officer and as if he will approve same day!! That is a lot of "if" statements :). IF all of that works out - and I can get an email copy of our approval immediately - we will have it notarized and then I will attempt to pull off a trifecta event with the approval going to 3 different people without ever coming back to me - that way we don't lose even a day! IF all of that works out - then we could send our dossier to China by February 6th - a Friday. That would give them a full week to work on translation before the entire government of China shuts down for the Chinese New Year! They do not re-open until Monday, March 2nd. In Julie's perfect world - we would have our LID (log-in-date) before the shut-down. But God would have to move mountains for sure for it to happen.
We also have not yet received our pre-approval :(. When the CCCWA re-opened with it's new system - it had some glitches. They have corrected most of them but the issues that still remain are uploading passport pictures. So, even though we have her file locked - our "pre-approval application" is technically not complete b/c they can't upload our pictures. Oh well - trusting God to work all that out. Can't wait until we get that pre-approval.
We also applied for mom's and Olivia's passports! :) That is exciting but I'm also a nervous wreck about this b/c we had to send originals off and for Olivia those were the only originals we had! I'm also not 100% sure we sent the correct documents b/c the lady that was helping us wasn't 100% sure either. Guess its not everyday she deals with a family like ours. We will work to re-adopt Olivia and AnaLei once AnaLei is home. A re-adoption will give them each a US birth certificate which will make life much easier on both of them (school, jobs, etc). We have wanted to get Olivia a passport for some time now and this adoption finally made us do it. I just hope it's a passport we get in the mail and not a notice of "insufficient documentation". In most states - you can just go to the local court clerk or vital records department - fill out some paperwork and get a birth certificate. But not in MS :(. In MS - you have to have a lawyer and it costs so much more b/c of that :(. A $200 process will run us most likely over $1000. Just one of those things I guess.
Elle is growing so much! She really is showing the most adorable personality. She adores Olivia - Olivia just isn't adoring her quite as much just yet :). I think that is typical of a younger and older sister. Elle is 17 months old now and learning so much. She imitates very well and mostly her sister- good and bad :).
Life is good - God is great and we are just trying to run to where he has led us. Please pray for us on this journey and thanks for caring enough to read and follow along with us.
Much Love,
Julie
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
A Video of AnaLei and approved for a Matching Grant!
We also have exciting news!! Not only have we been approved to fundraise through Lifesong for Orphans, a Christian non-profit organization, but we have also been granted a $3000 matching grant through Lifesong from a church in Colorado!! We feel so blessed that they are going outside of their church walls to help bring orphans home and put into families where they are treasured children. This means we need to raise $3000 in order to get that matching grant!
I will start putting a link to Lifesong for Orphans for those who feel called to help bring AnaLei home through financial giving. We know that not all are called to give - and that is perfectly okay! Prayer is our #1 need during this process. For those that do want to give - I will attempt to put a link in this post that you can donate to help bring AnaLei home through Lifesong. A couple of things to note - Lifesong is a 501c3 so ALL donations are tax deductible and 100% of donations go to the adoption. We feel blessed beyond measure that God sees fit to give us another child and that some are called to help bring her home through financial help and prayer.
If you choose to donate towards our adoption to bring home AnaLei please ensure you put "Mann #5065" in the info section of the donation site or the for section of a check to ensure it goes towards AnaLei's adoption. Thank you friends and family for your support!
By His Grace,
Julie
Donate to Bring Home AnaLei
o Individual donations $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request. Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.
Monday, January 12, 2015
99% chance of inoperability - What does a mother do with that kind of news?
I can barely see through my tears. As I just put my sweet Elle down to sleep for a nap - I found myself sobbing on her shoulder for the sister she has that none of us have met. I have just been told, as I try to make medical plans for when AnaLei's arrives home, that she most likely has a 99% chance of being inoperable. We were told this by medical professionals that we have the upmost trust in. What does a mother do with kind of news? I have the head knowledge of that fact, but my heart refuses to accept it. As a believer, I struggle with the prayer - "God I know you can do ANYTHING and I know that you can heal this precious baby, but also help me accept that you may choose not to on this earth". I can only type it, but not get it out loud of my mouth. At this moment, I am broken. I am broken yet also feel this rage at this ugly world in which we live and I cling to the Savior that has saved us from it. I feel this fierce person coming out inside of me to bring my baby home and pray that as God strengthens my heart - he softens those of others that will make the decision on whether or not to expedite our adoption. You know, as a single ventricle patient, Olivia is said to have "half a heart" yett she is full of life. Well, my newest daughter has a 1% chance, according to those that have read her file, of long-term survival (I don't know what that means exactly - if she can't be operated on I am not sure what her life expectancy is). Will you pray with me? Will you meet me in front of the Father who created her in her mother's womb? Will you kindly pray for God's will for her life and strength for her as she comes home to 1000 medical tests. Pray for our family as we embark on a journey that God is leading us on. I know some people reading this believe we have put "ourselves in this position". Believe me, there is no where I'd rather be that in the middle of where God wants me - even if it's a journey I would not have chosen for myself.
I feel broken hearted, I feel over-joyed for the love of my 2 girls here now that are full of life, and I feel honored that our family, including our 2 beloved girls, that God is entrusting all of us with this new precious girl. She is special - no doubt about it. God's plan may be different than mine and currently I'm not sure that I'm okay with that, but I'm praying that He prepare us for the journey He has put us on.
Prayerfully yours,
Julie
I feel broken hearted, I feel over-joyed for the love of my 2 girls here now that are full of life, and I feel honored that our family, including our 2 beloved girls, that God is entrusting all of us with this new precious girl. She is special - no doubt about it. God's plan may be different than mine and currently I'm not sure that I'm okay with that, but I'm praying that He prepare us for the journey He has put us on.
Prayerfully yours,
Julie
No Longer Sad to See Monday Come
Perception is a funny thing. The way we look at something one day can be totally different than how we look at it the next if our perception changes. We all know that we are sad when Monday comes because our relaxing (ha!) weekend is over. There are songs about sad Mondays and happy Fridays. Now that we are right in the midst of adopting AnaLei - I CANT WAIT FOR MONDAY!!! It means work is happening on our adoption which means we are one day closer to bringing her home. My perception has just changed for now. I'm sure by this time next year - I'll be back to dreading Monday morning just a little :)
We had a great weekend! Leslie, McKenzie and Adley came up for a visit. I always feel bad b/c I put Leslie to work. Do you have that super talented family member that can do everything? Well - that is Leslie for us. She can make things and knows where things should go and how they should go. So I find it impossible to resist the urge to get her to help me. Plus, we were getting new carpet so our house had totally been destroyed right before they came - a perfect time to re-decorate :). Olivia loved having her cousins up on her birthday weekend and I loved having them here. They even brought up a crib for AnaLei that we are setting up now. Olivia will keep her own room and we will put our 2 babies together in the same room.
I was pretty somber Friday afternoon when I found out that UPS failed to deliver a guaranteed package to our adoption agency by 10:30am Friday local Washington time. That meant our I-800a wouldn't get to the USCIS lockbox by Monday. However, to my surprise, our case worker sent me an email late Friday stating that although our package got there in the 11th hour - she was able to walk it into the post office and overnight it to the USCIS. What!?! YAY!!! I was so excited! That prevented us from losing an entire day! As fast as we are trying to go - 1 day is meaningful!
Friday was actually busy for us in adoption land. Our agency was finally able to "lock" Zou, Chun Lei's file and they submitted our pre-approval paperwork to China. Danny and I had all of our documents notarized that are a part of our dossier and then drove straight to the post office and had them sent to the MS Secretary of State for authentication. Once we receive those back - I will go ahead and send those to the Chinese consulate while we wait on our fingerprint appointments. That way we don't have to expedite the majority of the documents and that saves money and time. We will go ahead and send those prepared documents to our agency so they will be ready to send off our dossier to China as soon as we do the entire same process with our I-797 (which is simply our fingerprint approval notice). Whew! It's going to be a busy few weeks as the documents start returning. We count it all joy! It's kind of like labor pains - its hard during it, but so worth it afterwards :).
I also have plans to speak to CHOP this week to begin making plans for what we will do immediately upon AnaLei's arrival. We are praying that God somehow prepares her for what is to come. We feel so bad b/c she hasn't really gone through anything medical her entire life - despite her desperate need to! She will undergo a heart cath no doubt immediately upon returning home and currently we plan to have that done at CHOP. We are unsure for now about anything after that. I will know more after speaking to them this week.
There will also be more to come soon on fundraising :). Please know that we know NOT ALL ARE CALLED OR EVEN DESIRE TO GIVE!! Please continue to follow AnaLei's story regardless and pray for us as we follow the call to go. We just pray that God has called some to give - but not everyone we know is! We have applied with Lifesong for Orphans and should find out in a few weeks if we are approved to fundraise through them. They allow people to make tax deductible donations that can only be used for the adoption. There is also a way to give through WACAP just to Zou, Chun Lei's adoption and I will post more details soon on that.
Thanks for reading and for caring enough to still be reading :). It's a crazy road and I know that those of you who ask me about how the adoption is going regret it about 30 seconds later :). Tonight - even Danny said, "I have no idea what you are talking about" as I tried to explain our strategy on sending documents to the consulate. So - from now on I think I will say, "it's good - just complicated" :) At this point - if all is expedited at God like speed - then I think travel could be possible late April but a more realistic timeframe is late May/early June.
Much love to you all! Sorry no pictures to post - we forgot to take any this weekend.
Julie
We had a great weekend! Leslie, McKenzie and Adley came up for a visit. I always feel bad b/c I put Leslie to work. Do you have that super talented family member that can do everything? Well - that is Leslie for us. She can make things and knows where things should go and how they should go. So I find it impossible to resist the urge to get her to help me. Plus, we were getting new carpet so our house had totally been destroyed right before they came - a perfect time to re-decorate :). Olivia loved having her cousins up on her birthday weekend and I loved having them here. They even brought up a crib for AnaLei that we are setting up now. Olivia will keep her own room and we will put our 2 babies together in the same room.
I was pretty somber Friday afternoon when I found out that UPS failed to deliver a guaranteed package to our adoption agency by 10:30am Friday local Washington time. That meant our I-800a wouldn't get to the USCIS lockbox by Monday. However, to my surprise, our case worker sent me an email late Friday stating that although our package got there in the 11th hour - she was able to walk it into the post office and overnight it to the USCIS. What!?! YAY!!! I was so excited! That prevented us from losing an entire day! As fast as we are trying to go - 1 day is meaningful!
Friday was actually busy for us in adoption land. Our agency was finally able to "lock" Zou, Chun Lei's file and they submitted our pre-approval paperwork to China. Danny and I had all of our documents notarized that are a part of our dossier and then drove straight to the post office and had them sent to the MS Secretary of State for authentication. Once we receive those back - I will go ahead and send those to the Chinese consulate while we wait on our fingerprint appointments. That way we don't have to expedite the majority of the documents and that saves money and time. We will go ahead and send those prepared documents to our agency so they will be ready to send off our dossier to China as soon as we do the entire same process with our I-797 (which is simply our fingerprint approval notice). Whew! It's going to be a busy few weeks as the documents start returning. We count it all joy! It's kind of like labor pains - its hard during it, but so worth it afterwards :).
I also have plans to speak to CHOP this week to begin making plans for what we will do immediately upon AnaLei's arrival. We are praying that God somehow prepares her for what is to come. We feel so bad b/c she hasn't really gone through anything medical her entire life - despite her desperate need to! She will undergo a heart cath no doubt immediately upon returning home and currently we plan to have that done at CHOP. We are unsure for now about anything after that. I will know more after speaking to them this week.
There will also be more to come soon on fundraising :). Please know that we know NOT ALL ARE CALLED OR EVEN DESIRE TO GIVE!! Please continue to follow AnaLei's story regardless and pray for us as we follow the call to go. We just pray that God has called some to give - but not everyone we know is! We have applied with Lifesong for Orphans and should find out in a few weeks if we are approved to fundraise through them. They allow people to make tax deductible donations that can only be used for the adoption. There is also a way to give through WACAP just to Zou, Chun Lei's adoption and I will post more details soon on that.
Thanks for reading and for caring enough to still be reading :). It's a crazy road and I know that those of you who ask me about how the adoption is going regret it about 30 seconds later :). Tonight - even Danny said, "I have no idea what you are talking about" as I tried to explain our strategy on sending documents to the consulate. So - from now on I think I will say, "it's good - just complicated" :) At this point - if all is expedited at God like speed - then I think travel could be possible late April but a more realistic timeframe is late May/early June.
Much love to you all! Sorry no pictures to post - we forgot to take any this weekend.
Julie
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Busy, Busy, Busy.... Oh, and did I mention - Olivia is turning 5!!!!
In the world of adoption - there is NEVER a dull moment. All week has been full of steps forward and set backs. I am trying not to get over whelmed but it is difficult at times. The best news of the adoption this week is that we somehow made our timeline of a complete/notarized/fully approved home study TODAY!! YAY! New Beginnings (our home study agency) is overnighting our homestudy to WACAP (our adoption agency) so that they can prayerfully get our I-800a sent off before 3pm tomorrow overnighted to the USCIS for Monday delivery. It will then enter some secret "lockbox" for a week to 10 days I'm told. After that, an officer will be assigned our case and will decide if our AnaLei gets to be expedited by the US government. I am nervous but know God knows when she needs to be home. I am sending 2 doctors letters with our application praying they see the urgency of our girl and her need to be home yesterday! She needs her momma and I need her. The USCIS will then issue our fingerprint appointments. This is extremely nerve wracking b/c my mom is planning to go to Alaska February 11th to visit my sister so I just pray that we are able to complete our fingerprints before she leaves!! We have been working on 3 tracks simultaneously so I know I sound like a crazy person when someone asks me how it's going, but that is actually a very complicated thing to answer. The home study was track #1, pre-approval is track #2, and our dossier documents is track #3. We still have not be able to lock AnaLei (Zou, Chun Lei) as the CCCWA is having technical difficulty with their website since re-opening Jan 5th. As soon as our agency is able to "lock" her file - China will hopefully grant us pre-approval within 2 days to 2 weeks. While we wait for all of this to happen, I have been gathering all of our dossier paperwork. Tomorrow, we will hopefully have it all notarized. Then, it has to be sent to the Sec of State in MS where the notarization gets authenticated. Then, once we have our fingerprint APPROVAL - that gets notarized and authenticated and THEN we can send all documents to the Chinese Consulate. Once they verify our documents - our dossier should be complete and off to China it goes!! Easy breezy beautiful cover girl :):)
Now to the beautiful news that also has me in tears!!! My big, smart, beautiful girl turns 5 years old tomorrow. I can hardly deal with it! She is so excited that her birthday falls on a school day :). I'm taking cupcakes to her class with unicorns (her favorite) and dinosaurs for the boys. She said it's "going to be so much fun" :). As I think about my babies birth 5 years ago - I think about what a mystery it is this side of heaven. I think how the angels must have rejoiced when she entered this world. I believe her life has already brought Glory to God in the Highest! I can't wait to see His plan for her. Though the details of her birth will never be known to us - I rejoice with her birth mother (and father) who gave her life and left her to found quickly and safely for a better life they felt they could not provide. My heart aches as I know they are thinking about her even now. Oh how I wish I could tell them about her. I feel like she probably has her birth mother's eyes and her father's perfect nose. She has their black hair and most beautiful brown eyes. If only they could see the masterpiece they created :). I am thankful to be her mother on this earth. Danny is thankful to be her daddy. We love her more than we could have ever imagined loving another human being. She is our rock. She is our inspiration. Thank you precious Lord for entrusting this precious life to us and may we be pleasing in your sight as we raise her to see you in your glorious light!
I will hopefully post tomorrow that our I-800a is on it's way. If not - I will post tears instead.... Until then.
Some of the last pictures of Hunter :(.
Julie
Now to the beautiful news that also has me in tears!!! My big, smart, beautiful girl turns 5 years old tomorrow. I can hardly deal with it! She is so excited that her birthday falls on a school day :). I'm taking cupcakes to her class with unicorns (her favorite) and dinosaurs for the boys. She said it's "going to be so much fun" :). As I think about my babies birth 5 years ago - I think about what a mystery it is this side of heaven. I think how the angels must have rejoiced when she entered this world. I believe her life has already brought Glory to God in the Highest! I can't wait to see His plan for her. Though the details of her birth will never be known to us - I rejoice with her birth mother (and father) who gave her life and left her to found quickly and safely for a better life they felt they could not provide. My heart aches as I know they are thinking about her even now. Oh how I wish I could tell them about her. I feel like she probably has her birth mother's eyes and her father's perfect nose. She has their black hair and most beautiful brown eyes. If only they could see the masterpiece they created :). I am thankful to be her mother on this earth. Danny is thankful to be her daddy. We love her more than we could have ever imagined loving another human being. She is our rock. She is our inspiration. Thank you precious Lord for entrusting this precious life to us and may we be pleasing in your sight as we raise her to see you in your glorious light!
I will hopefully post tomorrow that our I-800a is on it's way. If not - I will post tears instead.... Until then.
Some of the last pictures of Hunter :(.
Julie
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| Precious Baby! |
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| Olivia and ALL of her animals watching TV :) |
Monday, January 5, 2015
It's Been a Tough Day
Well, I guess I'm going to have to use this blog more an a therapeutic outlet than anything. You may just begin to stop reading but goodness gracious - I've got to type. Today was hard. All the way around - it was a hard day. But God's graciousness did shine through. He is faithful and He is good. One of my favorite verses in the bible comes out of Job. I will have to look up the verse but it's when Job is just in extreme pain and has lost all he had - including his 10 children. It says he was unrecognizable to his friends b/c of his awful skin disease. His wife encouraged him to "curse your God and die". He told her she was a foolish woman and said, "are we to accept only the good from God and not the bad?" I paraphrased with my quotations to the best of my memory at the moment :) Anyway - I think about that verse and story all the time. We gladly accept the good that God gives us but complain incessantly about the bad that comes our way. The bad shapes our faith and gives us perspective of who our God truly is. If we come out on top - He gets the glory for it. Not trying to give a sermon - just what has gotten me through this day.
Let's start the with the really exciting news!!! Our sweet girl's file was released from the CCCWA today :) YAY!! So, our agency sent our pre-approval paperwork that I had completed before the holidays. We should hear something as soon as a couple of days to a couple of weeks. In the meantime - all other paperwork continues. We had our final homestudy today and we hope (fingers crossed) that our I-800a is sent off by Friday. I will try not to be devastated if its not. After we send that off - we will get our fingerprint apt from the USCIS. We are including an expedite letter hoping they show us mercy with our little one who so desperately needs to get home. Even now, most doctors say her pulmonary hypertension likely makes her inoperable from a cardiovascular perspective. Bottom line, we have no idea what that means. We can only hope that "likely" doesn't mean definitely. But either way, we trust the one who is entrusting her to us and He will give us what we need when we need it. We just celebrate her file is finally released which is just one more thing we needed to have happen.
We lost our precious 17 year old peek-a-poo, Hunter, today. I got him when I was 19 years old :). He was my first man, first child, first dog, first love and today we had to put him to sleep as the most humane way to let him die with dignity. He was the best dog in all the world. Olivia doesn't know yet. Danny and I went together this afternoon. My heart is broken over his loss. It was one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. He started showing signs of aging years and years ago but he's just kept on keeping on. Lately though, he's gotten progressively worse. He can barely walk on our hardwood and paces for hours, when he's not sleeping. He threw up twice today even. He was getting worse and worse and it was the best decision for him. Danny and I will talk to Olivia about it in the coming days. She loves him dearly and he was always so good to her. She would dress him up and pretend he was her patient. My neice McKenzie used to do the same thing when she was little :). Elle just loves to hit, I mean pet, him. :)
Today was tough for more than just that, but for now, let's just leave it at that. You will get tired of reading it and I will get tired of re-living it.
To end on a positive note - we believe we have finalized our sweet girls name :)
AnaLei Marie Mann (that is pronounced "Ah-na Lee")
We all had a part in naming her - even Olivia :) We can't wait to show her the physical love we already feel for her emotionally.
Love to all,
Julie
Okay, okay - one more sweet picture
Let's start the with the really exciting news!!! Our sweet girl's file was released from the CCCWA today :) YAY!! So, our agency sent our pre-approval paperwork that I had completed before the holidays. We should hear something as soon as a couple of days to a couple of weeks. In the meantime - all other paperwork continues. We had our final homestudy today and we hope (fingers crossed) that our I-800a is sent off by Friday. I will try not to be devastated if its not. After we send that off - we will get our fingerprint apt from the USCIS. We are including an expedite letter hoping they show us mercy with our little one who so desperately needs to get home. Even now, most doctors say her pulmonary hypertension likely makes her inoperable from a cardiovascular perspective. Bottom line, we have no idea what that means. We can only hope that "likely" doesn't mean definitely. But either way, we trust the one who is entrusting her to us and He will give us what we need when we need it. We just celebrate her file is finally released which is just one more thing we needed to have happen.
We lost our precious 17 year old peek-a-poo, Hunter, today. I got him when I was 19 years old :). He was my first man, first child, first dog, first love and today we had to put him to sleep as the most humane way to let him die with dignity. He was the best dog in all the world. Olivia doesn't know yet. Danny and I went together this afternoon. My heart is broken over his loss. It was one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make. He started showing signs of aging years and years ago but he's just kept on keeping on. Lately though, he's gotten progressively worse. He can barely walk on our hardwood and paces for hours, when he's not sleeping. He threw up twice today even. He was getting worse and worse and it was the best decision for him. Danny and I will talk to Olivia about it in the coming days. She loves him dearly and he was always so good to her. She would dress him up and pretend he was her patient. My neice McKenzie used to do the same thing when she was little :). Elle just loves to hit, I mean pet, him. :)
Today was tough for more than just that, but for now, let's just leave it at that. You will get tired of reading it and I will get tired of re-living it.
To end on a positive note - we believe we have finalized our sweet girls name :)
AnaLei Marie Mann (that is pronounced "Ah-na Lee")
We all had a part in naming her - even Olivia :) We can't wait to show her the physical love we already feel for her emotionally.
Love to all,
Julie
Okay, okay - one more sweet picture
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Great Time with Family
Just found this draft that somehow never got published back in 2011 :) Oh so precious!!!
Relaxing at Home
I hope everyone's new year was wonderful and relaxing! We have had a quiet weekend at home and lots of time with our sweet girls. Olivia wants to play horses 24-7 and Elle just wants to be with Olivia. Olivia always asks if it is Elle's naptime because she really just likes playing horses with mom :).
During the adoption process, weekends are hard b/c you know nothing is getting done to bring your baby home. However, as I have reflected on God's word this weekend - I have to run when I can and relax in His presence and peace when I can. We are on His timeline so there really is no reason for me to worry (so why do I tend to constantly?!?!). I am enjoying blogging again - it is an outlet for all these feelings that get bottled up.
I will update as things get going again which I hope is fast and furious starting tomorrow. We have our final homestudy and my prayer (and I've been told it's to big of one) is that our I-800a is sent off to the USCIS by Friday afternoon. After that - it apparently goes into a lockbox for 7-10 days where it won't be touched. I am sending a letter of expedite with it as well as an overnight envelope back to me so they will prayerfully see the urgency. The I-800a is how we get our appointment for our biometric fingerprints - which is what we have to have to send our dossier to China to get officially approved into their program.
We are still awaiting the release of Zou, Chun Lei's file from the CCCWA and pray it comes this week so we can lock her and get pre-approved. We have completed all of that paperwork and now just waiting on her official file.
Anyway - thanks for reading all the details! It seems like crazy talk unless you are in the middle of it. Even when I read about someone else's adoption - I totally forget and get lost in all the processes.
Have a great week! Olivia's 5th birthday is Friday!! I think I will cry :)
Much Love,
Julie
During the adoption process, weekends are hard b/c you know nothing is getting done to bring your baby home. However, as I have reflected on God's word this weekend - I have to run when I can and relax in His presence and peace when I can. We are on His timeline so there really is no reason for me to worry (so why do I tend to constantly?!?!). I am enjoying blogging again - it is an outlet for all these feelings that get bottled up.
I will update as things get going again which I hope is fast and furious starting tomorrow. We have our final homestudy and my prayer (and I've been told it's to big of one) is that our I-800a is sent off to the USCIS by Friday afternoon. After that - it apparently goes into a lockbox for 7-10 days where it won't be touched. I am sending a letter of expedite with it as well as an overnight envelope back to me so they will prayerfully see the urgency. The I-800a is how we get our appointment for our biometric fingerprints - which is what we have to have to send our dossier to China to get officially approved into their program.
We are still awaiting the release of Zou, Chun Lei's file from the CCCWA and pray it comes this week so we can lock her and get pre-approved. We have completed all of that paperwork and now just waiting on her official file.
Anyway - thanks for reading all the details! It seems like crazy talk unless you are in the middle of it. Even when I read about someone else's adoption - I totally forget and get lost in all the processes.
Have a great week! Olivia's 5th birthday is Friday!! I think I will cry :)
Much Love,
Julie
Thursday, January 1, 2015
2015 Should Be Exciting at the Mann House
As we drive home to MS from our visit in Alabama - I am reflecting on God's goodness. Life is certainly not always easy - sometimes it is just plain hard. But our God is bigger than our current situation and His plans are so much higher than ours. I am writing this as much for myself as anyone else :). Danny and I are so incredibly excited for Mann girl #3 to join our family (name still in debate) but we are also so incredibly scared!
BTW - So far the names options are as follows:
Sophie Lei
Ana Lei (Olivia has picked this one and yes it is pronounced "Ana" like the little sister on frozen) - gee, wonder where she came up with this name :)
Danny's middle name is Lee and Lei is already part of our sweet girl's Chinese name so we want that to be her middle name for sure.
Since our hearts have been stirred to adopt this sweet girl - we have worried about it all! Worried how we will manage with 3 children versus 2. Worried how we will get her the medical attention she needs while meeting the emotional needs of her AND our other 2 precious angels. Where will we have her treated? Traveling to CHOP will get crazy expensive so not sure that is an option, while we must consider them because of their incredible cardiac standing in the nation. Many think we are crazy and maybe we are. If we allow ourselves to think to hard about what is happening - we are overcome with fear. So, we try to just rest in His goodness and the knowledge that He has put this path before us and He will be faithful to see us through. He is a God of details and I am oh so thankful for that.
Our newest daughter's advocacy name is "Ella" and we think about her ALL THE TIME! We pray for her every single night and pray God is preparing her for us. Olivia was much younger when we adopted her so I am nervous how much our sweet girl will grieve given she will have just turned 3 when we finally get to wrap our arms around her sweet body.
We are prayerfully considering how to fundraise for a portion of this adoption. Now that I am staying at home - we want to ensure I am home with her to get her through her medical milestones like Danny was with Olivia. We have applied with Lifesong For Orphans and are waiting to see if we are approved for tax deductible donations. More to come on that if we are!! We know many don't understand what we are doing and not all are called to go, but many may be called to help others go and that is our prayer with this adoption. We know He has called us to go so we are praying He has called some to give :)
We covet your prayers during this time. We should have a complete homestudy this coming week and then we wait for our biometric fingerprint appts with the USCIS. We are working for every step to be expedited because she needs to be HOME!!
Here are some photos from our trip to Alabama :)
BTW - So far the names options are as follows:
Sophie Lei
Ana Lei (Olivia has picked this one and yes it is pronounced "Ana" like the little sister on frozen) - gee, wonder where she came up with this name :)
Danny's middle name is Lee and Lei is already part of our sweet girl's Chinese name so we want that to be her middle name for sure.
Since our hearts have been stirred to adopt this sweet girl - we have worried about it all! Worried how we will manage with 3 children versus 2. Worried how we will get her the medical attention she needs while meeting the emotional needs of her AND our other 2 precious angels. Where will we have her treated? Traveling to CHOP will get crazy expensive so not sure that is an option, while we must consider them because of their incredible cardiac standing in the nation. Many think we are crazy and maybe we are. If we allow ourselves to think to hard about what is happening - we are overcome with fear. So, we try to just rest in His goodness and the knowledge that He has put this path before us and He will be faithful to see us through. He is a God of details and I am oh so thankful for that.
Our newest daughter's advocacy name is "Ella" and we think about her ALL THE TIME! We pray for her every single night and pray God is preparing her for us. Olivia was much younger when we adopted her so I am nervous how much our sweet girl will grieve given she will have just turned 3 when we finally get to wrap our arms around her sweet body.
We are prayerfully considering how to fundraise for a portion of this adoption. Now that I am staying at home - we want to ensure I am home with her to get her through her medical milestones like Danny was with Olivia. We have applied with Lifesong For Orphans and are waiting to see if we are approved for tax deductible donations. More to come on that if we are!! We know many don't understand what we are doing and not all are called to go, but many may be called to help others go and that is our prayer with this adoption. We know He has called us to go so we are praying He has called some to give :)
We covet your prayers during this time. We should have a complete homestudy this coming week and then we wait for our biometric fingerprint appts with the USCIS. We are working for every step to be expedited because she needs to be HOME!!
Here are some photos from our trip to Alabama :)
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