Dossier being translated...

Our dossier is in Chicago being translated and then we send it to China! I can hardly wait! I have felt so patient up until now... I just want to get the girls home. I feel like they are growing up without their family. I pray that we are able to send in our dossier soon and get an LID. 

I am actually thankful for where we are at right now... but I just want to be further along. Okay, that doesn't sound very thankful but I think you understand!

WooHoo, We Have PA!!

Hey sweet girls your Mama and your Babba are so very excited- we have received PA! This means that China has given us pre-approval to be your new parents- we still have a ways to go before we can bring you home and make it all official but we just want you to know today is a step in the right direction!!

We are so grateful to God! Back in June we did not know if it was going to work out. We had many people praying for us and praise the Lord here we are on November 12th jumping up and down with excitement!!

You two are coming home this spring! I had to congratulate Sarah and Anna- once again they were going to be a big sister and a little sister! I told Sarah there will now be two more kids to hold the big jump rope! No more waiting for Mama as she says just one more minute honey, just one more minute! The girls are thrilled and we toasted to Emma and Ellie with our sodas!

Thank you Jesus!

Next Year At This Time- Halloween!

Next year at this time the girls will have been home for about 4 plus months! Sarah and Anna just bounded out the door to start their trick or treating! I can hardly wait until next year when our Emma and Ellie are dressed up in costumes and doing the same thing!! Four precious daughters all dressed up and hopefully with smiles on their faces!! I know they will all have a blast (after they get over the first time to trick or treat jitters).

I personally had a few jitters myself recently but a few good friends set me straight and prayers to our dear Lord got me back to being excited! 

While we were in Napa Valley I decided Katie and I should go in June to get the girls (she is off work at that time). We worked together so well when we were in China with Sarah. Now that we are back home I can't imagine waiting a moment longer than absolutely necessary. Once we get a green light from China - I just feel like we need to get these girls home to their family- that would be US!!!

I pray Lord for our process! I pray that we are able to finish up our dossier this week and  get it to carrie for her to review! I pray Lord that our agency will send our LOI either before we receive C*S approval or immediately upon receiving C*S approval. Lord please help us to get DTC's and LID before Christmas!

The Journey Begins!

Welcome to our blog for our two daughters in China! We have known since the end of May that they were our daughters but so far the journey has been slow. We found them a bit too early so we had to wait until June/July to get going. It was Sarah's 6 months anniversary of being home on June 5th. We could not get started until after that date and then we ran into a hiccup with our local clearance. It took all of June to get that cleared up. After that our social worker was sick for over a week in July - it's amazing she was able to get our home study done as quickly as she did! It was ready by the end of July!

Everything seems to take us a little longer than usual since we have a big family and lots going on! Even though I want to bring our girls home asap I do feel like God is in control of the timing and that is a good feeling! 

When we began this journey we prayed a lot over the girls for God to reveal his desires to us. We were crazy about them right away but there were a few concerns. It is amazing how God can put your mind to rest because he revealed to us in no uncertain terms that they were our daughters. He comforted our hearts and minds! Once we knew this we wanted to move ahead!

The process started slow and ran into a few hiccups as previously stated. We were in a bit of turmoil knowing they were meant to be our girls and then there was a possibility that it wasn't going to work out. But God is good and things fell into place with a lot of prayer! Thank you Jesus!!

I have felt quite peaceful through this adoption journey. One reason may be that I have felt like I had a bit of work to do at home preparing our family and especially Sarah. She had not been home that long and really needed more time. Well, time is what we have gotten and it has been good! She is making such great strides- we are amazed at her progress! Bonding has not been a problem for her but she just needed more time learning about a family, learning appropriate behaviors, gaining experiences, increasing her self esteem, learning to make good choices, learning self control and learning how to be safe! Okay the list could go on but that is close enough! 

The other thing that has happened is the chemistry between us has grown significantly. Most of the time we really get each other! It is pretty cool! That is one of the many fun things about adopting older!

She has also grown significantly in her education! She enjoys homeschool and she is excelling at reading. I better explain what that means- she is reading 4 and 5 letter words, she is excellent at sounding out words, and she seems to be up for the challenge! We are working on consonant blends right now. I am beginning to see her comprehension improve, too!! Soon we will have her start a quiet reading time- on her own! Math is her other main subject and it is going well but she has off days so we will just keep working hard at it. It is hard for her to commit her math facts to memory.

I would love for Sarah to be in a "comfortable place" when the girls come home! Everyone agrees that it feels like she has always been a part of our family! And, of course we feel the same way about Anna! 

Recently I was feeling a little down because our process felt like it was standing still but when I documented the dates (see the sidebar) I can see that in each month something important has happened. No matter how small it may seem to others, it's huge to us! So the forward progress continues slow but sure!

It is important to me to begin blogging about our girls because I think it is part of the bonding process. It is like being pregnant- during that time an expectant mother would constantly be thinking of her unborn child. She would feel it move and she would dream of what life will be like once they arrive. Through this blog I will think through a few of the issues (what room will they be in, should we attempt co- sleeping with two (?), strategies for homeschooling the 4 girls, who will travel to China, etc)and prepare for our darling daughters (the bedroom, clothes, school room, school books, etc)!

I am already getting excited!! I can hardly wait to meet our precious girls!!