Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I am a terrible blogger.  Unfortunately, being a better blogger isn't going to be my resolution.

So December has flown by, we will have been home for a full month come Monday.  What have we been doing this past month.  Well, I can't say that we have been super busy.  We have spent a lot of time together as a family of five.

On December 11th we took our kids on a train ride to the North Pole.  We have done it every year since M has been home.  You get to take an hour ride on a vintage train to the North Pole and see Santa.  Then you ride the train back to the depot.  The kids love it!

On December 14th E had his tonsils and adenoids removed.  He had a hard time with the recovery, especially at night.  We are now just a little over two weeks since surgery and he is healed and waiting for the ok to eat popcorn again!

We spent Christmas at home, just the five of us.  While it was different than normal for us it was nice to have some down time together after the last two months.  We spent Christmas day laying around the house, kids playing with their new toys and mom and dad watching the Hallmark Channel.

I returned to work part time on December 22nd and daddy is staying home with the kids for now.  S has adjusted very well to her new home and family.  While she still prefers to be with mommy she can be daddy's girl when I am at work.

New Years Eve is a great deal like Christmas,  the five of us laying around doing puzzles, reading books and watching the Disney Channel.

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed New Years!

So Powerful

Pause the music at the bottom of the page to watch this.  It is so powerful.  There is always more we can do.  What is Jesus putting in your heart?

Starfish Calendars!

These adorable calendars are available to purchase.  All proceeds benefit the kids at the Starfish foster home in China.  Check out More Kids 4 Me for all the information on how you can order your calendar.  Anne also has a link to the full calendar.

I can't wait for our calendar to arrive and hang in our special China calendar place in our hallway.

Help Bring Michael Home

If a Kindle is on your wish list you really need to check out BECAUSE WE ARE LED.  Not only can you enter to win a Kindle but you will also be helping bring Michael home from China.

We have CA too!

I didn't think it would take 48 to 72 hours to find out and sure enough I got word first thing this morning that our CA is Nov. 29th.  Sophia will be in my arms on Nov. 22nd and we will be home around Dec. 2nd.

As long as the wait seems now things are speeding by.  So many things that need to get done.  I just happened to call the bank today to make sure that they ordered our money and I am so glad I did.  The message didn't get passed on to the person that orders money but thank the Lord she was a wonderful nice person and said she would order it today to have next week.  She was such a sweet person and was so excited to be helping us.

Now to get our house organized, the girls room reorganized, bags packed, house cleaned, etc.  I am going to sleep the entire flight to China after all this!

WE HAVE TA!!!!!

Our agency received our Travel Authority letter today and sent in our request for our Consulate Appointment, in the China adoption world this is known as our TA and CA.  We are expecting that I will be leaving around November 18th and would meet Sophia on November 22nd.  This is all tentative at this point as our travel and meeting day are all centered around our CA.  We will find out in the next couple of days our exact CA and will begin to make our travel arrangements and get our bags packed.

Roughly we are about $4000 away from the funds needed for travel.  We really appreciate all who have donated, purchased and are praying for us.  Please help us continue to spread the word about our hoodies, tees, caps and of course the puzzle fundraiser.  Check them out at Bringing Sophia Home.

Too busy!

So E has sounded like he has allergies for about 6 weeks.  We have tried every allergy medicine available over the counter and nothing was helping.  Earlier this week he told me that his ear was stuffy.  Well, that shouldn't happen since he has tubes in his ears.  He had a follow up appointment set for December with his ENT so I called to see if they should see him earlier to check out his stuffy ears and to see about different allergy meds.  As I was talking to the nurse she noticed he still had his adenoids so she scheduled him to come in and get his adenoids looked at today.

We get there and it is very apparent to everyone who sees him that he can't breath.  The doctor starts checking him out, ears look good, nose is completely dry.  She has him open his mouth and then tells me to come and take a look. My poor little man has a very small opening in his throat, his tonsils are now touching.  They have grown HUGE and they aren't infected or inflamed.

E has now been scheduled for a tonsilectomy.  The next opening they have was for Nov 23rd, I will probable be in China around that time or leaving very soon there after.  So they decided that we should probable wait until December.  He is scheduled for Dec 14th that is if our TA can get here and I can get back in time.

Praying our TA gets here quick.  This little man will need his mama for his recovery.  I tell you when I get busy I get busy.  This is reminding me of daddy's back surgery and E have urological issues all at the same time.  Praying this all slows down, it's too hard for me to be at two doctors at the same time.  Lots of prayers please!!

It was a great day!

We started the day with our final soccer game.  E didn't spend a lot of time playing, more time crying but he stuck it out until the end of the season.  Daddy was a wonderful coach.  He did such a great job encouraging all the kids.  The funniest moment of the game is when daddy headbutted the ball without trying.  Everyone thought it was fun.

We left the game and headed to get our pumpkin for a pumpkin carving party in the afternoon.  We went to M's best friend M's house and the kids had a great time.  These two have been best friends since the day they met at daycare.  Neither of them go got preschool together anymore but they are still the best of friends.  They had so much fun carving pumpkins, riding bikes, playing in the yard and then the highlight for M, M and E was light saber fighting with daddy.

They had a hard time leaving M and can't wait to get together to play again.  We headed for a dinner just the four of us at On the B*rder and then headed home to snuggle with mom and dad to watch Marmaduke.

Sitting eating dinner I realized that at about that time 4 years ago we were heading to a banquet room in the Golden Resource Hotel in Chongqing China to meet M.  M's forever family day is October 24th, so pretty much the same as the evening of our anniversary.  Our lives changed forever 4 years ago when we became a family of three.

The weekends we have left as a family of four are counting down.  Next weekend we will be at Nana and Papa's house for a bonfire on Friday and some fence fixing on Saturday.  More fun family memories to be made.  After next weekend we will all be getting our house ready for mommy to be gone for a couple weeks, packing and doing last minute shopping.  We are getting so excited to bring Sophia home and start making memories with her.

What a great Anniversary of our marriage and of the beginning of parenthood we had today!

HAPPY 17TH ANNIVERSARY

TO MY HUSBAND

While we don't have a weekend planned just the two of us,

we will be enjoying the time we have to spend together as a family.

Making memories and having fun.

What could be better!

17th Anniversary Puzzle Blitz

Check it out at Bringing Sophia Home.

The Puzzle has arrived!

The 110 piece puzzle has arrived.  It's time to spread it out on the kitchen table and see our puzzle of little Sophia.  We have 19 pieces of the puzzle sponsored.  Please prayerfully consider sponsoring a piece for our little girl.  You can check out our puzzle fundraiser and give away at Bringing Sophia Home.

This weekend was suppose to be a internet free weekend but with all that is going on over at My Cup Overfloweth I had to spend a little time on the internet.  But compared to most weekends I did very well at my steps to internet/blog recovery program!

We did a lot of snuggling, movie watching and nest making.  At the time of the pictures M and E were watching Dinosaur Train.  Maybe they thought they were baby dinosaurs.  We watched the new Karate Kid four times this weekend before it went back to Red B-x and we also watched Furry Vengeance twice.  Have to say E and mom like Karate Kid the best.  Don't know if it seeing China again or if it is Jackie Chan but this is one that we will be buying.
I hope you all had a blessed and relaxing weekend.  Now on to another busy week for mom and dad and great days with S for M and E.  Gymnastics starts tomorrow!

Lovin S!

So we have been going through lots of changes lately.  Some of them have been done because of our pending arrival as we prepare for little sister to arrive home.  One of the major changes is that M and E are now staying with my sister S and her daughter T during the days instead of going to preschool.

S is definitely more qualified to be with my kiddos all day as she was a preschool teacher before they moved.  My kids are loving their days with her.  We can't believe the change in their attitudes at the end of the day.  But the biggest change is in the mornings.  M is not a morning person, she would not help get herself dress and usually cried.  Now she wakes herself up, helps get dressed and tells me to hurry up as she has a busy day today!

E is a morning person however he hated being seperated from me each morning and would get very clingy and cry.  Most mornings he would be upset because it takes too long for me to get home from work.

Well this morning as we are heading out the door E asked where we were going and I told him to S and T's house.  He asked if I was going to work and when I said yes he said will it take too long.  Unfortunately, or so I thought, I had to say yes.  His response was, "Yeah!  I love S's house!"  Then when I drop the kiddos off M tells me I need to leave, that I am going to be late for work.

All I can say is we are blessed beyond belief.  I had no idea how hard preschool was on my kids until they are no longer going.  They really needed more one on one and more love from family.  It is so nice to have fun loving kids again at night too.  Thanks so much S for doing this for us.  You are loved beyond measure! 

Netbook giveaway

Check out our fundraiser at Bringing Sophia Home.  Please help us spread the word as we have a month to raise $5000.  While it is a large amount, God's economy is limitless.

New Fundraiser coming soon!

A fabulous new fundraiser is coming very soon, before the end of the week.  This one is going to be a BIG one, you won't want to miss it.

We have about one month left until I depart for China to pick up our sweet Sophia.  We still need to raise $5000 to pay the final fees in country.

Can't wait to show you what's next!  Keep checking Bringing Sophia Home.

Care Package and Update

We sent little Miss a care package through Red Thread China.  When I contacted Ann it was right during the National Holiday and pretty much everyone was on Holiday for a week.  Ann was so wonderful and responsive and emailed me right back explaining that the holiday would slow down getting an update but she would contact the SWI on October 8th as soon as everyone was done with the holiday.  It was so wonderful and really a surprise to wake up today to an update and new pictures.

Sophia is 19 months and weighs right at 20 lbs.  She is on the tiny side but she looks so healthy.  We are so grateful for the wonderful care she is getting.

Looks like she has the karate moves going on!  She will fit in with our wild crew just fine!

We are currently waiting on our Article 5 to be complete and will be picked up by our agency next week.  I'm not exactly sure what an Art 5 is but once it is picked up it will be sent to the CCAA who will then issue our TA.  The wait for TA from Art 5 looks to be about 2 to 3 weeks so hoping for TA by the end of October and then our agency can request our Consulate Appointment.  Once we know when our CA is then we can work out our tickets and reservations.

We are so close to you baby girl, we can't wait to have you home.

WE ARE A HIP MOM FAMILY!

We have been chosen by Hip Mom Jewelry to be one of her fundraising families for October.  The fundraiser for our family runs from October 1st through October 31st for items that are purchased from the Adoption tab on her blog.  You will need to use our family code of Metier010 when you check out.

I do have a favorite in the Hip Mom line up.  This is it, the Infinite Circle.  I don't personally own one but I have bought one for a special mom as a gift.  I have to say it is a very beautiful piece of jewelry that any mom would be happy to wear next to her heart.  If there is a special mom in your life or if you yourself want to wear your children close to your heart I highly recommend this piece.  Maybe next year I will be able to order one with my birthday money, this year Sophia will be my gift!




Please hope on over to Hip Mom Jewelry and take a look at all she has available and help us bring our baby girl home.  She has some beautiful pieces that represent adoption, Africa, China, and some that aren't adoption related but reflect our hearts.  We are so grateful to Hip Mom Jewlry for choosing us as a fundraising family and for all she is doing to help children join their forever families.

Ugh.....Dishwashers

Right now retailers are not my friend.  Why is that they only keep in stock the expensive models?  The ones that you can't afford when your dishwasher bites the dust and starts leaking on your floor.

Our dishwasher has bit the dust, granted it is 11 years old so I'm sure it has out lived a dishwashers life expectancy.  It just had to die at a very rough time to shell out money on a new dishwasher.  I had dreams of one day buying some higher end appliances to help with resale of our house, but that was planned for a few years down the road, not right in the middle of working out the funds to bring Sophia home.  So we headed out Saturday after soccer to find a dishwasher.  We found one that is not an upgrade by any means but it will wash dishes and that is most important.  We were really needing one this weekend because of the hours that daddy works during the week.  We were praying it would be in stock but lo and behold the only ones in stock are those that run in the $700+ range.  So we had to order the $350 dishwasher, in the mean time daddy pulled the old one out and disconnected everything so as soon as the new one gets here he can install it.  Unfortunately, the drain connection for the dishwasher is uncovered and it decides on occasion to spew water underneath the cabinet.  So washing dishes leads to pulling everything out of the cabinet to mop up the water.

Regardless of all of this I am thankful we realized the issue with our dishwasher as soon as we did.  When it was pulled out we saw that it had started to leak water underneath it.  Who knows how long until it would have started to travel underneath the kitchen floor. 

Now for some wonderful weekend news.  E played soccer!!!!  He actually played in the game.  We were so proud of him and he had a really good time.  When he decides to do it he is a great little soccer player.  M decided to be the photo journalist for the game.  She had a great time snapping photos.  Each of the kids wanted to take a picture with the mom.

Yesterday the kiddos and I hung around the house waiting on service people to take care of some odds and ends.  Had planned on going to work in the afternoon but things took longer than anticipated.  Unfortunately, it looks like we need a new dishwasher, it is 11 years old so probable not surprising that it has bitten the dust but not a good time to need to make the purchase and it is not something we can be without with daddy holding down the fort while I'm in China with the very long work days he has.

We were invited by a friend to attend her Chinese Chrisitan Churches Mid Autumn Moon celebration.  We are so happy we were invited and the kids couldn't wait to leave.  Immediately after naps they were asking if it was time to leave.  We had such a great time and the food was wonderful.  M ate until her stomach hurt and E had a great time playing with the kids.  They were so welcoming to our family and it was fun to listen to them sing worship songs in Chinese.  There was a little girl there that reminded me of Sophia, she was 11 months old and it really made me miss my little Sophia all the more.  Of course, the one time I remember my camera the battery is dead.  Can't wait for their Spring celebration.

We've been CABLED!!!!

Another small step complete today.  I had given up hope of being dropped off  at the Guangzhou Consulate on Monday for our Article 5.  There are so many new steps to the China adoption process, some of them I don't even understand.

So this is what we have been up to since our LOA on August 26th.  We sent our I800 application to USCIS on August 27th, they will review Sophia's file and deem that she qualifies as an orphan according to the Hague Treaty.  It arrived in Texas on August 30th and the approval was granted on September 15th.  From there our approval was sent from what is called the National Benefit Center (USCIS) to the National Visa Center (Dept. of State), it was entered into their system and we were given a GUZ number and then our information was cabled on September 24th (today) to the Guangzhou Consulate.  Luckily we received a PDF copy of our approval and we have forwarded it to our China Coordinator.  The facilitator in China should be dropping it off at the Consulate on Monday, they only allow drop offs or pick ups from agencies two days a week, Monday and Thursday.

I truely do not understand all of these new steps, personally it seems like a lot of people touching the same file over and over again.  I am all about one touch handling but our gov't hasn't asked my how to simplify it so I will keep my suggestions to myself!  I had given up hope of being dropped off on Monday last night when I was told that we hadn't been scheduled for cabling yet.  I don't think in the grand scheme of things that it will make that much of a difference because of Columbus Day but it at least makes me feel like we are moving.  I am predicting our TA about the end of October and travel mid to late November.

We are getting closer Sophia!

All About Him

All about Him

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can live on little and give much.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can adopt many and love more.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can care less about pleasing others and care much about pleasing Him.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can love without expecting to be loved back.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can open my home and my heart regardless of our differences.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can let go of my plans- knowing His are always better.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I care less about how my hair looks and care lots about how my heart looks.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can have peace during the unknowns- trusting He does know.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I worry less about the risk and more about just surrendering.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I allow myself to be vulnerable, knowing my experiences can help someone else.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can be content in my circumstances knowing He allowed them to be.

When it's all about Him and not about me- I can be assured success- regardless of the outcome.

He must become greater; I must become less. John 3:30

Isn't this just wonderful.  Something to really think about.  I have borrowed this (with permission) from another blog.  Check out Building the Blocks, it will move you and make you think about things.

Final night to order a Pure Religion tee

This is it, your final night to order a Pure Religion shirt and help us get baby Sophia home. Order will be placed with the printer tomorrow. Check them out at Bringing Sophia Home. Please feel free to share the word with your friends and family.  We appreciate all of the help and support we received in bringing our baby girl home.

The last weekend of the tee pre-sale

Time is running out to order your Pure Religion tee.  We are a long way from our goal of 50 tees, we would really appreciate your support!  You can place your order at Bringing Sophia Home.

We will be taking off bright and early tomorrow for soccer and then immediately leave for a family reunion.  It is really a very busy weekend, as most of them have been lately.  I am preparing maternity, baby, and childrens items for a consignment sale, it's amazing, I have 20 maternity items for the sale and I've never been pregnant.  I really appreciate everyone who has donated items to us for the yard sale and such, without your support we wouldn't be able to raise the needed funds to bring our little one home.  The last drop off day is Sunday afternoon so I had better get busy tonight!  If all goes well we might be able to make another couple hundred for the Sophia fund.

Our I800 has been approved

I received an email today from our NBC Officer stating he approved our I800 application yesterday and has sent off the notification to the National Visa Center.  Once it is entered into their system which seems to be taking one to two weeks then we will be about to submit for our Article 5.  There are so many new steps to the this process and I honestly do not know what they all mean but I am so glad when one more gets checked off the list!

Now we can skip our way into Costco and then get the kids some much needed haircuts.  Maybe we will have to stop by our favorite Chinese restaurant to pick up some take out on the way home.

We are getting closer to our baby girl.  We love you so very much Sophia!

I800 is on our officers desk

I called today and found out that our I800 was given to our officer today.  Praying for his stamp of approval by the end of the week.  If all goes well I think we will be traveling very late November to early December.  I just want out little cherub home for Christmas.

Four more days left on the t-shirt sale.  If you are wanting to order one please let me know.

Getting started on the next fundraiser auction.  Hope to have items rounded up and ready to go by the first part of October.  If you would like to contribute an item or two to the auction send me a message at acupquitefull@cableone.net.  I estimate we have a little over two months to raise the remaining $5700, while two months sounds like a long time when waiting for our little girl it really isn't very long when trying to raise such a large amount.  We know that this isn't really such a big amount in God's economy and we know He will provide.

One meal down...

Tonight began the stocking of food for my dear sweet husband and children when momma is in China and unable to thrown dinner together.  My goal is to have at least 10 meals in the freezer before I head on a plane to my baby girl.  I figure if I get a minimum of one a week put away I will easily make my goal.  Daddy works such long days and my sister will be putting in extra duty helping out with the kids.  I want to make dinner easy for all with them pulling out a bag or pan that just needs heated.

Tonight was suppose to be my very first home group but Mr. E is under the weather again.  I was so looking forward to the beginning of the "Rooted in Good Soil" study that our entire church is doing, oh well there is always next week.  I got a call as I was getting in my car from E's teacher that he was feeling a little hot, had a headache and just wanted to nap.  Sure enough, when I got there he was running a low grade temp and wasn't feeling well.  We have had a quiet night tonight and we will see how he feels tomorrow.  Nasty viruses going around right now, I need to look into getting us all our flu shots.

Praying our I800 gets approved this week, hoping that we can submit for our Article 5 before China's October holiday.

Weekend update

The yard sale ended on Saturday afternoon with us earning $700 to help bring Sophia home.  We are so grateful to all that donated goods, time, energy, support, etc to help us with this monsterous sale.  Without all of you we would not have been able to do this.  We had a great time getting to know new people and spending time with family.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and playing in the yard sale treasures.  I think they are going to be very bored in our garage after all the fun they have had this summer.  At the end of the day we packed everything up and moved it to the next house.  A friend is having a yard sale next week and this was the seed she needed to get started.  May her sale be as big a blessing as ours was!

We snuck away during the yard sale and headed to E's first soccer game.  They had a scheduling error and scheduled the 4's and 5's for a 12:30 game.  E did great during the first 30 minutes which is their practice and then during the actual game he melted.  Each time he was in the game he sat down and cried.  I felt so bad for the poor girls and the one little guy that had to play the majority of the game.  We had one kiddo out sick and then E melted down so it left us with 3 kids to play the majority of the game.  I pray E will have a better week next week when he is playing at 9:30.

We went to church on Sunday and then spent the evening with my husbands family.  We had a great time eating some wonderful pulled pork tacos, grilled asparagus and such.  The kids had an absolute blast playing with their cousin S.  They were begging not to go home but they were both asleep in the car within minutes.  We got home and all headed to bed but we were all feeling a little blah.  During the night we have all had some sort of a stomach illness or a cold pop up.  I started with the stomach and now I feel like I am getting an upper respiratory illness.  I hope not, way too much to do.

We have less than a week left for the t-shirt presale.  Please take a look at them at Bringing Sophia Home.  We appreciate all your support!

Yard Sale day 1

Let me tell ya, I am exhausted and I am sure my mom and my sisters are too.  I tried to get home from work early yesterday but I didn't get out too early, only about an hour.  I got the kids picked up from preschool and got home to start sorting the huge pile in the center of the garage.  I was completely overwhelmed but then my dad arrived and started to help us get things sorted.  By the time my mom and sisters arrived we had everything sorted and we were ready to start getting things displayed.  We didn't work too late into the night, we were inside by 10pm.

Morning came way too early and we were outside continuing to set things up at 7am with our first person stopping by at 7:20.  It was a slower day than our last Friday yardsale and the sales were down too but we sure did sell a lot of smaller odds and ends.  We sold a lot of items for under $1 and still managed to sell about $350 worth.  We still have our big ticket items and I pray they will be hot items tomorrow.

This sell was a lot different than our first one.  The first one we had a lot of big items and for this one we have just a few big items but a ton of smaller items.  My mom brought up a good point, it takes 400 hundred quarter items to make $100 so we had to have moved a lot of our treasures today.  I owe so much thanks to my parents and my sisters and their spouses.  They have all shown up for both of our yard sales and put a lot of work into them.  Our little Sophia is loved so much by them and we so appreciate their love and support.  Fundraising is hard work and they are always willing to roll up their sleeves and help us out.  It sure makes me feel special to have them rallying beside us.

Please keep us in your prayers that we will get the majority of our treasures sold tomorrow. 

We have a little over a week left of our t-shirt fundraiser.  Please check it out at Bringing Sophia Home, we appreciate your help in bringing our precious girl home!

Families raising funds

I follow a great deal of blogs regularly.  You could say that I have a blog addiction and need a 12 step program!

I would like to spot light a couple of the families that are fundraising to bring their children home.  Please check out their fundraisers.

More Kids 4 Me, Anne has become such an inspiration to me and close friend.  It will not likely be possible that we travel at the same time which I am quite sad about but I can't wait to see Ellie in her arms.

One More Ladybug, Connie is another inspiration, they have stepped up to God's calling big time.  I believe they are working on bringing home baby number 9 right now.  I love big families and I have a special place in my heart for big families formed through adoption.

Purpose Driven Family,  Holly and family have been doing many different fundraisers to bring little Elliana home.  They just finished up a big auction fundraiser and are still doing their puzzle fundraiser and other things.  Check them out.

Because We Are Led,  they have several fundraisers going on to bring home Michael.  They have some fantastic shirts, totes, coffee and other things going on.

Red Thread Stitches, Robin and family have quite a few things going on to bring Liliana home.  She is having a skirt sale and selling Show Hope shirts.  This is one amazing momma, I love chatting with her on email and watching her heart for her girls on her blog.

Keep watching as I share more families that have caused me to need an intervention (just kidding!).

Giveaway at Blessed Impatience

My sweet friend Addie is doing a giveaway at Blessed Impatience.  You really need to check it out.  Addie is such a sweetie.  She really shares her heart on her blog, she puts it all out there.  Doing that makes you so vulnerable and she does it anyway.  I love reading about her journey to her son waiting in HK and her beautiful children at home.  Check her out, you will enjoy following her!

The truth

This post has been something I have contemplated for many months as I have cried my way through many moments in this adoption journey.  I am going to share my whole heart, all of it is going to be out in the open.  Should you not agree with me please have kindness in your heart to keep it there.

Adoption is a very emotional journey for so many reasons.  For one you are "pregnant", it may be paper pregnant but you are expecting, however you have no tangible evidence, no one can see your baby bump and ask you how you are feeling.  In fact you may feel that no one wants to hear about your "pregnancy".  Expecting through adoption can be a very lonely place to be.  Just like in pregnancy you gravitate to people who have or are experiencing what you have gone through.  Unfortunately, in adoption there are a lot less people who have been where you are in your immediate proximity.  You have less people to share your journey with, less people who are happy with you, less people who want to hear about it.  Do these things keep us from adopting?  No!

Adoption is costly.  When you give birth to a child and you have insurance your insurance usually pays a portion of the birth.  When you adopt internationally, even after any tax credits, you are still paying more than what a no complications birth would have cost in cash.  Should we let the cost of an adoption leave children as orphans?  In our house we say NO!  We feel blessed to have been chosen by God to form our family through adoption.

Families formed through adoption are treated different than families that give birth.  Unfortunately, that is just the way it is.  When you come home with a toddler or even a new born that joined your family through adoption you are overwhelmed, tired, emotional, stressed, recovering from jet lag, dealing with a child that may not have ever seen a Caucasian person before joining your family nor heard English before, dealing with a child that may be on emotional overload and may be grieving.  Do people show up with food and offer to help out?  Not usually.  Instead when times are tough and you are beyond frazzled you hear things like "you are the ones that chose to do this".  Again, adoption can be a lonely place.

You arrive home with your precious child and begin many rounds of doctors appointments, surgeries, therapies and the list goes on.  With M we came home and didn't find out about her medical condition until she was 2 years old, she was adopted at 9 months.  She had a bit of time to learn to trust us and get adjusted to her new life in a family.  With E we knew of his medical condition at the time of his referral and he had his first surgery 2 1/2 months after joining our family.  He came home at 2 1/2 years old and has many long lasting issues that come from living in an institution for so long.  Sophia's medical condition has many unknowns, we know that she will need an MRI shortly after coming home so we know what is going on.  With all of these processes and procedures you are tired, your child is trying to trust you and you can be just plain worn out.  Do you give up and say it is too hard?  Nope!

I write of these things not because I am not happy adopting, it is quite the opposite.  I don't think I could have been given a greater gift by God than the gift to love a child born not from by body but in my heart.  I know that there are many people out there that can not do it for whatever reason.  Growing our family through adoption requires many sacrifices by our family.  We have not taken a "vacation" almost EVER.  We took a trip to Lake Tahoe for our first anniversary and that was nearly 17 years ago.  Vacations for this family is a weekend camping trip or a trip to Nana and Papa's.  Our kids have not seen Yellowstone, Disneyland, Disney World, Six Flags or any other fun kids place.  We have not taken a cruise, been to Hawaii, Mexico or any other exotic place besides a trip to China together when we adopted M.  Now daddy stays home while I travel to pick our kids up.

When we adopted M daddy had a pickup that was very dear to his heart and Ol' Blue was sold to help us with the remaining travel money needed to pick up M.  Daddy sacrificed his treasure to bring home a much greater treasure.  Since then we have not had anything really of value to sell.  For E's adoption we did have a bonus that helped us get started but after getting our dossier to China everything went a lot quicker than planned so we had to take out a loan for E's adoption that we are still paying on today.  Not only did thing go quicker but the economy started to fall.  Barely a year after getting home with E we started the journey to Ginger which later turned into the journey to Sophia.  Again we had a bonus to get us started but nothing after.  In fact it has been a really really hard year financially.  The down economy has really affected things where we live.  Instead of giving up because it was "too hard" "cost too much" etc. we continued on.  Would it have been easier to quit before seeing our little Sophia's face, you betcha!  Ginger had been matched with a family and we were left to wait and SEE what God had planned for us when he gave us the love of Ginger.  We continued on because we know that He gave us the love of Ginger so that we would be ready for Sophia.

 So here we are, about three months from me leaving for China to pick up our baby girl.  We still need to raise about $6500 to bring our baby home and our possessions are being evaluated.  I have never been a person that wished that I had a collection of high dollar items until now.  I wish I had a collection of fancy name purses to sell that many would love to get their hands on.  In all reality I don't have fancy anything.  I am a fairly simple person, pretty much always out of style, and I'm ok with that other than I wish I had more to sell.  I will be scouring my house for all things that may be of interest to another that will get us another step closer to Sophia.  What few "treasures" I have are up for sale in order to bring our precious girl home.  When telling someone what we had left to raise rather than words of encouragement I heard "Good luck with that".  I can tell you that I have shed many tears because of comments like that.  There is nothing more humbling in the world than having to fundraise to bring a child home.  To have the desire to take a child out of an orphanage and not be able to write a check to make it happen.  I truly feel that the Lord has called us to adopt at this very time in order for us to bring others along in our journey.  By opening this journey up to others we also open ourselves up to a lot of heartache.  There is nothing that hurts more than knowing that your family and friends do not support your adoption or your fundraising.  I have cried myself to sleep on more than one occasion and know that I will have many more tears to come until Sophia is placed in my arms and I will then have tears of joy.

I tell you all of this so you may understand the emotions that we as adoptive parents go through.  You add in the dynamic of a fundraising family and the emotions can be multiplied.  I have met so many wonderful people through the adoption community that have helped me through the tough times.  To them I say thank you!  Thank you for the words of encouragement, for telling me that you have been there and I am not crazy, for sharing your heart with me and for being such wonderful friends.  For our family that has been rallying behind us in this journey we love you with all our hearts, we couldn't do this without you.  We appreciate all your contributions to our journey, we thank you for spending your days working your heart out at yard sales, for listening to me cry, for putting your life on hold to help care for our child either in the US or in China.  We love you and really couldn't do it without you.

If you are an adopting family that needs a shoulder or a friend please let us know.  We have been there and want to be there for you.

When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!  Psalm 142:3

Bringing Sophia Home tees

Check out the tees, we hope you love them as much as we do.

Thanks for helping us Bring Sophia Home!

Fasting for Orphans

Linny at A Place Called Simplicity has asked for us to join together and fast for her dear friends James and Cherami who have been in a very long journey to bring their precious treasures home from Africa.  She has opened up this fast to so many families who are in the process of making children around the world orphans no more.  These families are in the midst of varying struggles to bring their precious children home; for some bureacrocy is in the way, for others financial hardship or challenges are causing issue, check out the links on Linny's post to see where each family is at.  They could all use your prayer and your fast.  When we bond together our Lord can move so many mountains.

We hope to have our precious Sophia home by Christmas.  On average it seems to take about three months from LOA to travel so that would put me leaving for China at the end of November give or take a week or two.  We have had some financial struggles this summer, we needed to fundraise before the summer but due to our summer struggles we REALLY need to fundraise.  We have had to make some hard choices for our family that means that my husband and kids will be staying home while I travel to China for baby sissy.  I ask that you lift us in prayer that my kids do ok being seperated from me.  My sister is moving to the same town we live in at the end of the month and will be taking care of the kids while daddy is at work.  During our last seperation M didn't do so well and E hasn't been away from me for more than a night.  I anticipate that this is going to be a hard two weeks.

We are launching what I pray will be a successful fundraiser of beautiful t-shirts that really display Gods word of caring for the orphans and the oppressed.  I would also like to ask for you to pray for the success of this fundraiser and our final huge yardsale that will take place on Sept. 10th and 11th.  We have a couple long days ahead as we prepare for the sale, may we have the strength to share Gods heart for orphans to all that shop at our sale.

We have a busy week ahead and I know that fasting on Wednesday is really what I need at this point in the journey.  There are many days when it seems too hard and too big.  I ask myself why did HE choose us for this.  The thing is, I stop and think about it and while we may be done building our family once Sophia is home we are not done, He has called us to care for the fatherless and afflicted.  This is just the beginning of a life long journey that we have no idea where He will take us.  The first step is following our God, when he says go or do regardless of how hard or how big.

Please join us in fasting on Wednesday.  Be Blessed!

And the winner is.....

Sharon!!!!!

Send me a message Sharon and let me know what style/size and color you would like.  We appreciate you spreading the word about our adoption fundraiser.  You are a beautiful friend to the orphans!

T-Shirts to Bring Sophia Home - Giveaway!

Our next fundraiser will launch on Monday September 6th. We are very excited to share with you our t-shirt fundraiser. The shirts were designed by Stacy and her husband at My Cup Overfloweth who will be on their way in a matter of a day to get their son Solomon. They have been so generous to many families in the same journey that they are in and we feel so blessed that they are allowing us to use their t-shirt design. I absolutely love the design and I hope that you will love it too.

As a preview to our t-shirt presale starting on Monday we are doing a giveaway. We appreciate your help in promoting our fundraiser and to show our appreciation we are giving you chances to win a t-shirt. Here is what you need to do to earn a chance:

1 entry for posting our "Bringing Sophia Home" button on your blog
1 entry for writing about our t-shirt sale/giveaway on your blog
1 entry for posting it on facebook (if we aren't friends we will need to become friends for this one, you can find me at Mandie Allen Metier)

That gives you three chances to win. For every 50 entries I will add in another t-shirt. Leave me a comment letting me know what you have done.

The shirts are available in a unisex mens shirt in navy, chocolate and cactus green, womens shirt (not a fitted shirt) in brown and city green, and in childrens sizes in navy and pink.

Check back Monday evening for the launch of the t-shirt presale. The presale is from Monday September 6th through Sunday September 19th. I will submit the order to the printer on Monday September 20th and should have the t-shirts to ship within two weeks.

New Veggie Tales

I know I have shared before about my love of Veggie Tales.  I can't wait for the next one to be released, "It's a Meaningful Life".  My kids like them too but I don't know if they "love" them quite like I do.  I hope you enjoy the song playing right now, it's from the new movie.  In light of our journey to our children this song holds such special meaning to me.  We are all so meant to be, He has no accidents or plan B's, it's all as he devinely appointed.

Be Blessed!

LOA!!!!!!!

It arrived at our agency today.  We should have it in hand by tomorrow afternoon.  And as quickly as possible it will leave our hands and off to USCIS.  One more step done!

Please help this family bring their son home

My dear sweet friend Stacy is weeks from bringing her son home, that is once they raise the last $5000 they need to pay the in country expenses of the adoption.  Please check out the raffle to bring Solomon home.  They could use all of our help and prayers right now.  They have been fundraising like crazy and are nearly there.  Not only have they been fundraising for their family but have also been reaching out to others families that need ideas, support and encouragement in fundraising.  They are a blessing to so many, let's bless them back!

Just what I needed today!

Check out this post on We Are Grafted In.  It is so well written and brought a new perspective to me today.

Be Blessed!

People need to understand, children with special needs don't have an illness, so there is no cure and it's not contagious. They only want what we all want, to be accepted.

There are currently more than 2100 children waiting on the China Waiting Child list who need a loving family.  There are more than 143 million orphans around the world.  Do you have room for one?  Can you help a family bring an orphan into their home?

Not all are called to adopt, some are called to support adoptions or sponsor an orphan but we are all called to do something.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James 1:27

What are you doing about James 1:27?????

No LOA

There was a very large batch of LOAs that arrived in the US today but ours wasn't in it.  I am trying to stay hopefull for later in the week as next monday marks 60 days for us.  Praying for good news later in the week.

M had a bit of a rough day today.  By 8:15 this morning she had had two bloody noses and had petechiae on her cheek.  Usually the petechiae is on the roof of her mouth so I didn't think we had low platelet issue when I dropped her off at preschool after her first bloody nose but asked her teacher to let me know if her nose started bleeding again.  Sure enough, I hadn't even made it to work and had a call from her teacher.  I checked in a little after 9 to see how she was doing and was told her bleeding had stopped a few minutes before but she wasn't acting her normal self.  Our standing order had expired at the lab so I waited for her hematologists office to call back and then headed out to pick her up for a blood draw.  She is such a trooper when it comes to blood draws.  As we were driving to the hospital she told me if one doctor (phlebotomist) came in the room she wouldn't cry but if two came in she was going to cry.  The last draw she had a month ago she did great with one so I hoped and prayed they wouldn't send in two.  Thankfully, we only had one and she did perfect.  The good news, her platelets came back in the totally normal range, she just has a virus and is already feeling on the mend after an afternoon of resting.

As a mom to kiddos with medical conditions I am always amazed at how well kids do with medical procedures and how it becomes a part of life to them.  It is also sad that blood draws, trips to the hematologist, urologist, vascular specialist, bone marrow tests, etc. will be a part of normal life for my kids but they all seem to do so well with it.  We don't know yet how S will do with it all but my guess is she will take it in stride and not let it get her down.  Shortly after we get home S will have to have an MRI for us to know more about her hemangioma.  This will be the first MRI that our kids will have had so I don't know what to expect, I'm sure she will have to be sedated or at least I hope so in order for her to stay still.  My husband had an MRI and I know how loud they are and that would totally scare her.

Now if our LOA could just get here so we can get another step closer to baby S.

The weekends seem to be the hardest when you are waiting for something to happen in International Adoption.  During the week you have some hope that you might here something about the next step but the weekend you know all bets are off.  Officially we are at day 54 tomorrow waiting for our LOA.  No new pictures of Sophia and no idea of next week will be our LOA week.  Our coordinator has been on vacation and will return tomorrow so maybe we will hear a small morsel of an update on our dossier status through the process in China. 

What did we do to keep ourselves busy.  Well I had the van oil changed bright and early on Saturday.  Hurried home and picked up the kids to go to my sisters house to do some painting, she is renting a house that wasn't loved by the last occupants.  While the big people painted the little people played some, argued a lot, and watched a couple movies.  Watching E and P fight makes me think that in the end E will like being the only son in this family.  The ended with a trip to Costco, that is always an exhausting adventure!

M lost had lost her voice on Saturday morning when she woke up, could it be from the yelling and tantrums she has been doing a lot of lately!  Daddy is leaving for work very early each morning and it has really been hard on her.  She is a child that likes predictable routine and is use to having Daddy help us get ready in the morning and help her into the van.  We will get use to it but right now it is not bringing out the best in her early morning disposition.

Sunday has been a lot quieter.  M wasn't feeling good, her voice is still gone, so she spent the morning with JoJo while we went to church.  We came home from church, ate some flat bread pizza and then naps for all.  The evening is going to have to be a little more motivated with laundry and a little houseworker before our busy week starts.

In a couple weeks E starts soccer and they will both be starting their first year of Awana.  Personally, I am so excited for the Awana's, I grew up with Awana from my very early preschool days when my mom was a leader long before I was old enough to be in the club.  I hope it brings the lasting memories for them that it did for me.

Help bring home Ellie

I have met a wonderful person and friend, Anne, through our journey to Sophia.  We were both up on June 21/22 you could say late into the night or early into the morning hanging out together via email.  I have no idea how many emails went back and forth between us as we waited for a call from our China Coordinator.  We notified each other immediately upon our matches and have been hanging out together through the process since.  This is one lady I truly hope to get to travel to China with.  Unless something happens almost immediately with our LOA that may not happen but I am praying we can spend a week together in Guangzhou getting to know one another and enjoying our beautiful baby girls.

Anne and family are fundraising families just as we are.  They have some great fundraisers going on right now.  Please check them out here.  I know our girls will be wearing some of the cute clippies that her friend at Yogi & Cecils' Clippy Creations are making for her fundraiser.  This picture is a small representation of the beautiful items they have.  Please help Anne and her family bring Ellie home.

The Journey

I am an avid follower of A Place Called Simplicity and love what Linny does to advocate for the orphans.  They are living the ministry of orphans no more and are encouraging to all that they too can change the lives of orphans.

We were matched with Sophia on June 21st almost immediately after we were DTC.  Our baby "S" has a large hemangioma on her leg, bottom, and possible internal.  Like most international adoption medical reports hers are very vague and we won't know a lot about it other than she is our daughter.  We go into this with a lot of unknowns but we have been blessed with a wonderful Christian doctor that will help us find the answers.  We do know that once we get home she will need an MRI so that we can determine if it affects her spinal cord or any internal organs.  Best case scenario it will go away or reduce as time goes by, worst case we have no idea but I do know that He will equip us to handle it.  Regardless of the unknowns we felt the moment our phone rang and it was our China Coordinator that she knew who our child was and we were about to find out.

This journey began with a lot of unknowns and I know it will end with the Lord blessing us with our baby "S", the child he has ordained to be part of our family.  One thing that has been really hard in this adoption is the unknowns.  The journey started with a special little girl in our hearts and will end with us loving a different child to the end of the earth.  It also began with us wondering where the funds will come from to pay for this adoption.  We were blessed with the funds to get our documents to China when our dossier was ready and I know deep in my heart that the Lord will provide for the rest of it.  We have had our bumps and our trials in this journey emotionally and financially but I pray that they are molding us into the parents and the advocates of orphans that Jesus plans for us to be.  We are still short about $7100 of our in China expenses as well as the airfare to China and back for Sophia and myself. 

Please pray for us that the we will hold strong with the fundraising and not allow the enemy to defeat his plan for our family.  May he give me the inspiration to sew the things that catch others eye and help me find things in our home that we can sell that may help provide those much needed funds.  Please check out our auction blog Bringing Sophia Home, I would appreciate any advise or ideas you have to share.  Fundraising has been a very humbling experience, much harder than I ever anticipated and I expect an experience Jesus wanted me to have.  While the journey may be long and hard, our children will always be worth it and so much more.

Orphan Sponsorship

There are two organizations that are very dear to my heart.  E's life was changed and made so much better by both organizations and we will be forever grateful to them. 

E went to live at Philip Hayden Foundations Shepherd's Field Childrens Village when he was 15 months old.  The earliest picture I have of him is the day he arrived at SFCV.  He came to them such a tiny little guy and they showed him the love of Jesus until he was matched with a family and had to return to Jiaozuo two weeks before we arrived.  He then went and stayed with a wonderful organization Eagles Wings China where he stayed until I arrived in Henan. 

Both of these organizations do wonderful work in China for children that would otherwise be forgotten in an orphanage.  They work so hard at earning the support for these children as they pay 100% for their day to day support as well as raising the funds for the medical intervention these children desperately need.  It's amazing how much they do for the children on very limited budgets, glass eyes for children who are missing an eye, open heart surgery for children who wouldn't be able to make it without surgery, cleft lip/cleft palate surgery, and encouraging the orphanage directors to prepare the childrens file for adoption that there is a family out there waiting for the child.  Won't you consider improving the lifes of orphans in China through one of these organizations.  There are many ways to help, sponsor a child, sponsor an ayi (nanny), one time gift giving, corporate sponsorship.  Both organizations are working on big projects and could use your help.  Eagles Wings is planning a school not just for orphans but for special needs children in general living in Jiaozuo, a family will be able to send their child to school when they would not be welcome in the standard public school.  Philip Hayden is working on a vocational training school to teach job skills to those that may not be elligible for adoption.  They could both use the help of all of us!

Adoption is not something that every family can do, I hope that I have shared with you something you can do to make a difference in the life of an orphan.  You may not have a heart for China they way that I do so I would like to encourage you to look into a ministry that does speak to your heart.  We support both Philip Hayden and Eagles Wings and feel very blessed that we are able to continue to help those that have not joined their forever families.

God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.
A. W. Tozer

Still Waiting....

In the world of adoption it is a never ending cycle of hurry up and wait.  I am an avid follower of China Adopt Talk better known as Rumor Queen.  RQ got me through the wait for M when the wait started to get longer and no one knew why.  Kept me informed when we were journeying to E.  And now it is my lifeline or better yet my scary movie as we wait for Sophia.  By scary movie I mean the one where you don't want to watch but you can't help it.  I checked in many times today as the LOAs rolled in wondering if we would be in this batch.

After many hours of waiting and watching I followed the advice of a dear friend and called our agency.  Until I made that call I was able to live in the hope that maybe today would be our day.  Unfortunately, it wasn't.  Maybe next week.

On another note I have to say we have some of the most awesome big kids that live in our neighborhood.  They are of the age that they could easily tell the littles that live in our house and next door to go away but they are so good with them.  E told me last night that he loves one of them.  Of course she told me how cute he is, as in cute as a puppy kinda way.  I just love how good they are to all the littles in the area.  I really need to write the parents of the two sets of siblings a thank you for raising such awesome kids!

The winners are.....

Thank you to everyone for participating in our followers giveaway. The winners are.....
Ashley - A Cup Quite Full Creations bag
Amy Murphy - your choice of Just Love Coffee
Ashley - Mary Kay Satin Hands set (email me your selection)
morekids4me - Wild Olive tshirt of your choice (email me your selection)
ourchinagirls - Scared by Tom Davis
Please email me with your address and full name so I can get your prize on the way to you. We appreciate all your support to help us bring Sophia home.

I need to just be patient

Do you know how many times a day I tell M and E that they need to be patient.  How can I expect 4 year olds to be patient when I myself seem to have none.  This wait for LOA is driving me insane!  I know it has only been 34 days since we submitted our LOI but it has been 57 days since our dossier was logged in at CCAA.  I pray dear Lord that our LOA doesn't take as long as E's took, I don't have 117 days in me.

On a side note, you know your children watch too much TV when your son is sitting at the counter saying "Don't get mad, get Glad!"  And he said in the most stinking cute voice. 

Wonderful weekend

We spent this weekend with my mom at her house.  The kids love it when we go to the farm.  Life is wonderful at the farm.  We did some planting of pumpkin, we are late getting it done but hopefully they will grow by the fall, things flourish at the farm.  The kids played crochet with Nanna and I sat in the grass watching them have such a great time.

We had a great BBQ dinner and then went out to the fire pit to roast some marshmallows and make some s'mores.  I have to say my mom is an awesome nanna in my book.  When the kids spend time with her she makes all things fun, even working in the yard.  The kids beam from ear to ear as the hang out with her. 

After all the outside fun we brought the kids in for quick baths and then it was pedicure time.  Daddy even got in on the pedi's.  His feet had to have been on fire after working out in the sun all day on the shop.  Daddy has been finishing up Papa's shop to raise funds to bring Sophia home.  This is the second weekend he put in a 10 hour day in scorching heat.  Daddy loves his kiddos so much, even those he hasn't met yet.

Hope your weekend was full of fun and blessings!

Followers Giveaway - New prizes added

To complete Sophia's adoption we need your help.  We are trusting God to provide the provisions and are humbly asking for your help.  For our prior to adoptions we did not fundraise, for M's adoption we were able to pay for it completely as it was spread out over two years.  For E's adoption we did not have the funds to complete it and took out loans which we are still paying on .  For S's adoption we were blessed with a bonus to get our paperwork to China however for the final part we do not have a bonus coming in so we are going outside of our comfort zone and asking for help from all of you.  Asking others to help us is not something we are comfortable with, we are most comfortable helping others.  I believe that the Lord is telling us to open ourselves up to the help from others and this may also open us up to criticism from others.  While that may hurt we are following the Lords instructions in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  This will look different for each individual, maybe you would like to be able to help bring a child home however not everyone is able to adopt by donating to bring Sophia home you are doing just that.

It's time to get some excitement going with our fundraising.  We currently need to raise $7400 in order to bring Sophia home.  We are doing a followers giveaway with many ways to earn an entry.  Here are the ways you can earn an entry:

* Become a follower- I have three blogs so that gives you an opportunity of three entries just for being a follower.  If you are already a follower you have an entry already!

* Post our Bringing Sophia Home button on your blog or on facebook.  You will need to copy it onto your computer and then post the url with the photo.  We will need to be friends on Facebook for this so look me up Mandie Allen Metier.

* Write a post about our fundraiser on your blog or facebook.  We will need to be friends on Facebook for this so look me up Mandie Allen Metier.



* Donations - for every $5 donation you will receive one entry.  Please contact me at acupquitefull@cableone.net for more information on making a donation. 

Leave me a comment telling me what you have done.

Entries accept through 12:00 midnight EST Saturday August 7th.  Now on to the important part....the prizes.
To start off we have three prized in the prize pool and with every 50 25 followers another prize will be added. 

A bag from A Cup Quite Full Creations

This bag is made from beautiful Batik material.  It has a magnetic closure and two pockets large enough to hold an iPhone or a Blackberry. 

A bag of coffee from Just Love Coffee, your choice. You send me your selection when prizes are drawn and I will have it shipped to you directly. This is my favorite coffee, it has now taken the place of a certain coffee that you can get on Shamian Island in our house. This is wonderful coffee that not only helps families adopting but also helps Orphans in Ethiopia.

 
The all new Mary Kay Satin Hands donated Mona Allen. It is peach scented and heaven for dry summer hands.

A Wild Olive tee of your choice. Winner will be notified to make selection and it will be ordered and shipped directly to you.

"Scared, a novel on the Edge of the World", by Tom Davis. Thank you Sharon, for your contribution to our giveaway. Tom Davis does a remarkable job writing about and advocating for the needs of the fatherless. This is on my reading list and may be the book that I read on the long plane ride to pick up Sophia.





 
 

Check back for other items as they are added.  There are already 31 41 followers so another prize is just around the corner!  If you would like to donate a prize to the drawing please email me at acupquitefull@cableone.net.  Be Blessed!

Cutest little models!

They love to model my sewing projects for me.  I think the cutest models in the world live at my house!