Another Friday....but same story

As if it couldn't get any worse...

I have since connected with another transfer family that is using the same agency as us. And when she learned of her new LID today, I thought surely we will learn ours, too. But nope. I'm happy to say that Patrick's email to our agency earlier this week finally got the ball rolling for this other family. But we remain in the same spot....another week and no new LID.

I have cried so many times, I didn't think I had any tears left. But I guess I do. We have been given no reason why our transfer is taking over twice as long as other transfer families. We've only been told, "Your paperwork is being processed." There is no comfort in that statement....not when other transfer families with the SAME agency as us are getting their LID. Our requests for a new LID were made at the SAME time by the SAME rep....so why are we still waiting????

I know the bottom line is that it isn't our time yet and that we are to trust in the Lord's timing. But I just don't know how much longer I can take. I guess I should've been prepared for this news because this morning, as I was out running errands, I heard John Waller's song, "While I'm Waiting." Yes, Lord, I know I'm supposed to worship and be patient....but it's so hard to continue doing that. When our wait to bring our daughter home is "outside the norm," it's difficult...so very difficult. If you read this blog and pray, please please pray for us. A dear friend from RQ said she would storm the gates for me. And boy do I need it! Thanks prayer warriors.

On another note, Caleb has been tying my shoes all week, telling me, "Wait mama, don't look." And then tah dah! It's been too cute. Then yesterday, he had a play date with a friend. She asked me if I could tie her shoe but quickly Caleb piped up, "I'll do it." And sure enough, he did! I am so proud of him.

I'm off to have a good cry now.....

....oh wait, I've already done that.

Madeline's New Year party

This year I helped organize the Chinese New Year party for Madeline's orphanage. A young woman, Jiaoli, who used to live there, returned to Jingmen City to celebrate the New Year with her family. She visited the orphanage and arranged to have the children visit a local park and have lunch at a restaurant. The park had a bounce house area and bumper cars. The children had so much fun. Then they all enjoyed a delicious lunch. She also went shopping to buy the children new shoes and clothes.

She has shared with me photos of the celebration. And I have to say, that it just warms my heart to no end to see the children having so much fun. To protect the privacy of the children still living in the orphanage, I cannot post their pictures here. However, I am sharing the photos of Madeline, as well as another little girl, Iris, who is also being adopted by an American family.

The timing of these photos is just perfect. I have been in a funk for the last few weeks, as we have made NO progress with our paperwork. However, the Lord knew what I needed and exactly when I needed it. These photos are priceless. And while I want to hop on a plane tomorrow to bring my girl home, I am happy to see her doing so well. I know she is being taken good care of while we wait to bring her home. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we have.

***side note*** In a lot of the photos, I counted 5 layers of clothing on Madeline! Wowie!

Madeline playing in the bounce house







On the merry go-round and lovin' it!



Getting ready for lunch & a phone call

Jiaoli holding Madeline

Iris "teasing" Madeline, no really it looks like she's sharing...too sweet

Caleb can tie mama's shoes!

I realize this is just another step in Caleb's development and, therefore, may not seem like such a big deal. But to this mama of a 5yo child with a limb difference, I am just thrilled. My little man tied mama's shoe today all by himself. I did a tiny bit of verbal coaching at one point. But he really did it all by himself. I got it on video, but I still need to download the software onto the desktop before I can get it here on the blog. Once I do, I will be sure to post the video here. This makes me so happy because the strength in Caleb's left hand is still very weak, even after his surgery. So holding a shoelace together to form a bunny ear is not easy for him. Anyway, I'm just tickled and so very proud of him.




***Edited to add: the video I promised***

Caleb ties mama's shoe! @ Yahoo! Video

The CC@@ is back from their holiday break. But still no word on our new LID. Another transfer family who submitted their paperwork a month after us just got word their new LID is 2.9.10. So, we too, are hopeful to have a new LID but just don't know it yet.

Now, I have a favor to ask those of you who follow this blog. It would really mean a lot to me (and our children when they are older) if you could make comments in the comments section when something is meaningful to you. I realize I am not the most engaging storyteller and most of things I blog about really only matter most to the three of us. But this adoption journey has been long, hard, painful, and, frankly, lonely. The reason we chose to blog before traveling and while traveling in China is to share our lives with you during this journey. So it would be really meaningful to us if you could take the time to leave a comment in the comment section once in a while. Your comments are a source of comfort to us today and are something our children will cherish when they are older. Otherwise, it feels like this blog is only for us, and that was not its original intent. Thanks.

Pressing on

While this past week as been emotionally painful for us, we are choosing to press on. As I have said before, we never imagined that 3 months after accepting our daughter's referral, we would STILL be waiting to get our new LID. We are accepting the fact that we may not travel until August now, which is outside the range (April- July) we anticipated when we accepted Madeline's referral. We are hoping to hear something after CC@@ gets back from the holiday break, which means the end of February for us.

Since accepting Madeline's referral last fall, we have had a new shed built in the backyard, which is really like a small barn. LOL. Patrick and Caleb have had fun cleaning out the garage and moving things out to the shed. This needed to be done to make room for the gheenoe we got for Christmas. We are looking forward to some fun times on the river, as soon as we get our hitch installed on the minivan.

Now that the workers are (temporarily) gone, I have some time and space to finish painting the closets they installed in Madeline's room and the computer room. After the closests are done, we (hopefully me and Deb) can finally paint Madeline's room. Otherwise, I'll be painting solo, which isn't an easy task with a 5yo who is so eager to "help" me paint his sister's room. LOL.

I am also enjoying the time I am spending in front of my sewing machine. I just finished an adorable party dress I made for a baby shower I will be attending this week. It's just too sweet. And I can't wait to make one for Madeline. I'll have to share some of the other dresses and outfits I've made Madeline already in the not too distant future, too. But I am finding time to upload images to my computer is not coming easy lately. Oh well....

****Edited to add: a photo of the party dress ****




On another note, I received my renewed passport this week. I was pleasantly surprised that they did not ruin the photo with the new way they are setting it to the passport book. When Caleb's came back, his precious photo was totally blown out and the white balance was totally off and "orange". His precious, handsome photo was ruined by this new process as they make room for the computer chips that are now implanted in the book. I know it's not really a big deal. But when your son's photo looks like the glowing sun, you just know it ain't quite right. Well, at least he'll get a new one in another 5 years.

Yesterday, Madeline turned 23 months old. It's amazing how quickly these last few months have passed. For that I am thankful. I can't believe how much my "little" girl has grown since her referral information. She is a chart breaker, with her height putting her at 75th percentile and weight between 50-75th percentile on American charts. She's 7 months younger than my niece Leah but so much taller. Oh how I would love a tall girl, as this is an area the Lord has chosen not to bless me. ;) Anyway, this weekend we will make some cupcakes to celebrate yet another milestone in our precious, little girl's life. We will be sending her a big cake and care package for her 2nd birthday next month. We will be sad to be celebrating her birthday without her. But we'll do what we can to make it special for her.

Well, it's back to painting for me. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!!!

Discouraged is not enough...

...to describe how I feel right now. I was hopeful after my last post, that last week would be bringing us one step closer to getting our daughter. But I was wrong.

Last Thursday, I checked in with our agency about our new LID and was told our in-C*hina rep was instructed to call back on Friday. So I held out hope our agency would notify us of our new LID this past Friday. No such luck.

Fast foward to today...STILL no word. I have given up all hope of having our daughter home by July. It's hard to believe that it's been over 3 months since we first laid eyes on her, and we STILL don't have a new LID. We could've started our dossier over from scratch and gotten a new LID faster. Most families that are transfering agencies wait from 4-6 weeks to get their new LID. We have been waiting almost 8. In addition to that, our agency wouldn't submit our LOI until they had both transfer requests to submit along with it. Never did I imagine that we would still be waiting for a new LID 3 months after referral.

I am thankful that I only bought a handful of 24month clothes for Madeline. But at this point, I am giving them to my niece, Leah, because I want SOMEBODY to wear them. With the CC@@ taking a week off for the New Year, I am not counting on a new LID until after they return. I hope we'll have it by Madeline's 2nd birthday, which is March 12th. If I hope for that, then surely I won't be disappointed any more, right?

Signing off with a broken heart...