Exciting News!

     God is so good! He is good all the time! A lot has happened over the last month. Cooper lost his first bottom tooth... and then his second bottom tooth. It is amazing to see how much he has grown since the first of the school year. I had to pull two pictures for his 5K graduation and it hurt my heart a little to see that he isn't my baby anymore. However, with that being said, growing up is not always a bad thing. The best news a mother possibly could hear my sweet big boy shared with me Easter Sunday. Cooper excepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior!!! It brings tears to my eyes writing this. The next Sunday he got on stage and shared it with his friends in Kids Zone. This momma is over the moon.
     Avery is taking a turn for 4. I think 4 is just terrible two's times two. But it is Avery we are talking about here, the girl doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She just discovered she can have an attitude when she wants.
     Brandon's business has expanded. He is now doing work in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. One reason I haven't updated the blog is because he is always on the computer working. Hopefully in the next month or so he will be better adjusted and want have to spend as much time working.... I hope!
     Things have been crazy all around. Over the last two weeks I have been working on our dossier papers and a grant for Show Hope. This could patiently be a large financial support grant if we are excepted. Please pray for God's favor during this process.
     Ready for the Big News...  We have already received our I 800 A Clearance!! Whoop! Whoop! Sorry... I am a little over excited!!! Through this whole experience I can see God's provision and mercy. He has amazed me over and over. We sent our application off and in two weeks we got our fingerprint appointment. That is not normal! We go to our fingerprint appointment and I heard that we needed to be prepared to wait awhile. In and out in less than ten minutes. That was on Monday. On Wednesday, Brandon calls me with the news that our application and fingerprints were in and we are approved to adopt our little girl from China!!! It was the official letter we received by mail. I live in Hokes Bluff people, my mail runs late! I get mail and coupons that have already expired. Wow... It was a God thing. I called the adoption agency because it was just to good to be true and they reassured me that it was the correct letter and "yes we are a miracle family!"
     Our agency will start authenticating our dossier. We are waiting on our passports to come in. God is working all of that out as well. A friend gave us a number to actually call and have them expedited. I was able to expedite mine but Brandon's isn't in the system yet so pray that when he calls back on Wednesday they will be able to find it and expedite it.
     So what is next? Once our dossier is authenticated we will wire the money to China and send our letter of intent. Once they except that we will receive our log in date!!!! Then we wait for a referral or the match. Then we go and get her. Not that simple but you get the idea. We are getting closer. Getting closer is exciting but we still need about $19,000! That will punch you in the gut. However, we serve a big God and that number is nothing to Him. He is in complete control of the process and I can see His hand all around us. He will provide!

Blessings All Around!

     We have been so busy over the last month we just haven't had time to update the blog! A lot has happened since the last post and we are very excited to share our news! Home Study is complete!!! It has been a long waiting process and at times a bit frustrating but we are happy to say we are through with this step. Yay! Last week Lifeline sent our home study off to immigration and this week our check to Homeland Security cleared so we are moving forward. We will be in contact with our agency next week to began preparing our Dossier documents. This is the actual part that will be sent to China in preparation to be matched with a child. This stage could last up to 90 days. It really depends on how quickly we get clearance from immigration.
     Blessings all around is the only way to describe how this last month has been. It is such a wonderful eye opening experience to see God's hand truly at work in our lives. He is never early or late but always on time. Our family and friends have been tremendous during this process. They have encouraged us, prayed for us, and even contributed time and resources to make this possible. I can not thank each one of you enough for your help. I pray that God will bless you and your family ten fold for your willingness and generosity that you have blessed our family with. One day my hope is that our new daughter will know your love for her but more importantly because of your faithfulness she will have the opportunity to know HIS Love.
     I have seen through this process how God uses all who are willing to be used. When I look around I am amazed at the little glimpses of the puzzle I can see forming together. To me we are each one a piece. When we allow God to work in our lives He moves us and fits us perfectly to the next piece of the puzzle. We can not see what the puzzle looks like from up top but sometimes we see the glimpse of a picture with the pieces we are put with. He holds the pieces and sees the masterpiece He is creating. I believe God used Rebecca McCoy and Karen Mahy "as a piece". For Brandon He used the precious Chinese adopted children in our church "as a piece". If these families and precious people would not have been obedient to His calling we may have not been in the position we are in today. I am now seeing how God is using us and our story to work in other peoples lives. He is fitting us together to build His giant puzzle, the kingdom, to honor and glorify Him! I can't wait for the day when we are all there and get to see the whole picture! Ephesians 4 talks about the Unity in the Body of Christ. This speaks volumes to me. I encourage you to read it!!
     In our Home Study we had to choose gender, age, and the disabilities we felt like our family could accommodate. This was extremely hard for us to do! We have chosen to adopt a little girl two years or younger. That means as you read this she is out there. We don't know her name, haven't seen her face, and are not sure of where she is exactly located but we do know who holds her future. We also know that soon... she will have a forever family! When you think of us please pray for our daughter that she will have her needs met until she is able to come home. Pray that she has a care giver that will love her until she home for good. Thanks Friends!

Almost Done with Home Study!

      This Thursday, February 16 will be our final interview. YAY! We have all of our paper work complete, our references have been sent in, and we have been cleared by DHR and Criminal History. Our Home Study should be finalized before the end of the month. I am so ready for phase one to be over with! Through donations of friends and family we have our next payment ready to pay in full when home study is finalized! Thank you so much to all of you who have given and who are praying for us during this process. Without you it would not be possible. We are so grateful to have such a wonderful support group.
     After this we will move into the immigration paper work and clearance. We will begin getting our Dossier ready to send to China. Not sure about all the steps in this process yet. When I find out more details I will update the blog. This step takes about three months. I am praying it moves a lot faster. Home Study was suppose to take 3-4 months and we are completing it in 2. This is all in God's perfect timing. I know He holds us in the center of His hands. Sometimes it is hard to see Him, but so far in this journey He has been so very clear and the evidence of His work shines very bright. Words cannot describe His power and love for all of us. He is so worthy of all of our Praise!

Meeting Our Kido's

     For our third home study interview our social worker came to our home and was able to meet Cooper and Avery. I have to admit I was a little nervous because with any child under the age of 10 you never know what to expect. I always tell the parents of my students, "I will not believe anything they say about you, if you don't believe anything they say about me!" Well I didn't think she would go for that and with Mr. Personality and Miss Bashful I definately was uneasy. With minor issues I am proud to say they "performed" well and I do mean "performed." After talking with the social worker for awhile Nonna took the kids into the other room to play. I made the comment that I was glad she was there because we would not be able to answer the massive amount of questions she had to ask otherwise. I told her that Cooper would have been dressed from head to toe in his mask and hero outfit with his gun and sword in hand and Avery would be dancing around speaking Spanish (she is hard to understand) with China baby and Uno in tow. Well after about a hour and a half of question after question they performed on que... slinging swords and dancing right on beat. It was hilarious but in all I think she was impressed at how well I knew my kids. She may have even thought we planned it. LOL!

       

Here is Miss Avery at a princess birthday party today.

The flower is to funny! She had so much fun!

This is Cooper with his first championship trophy!

He was so proud!

     Our kids are as opposite as can be, much like their mommy and daddy. I can't wait to see how God has created our other little girls personality. I think we can handle just about anything because she will have to fall somewhere between these two. They are such a joy and a blessing to us. I am a very proud mommy. I know they will a blessing to their new little sis as well.

Summer 2011

Preparing the Way

     As part of our education criteria Brandon and I had to attend the International Adoption Clinic at Children's Hospital. It was last Saturday from 8:30 until 5. It was a very long but an informative day. Both of our mom's attended the conference with us and we were really excited to have them there. At the conference they talked a lot about building the childs self image by getting them involved with other adopted children and children of their same race. They also talked about the importance of teaching them about their culture and heritage.
     How blessed we are to already have some amazing Chinese adopted families in our lives. God clearly was making plans for this little one long before we knew. At our church (North Glencoe Baptist Church) we have three other families who have already adopted from China. Just this week we were invited to celebrate the Chinese New Year with this group along with other people from our community. We are so excited and can't wait to go! It will be the first of many Chinese celebrations and it makes my heart smile a little to know that this is a first milestone. It is like the first time I felt Cooper and Avery kick in my belly before they were born. I was so excited and it made me anticipate their arrivial. This Saturday is like "the first kick". I am actually going to a place, with a group of people who can relate and share the joys of Chinese adoption. Today as I write this I have an overwhelming peace knowing my Father knows me, my family, and my soon-to-be daughter. He knows us and the plans He has for us. Plans for a future full of HOPE! Thank you Father... You Are Amazing!!!

Home Tour Down and Another Interview or Two To Go!

     It has been a little crazy over the last few weeks at our house. No time for blogging, just surviving! Cooper has been extremely sick but is doing much better now. He returned to school today and was so happy to see all of his friends and especially Ms. Cannon. He loves her so much and we are very blessed to have her as his teacher this year. Thank you to all of our friends and family who have prayed for us and him during this time.

     We have a lot to update you about as far as the adoption goes. We had our home tour and it went really well. We heard horror stories and were a little apprehensive but it was really like having a friend over and giving her a tour of our home. Except when she asked to see our firearms. LOL! She more than likely will have to come back just to meet the kids and interact with them for awhile. She did not tell us they had to be present and the grandmothers had them to make it a little less stressful for us. Round two should not be as bad unless Cooper tells her he doesn't want another sister! After watching several adoption videos together last week I asked Cooper if he was excited about getting another sister. He looks at me with his deep brown eyes and as serious as he could be, with a worried look, says "no." I said well buddy why not? His response was, "well mom it is going to just be to hard." Of course I reassured him thinking maybe he heard us say something about it being difficult. He said to me, "No mom it will be to hard to take care of all of you. I already have to take care of you and Avery and another sister will just be to hard for me." Boy his Daddy is good!!! He is already preparing that boy for high school. You better check with Cooper before you look his sister's way.

      We also had our one-on-one interviews as part of the home study process. Brandon and I went at different times so we drove to Birmingham separately. It was a little weird going through the process individually. They asked a lot of personal questions about our childhood, our parents, and growing up in general. Brandon didn't have as easy of a time as myself :) Not to brag but at least I could remember how old my parents were and about how long they have been married. LOL! When the social worker asked Brandon how old his parents were his response was "I have no clue." Then he asked her how old I said my mom was and then he knew his dad was around the same age. Good thing I went first!!! When she asked him how long they had been married he said he thought around 25 years. Then I guess he realized he was 31 so that couldn't be right. He added 10 years and felt a little more confident with his answer. :) I think she thought it was a little funny and gave him the sympathy vote and passed us on to the next interview. I'm just kidding. Besides that little issue I think he did really well. We both were blessed with wonderful childhood memories. I hope that we can be good parents to our children as our parents were to us.

     The next step will be to complete our education and paper work. We have one or two interviews left. Our social worker said that she may get it approved to combine the last two interviews into one. If this is the case we can finish fast and speed up the count down. This will also help me preserve my days at school. I will not have to take an additional day to travel for another interview. I need to save all the days I can get because I will have to take a maturity leave next year and I already know that I do not have enough days. Pray specifically for God's perfect timing and that this process will be completed quickly and His  favor would be shown on all of those who are working on the process. Thanks friends!

Happy New Year!

     I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great first day in 2012. We had a great holiday and are getting ready to get back into the swing of things on Tuesday. One more day of vacation!

    On the 29th we went to Lifelines office in Birmingham for our second Home Study interview. It was nice to put names with faces of the people we have been talking with on the phone and through email. They were very nice and to my surprise the hour and a half interview wasn't that bad. It is amazing all of the things that they ask you!! WOW! I guess it is fine that they are learning all the details of our lives considering the fact that we will be on a journey with them for at least the next six years. We found out that the post adoption process continues for five years after the child is home.

     So what is next... A LOT! Before we schedule our next home study we will need to start our education process (at least 10 hours worth of classes, websites to visit and two books to read), start on our autobiographies, and gather some medical information. Needless to say we have some work to do. We are also raising money for the adoption as well. Through generous donations by friends and family we have enough raised for our next installment! We pray that God will bless all of those who have been so generous to us and that one day our little girl will be able to meet each one who has made this possible for our family. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray specifically that we will be able to move through the process smoothly and quickly. Also pray that our daughter has someone to love her and provide care for her until she gets home. It was kind of hard during Christmas when all of our family was together, we did not feel complete. Thanks for your prayers!

     I have to share a sweet Cooper moment. One the way to dinner the other night I begin to tell the kids how much we loved them and that I wanted to make sure that they knew we loved our family just the way it was but we were going to make it even better. Cooper pipes in with, "We know mom this is something we have to do because God told y'all to do this and He is going to take care of everything and she will be part of our family." It is amazing what little ears pick up and remember and really how they put it into prospective. I thought well I couldn't say it any better myself! :)