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! :)

Home Study Update

     Brandon and I have scheduled our second home study interview for December 29 at 10:00. We will be going to Lifeline's home office in Birmingham. They say it normally last about an hour and a half. We have no idea what to expect. We are just excited to move forward during the holidays. I will not have to take a day off work. I am trying to save all the days I can so that I can take time off if we have to go to China during the school year.
     We have also started the mountain of paper work. We have collected some of the documents and after the holidays will move forward with the education section. We have two books to read, several websites to review, and classes to enroll in. The steps you have to take... WOW! Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Sweet Blessings

      Every year the sweet faculty at Westbrook blesses my mother-in-law with a wonderful present at Christmas time. She has received Christmas china, jewelry, and clothing over the years. This year was a little different for the both of us. They presented her with a nice amount of cash and a card. She in turn blessed us with the money to, and I quote, "bring her grandchild home!" It was very sweet how they presented it to the both of us. Carolyn Strickland wrote this poem for us and read it before she presented Mrs. Greer with her gift. It was a day full of sweet blessings.

A Chosen Child

A young couple

Decisions to make

Pray.

Pray God's will.

A chosen child

Not of their blood

But of their heart.

From distant lands

A Hope will come.

A chosen child

Chosen to complete a family.

Seek.

Seek God's Will.

To chose a child

Their desire.

Look.

Look to God's Word.

"Before you were born I knew you.

For I know the plans I have for you."

Pray.

Seek.

Look for answer.

God answered

"You did not choose a child.

I chose the parents."