Low key.

It's Saturday night here in the great city of Guangzhou. I think. My days are so confused...

We just returned from a great dinner with a fantastic group of adoptive families at a nice little Irish pub. Yes, an Irish pub in China. It was really good. So good, we've actually eaten there two nights in a row. Hey, you find something you like and stick with it around here! I actually have had Chinese food. Kenny had a hamburger.




The last two days have been filled with absolutely nothing.

And it has been fantastic!

Yesterday would have been the day we visited EK's orphanage. We decided not to go because it was a 5-6 hour drive one way. Making it at least 10 hours in the car. It was going to be a terribly long day for all of us and I really didn't need a practice run for the upcoming 13 hour flight. It makes me sad that I didn't get to see where she has spent the first 20 months of her life. But from what I've been told and what I've seen in her, I'm sure I would be even sadder after seeing where she's been. (Is sadder a word??) We instead chose to spend the day low key, bonding and enjoying our little girl. And at this point, that was the better choice.

We went swimming yesterday with her for the first time. I assumed she wouldn't be a fan at all because she starts screaming the second you take her clothes off for bath time. Since that first night that she seemed to enjoy it, it has been a scream-fest on her part and a race to bathe a slippery, frail, ticked off baby on our part. As fast as we can. Because the second she hits that towel, she's fine.

Diva.

But she seemed to enjoy the pool. We even got a few grins and laughs while splashing in the water! I was glad to see this because she has some big brothers who love to go swimming and if she hated it, that was going to seriously hamper their style this summer!








Just hanging out in our pj's...












I had a paperwork meeting this afternoon to prepare for our Consulate appointment and departure plans and while I was on the 28th floor, I received this text message from Kenny...




Pilates baby.

I'm telling you, she could walk if she wanted to. She still mainly scoots on her hiney with the occasional crawl. But she was actually using the mirror to pulls herself to standing! That's not a whole lot of support, folks.

We are on the downhill slope....the countdown to coming home has begun!!

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A hot walk in the park.

On Thursday we were finally able to get out and see a little more of the city.

We went to the Five Rams Statue and another park whose name has escaped me.

That's the name of it. But I can't read it.




And speaking of signs, I could probably do an entire post on their English translation of signs. They are very literal. And hilarious.




The Five Rams are the symbol of the city of Guangzhou and very important to the people here. Our guide said if you walk around the statue 3 times, it will bring you good luck. To get the full experience, Kenny walked around 3 times. Since I was packing 'lil bit, I did it once and decided that was all the luck I needed.




Did I mention it was a touch steamy?? She's asleep. Kenny bought a tiny Hello Kitty fan to cool us off because we were both dripping wet. Yes, Heather, you can have it when we get back!




This is our whole group for this week...the Allen Family and the Fowler Family. And unfortunately you can't see any of our new additions!




There were multiple groups of retired people gathered at the park where the rams were, dancing and exercising. Helen said they do this each morning to keep in shape. They had their music going and were keeping a pretty good beat.

This picture is to show you the folks exercising. I just stood there so it looked like Kenny was taking a picture of me. And yes. It was easier to feed her like that than take her out.




This is at the park, taking a break in front of the waterfall. Really, it just looked like a good place to sit down because we were drowning in humidity. Alabama ain't got nothing on China, folks. Nothing!




Bonsai trees everywhere...




Me and this guy are going fishing! It was so weird to be in this peaceful park and look across and see the busy city!




We relaxed the rest of the day. You know...playing with our ziploc bags filled with travel sized toiletries. Don't worry, Mom. She can't open it.




EK continues to do as well as we could hope. We are all still figuring each other out and all have our moments of frustration. Like when we cry at dinner time and make all the other babies cry. Of course she never realized all the ruckus she caused! She is not a fan of naps. But goes down well at night. And eating now on the schedule of a newborn, which makes it seem like we are making bottles all day long! Anything to get her fattened up and home faster!

Tomorrow is our day of rest. On Friday.

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Pictures & doctors? She's not a fan.

Holy cow, people.

As I type, I am watching the 20-month-old that was placed in my arms less than 72 hours ago, giggle and laugh at her daddy and play contently in the floor, crawling and rolling all over the place. This is the same child who is now reaching for me, clings to my neck when other people are around and is calmed when upset by coming to one of us.




And on Monday she was completely indifferent to us, laid stoically in the floor, barely moving other than the learned self-stimulating behaviors from the orphanage.

Now I could watch her play all day long! She is hilarious, by the way!!




It is totally an act of God for another orphan to be rescued. In just a few short years, she would have been sent on her way, with no family, no way to care for herself, no one to care for her! To be able to be a part of seeing the changes already taking place in this child who has only had parents 3 short days, is incredibly humbling. God didn't have to give her to us. But He has entrusted her to our care for this time and I'm so excited to see what things she will accomplish.

Amazing.

So, yesterday.

Yesterday we had 3 tasks. Visa picture, medical check and passport picture.

Since I had to set her on this little stool thing, the visa picture went about as well as the family picture did the day before. Screaming at the top of her lungs.

And the medical check? Other than being shocked at her 20 months and 6 kg, the doctors didn't have much to say. After I told them she was deaf, they pulled out their super high tech equipment and gave her a hearing test they way any doctor would....by squeaking a rubber ducky at her. Really??

I did have to lay her down to be checked out and the wailing began again. She was quieted easily just by me picking her up, which really is a huge deal.

For someone who can't hear, she has quite the set of lungs on her!




Then on to the Police Station where they took her picture this time while she was sitting my lap. The other offices should take a clue from the Police Station. This picture experience went much better!

Our guide, Helen, took us and the other two families in our group to a traditional Cantonese restaurant for dinner. THIS is what I have been waiting for the whole time!! (Other than getting my daughter. But that's understood!) She ordered a ton of food, giving us a great variety of things to try. We had tiny whole fish, that we ate, bone and all. Dishes with beef, pork and chicken and even these roasted peppers that were spicy, but soooo good. Even tofu. Kenny told Helen a fib when she asked if he had tried it. She wasn't shy at all about dishing more on your plate if she thought you weren't eating enough...but he did NOT try the tofu, although he told her he did. It was an interesting dish, but I have to say, I'd eat it again.

Thursday is our first sightseeing day and I'm ready to see a little more of this city than all the government offices! We are officially done with the Chinese side of EK's adoption...woohoo!!




"Anyone around here know the country code for the US? I've been told I have friends there!"

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Promised Pictures.

Just after adding the 5th member to the Cook Family!




"Hey Mom, I'm not digging this bow..." It lasted about 3.5 seconds before she flung it across the room. See, I told you. Attitude.




This is how we roll in China. Who needs a car seat?? It's not like there aren't a million people, cars, busses and bicycles sharing the road. Yeah, this is definitely the safest way to do this...




Little blurry, but laughing! She would put the book up to her face and just laugh and laugh!




Antennas up! This whole #1 thing she is doing is what happens when she is stressed or tired. I personally think she already knows that Alabama is #1!




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She's ours. China said so.

On Tuesday, we went back to the Civil Affairs office, took a family picture for the official documents, answered a couple of very basic questions in the form of two different interviews, signed some papers and Ellie Kate was officially a Cook! Just like that!

The whole building knew EK was there during our family picture. I had just gotten her bottle out to feed her and knew it was not gonna be pretty if I took it away from her for a picture. And it wasn't.

We had to take the picture over. And over. And over. Because in every one, she was wailing. Like an ugly, feet over the head, arching back, pissed at the world wail. This was not the highlight of our day. But they finally got one they were happy with. I think they were just ready for us to leave.

Before we went into our second interview, our guide Helen told us, "This man like to talk. Interview take hours and hours. You not act happy, he not talk as long. Or if baby cry." Great. We got the one government official in China who is chatty. So we put on our sober faces and I secretly was happy it was EK's nap time and hoped she might cry to get us out of there faster. I know. I'm a horrible mother.

He was chatty and Kenny absolutely doesn't know how to talk to people and not be happy (not that I consider that a fault), but we were only in there for about 10 minutes and we shook hands and he sent us on our way! Shew. No way I could have sat in that tiny room for hours!

The rest of the day was free and we came back to the room to attempt nap time. She did sleep, but it was 20 minutes here, 30 minutes here, another 10 minutes later. Most of the afternoon was spent laying in the floor playing, while Kenny and I swapped taking naps of our own.

This jet-lag is no joke! I don't remember being jet-lagged at all in Ethiopia, so I hadn't really worried about it. But this 12 hour time difference is killing both of us. The fun thing is, we'll get used to it and have to do it all over again when we get back to KY. At least we'll probably have EK as company on that end of things.

EK also refused to eat the whole rest of the day. Which stressed me out just a touch. She had been so eager for her first two bottles of the day, we really didn't understand why she refused to eat the rest of the day. I just kept telling myself she would eat when she was hungry, but she literally went from 10am yesterday until 5:30am this morning without eating, even though we tried multiple times to get her to eat. It made me wonder how much she was really eating each day at the orphanage and was she really functioning on 16 oz of formula/cereal a day??

We did go out around dinner time and walked to a local store (China's version of Walmart) and then went to dinner with another couple at an Italian buffet restaurant. Which actually ended up being very little Italian food and more Chinese food, mixed with other random food like lamb shawarma, which was actually very good. EK played with Kenny's bread and in his lasagna and watched intently as we ate, but no luck on getting any of it past those lips!

When we came back to the hotel, we saw a whole new side of EK. She hadn't really been playing at all with toys. Just laying on her back, playing with her hands or toes. But all of a sudden she started crawling all over the place (I knew she was holding out on me!!) and picking up toys. She was gigging and laughing at her self....we hadn't gotten to see this EK yet, but made this momma's heart so happy I cried!!

I know she has a long way to go to catch up and many obstacles in front of her, but it is amazing to watch her after having her barely 24 hours and the changes we've already seen! She's a strong little girl with a little bit of attitude and I know I can speak for both of us when I say we are blessed to have been chosen to raise her.

Tomorrow...the medical check. And yes, it was worse than the picture.

NOTE: Yes, I know you come here for pictures. And yes, I'm in China. Things don't always work the way you want. So, no pictures tonight. I'll try again later.

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Gotcha Day!

It's about 5:30am on Tuesday morning. Kenny and I are wide awake. Unfortunately.
But in the other room, Ellie Kate is snoozing away peacefully.
We have our little girl!

We left our hotel about 2pm and headed to the Civil Affairs office. It wasn't long before she showed up with her nanny and the Orphanage Director. Although not really happy, she did fairly well when passed off to two folks she didn't know. Within a couple of hours, we got a few grins and giggles.
She did well last night, sleeping through the night. And once Mommy figured out that the nipple on the bottle wasn't letting much through (even though we had already cut it once), she became a much happier and FULL baby!
Although the Orphanage Director told us she could hear a little, we don't really think she can. At least not anything as loud as someone clapping or speaking loud. She does like for you to hum and that seems to calm her if she is upset or sleepy. She must be able to feel the vibration of our bodies when we do that.

She is very tiny. I don't think I was prepared for how tiny and malnourished she would be. She weighs in at a whopping 13 pounds. But she is long. I was afraid the 9 month clothes I brought would swallow her, but with her length, she fills them out. She's wearing a small in Chinese Pampers which is only one step up from the newborns. And I really think she could wear the newborn size.
We are very much seeing the effects of time spent in an orphanage. She has a lot of self-soothing behaviors that are really hard to watch, but I know are because she spent her first 20-months without the attention a baby needs. She has learned to cope on her own. And now we just have to teach her that she doesn't have to do that anymore.

She is very delayed and much more like a baby than a toddler, but has huge potential. She is not walking or even crawling, but will scoot herself around with her legs. She is really surprisingly strong for her size. And very limber. And she does this trick...

She is only taking a bottle with rice cereal in it. She is having nothing to do with me putting a spoon or puff or anything else in her mouth. I'm sure this is contributing to her size as well. We gotta get some biscuits and gravy in this girl and fatten her up!!
A few more pics...
This is the Orphanage Director and EK's nanny.

And first bath time....which surprisingly she didn't mind at all until she did a face plant into the water. Then she was done.

Checking out the spoons Mommy brought. She won't let me use them, so we'll just play with them.

NOTE FROM EDITOR: Now it's 3:30 in the afternoon. I kinda have someone demanding my attention now. And she doesn't care if I blog for yall or not!!
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One more day.

Well, folks....this is officially my last blog written as a family of 4.

Tomorrow afternoon around 2pm, we will head to the Civil Affairs Office to get Ellie Kate. That means, by the time all you sleepy heads wake up on Monday morning, we will have a baby.

Shew.

Talk about labor pains. I'm beat.

Today has mostly consisted of resting and doing a little exploring. We promised each other we would try to stay up today to get ourselves on local time. We did cave and take a nap. Which was necessary because I felt a little like I had had too much to drink. Except I don't drink.

But that is what jet lag feels like.

I could have slept for much longer, but forced myself to get up and write this blog post. That's my disclaimer if parts of this don't make sense. I'm only half aware of what is actually going on.

We had breakfast this morning at the hotel's ridiculous breakfast buffet. For me, that was rice noodles and some watermelon juice. Kenny found a pile of bacon and couldn't seem to move past that. I had some bacon too. China bacon is good! (Sorry. No pictures of the bacon. Just know it was good.)

Outside the breakfast area is a beautiful garden. With man-eating koi in the pond. Seriously. They'd probably swallow me whole if I fell in. They are huge!




We took off to explore around the hotel a bit after breakfast. This is our hotel from across the street. We are on the 15th floor. (Note: As we were leaving we ran into a fellow American and introduced ourselves and chatted a little as we walked. He and his wife are on their second week in country and with their 14-month-old daughter. Funny thing is, they are from Missouri and know our Worship Pastor and his wife! Small world.)




Here's where I can tell you our trips to Ethiopia and now China have vastly differed. This is a 5 star hotel. I mean, our room is as big as the first apartment Kenny and I lived in. Not joking. In Ethiopia, we stayed in a guest house and had to wonder each day at what point the power would go out. We knew it was, just a matter of when. In China, I think I've counted 13 light switches just in our room alone. And they all come on when we want them to. It's really the little things, folks.








This is one of the store fronts we passed. Don't know why, but it struck me as funny. Hotwind. No, thanks. Seeing as I started sweating 4.5 seconds after I set foot outside, no need to get anything from anywhere called Hotwind.

We were kinda on our own today since our guide was collecting the rest of our group from the airport and train station. So we took a gamble on a little hole in the wall place and got some noodles for lunch. They spoke no English, we speak no Cantonese. So there was a lot of pointing at pictures and gesturing. But it's noodles. How hard can it be to mess that up??

Let's just call what I had interesting. I ate most of it, but I need to get some help pronto on ordering food.

We woke this afternoon to a rain storm. This is the view from our hotel room. Waiting on it to pass to go find dinner. Here's hoping we have more luck than we did at lunch time.




I make you one promise. The next picture I post here will be of our sweet Ellie Kate!

Who else is ridiculously excited??

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Day(s) of travel.

I have no idea what time it is. I'm really not 100% what day it is...

Kenny just informed me it's about 7pm on Saturday night. We are in transit now from Beijing to Guangzhou. Apparently we both just slept through dinner. But since the last meal I had was breakfast (I think) and that was at 2pm or 2am....I don't even know...I wasn't really worried about it. That's why God gave us granola bars.

The airport in Beijing is ridiculously huge. And since our flight was delayed coming in from Chicago due to weather, we only had a short amount of time to find our connecting flight, which was a least a good 11.5 miles away.

Fortunately, an airport employee stopped to help us with bags, realized we weren't going to make our connecting flight and whisked us off to a secret place to check our bags back in after going through customs and gave us directions about where to go to catch our next flight. I was literally running after this guy and Kenny in the airport. While I'm super glad he stopped to help us, I'm sure we provided someone with some entertainment as they watched the two of them walk with purpose through the airport with a lady who had been awake for 24+ hours (and looking like it!) chasing after them.

These are the things I have learned so far about China:

1. Chinese people are very impatient. Kind. Just impatient. Some are nice about their impatience. Others are not. This Southern girl just wants to tell them all to chill. Running me over with a stroller with your baby in it, is not going to make me move faster. Not that I can since there are already 14 other people in front of me in line. Only makes me want to stop and talk to the sweet baby girl who was probably about EK's age. Major fail on your end.

2. It is hot here. And they aren't fond of AC unless we are moving. So, sitting in plane on runway: no AC. Standing in bus waiting to go to the other side of the airport: no AC. You get the point.

3. That little map picture they show you when you are traveling is there to just make you mad. Because I'm pretty sure we've been on this plane for 37 hours. And we've only moved 2.5 millimeters.





4. If a train or elevator or any other transporting device has a person limit on it, know that it's just there as a suggestion. For example, the super speedy train from one end of the airport in Beijing to the other has a sign that reads "IMPORTANT Capacity: 83 people". There were at least 328 people on that train. Not counting me and Kenny. There's a bunch of people here!

5. There are yellow lines everywhere indicating where you should be. Stand here. Stand there. Don't pass here. Even in the bathroom. I just hope the yellow line police doesn't check the bathroom, because if I followed the yellow line rule in there....I was gonna miss.

------------

We've now made it to Guangzhou, checked in the hotel. Had McDonald's because it was close and we were starving (note missed meal above) and need to go to sleep.

More tomorrow...

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Whirlwind.

So I last left you with a promise to keep you updated about our consulate appointment. And I realize I have failed miserably at that.

But here's the good news...

As I write this, we are hovering in the air somewhere between Louisville and Chicago with a final destination of Guangzhou sometime Saturday evening!

Yeah, you read that right....we are on our way to China!!!

We received our travel approval on Monday night, followed by an email about 10am Tuesday morning that we had a consulate appointment for July 1 and needed to be in country by Sunday, June 23.......... Say what??!!??

I read the email about ten times, looking between the calendar and the email, confirming the dates because I knew there was no way in the world I was reading that we needed to be in China in no less than 5 days. I even had Charlie look at the calendar to make sure I was looking at the dates right!

But alas, what I was reading was true and for the next hour I called myself frantically busy, but was really only wearing a hole in the floor walking around the kitchen island. I didn't even know where to start!!!! We never expected to receive a date that early! I thought IF (and a BIG if) we were able to travel before the consulate shut down, we would be looking at a travel date of June 28ish.

God had other plans and in all His humor, graciously gave us 3 days (well, really more like two and a half) to book plane tickets, pack bags for 5 people going in two different directions, make arrangements for the boys and all the other things you do when you get ready to leave the country for two weeks.

And since we had so much time on our hands, our basement/playroom/den flooded (a lot!) on Tuesday night after a torrential downpour. Within about 5 minutes, there were legos and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles floating about what can only be described as a large indoor lake.

I really wish I could tell you I'm joking, but we spent about 4 hours sucking up water only to discover about 11:30pm that our sump pump had died. But was still filling up at a fairly fast rate from the ground water and rain that was still draining. So we started the bucket brigade emptying that bad boy as fast as we could. Every 30 minutes all the way through 7am. (Yes, that means no sleep was had.) Kenny hit up Lowe's as they opened the doors and was back at the house, new pump installed and on his way to work by 8am.

Here's the silver lining to all that. I've told y'all before and I'm saying it again, but we have ridiculous friends! I mean, who comes to your house at 8pm with a shop vac and their water shoes with intentions of staying til it's dry?? Five of the most servant hearted people I know! It would have taken Kenny and I three times as long to clean up if it wasn't for all the help we had!

And in days following, folks watched the boys while I ran last minute errands and spent hours on the phone booking travel arrangements. Friends sent pizza so we didn't have to worry about cooking in the midst of the controlled chaos that was our home this week. And family rearranged their schedules and made unplanned trips to Kentucky to pick up two of the world's most excited big brothers!

All to make sure that on June 24, we can get our hands on the most popular baby in the state....except she's not even in the state...yet.

We'll be back on July 4. What a day to become a US citizen!

Things you can pray for:

1. Uneventful travel. We don't typically roll in an uneventful way. Just speaking truth. It's never major disasters, but the oddest things happen to us. I prefer norm...at least until we can make it to Guangzhou.

2. Our sweet boys. They are spending the time with grandparents in Alabama. And they are super excited about it, but I fear it's gonna hit Sam in a few days in that his Mommy's gone and I just hope he will be okay. I know he will be. But he's been glued to my side for the last 72 hours.

3. Our precious baby girl. Her world is about to be turned upside down. And she has no idea. Pray for attachment and bonding to us and eased fear of these two new strangers she's been given to. And for communication. It's hard enough getting a 20-month-old with no exposure to English. We are getting one who has had very limited communicating at all...at least that's what we've been told. I've been brushing up on my ASL and Baby Signs and we are ready, but those signs, just like any words we would use with a child who could hear, will be totally foreign.

Ok. I'm signing off. If the Lord grants us internet access, I'll check in next from China!!

再見

In other words, bye!

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I'm coming home...

You guessed it....TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!!!!!

Ellie Kate, we are coming to get you!

Our agency is applying for the first avaliable consulate appointment for us (and everyone else who just received this fabulous news!).  Because of the pending move, we don't know if we will get to travel before the move......or after.  We will know either tomorrow or Wednesday.

So, get those praying boots back on...pray we can still get an appointment before they move!!!

I'll keep you posted.......



 

Ready. Set. Pray!

Ok, friends.......I've given you updates along the way, but today I have a specific request for you.

First, let me remind you where we are: We are waiting on our TA (aka Travel Approval). This is normally a 2-4 weeks wait, with travel 10-14 days after TA. We are right at 2 weeks.

Now, a little about what's going on over on the other side of the world...

Last week, we got word that the consulate in China is moving. As in, moving their physical location. And while they are doing this, they are suspending services for several weeks. This will happen mid-July and the last date for any consulate appointments before the move will be July 11.

I'm not sure if I've filled you in on this part of the process, but while we are in China, we must have an appointment at the consulate before we are allowed to leave the country with Ellie Kate.

So add up all the info above and you've figured out that if the consulate is closed we can't have that needed appointment. And if we can't have that appointment, then we can't come home with Ellie Kate. And if we can't come home with Ellie Kate, that will delay our travel to go get her.

Huge. Ridiculous. Bummer.

Add that to a computer system update to the CCCWA that has delayed processes over the last two week and something about a Dragon Festival that has things shut down through Wednesday this week...........

Not good news.

Here's what you can pray for. Based on my understanding of things and the current timelines, for us to get an appointment that week in July before they shut down, we need to get our Travel Approval THIS WEEK!!!

I know all these delays are no surprise to God. And that EK will arrive in His perfect timing. But boy, is it a hard pill to swallow when all you want to do is hold your little one in your arms!

And while you are praying, I'll throw one more on ya....I also have mono. Yeah. The doctor said adults don't typically get mono, so I don't know what that says about me. But she also had a mild panic attack when I told her I was hopefully heading to China in the upcoming weeks. Apparently with mono, you feel craptacular for weeks...maybe months...making international travel fantastic. [Insert sarcasm.] And your doctor will flip out and tell you not to go. And when you cry and show her your baby's picture and tell her you have to go, she will cry too. That was quite the office visit. But at this point though, I'd have to be tied down to not get on that plane when we get the call to go!

I was basically told to go to bed and not do anything.....HA! While Kenny is fantastic and we have great friends who have helped out some with the boys and a few meals, Mommies don't get days off! I'm just saying...lets be realistic here. I'm just glad this happened now, instead of after I have an 18-month-old to chase after! I'm certain God's hand was in that!!

And don't worry, I'm only contagious if you eat after me, kiss me or I spit on you. And hopefully if we all mind our manners, those things can be avoided.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

Ok, ok....You know the plan. Lots of prayers. I seek You with all my heart.

Got it.

So, in review:

1. Pray for TA this week.
2. Pray for consulate appointment before the move.
3. Pray I have the world's mildest case of mono ever.

Whew. Thanks for sticking that out with me. Never intended for this post to be that long.

I need a nap now.

A plan. Not my plan. His.

For the last several years, while the boys have been in school, I've been blessed to have a very part time job that allowed me to work school hours, in the same building where the boys were at school and was extremely flexible during school breaks and summer. It was a huge blessing to us during that season of life, but we knew when we started the adoption process again that I would likely not be able to keep that set up. As flexible as it was, doing it with an 18 month old in tow wasn't going to be an option.

So we begin praying that the Lord would provide a new or different opportunity, while continuing to provide for our families needs. And while I thought for a long time that it would look different, He always provides and answers those prayers in the most perfect way and in His most perfect timing.

In addition to working with Children's Ministry at Redemption Hill, starting this week, I will also be adding administrative duties to my to-do list. But the best part....I'll be home 100% of the time with Ellie Kate!! (And the boys too, but I was referring to the school year!)

We make excuses, worry and fret over what might happen, using things like jobs or other circumstances we think are too big for God to handle to skirt around His plan for our lives. But in the end, my God knew my desire to be at home with our little ones. He knew what we needed to provide for our family. And while being basically a one income family (ok, one and a third) requires creativity and sacrifices on our part, it's all totally worth it.

Today I am thankful for His provisions, His creativity and His plans. Even when my faith was little.

He had a plan.

Meet Henry.

Since I just set the alarm that I didn't know existed off in the car I'm still getting used to, I decided to introduce y'all to our newest member of the clan...

No, your eyes haven't deceived you. Yes, that is a min-van. And yes, I remember saying I would never drive a mini-van. Multiple times.

I should have known those words would come back to haunt me. I mean, when you take your driver's test at age 15 in a Ford Club Van that seats 8, that's got to be some sort of precursor to your future in a van of some kind.

And even though I've eaten my words and actually paid money to drive a mini-van, at some point my priorities changed. At some point I stopped caring if I had the coolest SUV. Or what my friends might think if I drove a [gasp] mini-van. At some point I stopped caring about what the stigma of a mini-van means.

Right now it means I'm a mom to almost 3 kids. And I have room for at least two more before I have to bump up to a 15-passenger. It means my kids come before my car fashion. Or that I don't care about that anymore.

Yes. I'm a soccer mom. In all it's glory.

And I love it.

So embrace Henry the Honda. (Yes, I named him. While Kenny rolled his eyes at me.) He's spacious, shiny and most importantly has a functioning transmission. And super cool sliding doors that the boys are obsessed with.

And no, he's not new. Just gently used.

He fits in pretty well around here. And is at the ready to have another car seat added.

SOON.

Amazed. Yes, again.

Today was another one of those days you can't help but see God at work and know He has a special plan for our family...

Our church family put together an Adoption Fundraiser in the form of a church wide yard sale and many (many!) people spent many hours organizing and sorting and planning and pricing and donating. And then spent their entire Saturday at the church welcoming people, selling stuff and then packing up all the leftovers to take to Goodwill.




Our family and another at our church in the process of bringing home a little one from Ethiopia benefitted from over $3100 in profits from the fruits of this effort!!




I'm continuously blown away by the generosity of people! But incredibly grateful to be given this opportunity to make adoption a real and tangible thing for our church family and community. And to be given the chance to have numerous conversations today with complete strangers about adoption!

Just like with the boys, those around us are falling in love with a little girl they've only seen in pictures. As scripture promises, He knows the plans He has for our little Ellie Kate. He knew on October 9, 2011, that this child He created was His and she would one day be a part of the dysfunctional Cook family in Small Town, Kentucky. It was no accident that she was born in a city in the Guangdong province of China. It's all part of the story our heavenly Father had planned from day one!

Thank you, church family! Thank you for your support, thank you for your caring, thank you for giving sacrificially!

Thank you for loving on our little girl before she even arrives home!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Waiting...

When I last left y'all, we were waiting on our Article 5.  The last official sheet of paper needed to allow us to go get Ellie Kate.

Well, it was picked up TODAY from the consulate and sent on to the CCCWA........which means we are officially waiting for Travel Approval!!!

Yeah.  You can get excited!

Technically it's a 3-4 week wait for Travel Approval, but I would be lying if I didn't say most of the blogs I'm stalking have gotten their TA's in roughly 2 weeks.  And I'm hoping for a similar timeline.  Or maybe a touch longer since they are working on a computer upgrade next week at the CCCWA.

And last night we received out final update on Ellie Kate....along with pictures!!  I just about fell off the couch trying get the email opened and pictures downloaded....only to find out that it was the same pictures they sent us a few weeks ago.  Boo.

But they did say she weighs 17 pounds (I think someone most have been off on the 14 pounds at the end of April), she is 28 inches tall, has 16 teeth and is walking while holding onto someones hands!

It's officially time to begin packing mode!

Momma's Boy

The boys have been home almost 4 years.  Coming up in August.

And as cliche as it sounds, it's hard to remember life without them around.  And at the same time doesn't seem like it's been 4 years at all. 

We've seem tremendous growth in both of them over the course of time, but the thing I've enjoyed the most is Sam turning into a total Momma's boy over the last year. 

He needs to be where I am, know what I'm doing, see what I've got going on all the time.  I've cooked dinner with him wrapped around my waist, done paperwork with him sitting in my lap and pooped with him laying outside the bathroom door....too much information??  Occasionally I have to banish him to the basement playroom to have an adult conversation...

He also worries me the most.

I know he is head over heels in love with his little sister who he hasn't even met.  But he's also currently getting more than half of mommy's attention.  (Charlie's not quite so needy.  He's also a 10-year-old boy.  Who thinks he knows everything.  News flash...  He doesn't.)

His tiny world will most definitely be turned upside down when we bring home his little sister.  Although the first hurdle I'm worried about is leaving him here while we are in China.  I'm hoping the ability to Facetime and Skype with the boys will help, but I preparing myself for tears.

From both of us.

He loves to watch the video of Ellie Kate and imitate everything she is doing...

Although I can imagine her smacking him if he keeps that up once she gets home.

We spent a half hour yesterday looking through our American Sign Language dictionary because he was convinced she was signing something to him in this picture...

Turns out she is saying "beard".

Probably not really.  But he was satisfied with that answer.

Just pray for his little heart.  Pray he knows his status as Momma's boy doesn't change.  Pray for his little heart to understand when Mommy needs to spend more time with baby sister.  Pray he will continue to love his little sister even when she is competing for attention that used to be his.

And pray that Kenny and I will both be intentional about making sure we are giving him quality attention and time.

Things are about to change around here. 

But I'm soooo ready for it!

Cheap shaving gel & PDF's.

I got a little giddy today while I was at Kroger...

And no, it wasn't good deals or fantastic coupons (although I did save 43% today and got Gillette shaving gel for 57 cents!) ...but today we received the email with the attached PDF that files one of the last three steps we need to go get Ellie Kate!

Article 5.

No, I don't really know what that means, except we are getting pretty darn close!

The giddiness came in when I got an email that said we could be traveling to China in 6 weeks! Yes, Sarah, I got that you put ESTIMATED in bold and all caps, but you could have yelled it at me in a really mean voice and it wouldn't have matter...

We are headed to China SOON!!

New pictures, remembering God is in control and paperwork.

I should have posted this last week, but time always gives us a better perspective and a more positive outlook on things.  So, today I can write a more upbeat-typical-Jana post instead of a down-in-the-dumps-out-of-sorts post.

Last week we got an update on Ellie Kate from the care package we sent.

Monday morning started bright and early at 5:45am with an email from China with pictures and a video of our little girl. I was even actually able to get Kenny awake the first time I tried by telling him I had a video of his daughter!

April 24, 2013.  I am 18 months old!!
 

Sister needs a toy...doesn't know what to do with her hands!!

I was thrilled to see our baby girl's face again and to see her actually move in a video (although not walking, not completely sure if she is doing that on her own or not).  We also were able to ask a few questions about her routine, how she is communicating and her size.

It was the answers to those questions that really did me in.

I know her basic needs are being met, but I just have this mental image of her sitting in a crib all day, no one interacting with her because they don't know how since she can't hear them.  And she is currently losing weight/barely holding steady at her current weight (14 lbs and 27 inches, 1 lb less than her 15 lbs in November), which just adds to that Mommy worry.

I had a few days of emotional train-wreckage while I freaked out about all the different scenarios I was playing out in my head.  Plain and simple, I was worried about her.  It took me a few days to shake that and come back around to my senses, remember all the pep talks I've given other adoptive families when they are worried about development, weight gain, etc, and most of all remember that God is in control.  He knows what she needs and when she needs it.  He knows when it will be the perfect time for her to come home.  He knows every hair on that precious little head.  And He knows how to calm an overanxious Mommy separated from her baby.

It's hard knowing your child is without you and you can't do anything about it.  It's hard seeing a sad, pitiful video, void of anyone trying to interact with and talk to your child, when you know how far a little love and attention would go.  It's hard when you are 11,451 miles away and are trusting government agencies to process your paperwork in a timely manner.

(Side note:  I did a Google map search to see how many miles away we were.  It gave me turn by turn directions, including "Sail across the Pacific Ocean for 2,756 miles".  That made me smile.  We are going the airplane route instead of sailing though.  My name is not Christopher Columbus.  That's just nuts.)

But the good news that came out of last week...

• Our passports returned with Chinese visas securely affixed inside.  Technically I can go to China now.  So if I come up missing....you'll know where to look.


• We also received notice of our preliminary I800 approval on Saturday.  The boys came busting into the bathroom while I was taking a shower to tell me.  (I didn't mind being interrupted for that!)  It had actually been approved on Tuesday, April 30, but took that long for us to get notification.


• Which meant today I called the National Visa Center to check on the status of our cable letter.  The nice lady gave me a case number and said our file was being processed to call back in a day or two.  Which translates to me sending another email and calling again on Wednesday to see what kind of progress they've made!

What happens next?  We get that letter from NVC and it's cabled to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China.  After that we are waiting on a letter called the Article 5 and after it is received by the CCCWA (China's Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption), we wait for Travel Approval.

I'm still crossing my fingers for travel the end of June.  So far all of our paperwork has beaten or been on the short end of what they gave us for timelines.  I'm just praying we continue to kick butt in the paperwork department and we can work on travel plans sooner rather than later!