Getting Ready!

The last few days are a bit of a blur!  Here's the truth: I was not at all expecting our travel call on Monday and when we got it I totally freaked out.  After I got off the phone I started bawling - and not a happy, pretty, tears-of-joy kind of cry.  More of an overwhelmed, holy cow what am I going to do kind of cry.  A good friend stopped by right after I got the call and she told me yesterday that she thought something terrible had happened from looking at my face when I opened the door!  I felt bad for being upset about something so wonderful...I was just so unprepared.  I thought we had another week at least until our call, and that it would be 3 more weeks until we could travel because of Chinese New Year.  Instead, we are leaving next Thursday!

Now that I've had a few days to let the news sink in, I'm feeling very happy and excited.  We have all been sick with the flu and other lovely things for the last four weeks and I know that clouded a lot of my thoughts.  It's hard to think about international travel when you're feeling crummy.  It's also hard to think about adding another little one to your family when you're all sick.  We are a few days past sickness now, not back to full health but definitely on the way.  I'm so thankful for that!

We have been busy busy busy the last few days making plans!  Our flights are booked, our hotels are set up, and we have everything we need (it just needs to be packed).  I was surprised how quickly everything came together.  Our agency has been awesome and has handled all the in-China stuff.

Here's a basic idea of what the next few weeks hold for us:

Wed, Jan 23 - Take train and stay overnight near airport
Thurs, Jan 24 - Fly to Shanghai, short layover, then fly to Nanchang
Sun, Jan 27 - MEET HANNAH!  She will be brought to our hotel and will be in our arms forever!
Mon, Jan 28-Fri, Feb 1 - Bonding with our girlie, shopping, sightseeing, and adoption paperwork
Fri, Feb 1 - Fly to Guangzhou
Mon, Feb 4 - Consulate appointment - making it official!
Thurs, Feb 7 - Travel to Hong Kong by van, then flying home!

I am very thankful that we have 8 nights in one hotel and then another 7 in another hotel - it will be good to be "settled" a little bit and not moving around all the time.  I'm also thankful our Gotcha Day got moved to Sunday instead of Monday...it's going to be hard not to think about her constantly once we're there!  Our schedule looks great, with lots of time for us to explore, or stay in the room, or do whatever.

We certainly appreciate your prayers as we prepare for the trip, as we are traveling, and for our adjustment to a family of five!

She's Coming Home!

It seems as though we have been in the process of bringing Hannah home for-ev-er.  There have been a lot of days when it hasn't seemed that real to me, or when I have lost sight of the end goal of all the paperwork, fees, time....a beautiful little girl on the other side of the world who needs a family.

But everything has been brought into focus now as yesterday we received our TA: Travel Approval!

This is the last and final step.  We can go and get our girl!  I must admit that I was totally floored to receive the call yesterday - we were on day 11 of our wait, and many were waiting 20-25 days for their calls.  I have learned that my typical reaction to the call of "your child is coming" is to start shaking, to write notes on a piece of paper that later will make NO sense to me, and to feel really foggy-brained :)  That's about where I am today - still in the fog but starting to feel it lifting.

What does this mean exactly?  Well....we're going to China!  Next Thursday!!!!!!!  Yes, we were given a Consulate Appointment of February 4th, so we will be leaving next Thursday (Jan 24th), and meeting Hannah on Jan 28th.  We should be returning home on February 6th with our beautiful daughter!

Overwhelmed does not really begin to describe how I feel.  Honestly, this call came at what I would call the "worst" time - we are just getting over the flu, I'm still not feeling great, the house is a mess, there is soooooo much to do....and yet for whatever reason, this is when our call came.  I believe that the Lord is in control, that He will see us through all that lies ahead, and that I don't need to stress because somehow it really will be okay and we will get done what needs to get done.

Today's jobs:

• Rest as much as possible and drink tea
• Talk with travel agent to begin process of booking flights
• Email our in-China rep to start process of booking hotels
• Take Nathan's hearing aids to U of M because one of them is broken (of COURSE this has to happen right now!)
• Play with my boys and hug them lots because they are realizing we are leaving soon (especially Matthew)
• Turn it all over to HIM!

Stuck at Home

It has been a long week around here and, oh dear, it's only Wednesday!  We have had at least one member of our family sick all the time since Christmas and I am ready for a break.  This week it was Nathan's turn - nothing major, just a low fever, cough, runny nose, and general yuckiness :(  He is pretty pitiful when he's sick (except when he's mean and cranky!) and I miss my talkative, fun boy.

On the bright side, it was Matthew's turn to feel well this week.  Well, except for one night where he threw up for hours...strange.  In general though he is feeling good and that means he's a happy boy!

Since we have been stuck at home a ton lately I have been trying out some new recipes/ideas from Pinterest.  I don't know why I haven't done this before but I used to always buy oatmeal packets - I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought this was so smart!  I didn't make individual packets (no need really) but I put the oats/brown sugar mixture in a big glass jar.  Saves money, tastes great, nice and easy!

I also tried making these granola bars this week and they are great!  I am going to play around with the sugar and butter amounts a bit - they seemed pretty sweet to me.  We used raisins because I didn't have any of Matthew's dairy-free chocolate chips, and the kids loved them!  It is hard to find recipes for granola bars that are safe for Matthew so I was happy to find this one.  Actually, I think I'll go and make some now.... :)

And hopefully soon I will be able to get out of this house!!!!

Bits and Pieces

Every time Nathan gets out of the tub he wants to be wrapped up in a towel and held like a little baby.  He would sit like this for hours if we let him!  It is so sweet!

The other day the boys were playing Mr. Potato Head together in the living room.  From the kitchen I heard Matthew saying to Nathan, "Is that one Mommy?" to which Nathan replied, "Yeah!" followed by lots of little giggles.  Hmmm.  Not sure how I feel about a Mr. Potato Head that looks like me...

Silly boys came up to me like this after a little while...

Nathan chatting on the phone...

Poor Nathan has been sick this week, which is sad, but it's made for some good snuggles!  He always sits and sleeps with his hands folded - so cute!

Matthew is in a bit of an "over-cheese" phase - you know, where you say "cheese" and they make a smile so crazy and fake that you grimace when you see the picture.  I was so happy to get one of his real smile!!!

So far January has been full of sickness but still some fun moments.  And on the bright side, since we are stuck at home so much I am getting lots accomplished in regards to packing and making lists!

Applying for Visas and All That Fun Stuff

I just redid the header for the blog and I honestly felt shocked when I saw how big our family is getting!  It is hard to believe that 4 years ago it was just me and Brad, wondering if we would ever have a family.  We are so blessed!

A little adoption update:

Our Article 5 paperwork was supposed to be picked up last Thursday from the consulate in China.  This would officially be the start of our wait for Travel Approval.  I didn't hear anything about it, so on Friday I emailed our agency just to check.  Our case worker let me know that they usually do hear about pick-up but they hadn't heard anything about ours, so she said she'd check on it for me.  I hope we hear something today and that we can get on to the last and final step of this process!  I am feeling a great sense of peace these days, knowing that it is all in His hands, believing that our gracious God is caring for Hannah while she is in China, and that she'll be here with us soon enough.

**Update - as soon as I finished typing this blog post I checked my email and found out that it was indeed picked up last Thursday!  That means in 2-3 weeks we should receive our Travel Approval and we will know when we are going to meet Hannah!!!!!!!!!  I am shaking, I can't believe it!  Thank you, God!

Last week we were able to send off our applications for our visas to go to China!  It was pretty nerve-wracking sending away our passports, that's for sure!  But we should have them back soon enough and with a nice addition - our visas!  We're getting closer...

I wonder what our sweet girl is up to these days.  By our last update she was not walking...I wonder if she is crawling, or standing yet?  I have heard and read that children are sometimes removed from their foster homes and taken back to the orphanage for a while before a family comes to bring them home...has that happened to our girl?  When I start to imagine, my heart aches...all I can do is pray.  Even though we are getting so close it still does not seem real that we could be meeting her in just 6 short weeks!

A Couple of Projects

Every day we get closer to our girlie, but still we wait...so while I'm waiting I am enjoying these wonderful days with my boys.  I seem to have more time now that the boys are older, our routines are settled, and thankfully we just finished the last of our adoption paperwork (can you believe we still had paperwork almost a YEAR after we started this thing?!?!?!).  So while I have a little bit of free time I wanted to get a couple of projects finished.

First off, creating a little tray to sit on our ottoman to hold drinks or snacks.

I had this wooden tray that held a toy we got for the boys over a year ago.  I've had it sitting in the basement in my "I'm just sure I can use it for something!" pile...and thanks to pinterest I finally came up with an idea!

I painted the tray dark brown, mod podged some scrapbook paper in the bottom of the tray, and voila!

I decided to do a different paper on the other side of the tray just for a little variety - now I can use it like a little table, too :)  I love it!  It is just a little splash of color that I can pull out and set on the ottoman whenever I need it.

Pinterest also gave me inspiration for a big project I have wanted to get done but truly have not known where to start.  Korea pictures!  I took over 700 pictures on our trip to Korea, and it was overwhelming to think about what to do with them.  They were just sitting on my computer and no one has even seen them!  

On Pinterest I heard about these "Smash Books".  I had seen them at a local craft store but didn't know what they were.  Basically, it is like an old-school scrapbook.  It already has patterned paper in it, and you just glue your pictures, ticket stubs, receipts...anything...into it.  It comes with a pen and glue stick, with the idea that you don't have to sit and agonize over scrapbook pages for ages and ages.

This was exactly what I needed!

I started it last Sunday, and 6 days later it is FINISHED!

I did not use all of my pictures, obviously!  I went through and chose my favorite, about 150, and as I put them in I narrowed it down even more.  There is a big envelope at the back of the book where I put some of the extras that I liked but didn't put in.  I was able to write down memories, funny experiences, places, sights...and it was so super quick!  I love the end result and I'm so glad to have this finished!

Next project: organize all my info about the boys for when we go away, and figure out meals for when we're gone and for when we get back...ugh, I think I'll find something else fun to make instead!