Home!

Well, we made it home. The China trip and the overall experience has been the hardest thing we've ever done, but we're making it, and things seem to be getting better. We arrived home on March 31st, that super long day of travel just about did us in. Three flights, four airports, layovers, customs, immigration, security, baggage claims and rechecks,  all with a miserable toddler that refused to ride in a stroller. EXHAUSTING! Mike and I agree that we never want to travel again!

When we arrived in China on March 17th we were so tired we went to sleep at 7:00 pm, and then slept terribly due to jet lag. The next day we went to visit Bethel and see Gabe in his comfortable environment. That day was by far the highlight of our trip! Just one day did not seem like enough time. I loved getting to see all the kids in person and they were all so precious. We were so thankful to have that time to see our "real" child. Gabe was so happy all day until he missed his nap and then he cried until he fell asleep. I know that happy little guy is in there and we've started to see glimpses of his true personality more the last couple days. He's started to sleep better the last two nights which helps make everybody happier. So much change for our little guy and on top of all the change, he's blind and nonverbal. It definitely makes the situation more traumatic for him, and tricky for us to figure out his needs.

I have so many pictures from our visit at Bethel! I'll have to do a post of just pictures. For now here is a few from gotcha day and after.

Thank you all again for loving and sporting us. The real journey is just beginning!

China Bound and Cocooning

We leave in just a couple days!! Please pray for our trip, safety and health. Pray for Gabe's heart as his world is about to be turned upside down.  Pray for our kids at home, we've never been away from them for so long. I'm sure it will be harder on me.  Pray for my awesome sister who volunteered to move in and stay with our kids and dogs while we're gone, we can't thank you enough, Heather! Seriously! You're the best sister a girl could have!

We feel so amazingly blessed by you all. Thank each and every one of you. For praying, cheering us on, for kind words, donations, love and support. We could not have done this alone.  God has been in every detail of this journey from the very beginning, long before we found our son, said yes, and took a leap of faith. When God first put special needs adoption on my heart I didn't know if it would ever be a reality in our lives, I didn't know if it would be possible, but here we are, getting ready to hop on a plane. I can hardly believe it!

"Cocooning"
When we come home with Gabe we will be staying at home as much as possible for a couple months.  It's what they call "cocooning" in the adoption community.  We know that you all have been waiting to meet him and love him already but he will need to adjust to having a parents and a family. This time will be important for us to bond with him and for him to attach to us. We will have short visits at our house for friends and family so don't worry. Thank you for understanding.

I want to take a minute to thank my mom and dad, you guys have gone above and beyond helping us financially with this adoption. You took the stress of paying bills away so that we could enjoy this trip. You don't know how much you have blessed us. Love you guys so much!

The next time you hear from me we'll have Gabriel. Wow! I'm not sure if I will  post on the blog while we're in China, but I will be posting in our "Waiting 4 Gabe" Facebook group. If you haven't joined yet, hurry up! I'm changing the privacy to secret tomorrow.

Counting down the days...

It feels really good to not have anything to report about our adoption process because everything is done! We're just waiting to get on a plane.  At the same time, I'm sad for a whole bunch of people that are still waiting for travel approvals. There is currently a glitch in the system affecting TA's, it would be so hard to be at the  end of the process and stuck at the very last step.  Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

We got to Skype with Gabe on Sunday evening.  We're so grateful to have such a wonderful opportunity. We should be scheduling another call soon.
Some things we learned about him during the call are:

- He wakes up early, about 6:00-6:30. Perfect! We do too, during the school year.
- He does not take a bottle, he uses cups with handles. I need to get some of those.
- He sticks his tongue out when he's really excited.
- They have dogs at Bethel and he doesn't seem to be afraid of them. Hooray!
- He likes Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Row Row Row Your Boat.
- He knows a few signs: more, play, all done.
- He's active. He was all over the place during our call.
- He's absolutely adorable! But we already knew that :)

We're waiting on a final report all about our little guy. I'm super excited to learn even more about him.

Please pray that we will be able to visit Bethel before Gabe is transferred back to his province. I'm still waiting for details about this and we leave in less than two weeks.

We're getting closer to filling up our puzzle. Consider sponsoring a piece for only $10
https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/waiting-4-gabe/341337

Trusting

We are leaving in less than three weeks! It's hard to believe, in the adoption process you're waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more,  then all of a sudden you're in fast forward mode.

If you've ever thought about adoption and have questions or want to talk about it, please feel free to contact me. So many children need families, it's overwhelming and heart breaking.  You don't have to be rich, trust me! I used to think that too. I'm not saying it will be easy but it's so worth it! The past year has been challenging for us, to say the least. We've lived on much less than we ever thought was possible.  Just this morning I was feeling so stressed about how we are going to make it through the month of March financially. I seriously have no idea, but God does. He set us on this path, we stepped out in faith big time, He's brought us this far, and He's not going to leave us now.  That, I know for sure. We're thankful for God's provision in our lives.  I had myself a little cry this morning and then I had to let go of my worry because it isn't helpful. So, I listened to a sermon, turned on some worship music, did some exercise, got ready for the day, and headed to the bank to notarize the last document we need for China.  I'm feeling much better now. Casting Crowns song "Just Be Held" has helped me put things in perspective today.  The good news, actually the amazing, wonderful, fantastic news is that our adoption expenses are covered.

                                             

We get to Skype with Gabriel on Monday! 

Puzzle pieces are still available-$10

https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/waiting-4-gabe/341337

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!

I'll keep this post short and sweet. As many of you already know, we got our travel approval today! God is good! We feel so blessed to be on this amazing journey. Not only did we get travel approval, we also got word that Gabe knows about us now, and has listened to our voice recording. It doesn't get much better than that, pretty much a perfect day. Oh, and we get to Skype with him soon!

Check out this sweet video that Mike made, we played it at our fundraiser dinner in December.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5jwkxdhlvj5ybj2/Video%20Dec%2016%2C%209%2009%2011%20PM.mov?dl=0

Chinese New Year!

Just a few more days until the CCCWA is back to work after Chinese New Year. We're hoping to get a quick travel approval next week.  The kids and caregivers at Bethel have been busy celebrating. I'm looking forward to next year when we will get to celebrate with Gabriel.  Below is the sweetest picture we received of our little guy at one of the CNY celebrations.

We're still hoping to get the rest of our puzzle pieces sponsored before we leave next month.  Mike will be out of work without pay for more than two weeks while we're traveling. This is the last bit of funds we need for our adoption. Any donation is greatly appreciated!

Consider being a piece of our adoption story and sponsor a puzzle piece for $10

Your name will be written on the back.

You Caring link

https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/waiting-4-gabe/341337

Waiting for Travel Approval!!

Today our article 5 process will be completed and now we are officially waiting for travel approval! Recently there was a glitch in the system causing delays for travel approvals but it's fixed now so it shouldn't affect us. Next week is the CNY closure,  and I'm thinking we'll get our travel approval the week after which would allow us to leave on March 3rd. That's only 28 days!!! I can't believe it! After all the waiting we are finally so close!

We just sent our voice recordings for Gabriel yesterday and I sent pictures last week so they can describe us and our home to him. I guess they will be telling him about us soon if they haven't already. Very exciting!

*Edit* Just after I posted this I got an email from our caseworker, (it was a group email to all the families waiting for travel approval), he said that a Gotcha day of March 7th is not possible for any of us, meaning we won't be leaving on march 3rd as we hoped. Gotcha days are always on Mondays. It looks like we'll be adding a week to that, but it still all depends how quickly we receive our TA.

This is a new picture we received last week and it's one of my favorites. How sweet is that face??

Puzzle pieces are still available. If you want to sponsor a piece for $10 you can donate to our 

You Caring fundraising page.

https://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/waiting-4-gabe/341337

Thank you all for following our adoption journey, praying for us, supporting us...we feel the love!