In Beijing!!

We made it!!!! We are so happy to finally be here! We are absolutely exhausted. Right now, we're in our PJs in our hotel room. We took a short walk down the street to buy some bottled water, soda, and cool yet strange potato chip flavors (fried prawn flavored chips anyone)?

We appreciate all the prayers and good wishes for our journey, and for Zeke and Quilla as they stay in the US with their grandparents. We miss Z and Q SO MUCH! We can't wait to be together as a family of FIVE in a couple of weeks!!

So, the plan is that we will leave Beijing Sunday morning and fly to Zeb's province. We will get him MONDAY! We simply can't wait!!!

Ready, Set,...

We are getting so close! We fly out at 5:30am Thursday. Yikes! We have one stop before we fly out from DC to Beijing. We really appreciate prayers for our safe travels and prayers that the kiddos stay safe and healthy while we are away.

I've been thinking about sweet Zeb and how his little world is about to change in dramatic ways. I've been praying for him so often, and for each person in our family so that we all will be ready to adjust and adapt. My mom and I have both had dreams recently that his lip had been repaired. We've already selected a cleft team here in the U.S. and will make an appointment with them for early January once we arrive home. He will see our pediatrician very soon after we get back for a general health check-up.

There's still so much to do before we leave. Here's hoping we get it all done so we can sit back and enjoy the ride. I'm so thankful for the many blessings I have and for the new one we're about to wrap our arms around!

We Leave Thursday!!

Oh my goodness! It's hard to believe that our trip is almost here!! We began our journey to adopt from China in 2007, well before Zeke was even born. And now, we see the unfolding of that plan for our family and for Baby Zeb. It's thrilling!

We would appreciate prayers for a safe trip, a smooth transition for Baby Zeb, and for safety, health, and happiness for Zeke and Quilla while we are gone. They are staying with their grandparents, and we know it will be a wonderful time of bonding for all of them.

We expect to be able to update our blog while we are away. As a reminder, we will be 13 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. We leave the US on Thursday and arrive in Beijing Friday at 3:30pm.

Six Deliciously Sweet Dishes for Fall and Winter

It was lovely to celebrate Thanksgiving this week, knowing we leave one week from today for China to get Zeb. Woo-hoo!

Since everyone's thinking about food this week, I thought it would be fun to put together a short list of our favorite dishes for this time of year. We've made all of these, so you know they're not too hard and they taste great!

1. Earthquake Cake. This chocolate cake first shook our world at a tea room. If you've never heard of this dessert, you are missing out! Not only is it delicious, but it's pretty easy to make. While it's in the oven, the ingredients on top and the stuff on the bottom meet in the middle for an "explosion" of flavors. Yum!
2. Pear and Gruyere Strata. Ok, so you may not even know how to pronounce the French cheese in this dish, but it's still worth making. This dish is especially well-suited for brunch. It's a marriage of savory, yet subtle, cheese, cinnamon bread, and sweet pears. Be prepared because people will ask you for this recipe.
3. Orange Pecan French Toast Casserole. Like the strata, this is an excellent choice for brunch. It's really sweet, and is easy to make the night before and bake the next morning.
4.  Pear-Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Streusel. (Yeah, we like pears!) Seriously delicious, sweet, and crunchy, this pie pairs well with vanilla bean ice cream.

5. Not Yo Mama's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. These bad boys are so special because of the added crunch of corn flakes. Easy enough that a child can help you, these cookies take little time but have a big payoff!
6. Peanut Butter Fudge ala Alton Brown. Yep, there's a reason Alton Brown is a food rock star. Brad made this fudge a while ago and it was SO GOOD. Whip up several batches, package in some festive Chinese food take-out style boxes and give as gifts.

What are your favorite sweet dishes to make this time of year? Share the recipe or a link to it, if it's online!

Seven Ways to Bring Light to Black Friday!

I admit it. I enjoy going out to a few stores the morning of Black Friday. Most of the early morning, sit-up-all-night-in-the-freezing-cold shoppers are gone and in bed. Only a few people have emerged from their turkey coma and hit the streets before 11AM. I like drinking in the decorations (and maybe a Starbucks latte), the Christmas music, and the general jolly atmosphere that comes with being out and about, even if I don't buy anything.

In recent years, I've seen a strong outcry from some on Facebook against the consumerism that Black Friday represents. So, I want to empower you to make some great shopping choices this week. Here's a list of ways you can embrace the meaning of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons while also getting your shopping fix.

An ornament made by an adoptive dad

1. Buy some bouncy balls and blocks for orphans in China through Half the Sky for $25. You can also buy a trunk of dress-up clothes, fingerpaints, music lessons, or a preschool field trip. If none of the items on this page float your boat, you can always do a half or full child sponsorship here.
2. Help prevent children from becoming orphans by supporting Because Every Mother Matters. Fashionistas will love their Tacky 4 Africa headbands and totes. Straight up philanthropists can sponsor a mama in Ethiopia for $55/month. You'll get photos and lots of love from a mom who's learning to make a sustainable life for her and her children.



A cool shirt from Sevenly.org

3. Support a family who's adopting by buying their swag. I LOVE this Africa ornament (pictured above). We bought a couple of Africa ornaments from this family last year. They are SO CUTE. Hey, this dad even makes an ornament for China. Yeah, I'll probably end up buying it too.
4. Confession: I love to shop for a cause. Sevenly has some super hip threads, and each purchase goes toward an amazing cause. I bought shirts for Love Without Boundaries (a group that provides medical care to orphans in China) and a charity in Ethiopia that helps people who are missing limbs. Each week, a different charity is in the spotlight and the ultra cool t-shirt designs tie to the charity's mission--You only get one week to buy that charity's shirts before they are gone. I bet someone on your Christmas list would love owning a shirt that helps a great cause AND is only on sale for one week. Talk about giving something you can't buy at the local department store!
5. Because the light of this and every season is Jesus, you can be his hands and feet by supporting a mission organization. Regardless of which flavor of church you prefer, there's a way to put some dollars into a global effort to shine the light of Jesus to people who need and crave hope. The United Methodist Global Ministries and Committee on Relief have an entire catalog to help you "Rethink Christmas." Southern Baptists rock the Lottie Moon offering (named for the tiny but mighty missionary who showed some intense Jesus love to people in China more than 100 years ago).
6. Blankets, books, and bikes! Buy one of these items for a child or teen through Families in Vietnam. We love, love, love this group. Besides all the great charity work they do, they also help adoptive families stay in touch with birth families. I know the founder of this organization personally and can attest to the fabulous work they do. Bonus: Much of the work being done through this group supports families in the area of Vietnam where Zeke was born!



Photo courtesy of Springfield Little Theatre

7. Support a local theater, art gallery, or other arts venue. Ok, this may seem a little out of place on this list, but don't overlook the importance of keeping the arts vibrant in your community. Children (and adults) benefit from being involved in the arts. Just yesterday, the kids and I sat at the kitchen table and did watercolor paintings. It was the most peaceful 30 minutes of our day! Back in the spring, Zeke took acting lasses at Springfield Little Theatre, and they were a real confidence builder for him. So, you can buy a piece of art from a local artist to give as a Christmas gift, or you can buy a loved one tickets to a local theatrical production.

What are some of your favorite groups or charities you support with your dollars at this time of year? How do you plan to make Black Friday bright?

Seriously...We are getting close!!

In less than two weeks, we will have Baby Zeb in our arms. How cool is that?!?! We received our preliminary itinerary from our adoption agency yesterday. It's going to be a busy 15 days with lots of travel. Fortunately, there will be some time for a bit of "tourism" while we're there. Adoption agencies like to encourage families to get to know their child's birth country and consider these tours to be an important part of the experience. After all, who knows when we'll be back in China? Yes, someday when the kids are much older, we'd like to take them to their birth countries. But that's years from now. So, it's important for us to absorb as much of the culture as we can while we are in country. For Zeke and Quilla, we bought 18 gifts from their birth countries that we could give them on each of their birthdays. We will do the same for Zeb. It's a nice way to incorporate their birth culture into their lives. We appreciate your prayers as we prepare for this amazing journey!

TRAVEL PLANS!!!!!!!!!!

We have travel approval and plane tickets to leave the US on November 29th. We are SO EXCITED!!! We will get Zeb on December 3rd. It's hard to believe, and we know the time is going to go by so quickly.

Thank you for all the prayers, donations, and good wishes during this incredible journey. We're almost to "the finish," which really is the beginning of a whole new adventure!

So Close, But So Far

For me, waiting for Travel Approval has been the hardest part of this journey. We are so close...Once we have travel approval, we select our consulate date (there aren't very many options between now and the end of the year), and then we book our travel. We are praying with all our hearts that we will bring Zeb home before Christmas.

As of Friday, we will have waited two weeks for TA. It doesn't sound like a very long wait at all, especially compared to other steps in this process. However, when you know there are a limited number of appointments available between now and the end of the year, and they are available on a first come/first served basis, it's a very anxious waiting game.

We pray that our travel approval comes by Friday and that we will be able to travel Nov 22.

Article 5 DONE, Waiting for Travel Approval!!

Our paperwork was delivered, Article 5 and all, on Friday. Our wait is officially on for Travel Approval!! Once we have TA, we can book our consulate appointment and buy plane tickets. Oh, how I hope and pray we can travel in November!!! I have the CUTEST Santa Claus PJs for Zeb to wear in the weeks before Christmas. Thank you for your prayers!!

Also, we are going to request to visit Zeb's orphanage. It will be a long journey and adds some expense to our trip. We feel it is crucial to attempt to visit the city where he was born. We will have so few connections to his early days, and we're hopeful that visiting Lianyungang will allow us to have something tangible to share with him when he gets older. Join with us in praying that our request to visit his orphanage will be granted.

Things are Moving!

We received an update from our agency Friday. Our paperwork is at the US Consulate and will be processed so that we can receive an Article 5. If all goes well, that document, along with the last of Zeb's paperwork, will go to the government officials in less than two weeks. Wow! Then, we will officially be waiting for Travel Approval. We are PRAYING that Travel Approval takes no more than two weeks...sooner would be GREAT! Once we have travel approval, our agency will confirm a consulate appointment for us and we will travel by back-timing our trip from the consulate appointment.

And now we wait...

Zeb's paperwork arrived in Beijing Monday. That's the day we began counting down three weeks. We are hopeful and praying that it won't even take three weeks to get our Article 5, but three weeks is really the standard timeframe and there's little variance. By the end of the three weeks, our paperwork should be in the hands of the Chinese government officials. I can't explain why, but the previous documents we needed from the Chinese government came VERY FAST. We had our pre-approval in a matter of days, and our LOA a week after that. I knew that was a blessing, but I really began to appreciate it as I saw some families wait months on their LOA. So, given that our case has moved very quickly on the China side, I'm hopeful and optimistic that once they receive our Article 5, we can get Travel Approval VERY quickly. I recently heard of a family getting TA a mere week and a half after getting Article 5. Still, our agency has advised us to expect a minimum of three weeks before receiving TA. That's three weeks AFTER the three weeks we're waiting to pass now. Ugg. Please join us in praying that these time frames will not take as long as predicted. AND...the final piece of the puzzle will be securing a consulate appointment. We can't travel until we have a consulate appointment confirmed. On the plus side, we are prepared to drop everything and go at a moment's notice, so that allows us to request the earliest possible appointment (some families can't go right away for various reasons and end up requesting CA 2-4 weeks after TA).

We simply can't wait to get Zeb home! He has some DARLING Santa PJs waiting for him, so we are BELIEVING that he will be home for Christmas!

A WAY Overdue Update!

So, since I last posted, Brad has started a new job and we have moved to a new state! Fantastic! The move and new job meant we had to do an updated home study. After much prayer and work, we got the updated home study done very quickly...in about two weeks! We also received updated I-800a approval based on our new circumstances and I-800 approval, which authorizes us to adopt the specific child we want. Amazing! All that paperwork and a lot will start its journey to Beijing tomorrow. It had to sit for a week and a day at our adoption agency due to a national holiday in China.

Also, since my last post, we got new photos of Zeb, including this one!!

You may wonder what happens next. We have to get what's called an Article 5. As I understand it, the Article 5 is the official word from the US side saying we're approved to be adoptive parents and to adopt the specific child we've identified. Sounds like it would be a quick process given that we already have those approvals. But, it actually takes three weeks. Once our Article 5 is picked up, this document along with most of our other documents goes to the China government officials who handle adoptions and we wait for Travel Approval (TA). TA has been happening rather quickly. I heard from a family last week who got TA a week and a half after their Article 5 was picked up! That's great news! Once you have TA, you schedule an appointment with the US Consulate in Ghuangzhou and backtime your trip from that appointment. We are hoping and praying we can travel in November.

For what specifically can you pray? Here's the list:

1. That our paperwork reaches Beijing Monday morning without problems.
2. That our Article 5 will be issued and picked up in less than three weeks.
3. That our Travel Approval will happen VERY QUICKLY after our Article 5 gets picked up.
4. That we can get a consulate appointment VERY QUICKLY after we get TA.
5. That God will prepare Zeb's heart to meet his new family.
6. That God will prepare Zeke and Quilla's hearts to receive their new brother.
7. That God would provide Brad and I with patience, strength and energy.

I-800a Approval!! And our next move...

We are so thrilled to have I-800a approval!! WOOT!!!  After talking to our adoption agency, and having multiple conversations with USCIS, we've decided to wait to submit our I-800 (the paperwork that identifies Zeb as the child we want to adopt) until we have our updated home study and can file the I-800a supplement 3. Yes, it's crazy how many steps there are. Basically, we hope that by keeping all of our paperwork together, we will eliminate the possibility of any delays in China. Once we get the I-800a supplement 3 and I-800 approved, the paperwork shifts to the US side in China and to the Chinese government. At that point, we want everything on the paperwork to be consistent, i.e. have our new address. So, as much as I hate to wait on sending in any piece of paperwork that's ready to go, I do believe this is a wise move in the long run. Our officer at USCIS knows that we are submitting these two forms together, and she says neither will take as long as the I-800a took to get approved. They take higher priority, which is reassuring.

Still, we need to pray. First, pray that our home study update is done no later than August 23. We are hoping to have our one home visit the day after we close on our new house. Then, we hope it takes a week or less to get the final draft in our hands. Please pray that this is the case. Once we have the updated home study, we will overnight it and the forms to USCIS. Pray that they will all get approved in record time--two weeks or less. This will set us up for travel in November. That has been on my heart and I continue to pray that it will happen. Thank you for being a part of our journey to Baby Zeb!!!

Transitions

We are getting closer to making the big leap from our current city, where we've lived since 1998/1999 to our hometown. It's a very bittersweet time for us. We just had a wonderful visit from some friends of ours who were at the airport for Zeke and Quilla's arrivals to Springfield. We just love them and I'm sad that they will not be at the airport when Zeb arrives. They have been such a precious part of our journey, offering prayers and support, throwing us a baby shower at church. This is why we say it feels like we're leaving family here to move closer to family.

On the Zeb front, we are getting closer to having USCIS approval of the I-800a. We're not there yet, though. Also, our agency is going to see if we have to wait until after we move, get the home study update, and have an update I-800a approval before we can file the I-800. We hope we DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT. Will you pray with us that there will be no hold ups in Zeb's adoption as we make this transition, which we believe is in the best interest of Baby Zeb?

One final thought: Please consider joining the effort to Save the Federal Adoption Tax Credit. The tax credit allowed us to get back part of the money we invested in Zeke's adoption, enough to begin the process to adopt Quilla. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of this year. PLEASE pray with us that it will get renewed and get active in advocating for its renewal in Congress. Click on the link at the beginning of this paragraph to learn more about how you can get involved in this critical issue that makes it possible for so many orphans to have homes.

Exciting News!!

First, on the adoption front...we continue to wait on immigration approval. Ugg...It's really slowed down and that's so frustrating!!

On the family front, we are MOVING!!!  And we're going back to Tennessee!! I say back to Tennessee because we will be living in the city where Brad and I grew up. We will have grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and much more for the kids to enjoy right there in town. Brad is taking a new job and he's very excited about it. We are moving before Zeb comes home because it will be so much easier to focus on meeting his medical needs (i.e. surgery) if we are not also trying to worry about the move at the same time.

We've been praying about getting back to Tennessee for years. We're thankful for the way so many details are coming together! We're especially happy that the transition is not expected to slow down our adoption. We are working closely with our adoption agency to ensure we do everything necessary to keep things rolling along!!

Fingerprints are DONE!

We drove four hours to the USCIS field office last Friday and they graciously agreed to do our fingerprints, even though our appointment wasn't until July 2nd. We received an email from USCIS yesterday saying they will note in our file that the fingerprints are done, but our file is not yet up for review. We're praying it comes up for review this week. We will keep you posted! We just continue to pray that the paperwork will move at amazingly fast speeds. We want to get Zeb home!!!

In the Wait

So, now that we are waiting and the process is moving forward again (as opposed to just waiting for the home study to get done), how do we pass the time? Well, we're planning a road trip to visit grandparents this summer. That will be a great chance to have fun and see the people we love. Also, there's more paperwork to get done. While we wait, we're doing paperwork for the next phase. The same day we get the approval for which we're waiting now, we will have a FedEx envelope on standby so we can overnight the next round of paperwork to the USCIS office. We don't want to waste even a single day! Thank you for all your support. It means so much on this long journey!

Home Study Done and I-800a Filed!

I feel like the clock is ticking again!! We got our home study yesterday and overnighted it and the other documents to the USCIS office. It arrived there this morning. We are really hopeful we will be able to have our fingerprints done in just a couple of weeks. And we are PRAYING that we get approval of our I-800a in a matter of days after the prints are done. Please keep praying for things to MOVE ALONG!! We continue to get donations and they are right on time. Various payments for paperwork, fingerprinting, and post-placement reports are coming due. Thank you to everyone who has helped us on our journey to Zeb!!

Cleft Feeding Resource List

Feeding a baby with unrepaired cleft lip/palate will be new for us. We're still learning. Missy is on a Yahoo group for families who have adopted or are waiting to adopt a child with cleft lip/palate. One of the mothers there posted a list of bottles and cups that work well for these babies/toddlers. So, you can check out the list here. We're trying to figure out how best to meet Zeb's needs before and after surgery. We're also making progress on finding a cleft team to treat him once he's home. We're learning toward the hospital where Quilla had surgery. We've heard lots of great things about the surgeons there.

Home Study Countdown

We received an email from our adoption agency today indicating that they had signed off on our home study! Hooray! This is great news, but the home study still has to get approval from the home study agency itself. (Really, you never knew how MANY hoops there were for an adoption, did you?) The home study agency approval is the last step before we get the final, notarized, signed, dipped-in-chocolate-and-covered-in-sprinkles home study. That same day (maybe later this week?), we will overnight it along with some other paperwork that's ready to go to the appropriate USCIS office. Now, a good friend of mine who just went through this part informs me that the wait for USCIS to respond and issue a fingerprinting appointment is fairly quick...about two weeks. So, please pray that all goes well as we move on to the next steps. We've been so pleased with how quickly everything has gone so far...here's hoping the next part moves along too!