Our flights have been booked and we are in packing mode! We are leaving in less than two weeks! I knew this day was coming...over 2 years in the making! I cannot wait to see her for the first time! Just seeing her name on her one way ticket brought tears to my eyes. I am going to be a basket-case when I see her!
I wish we had a growth update on her so we could be more certain of her size. The last update we received said she weighed 18 lbs and was 28 in tall. She's incredibly tiny. We'll have to feed her some good groceries to fatten her up and help her body to catch up. The truth is though, that she will most likely always be small for her age.
I also cannot wait to see how she reacts to Brett when we return home. Hopefully, they will grow to love one another.
Looking forward to meeting our baby girl!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Our Journey to Naeleigh
It has been confirmed! The US consulate has made a visa appointment for Naeleigh on April 22nd. That puts us leaving for China on Wednesday, April 9th! The visa appointment is at the end of our trip, a couple of days before our flight home. I put our basic travel itinerary on the blog to the right. I will add more details as we are told them. But these are the basics for now.
The tears and emotions have been flowing! Our hearts are full. This is what we were hoping for but weren't sure if it would happen. We have prayed that we would travel when God wanted us too--not when we wanted to. So I now have 2 weeks to get everything together. Thankfully, I have already been collecting items for the trip and making lists to awhile now. Here we go!
Please pray for Naeleigh's health and safety. Pray for our travel safety as well. We covet your prayers! God Bless!
The tears and emotions have been flowing! Our hearts are full. This is what we were hoping for but weren't sure if it would happen. We have prayed that we would travel when God wanted us too--not when we wanted to. So I now have 2 weeks to get everything together. Thankfully, I have already been collecting items for the trip and making lists to awhile now. Here we go!
Please pray for Naeleigh's health and safety. Pray for our travel safety as well. We covet your prayers! God Bless!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Travel Approval has come!!
I am ecstatic to announce that we received confirmation of our travel approval from China this morning! Michael and I are overjoyed! We cannot wait to meet our daughter! I am tearing up as I write this because our God is so good. I am amazed at His timing.
We are waiting to see if the US consulate has an appointment available for Naeleigh during the scheduled April trip that our agency has in place. If not, we will be going early May. Either way, this Mama will be ready. Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful news!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Happy Birthday, My Naeleigh!
My precious girl turned 2 years old today! This is a video of Brett singing to her in the car on the way to church this morning. He has such a big heart. I think that he is just as ready for her to be here as we are!
It was a difficult day for me as her mother to not be with her and tell her how much I love her. I know that somehow, God gave her a hug from us. I don't know if they celebrate birthdays in China. I'm sure it was just another day to her.
We are waiting for travel approval. It's looking more and more that we will probably travel in May. Which is what we originally planned, so that's okay. I'm so glad that God is handling all of these travel details. There's still so much to be done. We are within weeks of meeting our girl! Happy Birthday, Naeleigh!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Travel visas in the mail tomorrow!
We received our Article 5 today! I got an email at 3 AM (no, I was not awake-I saw it at 7:30) from Guangzhou, China saying that the US Consulate has processed our daughter's paperwork and it is ready to be sent for travel approval in Beijing!
That being said, it's our turn to apply for visas to enter China. Everything is coming together! It's a small possibility that we could travel mid-April. We are going to request it but we may not travel until May. It all depends on one piece of paper, the travel approval. The document I have been waiting 2 years to see!! "Yes, please come and get your baby!" If they process it quickly, travel in April---if not, travel in May. It's only one month difference and I know it will pass quickly if it does not work out. Lord knows, I have enough stuff to get together. God knows when we will be there...we just get to be surprised.
It feels like Christmas, except---you already know the awesome gift you are receiving. You just have to wait a little longer...the anticipation. Every day that passes is one day closer to bringing Naeleigh into her forever family.
I was watching the show "The Little People" the other night. They were having their "Gotcha Day" with their daughter from India. She was screaming her head off when they put her on the bus with her new family. I was watching with my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Eurell. I watched and said, "Oh, poor little thing!" My Uncle Eurell said, "Yeah, but she just won the lottery." That little girl doesn't know it yet and it may hurt temporarily; however, her life changed for the better that day. God joined a family together and her life would never be the same after that moment--and that's a good thing.
Adoption is God's plan...He adopted me when I chose to live my life for Him. The One who gave it all--His very life. He became sin, who knew NO sin--that we may become His children. There is no greater picture of love than that and there is nothing I did to earn it. Isn't God magnificent?
That being said, it's our turn to apply for visas to enter China. Everything is coming together! It's a small possibility that we could travel mid-April. We are going to request it but we may not travel until May. It all depends on one piece of paper, the travel approval. The document I have been waiting 2 years to see!! "Yes, please come and get your baby!" If they process it quickly, travel in April---if not, travel in May. It's only one month difference and I know it will pass quickly if it does not work out. Lord knows, I have enough stuff to get together. God knows when we will be there...we just get to be surprised.
It feels like Christmas, except---you already know the awesome gift you are receiving. You just have to wait a little longer...the anticipation. Every day that passes is one day closer to bringing Naeleigh into her forever family.
I was watching the show "The Little People" the other night. They were having their "Gotcha Day" with their daughter from India. She was screaming her head off when they put her on the bus with her new family. I was watching with my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Eurell. I watched and said, "Oh, poor little thing!" My Uncle Eurell said, "Yeah, but she just won the lottery." That little girl doesn't know it yet and it may hurt temporarily; however, her life changed for the better that day. God joined a family together and her life would never be the same after that moment--and that's a good thing.
Adoption is God's plan...He adopted me when I chose to live my life for Him. The One who gave it all--His very life. He became sin, who knew NO sin--that we may become His children. There is no greater picture of love than that and there is nothing I did to earn it. Isn't God magnificent?
Monday, March 3, 2014
Travel is in our near future!
Well, it has been a long time since I posted anything in our adoption blog. Here is our updated information:
We were matched with our daughter back in November. It was the happiest Thanksgiving for our family! I had just finished eating lunch and was sitting on the couch when the phone rang. I was so excited to learn that our agency had a child's file for us to review. Our daughter is currently almost 2 years old. She was born prematurely and she has a small growth on her outer ear. The Chinese actually call it "an accessory ear." It does not seem to affect her in any way. We had doctors review her file and said "yes" to her before the end of the day. Since it was Thanksgiving week, we did not have long to make a decision. It was one of the easiest we've ever made.
After your referral, you begin the wait for the LOA (letter of acceptance) from China. It can take up to 4 months to receive this letter. We got ours in just over 2! This was a huge surprise for us. Chinese New Year was coming up and all the offices in China were going to be closed for over a week. We were expecting to wait until March for our LOA. Thank you, God for this blessing!
Paperwork has really begun to fly after that! Needless to say, we are only 2 steps away from going to get our baby girl. If everything goes smoothly, we should travel sometime in May!
As soon as I can post pictures, I will. Our adoption agency has advised us not to share any of her personal information or pictures on social media until she is legally ours, which only happens after you are in China. We want to be respectful of their wishes. Sorry for the lack of information. I want to share her pictures so badly.
Until then, we covet your prayers for Naeleigh's safety and health. We pray for her every night, sometimes multiple times a day. Whenever she comes to our minds, really. As a mother, God has given me a peace about her care. Don't get me wrong---I'm such a "type A" person. I want to know everything but the fact is that I can't know everything.
However, I do know the One who is omniscient. He knows exactly what my baby is doing right now. Which is probably eating a snack since it is 10:40 A.M. in China! That's right, a 13 hour time difference...hello jet-lag!!
Well, that is all for now. The next step is our Article 5 notice and then our travel approval. Both documents can take weeks to come. We are hanging in there!
We were matched with our daughter back in November. It was the happiest Thanksgiving for our family! I had just finished eating lunch and was sitting on the couch when the phone rang. I was so excited to learn that our agency had a child's file for us to review. Our daughter is currently almost 2 years old. She was born prematurely and she has a small growth on her outer ear. The Chinese actually call it "an accessory ear." It does not seem to affect her in any way. We had doctors review her file and said "yes" to her before the end of the day. Since it was Thanksgiving week, we did not have long to make a decision. It was one of the easiest we've ever made.
After your referral, you begin the wait for the LOA (letter of acceptance) from China. It can take up to 4 months to receive this letter. We got ours in just over 2! This was a huge surprise for us. Chinese New Year was coming up and all the offices in China were going to be closed for over a week. We were expecting to wait until March for our LOA. Thank you, God for this blessing!
Paperwork has really begun to fly after that! Needless to say, we are only 2 steps away from going to get our baby girl. If everything goes smoothly, we should travel sometime in May!
As soon as I can post pictures, I will. Our adoption agency has advised us not to share any of her personal information or pictures on social media until she is legally ours, which only happens after you are in China. We want to be respectful of their wishes. Sorry for the lack of information. I want to share her pictures so badly.
Until then, we covet your prayers for Naeleigh's safety and health. We pray for her every night, sometimes multiple times a day. Whenever she comes to our minds, really. As a mother, God has given me a peace about her care. Don't get me wrong---I'm such a "type A" person. I want to know everything but the fact is that I can't know everything.
However, I do know the One who is omniscient. He knows exactly what my baby is doing right now. Which is probably eating a snack since it is 10:40 A.M. in China! That's right, a 13 hour time difference...hello jet-lag!!
Well, that is all for now. The next step is our Article 5 notice and then our travel approval. Both documents can take weeks to come. We are hanging in there!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)