Still here

Tomorrow we have our 9 month post placement visit for Caleb. It won't be 9 mos. til Jan. but the SW wanted to get it done before Christmas. Still hard to believe that he has been home this long.
His most recent thing is having to get an appliance to cover the hole that is behind his top front teeth. He hates it! But it is keeping the food from coming out of his nose and will help his speech. He had his speech eval. and will begin in Jan.
So we've just been busy with daily life and buried in paperwork and on-line education for our little girl waiting in China.
We were very excited to get our fingerprints done for immigration on Friday! It was 10 days before our scheduled appt. So hopefully it will be processed quickly. We have to have the approval letter to send with our dossier. So now I'm trying to finish up some more paperwork and will have our SW look at it tomorrow when she comes. Hoping and praying we can send our dossier to China before Chinese New Year which is Jan. 23rd. Also hoping and praying to be matched in Feb. or March, but we'll see. Many more people are waiting for girls. But Noelle Faith should hopefully be home no later than next Christmas. Our hope and faith is in Christ. She is in the hands of her loving heavenly Father who loves her more than we do. But I am getting anxious to meet her and to travel to China again. It is like giving birth, after a few months you get anxious to do it again!

6 mos. home

Its hard to believe its been 6 mos. since we have brought Caleb home from China. In some ways it has gone by fast and in others not so much. We endured severe illness in our whole family for the first month we were home. Then soon after recovery Caleb had his first surgery. It took a month to recover from that. Then summer was getting used to life with a toddler. School kind of got off to a rough start with finding a new routine and how to involve and keep a toddler occupied. Fall has been busy with activites, including family camp, a trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium, starting the adoption process again and another surgery. Whew! So now for Caleb we have a hearing screen and Speech evaluation lined up in the next couple of weeks. So I think life is giong to get busier as I'm sure we will have speech twice a week. But probably no more surgeries for a couple of years.
Yes, it has been hard, yes it has been good. But it was meant to be from the beginning of time. In the hard places is where we seek and find God the most. I feel that I am learning that in each area of my life. But how can I not do what God calls of me to do just because it is hard?! How can I just sit back and live and enjoy the American Christian life? I don't think that is what God wants. ( Yes, I am reading the book "Radical" right now! :) )
Austin and Naomi love (most of the time) having a little brother and are looking forward to having a little sister. We are planning on taking Naomi to China with us this next time. She is very excited. Hoping to have our homestudy off to immigration very soon. Things have kinda gotten held up this month. So our paperwork will most likely not be to China by Christmas like I had hoped, but hopefully soon after as Chinese New Year is Jan. 23rd.
Very excited about attending Steven Curtis Chapman concert in Roseville next week, spending time with family and then getting to go to Tahoe for 2 days with just my bunch. Looking forward to going somewhere that it is actually FALL!

Toddler boy in the house

Yes I have a very busy little boy about the house, so blogging is on the backburner. He is very comfortable here now and is testing everything in a good and sometimes not so good way. He tries to repeat everything we say, is learning his letters and sounds and numbers. He loves figuring things out and TOTALLY understands what we are saying. He is very smart. I've decided he will be able to teach A and N Algebra in a few years! :)
This Friday is surgery day. He will have his nose and lip worked on. We appreciate prayers! It shouldn't be as hard as the last one, but I'm not sure if he will just be scared about being in the hospital again. Hopefully he will only have to stay one night. Rod still had some family leave so is taking a week off, praise God! My freezer is full of food, homeschool is going pretty well, so hopefully his recovery won't be too bad. Then coming up we have a hearing test, just to make sure he is hearing ok before we start speech. Have a speech evaluation in Nov., and a dentist appt. for cleaning and for fitting of an appliance to cover the hole behind his front teeth. We thought that could be repaired now but it has to wait.

For baby China girl we had a yard/bake sale this last Sat., did ok. God is again just providing a little at a time, and we are so thankful. The frustrating part of the adoption process begins again. Thought we would get our I-800A sent off soon ,but it will be a couple more weeks. So our paperwork will not be to China by Christmas. :( But still hoping to travel by this time next year, we'll see. I'm going to try so hard this time to "wait better". I am busier so that helps a little.

Somethin' CRAZY

I so wish I knew more about computers. Its very frustrating when things won't work the way you want them to! I tried to link the above post, but it wouldn't allow me to post it or save it. And the last couple of times I've blogged it won't allow me to post, only save it then I can post it. Very frustrating for the non computer task oriented person! Anyway go to the link, great post! I am not great with words so I love stealing others peoples words especially when they speak my heart!
ANYWAY! Yes we are "paper pregnant"! Are we crazy? Probably! Is it worth it? Absolutely! (Don't think I would have said this on Monday though! :) )
We are expecting a little girl from China 0-18 mos. with the Bethany waiting child/special needs program. Her name will be Noelle Faith (Chinese name). At this point we are planning on Naomi going with us to China and she is very excited! It will probably be about a year from now. So far paperwork is going a little faster since we are using the same organization. But word on the street is that immigration is taking 2-3 months! UGH! Our homestudy should be completely done by the end of Sep. then we can apply to immigration. Praying we can get our dossier to China before Christmas! Please start praying now with us!

New phase of life

Summer always flies by, I never get everything done I want, but I guess I never really ever do...So I guess blogging wasn';t at the top of my list. I've been busy following others adoption blogs. Including the one about my new niece coming home soon from Russia!
Had 10 pounds of "pregnancy weight" to lose, lost only about 4, but will keep working at it. Adoption is hard on the body in different ways...
Can't believe Caleb has been home for 4 months. In some ways it has been long, other ways it has gone by fast.
We went to the surgeon last week, his palate looks good. We thought the dr. had said he would fix the hole still in the front of his mouth behind his front teeth this Fall. But either we didn't inderstand him right or he didn't mean to say that. Because that hole really needs to be bone-grafted along with the spaces on the sides of his two front teeth. And that can't happen til around age 8. There will be too much growth to do that type of surgery now. It makes sense but is a little disappointing as he still has food come out of hi nose at times. But the dr. said it should get better or we can put some type of appliance up there. So the nest surgery will be to repair his lip and nose, make it look at little better. It will be on Oct. 7th. The surgery shouldn't be as hard or as painful for Caleb. It will just be interesting to see if he is traumatized by being in the hospital again.
We are starting school tomorrow. So we will see how this works with a new toddler in the house. Hopefully my schedule on paper will work out in real life. He is certainly acting like a 2 year old, lots of fits. But is also a joy and very happy. He is still eating a lot!!
Rod is on vacation Sep. 5th-18th. We are going to homeschool family camp at Hartland Sep. 5th-9th. The older kids are really looking forward to it. Hopefully Caleb will do well also. It has certainly changed things having a younger child, but it is good, just different. I can't imagine missing the blessing of him and all I have learned in the process and my new passion for all orphans.

God’s Provision in Impossible Situations

God’s Provision in Impossible Situations
God's faithfulness and clear provision is so much a part of our story too! Our faith was stretched but we have also grown so much! I am forever ruined!

A Mother’s Heart

A Mother’s Heart
AWESOME!

John Piper Interviews David Platt

John Piper Interviews David Platt
WOW!

Article: Functioning Community - No Greater Joy Ministries

Article: Functioning Community - No Greater Joy MinistriesLove this article. THIS is exactly what we are struggling with! And now having an adopted Chinese son, also finding community for him.

Father to the fatherless

I almost started crying on the way to church today as I thought about celebrating Father's Day. Of course I was excited to be a new mom on Mother's Day, but I think I was still in a fog having just come out of a month where everyone was extremely ill!
Anyway, but I also think it just hit me harder as thinking about God as our heavenly Father. How He is a father to the fatherless. He was there when Caleb was left by his birth mom near a children's hospital , to be found and given the medical treatment that he needed. How my husband has become a father to Caleb. How God had it planned all along. How Caleb now has the chance he might not have had to know his heavenly father. How awesome!
I also thought of those who do not know God, who do not have that relationship with Christ, the only way to the Father. How they are truely fatherless, for eternity.
What will you do about the fatherless? About the 150 million orphans in the world? About the millions that need a heavenly father even more than they need an earthly father?

A bag of chips

Well we have made it through Caleb's first surgery. It has been rough. I cannot imagine the pain he is in! Both sides of his mouth cut and raw, plus 50 stitches in the roof of his mouth. He was totally freaking out by the time I got to him in recovery. I didn't expect it to be quite so bloody, it wasn't tons, but enough. I'm sure the nurses hope I would calm him down. Its obvious that he is adopted but they didn't know I had only been his mommy for 8 weeks. He finally fell asleep on my chest while we waited a few hours for a room. It felt like having a newborn as I didn't get much sleep. But there was lots of good bonding as I held and rocked him a lot. He had to spend 2 nights in the hospital mostly for pain control and he had to be able to drink a certain amount on his own.
Being home now a couple of days it is still a bit rough. He must hurt mor ewhen he lays down as he wakes often from his nap and at night. He is not eating much and drinking a little. But he is playing and getting back to "normmal" a little bit. His dad and brother and sister are gone this weekend and although it makes for a quieter house, I'm sure he misses them. But God knew this was best, but I could have used my husband last night as he would not go to sleep and I was done! Remember I'm the one who had been in the hospital with him! But today is better.
Ok, so for the bag of chips...While Caleb was in recovery Rod and I went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. We got a sandwich and chips, Stacy's pita chips, and I got a bag of cinnamon and sugar chips for a snack later. Later on that afternoon as Caleb lay asleep on my chest, Rod had just left and we were still waiting for a room, I ate my chips. I finished and set the bag down. The date caught my eye, Sep. 20 2011. Well Sep. 20th 2010 was the day we were matched with Caleb. So even though it was just a bag of chips, it was so surreal to think back to a year ago, this journey we have been on and to now have my son asleep on my chest, who just had a desperately needed surgery. WOW! I couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been like. Not that we are some kind of heros or anything. Just trying to be good parents, raise Godly, God-fearing children, and follow after God's heart. Yes, he was an orphan, yes we did "rescue" him. But all this is to bring God glory. God has a purpose for this little boy, even his special need, even in his abandonment, to bring Him glory. God purposed all of it!

Caleb's surgery

Our appt. last Tuesday with the surgeon went great. We really like him! He would have done the surgery that day if he could have! In the U.S. a baby with a cleft palate would have had it repaired at around 1 year of age. We knew that and had hoped and prayed for surgery this summer so we can then start speech therapy. The Dr. thought he could even do the surgery that Wed. or Thurs. but he wasn't sure of his schedule and we had plans to go to the cabin in Shaver. It turns out the only thing he had available was Tues. the 7th. He said he would squeeze us in, work overtime, do whatever he had to do. WOW! Again, be careful what you pray for! Did not expect it to be this soon, but so thankful. The next phase of our journey in bringing this precious boy home. So now just trying to get things done, get ahead, get prepared. we will not find out until Mon. what time we have to be there. Kind of annoying for this planner...Caleb will have to spend at least one night in the hospital, I will stay with him. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and he won't have too much pain. I think it could be rough for a week or two.
Also another wonderful thing is happening on Tuesday. My brother-in-law and
sister-in-law will be meeting their new daughter in Russia that day. Her story is absolutely AMAZING! Check it out on themommymap.net!

She Wears Skirts-What Guys Think About Modesty

She Wears Skirts-What Guys Think About Modesty
Something I'm very passionate about!

Finally back!

We have been home from China for 5 weeks, although it seems much longer than that! We are FINALLY all healthy, praise God and praying we stay that way for a long time! I feel like I'm getting my head above water and figuring out our new normal. I even finally got to make bread yesterday.
The older kids are great with Caleb and sometimes they love on him "too much" and he gets tired of them picking him up. But they are great in helping to take care of him and play with him. It is SOOOO much easier to have a toddler with older kids around! So go ahead and adopt a sweet little boy from China, there are HUNDREDS just sitting and waiting for their forever families, seriously!
We have had issues with adjustment and have been working on setting boundaries but things seem to be going well. I'm sure we will continue to have adjustments, just like with any new baby. It has been hard to pick up on schooling again, especially when everyone was sick and it now being the end of the school year, although we do school in the summer. So I think in the Fall will be another big adjustment as we start a new year with new activities and such.
Caleb has his surgery consultation on the 31st, also our wedding anniversary. Praying that he can have his surgery done this summer when our schedule isn't so busy.
I feel like I've had so much more to say these last weeks, but have been busy getting back to life.
This journey has been incredible! Incredibly hard at times and incredibly wonderful. It is still so hard to describe what a faith journey this has been and I'm sure will continue to be. My faith has been stretched and increased. These last weeks I've had to learn to take one day at a time, which is hard for this planner. God has provided in so many ways, it is amazing!
We appreciate all the prayers and encouragement and everyone who helped in so many ways! You are part of this story too!

Everyone bites the dust...

Was great to have my parents and one of my sisters and a dear friend at the airport to greet us. So wonderful to hug our kids and have them finally meet Caleb face to face. Really have no words to describe...Certainly feels good to be home. Felt longer than 2 weeks. Have survived almost 48 hours back at home. All but Rod are now on antibiotics, which I don't like, but gotta do it this time...But still managing to get unpacked, do laundry, etc...
The first day things went really well. Caleb really loved playing with Austin and Naomi. And they have been great helpers. It is so great to have older kids now to help with a little one! Makes such a difference! So have a couple kids then wait a few years and have a couple more! My dear sister-in-law brought us dinner, Mexican food and fresh strawberries, it was awesome! She also made some wonderful pesto sauce which we had on our pasta tonight. So Caleb got to meet another aunt and uncle and 5 of his cousins. Also papa Freeland came, Booma Freeland was sorely missed. It does feel empty with out her.
Didn't get out of bed until 10 today. But I was up with Naomi at 3 then Austin woke me up at 7, 8 and 9. I told him tonight that he may not come into my room until after 8:30 tomorrow unless someone is bleeding or can't breathe. We got Caleb up and he was not happy. I sat with him while he rolled on the floor. I left for a minute and then he was almost under our bedskirt making a little sucking noise. He makes a little sucking noise and like to have a blanket up over his face or near his face to go to sleep. I didn't want to "punish" him as he was just having a hard time, but I thought maybe he just needs to go back to sleep, which he did until 1 pm. With the time difference and him being sick and grieving, that is probably just what he needed.
Austin and I had a dr. appt.in the afternoon which I thought Caleb would be asleep during that time as I also need to go to Target to get Caleb some smaller clothes. But Naomi played with him and he was fine the whole time we were gone, then he wanted me to hold him for about half an hour, while I was trying to fix dinner of course. But that's ok...
After dinner we went for a short walk. Caleb does scream if you take a toy away or something else he really wants. We will have to work on that soon. But for a little while we need to give him what he wants, most of the time, so he knows we will meet his needs and he can learn to trust us, feel secure and attach to us.
Feel bummed we will probably have to miss Easter service at church, as Easter is a glorious day! Certainly seeing Easter in a different light this year. "God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ...and it gave him great pleasure...He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son..."Eph. 1:5,7 WOW! So blessed and thankful!

Sitting in Seattle...

I'm going on 30 hours of being up with no sleep, let's see if I can write anything coherent! Spelling will probably be bad! But what else do you do an in airport with free internet access and a very long layover? Blog of course! Maybe I can get the pictures up that wouldn't work.
It is now 10:20am in China, Caleb is in his stroller asleep, poor guy!
This morning was rough! We were kind of late getting to the airport. Our guide really had to weasel her way to get us all checked in quickly. So I was very sad and disappointed to not really get to say last goodbyes. But I'm sure there are a few people who we will really stay in touch with and maybe evedn visit. Caleb screamed from the time we were in line at the airport and most of the first flight. Needless to say I've had trouble with bonding today. But Rod has been so patient with him and me. He is so excited that Caleb is a citizen now and ALL the paperwork is behind us. But be sure and ask him just how much paperwork he actually did! Then on our flight from Beijing to Seattle he fell asleep even before we took off, slept a couple hours while Rod and I watched "True Grit". Then he was up a few hours then slept 5-6 more, so that was great! And he has done pretty good since we have been in Seattle. We desperately tried to get an earlier flight, there just weren't any. Why in the world is Fresno an international airport? Oh well...Had a taco salad for dinner. It tasted soooo good!
Our poor little girl at home is still so sick. Can't wait to get home to her and the other young man also. Now Caleb has a rash on his face and some kind of eye infection. So I got him a Dr. appt. tomorrow afternoon at 4, hopefully I will be out of bed by then. So I guess the Freeland house will just have to be quarintined for a few days...But I'm praying I can go to church for Easter. I would be very sad to miss it.
Picture of the market we went to, pictures don't do it justice! It was quiet an expereince! Thos e who live near us will have to see Rod's video.
The other picture is the famous "red couch" photo for those who have adopted from China.
About an hour and a half until we leave Seattle and Rod wants his turn on the computer. Thanks for all your prayers and comments and reading about our journey!

Leaving China

I was almost done with this whole long post, then it disappeared! So frustraing!!!
So now I have to try and reemeber everythig I wrote and I should be in bed as I have to get up at 4:30AM! Please pray for us as we have an EXTREMELY long day tomorrow. We leave the hotel at 5:30am, fly to Beijing where we have a 5 hour layover, then fly to Seattle where we have a 9 hour layover. We are supposed to arrive in Fresno around midnight. We will be doing 2 days in 1 day. I can hardly wait!
We did go to the market today, I'm so glad we did. It was really cool especially for our last day to really be "in" the culture and feel more like foreigners instead of just being in the tourist area. It was like an extreme Winco. ANything and everything you could ever want in bulk. Except I don't know what most of it was. I did see lots of dried herbs, animal hooves/legs, snake skin, dried frogs, live turtles, live scorpions (they put them in soup and they were big!), rabbits, kittens, ducks, baby chicks...all kinds of stuff.
This afternoon I finished up my shopping. I knew I was done when I felt like I had seen the same things a hundred times and just did not feel the need to buy anything else.
Tonight was dinner with our whole group. It is sad to be going our separate ways.
After dinner Rod wanted to walk by the church one more time. There is a Christian church right by our hotel (registered of course). It has a gate around it and we were just standing outside the gate lokking at it. A nice man started talking to us in english and invited us in. They were having choir practice. They had prayer and Bible reading first, then we had to leave when they were still warming up. But it was so cool to be sitting inside a Christian church in China. Now I have a specific one to pray for.
So we are at the end of this part of the adoption journey, its hard to believe. All the paperwork, waiting and waiting, frustration, joy, anticipation, so hard to describe.
So blessed that we have been able to do this. We are so thankful for everyone who has prayed for us and helped us in so many ways along the way. Thank you is just not enough!

Guangzhou

It is soooo nice here! White Swan Hotel is wonderful! It is much more peaceful here and relaxing. That is why I havn't been blogging, I have been shopping! Also yesterday I wasn't feeling well, but better today.
Yesterday we went to a folk art museum. Its was really neat and very different than what we have seen in the other two parts of China we have been in. The first picture is the front of the building. Pictures of course don't do any justice to all the carving and architecture. Then there is a picture of us standing in front of bamboo. And a picture of a huge ship carved from animal bone.
Tonight we went to the same Chinese place we went last night with the whole group, tonight we just went with the family we were with in Wuhan and another couple we have been hanging out with a lot who got twin girls that are soooo adorable! One family lives in Michigan and one in Indiana. We may have to take a road trip!
Today we had our consulate appointment. It went pretty well, just kind of long for the kids to be there, along with the long bus ride there and back. No cameras were allowed, nothing really to take a picture of, but just really neat to stand there with about 20 other American adoptive families and take the oath for your child, pretty cool! Yesterday Caleb did great, no fits. Today he made up for that.
Kind of going out of order in the day...
This afternoon went shopping while Caleb and Rod took a nap. Caleb is still sleeping and eating good. We'll see how that goes when we get home.
Can't believe we just have one day left. Very anxious to get home to our kids and own house, getting tired of the hotel room. But sad to leave China, having a good time here in Guangzhou, and saying good-bye to our new friends.
Its hard to believe it will be almost Easter when we get home. I think it will have a new and different, even deeper meaning for me this year.

Ok, so here is a pictur eof the orphanage and the other two we are at the Yellow Crane tower in Wuhan. It was pretty neat.
Caleb made it through his first lfight, he did great, he just ate the whole time! Then he screamed most of the way to the hotel from the airport, about 45 min.
This morning we had to get him visa pictures and a medical exam, it went well. Then on the way back we stopped at Starbucks, YUM! It is actually a little more exzpensive than in the US.
It is very nice here in Guangzhou. The White Swan hotel is wonderful. We are right next to a river, kind of on an "island". It is much more peaceful and quiet here. Very nice change of pace! Nice areas to walk around in, lots of shops. Can't wait to go shopping!
Its been grea to meet back up with the rest of our group and see everyone's babies. Plus at this hotel there are lots of other adoptive families. So amazing! Each one has a special story.
Off to a meeting now...

Orphanage visit

I was still able to go to the orphanage while Caleb took a nap. We took a taxi, it was crazy! You would think there would be soooo many accidents but I have only seen one the whole time we have been in China, I found out on the way I would be taking a taxi back to the hotel by myself, yikes! Our guide was taking the dad and his tow teenage sons (the family we have been hanging out with)for a boat ride on the Yellow river. It was scary but I survived. Not able to upload a picture right now, will keep trying...
We got a tour from the director, so didn't interact with the kids like I thought we might. But I did get to pass out suckers to one classroom of severely disabled chldren.
The babies crying in a couple of rooms was sad. I wanted to hold them. I was very glad I went. Was neat to see but also sad. The orphanage DESPERATELY needs special nipples for the cleft lip/cleft palate babies. Our son was fortunate to have one, but now they are all out and can't even get them here. So if anyone would like to help in this way I want to try to send a box of them soon after we get back.
We are doing great today so far.

Unconditional love

Another layer of understanding this process for me and him...he started crying as we were getting ready to go down to breakfast, crying uncontrollably. I had to bring him back up to the room. He rolled around on the floor, at times wanting to touch my hand or for me to hold him and then pushing me away, sometimes both at the same time.
But for heave's sake, I'm his 4th mommy! He doesn't know that he is stuck with me forever. That I will never leave him. We found out he had actually been in two foster homes.
I had a bit of my own grieving too. I can't fix this or take it away. I have to walk through it with him. Another picture of God. How we reject Him, turn away from Him, then cling to Him. Yet He is always there, always loves us no matter what. He understands! He had to abandon His own son, so that He could adopt me! Was it a huge sacrifice, was it hard, was it messy? ABSOLUTELY! But was He still in control, was He still right there? OF COURSE!
Please continue to pray for us!
Rod went to a museum with the group and we stayed here. It has been better with 2 bottles and lots of snacks, TV on.
This afternon during his nap I may go to the orphanage. Caleb only spent about 2 weeks there. But I still feel drawn to go, to better understand the plight of the orphan. And even if we come back here, I don't know if I will have another chance. It might do me in, but feel like I want to/need to do it.
Got to talk to our kids. Starting to miss them more. One more week til we go home.

1st 24 hours

Here is the picture of us meeting him.
We have ALL made it through the first 24 hours of having Caleb in our lives. I slept well last night but feel kind of tired. He slept well last night and easily went down for a nap this afternoon. I may join him... I'm still waiting for the "storm" to hit and trying to brace myself. But he is eating well, seems happy and is having fun playing with the toys we brought him.
This morning we had to go back to the adoption center and have a short interview and go over the paperwork I filled out last night. All this paperwork will then be notarized and will be our adoption certificate. So it was pretty much finalized today. Still hard to believe! I thought that he or some of the other kids would have a lot of trouble going back to the place we picked them up yesterday but there were 6 families there today and all the kids did great!
After we finished there we went to a grocery store. We got Caleb a couple of little books in Chinese and they have the english word for the item also, water and of course I had to get a couple of things from the bakery. I chose a couple of different bread to have with our "Ramen noodles" for lunch. The bread were good but very different from American breads or the breads I make. But I had some bread this morning that tasted like banana bread.
It has been raining here today. We may venture out for dinner tonight since we ate at the hotel restaurant last night. Things are pretty cheap here for us, but for them it is expensive. Inflation keeps getting higher and they have a 63% tax rate. I will never complain about ours again!
We are really enjoying getting to know and spending time with the other Bethany family that is here with us. They brought their 2 teenage sons and 3 1/2 year old chinese daughter with them. Their sons are great and have taken pictures for us and are great with all the little kids. Very nice family. They live in MI, I think in Grand Rapids.
Well I think I'm going to reat a little while I have the chance. I'm sure everything is going so well because of all your prayers! Thank you for your love and support!

Last day in Beijing

Today the sun was out, blue sky and windy. The wind blew a lot of the smog away. We went to the Forbidden City, Tiannemin Square and on a tour in the Hutong district where we rode on rickshaws. It was really neat. My favorite thing we have done. We actually got to go into a residents house and he talked to us and we got to ask him questions through a translator. His oldest son is a Kung Fu instructor in Houston.
The Forbidden City is HUGE. We walked and walked. It was pretty crowded. Many of the structures had hand paintings on them and many pieces were covered in gold. It was build in 1420. All the buildings put together there were 9,999 rooms, because 9 was considered the perfect number.
It is also amazing when we are on the bus and just looking at so many interesting things. Tall buildings EVERYWHERE, many of them apartment buildings. The driving here is kind of crazy, its every person for themselves whether you are driving, riding a bike or walking.
This evening we had Peking duck with another couple from our group. No one in the restaurant spoke English, but we figured it out and everything we got was good.
Going to bed early tonight and hopefully get some sleep as we may not get much the rest of the trip. We have to leave the hotel at 5:30 am to catch our flight to Wuhan. There is another Bethany family that got there today. We havn't met them yet as this is their 2nd adoption and they took the Shanghai instead of the Beijing one. We will get Caleb in the afternoon. I'm nervous, excited, scared...and I don't know what else! It still seems so surreal and just unbelieveable. Who am I and what am I doing here? Please pray for us tomorrow! I know God is faithful and He will continue to be with us on this journey. Doesn't mean it will be easy, we are just trying to obey Him...

Ni Hao from China

Woo-hoo I got on here! We started out pretty exhausted on wed. morning as our flight got canceled. So mom had to pick us up and take us back home as our flight would not leave for 5 hours. I tried to sleep a little but didn't really sleep. Then back to the airport to fly to San Francisco instead of Seattle. Then straight to Beijing. The flight was long, Rod slept way more than I did. I only slept probably 1-2 hours total. But I read a lot. Couldn't put down "Choosing to See". Awesome book!
We got to China, minus one piece of luggage. It wasn't anything major, but still wanted to get it if possible. It arrived this morning thank goodness!
Yesterday we ventured out to the local grocery store. We needed to buy bottled water as you can't drink the water here. The store was pretty neat. I tried to post a picture here but it didn't work. Maybe now it did...
Then last night we went to an acrobatic show. It was pretty neat. Then had some great Chinese food at our hotel.
This morning we were up early to go to the Cloisonne factory which are hand made and handpainted items made from copper and the Great Wall. The Great Wall was crowded but very impressive! I tried twice to get a picture on here, but it wouldn't work.
It has been very interesting and neat to be in our son's birth country, just been trying to take it all in...
Tomorrow we go to the Forbidden City, should be very interesting...
Monday afternoon we will get Caleb, its hard to believe its almost here!

Its been a long Winter...but Spring is HERE!

Its been a long winter in my heart and mind. With this journey of waiting in our adoption process, among many other things...My "long winter" started back in the end of October. We had been matched Sep. 20th and were anxiously awaiting our LOA (letter of approval) that would make it really official by China saying we could have Caleb. Our silent auction was coming up the first weekend of Nov. and I prayed and prayed for it to come by then. Surely God would answer yes to that prayer! But He did not. We were SO blessed by the generousity of our friends and family at our auction, surely we would get our LOA soon. The next "big" thing I had coming up was speaking at our church's women's lunch the week before Thanksgiving. I was speaking on our adoption journey, the waiting process, God's faithfulness. SURELY God would answer yes to receiving our LOA before then, so that I could stand up there and give Him all the glory. That is the way its supposed to work right?! It was just a couple of days before I was to speak, I was feeling really down. Why hadn't God answered? Why hadn't He come through the way He was "supposed" to? Also my mother-in-law had become very sick again and was in the hospital, she would not be there to hear me speak. I was disappointed.
As I prayed and cried out to God I realized He wanted me to speak about His faithfulness, even though He had not answered in the way I wanted Him to. He wanted me to give Him all the glory, even though it was hard and I didn't really feel like it. Our LOA was dated the Monday after I had spoken, but we didn't receive it until after Thanksgiving. It was certainly a test of my faith.
We quickly got our next set of paperwork done, for it only to sit for awhile, then it was the wrong paperwork, then the wrong amount of money, then had to wait a month longer for a separate approval. Dec. and Jan. felt REALLY long.
A few days before Christmas our world really changed. My mother-in-law went back into the hospital. Christmas Eve she went into ICU, never to really wake up again. She went home to be with Jesus on Jan. 4th. We couldn't believe she would not be here to see Caleb, whom she had been waiting to meet. Our lives and the lives of her grandchildren are not the same without her. Its still very hard.
Hopes of Feb. travel were dashed. Prayed for a miracle for March, but were still waiting on paperwork.
Finally on March 14th we got the call that our Article 5 had been issued on the 11th. Now to wait for travel approval. It could be another long couple of months. Kind of at the last minute my husband and I decided to go out of town one last time by ourselves as we had gift certificates that would expire the beginning of Dec. And we have no idea when we will be able to leave Caleb. So of course now we are so glad we went and had that opportunity.
Id didn't know how to pray. Of course I wanted to travel as soon as possible and I had been praying and had others pray that we would have Caleb by his birthday. But I wasn't sure how to pray for which son's birthday to miss, because our other son's birthday is at the end of April. I also very much wanted to travel with another family I had been in contact with, and they were still waiting on paperwork. I thanked God that He was the one to decide and not me. I prayed for strength to accept His will whatever it was.
Then the unbelievable happened as you can read in the previous post. My head is still spinning at the miracle! It is something only God could have done!
Each day I have had so much to do and I'm tired, which isn't a good way to start out this trip. I'm hoping to take things slower on Monday and Tuesday, we'll see.
I still can't believe its finally and actually happening!
In this journey of joy and sadness and waiting God has been there, even though at times I felt forgotten and He has been faithful in everything, each step of the way...
"Faithful" Chris Tomlin
Faithful, forever you are faithful, father to the fatherless.
You uphold the one who feels forsaken, you are faithful God.
Faithful, forever you are faithful, lover of the wounded heart
You defend the poor and the forgotten, you are faithful God.
And I will sing to the maker of heaven and earth
God, you reign forever and your love will endure
Faithful and true is the name of the Lord, you are faithful God.
Faithful, forever you are faithful,shelter for the fragile soul.
You lift us up, you hold us together, you are faithful God.
You are there, in every season of my soul
You are there, you're the anchor that will hold
You are there, in the valley of the shadows
You are faithful God.

We are going to China!

Havn't gotten to blog lately, as usual! So we got our travel approval on the 21st. Thought for sure we would find out the next morning if we would get to go in April or May. We were still in the mountains with no phone reception. I had not slept very well, so I got up and got ready and checked my e-mail, nothing...waited all day as we drove home to hear something. They hadn't heard back from the US consulate. So had to try and sleep another night, nothing the next morning either! It was driving me crazy~! Do I start getting ready or not?! Thursday morning came. I was very anxious. I stood by the phone and prayed at 8:20, then I got in the shower. A few minutes later, the kids start screaming outside the bathroom door saying that our social worker had called and had great news! I was shaking and crying and tried to quickly finish my shower. I thought for sure we would be going, but still tried to hold myself back a little in case there was a crushing blow. So I called her back and she said "Never say never for April!" I think I just kept saying "Oh my goodness!". So we were going to leave in 13 days. Now my head was spinning! We first called Rod and work, he was surprised and very excited. The kids took turns calling other family members. Then the craziness began. I didn't know where to start, everything became "urgent". So I made a list of things to do each day, to spread it out and break it up and make sense of the places I needed to go.
God performed a miracle! I will never take that for granted. I feel very humbled. There are others that should be going in this group too, but they still wait. Especially one family I was so looking forward to sharing this trip with. We had been matched the same day and had had similar delays over the past several months, we were each others daily cheerleaders. I'm still sad that I will probably not get to meet her this side of heaven...But as I have been learning in Isaiah God's ways and thoughts are so different than what we think should or shouldn't happen. I may never understand so many of the whys, but I know form the past, from His word, and many times in my life, that HE IS FAITHFUL!

TRAVEL APPROVAL!!!

The moment I have been waiting for! Its unbelievable!!! We got our Article 5 on the 11th. We were at the cabin the 11th-13th and found out about it on the 14th. I hadn't even posted about that. So Rod and I are out of town, in the mountains, no phone reception. I had told our SW we would be out of town because I was talking to her Friday about our travel visas. So we drove to another city this afternoon and I had phone reception and a message from our SW. I had even had my sister call and check our home phone messages this morning.
So they are trying to see if we can go with the group that is leaving April 5th or
6th. that is exciting and also freaks me out! It depends on if there are any US consulate appts. left. So we will find out first thing in the morning if we go in 2 weeks or 6 weeks, beginning of May. So please pray that I can sleep tonight!
I had actually been praying for this miracle. Be careful what you pray for! I even had a vivid dream about it last week. The reason I wanted to go the beginning of April is because I would be with both of my sons on each of their birthdays. Because i SO badly wanted Caleb home by his b-day on May 1st or at least be there. But then lately I felt like I couldn't pray about whose birthday I "wanted" to miss.
I also feel torn because there is a Bethany family in Michigan who I have been emailing. We got matched the same day and have followed a close paperwork journey the last several months. Including many of the same frustrating paperwork delays!
I'm so glad that God is in charge of all this and I don't have to decide!
So my head is spinning...
We talked to our kids and they are excitied. This has been such a great journey of faith for them also! We get back tomorrow evening.
Thank you for your prayers!

Getting ready

My sisters and mom gave me a wonderful shower today and am blessed with dear friends! Was fun to get some things for Caleb. Just wish he could hurry home!
With Austin I was anxious for him to come and to find out what he was, to be a mom for the first time. With Naomi I just wanted the pregnancy over, for her to be healthy and my me to be able to eat again. This time my heart aches with longing for this child that is "officially" mine, but still is on the other side of the world. We have "had" Caleb for 6 mos. now and I thought he would be home by now. I know God is reigning and can move mountains. Its just so hard to wait. Our A5 (paperwork from US consulate in China) could be approved any day or it could be a few more weeks. Then our travel approval could be very soon after our A5 or could be 8 weeks. Please pray that it would come quickly and that God would give me supernatural peace as I know I am already beginning to feel stressed with the waiting. Pray for me to be patient and loving with my kids, to enjoy this time with them, to continue to get ready for Caleb and concentrate on schoolwork. Caleb will be 22 mos. on Tuesday. Please pray that we get him before his birthday!!!

When?

I know God is still working and still in control, still on His throne! But it feels like its been quiet lately. The last few weeks I've even felt kind of "distanced" from this whole process. Just trying not to get my hopes up I guess.
The last bit of our paperwork went to China last Friday our SW told us today. She said it could take 3-4 weeks for it to get back to the adoption agency in China. I thought it would only be a couple of weeks. So April may not even be possible now! AGH! He turns 2 on May 1st. Was so sure we would be holding him and would even be home with him before then, now we don't know. My heart is heavy...
But I need to keep focusing on what is in front of me, right now...

forgot to add...

I got distracted talking about SCC and forgot to mention the other amazing thing about the grant. It was dated Jan. 4th, the day Rod's mom passed away, unbelievable! It made me cry. Through that God tells me that He sits on His throne and is in control of every detail. One of the hardest things we have to deal with is that she did not get to meet Caleb, and for God to give us this blessing on the day she went to be with Him...I don't know how Caleb will NOT be able to believe in our awesome God.

Humbled and blessed

We did get our I-800 letter on Friday. Now we are waiting for our "visa letter" which is our government saying they will issue Caleb's visa to get into this country. Please pray with us that it comes by this Thursday as I found out our SW will be out of town all next week. So if it comes Friday or later, it will sit for a week. We REALLY want our papers to get to China BEFORE Chinese New Year on Feb. 3rd.
Our SW also had very good news for us today. We have applied for a couple of grants but had not received any yet. One we applied for is through Show Hope. It is an organization close to my heart as I have loved Steven Curtis Chapman since I was in Jr. High. When they adopted their first daughter, it got me thinking about adoption.
We had the pleasure of seeing him in concert with our kids while we lived in KS. He had his 3 youngest daughters come on stage with him. This was in the Fall before his youngest daughter passed away.
Anyway...I applied for a grant through their adoption organization Show Hope. I did not expect to get a grant as I know they are only awarded to people with greatest needs or the child they are adopting has lots of medical needs. So I was totally shocked and humbles when our SW told me we had received a grant from them. Unbelievable! I am so amazed and have been this whole journey at how God has provided for us in steps, each step of the way. We have "sacrificed" and worked hard at some fundraisers, but God has always provided above and beyond our efforts.
Love Chris Tomlin's new cd, got it for Christmas. Really love the song "I Will Follow" especially in regards to our adoption.
"Where you go, I'll go, where you stay, I'll stay, when you move, I'll move, I will follow. All your ways are good, all your ways are pure. I will trust in You alone. Higher than my sight, high above my life, I will trust in You alone...
How You serve, I'll serve, if this life I lose, I will follow You. Light unto the world, light unto my life, I will live for you alone. You're the one I seek, knowing I shall find, all I need in You alone, in You alone."

one step forward, two steps back

Just talked to our SW and I guess we found out about our I-800 early because she talked to an officer. So still have to wait for the mail, bummer! It feels like again the Dr. saying, oops its going to be another month longer than I thought.
So still hoping for March, but she said probably April.
But I want to go in March! It was feeling so close, or closer, and now it is feeling long again...

Donations

In the midst of everything I forgot to post on here about a way you can make a tax-deductible donation towards our adoption costs. James 1:27 that we are to look after widows and orphans in their distress. It doesn't say if you are "called". Not everyone is "called" to adopt, but everyone is supposed to care for the orphan is some way. Pray about how God wants you to get involved in orphan care. That is my biggest heart's desire is for more orphans to be cared for, not that you give us money, God will provide what we need.
You can go to www.thearcofhope.org which is a non-profit organization that is doing great work in caring for orphans. You can make a check out to Cadman Foundation. Please DO NOT write our names in the memo, but send a little note saying you want your donation to go to our account. The address is ARC of Hope PO Box 71201 Rochester, MI 48307 Your gift is tax-deductible. Thank you for partnering with us!

FINALLY, good news!

Ok, so I've been needing to/wanting to blog since before Christmas. But lots was going on and I was trying to work on projects during our break as I am a busy homeschooling mom.
Our I-800 paperwork did not get sent off until Dec. 21st. That was frustrating! Its like going 3 weeks over your due date and then the Dr. telling you, well you have 3 more months to go. It was really hard! We also had to pay more money because Caleb is and would be above 18 mos. when he comes home and our original paperwork said 0-18 mos. After Christmas we got notice that our paperwork was in process, so I prayed we would have I-800 (US gov. immigration approval) approval no later than the end of Jan.
Then life changes. My mother-in-law had been in the hospital in Nov. for a lung infection that she had had for over a year in 2009, and now was back. She was getting antibiotics at home, but wasn't improving really at all. She went back into the hospital on Dec. 23rd. On Christmas Eve she went into ICU. It didn't look real good, but we still thought she would get at least a little better. We never got to talk to her again as she was intubated and sedated. She really got worse on Jan. 2nd/3rd, then went home to be with Jesus on Jan. 4th. It was a very rough week last week. It is still hard, but trying to keep on going with life.
Monday we get this packet in the mail from US immigration, I was only expecting a letter but still hoped it was good news. Nope. Part of our paperwork had been returned because we paid them too much. Why do they have to send the whole thing back? I thought I might have a nervous breakdown at that point. I just needed some good news with everything that had been going on.
The next day our SW had been able to talk to our immigration officer and found out that part of our paperwork ( the more important part) had been approved and would be on its way to China! YAY! FINALLY some good news. Then we wrote another check for the correct amt. and sent the other paperwork back. So now its another 6-8 weeks to get our paperwork processed in China. But the country will be shut down for awhile for Chinese New Year, 1-2 weeks I think. So our payer now is that our paperwork will get really far before Chinese New Year and that we will travel no later than the beginning to middle of March.
In some ways 8 weeks seems like an eternity and on the other hand, oh my, only 8 weeks, I have so much to do!
Thank you for your continued prayers!