We've moved!!!

Our blogging has moved!!!
I am combining my blogs into one!

Come visit us at Heads Up Seven Up!

LID!!!!

Yea!! We have our LID - July 24,2008!
The LID is our Log In Date - this means China has our paper work!
We were told that our Letter Of Acceptance could take 3 months.
We are hoping and praying that it wont take that long!!!
We are cleaning the house getting ready for our little girl to join
our family!

Thanks for all your prayers!
Jodi Sue :)

We are DTC!

Yea! Finally! Our paperwork in on the way to China! I got a call from our agency today and Karla said our paperwork is officially on the way! We are so relieved! Some of our paperwork was close to expiring, if the Chinese Consulate had returned that it could have been another month or more! Thank you Jesus!

Karla said that it is still 4-5 months before travel time. We are hoping this is an over exaggeration! Yea!!! Prayerfully our little girl will be home before Thanksgiving!

Thanks to all of you who are continually praying for our entire family!

We hope to get an update on Jorja soon!
I can't wait to sit and cuddle with her!

What???

Can you believe this! I'm not totally clear about this but for some reason FEDEX was unable to deliver our Dossier to the Chinese Consoltate in Houston (not sure if they wouldn't deliver it or the Consulate wouldn't accept it from FEDEX.) Anyway, our Dossier sat at FEDEX for over a week!
DHL has now delivered the papers safe and sound to the Chinese Consultate. Prayerfully we will have everything okay'd and our Dossier will be on the way to China next week.

Ohhhhh, I am so ready for this roller coaster to be over and to hold our little girl!

Please continue praying for all of our kids as we prepare to grow again!

Our little girl waits so patiently!

The Waiting Child
An Adoption Poem

By Debbie Bodie

I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with him
I played pretend you'd chosen me.

I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no-one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no-one want a child of four?

I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.

Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here, you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you picked this time was me.

Copyright 1997

5 Kids!

What am I thinking?
Yesterday was so peaceful! For a few hours I only had two kids playing in the house.
Brady was at soccer (working as a referee!), and Jailyn was napping. Even DH Bryan was gone - watching Brady and other teams. Kenzie and Conner were playing computer games together. I could hear them in the other room, but no one came to ask me anything! They were quiet happy that I leave them alone and I was happy to ablidge!
The TV was off and I actually had some quiet time! WOW!!! That doesn't happen around here very often!
I enjoyed it so much I thought - I am doing the right thing - wanting a big family? Adopting another child? Four is overwhelming at times, what are Bryan and I going to do with five!
When Bryan got home I had to go run some errands, and I went alone!!! When I was done picking up a few things, I ran by the soccer fields to see if Brady was done. He had just begun a game, which a friend of ours coaches and his son plays on. I went home and got the rest of the crew and we went back to the fields to watch the game. It was so fun to have all my kids there - hanging out! Running around the fields! Playing together, laughing. Does it get better then this? Not really!
As we were playing I couldn't help but get very sad that Jorja was not with us! I can't wait to see her running around, giggling, playing with her brothers,and sisters!
I guess I am made out for this big family thing!
I believe if God gives you a calling I need to heed His call!
Though money is tight at times, and we love hand-me-downs! And we have two cars that could really be put to pasture, we need new carpet, and a new couch. I hope and pray this is not what my kids remember about me. I hope they remember that their Dad and I followed God's call and went forward in faith to add to our family! I pray they learn to do the same!
A friend of mine in college would always tell me that I was going to be a missionary in Asia. I always knew I was called to adopt children, but never knew that two of my children would be from China. Rodney, I wish I could find you after all these years and tell you how right you were!

This has been one of my favorite songs since college - God will let us know where He wants us to go! We need to trust and follow Him! Lord of the Harvest I'll Go! (I have still not been able to figure out the whole you tube and blogspot so here is the link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WN7ezuRYpA

You know you are an adoptive parent when...

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's 'real' parents.
7. You have ever been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word 'Dossier' means, and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.
14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

One step Closer

Our Dossier is on the way to the Chinese Consulate! We hope to be DTC(Dossier to China) by July 1st! From what we have heard - SN is a 3 month wait from our LID! (Log in Date) Hopefully we will travel September or October!
Jorja Noelle we can't wait to meet you!

Praise God!

I just received word that the 171-H form that we have been waiting on for almost 3 months, is finally on the way! We should be receiving it in the mail very soon! YEA!!! Mail comes in about an hour today! This may be the day! After we have receive this form we can get the rest of our paperwork done! I am doing the happy dance again!
Oh, adoption is such a roller coaster of emotions! So glad that we know God is in control and His timing is perfect!

Jorja's Province should be safe!

I have received a lot of emails asking if Jorja is okay after this earth quake in China. I have not heard official word, but her Province is quiet a distance from Sichuan Province. From one of my frequently watched blogs Rumor Queen, many adoptive parents are safe and so are their babies. Continue praying for these people!

I am putting together another care package for Jorja! I was advised to not send a stuffed animal - to hard to keep clean. The latest photos I received from a new friend, Jorja's friend's soon to be momma, Jorja is holding on to her friends stuffed animal! Every photo Jorja is holding this sweet stuffed Panda! I am so glad that she likes Panda's! If any one knew me in high school or college you will remember my room(s) filled with Pandas! Now Jailyn and Jorja's room have pandas. One is even painted on the wall. :) I did get a stuffed animal a few months ago which I can record my voice and she can play it, and hear my voice. This looked like the perfect gift for Jorja as we all wait to be united! Hopefully, it won't scare her! :)

We are still waiting on our 171-H! Can't believe how long it is taking!

Have a great day!

Our Cry!

Those in charge of our paperwork, please hear us!

New Photos of Jorja!

We received some new photos of Jorja and her friends! These were sent from another waiting mom and dad. They are waiting on the same paperwork that we are. Wouldn't it be great if we could travel at the same time to get our girls and have the same gotcha' day! That would make a very traumatic time for the girls a little easier! Of course, the airport good-byes would be horrible! But, hopefully we will be bonded a bit before the plane trip though.
We are excited that we have been in contact with the families of Jorja's good friends. We hope and pray that we can keep these friendships going! These families live in the mid-west, near Jailyn's friend Evan (from her orphanage). Hopefully, we can see everyone on our trips to the mid-west!

Still no news on our 171-H. I am trying to be patient, but every day is so important to getting our little girl home!

I hate writing a post with out posting photos too. Photos are much more fun! So, here is a photo of our two precious girls waiting for their sister!

SLUMBER PARTY FUN!

Getting Discouraged

Boy this has been a hard few weeks. It has been 7 weeks since we got fingerprinted. And we are still waiting for our 171-H!
No word so far!
I also heard that there is a rumor that there will be no adoption travel to China this summer. (probably because of the Olympics).
Though we didn't think we would travel this summer - I am worried that this will put us back even further to brining our sweet Jorja home!
"Lord, help me trust that you will work everything out! and that your timing is perfect! Lord, hold our dear Jorja in your strong arms. Rock her, hold her, protector her, let her now we wont give up getting to her and bringing her home. Thank you for blessing us with her, we just want to get her home to the family as soon as possible."


Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God (Corrie Ten Boon)

Happy Dance!

I am doing the happy dance and thankfully no one is here to see me!

I just received a call from adoption agency and yeah!
The agency just received our Permission to Adopt letter from China!

China says we can adopt Suixi Chun Yu! (otherwise known as Jorja)
yeah!
Thank you God! We are so excited to get her home!

Please pray for us and that time and paperwork will go quickly! Every
month must seem like an eternity to Jorja!
Of course, now we can send her a package and photos of her new forever family!

I'm so excited I can't stand it!

More paperwork

More paperwork finished. We thought we were okay with our birth certificates but the apostille expired, so we needed to re-order. It wasn't too painful. And there were a few nice government employees that I spoke too. :) Sometimes I wonder what just made someone so upset that they have to be so rude to the next person on the phone. Hope that lady in Chicago has a better evening! :)


Today has been a quiet day, Jailyn is sick with the flu, so I have had some down time. I keep finding myself day dreaming about our little Jorja! Is she really as shy as she looks in the few photos we have of her? Will she be able to hang with this crazy, loud family. I just pray that God is preparing Jorja to meet her forever family!

We love you Jorja!

Snow in Texas!

Jorja come home

We have been trying to educate Jailyn on the fact that at some point we will
be leaving for China and for Jorja. This is our conversation:
Mom, "Jailyn, Where is Jorja."
Jailyn, "Kina" (China)
Mom, "And what do we need to do?"
Jailyn, "Bing er ooome!" (Bring her home!")

She gets so excited when she sees Jorja's picture.
We have one on are mantel and one in Jailyn/Jorja's room, and ofcourse one in mom's purse.
Jailyn just jumps and jumps yelling, "Gorga! Gorga"
Okay so we are still working on her speech - but it is sooooo cute!!

I hope Jorja is ready for her silly little sister!

Happy Birthday to Jorja!

Though Jorja's birthday was last week - I am finally getting a chance to post photos of our little celebration! It was a really hard week for me. I miss my little girl so much! We need her home soon!

Finger prints done!

Yeah! Another step closer!
We were able to get our finger prints taken yesterday morning. We were only in the office for an hour, not too bad.
We were glad that we asked for help from friends to get the kids to school though - being there at opening really helped!
The office was really crowded as we were leaving.

Jorja we'll be there yet!

No photos

So I received advice from a few people today - they said their agencies advised them not to post any photos of the children until they get home! I guess other countries have denied adoptions because photos have been posted on the internet. I don't believe China does this, but just in case they begin too I don't want to mess anything up!
I thought about closing the blog but re-thought that too and decided that I can still discuss the process and keep y'all posted without posting photos of Jorja.
Thanks for understanding!

Have a great day!
Jodi Sue :)