Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

First and foremost,

a big giant thank you to each and every one of you. 

Every phone call, text, Facebook comment, prayer, the encouraging words....

we feel it all. 

We have learned that OUR joy is YOUR joy and that is why we have the best friends and family on earth.  

You have made us feel like a piece of our girl belongs to you too and that feels really good.

 

 

So, among the supportive and heartfelt comments we have received lots (& lots) of questions. 

Some of the questions we are trying to still figure out (China can be very tricky) but there are some pieces we know lots about and would love to share.

 

 Here is what we know...

 

Evie Mae (Pronounced ev-ee, with a short e) is three years old and we think she is just perfect. 

She is currently known as Fen Fen.  She lives in Zhaoqing City, China and has lived there her whole life. 

Zhaoqing City is located in the southern part of China where the spoken language is Cantonese (yes- she knows no English!)

There are about 70 kids living in her orphanage. 

These children and the nannies that take care of them are the only family our sweet girl has ever known. 

 

 

Evie was born with CHD (Congenital Heart Defect). 

Specifically, she has Tetralogy of Fallot, a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.  It happens when a baby's heart does not form correctly as the baby grows and develops during pregnancy. 

Evie has already had open heart surgery about a year ago.  Unfortunately there still appears to be an issue with her aortic valve and an unrepaired hole in her heart. 

We feel very lucky to already be in touch with a team of cardiologists and a top surgeon at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago that are up to speed on Evie's condition and are ready to intervene as soon as we can get her home.

 

 

We are doing everything we can to get our girl home and healthy as soon as we possibly can. 

We are right in the thick of a paper chase- sending out one required document after another, waiting on the next approval only to have to wait and wait and wait some more. 

We are predicting (and praying) for travel right in the beginning of March. 

We will be flying as a family of four to Hong Kong and taking a train to Guangzhou where we will stay for about two weeks.  We should have "Family Day" where we become a 'Party of Five' on about the fifth day after arriving. 

 

Our hearts are full and we see God's plan unfolding right before our very eyes. 

We know this is the path we were supposed to be on and continue to remind ourselves these things, especially through the nerves and the waiting. 

This waiting is hard stuff. 

We have completely fallen in love with this little girl at first sight.  She was totally meant to be ours and we are ready to get her home and give her the life she has always deserved.

 

 

Please continue to pray for our Evie. 

Pray for her fragile heart- that it will remain strong and fully functioning until we can get her the help she needs. 

Pray for her transition and for clarity. 

She is leaving the only life she has ever known and does not have a clear understanding of how drastically her little life is about to change. 

 

 

Again, your unending love and support has continued to make this journey a success. 

We thank you and someday our sweet girl will thank you too.

 

 



My Very Own Mother's Day (again!)

As a family, we have felt so much gratitude lately.  

Another successful school year is winding down, the weather is warming up and we are feeling settled in our new home.  

We are grateful for our growing, healthy children and 

our very supportive extended family 

(and friends we choose as family). 

Lately we have been especially thankful for the gift of open adoption and birth families, 
with whom we were able to share yesterday with.  

A real treasure.

We have spent a lot of time reflecting on the very bumpy road that led us to this place.  

These past eight years have not been easy.  

Together, we have experienced the tremendous loss of our two children and have gone through medical setbacks with Colin that have shaken us to our core.  

The road leading us to parenthood has not been easy, 

but it certainly makes the journey that much sweeter.

Sometimes I feel like Mother's Day is more like a personal accomplishment for me. 

 It's as though I have prevailed, succeeded and can taste the victory.  

I have longed and waited.  

I have cried and prayed.

I have endured and planned over and over again.   

And Mother's Day marks all of that- kind of like reassurance that I've won.

There is not an hour in a day that goes by that I'm not thankful for all of it.  

Each and every step in the process. 

 The loss.  

The grief.  

The emptiness. 

 All. Of. It.  

It has made me a better mother.  

Today marks one day closer to becoming a mother once again.  

All of our home study documents have been approved (we have 'officially' proven to be good parents) and more paperwork has been completed and shipped out to a immigration lock box in Texas. 

We can see the light!  

Our minds are beginning to focus on our baby, already born and waiting for us.

Oh sweet little one...

Our resilient hearts are determined and strong.

We will do whatever it takes to find you and bring you home.

You, too, are part of our story

You, too, will help make me a mother.

(first outfit purchase!)

Front Row Seats...

I am one lucky girl (in millions of ways) but most recently, I got to spend this past weekend with my best college girlfriends.  We have not spent this kind of time together in years.  I didn't realize how much I needed this trip,

until I got home. 

 

Our time spent together was invaluable: until the wee hours of the morning we reminisced, talked about the very best days of our lives together, laughed until our stomachs hurt and updated one another on current life happenings, including all things adoption. 

 

In these conversations, I was able to learn so much about the pieces of adoption my friends understood, and the pieces they were so hungry to learn about. 

 

The creation of this blog is meant to do just that~ update friends/family on the status of our adoption and also to educate everyone on the difficult pieces to talk about. 

 

Sometimes we take for granted the facets of adoption people are unfamiliar with.  Since we have been running in adoption circles for quite some time and have researched international adoption for years, we have learned a great deal.  We are hoping this platform is a helpful way to keep everyone informed.

 

So here it goes...

 

Did you know?

 

• We will be adopting a child with special needs.  We are unsure of what this need will be, but all children in the program we are adopting through have some sort of need that vary (cleft lip, heart defect, missing limb, blood disorders, developmental delays...)

 

• China has an estimated one million orphans.

 

 

• Today, almost all of China's orphan children have disabilities. Dozens of new cases of abandoned children are reported each day.

 

• The number of disabled orphans has grown by 30,000 to 50,000 every year.

 

• Children age out of orphanages at 14 years old. Most end up on the street, especially if they have a visible special need. Some get to stay in foster families or are able to get jobs, but there are cultural stigmas to being an orphan which can make life very difficult.

 

 

These truths about China adoption have brought up more conversation, words that have been all too familiar after becoming adoptive parents six years ago. 

 

I could never do that...

 

I could never adopt....

 

I could never be in an open adoption...

 

I could never adopt a child with special needs...

 

 

Sometimes, we have to dig deep to address these statements.  Other times, its quite easy to respond (we have had a lot of practice). 

 

So here's the thing...

 

We never thought we could either. 
We likely would have never chosen this path unless we were faced with the loss and suffering after losing our two children. 
We firmly believe that God has led us here.  We are following HIS plan for our family.  Every time we say "no", we hear him say "yes."  Each time we are faced with an obstacle to complete this adoption (space, finances, strength...)

HE has provided. 

 

Adoption lives strong in our hearts.

Although choosing the road more frequently traveled, life would be easier...safer...it certainly would not be as fulfilling. We are committed to doing our part to create
ONE. LESS. ORPHAN. 

We have learned that if we did not open our minds and hearts six years ago, we would not be sharing this beautiful life with our son (and his birth family). 
This was our path, our road, and we feel so lucky to be walking on it.

 

It's all about a simple shift in perspective. As a fellow adoptee has put so eloquently,

 

"We bought front row seats to watch Him show Himself mighty.  And though we may be weary from the journey we've said yes to, we stand gratefully in awe."

 

With your support and prayers, we can do this.

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

 



 

 

Oh The Paperwork....

This paperwork is no joke.  We are up to our eyeballs in paperwork.  We need verification from everyone under the sun, including our vet, to confirm that we are, in fact, good parents (thanks, Dr. Whittle!).  Thank you to all that have contributed to the paper trail: friends, family, teachers, neighbors. doctors, and priests- your beautiful letters have helped remind us why God called us to do this in the first place. 

The paperwork alone takes a village! 

 

 

 

We need vaccines, physicals, safety plans, fingerprints, financial proofing, home inspections, fire drills, water tests....and more.  Add these tasks to our professional life, Eric's travel schedule, and taking care of our two children- we are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. So, if we have been "out of touch" these past few weeks, please know we have not forgotten about you- we are just trying to put one foot in front of the other to get the paperwork behind us (although we hear this is just the start...)

 

 We are still considered to be in the "home study" stage of the adoption process.  Similar to our adoption with Colin in 2009, DCFS needs to inspect and approve all aspects of our life.  This includes in person home inspections and in person interviews with our case worker. 

 

So what's next? 

While finishing up our home study, we are concurrently working on our Dossier to China.  This should be completed within the next month and sent to the Chinese Consulate for approval.  From there, we will work on Immigration Approval, which takes about 3-5 months.  After all of that is complete (papers, papers and more papers) we will be matched with a child :)  We are praying for a match by October/November and hoping for travel sometime close to the new year. 

 

Please continue to keep our family in your daily prayers.  Pray for our sweet baby, who we know is already born and waiting for a family just like ours.  Pray he/she is being taken care of and nurtured and that he/she will find their way home soon. 

Thank you for your continued love and support- it has not gone unnoticed!

 

And....Happy Chinese New Year- the year of the monkey. 

Here are my two monkeys sharing Chinese candy to celebrate with their classmates.

 

 

 

 

 



We are Feelin' the Love

Wow.

We never expected so much love and support.  The Facebook messages, texts, phone calls...and the reassurance of prayers.  We appreciate all of it and will continue to keep you posted weekly on our progress.

 



We Love You All the Way to China...and Back Home Again!

Please join us in celebrating our decision to expand our family through the miracle of adoption!  We are so excited to share with you that we have started the adoption journey once again and will be welcoming a son or daughter from China, likely sometime in 2016.  We have created this blog to help keep family & friends posted on where we are in the process, as well as, provide details on the process itself. 

At this time, we are asking for your support and prayers.  As we said during our last adoption, "Life does not always turn out the way we expect it to, but it will turn out the way it was meant to."  We firmly believe that God has placed adoption in our hearts and that there was always a purpose to the tremendous loss we experienced years ago.  We are certain we are living the life God meant for us to live. 

Stay tuned for more information and updates and keep the positive energy and prayers coming our way- we will need them in the coming months!