Monday, December 28, 2015

How we came to the decision to adopt again

Where do I start? Do I start with my dad coming to me in a dream, telling me our family wasn't complete. Or the multitude of dreams of my dad showing me a beautiful child. Maybe it's the stranger that appeared on my Facebook page, advocating for aging out boys in China. Well, all of the above happened. I really thought it was pretty crazy to think that we weren't done yet. We have six kids, live in an average house. But I really felt the calling again. So, I secretly started looking at the almost 4,000 kids listed on Recce's Rainbow. Then, one day, my husband asked me if I thought our family was complete. WHAT!? I calmly said to him, nope, not really. He said he didn't feel like it was either.
He said he really felt it needed to be a little girl. I didn't share with him yet that I had been looking or that my dad had been showing me a little boy in overalls, so I thought. Then one day I was looking on Reece's Rainbow to look at the new listings and look at little girls. I followed a link that took me to a different page, and there she was!! The little girl my dad had been showing me!!! Her name was Clover, she was wearing red overalls, and she was beautiful! I started to cry happy tears. I started reading her story, found lying on the floor of a building just a few days old. She was sent to the hospital and later to the orphanage, where she had been the past 4 years. She had a heart condition and Down Syndrome. With my background in special education I was excited to start this new adventure. But, I was not sure Russ would be as receptive to the idea, he has had no interaction with a special needs child. I decided to just throw it out there and tell him about her and see what he thought. I showed him her picture, had him read her story. He did, but didn't say much. So I left it alone. If we weren't on the same page then it wasn't meant to be. A few days had passed, I was looking at new listings again when my daughter came into the room and asked me what I was doing. I told her about all the kids living in orphanages and showed her some of the kids. She was very interested and made comments about wanting a little sister. So I clicked to the other page where Clover was, when my daughter saw her she said that's my sister!!! I couldn't have agreed more. But, it had to be a mutual thing. I continued to keep quiet and wait, wondering if this was God's plan. Then, 2-3 weeks later, my husband calls me from work and says, I want Clover to be our daughter!! What do we need to do to get started? I told him I would make a phone call and get the ball rolling. I made a call to our agency, they were able to get her file and send it to us to review. We then submitted out LOI to China. China said yes!!! So now we are working on our homestudy and dossier. With agency fees and homestudy fees things are tighter than ever, but we know this is our calling and are following God's plan. Some days I question his plan, wondering how we will ever come up with the funds needed. I do know, we will do whatever it takes to get our little girl home. We will be doing fundraisers, asking for donations and applying for grants. Ever person that contributes will be apart of  Clover's story. If you feel it in your heart to make a donation to help bring our little girl home, we deeply appreciate it. You will be helping to get her home where she will know she was wanted and loved unconditionally by a mom, a dad, six siblings and God.





Help Bring Jazlyn Home: https://de.gofund.me/forJazlyn&rcid=b7c4183f185843a18de0cb45683fb8ad



Saturday, November 14, 2015

The kids

Saturday, November 14th, 2015

I think the kids are getting excited to meet their new little sister. Today they were all playing together and they were on their way to the Great Wall of China. They ran into a little bit of trouble in Japan, but I am hoping they make it on their journey and will stop to visit their little sister. I just love my kids and their loving hearts! I feel so blessed.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

While we wait...

What Does It Mean...the Acronyms...

CCAA: China Center of Adoption Affairs - organization responsible for all aspects of inter-country and domestic adoption in China

PAP: Prospective adoptive parent

AP: Adoptive parent

SW: Social worker

DTC: Date to China - date dossier was sent to CCAA in China

LID: Log in Date - date CCAA registered receipt of dossier

NSN: Non Special Needs - what the healthy child program is called

SN: Special Needs - “children with medical needs” program

WC: Waiting Child - new term used for older child or child with medical needs and Special Needs program

SWI: Social Welfare Institute - this is what the orphanage is called. There are often disabled and older adults living in SWI’s as well

CWI: Children’s Welfare Institute - this would be an orphanage strictly for children under the age of 16

LOI: Letter of Intent - letter issued by PAP to CCAA asking to adopt an identified WC, outlining understanding of need and care plan

PA: Pre-Approval - issued by CCAA to PAP approving LOI contingent upon approval of dossier

LOA/LSC: Letter of Acceptance/Letter Seeking Confirmation - formal approval of LOI signed by PAP’s confirming adoption of WC

TA: Travel Approval - sent to PAP when all immigration docs are ready and child is made ready by SWI

CA: Consulate Appointment - this is when the official adoption ceremony and appointments for visa & medical exam are confirmed. The travel itinerary is based on this date

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

We got PA!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Today we got an email letting us know that China has approved us to adopt Jazlyn!!
We are doing the happy dance in our house!! 💃🏽
And to top off the day, it's snowing!! For those that know me, know that winter is my favorite season. So the snow just makes the day better.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Friday, October 23, 2015. We got word from our agency today,  that they have locked our little girl's file and have sent our paperwork to China. We should be hearing from them in a week- three weeks. Oh how I hope it doesn't take three weeks. I am not patient when it comes to adoption paperwork.