Finding Ad

    In Ch*na, a finding ad is placed in the newspaper when an abandoned child is found before they can be adopted. It's my understanding that the ad runs in the newspaper for a month to see if anyone comes forward who has information about the child and the parents. The photo is usually the first one taken after the child is found, and the ad says where the child was found. Research-Ch*na.org has a list of provinces and municipalities for which they have newspapers with finding ads, and adoptive parents can order the ad for their child on that website. They will let you know if they have it by email before you send any money. We just received our daughter's ad. It's the earliest picture we've seen of her and the translation of the article says that she was found in a train car. From what other adoptive parents tell me, this picture and newspaper will be very important to her when she's older. I'm so happy that I was able to get it.
     Brett is now in London and having a great time!  I miss him, but I'm so excited for him to have this opportunity to study abroad!

Surgery Update!

We got a surgery update today! They said the surgery went well, and they will send us a picture next week to show us. They sent me the surgery report, but it is in Ch*nese. They also said that she weighs 22 pounds still, which concerns me.  She is 84.5 cm tall and her foot is 13 cm.  That is extremely tiny for a child who will be 4 in February.

Snow Days

Having moved here from South Mississippi, we are not accustomed to snow.  My boys had a great time playing in it.

Moving Right Along!

     Today, I got the vet letter saying that Katey's little dog won't pose a threat to a child.  After that, Katey and I went to the doctor because she is required to have a physical, too.  I hate putting her through that, but because she's here on weekends and her driver's license has our address, we have to get all the clearances and paperwork done for her, too. It was too late to change her address to her apartment address.
Anyway, for some reason, two of my children do not have good veins for drawing blood.  It's always an ordeal!  They stuck her hand 3 times today and did not succeed in getting a drop. We are going back tomorrow.  Brett is also getting checked out by the doctor, since he is leaving for London in a week. They told her to drink lots of water, and they're going to try running her hand under warm water.  They absolutely cannot find good ones in her arms.  Hopefully, they will succeed tomorrow without digging and sticking more than once.
     We have everything together for the homestudy to be completed now, except the reference letters and the Mississippi clearances and the physical form for Katey. Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Iowa, and Kentucky have all sent their clearances.  Once we get this physical done for Katey and those things arrive, hopefully, we'll be able to file for USCIS approval! When that arrives, we can send our dossier to China!  I'm anxious to get everything done!! I need to build a timeline of everything so that others can reference it.  I'll work on that in a day or two.
    Brett has several friends from college coming to visit for a few days. I'll be praying for their safety driving up here with this weather.

New Year and Lack of Surgery Update

I wish for everyone a very, blessed New Year and new decade!
I was thinking about the last decade last night and how fast it passed on by. Katey was a teenager when 2000 came in and now she is 24 and working on her Phd in Math. Brett and Cade have grown into teenagers and young men during the decade. Brett is 19 and majoring in Premed/Biology and about to head off to London for a semester. Cade is 15 and in high school at our new town. Although sometimes I miss them being little, I love who all three of them have become, and I look forward to seeing what the new decade will hold for each of them. I think they will be awesome role models for their little sister, Raeanna.  She will be a very loved little girl!
I haven't updated this week because we haven' heard anything else from Ch*na.
We got the email, saying they had received the package and that our daughter was " in the hospital awaiting operation."  I emailed them back and thanked them and told them that we are anxiously awaiting an update, but NOTHING!  We haven't heard anything at all from them! I thought that since they were so nice to let us know she was getting the operation and that they had gotten the package, surely they would let us know how she is after the operation!  It's possible they will only send that information with the official update to the agency.
In the meantime,  I'm busily trying to complete my paperwork and gather the rest. Hopefully, we'll get all the forms back and the reference letters this week, so our homestudy can be finished and we can apply for our I-800A!

Merry Christmas!

     We're in Mississippi for Christmas!  It's wonderful to see familiy and friends!
We got an email today, saying that Raeanna had received her care package!  I can't believe she got it in time for Christmas!  The post office said it would get there December 28th, but it arrived on the 24th.  Great timing!
    Yesterday, our agency called to tell us that the orphanage wants to do surgery on Raeanna's hand. They needed to know if we wanted them to proceed.  We decided to give the go ahead, and in the email we received to let us know she had gotten the package this morning, they said she was in the hospital  awaiting the surgery. Wow!  They move fast when they decide to do something.  It'll probably be sometime this evening when we're celebrating Christmas Eve and it's Christmas morning there. I'm glad she'll have her gifts for afterwards.  Please pray for her.
   I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and make many blessed memories as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Orientation by Phone

This morning I had an orientation with our caseworker by phone.  She went over everything that we need for the dossier and how we go about getting the proper forms and authentications.  It's interesting and overwhelming.  In Kentucky,  the county clerk has to verify that the notary public is authorized to notarize.  Then, the Secretary of the state of Kentucky has to verify that the county clerk is legitimate.  Then, Hillary Clinton's office has to verify that the KY Secretary of State is legitimate and the Ch*nese Consulate has to verify it all.  This has to be done for many documents, so you can why it takes a while. We're moving ahead as quickly as we can.  The caseworker estimated that it would probably be between July and September before we could travel to get our little girl.  I was really hoping we'd make it by May, but once all of this is done,  then there is a wait for different stages in Ch*na to be completed.  It's beginning to come together, though, and my agency is wonderful. We're going to get there as soon as we can.

Our First Care Package to Raeanna!

We were finally able to send Raeanna her first care package.  We were waiting on the photo book. It took 2 weeks longer than it was supposed to take to get here, so it delayed us.  The US Post Office said it would be there by December 28th.  I wanted it there by Christmas, but I didn't want to send it without the pictures. It has the photo book, backpack, a My Little Pony toy, a little doll, a card with a picture of us and my voice recorded on it, 2 cameras for them to take pictures of her, a blanket, a little blanket bear, cookies, candy for her and the nannies, crayons & coloring books, and animal crackers for the other children. I hope they take pictures of her getting it. 

We also had our 2 homestudy visit today. 

Today, all 5 of us were interviewed by the social worker.  Now, we're off to the mall to experience all of the hustle and bustle.

1st Homestudy Visit

Our first visit from our homestudy social worker went well.  We showed her the house and gave her the information she needed about the room  that will be Raeanna's bedroom. We signed a few forms and went over the other forms we'll need.  Bob and I both have to write an autobiography and email it to her by Thursday.  I always gave my World History students an assignment on the first day of school. They were supposed to write an autobiography, and write about their influences, and where they hoped the future would take them. The table has turned!  It's my turn now!  It's hard to write about yourself!

The night before the homestudy, I was finishing the dishes and I looked down to see suds pouring at my feet on the floor.  I screamed for Bob to come help me, and we cleaned up the floor and emptied the cabinet under the sink to clean it. Then, we realized water was pouring from the other side and had reached the carpet.The drain pipe was loose.  At 11:00, the night before the homestudy,  we had to pull up the carpet and cut out the padding. We dried the carpet with fans overnight.  Bob ran to the store to get padding the next morning, and we had it all fixed by the time the social worker arrived at 11:00am the next day. Phew!! She never even knew it happened; not that it would've really mattered anyway. I guess we just had to have a little extra excitement!

I'll be gathering lots of paperwork, after I get the autobiography done. We will need child abuse clearances from every state we've lived in since the age of 18.  Katey will also need them, since she's here often. We'll need reference letters and proof of just about everything.  We'll get some of it done while we're in Mississippi over the holidays, such as bank letters and proof of accounts. I will also be mailing a care package to Raeanna, as soon as the photo book I ordered gets here.  I'll post later with a picture of what's in the package.
Please keep us in your prayers.

Homestudy!

We have our first homestudy visit this Saturday! Can you guess what I've been doing? Cleaning the house! They say it doesn't matter much, but of course, I'll feel better if it is nice, neat, and clean. I got a cd from our agency of all of the paperwork requirements. There are requirements specifically for the dossier and others, with some overlapping for the homestudy. I printed mounds of papers to fill out. I'm going to be very, very busy over the next couple of weeks! I also need to get our Christmas cards done and shop. I'll manage somehow. I always do! The faster I get everything done, the sooner we go to Ch*na! Hopefully, the government offices will work fast, too!