Sleepless in Zhengzhou....

I did pretty well.  I got more sleep than I expected.  But I am up early and was up and down throughout the night. 

We received our final update yesterday from out agency rep about Chu Chu's eating and sleeping schedule and things she likes and doesn't like. 

They also describe her personality, which we always like hearing about.  Because of translations issues sometimes the way they word things is cute.  Since I have had the chance to meet her I definitely agree with some of these statements.  So here is the way her caretakers describe her.  Comments in quotes are mine.  

~ she is lively and active

~ she is extroverted 

~ hold her if she cries or gets fussy

~ she likes animal toy such as puppy and kitty (score! We love puppies and kitties as well!) 

~ we haven't found anything she is afraid of （😳😱😁😉）

~ she is naughty (uh oh!) 

~ she is generous (yay...we love generosity in our household!) 

~ she gets along well with others 

~ she is smart and can say many full sentences now 

So needless to say I think we have a pretty typical but extra awesome 😉2 year old on our hands. 

We are very blessed because from my reading of other parents who have adopted 2 year olds most of them are not as developed as Chu Chu.  She is really right on target if not above the curve (they always describe her as smart😊).  I would say a majority of the 2 year olds that other families adopt are not yet walking, talking very little and probably more like 1 year olds or babies.  That is because they are in orphanages where they are in cribs all day long and are neglected.  So they do have any muscle tone and they do not get talked to in order to develop language skills.  

So most families when they get their 2 year olds they are more like babies.  Chu Chu I think will be more like your typical active, sassy, spunky 2 year old and we are very grateful for that.  God really blessed us with a child that was very well taken care of.  We can never thank her caretakers enough. 

Well I'm off....just a few more hours to go! 

Online...

Ok....I'm online!  We made it to Zhenghou.  I am using some app to post so please don't mind if they look a little wonky.  There are not a lot of editing options.  

First photo...our badges stating that Kim and Michael come to adopt Chu Chu as our "DAUGHTER." Yay!  We go to the civil affairs office at 9:30 tomorrow morning to get our girl! 

Send a prayer up for us if you think about it and for all the other families here with us.  We got to meet most of them tonight.  Couples from all over the U.S. of all different ages.  A few close to our age but also a few couples closer to our parents age who have felt called to adopt later in life....really cool. 

We will post again soon...maybe not tomorrow as it will be a big day but we will get pics up ASAP of Gotcha day. 

This is it!

The time has come!  We leave on a train for Zhengzhou in 8 hours.  I should be sleeping, but when you are a person who has problems sleeping anyway, something like this does not make it any easier.

So I thought I would make one last post pre-motherhood.  ;o)

We wanted to thank all our friends and families for all the love and support and prayers over the past year.  We know they have worked.  It has been just about a year process for us.  And although it has felt long at times, I know many other families wait much much longer.  I think God knows how impatient I can be so He hooked us up with our girl really quickly. ;o)  And He continues to confirm to us that He created Chu Chu to be our daughter.  No matter what the future may or may not hold with attachment issues or health issues or whatever.... we know God will be with us in the good times and the bad.

We know that parenting comes with many challenges but we feel excited to start this next chapter in our life.  You get lots of "advise" being first time parents.  And lots of people telling us that we really have no idea what we are in for.....but even hearing all this we are still going to do it. ;o)  We have decided that our main concern as parents is that we Honor God through our parenting.  He will be our guide and our strength and His grace and mercy will get us through the hard times and mistakes that we will make.

I was reading my devotional yesterday and just wanted to share it with you all.  It is awesome how God has been speaking to us through this process and this devotion is just another affirmation of that.

Thanks again for all your love and support and prayers.  We will post as soon as we can.  We are going to a more rural area, so it may be a few days to see what type of internet access and VPN access we have to get online.  But our next post should be pics of us with our girl!

Here is the devotional....We hope that that by sharing it, it may speak to someone else out there who is going through a new, exciting but also scary journey in your life.

"You are on an adventurous trail with me.  This is not an easy time, but it is nonetheless good - full of blessings as well as struggles.  Be open to learning all that I want to teach you as you journey through challenging terrain.  And be willing to let go of familiar comforts so you can say a wholehearted "Yes!" to this adventure.  I will give you everything you need to cope with the challenges you face.  Don't waste energy projecting yourself into the future - trying to walk through those "not yet" times in your mind.  This is  form of unbelief.  I have unlimited resources to provide what you need, including a vast army of angels at My beck and call.  Pray continually as you make decisions about this journey.  I can help you make wise choices because I know everything - including what lies ahead on your path.  Your mind makes various plans about your way, but I am the One who directs your steps and makes them sure."  

For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.  In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. - Psalms 9:11-12

Pray continually. -I Thessalonians 5:17 

A man's mind plans his way but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.  - Proverbs 16:9

Helping orphans...

If you are interested in a different and unique way to support orphans, here is a program our adoption agency partners with.  It is called Project 143.

Here is a great story of how deciding to host an orphan turned into a forever home for 2 children.

http://www.projectonefortythree.org/waller-family-adoption-story/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQXGRwR4N2Q

4 Days

Only 4 Days until we leave for Zhengzhou! 

And then our girl who has been waiting 2 years for a family will be waiting no longer!

Here is another great organization to check out, if you are interested in adoption and waiting children.


http://showhope.org/3-things-know-waiting-children/

Practice....

I am trying to get into the mode of blogging more frequently.  ;o)  Even though it will obviously be a bit more tricky once I have a toddler commanding my attention, I am trying to get into a habit of it now.

We are down to 2 weeks before we get our girl!  At this time in 2 weeks we will be in Zhengzhou, probably getting no sleep because we will be too excited.  Two Sundays from now we will head out early on a 5 hour train to Zhengzhou.  We need to be to Zhengzhou by 2pm to start paperwork that needs to be done before they bring Chu Chu to us on Monday morning.  We have to take the train because there is only one flight a day from Nanjing to Zhengzhou and it does not get in until the evening, so we need to take the train.

Our agency told us 9 other families from the U.S. will also be in our travel group to get their children.  It will be an exciting and emotional time to see everyone seeing their children for the first time.  This month 32 kids will be adopted from China through our agency...plus the 9 families who will be in our group, that is over 40 kids in a month getting forever homes.  That is really awesome! 

We will be with these families for the 2 weeks that we have to finalize the adoption.  It will be fun to get to connect with other families and their kids.  So if you have a moment please pray for safe travels for all these families and for Michael and I.  And just pray that everyone has a smooth transition with their children.  Michael and I have the luxury of just taking a 1 1/2 hour flight to get back home.  Families from the States have 14 + hour flights.  And I have seen families with newly adopted children on my flight to the U.S. before and it does not look fun.  After only 2 weeks together you and your child are still really strangers.  Add a 14 hour flight on top of that and you get some stressed out kids and parents.  So send an extra prayer up for them. 

That's all for now!

The final countdown.....

Yay!!!!! We are in countdown mode around here!  We are super excited that our wait is almost over.  But just as with anything in life....until you been through it you have no idea what it's like.  And even though ultimately the adoption process is a beautiful, wonderful, joyous thing.  We are also aware that there are people that will be having to give Chu Chu up after caring for her for a long time.  And Chu Chu will be leaving friends that she has grown to love like brothers and sisters.  So our emotions are really all over the place these days.  We are happy for our family to start in such a special way and happy that Chu Chu now has a home forever!  But we are sad for our little girl who will have to say good bye to ones that she has grown to love.  And we are sad for her caretakers who have loved her as their own.  Goodbyes are never easy.

Every adoption story is special and personal, but we will not be sharing specific details about Chu Chu's story because it is her story to share when she wants and with whom she wants. 

I know personally from being adopted people always have lots of questions...Where did you come from?  Do you know your biological family?  How did your family find you?  Do you have other siblings?  Why did your biological family put you up for adoption and anything else you can think of.  Some people just ask out of curiosity and genuine interest and some people ask because they were being nosy and rude and they wanted to make me feel bad about being adopted.  

We know many of you probably will have some of these same questions about Chu Chu, but we have chosen to let her story be her story to tell and not ours. 

But of course we will be sharing pics and stories about her life from here forward.  Because she is a funny girl with a lot of spunk, so Michael and I already know she is going to give us a lot of fun stories to tell but she is definitely going to keep us on our toes!  And we can't wait!  Only 17 days left before we leave for Zhengzhuo!!!!!

Our wait is ending....but our story is just beginning

This is it folks!  The post Michael and I have been waiting to write and I think that you have been waiting for as well.  We are going to get our girl!  Our first born!  Our angel from God!  Her 2 year wait for a family is finally over and she is allowing our story as a family together to begin!

We received our Travel Approval (TA) when I woke up this past Friday morning.  It was a miracle!  Most TAs take 2-4 weeks we are told and ours came in 9 days.  We really needed ours here quickly because we have a lot of time sensitive things going on in our world right now and as God has done throughout this whole adoption process....He answered our prayers.  And I know many of you out there were praying for us as well, so we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!  We hope that all of you out there that doubt the power of prayer or that miracles do not happen anymore to take our story as proof that prayer really works and that miracles really still do happen.  (Verses about prayer.. James 5:13-16/ I John 5:14-15/ Matt 6:5-16/ I Thessalonians 5:16-18)

What is next your might be wondering.  We leave to pick her up on the 30th of March.  The orphanage will bring her to us in Zhengzhou on March 31st.  March 31st will be our "gotcha day."  In the international adoption world Gotcha day is really important.  Most families, from the blogs I read, continue to celebrate this day for the rest of their child's lives just like a birthday.  They usually buy small things from China to give to their child each year on Gotcha day.

Back to the schedule.... we will get Chu Chu on that Monday and then probably travel Tuesday to her home town to do paperwork.  Her home town is about 3 hours away from Zhengzhou, so that will be a long day.  We drive there to do the paperwork and drive back.  That is a long day and a long car ride with child that is just getting to know us.  Please pray for safe happy travels.  The rest of the week we will be waiting for her paperwork to be completed and just have bonding time together as a family.  The families that will be coming from the U.S. to get their children usually do some sight seeing but it is optional for everyone depending on how your child is doing.  And for us we do not really need to go sight seeing in China since we live here ;o)  so we will most likely use it for bonding time and for Michael to get some work done but also to hang out with the other families and kids who will be staying in the same hotel as us.

At the end of the week we will travel to Guangzhou to the U.S. Consulate to do more paperwork.  It is a holiday the beginning of the week so our appointment at the consulate is not until April 10. 
We should be able to travel back home to Nanjing on the 11th or 12th.  It is a 2 week process with a lot of down time in between because we are just waiting for paperwork to be processed.  But is is excellent bonding time because no one else is around...especially for Michael who is working more than ever these days.  So it will give him some nice uninterrupted baba/daughter time before he heads back to work. (baba is Chinese for dad) 

That is our update for now!  We will have our daughter in our arms in 3 weeks.  We will continue to try and be diligent about posting updates on the blog.  We will try and post pics from Gotcha day and weekly posts after that with pics of Chu Chu.  Kids grow up fast and we know our friends and family who are far away will want to see her as she changes and grows. 

Sorry if there are any typos or crazy sentences in this post.  I usually try and reread the post but not today. ;o)  We actually have a lot of little things to do to finish up getting ready for our girl, so I just can't be bothered today. ;o) I blog just to keep our friends and family updated on our life, I am no professional writer! ;o) 

Thanks again to all of you who have been supporting us in all different ways throughout this process!

Mama and Baba are coming baby girl!

Even Coco and Baozi are waiting by the window anticipating your arrival! ;o)