Charm Addiction

My friend Sheri sent Ashlyn a package today. Ashlyn is modeling the surprise. Sheri & I have become friends through our journeys to adopt. We have our Hope & they have their Shania. Anyways, Sheri makes awesome jewelry. I have her website (Charm Addiction) listed on my favorite sites. Go check it out. She is raising money for her adoption.

Thanks Sheri! We love your work.

Homestudy Revisions

The SW emailed the home study to our FC yesterday morning. The FC will make more revisions & then hopefully we can send in our I-800A to our government. It is taking an average of 82 days to process the I-800A. Basically, more waiting!! But that just means we are getting closer to Hope.

Ashlyn has not been feeling well for over two weeks. She is very tired & has no appetite. They have tested her for strep (twice), flu, mono & some other things that we are not sure about. She was a trooper during the blood work(better than her mommy!). Strep & flu came back negative. The other tests should come back today & Friday. Please say a little prayer for her. She misses her friends & teacher.

What is at stake?

Please vote on November 4th.

AWAA Referrals

AWAA received shared referrals & agency referrals late this week. We are overjoyed for the families that were matched with their children and can not wait to follow them on their journey. This is the first referral group to come in since we joined our agency's Waiting Child List (Special needs (SN) list).
We know that God has a plan for Hope & our family & when we will be matched. But I was still a little teary that we did not get the call. Please pray for the families & their children during this stressful time. Can't wait to see the pictures!

SN-Special Needs (minor to severe)

Rescue the Orphans

I really love this video. A mom put the video together--she knows all the children in the video. I love the pre & post adoption pictures. It is a little long (6 minutes) but I think totally worth it. I am still amazed at the number of orphans in the world. Please pray for all the orphans (& of course our Hope) Please pause my awesome playlist at the bottom before viewing this video!

Updates!

We received our home study draft late yesterday afternoon. After reading the 11 pages, I realized this was not what I expected. It was totally about PJ & I. Duh! It is a home study on us. But still I thought there would be something else in it??!! I'm double-checking dates, names, $$, facts. A few things need to be changed & added but nothing major.
I'm not sure how long the revisions take. After PJ & I make revisions with the SW, she sends it to AWAA-Dallas for revisions, who then sends it to our AWAA FC for more revisions! There is also specific wording that needs to be included for USCIS & the Chinese government that will be added when the FC receives it. We are hoping this next process will not take 5 weeks to complete! Thank you to everyone who listened to me talk continuously about the home study!!
Also, my brother & sister-n-law are in Dallas this week for IVF. They are picking up my frozen niece/nephew or both tomorrow. The babies (2 eggs) are thawing out this afternoon & will be implanted tomorrow morning. The plan is for them to drive home on Wednesday. Please pray for Justin, Melissa and the babies. You can also pray for Ava! Having a sibling (or two) will be a major change for her.

Our Weekend

Since we did not have a single soccer game this weekend, we headed to my parent's ranch house in Clarendon. We had a lot of fun--bow-hunting, pumpkin carving, UT football (Hook'em Horns), Sequence playing, not so good bow-making, good eating and more.

Adoption update- I emailed our new FC this week to see if she could find anything out about our HS. She talked with the AWAA Dallas office & they said it is being drafted. Today marks 4 weeks. Maybe by next week we can send in our I-800a.

PTL

Susannah is home! That is the best news ever. She will still have a couple of doctor visits this week but she is at home with her family. Wonderful! You can click on the button for more detailed specifics!
I just want to thank everyone for your prayers for this family.

"I give all praise and thanks to God who is able to do exceeding and abundantly more than all we could ask or imagine. " (posted by the family on their blog)

The Facts

I was trying to wait to post this video until November (National Adoption Awareness month)--but I just wanted to go ahead & share it. I can post something else special in November (the pressure is on now!!). Make sure you pause the playlist at the bottom of the page before viewing the video!

Weekend of Soccer

Both of the kids had soccer games this morning. I whipped up a fast breakfast of scrambled eggs & "tubby toast" (sugar & cinnamon combined--you probably call it cinnamon toast?). Then we were off to the games. The Cobras (boys) are having a little bit of a rough season. Last year we were 2nd in our little division. Half of our team is new so they are trying to find their groove. The boys played great this morning! The Hurricanes (girls) also played well this morning. Ashlyn informed PJ that she would to play two sports at one time. (like we are not busy enough w/just soccer!)

PJ & Philip are headed to Clarendon for bow-hunting & Ashlyn & I are going to have a sleepover in my room tonight. I think she wants to watch High School Musical (again!).

Nothing new with adoption. We have a new family coordinator. Her name is Melissa. Our agency has not received any special needs referrals since we joined the Waiting Child List. I'm thinking they receive a referral group every 3 months or so. (Sheri is that right?) Maybe they will receive another group before the holidays. I'm trying not to think about when we will see our Hope's face. By the way, I think Philip might have changed his favorite name for Hope to "Lilly". It was Mia but he said Lilly Hope sounded good to him!

Hope you guys have a great weekend!

SW Update

Okay. I admit it. I finally broke down & called the SW today. I was just going to leave a voicemail but she answered! She said she has not finished the home study yet but will try to finish it this weekend. Yeah!

I edited this posting at the urging of my lovely husband & brother! Love you guys. You are always looking out for me.

Susannah News

Susannah is doing very well since her double heart surgery on Tuesday. She is stable & they are starting to wean her off the meds. The doctors are going to try to take our her vent tomorrow. Yeah! I can not wait to see the pictures of this little girl at home with her two brothers & parents.