From China With Love

Noah received a package from us earlier this week and we in return received some pictures of him opening it.  We selected items for the care package and also got to send a picture of us.

I know I'm biased but have you seen a child that is more photogenic?!

T-shirt Sales

Our t-shirt fundraiser ended on Thursday, May 23, 2013-we sold 129 shirts and raised $1,935 for Noah's adoption.  Awesome!

We feel so blessed to have loyal friends, family members, neighbors and even a few people we haven't ever met that purchased a t-shirt.  I would also like to say thank you again to Melody Munn of Melody Joy Designs for the logo that she designed and we used for the shirts.

The t-shirts were printed the day after the fundraiser ended and I expect they will arrive later this week.  We'll be wearing ours with pride and I hope you will too :)

Thank you again to everyone that purchased a shirt or has made a donation towards Noah's adoption!

Fingerprint Results Arrived!

After a LONG six week wait we received our FBI fingerprint results today!  It seems silly but it is so exciting because this was the missing piece in order to complete the Home Study.  We also made our final payment of $700 for the Home Study.  Now our social worker can complete her write up of us as prospective adoptive parents.

If anyone is confused I'm right there with ya-we were already pre-approved to adopt Noah-the Home Study and Dossier are basically backing up what we have claimed to be true about ourselves.  Next up: authenticating the documents by the Secretary of State (Georgia) and then submitting to our adoption agency in California.

Making It Count

It was a productive week taking more steps towards Noah's adoption. We sent a package to the orphanage on Monday.  It included a translated letter, photo album of our family and 3 books for Noah.  We chose something that could be shared since children in orphanages have nothing of their own.

On Tuesday we had the 3rd and final meeting with our social worker for the Home Study and are STILL waiting on the FBI fingerprints.  It has already been 5 weeks-it'stime for them to be processed and for us to move on!

On Friday a neighbor set up a meeting for us with a speech therapist that offered to assess Noah FREE of charge once he is home.  She shared a lot about delays and progressive ways to treat children with sensory issues.  Then she looked over his file and latest update and was truly impressed by what he knows and does.  At this point she questioned if he'd need any therapy at all!

Luke and I feel so fortunate to have received 3,000+ views on our blog.  We are very thankful that so many people are following Noah's adoption and supporting us.  We have readers all over the globe-even as far as Serbia, Russia and Malaysia.

At this point, we have 4 days left on the t-shirt fundraiser.  We have almost reached our goal of 75 total sales (69 as of last count).  If you haven't already, click on the link below and purchase your Hope For Noah shirt.

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/fund/hope-for-noah/4309

Sweet Noah

Happy Mother's Day!

Received this picture yesterday of Noah passing out a Mother's Day card to his ayi (translates to aunt).  I am so glad to see all the love and care he receives from the women at Bethel China.  They are such a blessing to us and we are eternally grateful for them.

This will be his last Mother's Day without a mom! :)

An update from the orphanage!

Great news!  We received answers to our questions AND photos from Noah's orphanage this week.

I'll  summarize: he weighs 13 kg and is 88 cm tall, he has 24 teeth, he speaks well in Chinese, knows colors and numbers 1-10, he follows instructions, they describe him as a "sweet boy", a little leader who enjoys playing with other kids, running, he feeds himself well and sleeps 10 hours at night and he likes sweet tasting things.

I'm so grateful for the update and pictures.  It looks like he has good caregivers and interacts with them  well.  I think he is more precious every time I see his picture. 

We can't wait for him to join our family!

T-shirt Success & Getting Himself Dressed

We've had an amazing response to the t-shirt fundraiser and met our minimum requirement on day 4!  Thank you SO much to everyone that has purchased a t-shirt in support.

The fundraiser will continue until May 23.  If you haven't had the opportunity to purchase a shirt but would like to you can do so by clicking on the link below

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/fund/hope-for-noah/4309

We received an update today regarding Noah and his classmates.  They are practicing getting themselves dressed.  Here are a few photos of him in action.  I'm so happy to see his beautiful face and all the interaction he is getting from the ayis and teachers.

T-shirt Fundraiser

I'm excited to share with you our first fundraiser, a campaign we launched this morning with BonFire Funds.
We'll be selling t-shirts for the next 21 days to raise money for Noah's adoption.  I would especially like to thank Melody Munn of Melody Joy Designs/Munn Brothers for her amazing t-shirt design.

If you haven't already, visit https://www.bonfirefunds.com/fund/hope-for-noah/4309 and purchase your t-shirt to help support this adoption.

Here's a quick shot of the logo that will appear on the t-shirts

Questions for the orphanage

Luke and I compiled a list of questions this week for our adoption agency that were translated into Chinese and submitted to Noah's orphanage.  The questions might seem very basic but they were carefully chosen so that we will actually receive the answers and learn more about Noah.

The most current official records we have are from September 2012.  It is common to not receive a reply for the duration of the adoption but we are hopeful that we will be given information that will help us learn more about him and prepare our family for his arrival.

The questions we submitted are listed below:

1.  How much does he weigh?  How tall is he?  What is his head circumference?  

2. How many teeth does he have now?

3. Has he had any illness since the report of September 2012?

4. Can he pick up small things using thumb and index finger? 

5. How is his speech now? Does he speak well and in sentences of 5 or more words?

     

6.  Does he know any colors?  Numbers?

7.  Does he understand when people speak to him and can he follow instructions?

     

8.  Are there any foods he really likes?  Dislikes?

9. How would you describe his personality?

     

10. How does he sleep at night?  For how many hours?

11. What is his favorite activity?

12. How does he play with other children?