恭禧发财 Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year or rather Spring Festival runs January 31-February 4, 2014.  This is the year of the horse.  We're trying to incorporate and celebrate the Chinese holidays into our household now so tonight we went out to our favorite local Chinese restaurant, Dragon Gate.

Our daughter Ella was a good sport and tried many new dishes.  Our son Beckett, on the other hand, wasn't too keen on sitting still or eating Chinese food.  He did love the pond inside the restaurant, though.  The rest of us ate shrimp lo mein, chicken and fried rice, soup and sashimi.  Beckett ate a fortune cookie.  I wonder if this is how Noah will react to all the new American foods.

Then we came home and set off fireworks and sparklers.  I ordered a book called Bringing In The New Year by Grace Lin and red money envelopes hoping to give those to the kids but due to the Snowmageddon that hit the Atlanta area both packages have yet to arrive...oh well!  We leave in 5 days so I have bigger things to focus on.

Last Fundraiser: Fund Anything

We've set up an online account with Fund Anything for anyone that hasn't donated towards Noah's adoption expenses and would like to.  http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/hope-for-noah  It's our last ditch effort to close the gap between the remaining costs (just shy of $4,000).  We are so grateful for those that have already given and hope that we are not offending anyone with this last fundraiser.

Many people asked today how they could help; financially giving is just one of many ways and we realize not everyone can give (isn't it awesome there are others ways?).  We need your support and encouragement now more than ever...Frankly, I'm an emotional mess.  Luke is of course his normal, laid-back self.  I'm so grateful we balance out.  The kids sense that things are changing.

Please pray for our son Noah as he waits, that God would prepare him for the changes ahead and reassure him that we are safe and that he will accept us as his parents.  Also that He would carefully guide Luke and I in our travels to/from China.

Reality Check(s)

Bad financial day-we were notified that we were not chosen for the final grant we had been waiting on.  For this grant you had to specify an amount so we asked for $3,500.  That is roughly the remaining amount we need to complete the adoption.  In an attempt to be completely honest and forthcoming I did contact this grant agency in weeks prior to let them know we had received other grants since we submitted our initial application in October 2013.  I don't regret telling the truth for a minute but I do think receiving other grants did not help us in this specific situation.  We were, however, offered an interest-free loan from them but we passed.  We don't want to incur any more debt.

I hate this side of adoption.  I wish it didn't have to be about the money.  I want to be honest with all of you that this is definitely a part of any adoption but please don't read this wrong, especially the many of you that have donated, bought t-shirts, and prayed for every step of the way.  We appreciate everything you have done for us!  We just still have more to pay for :)

And then the adoption agency emailed (yes today) to request a wire of $1,680 for the in-country flight and hotel in Noah's province.  Our excitement for the week ahead is slightly clouded by all the dollar signs.  We are so looking forward to meeting Noah, though.  His suitcase is packed and ours might as well be.  We're loving the extra time together with the recent snow storm in North Georgia.  We leave in 8 days.

Baby Beginnings

This is the first picture of Noah with some of the amazing team at Bethel, taken in December 2011 (he is the first child on the left).  Prior to receiving care from this great organization he could not sit on his own let alone crawl or walk.  Noah entered Bethel's daytime preschool at approximately 1 year 2 months old and this past July (almost 3 years old) was moved into the apartments inside the orphanage and been with his caretakers full-time.

I can't say enough how grateful and appreciative we are for the love and care he has been given from Bethel.  We have requested to visit the orphanage while we are in China and are really hoping to meet his nannies and ayis and thank them personally.

Preparations

We leave for China in one week and five days!  I'm piling things up beside the suitcases and making mental lists.  Meanwhile Luke says he can pack all he needs for the trip in 11 minutes.  (you have to love that he is so laid-back AND provides comic relief)  Other than that we are spending lots of extra time together and having special outings with the kids...and basically living our normal lives for the next week.

I do feel like I have started to grieve for each of our children and how much their lives are about to change (immensely).  We'll be taking Noah from the environment he knows, everything familiar and caregivers he loves; although life with us as his family will be much better-he doesn't know and probably won't comprehend that for quite some time.  I'm also sad for Ella and Beckett; even though they are gaining a brother and millions of happy times are on the horizon there is a very rough transition ahead for our household.

Please pray for our family as we grow from four to five.  It is such an exciting time.  We are counting down until we get to meet our Noah!

Red, White & Blue

My friend, Amber, made this sweet, patriotic shirt for Noah to wear at the Consulate Appointment (CA).  That is set for February 18th and will be our final appointment in China before the long flight home.  It is customary for families to dress in red, white and blue.  We can't wait to see Noah wearing his special shirt!

Final Update from the Orphanage

1. Height 88cm weight 14 kg head circumstances 47.5 cm chest circumstances 63 cm 

 length of one foot 14.5 cm

2. He had flu symptoms in August 2013.

3. About eating: he is not a picky eater. However, he gets scared about bright color food that he has never seen before and needs help from the adult to try the new food. For all the fruits he has tried, he is scared of watermelon.

4. About sleeping: He sleeps really well. He does not kick the blanket. In general, he can sleep all night until morning. He is very independent. He sleeps on a bed by himself. He does not need the light on when he sleeps. He likes to turn the light off and close the door when he sleeps.

5. About being happy: He is happy when people are friendly to him. He is happy when others play with him, give him toys or give him tasty food to eat. He is easy to be satisfied. If you smile at him, he will smile back.

6. About feeling sad: When he is being criticized, he feel sad. He feels sad if he is denied to play with something fun or is not given tasty food to eat. He would cry out loud.

7. When he is angry, it is easy to change his focus with some help such as telling him why and giving him reasoning. He can understand it and soon feel happy again.

8. He is a specially well-behaved child. He likes to help adult with chores. He is very friendly to other children. He likes to share with others about good food and good toy. If you are good to him, he will be good to you. He knows how to pay back.

Ni Hao! Practice Makes Perfect?

Aside from how we would pay for the adoption expenses, my greatest fear has been that I wouldn't be able to communicate with Noah.  That being said I've rededicated myself to learning some basic Mandarin phrases.   I think I mentioned the CD and book combo in an earlier post but incase I didn't its called Simple Language Chinese for Adoptive Families.  We bought it months ago off Amazon and it is helpful.  It's even more helpful if you practice it every single day.

We've also downloaded "cheat" charts and watched some great YouTube videos.  It's all slowly coming together.   Even our 2 year old son Beckett has picked up a few phrases-he knows Ma Ma is Mommy, Ba Ba is Daddy and Ge Ge is brother.

1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Starting To Feel Real...

I posted to my personal Facebook account earlier tonight that it is starting to feel real...it truly does feel like a reality now not just a plan or project thats been in the works for almost 12 months (but who's counting?).  Here are a few pictures to document the recent preparations:

This is Noah's suitcase.  Yay for a great deal on a display model!  And I think he'll enjoying it.

Our tickets which arrived today.  See, feels real doesn't it?

Two books that tell the amazing story of adoption-gifts from 2 special friends

More books-trying to build a library for Noah that includes Mandarin & English books

That is all for now.  I washed the first load of clothing that contained some of Noah's tonight.  I'd post a picture of the laundry room too but then you'd all realize how crazy life is getting. Thanks again to all our family, friends and neighbors that have offered to help with the children, house, mail, 3 dogs and the cat while we are traveling.  We're so blessed to be building a supportive network and can't wait for Noah to meet all of you one day soon!

Show Hope Grant

We were chosen to receive an adoption assistance grant from Show Hope!  Wow.  It's so generous and greatly needed as today is just 4 week until we leave for China.  Four weeks and four days until we meet Noah, too.

Thank you again to everyone that has been a part-either writing a letter of recommendation for a grant application or praying that God would help us and provide financially, He certainly has.  If you are interested in learning more about Show Hope and other amazing things they do or how to sponsor an orphan thru the organization check out http://showhope.org/

Preschool Party

Look!  Noah got to enjoy another party, this time with his friends and caregivers to honor Bethel's two years of partnership with the Zhengzhou orphanage. 

In total 15 children with visual impairments live in a family style home (inside the orphanage) with preschool classes every day as a result of this project.  What a blessing for a child to be a part of such an amazing organization!

To learn more about Bethel visit http://www.bethelchina.org/home/

Tickets Booked

Today has been such a big day.  After a full day of negations between us, a wonderful travel agent named Todd Gallinek from Travel Society and the adoption agency, our airline tickets have been booked.  We'll leave Thursday, February 6th and arrive in Zhengzhou, China on Saturday, February 8th.  There is a 12 hour time difference between us and Noah so we "lose" a day.  We'll meet Noah on Monday, February 10th and become his parents 24 hours later.  Until Friday we will be in Zhengzhou in the Henan province, where Noah is from.  During our time there we plan to visit the orphanage and hope to meet some of the amazing caregivers and staff.

The rest of the time will be spent in Guangzhou (appointments and a medical exam) and finally on Tuesday, February 18th everything should be finalized for us to depart home with our new son (please pray there are no surprises or delays).  We plan to leave late Wednesday evening and arrive in Atlanta early the next morning just in time for rush hour.

Our roundtrip tickets each cost $1619 and Noah's one way ticket was $888.  We haven't received the final bill including all the tax and fees but regardless we were so glad to make this purchase.  We can't wait to meet our son in person and become his parents!  We are so thankful that God has continued to fulfill our future hopes and dreams and is preparing Noah for this very big change.  Wow!  One month from today we leave for China.

January 2

Three years ago today on January 2, our son Noah was found abandoned at the gate of the Zhongyuan Chemical Science Technology Center.  On the same day, he was sent to the orphanage by a policeman.  He was almost 3 months old.  

Exactly two weeks later on January 16, 2011 our biological son Beckett was born.  I know these dates are no coincidence and that God has been a part of every detail.  I can't help but feel very sad for another January 2 to pass although this is the last one for Noah to spend without his brother, sister, mother and father.  We truly believe love makes a family.

I had a long conversation with our daughter, Ella tonight about the day that Noah was found.  So many people ask us if our children understand what adoption means and the transition that is ahead.  It was heartwarming to hear the things she said-"Why did his parents leave him?  Did they think he looks funny?  I don't think he looks funny, he just looks different.  We all look different if you think about it.  God made us that way. ..but Mommy the only thing I really don't know is how will you talk to him when you first meet him."  From the mouths of babes!