The Letter

Oh gracious a wonderful afternoon turned into a wonderful evening and as smitten as we were with Joey before he just dug his little self even deeper into our hearts.....I didn't even know that was possible.
We took his drawing/letter to our local Chinese restaurant along with the other page that was in the envelope, a list of questions that we had asked way back when.

First up, the drawing.
How cute is this child.

He says in the letter(paraphrased)
"Hi Father and Mama and brothers,
I am very happy to be in your family
-insert heart breaking here-...
please come and pick me up early"

at which point my heart broke in a million tiny pieces. 
Oh baby boy we are coming just as soon as we can!!! 

We are thrilled that he is thrilled about the adoption, we knew Jacob was excited at the prospect of being adopted since he was part of Agency # 2's camp and he told them as much, but we really had no idea how Joey felt about it. Praise you Father for preparing his heart for this big, big change!

He dated his letter...in remarkable penmanship I might add....5/31. Interesting that it took this long to get to us. Not sure what's up with that.

Next up the questions:

We found out how tall he is, 105cm which is 3.5 feet. Oh my gracious he is tiny for 6!
Found out his shoe size 15cm which is the equivalent of our children's shoe size 8....as in the average American 2 year old's shoe. I think we've got a little peanut on our hands!

We found out his favorite colors are red, green, yellow, pink(LOL), and white,
that he loves Transformers
and his favorite food is chicken feet.
Alrighty then.
Recipe for chicken feet anyone?

He has been in the foster home for just shy of 3 years now which jives with what we have heard; which is that his orphanage houses the infants and toddlers and then when they reach school age they are moved into the simulated family homes.

So that's about it, just some other general information that we had figured out since it had been so long since we had asked those questions.

I also brought some blank envelopes and the staff at the restaurant were kind enough to address them for me using the return address that was on the envelope...since my Mandarin penmenship is a little shaky...
...or non-exisistent.
It's nice to have a direct mailing line back to that address.

What a gift.
What a day.
I so needed that yesterday.
I felt like though for whatever reason it is not yet our time for the LSC's it was His reminder that He hears my cries, he feels my frustration, he knows that I am anxious to love these children that He has given to me.
He has not forgotten.
He will not forget.
He has it all under His control...
...which is just where I want it all to be.
What a gift that through my tears and impatience he delivers...quite literally... this reminder to us.
Praise you Lord!

Next up:
Jacob's birthday tomorrow! The day he will know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The day
HE.
WILL.
KNOW!
Can't wait!
A lot of people wake up the next morning after having a cake delivered to pics in their inbox of the birthday celebration since they are 13 hours ahead of us.....
ooooooo wouldn't that be amazing! These would be the first pictures of the boys
TOGETHER.
Brothers forever.
Love that.

MAIL FROM CHINA*

I can barely breathe. The mailman just rang my doorbell because I had  put a package delivery slip in the mailbox but he wanted to tell me he didn't have it today and would deliever it tomorrow. At which point I said no problem, thanked him.....and then he turned around to head back to the mail truck.

.....but then he turned back around...

....and he said, I almost forgot....here is your other mail.

....and in that pile..

....was a letter...

....from China*

A letter and a picture(drawing) from Joey and answers to our questions that we asked all the waaayy back in May when we sent his package. We never received photos or answers and here it is, nearly September and I get this letter in the mail.

I
fell
apart.

God knew I needed this today.
This 53rd day of waiting on their LSC's...
..just when I was tempted to let discouragement settle into my heart he sends this to me from half a world away. Thank you Lord!!!!

I must say that the tears flowed not only from how happy I was to get such a gift from my son, but more so that I felt like the Lord was standing right there in the kitchen with me. Just as excited as I was to see the joy that this letter has brought to me.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for His love for me.
Completely and totally overwhelmed.

Our eating out budget in lieu of  dual adoption expenses is at $0 every month but this calls for some Chinese food tonight so that one of the waiters can translate all of this for us!!! I CANNOT WAIT to find out what it says. It's all I can do to not pack up the kids and head there right now for lunch but I know John will want to be with us so we will wait....VERY impatiently!! Hurry home honey!!

I'll post pictures tonight after dinner!!
Thank you Jesus for this precious gift just when I needed it!

*And in Jacob news I received an email from Ann this morning that Jacob and Joey will be receiving Jacob's cake on his birthday this Wednesday. Along with the cake is a family picture and a letter from us telling him that we are his family and that he gets to come home with Joey!! He will know! On Wednesday he will know! 7 years this boy has waited for a family and in a day and a half someone is going to walk into his home with a cake, tell him Happy Birthday and tell him the news. 
Oh
my 
gracious!
I can't breathe again!  What a week! *

No news is...well...no news.

No news on those "ASAP" LSC's. Lots of families getting theirs yesterday, which leaves me wondering...
do LSC's typically come in batches?
Anyone? 
Beuller?
Today is Day 49.

I'm ok with it though...well....maybe not ok....still a bit impatient in my flesh....but I have learned the following:

1. When waiting for an important phone call, staring at the phone and repeating, "ring..Ring...RING...please RING!!" over and over again, will in fact not actually make the phone ring. 
2. When you carry the phone into the bathroom with you just in case it RINGS be wary of the toothpaste getting on the reciever. 
3. Breath again as you manage to extract aforementioned toothpaste from the reciever.
4. Having your teenager call you to test the phone's functunality after afore aforementioned toothpaste incident will help you realize that the phone indeed works...it's just NOT RINGING. 
5. Realizing that once about 9:30am rolls around your odds of getting that big phone call are quite substancially diminished. 
6. Realize now that this is actually a good thing because it allows you to carry on with your day. 
7. But still carry your phone with you....cuz it makes you feel better. 

So that's what I'm learning. Here's hoping for tomorrow? Unless of course my theory of batches is true...in which case...here's hoping for next week?....here's hoping for sometime before they are 35 years old?...
I dunno. 

Now I'm off to find a Chinese dictionary...I simply MUST look up their definition of ASAP.
Toodles!

The foster home

I stumbled upon a photo last night of the outside of the simulated family homes that they boys live in. It was posted by a family that is also adopting from Jacob & Joey's orphanage and as I sat....quite honestly stunned....at the photo that was before me, it was all I could do to not go get in the minivan and drive to the airport.

I nearly felt like I was going to have a panic attack and had to remind myself over and over again that they are being well cared for, that they appear happy and healthy and that this is mostly cultural as far as the style and structure of the buildings.

Nonetheless, it was kind of a rough moment.

Here's the photo:

My children live there.

Even now, a day later, I still have mixed emotions on this one. Though I knew in my head that they weren't living in a palace
-duh-
I guess seeing it before me was a bit unsettling and it largely shattered the image I had concocted in my head of what their surroundings looked like.

I know, I know, I know that this is China*, the most populated country on Earth, this is how they live. It is how homes are constructed.
I get that.
My brain gets that.
My heart however, just continues to scream..
but my children live there.

Part of the journey I guess.
Part of the journey that is ever changing my scope of vision.
The vision that is ever-widening beyond my spoiled American borders.
The vision that is ever growing within me,
The vision that is challenging me to think about what else...
how else...
where else...
what more can we do to care for the orphan, to reach the un-reached, to share the love and the light of the Gospel.
And for that, I am beyond thankful. Because I don't want to view this world through my lens.
I want to see it through His.
Because His is the only one that matters to me.

*In other news, no LSC today, I'll share his photo with ya as soon as I hear it's on the way.*

LSC x 2!!

Well, I DID NOT see this comin!

Our agency called at 8:11am this morning just as I was walking in the house after dropping the twins at school to let me know that they had recieved the following email from our agency's in country rep:

"For Long XXXX, ccaa informed me today and this boy has been matched to our family, ccaa would issue LSCs of  Long XXX and Long XXXX to us asap."
I have no words.
Not only did the file issue get straightened out but we are hurdling right over waiting on PA for him and moving right on to their LSC's!! ONLY GOD.

(and ASAP have become my new favorite four letters. ;)
...of course their definition of ASAP and mine are somewhat different but nonetheless.....I'll take it.

I am trembling with excitement and can't even seem to find a coherent thought at the moment that doesn't sound like, "Yayyyyy!! Wooo-Hooooo!!" Praise you Jesus for your faithfulness to us!!

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,"
       declares the LORD.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

We hope to go get them in December!

Complete pics of Jacob coming to a blog near you very, very soon!

Agency Update-The Drama Continues

Ahhh, the plot thickens.
Our agency called yesterday to give me an update...kinda.

She said that they have been trying and trying to set up another time for Jacob's file to be released to the shared list to no avail.
They were told day before yesterday that that is not what they want to do anymore.
-sigh-

In light of the new program that they are rolling out on the 1st that will enable them to assign Special Focus kiddos to individual agency list, they want to approach it that way.
Ok.
I'm game.
Let's do it.
oh....but no.

Though they apparently have unveiled this new program, according to what they told our agency, they actually do not have a process in place to execute it.
Yep.
I'm not kidding.

Seems to me, and I know I'm a rookie here, but it seems to me that they upload hundreds of files all the time to both the shared list and indidvidual list.
Why is there a problem now?

So the official at the CC-A-A has requested a meeting with the higher up official to get instruction on how the new process is going to work. In the email explaining all of this to our agency at the bottom she then said,
"Tell the family  not to worry, that it is all still ok."
Yep.
Still not kidding.
I asked our agency if they were given any sort of time table to when the meeting with the high offiical will take place but the official did not say, however, we can only assume that since the new program launches September 1st(coincidentally Jacob's bday) that they will have a process in place by then.
Wow.
Crazy sauce. 

At least I can kinda get a glimpse of the finish line with this part of the process and for that I am grateful. They are also holding Joey's LOA until Jacob's ready so that explains why we haven't heard anything on that front as well.
Whew!

It feels so much better to get an update, honestly whether good or bad, just to remind myself that their are people workin on it.That we are getting there. It is definitely on the sloooww boat to China...but I can almost see the harbor in the distance...which is a good thing cuz I'm gettin kinda sea sick!

Two Boys One Cake

File Watch Day 28
No news.
But today we're gonna talk about it.

I decided to go ahead and order the cake today to be delivered to the foster home on Jacob's birthday on September 1st.

I can't stand not to.

Right now I have to technically have it delivered to Joey since we have permission to send him some things. But I am seriously, seriously hoping that God will move in a big, big way and get this file released so that we can move on to getting PA for Jacob.

If we can manage to get PA by then I have a Happy Birthday/Hey kiddo, we are you're family! letter written for him and ready to be translated to go along with the cake. If not, then I have another draft of a letter addressed to just Joey but making mention of the fact that I heard one of his friends is celebrating a birthday that day and I thought they would enjoy a cake.

It's all I can think to do right now.

Gracious my heart is so heavy today.
Going through the whole process of picking out his name got me all emotional all over again and sad for what we don't know and won't ever know.
Like what his birth parents named him.
Or where he was born.
Or when exactly he was born.
All of the same emotions we went through when we did the same for Joey but Jacob's story is different.
His story brings-me-to-my-knees.

I also realized yesterday that we are quickly approaching 1 month since they said yes to the dual adoption and about 20 days since the other agency released his file.
1 month.
And nothing has happened.
No-thing.
No forward movement.
At all. 

Last week there were a few days of promise.
It looked like things were gonna happen..
but now it all seems to have stalled.

I am definitely a mom divided.
Loving my kids here.
Nurturing them
Feeding them.
Playing with them.
Feeding them.
Worshiping with them.
Feeding them.

Yet all the while concerned and consumed by what's going on with my other two kids an ocean away. The love that we have for those two boys is no less than the love we have for the four that are here with us. On the one hand I think that has got to be a good thing, a great thing.
But on the other hand it makes this wait all the more agonizing.

A mom divided.
That's me.

But through it all there is this, that Jean shared today,

Hebrews 6:11-12

But we do desire for each of you to show the same diligence and sincerity in realizing and enjoying the full assurance and development of hope until the end.

Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and endurance.

Endurance. 
Love that.  

I got my butt kicked by the Great Wall

Well.I haven't walked it.
I haven't climbed it.
I haven't even ever seen it.
But nonetheless...
kick my butt it did.

This:

was supposed to a great family fun project.

This:

was indeed not a family fun project. I should know after 13 years of parenting that when a craft is on clearance it means BEWARE! It means that other, more intelligent mothers, have purposely chosen to bypass aforementioned craft clearance area cuz they know better.
Way better.

The only "family" fun of this was watching mommy try and figure out how on earth all of this
goes together

using only this

as my guide.

While scattering hundreds of these

all over the floor.
Yeah.
FYI my brain does not work this way.
His brain works this way

but he is drowning in book-learnin this year and putting together the Great Wall is not really fitting into his schedule these days.  Neither is sleeping, or eating, or breathing, or anything else but that's another story. Poor guy. 10 more months honey! You can do it!

My brain does not
in any
way
shape
or
form
operate in details such as this.
-sigh-

But nonetheless, it may have kicked my butt
....but I kicked his...her's?....it's?.
I dunno.
Anyway, check out the finished product!

AND I did it all by myself(soon after my four "helpers" abandoned me for a new episode of Phineas & Ferb).

Love it.

Hey, where's Perry?

Oh, and still no news on the file....but we're still not talking about that....at least out loud....in my head it gets talked about a lot....as in every waking moment...but I digress...

Introducing...

No news yet on his file...but we won't dwell on that....ahem....much...
Instead I'd like to share that J #6 finally has a name

By the time dinner rolled around last night we had branched out even further in name game territory beyond Jonah and Jacob which 24 hours previously we had narrowed things down to.
But now there were all sorts of name choices rolling in:

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

Thank you teenager.

But no.
Joel made an appearance again.

As did Jude.
Job.
..thanks to the teenager...again.
Still no.

Jeremiah.
Josh.
......it was at this point I was convinced that we had turned into the Duggar family.

But through our highly techinical secret ballot system we managed to come to a majority vote. I'm happy to report there were no hanging chads or other voting errors.
We were kickin it old school
straight up, with sticky notes and crayons.

So without further ado,
it is my great pleasure to introduce to you...

Jacob Benjamin -Chinese name-Last name

Jack was our ballot counter and he was just a tad excited that his choice won.

Ok, maybe a lot excited.

This is my final vote, stuck to my foot...

cuz I'm always behind the camera and my badly in need of a pedicure foot is all I can photograph....unless of course you want to see me like this

Whichev.
In the end, we were all very happy.

So Jacob Benjamin young man!

 All I have to say to you is welcome to the family...now come home! We love you so, so much!!

Lock the file take 3?!

Recieved another email from our agency yesterday morning letting me know that since a new shared list was coming out that night that it would not be a good night for his file to be all up in that scuttle.
 And I agree.
So, she said that they may try for tonight.
I'm hopeful......
but not holding my breath.

Today is day 40 waiting for LSC for Joey.
If we get Joey's before other kiddos we have to hold it until his is ready so that they can go together.
Good times.
One would imagine that we may be able to get somewhat of a quick PA and LSC for J#6 after all the hullabaloo?
One would think.
But one could be wrong.


In other #6 news we are deciding on his name TONIGHT.
Maybe that's what been holding all of this up. Gracious!
He needs a name for goodness sake!
We wrote secret ballets last night while building the Great Wall(more on that later) and through much hilarity... there was a tie.

3 votes Jacob.
3 votes Jonah.

Deadlocked.
Crackin me up.
So tonight over dinner we are casting ballots once again and no one is excused until this precious child has a name!
Sheesh!
Who knew that this would be one of the hardest part of the adoptions!


I think all of the excitement is going to throw me into early labor.
I need an epidural.

What my life has come to.

Since it's like a bazillion degrees outside.....
(man I am such a good homeschool mother...I use words like "bazillion"..... my kids are gonna be gut en edukated cuz they be home teached.)

Anyway, this is what we have come to.
Ditchin the hundreds of water bottles these kids seem to plow through every day and we're pulling out the big guns.

We washed off the dug out baseball dirt and now it sits proudly...though incredibly tackily....right smack in the middle of the table.
Good times!
Perhaps in the winter we will fill it with hot cocoa....
or maybe I can cook a roast in it in this heat.
Sheesh! The possibility are endless!

Prizes coming soon!

We've added a Chip*In button to the blog and though we will not be conducting a traditional raffle as to avoid any breaking of  our state laws.....

I will be giving away some things as a thank you for your donation. ;)

Prizes and pics coming soon!

Thank you for your support, your encouragement, and your heart for these boys! We are in love and we thank you, thank you, thank you for being part of their journey home!

Or maybe not.

It's 11:00 so I broke down and emailed our agency to see if it went well last night. Response?

Hi Sonia,

The official we need to work with is out of town until Monday, so we will just have to try again next week. I'm sorry for the delay! I will let you know when anything more concrete is arranged. Thanks!

Sigh.

Oh well. It's all good. I kinda thought something was probably up since I hadn't heard anything. Still doesn't make any sense to me why that same official would have set up a date to release it and then go out of town. Whatev. 

There is a reason, there is a reason, there is a reason...

In better news at least I can get away from this computer and stop hitting refresh on my email every 2.9 seconds!

Maybe tonight!

Just recieved this from our agency!:

Our China staff will be trying the CCAA office first thing in the (their) morning, though I will not be available until around 11 or noon their time. This would be pretty late, so I probably will not call you until the morning to let you know if we were successful. Fingers crossed!

Oh how I hope it works out tonight! I'll keep ya posted!

Agency email & Christmas shopping

Ok, feeling much better now.
Laid my pity party at the foot of the cross, soaked up some time in the Word
AND
received another email that they are going to be trying again sometime in the next day or so.
They have all of our required docs to submit our LOI right after the lock so here we go...again.

In other big news, I just found out that we were selected to be a part of Hip Mom Jewerly's fundraiser!

What a blessing!!

So if you are like me and like to shop for Christmas in August then check out these little pieces of girlyness!Ahhh girlyness....I am vaguely familiar with that. Pretty, shiny things that smell good. Yep. It's starting to beat it's way out of the vast sea of testosterone. Girlyness...ahhhhh.

Or go here for more shopping! Our family will receive 30% of any sale on this page only and you have to use the code Martin10 in order for our family to be credited. Please put Martin10 in the coupon code as well as the comment section. (Our code applies only to the pieces on the adoption page of Hip Mom jewelery)


And above all, thank you for being part of our journey to get these boys home! Your encouragement and prayers mean more to me than you can ever know!

-sigh-

Seriously.
Am I being punked?

I didn't blog the phone call last night.
If I had
it would have read something like this:
Ahhhhh!! Sob, cry sniffle-sniffle Ahhhhhhh!!
and that, frankly, does not make for good blog updates.

So our agency called a bit before 9pm to tell me that when they called the CCdoubleA at the appointed time to say we're here, we're set, let's do it! They were told that the lady who uploads the files at the CCdoubleA was not there today and further that they didn't know anything about his file or what was supposed to happen. Apparently the whole conversation was very odd.

Ummm. Ok.
I'm not gonna lie.
Feeling a bit weary today.

I was/am hoping to get PA for him a few days before September 1st which is his birthday so that I could set up a cake. 7 years this kiddo has waited and on his special day I really, really want him to know how much his family loves him. Since we have the ability to make contact with Joey I'm considering sending a cake anyway knowing that since the boys are in the same foster home that J #6 would probably get some too but I don't know. A cake being delivered to someone else on your birthday?  Argh. I don't know what to do.

The plan now is that they are going to get in contact again with the bazillion people over there that do know what's going on with his file and the whole situation and reschedule a time to lock him in.

My plan is to snuggle up with my hot cup of coffee and my Bible this morning and restart this day with a better attitude.
See ya on the flip side

A call from our agency.

Our  agency just called to let us know that the CCdoubleA has his file.
They have not put it on our agency's specific list...
nor is it on the shared list.

At which point my heart dislodged itself from all major arteries and blood vessels and deposited itself in my throat.

But.
don't ya love a but..
the CCdoubleA said that they would like to coordinate a time TONIGHT for it to be released onto the shared list where upon at the same time our totally rockin agency will lock him in.

Heart now descending back to where it came from. 

SO,
tonight is the night! That sweet boy's file will have our name proudly entered right next to it.
And she will call me after it all goes down.

Ahhhhhhh.
Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news from a distant land. Proverbs 25:25

Stay tuned! I'll blog it later tonight. Because...ya know..if I don't it'll rattle all around in my head all night and that does not make for a good night's sleep. Please pray that all goes smoothly!

Well if you say so

We have boys.
Lots
and
lots
of boys.

Thus, we have surrendered to the chaos fun and turned our "formal" dining room into a game room complete with fooseball, ping pong, and air hockey.
Our "formal" sitting room into a game room and lounge.
Surrender.
It works for us right now.


Last weekend I asked all four of them to please pick up yo stanky dirty socks and month old stale popcorn you are trying to hide under the couch  kindly clean up the gameroom.
They did an amazing  job.
They even went as far, of their own accord(Holla!), to organize the red lockers where we keep the board games and
LABEL them.
Hello.
I love them.

BOARD GAMES.
As I was praising them for such great work I happened to glance at the locker at which time I saw this:

Yeah.
BORED games.

Or "Games that are Bored."
Whatev.

Day 32 waiting on LOA

We are still waitin!
So many people getting their LOA's the last couple of days! So many kiddos getting closer to being with their families! Oh how that makes my heart soar!

Still no news on where on earth J #6's file is.
Not gonna lie
it's makin me not crazy at all, I am perfectly peaceful
crazy.

We should be getting close though!!!They've been coming lately on day 38-47, which seems to be about the average these days.
Can't wait, can't wait
CANNOT WAIT!!!

I'm ever so slightly majorly becoming concerned about the timing of everything as there are so many events coming up across the pond that will be affecting available consulate appointments.

China is basically closed the first week of October for the Mid-Autumn Festival holidays and then there is a trade fair from October 15th to November 4th. And then they launch right on into the Asian games November 12th-27th.
Yeah.
Crazy sauce.

If we don't get our LOA soon... .like soon-soon I think we may be having to wait until December. which....kinda makes my stomach turn. That coupled with the knowledge that December is sure to be a crazy month trying to get appointments due to everyone being pushed back...well....let's just say I'm glad I can rest in the knowledge that He's got it all worked out.
Cuz if it not for that...well...ummmm...it wouldn't be pretty.

Come on LOA's!!!!

And then there were two.

The twins started 3rd grade today and now I only have two kids with me most of the day.

Did you hear that?

Yeah.
Me neither.
It's ridiculously quiet in this house right now.

Here's the one decent picture I managed to capture as they were eating breakfast. As soon as we stepped outside to take the requisite front-door-first-day-of-school picture my lens fogged up with the humidity. So we'll have a re-do session when they get home today.  Because really, the humid pics look like I am sending my precious kids to school in shorts in the middle of a snow storm in August. Not cool.

Big boys are being home schooled this year for 7th and 8th grade using a mostly online program that is nothing short of totally awesome. It definitely fits their ages and their learning styles. As I was discussing/commenting with Annie the other day, It's amazing how you start out in life with these grand declarations:

I will have two children. Two is perfect!
Uhhh. yeah right.
They will have a hot breakfast every morning!
Cereal anyone?
I would never have twins! I know nothing about having twins!
Uhhhh. yeah.
Adopt? I know nothing about adoption. Certainly that's not for us.
Uhhh...big yeah.
We will always be in private Christian education!
Let's inventory shall we, after 7 years in private school we now have:
Two in public school. We are incredibly happy there.
Two being home-schooled. Incredibly excited.
Two in China TBD on where they will be educated...but let's just say you would have to pry them away from me with the strength of 12 enormous men before I let them go anywhere anytime soon! :) I've missed out on 6 & 7 years of their life already, I don't intend to miss much more by having them gone all day, but we will follow their lead and see what will work for them.

I think you learn after a few years that what works for one may not work for all. (Talking to myself here so that I can read this 35 years from now and remember what I have learned.) They are each unique beings hand crafted by the Maker. Since He took such great care and delight in forming them I need to take great care and delight in finding who they are, and specifically, in regards to this, how they best learn. Will we always home-school? No idea. One year at a time. As they change and grow we will change with them. 

Jason and Jordan's program does not start until September 8th.
It's August 9th.

They have two words for this:
Par-tay!
I have two words for this:
Read-ing! 
(My word wins.) 

We are going to be reading the biography of Rosa Parks and then taking a trip to some local museums that feature her and her life.
Week one.
Then we are going to do the same for Martin Luther King. Complete with tours and museums.
Week two.
Week three is all about Abe. We just returned from a visit to his official presidential library and museum which, hello....was amazing.

Follow that up with some testing and preparation and we can fully say hello to school year 2010-2011!

An update

Or rather an non-update update.

J #6's file was released from his assigned agency on Monday afternoon.

It's Friday and I got nuthin.

No idea where his file is right now, it was supposed to be headed directly to our agencies individual list but no confirmation yet that that has happened.
It takes a bit, I totally understand...
but I ain't gonna lie. Part of me is sooo nervous that his file is sitting out there in shared list land at the availability of many, many different agencies. .
And that would be...well....let's not go there.

We haven't come this far with this precious son of ours to lose him now but gracious what a couple of little letters like
PA
would do for my heart right about now!
His birthday is coming up on September 2, he will be turning 7 and I really, really wanted his first family package to reach him by then but tick, tock....
don't know if we will be making that.

The boys' orphanage is very new to international adoption and apparently the orphanage is a bit backed up in delivering care packages to the kiddos in the foster homes, so even though we will use a courier she can only get it as far as the orphanage and then it's up to them for delivery.
Birthday Plan A is a package and a cake.
Birthday Plan B is just a cake as that bypasses the need for the orphanage staff to deliver.
It's lookin more and more like Plan B may just be it.

One way or another this little boy is going to soon know that our crazy family is madly in love with him, and for that I cannot wait!

6,7,8,8,12 & 13

6

7

8

8

12

13

Poll results so far

As of this morning, after 41 votes, Jude is the top name game contender! You guys must be reading my mind cuz that's my current fav as well! Jacob is a close second only one vote away.(Hubs current fav)
-no this debate over the name of our newest son is not causing any marital strife-
.....none at all....ahem...... nope.....not at all.

Just to throw a monkey in the wrench.....a wrench in the monkey?....I dunno......last night we started kicking around

Joel. 

But I can't seem to find a middle name that I like to go along with Joel.
Ahhh, the trials of adoption. :)

China purchases thus far

Well, my bedroom floor looks a bit like Target threw up all over it.

...but in a good way.

So fellow adoptive mommy's here's what I have so far and I need your BTDT wisdom on what I am still lacking so here's the rundown:

Floaties for the pool
Bath time supplies. If they've never had a bath before they are in for a treat! Fizzy balls that reveal dinosaurs, bath foam, bubble bath, Sponge Bob shampoo, color tablets...I'll break the news that bath time doesn't always look like that...but I'll save that news until after they like us. ;)

Shirts for the swearing in ceremony at the consulate.

Jammies! I heart clean kids in clean jammies! (which, hello; does anyone else catch that irony? 6 boys and clean all at the same time...uhhh no.)


And because I love my husband and respect his need for caffeine, to-go cups for coffee for early morning appointments complete with a box of Starbux's new instant coffee packets.

And that's that. Complete with a hodge podge of other small entertainment items that I can pull out of my magic bag and that's it.

So unleash the feedback! What am I missin? What worked for you? Do tell! Do tell!

Sincerely,
The rookie.