tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53039445081368999032024-03-13T12:52:27.410-04:00The Jos KnowFAITH - FAMILY - FRIENDSUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger643125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-70828393437610056012013-10-11T11:33:00.000-04:002013-10-11T11:33:25.054-04:00Pumpkin Spice Coffee CreamerI decided to try something new this morning - I made my own flavored coffee creamer! I quit buying flavored coffee creamers a while back because I couldn't stomach all the additives. Even the "all natural" ones have carrageenan in them, something I choose not to consume. Not only does it cause me to gain weight, experts agree that it can be <a href="http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/carrageenan-natural-ingredient-you-should-ban-your-diet">destructive to my health</a>. Anyway, sometimes I get tired of just using the flavored stevia drops, so I decided to try something new!<br />
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It isn't what I would call a healthy recipe, but it sure does taste good! And, yes, my coffee mug is almost as tall as a quart size mason jar...<br />
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I used the recipe I found <a href="http://thespringmount6pack.com/2013/09/homemade-pumpkin-spice-coffee-creamer/">here</a>, making only one change. If you want to try it the way I made it, here is the recipe!<br />
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<ul>
<li>14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk</li>
<li>14 oz. milk</li>
<li>3 Tbsp pumpkin puree (I think it could use a bit more, though)</li>
<li>3 Tbsp pure maple syrup</li>
<li>1 tsp vanila</li>
<li>1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon</li>
</ul>
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Put all the ingredients in a large jar and shake, shake, shake, and shake some more! This will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks.</div>
Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-12271352856942021672012-08-06T12:11:00.000-04:002012-08-06T12:11:33.583-04:00Ear Tubes...This morning we had our first visit with an ENT. Children with a cleft palate usually work closely with an ENT until their palate is completely closed and secure because it is impossible to keep fluids out of the ears while there are still holes in the palate, and when this is left untreated, hearing loss occurs. Hannah received ear tubes at some point in China, but by the time we got home, they were out of the ear drum not doing her a bit of good! So, off to the ENT we go! He confirmed that the ear tubes she has are worthless and did some testing. Unfortunately, Hannah already has fluid buildup in her ears again and is having some hearing loss because of the fluid. :( Usually, the ENT will wait until the child is already under anesthesia for a lip or palate surgery and jump in to do ear tubes at the same time, but Hannah's next lip surgery isn't until January and the doctor does not think it is wise to wait that long. In order to avoid possible permanent hearing loss, Hannah will have ear tube surgery next Tuesday, August 14. It should be short and easy, but it is surgery with anesthesia, which is always a bit scary! <br />
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The good news is that Hannah did better today with the doctors and did great with the hearing test - even cheering after each part was done! She didn't cry in her car seat until we had already been in the car for almost 30 minutes, too - a HUGE improvement! At the end of our visit, the kids all got helium balloons. Hannah wasn't so sure what to think of this magical floating balloon at first, but she quickly figured out that pounding on it was great fun! I quickly found out that tying it to her wrist is a big mistake, too... :) Here's a picture of Hannah on the way home, sound asleep in her car seat, but still holding onto her balloon!<br />
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This past weekend, we also got to meet new baby Jack! I was shocked that although both Drew and Hannah get jealous of each other in my lap, neither cared that I was holding a newborn! I think it is funny how they are both blurs in the picture - so true to life! They never slow down!</div>
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And, no big surprise here, Hannah loved wearing a necklace to church on Sunday! There is a matching bracelet, but it was too big, so I put it around her ankle. She LOVED that! She admired her jewelry all day long! Jerry tried to snap a picture, but the lighting was horrible and we were running late (also no surprise) so it isn't the best - but Hannah is cute anyway!</div>
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<br />Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-69927715664133808632012-08-02T20:14:00.000-04:002012-08-02T20:14:33.793-04:00AdjustingI had really planned on posting here more often...but for some reason I forget what it is like adding a new child to the family! However, as much work as it has been, and as tired as we have been, this has been an amazing first month home with Hannah. She shows us more and more of her personality all the time and we are constantly amazed at just how perfect she is for our family! Here are some highlights:<br />
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1. Hannah was not sleeping well when we first got home. Not only was she in a whole new place with new people, new sights, new smells, new language...she had never slept in a room alone before. We spent many hours in her room at night sitting next to her crib so she could calm down. Now, we put her down for bed after a night bottle, and she sleeps for 10 hours! She still is a bit frantic when she is up for the morning and doesn't calm down until we come get her, but she is feeling more and more secure!<br />
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<i>Her first week home - enjoying all the new toys!</i></div>
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2. Regardless of all we heard about kids who have been in an orphanage, Hannah is the most picky eater! This is actually the area in which we battle most. She likes all carbs, especially sweets, but will not eat meat or many veggies. She also was not introduced to many textures, so if it isn't pureed or really soft, she is not a fan. When she came home, she was still on 4 bottles of formula a day! We have her down to 3 and have switched her to whole milk, but I think it is going to take a while to get her off of those completely.<br />
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<i>Hannah is also a very messy eater... After this snack, she fell fast asleep in her chair!</i></div>
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<i>Aaron and Hannah have a special bond.</i></div>
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3. This child is super smart! Hannah already understands so much English it is scary! We have also been able to teach her to make different, distinguishable sounds for Mama, Aaron, brother, Grandma, and up. None of it (except for Mama) sounds like you might think because of her cleft, but she is trying like crazy! She also has signs for ceiling fan, please, thank you, more, eat, milk, and all done.<br />
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<i>Playing with fridge magnets.</i></div>
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<i>Pointing to the ceiling fan. Hannah *loves* fans!</i></div>
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4. Hannah has always wanted to be held and carried, but she struggled to be truly affectionate or completely relax in our arms or during a bottle feeding. This is rapidly changing! She seeks out affection from all of us, gives kisses and hugs, and snuggles like nobody's business! The first time she truly relaxed and let herself fall fully asleep curled up in my arms with her head on my chest was magical. When she also then trusted me enough to transition to her crib without jerking herself awake with fright was also amazing.<br />
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<i>Ethan, making Hannah giggle with tummy rubs!</i></div>
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<i>Watching Dora with Andrew!</i></div>
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5. Hannah *loves* her brothers! Andrew is a great playmate and is always bringing her toys. Ethan is so goofy with her and always trying to make her laugh or imitate him! Aaron is absolutely wonderful with Hannah. He comforts her when she is upset, carries her around, wrestles with her, and can make her laugh and laugh!<br />
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6. Hannah is a girly-girl. She loves dresses, shoes (even has favorites), bows in her hair, and dolls. Even so, she is a daddy's girl BIG TIME and loves to wrestle, climb, spin, be upside-down and anything else she can convince her daddy to do with her! What a great combo!<br />
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<i>Clinging to Daddy!</i></div>
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As you can tell, we are smitten! As for Hannah's future health-wise, we have taken her to see a doctor in the cleft palate team and although her palate repair was done very well, it didn't close completely (something that is expected with the type she had) and her lip repair was cosmetic only so the muscles in her upper lip are not attached. This causes a lot of problems, especially with speech development since she cannot move her upper lip to make certain noises. She is scheduled for surgery in January to re-do her lip repair, and then in December of 2013 to finish closing her palate and lengthen part of her nose to give her better ability to breathe. She also has to have ear tubes replaced this month and we are seeing a pediatric dentist next month to deal with several rotten teeth. I hate that she has to go through these things, but she handles them all like a trooper!<br />
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<i>Family of 6. Love.</i></div>
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<br />Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-77738155908216659812012-07-23T19:40:00.000-04:002012-07-23T19:40:11.454-04:00Teaching Writing Is HardSo I'm looking for resources to help with it.<br />
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http://smallworldathome.blogspot.com/2009/01/introducing-smallworlds-wordsmithery.html<br />
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http://www.anovelwritingsite.com/<br />
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http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/<br />
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http://www.bravewriter.com/<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-77399415767778711372012-07-13T12:33:00.003-04:002012-07-13T12:33:27.998-04:00Reflecting With FondnessI Want to Be a Clone, by Steve Taylor <br />
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I'd gone through so much other stuff<br />
That walking down the aisle was tough<br />
But now I know it's not enough<br />
I want to be a clone
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I asked the Lord into my heart<br />
They said that was the way to start<br />
But now you've got to play the part<br />
I want to be a clone<br />
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Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight<br />
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?<br />
I'm grateful that they show the way<br />
'Cause I could never know the way<br />
To serve him on my own<br />
I want to be a clone</div>
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They told me that I'd fall away<br />
Unless I followed what they say<br />
Who needs the Bible anyway?<br />
I want to be a clone<br />
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Their language it was new to me<br />
But Christianese got through to me<br />
Now I can speak it fluently<br />
I want to be a clone<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="chorus">
Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight<br />
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?<br />
I'm grateful that they show the way<br />
'Cause I could never know the way<br />
To serve him on my own<br />
I want to be a clone</div>
<br />
Send in the clones<br />
Ah, I kind of wanted to tell my friends and people about it, you know?<br />
What?<br />
You're still a babe<br />
You have to grow<br />
Give it twenty years or so<br />
'Cause if you want to be one of his<br />
Got to act like one of us<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="chorus">
Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight<br />
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?<br />
I'm grateful that they show the way<br />
'Cause I could never know the way<br />
To serve him on my own<br />
I want to be a clone</div>
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So now I see the whole design<br />
My church is an assembly line<br />
The parts are there, I'm feeling fine<br />
I want to be a clone<br />
<br />
I've learned enough to stay afloat<br />
But not so much I rock the boat<br />
I'm glad they shoved it down my throat<br />
I want to be a clone<br />
<br />
Everybody must get clonedUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-78211122444779588052012-07-10T20:51:00.002-04:002012-07-10T20:51:38.085-04:00AdjustingWhat a wild ride these past three weeks have been! I feel like we have been going non-stop and all the days really run together. There is one very good thing about that, though - it really feels like Hannah has been part of this family for a very long time! <br />
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<i>At the airport - ready to go!</i></div>
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<i>One of Jerry's friends gave us an envelope with a verse for each day, starting with the day we left. It was a great encouragement!</i></div>
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Our trip to China went very well. My plans to post here were thwarted by many factors - it is harder to get around China's firewall than I thought (my VPN wasn't the best one, but it was the only one that would work with my tablet's OS), we were so busy we fell into bed exhausted at the end of each day with no energy for long posts or e-mails, and we got quite sick (I was lucky enough to get sick twice!). However, even with the sickness, I would say that we could have asked for a better trip. We did not experience any jet lag on our way due to the fact that we flew over business class (yea for AA miles to upgrade our tickets!) and could lay down and sleep. We were also part of the most amazing travel group! I can honestly say that I really liked the 7 other families we were with. We all seemed to get along well, value similar things, and have lots in common! It was fun to be able to watch other kids going through the same process as Hannah, as well. We also had good guides with us. CCAI, our adoption agency, has a great staff in China! They knew exactly what they were doing, were super helpful, and were fun to get to know.<br />
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<i>Check out all the leg room for international business class!!</i></div>
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<i>Our flight path - close to the North Pole!</i></div>
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<i>Our travel group touring Beijing.</i></div>
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<i>We stood out even more thanks to this flag our guide held everywhere we went! But it was good to not lose the group.</i></div>
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It has been awesome getting to know Hannah. The first two days we had her, she was all charm and smiles - I think she was trying to "win our affections." Little did she know, she had done that long before we even met her. She oozes personality! She is loud, funny, goofy, smiley, stubborn, picky, ticklish, cuddly, and so darn stinkin' cute it is almost too much! She can throw a tantrum with the best of them, but she can also be as sweet as honey, smothering you with kisses. The funny thing is that she goes from one to the other at the drop of a hat! She definitely has not been told "no" very often in her life - and she does *not* like when we tell her "no." That was one of the things about China that I noticed consistently - when a child is not happy, everyone, even perfect strangers, try giving the child this or that to make them happy again! We will have some training to do with Hannah! :)<br />
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<i>A silkworm cocoon - touring the silk factory.</i></div>
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<i>We had a great laugh when we found silk GB boxers there!</i></div>
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<i>Group meal at a local restaurant.</i></div>
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<i>Tiananmen Square</i></div>
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<i>At the Forbidden City - the dragon head symbolizes the emperor and the turtle stands for long life, so this statue means, "Long live the emperor!"</i></div>
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<i>Another meal where you don't know what you're eating until it actually comes.</i></div>
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<i>Some food we declined eating...</i></div>
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<i>Climbing the Great Wall</i></div>
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<i>Jerry in front of the Bird's Nest.</i></div>
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Once we were done with our two days of touring in Beijing, we went to Zhengzhou, the capital of Hannah's province, and got Hannah the next morning. The day after that, we signed the papers that made Hannah's adoption official! It was decidedly unceremonious, which was a bit disappointing, but like all things Chinese- it was efficient. We had an opportunity to go to Hannah's orphanage, but we decided not to for a couple of reasons, but mostly because by that time, Hannah had started grieving and looking around at all the women we saw doing some "mommy shopping." We didn't want her to think we were taking her back, and we also didn't want her to want to go back! We did hire a tour guide to take us around her home city though, which was nice. We were able to get pictures for her of where she was from, although she was abandoned about an hour's drive outside the city in a very remote location, so we didn't see the exact spot. We have had so many miracles throughout this entire adoption process, but this added another one. Hannah was left in this very remote area where few people would pass by, at one day old. She probably hadn't eaten anything because her cleft was so severe it is doubtful her mom was able to nurse her at all. For all practical purposes, she should have died, but God has plans for this little girl! He had what would be equivalent to a "state trooper" drive by and actually spot her, care enough to stop and get her and take her right to a place where she could be cared for. She has not only survived, but this girl has thrived! Praise God! Also while in Zhengzhou, we had to have many papers notarized, we received Hannah's Chinese passport, and we received the paperwork we needed to get her US visa.<br />
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<i>Right after getting Hannah - she's still not too sure...</i></div>
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<i>Our first smiles!</i></div>
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<i>McD's never tasted so good!</i></div>
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Next we flew to Guangzhou, the city all US adoptions go through. We didn't really have too much official to do there - we were primarily waiting for appointments and paperwork - so we went back to being tourists. Only now, our group was much larger and noisier with 8 new baby/toddler additions! We went to the zoo, out to eat as a group, on a river cruise to see the city at night, shopping, and more. We ordered Papa Johns pizza and ate at McDonald's - which was the only "cheap" fast option for food within walking distance of our hotel. This week culminated with our US Consulate appointment (also very unceremonious) and receiving Hannah's visa and our paperwork packet for her to enter the US.<br />
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<i>In Kaifeng City - where Hannah is from.</i></div>
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<i>Kaifeng City</i></div>
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<i>The Iron Pagoda - 1000 years old - the most famous landmark in Kaifeng City.</i></div>
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Surprisingly, leaving China was a little bit sad. Although we missed home and our children, we had grown comfortable with China. We found we actually enjoyed the food, and had adjusted to the culture. We had learned to be assertive and to cross very crowded streets with hundreds of other people on foot, bicycle, and motor scooter. The reality of knowing we were leaving Hannah's birth country and headed back to a family that would never be what it was before was a big reality, too. Having Hannah means that a part of our hearts will always be tied to China because it was there that we received our fourth amazing blessing! I don't fully understand why it was God's plan for us to grow our family out of a painful situation for Hannah and her birth parents, but I love the way that no matter what it looks like from an earthly perspective, God orchestrated her birth and adoption from before the beginning of time, and that is downright amazing. She was meant to be our daughter, and it is obvious!<br />
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<i>The 2nd tallest building in the world!</i></div>
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<i>On the river cruise in Guangzhou</i></div>
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The flight home was long and frustrating. We flew like normal people (in coach) and had a bulkhead row, which was great for legroom, but horrible because the arm rests didn't lift so we couldn't lay Hannah flat to sleep across us as we had planned. We ran into delays on each of our flights (we flew GZ to Tokyo to DFW), and even were diverted to OK City for an hour due to weather! In all, it took 27 hours to get home. Once we landed we began the maze of customs, baggage claim, and immigration. Our immigration officer was very rude and told us that Hannah was not being admitted as a citizen as we had been told, and we are still straightening all of that out. We were so tired, so this was even more upsetting, and I was in tears by the time we were heading out to greet our family. Then when I saw my boys, the tears really overflowed! I hadn't realized just how much I missed them until I saw them! Hannah took all of this in stride and did amazingly well through it all. She observed her brothers and her grandparents closely while Jerry told her in Mandarin and English who they all were. As we suspected, she HATED her car seat! They don't use them in China, and she has never been restricted while travelling!<br />
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<i>Celebrating the US on July 4!</i></div>
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<i>Our first flight home was in "economy plus" - really nice! Too bad the long one wasn't...</i></div>
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<i>Discovering American food - green peas are a hit!</i></div>
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These first two days have gone well. She loves her brothers, and they are delighted with her and discovering her "tricks"! They are constantly trying to get her to hug them or make her laugh. Not to say it has all been a bed of roses. The transition home has been hard. Hannah is jet lagged, and grieving, too. This comes out less during the day (she will get sad suddenly and want to snuggle), but really comes out at night. She really does not want to be left alone to sleep at night and is fighting sleep altogether! She has been up half the night or more each night, and we are exhausted. I have read many books on toddler adoption and the transition, and this is so normal, but the longer it goes on the harder it is to cope with it well due to lack of sleep! Please pray that Hannah will feel secure enough in our family and in her room to sleep at night! We all need it.<br />
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<i>Andrew and Hannah have been great playmates! Drew is loving having someone more his size to play with.</i></div>
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I have been overwhelmed with how many people have given us encouragement and support through this whole process. It has been an amazing journey, and one I highly recommend!Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-57634475856646611212012-07-01T10:32:00.001-04:002012-07-01T10:32:30.211-04:00Getting Hannah<div>
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I have lots to post about our first days in China, before getting Hannah, but I know that if I post about those first there will be an outcry for more pictures of Hannah... so I will post about out Gotcha Day first, then backtrack to our time in Beijing after that.<br />
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We flew to the capital city of Hannah's province with four other families adopting from other orphanages in this same province on Sunday. It was a 1 1/2 hour flight, but because it was raining, we sat on the runway for over an hour before taking off. After getting here we took a bus to our hotel and went to get a noodle dish at a local noodle bar. We also went to the bank to change money - yes, on Sunday! The process was quite different from what we are used to. You have to produce your passport or official government ID and take a number before sitting in a waiting area. When our number was called, we could go to a window with a teller in a cubicle behind glass to do our business. This was not a fast process either!<br />
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After we finished at the bank, we walked to the local Wal-Mart to buy diapers, formula, and the food items the orphanages had told us our babies were used to. The Wal-Mart was quite different, too! I will try to get more pictures of it later this week. All of this took us nearly all day, so we stopped at a Pizza Hut that was right next door to order pizza and basically collapsed into bed exhausted as soon as we finished eating!<br />
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The next morning, our group went by bus to the local security office to a large room where we waited for our babies to come. Each orphanage drives the babies to this central location . In addition to our five families, there were 3 other families waiting for their children, too. When we got there, one of our families' babies was already there! It is amazing how quickly we have formed tight bonds with the other families in our group, so it was emotional for everyone.<br />
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Hannah was next to arrive! I saw her with her nanny walking up to the building, so I waited for her at the door. She had slept on the way there and was still quite out of it! I said hello in Chinese while her nanny was still holding her, then the nanny set her down and we crouched down to talk to her and tell her we were her mama and daddy.<br />
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She kept a fairly neutral look, but was studying us quite carefully. She let me touch her arm and then grabbed my finger while we got to know each other.<br />
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After just a few minutes she sat on my lap and we looked at the book I had sent her. She actually recognized that we were the people in that book!<br />
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Sometime during all of this her nanny gave us a small photo album of her life, a bag of formula, and some antibiotic that she was on for an ear infection. Very quickly she opened up to us and took some snacks from our hands and some water from a bottle we brought. She also really liked playing with the toy phone we brought! (It was actually the exact same one we had sent her on a care package in February.) After about 20 minutes she was giving us some tentative smiles and letting us kiss her - she loves to have her neck kissed and just giggles and giggles! She was happy with us and comfortable right from the beginning, which has to be an answer to prayer. We had to sign guardianship papers to be able to take Hannah home for the night while we were there.<br />
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All told, we were there for about 2 hours. On the way back to the hotel, we discovered that Hannah had been taught her name and loved pointing at each of us when we say mama or daddy and at herself when we say Hannah. We also got to hear her amazing giggle for the first time on the bus when I discovered that she is quite ticklish! We took a video of it, which I have been unable to upload it due to a lack of bandwidth, but I'll put it up when we get home.<br />
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Once back at the hotel, we played with Hannah and discovered that she is assertive, very happy, loves to imitate and be imitated, and would rather play than nap!<br />
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The day could not have gone any better, really. We filled the official adoption papers, and when Hannah's nanny had to come by our hotel to pick up the passport fee she forgot to get from us earlier, Hannah already wouldn't go to her and clung to me instead. Sigh...I think I'm in love. :-) </div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-27360156930639215312012-07-01T10:23:00.001-04:002012-07-01T10:32:54.770-04:00Picture Post From China<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Before J&J got Hannah, they did some sightseeing in Beijing. Here they are about to go on a rickshaw tour.</div>
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They visited a houtong. This is Johanna's description: <span class="hasCaption">Courtyard in a traditional houtong (the type of
homes Chinese people lived in before modern apartments were available.
Many of the older generations and people outside of the cities still
live in these.) There are 8 rooms around a central courtyard, a shared
kitchen, and community toilets that many houtongs share.</span></div>
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Tienanmen Square.</div>
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<span class="hasCaption"> The fare in China is a wee bit different than in America.</span></div>
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<span class="hasCaption">The Great Wall of China. After sightseeing in Beijing, they flew to the province that Hannah was staying in.</span></div>
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When Jerry and Johanna first met Hannah, she (Hannah) grabbed hold of Johanna's finger and held on tight. The workers at the orphanage had been reading the book J&J had send to Hannah long ago and Hannah recognized them. As you can see, Johanna thought that was pretty special. I cried, too, when I saw this picture.</div>
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There is nothing better in this world than your daughter (or son) sleeping on your lap. Nothing. Then they grow up. Sniff, sniff.</div>
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Hannah likes looking out their hotel window. Look at those delicious, chubby baby thighs.</div>
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Hannah taking a nap with Mommy. </div>
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Visiting Kaifeng, where Hannah is from.</div>
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Hannah gets McDonald's for the first time. </div>
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This is the group of people Jerry, Johanna and Hannah are traveling with. They were leaving Zhengzhou and going to Guangzhou.</div>
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Since we had Hannah-sleeping and Hannah-sleeping-with-Mommy, I thought it appropriate to add Hannah-sleeping-with-Daddy.</div>
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These are the most recent pictures and updates that I have gotten from Johanna. She said they were sick for a bit and had to take medicine that you stir in water and that it tasted nasty, but they are better now. Hannah has been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster, having left everything she has ever known and come into a completely new and different life. Johanna described it as grieving. She'll be happy one minute and miserable the next. But, they were all sick together and Hannah had to turn to them for comfort and that is where the bonding and trusting comes in. They got Hannah's passport and come home in less than a week! I am so excited for them. It's hard for me to not tear up when I'm looking at these pictures.<br />
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There are more pictures I could post, but I don't want to overwhelm anyone. If you'd like to see more, leave a comment and I'll make another picture post.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-64361816434104201362012-06-26T08:27:00.000-04:002012-06-26T08:30:27.315-04:00Hannah and Her ParentsJohanna sent these pictures. Johanna said she is giggling and smiling a lot for them and they didn't expect that so soon.<br />
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<i> About 20 minutes after they received Hannah. Look at that look on Johanna's face.</i></div>
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<i>After Hannah got a bath.</i></div>
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<i>Playing the "I don't know" game.</i></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-47082006630069085142012-06-23T15:57:00.000-04:002012-06-23T15:57:10.844-04:00Johanna's First Update From ChinaWe made it to China! The flight over went really well, but we were
spoiled with business class for the long leg. That is really the way to
travel for an international flight! We were able to sleep well on the
plane, which has made our transition to the local time much better. We
spent the 20th and 21st getting here, then were thrown into a whirlwind
of sightseeing! In the two days we have toured Beijing, we have seen the
following: a traditional houtong via a rickshaw tour, a silk factory,
Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the night food street market, a
jade factory, the Great Wall, the Olympic complex, and a Chinese
Acrobatic show. We have eaten in 3 local Chinese restaurants and then
tonight at a McDonalds! We are getting good at using chopsticks, too.
There are 9 families here in our group, and we have really enjoyed
getting to know them. <br /><br />Tomorrow morning we will fly to
Zhengzhou, the capital of the province Hannah is in. Then on Monday
morning, we will get her! It is starting to sink in just how close it
all is. After waiting for her for 4 years, she will be ours in just 1
1/2 days! <br /><br />Once we get to the net city, we will have a day with
nothing scheduled, so I am determined to figure out how to get some
pictures posted. <br /><br />Thank you to all who are praying for us. My
shoulder still needs prayer. It is better than it was, but a lot of
every day motion causes me pain.<br /><br />Hopefully next time I post, there will be pictures and maybe we will even have Hannah already!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-10857776605053841032012-06-20T08:36:00.001-04:002012-06-20T08:36:29.043-04:00We're Leaving On a Jet Plane<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In just a few hours, we will be leaving on one of these to begin the actual journey to get to Hannah! Hopefully, ours won't be made out of Lego bricks, though. :)<br />
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Dropping the kids of for 18 days apart was very hard. There were tears and lots of hugs, but it was sad. However, I have to brag on God in a major way! We were so concerned about Andrew, but he did so well! He did tell me twice that he was ready to go home now, once while I was giving him his bath and once before we tucked them into bed, but he accepted it when I told him that we couldn't do that. The family they are staying with built a big blanket tent for them to sleep in, and they were so excited! I know they are going to do so well.<br />
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Even more bragging on God: Jerry got a solution to the computer network meltdown at work. I was so thankful that he could come home from work yesterday without that hanging over his head!<br />
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My shoulder is painful, but okay. I haven't been able to do some of the cleaning I like to do before I leave on a trip, but my wonderful mom said she would fill in for me on what my shoulder couldn't take - thanks Mom! That is such a relief.<br />
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We did realize last night that we have to have 2 passport sized photos of each of us for our consulate appointment, so we are heading out to do that this morning. Otherwise, we are completely packed, the boys are taken care of, we have people scheduled to be in and out of the house while we are gone, we are getting the last of the laundry done now, and in just a few hours we head off to the airport!<br />
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The next post will be made from China! Woo-Hoo!Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-22174910579591166922012-06-19T10:45:00.000-04:002012-06-19T10:45:23.732-04:00SetbacksThis post could also be titled, "Nothing's Gonna Hold Me Down." Yesterday was perhaps one of the worst days we've had in a long time. <br />
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Jerry got to work to discover that the server controlling the company's network is down. Completely toast. He spent all day working on solutions and got nowhere. Until it is fixed, our company has no internet, e-mail, or access to their production software.<br />
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I completely aggravated an injury to my shoulder and found out that I sprained the tendon connecting my clavicle and shoulder - also called a separated shoulder. I saw a chiropractor who specializes in sports injury (this was originally an injury from lifting weights) and he adjusted it and taped it and gave me a pain relief regimen to follow. This morning I started having an allergic reaction to the tape.<br />
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The kids are emotionally struggling as our departure approaches. Jerry and I are, too. There were many tears in this house yesterday, and Andrew is throwing a fit about every. single. thing.<br />
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But you know what? Setbacks, or no, I know for sure that we are supposed to be doing exactly what we are doing. I feel a peace that whether it is all sorted out before we leave tomorrow, it will all work out. This morning when I was taking my kids to VBS, we were listening to a CD that we got from <a href="http://www.worldhelp.net/COTW/?gclid=CMztgsC92rACFSdjTAod6kVuzQ">Children of the World</a>, a division of World Help that we have supported. The CD has kids - orphans - from Uganda, the Philippines, and Nepal singing amazing songs of worship. On the way home, the 4th song on the CD started and a huge smile spread across my face. It is one of my favorite songs from the CD and just what I needed to hear. If you ever have a bad day, you need this song. Watch it. Giggle at how precious these children are, and remember that they are orphans who have had days so bad that I don't even want to imagine. Even so, watch the joy they have and let it seep into your soul, too.<br />
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<br />Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-6701240959381385252012-06-16T22:38:00.000-04:002012-06-16T22:39:09.787-04:00Family TimeWe have been focused on doing a few special things with our boys before leaving for China, and today we surprised them by going to the Legoland Discovery Center! They were ecstatic! All week they knew that as soon as Jerry got home from his business trip, we were leaving for a surprise, but we wouldn't give them any hints or details. It drove them INSANE. :) As we pulled into the parking lot at Grapevine Mills, Aaron spotted the sign first and about lost it he was so excited!<br />
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<i>Life-sized Dirk!</i></div>
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<i>In front of the Lego version of Texas Stadium. This other boy and his father both saw me trying to take their picture, but didn't bother to get out of it...</i></div>
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<i>Andrew had the most fun building towers with these giant blocks and going down that slide in the background about 74 times!</i></div>
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When Jerry's parents heard we were taking the boys here, they gave Jerry some money for the gift shop. We let Andrew pick something out (knowing he would choose something small) and let the other two split the remaining funds. They got a nice pile of loot - Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!<br />
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<i>The bag from the gift shop was bigger than Aaron! </i></div>
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For lunch, we hit the food court so we could all be happy with our food. I decided to get in the swing of things and go with Asian food - Mmmm. Okay, so it is Japanese, not Chinese - but it was so yummy.<br />
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I also found something I *<i>love*</i> in the gift shop. Last month, I resorted to buying the ugly white and black salt and pepper shakers that are in every greasy spoon restaurant in the South because my children have broken multiple salt or pepper shakers and I was tired of replacing nice, expensive shakers. When I saw these, I knew the solution had been found. Aren't they awesome??<br />
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<br />Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-31210772510302197082012-06-16T05:00:00.000-04:002012-06-16T05:00:01.340-04:00Preparing the KiddosI think our trip to China will be hard on the kids. Aaron and Ethan can at least understand that we will be coming back in 18 days and have some concept of what that means, but Andrew will need some help with that. To help them all, and especially Andrew, I had them make a paper chain. I wrote the date on one side of each strip and how many days until we are home on the other side, then I let the kids decorate them with stickers. Aaron stapled them all together, and now they can take a chain off every day and Andrew can see the chain get shorter and shorter until we are home with Hannah!<br />
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<i>Andrew took his job very seriously!</i></div>
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<i>Aaron was all business.</i></div>
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<i>Ethan tried to see just how many stickers he could fit on each one!</i></div>
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<i>They were all excited about this! I sure hope it is fun and helps them!</i></div>
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We are also writing notes to the boys, one for each day, that talk about what we will be doing and asking them about things we know they have planned. I've even wrapped up some presents for them to get on many of the days we are gone. Nothing major, but a few books from Half Priced Books, gum, balloons, candy, etc. I think these things will help them with our absence, and create special memories for them of this time!Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-80008222689966487332012-06-15T05:26:00.000-04:002012-06-15T05:26:00.388-04:00Schedule<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know this is the tiniest picture ever, but it is the most recent one we have. We pulled it off the newsletter from New Hope Beijing in April. Still no official update on Hannah, so I am beginning to believe that we won't get one before we travel. I am trying to be okay with that! :)<br />
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Yesterday I took part in a conference call with the other 4 families in our travel group and the director of CCAI (our adoption agency). It is neat that the director takes the time to personally speak with each family before they travel. He was just making sure we didn't have questions about travel or the schedule and giving us some encouragement about the trip. He and his wife immigrated to the US from China long ago and started this adoption agency in their basement 20 years ago! They never imagined they would grow to be the largest Chinese adoption agency in the world and be recognized as the #1 agency by China! Anyway, a couple of things he said stuck out to me. First, he thanked each of us who were adopting a child with a special need. He acknowledged that they were all created by our Almighty God and he was so excited that they were getting a chance in a family. How neat is that? Then, as he was wrapping up the call, he said that when a group leaves for China, he and his wife pray each night for every family on the trip by name. He said he prays for our protection and for God's blessing for us. He acknowledged that not every person who uses CCAI believes, but said, "You just don't know the spiritual impact this trip makes." I feel so blessed to have been led to use this agency. We had no idea when we first applied to them what path we would take or that the directors were believers like us, but we know we are with the right people!<br />
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I also received our final travel packet yesterday, which has a full schedule in it! Although we leave the US just after lunch on the 20th, because of the length of the flight and the time difference, we don't land until quite late on the 21st in Beijing. We will tour Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and take a Hutong Tour on the 22nd and tour the Great Wall on the 23rd. After those days, the goal is to be more adjusted to the time and culture, and the morning of the 24th we will fly to Zhengzhou. We will stay in Zhengzhou for a week. Zhengzhou is the capital city of the Henan province, and every family in our travel group is adopting from an orphanage in this province. We will stay in the capital, and our children will be brought to us on the 25th. We will use the rest of the week to apply for our child's passport, register her adoption with the Chinese government and wait for the passport to be ready. It is also during this week that we might have the opportunity to visit Hannah's orphanage. On the 30th, we will fly to Guangzhou, where the US Consulate is located. We will have some free time here for touring and shopping. It is here that our children all must have physical exams, tests, and vaccines. We must take official photographs and prepare our paperwork for the Consulate appointment. On July 5th, we will have our Consulate appointment and apply for Hannah's permanent US visa. Once we receive her visa on the 6th, we are free to leave! We actually fly home on the 7th. As soon as we land on US soil, Hannah will be a US citizen.<br />
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This trip will be full, busy, emotional, amazing, wonderful, stressful, and so many things I am sure I cannot even imagine yet. But, I'm ready it for it all. Most of all, I am so ready to bring my precious baby girl home, teach her that she is now part of our family for ever and ever, and that she is so very loved.Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-35644866042823395212012-06-14T10:11:00.000-04:002012-06-14T10:11:31.995-04:00ProgressIt has been a whirlwind of activity here since we got our travel dates. Here's a look at what I have been doing... I have been at Target every day, I think, buying things we still need for our trip! I have set out all of Hannah's things, ready to pack and I have started pulling aside things of ours to pack, too. <br />
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Jerry was able to book a return flight for us, but he was unable to use miles to do it. We found a flight on Orbitz.com, though, that was a better schedule than any others we could find. The price of this flight kept jumping all over the place, which was very stressful! When it jumped down at one point, we decided to just buy it to be done with the craziness. <br />
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We signed papers for Hannah's orphanage to start the process of applying for her Chinese passport, too. The fact that they requested this information from us means they know Hannah is being adopted, yet they still haven't sent us any updated information on her. Even though I know I will have her in my arms in just over a week, I still am nearly desperate to get pictures or hear new information about her. They still haven't sent her medical papers from her surgery in April. ::sigh:: Soon enough I will know, I guess.<br />
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I have also made an appointment for her first pediatrician visit, and scheduled for our social worker to come July 27 for our one month post adoption visit (required by China).<br />
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I have made a packet of information for all the people keeping the kids while we are gone, and I have put together gifts and letters for the kids to get while we are gone. I finished painting art to go in Hannah's room and will frame it all today. I would like to start making Hannah a blanket today, too, but it will depend on whether I finish a few other more necessary tasks!<br />
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At noon today, I have a conference call with my travel group (I think there will be 4 other families traveling with us) and our adoption agency to go over travel details. I am hoping to get a more clear idea of what we will be doing each day.<br />
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I'm sorry this post is full of short, choppy sentences and has no pictures, but this is basically how my brain is working right now! :) I will start taking pictures of Hannah's finished room soon!! But I must say, God is so very good. Even though I have not had a moment to stop since getting these dates, and there is still so much to do, I feel at peace and I am not freaking out like I was last Friday. I know this is from God, because the circumstances around me haven't changed, but the peace and attitude within me has. It is so hard to believe that 21 years after God told me I would have a daughter from China, over 4 years since we started the process to adopt, and almost 3 years waiting on China, we are just 6 days from flying to Beijing and 12 days from having Hannah in our arms forever.Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-79039001162810402862012-06-08T16:37:00.000-04:002012-06-08T16:37:11.396-04:00We're Going to China!!I cannot believe that the time has actually come for me to announce that we officially have travel dates to go to China to adopt Hannah!!!!! I am so excited! We will be flying out to Beijing on June 20. We will spend the first few days in Beijing touring and adjusting to the time change and the culture, etc. On June 24, we will fly to Zhengzhou, China, which is the capital of the province Hannah is from. It is in this city that we will receive Hannah and also register her adoption with the local government. While in Zhengzhou, we will also be travelling to her home town, Kaifeng City, to apply for her Chinese passport. She will travel home on a Chinese passport under her Chinese name. After we receive her passport, we will travel to Guangzhou, where the US Consulate is located. We have an appointment scheduled at the Consulate for July 5 (which happens to be our 15th wedding anniversary) to get Hannah's visa and sign all the documents for her US citizenship. We will take an oath (I assume for her citizenship??) on that day as well. We will get her visa on July 6 and are able to fly home as early as July 7! <br />
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For the last few weeks, we have been placing various flights to Beijing on hold using our airline miles, so we have a flight to Beijing set to go. However, as of right now, there are absolutely no flights available back home on the dates we have been given using miles. We would really like to fly on miles and not have to pay for 3 one-way tickets home. Would you please be praying that something opens up using miles very soon?<br />
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As I get more information, I will post it here! It is hard to believe that this process is actually almost over. Whew! What a wild ride!Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-23869428518789109322012-06-02T18:51:00.001-04:002012-06-02T18:51:29.687-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've changed personalities altogether...or at least hair personalities. Lily cried when she saw me. Poor girl.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-54548706043029324892012-05-24T10:57:00.004-04:002012-05-24T11:44:29.559-04:00Getting CloserThings are still moving along in adoption land. Although I still haven't received any official updated information on Hannah, I did sign up to get the newsletter from the home where she was living and receiving medical treatment in Beijing and the April newsletter had her listed as one of the children who received surgery that month! You can see the newsletter <a href="http://www.hopefosterhome.com/news/2012/news_12_04.htm">here</a>. If you scroll down, she is listed as "Jaclyn Ruth," the name the two families who sponsored her care while there decided to give her! While you're over on that <a href="http://www.hopefosterhome.com/index.html">web site</a>, nose around a bit. This is an amazing ministry to orphans in China! They also have so many <a href="http://www.hopefosterhome.com/needs.htm">needs</a> on an ongoing basis. They need one time donations of various items, regular donations for operating costs, and monthly donations to sponsor specific children. Someday I hope to be able to sponsor this place in a big way - they are the ones who began to repair my daughter's cleft and also gave her a loving and safe environment to grow in. They have no idea who I am, but they have ministered to me in a huge way by loving my daughter. If you are looking for a ministry to support or for a way to care for orphans short of adopting one of your own, I hope you will consider supporting them! Anyway, as far as surgery goes, in February, we were told she was being transferred to this home to get a palate repair surgery, so I assume that is what she had done, but I won't know until we either get an official update or until we are in China! As of yesterday, her picture is no longer on the "Babies" page, so I think she has been transferred back to her orphanage to await adoption.<br />
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<b><i><span style="color: #351c75;">ETA: I just got an e-mail from our adoption agency stating that our Article 5 has been issued and will be delivered to the CCCWA (the Chinese agency that governs all adoption). Once they have this document, they will have everything they need to issue our travel dates!!!! Yea - God is good!</span></i></b><br />
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<i>A recent family picture on a field trip to the Dallas World Aquarium.</i></div>
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<i>Me and 2 giant crabs!</i></div>
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As far as travel is concerned, we did get our visas!! We got a letter that we also forwarded to the US Consulate in Guangzhou and we are expecting to be issued an Article 5 tomorrow from them. Once we have that document, we can request travel dates from China!! We have been told that once we request travel dates, we will receive an invitation to travel in 2-4 weeks, and can expect to travel 10-21 days after receiving that invitation! That puts us in the end of June or beginning of July for travel. We both have our heads and hearts stuck on June 27 to travel for some reason. (We've been told we are most likely to leave on a Wednesday.) Please pray that everything comes through quickly and that we are able to leave on the 27th. We have tickets on hold for that day using our miles to travel.<br />
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<i>Isn't that so cool???</i></div>
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We have almost finished Hannah's room, too! I still have to sew curtains, and we have a friend coming over to help paint a tree with owls and birds next week. Once it is done, I'll post pictures.<br />
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<i>Ever wondered about all that "adoption paperwork" people talk about? This is a picture of my paperwork file. It is expandable, but I don't think it could expand more if we tried! And this doesn't include all the things we've mailed off to this agency or that office! This isn't to scare anyone off, though - it is totally worth it.</i></div>
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Finally, I heard something that basically sums up how I feel about adoption and orphan care. Perhaps you've heard about the book, <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kisses-Katie-Story-Relentless-Redemption/dp/1451612060/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337870528&sr=1-1">Kisses from Katie</a></u>. This book was written by a young woman with a true heart for missions, people, and orphans. After moving to Uganda to do missions work, she started her own organization to help Ugandan children have their basic needs and educational needs met. Here is a quote from her book description:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">To further her reach into the needs of Ugandans, Katie established Amazima Ministries. The ministry matches orphaned children with sponors worldwide. Each sponsor’s $300/year provides schooling, school supplies, three hot meals a day, minor medical care, and spiritual encouragement. Katie expected to have forty children in the program; she had signed up 150 by January 2008; today it sponsors over 400. Another aspect of the ministry is a feeding program created for the displaced Karamojong people—Uganda’s poorest citizens. The program feeds lunch to over 1,200 children Monday-Friday and sends them home with a plate of food; it also offers basic medical care, Bible study, and general health training.</span></blockquote>
Anyway, I was watching videos on YouTube of her and I ran across this short interview clip:<br />
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It is only 3 minutes long - please listen to it. It completely sums up my feelings about adoption, the spiritual significance of adoption, the Christian's responsibility, and I love, love, love what Katie says when asked to speak to the person who is on the fence, but has been considering adoption! </div>
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I plan on buying her book for my kindle to read on the flight over to China - if I can manage to wait that long! :-)</div>
<br />Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-32999583935366293212012-05-09T17:57:00.000-04:002012-05-09T17:57:20.062-04:00BirthdaysWe have had a few birthdays in our family! At the end of April, I turned 35. That's right - I'm not afraid to admit my age! :) At least not yet...<br />
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Jerry brought home roses for my birthday.<br />
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I requested Saltgrass Steakhouse for my birthday lunch, so we went after church with my parents! It was so very yummy - I had to get a picture so I could remember how yummy it was.<br />
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My children were with me in the jewelry store a few weeks before my birthday, and since I am all baby girl all the time right now, I of course, had to look at the little girl jewelry before I could leave. I saw a little girl necklace that was the shape of a shell with a small diamond in the center. I exclaimed how great that would be for Hannah since her name means "beautiful shell." Lo and behold, he told Jerry about this necklace so my boys and Jerry went and got me the necklace for my birthday! Technically it is a gift for Hannah, but it is so incredibly sweet that Aaron remembered that I exclaimed over it and told Jerry and they went and found it for me. A perfect birthday.<br />
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Then Aaron turned 9! I cannot believe my firstborn is already 9. Time really does go so quickly. He and Ethan alternate years having a party, so this year he just had a family over for some play and pizza. He requested a Resees cake, so I made him a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting with chopped Resees on top. It was amazingly good. So good I think we have to throw out the rest of it so that I do not eat every last bite...<br />
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<i>He decided to spike his hair into a mohawk just for his big day. Lovely, no?</i></div>
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Finally, one of my grandmothers (my mom's mom) turns 80 this weekend! Her whole family is throwing a huge (like over 100 guests!) surprise party for her. I really hope she doesn't have a heart attack from such a shock at her age... ;) Anyway, with all the adoption stuff going on right now, there was no way we could make a trip to Wisconsin to be there with her, but I did have the privilege of making her a chair back cover for her big day! I embroidered "Birthday Girl" on one side and "Kiss me, I'm 80!" on the other. I hope she likes it!<br />
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<br />Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-25886406379644693642012-04-27T06:22:00.000-04:002012-04-27T06:22:00.973-04:00Hannah's NameOur daughter will have quite a name! Hannah Bei Jia Marie plus a last name, too. In the last post, I had a picture of a wall hanging a friend gave me with Hannah's name meaning. I thought I'd share here.<br />
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Hannah:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Language/Cultural Origin: Hebrew</li>
<li>Inherent Meaning: Gracious</li>
<li>Spiritual Connotation: Compassionate</li>
<li>Psalm 145:8, "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy."</li>
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Bei Jia: </div>
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<li>The name given to our daughter at 1 day old when she entered the orphanage</li>
<li>Meaning: Shell/Valuables,
Beautiful/Excellent</li>
<li>Her nick-name in China is Jia Jia</li>
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Marie:</div>
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<li>Language/Cultural Origin: Hebrew / Egyptian</li>
<li>Inherent Meaning: Bitter / Wished for Child</li>
<li>Spiritual Connotation: Delivered</li>
<li>Isaiah 38:17, "Indeed it was for my own peace that I had such great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for you have cast all my sins behind your back."</li>
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Even though this name might be a bit of a mouthful for a little girl, Hannah is the name we chose for a girl when we were pregnant the first time and kept it as our top choice through each pregnancy. Because my name has "hanna" as its ending, it is special to me as well. We also wanted to keep her Chinese name, even though it wasn't given to her by her Chinese parents. She will have so little to look to when she starts to question who she is and where she came from that we want to keep as much of what she has as we can. We also gave her an American middle name for a couple of reasons. First, that is my middle name, my mom's middle name, and my grandmother's first name. That is special! Also, when Hannah gets older, we wanted her to be able to choose which middle name she prefers to use. If she wants to identify with her Chinese heritage, she has that. But if she just feels American, she can drop the Chinese name. However, legally, she'll have both - something I hope she appreciates some day. It was interesting doing the research on the name Marie. I had always heard it meant "Bitter," which I must confess is not my favorite meaning. But I kept seeing that it was Hebrew, with Egyptian origin, so I decided to look at the Egyptian meaning. When I saw that the Egyptian meaning was "Wished for child," I could not help but think it is absolutely perfect for our daughter. We have wished for her through this whole 4-year process of adoption, and I have wished for her for 20 years - ever since God impressed upon me that I would have a daughter from China someday. I hope she will come to realize just how much she was longed for by us!</div>
</div>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-44883063687509013152012-04-25T17:24:00.001-04:002012-04-25T17:24:40.137-04:00Adoption ProgressI did not realize just how many steps there were to the end of this process! Since I last updated things here, we did finally get our immigration approval. Once we had that, we applied to the Department of Homeland Security to classify Hannah as an immediate relative, and we got that provisional approval today! We also filled another gov't form and sent it off - I don't even remember what that was for! Now that we have our provisional approval, we can apply for our visas to enter China! This involves sending a packet of information through a courier to the Chinese Consulate in Houston. We also have a whole packet of information to get notarized and send off to our adoption agency, including travel releases, placement agreements, travel group information release forms. We will get that notarized tomorrow and send it, along with a copy of our approval that we got today back to the agency. I think we are also going to get our will notarized before we jet off half way around the world! :) In addition to all of this, Jerry started some vaccinations he never had that were recommended. He isn't feeling great today after starting that yesterday, but that is to be expected! Fortunately for me, I had a whole round of "weird" vaccinations when I was planning to travel to Africa at age 17, so I'm spared most of that right now! It still looks like travel will happen sometime in June.<br />
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We still haven't gotten any new information on Hannah. It really seems like a long time since we got the last update on her in February, but I am trying to remember that the caregivers in the orphanages there have so much to do and are truly doing their best. Now that we are getting closer to travel, I know that we will get an update just before going, so that helps! I have gotten involved in a Yahoo group of people who have/are adopting from the same orphanage as we are, and when people travel to get their little ones, they are looking for Hannah to see if they can snap a new picture for us! One is there tomorrow and another in the beginning of May.<br />
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Some of my friends gave me a baby shower a bit over a week ago! It was so amazing and I felt so loved by so many people. Most of the pictures that were taken on my camera didn't turn out - it was passed around to a few different people - but a friend who is a great photographer took a TON of photos and will be giving them all to me soon. Here are a few from what I have:<br />
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<i>The amazing brunch - minus the hot dishes that weren't set out yet!</i></div>
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<i>The beautiful cake my friend Sandy made!</i></div>
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<i>I got so many gifts that Hannah is set on clothing for a while now.</i></div>
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<i>One friend made a sheet with Hannah's name, meaning, and spiritual connotations - so precious.</i></div>
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<i>This gift was "wrapped" in a watering can for Hannah! What a clever idea!</i></div>
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<i>Me and my beautiful mother!</i></div>
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This last picture is of a painting my friend Anna made (the other lady in the photo is Anna). It was her prayer journal as she prayed through how God felt about adoption. It is amazing! This painting was displayed at an arts festival that had the theme, "Discarded...Reclaimed," which is a perfect picture of adoption, don't you think? Anna made a video of the process for this piece which can be viewed here: <a href="http://youtu.be/lN55BuhHJ7A">Undefiled Religion</a>. It is worth watching. This is a prayer process every Christian should go through.</div>
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<br />Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-35360711286911464092012-03-23T09:38:00.001-04:002012-03-23T09:38:53.453-04:00Ethan is 7!An alternate title for this post could be, "Wow! Time sure flies..." <br />
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<i>Ethan posing with his Lego cake! He really liked his cake this year!</i></div>
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Ethan and Aaron alternate years having a birthday party with friends over, and this year was Ethan's turn. (Andrew and Hannah will alternate, too. This cuts way down on my party bill...) He really, really wanted to have his party at the park this year, so that is what we planned to do. When we sent out the invitations, the forecast was for a high of 70 and sunshine all day. With 3 days until party day, the forecast was for a high in the 50's with 100% chance of rain. :( I made an executive decision to move the party to our house. The problem with that being that I hadn't planned for any activities or things to occupy the kids during the party since we would be at the park! What on earth was I going to do with 10 children for 2 hours??? Thanks to Pinterest, I knew we would do a Lego Party. (Yea for Pinterest to the rescue!!)<br />
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<i>I downloaded a Lego font to print up the decorations and prizes. It was so cute!</i></div>
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We ended up with a Lego cake, that was pretty awesome, Lego games, and Lego prize bags!<br />
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<i>Lego Bunting for decorations! Ethan thought this was the best - it is still up! :)</i></div>
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<i>Lego toss...</i></div>
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<i>This game was hilarious to watch! The kids had to suck Legos to the end of their straw and drop them in their bowls - no hands allowed! The poor, two girls - they weren't bold enough to shove their way in between the boys to get more Legos and lost. :(</i></div>
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<i>A row of mom's watching the fun. I am so blessed to have good friends with children the same age as mine!!</i></div>
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<i>Blowing out the candles!</i></div>
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Overall, the party was a success, but I didn't have enough planned to fill the time. There was some wild play in the un-filled time, but no one got hurt, thank goodness.Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-24988153157786662202012-03-20T10:57:00.002-04:002012-03-20T10:57:32.026-04:00Long OverdueOn January 17 we got a very unexpected phone call and e-mail. Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows that we started the process of adopting a daughter from China almost 4 years ago. Due to many factors in China, the wait for a healthy baby has grown and grown to the point that people who are getting their babies now logged in their paperwork with China over 5 years ago, and the wait is still getting longer. Almost a year ago, we started praying about whether we should expand our application to include some known medical issues - partly due to the long wait for healthy babies, but also because God had been working on our hearts to show us that no child is "perfect" and the babies on the waiting list deserved a family just as much as the "healthy" babies. Long story short, we submitted a revised application in November and started the process of updating our immigration paperwork after being told we would likely receive a match based on our new application in 6-18 months. Just over 6 weeks later, we got a phone call telling us that our agency had a file for a little girl that they wanted us to review! What, what?? We were shocked! Jerry knew pretty quickly that this was our daughter, and I spent 2 days praying before I had total peace. On January 19th we accepted her file! Of course, we were not allowed to share our joy until we had confirmation from China and we happened to accept this girl right at Chinese New Year, so all of their offices were closed for a week! <br />
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<i>These two pictures were included in the file we first received. Hannah is 8 months old in these pictures. In the second one, you can see the swelling still visible from her lip repair 2 months before these pictures were taken.</i></div>
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I cannot believe that I waited so long to share this here, but I have been sharing on Facebook. We have been in a whirlwind of paperwork since accepting her file. We have updated our home study, renewed our application with immigration, had our fingerprinting redone for The Department of Homeland Security, put together a care package to send to Hannah, and begun to research what we will need to do to address her immediate medical needs when we bring her home. Because of her cleft lip/cleft palate, she will need several surgeries. We are hoping we will be able to put off her first one long enough for her to bond with us before putting her through so much pain, but really until we have her home and have her evaluated by a cleft team, we will not have any answers. <br />
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<i>We received an update with pictures of Hannah at 12 months. She is 14 months old now, but we don't have any newer pictures than this one.</i></div>
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The best estimate we have right now is that we will be going to China sometime this summer to get Hannah. Once we have approval from immigration, we will have a better idea about timing! Hopefully I can keep this better updated as things start to progress. I have been thankful to have a written account of the process here, and now I have gaps!Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303944508136899903.post-71296890095811674042012-01-23T08:53:00.001-05:002012-01-23T08:53:54.957-05:00What I Am LearningOne thing I have learned in my walk with Christ is that I am never done learning. This is discouraging at times because I wonder if I will ever truly be Christ-like. But it is also so very encouraging! No matter how badly I mess up, how far I wander, or how long I go on ignoring Christ's voice calling me back to him, he is still waiting to teach me some more. He doesn't give up on me!<br />
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So I know it isn't really "New Year" anymore, but it is Chinese New Year today; and since half my heart is in China anyway, this is still appropriate for today! I was reading in a devotional by Sarah Young called <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Calling-Enjoying-Peace-Presence/dp/1591451884/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327326740&sr=8-1">Jesus Calling</a></u> and I was struck by this (to be read as Christ speaking directly to you),<br />
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"Come to Me with a teachable spirit, eager to be changed. A close walk with Me is a life of continual newness. Do not cling to old ways as you step into a new year. Instead, seek My Face with an open mind, knowing that your journey with Me involves being transformed by the renewing of your mind."</blockquote>
Wow. I cling to my old ways with fierceness! It is time to let go of some old ways and be willing to allow Christ to change me through the renewing of my mind.<br />
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The next page also talked about bringing my mind back to Him for refreshing and renewal. I cannot let the thoughts of the trials of the day bog me down, but rather focus on the Lord. He is my strength!<br />
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<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%20105:4&version=NIV">Psalm 105:4</a>, "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." </blockquote>Johannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00436720646561133434noreply@blogger.com1