One Week From Today ... CHINA!

Thank heavens the time is flying by to get our Sarah. One week from today and Brig and I leave for China. A few days later and Rick will join us. We are as prepared as we can be. I have already packed everything that can be packed. Sarah's room is ready. We have our monster 12 passenger van (almost - it will be here by the end of the month). I've typed up a "How to take care of our crew" manuscript for all those who will be helping us. I've made the meals for while we are gone. I've delegated all of my church responsibilities ... I think we are ready.

The only thing I am not excited for is missing my kids I'm leaving behind. I can barely look at them now without getting teary eyed. This will be a long trip away from those I love, but there is no way around it. Thank heavens for face time and Skype! Yesterday we watched the new Karate Kid. I'd seen it before, but it was really fun to watch it with Brig to show him all the things that we will be seeing in China.

Here is a picture in summary of the things we have done to get ready for our sweet Sarah.

We've sent many care packages

Got my necklace with all of my kid's names on it

Got Sarah's room all ready

Built a new bedroom to make room for our newest addition!

12 Passenger van - this is getting serious

Just because I like this picture

Sleepy girl ....

These are the latest pictures I have of our sweet little Sarah. She is getting SO big. Another mom was just there and took these pictures for me.  She said that her son and another little boy are best friends with Sarah. I am now in contact with both moms, so we can keep these little ones connected. I feel so fortunate to have access to other moms and Sarah's friends.

Less than one month now and we will be in China!

Tickets Purchased!

We bought our tickets for China yesterday. I was hoping that because we were purchasing the tickets so far out that we would get a slamming deal. Well, apparently July is the most expensive time of year to travel to China, so no money savings there. Oh well, I'm so thankful we have tickets and all the approvals we need in order to get to China.

We used JC Travel for those of you interested. I had a couple of recommended agents battle it out - coming up with the best deal for us. JC Travel was so much cheaper than anyone else - by $500. And just before she purchased our tickets, she found them even cheaper - thank you!

Now we just wait!

US Consulate Appointment Confirmed!

This was the last piece of big news we needed! The only thing we are working on now is purchasing our tickets. (Let's hope that means cheaper.) Here is what our trip looks like:

July 3-6 - Tour Beijing
July 6 - Fly to Zhengzhou
July 7 - GOTCHA DAY!!!
July 12- Fly to Guangzhou
July 16 - US Consulate Appointment
July 17 - Hong Kong
July 19 - Fly Home!!!!

We are so excited to bring Sarah home. Seven more weeks ... seven more weeks!

By the way we had to officially name our little Ying Ying. As many of you know we have chosen to name her SARAH HELEN. We have named all of our daughters from female ancestors on both sides of the family. Our little Ying Ying will be no different. Sarah is a family name from Rick's side of the family and Helen is after my beloved grandma. Her name makes us smile! We did not officially keep John's Chinese name of Zhe Nan, and we will not officially keep Ying Ying either. The reason for this is so that we keep within the traditions we have set for all our children. We do honor their Chinese names, and even have a baby for both of them that we call "baby Zhe Nan" for John and "baby Ying Ying" for Sarah.

Travel Approval!!!!!

Oh yeah baby!  We have travel approval!!! They told us that we could be in China by the middle of June, but we asked if we could postpone until the very first of July. We will see what they say, but with Rick's work schedule being so intense in June, delaying our trip 1-2 weeks seems to make sense. We asked for a "Gotcha Day" of July 7. Our adoption agency said that we should know within 2-3 business days.

We met a new family online who just adopted from Sarah's orphanage and made a visit to see Sarah and her friends. So not only did we get Travel Approval, but I have a few new pictures to share. Our little girl seems to grow SO much each time I see her. I wonder if she has any clue that her life is about to change forever. The picture with her nanny makes me so happy. She really does seem to be loved and cared for.

Here is what the little update said: "Your Ying Ying is adorable, and so social! "

Article 5 Issued!

Another great way to start the day! I forgot how the tail end of adoption is like watching paint dry. I'm so glad that we had our Article 5 Issued though. One more official step before we can start making travel plans. We are all SO ready for Sarah to be here. Now there is a very tangible void in our family. Every time I leave for an errand and return, Kate will run up to me and ask if I brought Sarah back. Prayer time is pleading for Sarah to come into our family from all the kids but especially John and Kate. We are ready, but I fear that we won't be in China until the first part of July now. June is the worst month for Rick to take time off work but July is no big deal. Oh well, none of this is in my hands and ultimately I have to keep reminding myself that Heavenly Father loves Sarah so much that he is guiding and directing every step of this adoption so that it benefits her too.  Next step Travel Approval!

NVC Cable and Approval!

Things are starting to move fast. I really hope this continues. We received our NVC Cable and Approval. It only took three working days!

I really hope it continues like this (have I said that twice). The first two weeks of June, Rick doesn't think he will be able to come because of his work schedule, so we are praying for May - fingers and toes crossed!

I-800 Provisional Approval!!!!

Happy News! We received our I-800 Provisional Approval today. It took 2 weeks and 2 days to get our approval letter.

From this point on, here is our timeline:

NVC Cable and Approval

5-7 days

DS-260 to Consulate

ARTICLE 5

2 Weeks

TRAVEL APPROVAL

2-4 Weeks

GOTCHA DAY

10-21 days later

That means best case scenario we could be in China as soon as the week of May 22 and worse case scenario we could be in China the last week of June. Not too shabby either way - but here's hoping for sooner rather than later!

Official Update from Sarah's Orphanage and LOA!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I feel like I might have a little bit of the luck of the Irish with me today because we received some new pictures of our cutie patootie this morning, and the answers to our five questions. They answered every single question. That is amazing!

I feel like I know just a little bit more about our sweet little girl. We know her finding spot now, we know she has never been hospitalized, we know that she sucks her thumb (so cute!), we know that she loves all of her nannies and she has a best friend.

Every single thing I learn about our Sarah is a blessing and a gift. Can I say how happy I am that we are finally on the countdown to China?! I realized today that I do not have one item of clothing for our girl. Lucky for me, this is a challenge I am definitely willing and excited to take on!

Can you stand how cute this girl is? - Even with the dirty clothes.

Love how the other girl is in focus and Sarah is blurry - oh well, so happy to have the smiling picture!

UPDATE:

This has been an amazing day. Around 5pm we got notification that we are LOA now. Things are starting to move!!!!!!

Soft LOA!

We received a soft LOA yesterday, or an electronic LOA. That took 55 days. Hooray! (Our wait for John was 114 days.) That means 10-14 weeks until we are getting our little Henan cutie. I sent the next step of paperwork in to my adoption agency so that as soon as they get the hard copy, we can really get things moving quickly. When we adopted John we never heard of a soft LOA, so I am excited but still a little unsure of exactly what that means. We are so excited to be able to say more definitively now that we will be traveling somewhere between May and July.

Our agency will ask Sarah's orphanage 5 questions from us. I keep wondering what to ask. The questions I want to know, I don't think anyone will be able to answer, and most of what we were told about John ended up not being true with us at all (not that they were untrue before us, but once he came into our family he threw everything  he knew out the window). So ...  I'm thinking about asking these questions:

1. Where was she found? (We knew this with John but not with Sarah).
2. Has she ever been hospitalized? (We found out with John that he had been hospitalized a lot)
3. Who is her favorite nanny?(I want to know the names of those that loved her in China)
4. Does she have a favorite sleeping item?
5. Does she have a really close friend?

If anyone can think of something better to ask, please let me know. All adoptive parents - especially when adopting from China - want to be able to piece as much of their child's life together as possible. The trick is no one really knows, so finding out any information about our children's lives before us is priceless.

Pictures of Our Sarah!

Another new friend took these pictures of our Sarah. It feels like it has been forever since we have seen her or had an update. This brings some peace to my heart. She is 19 months old and growing up through pictures so quickly. What a great way to start our day!

Missing Our Girl

For anyone who has or is adopting, you will understand it when I say I am missing my girl. True, I have never met her. True, I know very little about her. True, I don't know when I will have an update. But boy do I love her, and boy do I miss her. I am her mom and we are her family. This wait can feel excruciatingly painful and long at times.

Last week I was feeling like this a lot. Her absence was so tangible, that I was certain that I was going to get a phone call every single day saying that we had our LOA. You can imagine how disappointed I was every single day last week - to the point of distraction - no LOA. I could barely think about anything else. This week I have resolved to be a mom to the kids I have in my presence because I can actually control that, and things are much better.

I thought I would share a little excerpt of a book we made for her and sent to her at Christmas. It is an introduction to our family through the ABCs. I hope they are sharing it with her so she can sort of get to know us too. I made one for John, and it was very clear that he had seen it a lot because he totally new us when he saw us - pretty awesome experience actually.

We are in a documentary!

Our family was recently interviewed for a documentary about international adoption. The documentary was produced by two college girls for an assignment. We make a few appearances and Brigham made an appearance alone ... very impressive!

The documentary is a great starting point for any family considering international adoption. It felt good to help get the word out there about this amazing experience.

L.I.D.!!!!

Yes, you heard that right. It took only 5 days to receive our LID. I am a little giddy. This is the first thing so far in this adoption that was fast. Everything else has moved at a snail like pace. Things are looking up people, and we are so excited!!!!

For those of you not very familiar with the adoption time frame. Here is a list of things to come and about how long they could take.

Our Dossier Is Going To China!

Hallelujah! Holy moly this is a huge milestone. It feels so much bigger than when we were at this point with John (probably because we didn't know about John at the time.) At this stage in my life you would think that I have learned patience. Do not be fooled, I haven't - well I have, I just realize that I am reluctantly patient. I want this process to go faster than it is. I am fully aware that I have zero control, so I guess that is where the lesson in patience has burrowed its way into my life. So on the outside I seem patient, but inside ... not so much!

Oh well, the good news is that our paperwork is soon to be in the hands of the Chinese government, and it is a happy day. One step closer to our sweet Sarah!

I took some pictures of my littles today. They are happily playing upstairs together, heavy in a game of imagination. I've heard some "cockadoodle doos"  with "wake up let's go to a party" and "you be a clock, I'll be a monster" and tea party games. Such a sweet reminder of how far we have come and what a miracle time and love and yes, patience has played in our adoption journey with John. These two are such good friends. They need each other and they love each other. Again, what a happy day!

Fundraising Update

Our fundraiser for our sweet little girl is complete. Thanks to all of your help we were able to raise $850.00. That seems like so much money! I feel such gratitude and extremely humbled by those who gave during the Christmas season. Today my adoption agency verified that all the money will go directly to Sarah and the friends her age. They even asked me how I wanted to spend the money. Truly amazing! I actually told the agency that I trust them to distribute the funds the way they see fit. They just returned from another trip to Sarah's orphanage (it seems like they are there every 3 months) so I trust that they know these cuties and will do the right thing for them.

They asked if I would like updates on how they have spent the money ... I said YES! I have had tears of gratitude in my eyes all day long. Thanks again to all of you for helping our Sarah. It is so hard to be apart from our girl. It is hard to spend Christmas without her. It is hard to see her growing up so much in pictures. It is hard to know that she has a family, yet remains an orphan. It is hard to know that we are still 5 to 7 months away from bringing her home. This fundraiser was as much for her as it was to bring me some comfort. 

I will keep everyone updated as I get more information. With much love and gratitude,

Marisa

Here is a picture I received today and some that I received over Christmas.

Check out those bangs! Love it

I-800A Approval

Wow - that took forever! Seventy-seven days to be exact. Adoption waiting times have to be some of the most painfully slow experiences I have ever had! Check that one off the list - YAY!  So from here we have a lot more paperwork, and then another long wait ... should be fun.

Here is a new picture of our sweetie. Some new friends took these last week. I have to admit, this is way better than when we were waiting for John. She does seem to be growing so quickly though.  Thanks to the kindness of strangers, these pictures help make the waiting period a little more tolerable.

Isn't she adorable?

Lookie, Lookie!

Look at our sweet Sarah! This picture was taken about 12 hours ago. We met some friends through a private Facebook group. All the members have or are adopting out of Sarah's orphanage. My one request from my new friend was that she give Sarah a hug from me. (She just met her daughter who is Sarah's good friend and was given permission to visit the orphanage today.)

I'm so thankful for the kindness of our new friends. She said that the orphanage is clean and the workers are so kind. Her comment was that all of the children seemed happy. Notice all of their warm clothing they are wearing inside. I have heard that they have heaters but cannot always afford to turn them on. We have a service project  you can read about here.

These pictures are making me so happy. Today is already an amazing day!

Look at our girl - I can't wait to hold her. But look at her nanny's loving gaze. So sweet!

There is the hug I begged for. This makes me so happy.

I like seeing some of her personality shining through.

A Christmas Service Project

I have joined a Facebook group with families who have adopted from Sarah's orphanage. It has been wonderful to see more pictures and try to get a better idea of what Sarah's life is like. It has also been hard to see how poor her orphanage is and the serious needs they have. Just to give you an idea, up to a few weeks ago, they had never had heat. That is a lot for this mom's heart to bear.

In light of this information, I have teamed up with our adoption agency to raise money for Sarah and her friends this Christmas and Thanksgiving Season. It costs so much money for shipping that we have decided to just raise money and send it over to Sarah's orphanage directly. If you are interested in helping our sweet Sarah and other orphans in her orphanage, here is what you do:

Go to  CCAI (our adoption agency who is also a Chinese Children's Charity) and click on donate in the top right hand side of the page. From there when it asks if this is for  a specific project, click on that. Then type in "Bentley ZhuMaDian Project" and all proceeds will go directly to Sarah's orphanage in her name. You can also write a check and mail it into CCAI. If you do that please write "Bentley ZhuMaDian Project" in the memo. The link above will provide you with CCAI's mailing address.

There are about 600 children in Sarah's orphanage. They are located in Henan province, which is the poorest province in China. It is also the most populated with over 100 million people. Sarah's orphanage is located about 2 hours south of the main city, so there are even fewer resources.

As a family we are always looking for service projects this time of year. I honestly can't think of a better way to serve. These children are truly in need and so deserving. I like the idea that everything we give will go directly to these cuties. Each of Sarah's siblings are working on making money to send to her too.

The due date will be December 10 so that we can get the money to them before Christmas. Thanks for all of you who choose to help! Sarah, as well as all of us, will be eternally grateful.

This is our Sarah - this picture really pulls on the heart strings

Big Fat Exciting News

We are adopting again! We have been matched with another cutie from Henan province. She is a little girl about 15 months old. Her Chinese name is Ying Ying, which means warbler in Chinese because apparently she sounds like a singer when she cries. She has captured our hearts already, and we can't wait to bring her home sometime in 2014. This is the picture we received that convinced us she was meant to come to our family. We are going to call her Sarah Helen.