Last Entry from Home

Well, it is finally time! Josie and Mommy's bags are packed and Daddy should at be starting soon. The big bag was less than 35 pounds, so we made it under the limit! We did receive our seat assignments and they are not together!! But we think once we get to Chicago we can straighten that out. There are now seven families in our travel group; all of us going to Nanjing, the provincial capitol, but only two or three are actually adopting from that city's orphanage. We are going to try to get a little bit of sleep tonight before heading out in the wee hours. After all this time, it is amazing we are going! I thought the Beijing stretch would be a hard wait, so e-mailed a friend (Tammy) who has already gone through this process. She says Beijing was a very busy time, but the last week in Guanghzou seemed to drag on and she just wanted to get home. So now the above ticker is changed and the countdown is for the homecoming. Monique, does that sound familiar?

Deep Thoughts ( ;

Four more days to take-off! Tomorrow I can finally start packing (I've been trying to hold off). Today our church had a dear friend, Samson, pray for us during the service. And at least four different sets of people we ran into at WalMart tonight (gotta love small towns) assured us they would be praying for us. That means so much to us as we are heading off into the unknown (both culturally and with Josie). Samson "gave" us the following Bible verse from Deuteronomy 31:8, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you" and it follows, "He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Just the night before I told Chris I sure hope God is not leading us into a huge challenge; so I needed the reminder. We also discussed that if our plane were to go down (not that we are living in fear of that), we wouldn't be mortified of dying. We know where we are going. But we would have a terrible time thinking of Chloe and Michael growing up with that history. Chris decided this must mean he is a dad-to be concerned not for himself but for his daughters and son. So it is good to know our friends and family are praying for us. We are excited to go and also VERY curious as to who our little daughter is-what she's like, what makes her smile, how overwhelmed she will be, how receptive to us, how soon she can be potty trained (just kidding). Chloe practically beams when you ask her about Josie. Michael usually reminds us we are getting a little brother next.

Also, here is a link a mom sent out who had taken video footage of the Nanjing social welfare institute (orphanage) where Josie lives. Josie is not in the videos, but it shows the play rooms, some of the other children, and even a bowl of food (any guesses?). http://s89.photobuc ket.com/albums/ k239/AmyHeymann/ nanjing%20videos / All of the children have been found by their forever families and are just waiting. If you are interested in finding your own, just let me know and I'll give you CCAI's waiting child contact person. There are lots of 9-12 year olds who are running out of time and there are four boys on our agency's waiting list right now that no family has claimed.

Please Pray!

Here are the things I find myself having anxiety over and trying to "take captive." I'd sure love it if you would pray. Some of them are quite silly, but I usually don't hold back about myself with friends, even the silly things, so I'll let my blog reflect me.

*We leave town at 3 am. In my worst moments, I worry we won't leave on time and will miss the plane (and loose a substantial amount of money!).
*I'm getting my hair chopped off Thursday. See, I told you there were some trivial things on this prayer list! I would like to not have to dry long hair in China and not have to untangle it here. But I'd still like it to look nice ( : (Update: here's the pict. just for Leigh Anne! I had just enough hair to donate to Locks of Love!)*We need to pack our things and Josie's in two bags and they need to be less than 40# each. That may be plenty, I just haven't ever packed with a weight limit and don't want to panic at the last minute when I weigh my bag at 60#!
*We want to be a blessing to our travel companions. Please pray we will be good sports, willing to serve, and good listeners!
*Of course, our main concern is with Josie. Please pray for her attachment to us, our ability to anticipate and respond to her needs, and for our adjustment as well. We really don't know what physical or emotional condition she will be in.
*Lastly, pray for our health. Okay, maybe not lastly. I mean, would I rather be sick in China with a cute haircut or healthy with a bad haircut? ( :

Why China?

Most of us have heard about China's one child policy. Some know that China relies on their sons for support for the elderly since there is no "retirement" (son = social security; daughter = nothing). Others understand the worth of women in Asia is nowhere near the Christian view of the "crowning creation." But why did we choose China? If you want a glimpse of our heart, you may click on this link. But be warned, it is a NPR news story and is graphic. http://www.npr. org/templates/ story/story. php?storyId= 9766870

Pediatricians and Bunk Beds

First, I'd just like to say we have the greatest pediatrician! I was impressed back when we adopted Chloe and she caught that some blood work had been done before a blood transfusion and wanted to know if we wanted to re-do the blood work to make sure everything was still negative. I'd missed it, and I'd read the medical chart at least twice.

This time I called to see if she thought we'd need antibiotics (a lot of the children have ear infections or bronchitis) and she not only gave us samples (our insurance would not have covered a prescription until after the official adoption), she included dosages and samples of other OTC medicines we may need. She also included a list of other recommended items and put it all on a prescription pad so we won't have difficulty getting it into China. And to top it off, she gave us the Rx in powder so it will be lighter, and gave the yummy stuff so we won't have to fight Josie to take it if she does need it. What a blessing!

Secondly, we had a productive weekend! Despite all the activity surrounding our church's pastoral candidate visit, Chris set up the bunk bed for the girls and we re-arranged the furniture in Michael and Chloe's room and brought out the clothes for Josie (even though we don't know which size she'll be). We just have a little bit more baby-proofing to do!

Tentative Schedule

May 3rd Leave for China.
May 4th Arrive in Beijing, China.
May 5-6 Tour Beijing, adjust to time change.
May 7th Fly to Nanjing, China.
May 8th Receive Josie.
May 9th Register the adoption.
May 10th Tour and meetings.
May 11th Receive Josie's passport.
May 12th Fly to Guangzhou, China.
May 13th Tour Guangzhou.
May 14th Josie's physical exam and visa photo.
May 15th Meetings.
May 16th Consulate appointment (package delivered).
May 17th Oath at consulate and receive Visa.
May 18-19 Return home!

Trial Run

While we are in China, Kim E. will be receiving an e-mail from us which she will post on this blog. So, thank you, Kim, for your willingness to do this for us! This post and Easter photo are our trial run. The picture is Chris' family. All three sets of Grandpa and Grandma's children are expecting this year! So far we know two are girls!

Another Family Took a Picture!

I belong to an e-mail group of families who've adopted from Chloe's orphanage, so I quickly found one from Josie's orphanage as well. These groups do much to fill in the gaps of what is known about those first months or years our children were waiting to be placed in their families. I was happy to have one mother volunteer to take pictures when she visited the orphanage during her adoption process. Around 20 of us sent her our baby's name and date of birth. This is the picture her husband took of Josie. We think she looks sad and it makes us want to get her in our arms as quickly as possible. This mom said the babies were quite overwhelmed to have someone rush into their room and want them to pose for a camera; several were crying in their photos.

Tickets: Check.

Yeah!!! We have purchased our tickets! It is so good to have that part done. We will be flying out of a near-by city on May 3rd, early in the morning. We will arrive in Beijing at 3 pm on May 4th. We have just a tiny three-hour layover in Chicago. Yeah! Then we will leave China via Hong Kong (which is much closer to our final destination than Beijing would be) at 1pm on 5/18 and arrive back at our near-by city at 10pm the same day. I don't expect anyone will want to be there to welcome us at that hour! But we'll just have a couple more hours to get home. Amazing, huh? Who would have thought you could travel 1/2 way around the world in just 9 hours? Okay, so a 13 hour time change does make a difference. We'll actually be travelling with Josie for around 25 hours, depending on when we leave Guanghzou.

We "met" another family through the CCAI waiting child listserve and they are traveling from Chicago to Beijing and then Hong Kong to Chicago with us! They will be one of the four families in our group traveling to Nanjing to adopt a waiting child. One more month!

Time to Book Tickets!

CCAI called this morning. We are to be in Beijing no later than May 5th and will leave China with Josie An on May 18th! Our consulate appointment (on which the whole schedule hangs) is on the 16th. We will stay in Beijing a couple of days to recover from jet lag and get used to the 13 hour time difference. Then our group of four families, all adopting from the waiting child program, will fly to Nanjing where we will meet our children! Today or tomorrow we need to book our flights! I have e-mailed a travel agent who works with adopting families and am hoping to be able to use her. The travel agencies CCAI recommends are usually over-priced. Our other option is to call the airline directly. It is a bit tricky since we have two over and three on the way home. Also, it would be better for us to arrive in Beijing and leave via Hong Kong! Please pray for wisdom for me as I ask questions and decide what to do. Please also pray for good rates. Thank you!

We have Travel Approval!!!!!!!!!!

CCAI called us today while Chris was home for lunch! We are so excited. Normally, we'd travel in two weeks, but we'll be delayed an additional three weeks (due to a two week trade fair and a week off for China's government). So we will be traveling in May instead of April. This will allow us to get some more homeschooling weeks underway and possibly allow us to get better airfare (we hope!).

I am anxious about all the details (booking flights, flight insurance, hotels, packing). If anyone can find any "Dawn Wash N' Toss" dish clothes, please get them; I'll pay you back! Wow, we are going to China!!!!!

Minor updates because I can't write "TA!!!"

(TA is travel approval and that's what we are waiting on! Meantime, we are checking on travel insurance, packing lists, and the best way to buy flights on short notice!)

Updated prayer requests are at the bottom of the page; just scroll down!

We were saddened last week when we received a statement from our insurance denying payment on our immunizations. It seems the County Health Department is not a network provider so insurance did not have to pay. I know, I should have checked first. When we called the health dept. I told them our insurance coverage was supposed to be the same as whatever would be covered by BC/BS, so they thought it was 100% coverage. But I didn't think about county health departments not being network providers.

As I was finding this out over the phone this am with the insurance rep., she told me immunizations to travel to a foreign land wouldn't have been covered anyway, even in network. Surprised, I said, "But it's for an adoption; we could be exposed to those diseases by her, so even if she were escorted home, we'd need the immunizations!" Immediately the demeanor of this lady changed and she put me on hold. When she came back on, she said she would re-process the charges as if they were in-network! Yeah!! Then she asked some questions about Josie. The typhoid fever won't be covered, but the Hep A and MMR updates will be!

On another happy note, my sis brought up the bunk beds she found so I have those to re-finish. And we are 3/4 of the way done with the paperwork for our two grant applications. I think we have a shot at one of them, the other is iffy since they take 60-90 days to process and don't help post-adoption. Josie will probably be home before the board would make their decision. And they want to know what we've attempted for fund raisers. Um. Nothing. They also wanted to know if we are in a small group currently at church. Um. No. Oh, I so wanted to say, "It's just a one semester reprive!" Then they wanted contact info for our senior pastor. Um. vacant. But we have two awesome associate pastors! We'll see what God does.

Feast or Crumbs?

Often friends and family let us know how sad they are that we didn't have biological children or they try to be very sensitive when telling us their good news of expecting a child. I have not struggled with feeling sorrow or anger in being infertile. Before we were married, Chris and I planned to adopt. So being entrusted to raise our children has never felt like "plan B." Still, I know other couples really do struggle with why God gives children to mothers who abort them. I belong to an e-mail list serve and one woman shared her grief after a friend announced her pregnancy. Others rallied to her support on the list and she wrote back the following note, quoting her favorite response. I want to share it because I believe the author quoted expresses my heart so well!

"Dear, sweet friends -- I will never be able to thank those of you enough who responded to my sad little e-mail about my girlfriend's pregnancy. It's good to know that I am not alone in my sadness! The BEST response I got...one that will truly get me through this long wait...was:

'...when I asked God for an older, special needs child from China, I was begging for the crumbs at a feast where everyone else was getting their fill. But now that I have my son here, I see that God was refusing to give me the crumbs because he was saving the best seat at the banquet for me. [Name removed] is the son I was always meant to have. I am sooooo thankful for just how perfectly he fits into our lives and hearts. The truth is there are no "crumbs" at God's banquet, only perfect matches that He makes in His infinite wisdom. Children perfect for the families He has chosen for them. Your place at the banquet is being prepared. I know it's hard, but hold on to the thought that He is making it Perfect for you.'

"I think I will always struggle when I hear about people getting pregnant. And it will probably tear at my heart that [name removed] will never look like us or be told things like, "You have your mom's eyes" or "You look JUST like your dad"...things our bio daughter hears every day and DETESTS!! I'll have to take comfort in the hopes that maybe she will get [my] offbeat sense of humor or [my husband's] love of cooking!"

Josie's Reports

Here is a glimpse of the daughter we already love (from her Nanjing Social Welfare Institute reports):

*She has 16 teeth!
*In November she weighed 10.6 kg (probably including several layers of clothes) and was 82 cm tall.
*She was sitting at 6 months, but only in her crib.
*She eats eggs every morning.
*At around nine months, when her hands touched for the first time, she "laughed out loud."
*"When she is having fun, she makes "da da" noises and saliva dribbles out of the corners of her mouth."
*Her "personality is open, lively, and extroverted."
*"She loves sweet food."
*She lives on the Rainbow floor. (Perfect for a rainbow family.)
*She sleeps "soundly and well"! (8:30 pm to 6 am and then naps from after breakfast to 8:30 and noon to 1:30.
*Her favorite person is her Half the Sky (see link) grandmother.
*She has a good appetite.
*Favorite activity: playing outside.
*Favorite toy: toys that move when she presses them.
*She imitates words (a local dialect of Mandarin).
*She is active, fond of playing with toys, has a ready smile, gets along well with others, and is fond of reading picture books. She is "obstinate sometimes."
*Her update says "They love that her personality, she is very docile."

China, Here We Come!

Nanjing is in Jiangsu Province which in in pink (includes Shanghai) on the east coast. We will spend one week there. The other week we will spend in Guangdong Province where the US Embassy is located. We will later decide whether to fly into Beijing (north), or Hong Kong (south), but if we go in a group, we may not have a choice!