We Have Iley Pictures!

We finally got pictures of Iley from the foster family.  She looks so happy and cared for:)  If you look closely at her fingers in the one holding the Happy Birthday sign....her fingers are NOT blue:)  Yay!  We pray that is a good sign that her heart is doing better, and no damage has been done to her lungs, that they are healthy, and she will be able to have whatever surgery or procedure she needs.  But with out more Ado.....here is our precious baby girl.

I'm so glad she got to have some friends share her party:)

I think she'll like the Hello Kitty backpacks we bought her and Wren:)

Now we know....she has all her teeth:)  what a cute little gap in the front:)

 

Our  China contact wrote:

Hi Judy,

The orphanage sent me three pictures today! They told me the foster family arranged the cake for Xiao Kui and they want me tell you that her foster family loves her and take good care of her. J

Have a great week!

My week will definately be better:) Thank you Lord for this update on our baby!

Monster on the other side of the door

If  anyone is looking for a way to make a difference, this orphanage is trying to raise money for a wall to protect the children from Kidnappers who want to sell them into slavery.  This lady wrote a neat article about it, and there is a link on the site to donate directly.  Thanks!  God Bless.

http://thefrenchmouse.blogspot.com/2012/02/monster-on-other-side-of-door.html

Life after the jump

Ok....first of all, if you haven't read the previous post.......go there now:)  This one totally answers all my fears!  I just found this lady's blog this morning and I sit here reading it instead of cleaning my house like i should be!!  Anyone else out there that would rather read than clean???  Here ya go:)

http://ourhimpossiblejourney.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-03-09T22:21:00-05:00&max-results=7&start=28&by-date=false

And the result of that jump:

Wren Dayu             Iley XiaoKui     

Tearful Teddy

I think I have a thing for sad faces!!!  This  bear is one that i fell in LOVE with, as a child,  from a tiny picture in a catalog.  I BEGGED and BEGGED for it!  My girls faces were tiny pictures in a "catalog" that i fell in LOVE with, now I'm BEGGING my Heavenly Father, to please bring them safely and quickly to us!  Ok, so maybe these incidents have nothing to do with each other.....or maybe they do, and God was preparing my heart way back then.........because after all.....HE sees the big picture. And yes......I've been called crazy before.......and NO my house still isn't getting cleaned!  Yikes....i'm off now......

Grafting of a new branch

When I read things like this, I must confess that my first reaction is to fear wonder "can "I" do this"  But then I remind myself that NO "I" can't.  But God..........with Him, and through Him.......and he promises I will never leave you nor forsake you.  And I cling to that promise daily. 

http://ourhimpossiblejourney.blogspot.com/2011/11/apple-tree-families.html

Ms. Personality:)

This is what was written about Wren Dayu from the family that was visiting the orphanage.  We keep getting Jekyl and Hyde reports on this little miss.  Some times she is shy....sometimes she is a ham....sometimes she is described as intorverted....this time she's miss personality???? Wondering what we are in for!  It sounds/looks like she should fit in fine with this wild household of boys:)  I wonder if she'll like the little tutu skirt I got for her and Iley........she may want her sweat pants back?  This mama is ready for some pink and ruffles.....sorry girlies:)  No sweats except for jammies......and maybe the looooooong plane ride.

Judy, I couldn't miss Zhong Da Yu if I wanted to. She was the life of the party. Very, very pretty! Love the hair! And she has a lot of personality. She loved Matt playing with her and the others--tickling them and such. She was laughing and giggling and rolling around in delight.  And I know he has her on video some--but not sure how much becuase I was snapping pictures of other kids at the time.

                               And now for our Cheeky Wren

Sorry I don't know why 2 of the pictures are sideways!  They aren't that way in my file?  The close ups are the same picture as some of the others, I just cropped them and brought them closer.   

What they thought

We sent a letter to the orphanage through Lady bugs n love and asked the orphanage what the girls' reaction to their "family" was.  We sent pictures of all of us, and I just wondered whether they cried.....were happy.......sad.....nervous, when they saw them, and KNEW they had a family coming???  I also asked "how" they would tell Wren.  With her having NO language except body language and gestures....how do you get adoption across??  I do know that her orphanage is very active in adoption, so they see a lot of kids leave with their families.  But????   This is the reply I received today.  But still no pictures of my little cricket, Iley.  

Hi Judy,

The message from the orphanage below:

Both children were very happy when they saw their family’s pictures. Big smiles. Da Yu is very smart. She now helps feed younger children on her own. She watches people’s lips when we talk. We point the pictures and tell her who this is and who that is over and over, she will understand.

Still no pictures yet.

Angela

Hoping for an updated picture of our little Iley XiaoKui soon!!

Valentine's Day

Shermans party:
Notice how BIG Sherman is compared to the rest of his class! He kind of towers over them.  Good thing he is such a ......gentle giant. 

Here he is so pleased with his loot!

He insisted that I wait till he got home from school to make his cupcakes!  So he stirred them up, and filled the cupcake liners.......and I iced and sprinkled.....and he put in the picks, and candy hearts.  He loves to mess cook in the kitchen.  He really did a great job, other than the mess.  I almost forgot to get a picture.  Here are the 3 that were left over.

Harrison's party was MUCH less organized.  The kids bring treats, and only the teachers are there.  Sherman let me leave for just a couple of minutes to run upstairs and snap a couple of pictures.  I was supposed to be at HIS party!  I better enjoy it while I can....won't be long till they won't want Mom there.

 Happy Valentines Day to my "little" boys:)  I've got to quit calling them that!  It used to by the "big boys" and the "little boys"....Now maybe it should be the younger boys, and the "little girls"?? Ya think??:)

Sorry about the poor quality of pictures!  I need a crash course in photography!  and a new camera.

Room Update

I finally got the bookcase and bins painted.  Here they are before we filled it with books.

And here it is after it's filled......and over flowing.

And here is the closet:)  Little more pink than the last resident.  (This used to be Ash's room, He was the one boy that told me..."mom don't ever buy me a pink shirt, cause I won't wear it")

Wren Again:)

Another family visiting the orphanage sent these pictures and wrote:

Got to hold sweet Dayu's hand today...but just for a moment :)  She was all smiles, but didn't want too much attention when she was eating. I took one pic of her at lunch and then as I was walking out was gonna take another and she shook her head "no". I think she was like, enough already :)  When I put out my hand to her in the hall way, she responded with a touch and a smile but then pulled back a little. So she may be shy around strangers (which is understandable) but I bet it won't take long for her to warm up! Such a sweet smile!! See pics attached! :)  These are three of the sweetest words to a waiting parent:)

Wren's Cake Pictures!

We received these pictures of Wren this morning.  They just celebrated her birthday because of the Chinese New Year Celebrations going on there.  The country literally almost shuts down during this time!  Crazy! We are hoping to get Iley's from her foster family soon.  They always take a little longer.
 

I'm thinking if these tiles are 12" tall.......she is about 39-40" tall:)  (at least with shoes on).

I800 Approval!

We got our I800 Approval!!  YAY!  One step closer.  For those of you......like me......who all this paperwork completely confuses.....here is a person who understands its' version.

Once you know that your I800 application has been approved, you are ready to move on to the National Visa Center!

After approving your file, your officer will mail your approval to the National Visa Center by 2nd Day UPS Air. However, the approval isn't always mailed out the same day it's approved, so applications can take up seven days to arrive at NVC. Upon receiving your approval, the National Visa Center (NVC) will enter your information into their computer system.

Within 1-3 business days, the NVC will "cable" (basically emailing/sending electronically) your file to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China. This is approval of your visa petition.

Upon doing this, the NVC will then mail you a letter stating that your petition has been forwarded to the Embassy. Your agency needs this NVC letter in order to proceed with your adoption! Unfortunately, this letter can take up to a few weeks to arrive in the mail. So instead, ask the NVC to email you the letter as a .pdf attachment.

So of course I emailed them right away, requesting this pdf attachment.........now we wait again to hear from that.  This is one big HURRY UP.....and wait........HURRY UP.........and wait process!  :(  Can we just HURRY ALREADY!  sigh...

More Pictures of Wren

Here are a few more pictures of Wren from the same lady that took the last one with her in it.  She is home and settled, at least partly, and sent me these extra pictures!  Thank you Gretchen!!  The visiting parents have a very limited time at the orphanage, and are trying to take pictures of all of the kids for the waiting parents, while asking about their own child.  It is chaos! and a sacrifice! and we are SO grateful to each of the parents who take the time to do this for us!  I hope we are able to do the same for those still waiting when we go.

Now what is this look for???  She can't hear him, so it can't be "would you please be quiet"  Maybe it's a "quit touching me" look!  Or maybe she's just practicing for her big brothers. Ha Ha!