So my last post was last Tuesday and it talked about the Article 5 not being picked up and then the closure of the USC in Ch@na due to the white powder incident. So, fast forward a week later and still nothing. I almost have to laugh about it or else I would be in tears all day everyday!! But, mama bear ain't playin anymore and I was on the phone ALLLL day yesterday up until midnight fighting for my daughter.
Our rep that lives in Ch@na has been calling USC (US Consulate/Embassy) where my paperwork is stuck. They pretty much told her to quit calling and they will call her when everything is ready. Um...ok??? She did finally find out that they were still waiting on the correct paperwork from CCCWA. Not quite sure if they had even requested it yet at this point. Not quite sure what they've been doing with my case other than letting it collect dust. So anyway, I called our Ohio Congressman yesterday to get him involved in helping move things along per advice from my awesome adoption peeps on Facebook. He is sending them an email and they will have to respond to him in a couple of days as to what they are requesting. Well, I still couldn't just sit here and wait. So, at 9:00pm our time (9:00 am china time) I decided to call Ch@na myself. Yep, you heard it right...I told you, mama bear ain't messin anymore!! I got thru to the staff that is handling my case and she was very difficult to understand nor do I think she understood me too clearly. But I managed to get out of her that they have requested the paperwork from CCCWA. Still couldn't get out of her what they are requesting. Progress, right?? So, I immediately emailed our in country rep and asked her to call CCCWA to find out if they had got the request and if they had sent it yet. She emails back saying she called but they don't understand what she is talking about. Ok, it's midnight and I now try to go to sleep still with no answers and no one seems to know anything about where this paperwork is. Also, while at softball a dear friend says her husband works with someone that has connections in the White House and she was going to get them working on that. Ok, so all in one day I have talked to my agency, the congressman, Ch@na and now getting the White House involved. Yep, that's me, standing on my hind legs ready to fight my way to her!!! Didn't sleep all night of course and got an email that came in around 3:30 am from our rep saying that she finally found the right person to talk to and they said they already sent the paperwork!! Hallelujah, at least I know they found the paperwork and it was sent! Now, I'm not quite sure why they told me they haven't received it yet. Oh well...progress, I will take any and all progress. So, you better bet your bottom dollar I am calling Ch@na tonight again to inform them that YES, they do have the paperwork, quit dilly dallying and issue my Art 5, like NOW!!!!! In a nice, loving way of course. *wink*
So, just wanted to give you an update since it has been a week in case y'all were wondering :) I'm still here, she's still there, but I am giving it everything I've got and I'm not gonna stop!!! Keep those prayers coming...I know we can pray her home! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Last week one emotion, this week the complete opposite!
Here's the latest update as to what is going on with our adoption. We were supposed to be on day 5 of our TA wait but unfortunately, our Art 5 did not get picked up last Friday from the US embassy in Ch@na which means we still wait. Was not given a time frame as to when it would be ready or anything. They are requesting more "paperwork" from the CCCWA. This was the one thing I was counting on being consistent in this adoption. Everyone I had heard of always got picked up on their scheduled day. This is par for our course with the past 18 months. Now, as if this wasn't bad enough, I got word Monday morning that the US embassy in Ch@na is completely shut down now due to a suspicious "white powder" found. This is where our paperwork is. That means, nothing is happening...at all. This closure affects so many people, it is horrible. There are families there on their last leg of their trip that are now stuck because that is where the Consulate Appointments are held. I can't imagine having to rearrange flights and hotel stays and not being able to come home until who knows when! Please pray hard for everyone this closure is affecting.
Now, let me just share my heart for just a moment since it is too hard to talk about in person. I know God is bigger than this, and I know that He knows the end result and I fully trust that. It doesn't make it any less hard. Anelyn is my child just like Eli and Olivia are my children...there is no difference. I could not love her any more if I had birthed her myself. She is already a part of us, a part of our family...she is so prevalent in our house. Honestly, it is like someone has kidnapped my child and they are just telling me to sit back and be "patient". I'm sorry, but when your child is missing and you can't get to them...patience is out the window. I know it is hard for people to comprehend this love, I never imagined it myself, until now that I feel it. I am utterly and completely in love with a child I have never met. But none the less, she is mine and she is being kept from her family due to red tape. It is sad, heartbreaking and totally unfair. She is now 5 months older than when we first saw her...5 more months that we have missed seeing her smile, hearing her voice, watching her walk, giving her love and 5 more months she has been without her family. I know God is in control and He will bring us through this and she will come home and it will all be a distant memory but there is another aspect to this. Satan HATES redemption! Adoption is redemption! Satan is doing everything in his power to keep this redemption story from happening. But I've got news for him. He is NOT going to win! I will fight tooth and nail to bring my daughter home and I will not stop until she is completely redeemed and in the arms of her forever family! God is writing her redemption story and it must really be a doozy since we have faced a battle in every aspect of this adoption...I can't wait to see what God has in store for her!!
I am asking you to be praying for these issues. We were supposed to be on a plane 2 weeks from today but now there is no possible way. Now, we are going to run into the government shut down at the end of May and another closure in June for their Dragon Boat Festival. So, who knows when we will be traveling. The closer we get to the finish line, the harder the wait is and now to have these crazy delays thrown at us, it is quite frankly unbearable. We were SO close. Needless to say, my heart is shattered into a million pieces. I am so utterly angry and sad and every other emotion, it is hard to concentrate on anything. My arms and heart physically hurt and ache to hold her. Thank you so much to everyone who is covering us in prayer right now...I can tell you, I feel them so keep them coming. It is the only thing getting me thru right now. Please pray this gets resolved as quickly as possible, pray for my heart, and keep praying for Anelyn. I will keep you posted as I get new information.
Now, let me just share my heart for just a moment since it is too hard to talk about in person. I know God is bigger than this, and I know that He knows the end result and I fully trust that. It doesn't make it any less hard. Anelyn is my child just like Eli and Olivia are my children...there is no difference. I could not love her any more if I had birthed her myself. She is already a part of us, a part of our family...she is so prevalent in our house. Honestly, it is like someone has kidnapped my child and they are just telling me to sit back and be "patient". I'm sorry, but when your child is missing and you can't get to them...patience is out the window. I know it is hard for people to comprehend this love, I never imagined it myself, until now that I feel it. I am utterly and completely in love with a child I have never met. But none the less, she is mine and she is being kept from her family due to red tape. It is sad, heartbreaking and totally unfair. She is now 5 months older than when we first saw her...5 more months that we have missed seeing her smile, hearing her voice, watching her walk, giving her love and 5 more months she has been without her family. I know God is in control and He will bring us through this and she will come home and it will all be a distant memory but there is another aspect to this. Satan HATES redemption! Adoption is redemption! Satan is doing everything in his power to keep this redemption story from happening. But I've got news for him. He is NOT going to win! I will fight tooth and nail to bring my daughter home and I will not stop until she is completely redeemed and in the arms of her forever family! God is writing her redemption story and it must really be a doozy since we have faced a battle in every aspect of this adoption...I can't wait to see what God has in store for her!!
I am asking you to be praying for these issues. We were supposed to be on a plane 2 weeks from today but now there is no possible way. Now, we are going to run into the government shut down at the end of May and another closure in June for their Dragon Boat Festival. So, who knows when we will be traveling. The closer we get to the finish line, the harder the wait is and now to have these crazy delays thrown at us, it is quite frankly unbearable. We were SO close. Needless to say, my heart is shattered into a million pieces. I am so utterly angry and sad and every other emotion, it is hard to concentrate on anything. My arms and heart physically hurt and ache to hold her. Thank you so much to everyone who is covering us in prayer right now...I can tell you, I feel them so keep them coming. It is the only thing getting me thru right now. Please pray this gets resolved as quickly as possible, pray for my heart, and keep praying for Anelyn. I will keep you posted as I get new information.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The room and such
Miss A's Room and what's been happening :)
Here are a couple pics of Anelyn's room...
All we need is her!!
We have been busy bees around here trying to get everything done before we leave. So far, so good! We got all the flower beds done, mulched and flowers planted...the garage sale is done...and we've been tackling a few things on my to do list. (I kind of have 5 lists going right now, don't judge!! lol )
There's still quite a bit to do but some of it we can't do until we get TA (travel approval from China). We can't book flights, hotels or anything until that TA comes and then it's gonna be on like donkey kong to get everything done because we are hoping to leave just about 5-7 days after TA!!! I'm going to go have a nervous breakdown now, thank you very much!! We did go to Babies R Us and get the rest of the stuff we were needing ( like stroller and such) so I feel much better about bringing her home and having a few things ready at least. We have our doctors appointments Thursday to get another one of our shots and to get all our prescriptions we are going to need to take with us (and there is A LOT!!) For instance, antibiotic for both of us, cipro for both of us (for traveler's diarrhea, awesome huh??) and many more. I need to make all Anelyn's doctor appts too. She will have to see an International Adoption Doctor at Nationwide Children's Hospital and be put through the ringer to test her for everything and to see what shots she had in China. They will check vision, hearing, stool for parasites, motor skills, lots of bloodwork and so on. She will also see a cardiologist upon arriving home since she has a small hole in her heart. I can't wait to see what he has to say. I am praying it has healed itself on it's own. Please join me in prayer for that need please. I am also praying that there are no or minimal surprises medically. One of my dear friends in the adoption community brought their little boy home who was supposed to be completely fine, to finding out he has some serious, scary and complicated medical issues. Please also pray for this dear family...it breaks my heart!
You know, even though we have prepared for this day to come for many, many, many years, now that it is almost here, it is completely surreal!! I mean, am I seriously going to be standing on The Great Wall of China in a few weeks??? What??? Am I really going to finally be holding the daughter I have prayed for for 15 -20 years?? What??? I can't even put into words my emotions and feelings, let's just say I'm a bit overwhelmed and a bit crazy right now (I know I've always been crazy but this magnifies it by a bajillion). Those of you that see me often or my family or friends, I apologize now if I forget stuff or act weird. My brain is complete mush and I can't seem to complete 2 thoughts!!
Anyway, our Article 5 pickup is scheduled for pick up this Friday May 10th. We officially start waiting on our TA that day!!! It can come anywhere between 8-21 days. However, China has ANOTHER holiday at the end of May which will delay the issue of TA's. So we really need it to come before they close on May 25th. As soon as that comes, we are on a plane the next week!! Ideally, we are really hoping to be on a plane 3 weeks from today. That way it is the last week of May and PJ's work vacation will line up. (His new year starts June 5th and he hasn't taken any vacation days this year thinking we would've for sure traveled by now). So that way he can take 1 week still in this year(last week of May) and 2 weeks in the new year (June) and still have 1 week left to take later in the year. In order for this to happen, we need a super fast TA. Like an 8-11 day one. EEEEKK! Can you also be praying for this too??
I have mixed emotions as we get closer and closer. I am of course super excited but then a part of me gets very sad. Sad for the foster mother who has cared for her since the day she was abandoned. Sad for Anelyn as she is going to loose everything she has ever known. There is a good chance they will send her to the orphanage a couple weeks before we come so she could be going to the orphanage very soon which breaks my heart too!! I know redemption isn't pretty and we are about to walk that hard road but I know that after God is done restoring her heart, it will be beautiful, it will be whole, it will be family!
Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers, it truly makes a world of difference and I know they will carry us through this journey!
Here are a couple pics of Anelyn's room...
All we need is her!!
We have been busy bees around here trying to get everything done before we leave. So far, so good! We got all the flower beds done, mulched and flowers planted...the garage sale is done...and we've been tackling a few things on my to do list. (I kind of have 5 lists going right now, don't judge!! lol )
There's still quite a bit to do but some of it we can't do until we get TA (travel approval from China). We can't book flights, hotels or anything until that TA comes and then it's gonna be on like donkey kong to get everything done because we are hoping to leave just about 5-7 days after TA!!! I'm going to go have a nervous breakdown now, thank you very much!! We did go to Babies R Us and get the rest of the stuff we were needing ( like stroller and such) so I feel much better about bringing her home and having a few things ready at least. We have our doctors appointments Thursday to get another one of our shots and to get all our prescriptions we are going to need to take with us (and there is A LOT!!) For instance, antibiotic for both of us, cipro for both of us (for traveler's diarrhea, awesome huh??) and many more. I need to make all Anelyn's doctor appts too. She will have to see an International Adoption Doctor at Nationwide Children's Hospital and be put through the ringer to test her for everything and to see what shots she had in China. They will check vision, hearing, stool for parasites, motor skills, lots of bloodwork and so on. She will also see a cardiologist upon arriving home since she has a small hole in her heart. I can't wait to see what he has to say. I am praying it has healed itself on it's own. Please join me in prayer for that need please. I am also praying that there are no or minimal surprises medically. One of my dear friends in the adoption community brought their little boy home who was supposed to be completely fine, to finding out he has some serious, scary and complicated medical issues. Please also pray for this dear family...it breaks my heart!
You know, even though we have prepared for this day to come for many, many, many years, now that it is almost here, it is completely surreal!! I mean, am I seriously going to be standing on The Great Wall of China in a few weeks??? What??? Am I really going to finally be holding the daughter I have prayed for for 15 -20 years?? What??? I can't even put into words my emotions and feelings, let's just say I'm a bit overwhelmed and a bit crazy right now (I know I've always been crazy but this magnifies it by a bajillion). Those of you that see me often or my family or friends, I apologize now if I forget stuff or act weird. My brain is complete mush and I can't seem to complete 2 thoughts!!
Anyway, our Article 5 pickup is scheduled for pick up this Friday May 10th. We officially start waiting on our TA that day!!! It can come anywhere between 8-21 days. However, China has ANOTHER holiday at the end of May which will delay the issue of TA's. So we really need it to come before they close on May 25th. As soon as that comes, we are on a plane the next week!! Ideally, we are really hoping to be on a plane 3 weeks from today. That way it is the last week of May and PJ's work vacation will line up. (His new year starts June 5th and he hasn't taken any vacation days this year thinking we would've for sure traveled by now). So that way he can take 1 week still in this year(last week of May) and 2 weeks in the new year (June) and still have 1 week left to take later in the year. In order for this to happen, we need a super fast TA. Like an 8-11 day one. EEEEKK! Can you also be praying for this too??
I have mixed emotions as we get closer and closer. I am of course super excited but then a part of me gets very sad. Sad for the foster mother who has cared for her since the day she was abandoned. Sad for Anelyn as she is going to loose everything she has ever known. There is a good chance they will send her to the orphanage a couple weeks before we come so she could be going to the orphanage very soon which breaks my heart too!! I know redemption isn't pretty and we are about to walk that hard road but I know that after God is done restoring her heart, it will be beautiful, it will be whole, it will be family!
Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers, it truly makes a world of difference and I know they will carry us through this journey!
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