handsful

My post titles seem to revolve around numbers lately!

Lainey has been with us for 7 years, as of 2/18!

I’m not gonna say life with her is always easy.  It’s not.  She’s got a strong personality.

She’s constantly “on”, if you know what I mean.

She needs to know, be involved in, and in control of EVERYTHING.

I’m just assuming that the hard days now mean easy days when she’s a teenager.

Don’t laugh at me.

Despite challenges, she’s our girl and I’ll never doubt her place in our family.

Because of the kids work schedules, and Randy’s travel schedule, we weren’t able to go out to dinner.  Yet.

We’ll pull that together asap.

She’s in love with all things American Girl right now, so the books choice was easy.  She’s working hard on reading these days, and I suspect she’ll have her head in these chapter books as soon as she can.

Love you, Lainey Q.  Happy 7th Family Day :)

We’ve been amazingly blessed by the friends we’ve made so far here in NC.

Hollyn and Anna’s families, for instance. They’re both in my homeschool group, and Anna’s family also goes to our new church. Anna and Hollyn are both from China, and both have special needs just like Lainey and Dylan.

Anna has spina bifida, the most severe form actually. But, her family accepts her as she is and knows that God chose her for their family no matter what might lie ahead. She’s doing great, and has the most sweetest smile.

Hollyn was born with limb differences. She was born missing 1 bone in her lower right leg and has a deformed foot. She received an amputation and foot surgery, and is doing…well, great! She calls her stump “Nemo” – because of his small fin. Her prosthesis is “Dory”. Love it.

The girls perform “Jesus Loves Me” for us. Lainey loved playing with her new girlfriends!

Time to decorate the cookies! Both Anna and Hollyn’s families have older children that our older children are friends with. How cool is that?!

Hollyn had her surgery at Shriners in Greenville, SC…the same hospital that we’re using for Dylan. Hollyn went through the same surgery that Dylan will. Hollyn and her mom allowed us to see her leg, her prosthesis, and answered tons of our questions.

We miss Florida. But, we are so meant to be here in NC. We see it over and over again.

Making friends with others who walk the same adoption road that we do – and that we love hanging out with! That God would care so much about us that he’d line us up with friends that can support and educate us about the road we have ahead with Dylan – amazing. God is so very good!

Recently, I was forwarded a blog post that summarized a speech given by Amy Eldridge, Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization Love Without Boundaries (www.lovewithoutboundaries.com).   According to the website…

Love Without Boundaries began in the year 2003, after a group of adoptive parents came together to help save the life of one tiny boy in China. Following his successful heart surgery, they realized that people with a pure love for helping children can truly make a difference. LWB incorporated as a 501(c)(3) charity in the state of Oklahoma, and our worldwide team of volunteers went to work. We have watched our foundation grow from providing a handful of surgeries and baby formula in 2003 to touching the lives of thousands of children today through our many program areas.

In her speech, she gave her insights and opinions on the current state of China adoption.  It was extremely eye-opening for us, and we believe the information is important to pass along to anyone with a heart for China adoption.  Please click the link below.

http://chinaadoptiontalk.blogspot.com/2010/07/amy-eldridge-of-lwb-speaks.html

Our journey begins today!  We are driving to NC, where our family is keeping our children while we’re in China.  Our flight on Wednesday leaves early, so we’ll be up before the birds…not that we can sleep very soundly right now!

See you in China!

I don’t think I’ve ever posted a picture of Lainey’s orphanage. This is the front and a view from one window. She is fortunate, and the recent storms haven’t affected them at all, they are warm, dry and well fed. We are so thankful. Her orphanage is new, built last year. Just recently, they were able to receive generous donations of new clothes and fruit for Chinese New Year, through the charity Packages of Hope. I hope she’s enjoying her fruit!

4 days till we board the plane!

Happy Year of the Rat! (I know you’re not happy about the “rat” part, Kathy, sorry!!)

We’re busy working on our “to do” lists, getting closer and closer to being ready to travel! It’s hard to believe that we will be on the plane in 6 days.

We’ve been checking the weather in the three cities we’ll be in, Beijing, Hefei, and Guangzhou. Highs for those cities this week around around 36, 42, and 55. As you can tell, we begin up north and go farther south with each city change. The lows in Beijing are in the teens…ouch. Did I mention that it’s been in the 70′s and 80′s here in Florida? I’ve been searching for winter clothes (we don’t have much need for gloves, hats and thermal undies here!)

Better get back to packing, etc. The days are slipping away!

Here’s what we know so far…we’ll get more detailed information from our guide, Lisa, in Beijing when we land.

2/12 Drive to NC to drop off our children with family…it’s going to be hard to do!

2/13 leave for China (NC to NJ to Beijing)

2/14 arrive and celebrate Valentine’s day by crashing in the hotel room!

2/15 Beijing tour (Great Wall?)

2/16 Beijing tour (Forbidden City?)

2/17 We leave Beijing and fly to Hefei, Anhui province. Lainey’s orphanage is in Anhui, in the city of Bengbu. We will be staying in Hefei which is the capital of Anhui. It’s about 3 hours from Bengbu.

2/18 Lainey Day! We’ll receive her in the morning, at the registration office in Hefei.

2/19 Go back to the registration office to finalize our adoption…she’ll be officially ours after this!

2/20-2/22 These days are rest or tour days, our choice. There is also paperwork going on during this time. During registration on the 19th, we apply for Lainey’s passport so it takes these days for her paperwork to process.

2/23 We leave Hefei and fly to Guangzhou.

2/24 Free day

2/25 Lainey has her visa physical done and visa photo taken. We also do some paperwork that day.

2/26 Free day

2/27 We have our US Consulate appointment

2/28 We go back to the US Consulate to take the oath, promising never to abandon her and to always care for her. We receive her visa today, too.

2/29 We leave Guangzhou for US (Guangzhou to Hong Kong to NJ to FL) I’m sure we’ll be so happy to be home.