Tomorrow is a Big Day...

The day of Anna's first palate surgery is almost here. I cannot begin to explain the mix of emotions that I have right now. Anyone who has had a child to have to endure a surgery I am sure can understand. I am very excited to begin the process, but then the other part of me wants to say, "never mind...she is just fine they way she is."

I obviously dread the surgery, the pain, the healing process, but there is also a feeling of loss. I know it may sound strange to some, but I will miss her little crooked smile. The first time Anna smiled at us with her little teeth all out of line...it just melted my heart. The precious little grin that we all fell so madly in love with will soon be changing. I have taken many pictures of her because I never want to forget that smile. I want Anna to know that we are beginning this process to help her with speech and eating...not because she wasn't perfectly created.

What some may view as a curse, has brought our family a great blessing. Due to her "special need" a series of events occurred that caused her to need a family. I am so thankful that God allowed us to be that family for her. I am thankful that He has provided the means for the surgery to be done. Although I have a mix of emotions...I am thankful. I know that God started all of this and I know it will all work out as it should....it is God's plan. I know I may wear it out, but I know God's timing is perfect and His plans are complete. He will finish this good work.

Please pray for Anna as she begins this process. Please pray for everyone that has any contact with her and with her care. Also, please pray for Rodney and I that we make all the right decisions and the boys as they will be at home and do worry about her. Her surgery is early tomorrow morning. We are leaving tonight in order to try to make sure Anna gets a good night's rest. Tomorrow is a big day. The surgery will consist of an alveolar bone graft. They will be taking a bone from her rib, grafting it into the "gap" of her gum line and then working as much of the hard palate behind the gum line as they can. She will have a sore mouth and a sore side. They were unable to schedule an ENT, so she will not have the tubes done tomorrow. She will be on a liquid diet, which will be so hard for her now...she LOVES to eat! Something we tried so hard to get her to do (eat solids), we are now taking away. That may be harder for her than anything else.

I hope there is Internet access in the hospital where I can give updates. If not, I will post when we return home....probably on Sunday.

I am so fortunate that I not only got to fall in love with a perfect little girl's smile once, but I will be able to fall in love with another tiny smile that I am certain will be just as stunning ;-)

Praying for a successful surgery & God’s perfect will,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Win A Wii...

For you "old timers" you will remember Angela that traveled to China during the same time as Rodney and I to adopt her daughter Olivia. Well, she and her husband David are also adopting again. In a fundraising effort, she is having a Wii contest. If you would like to check out her blog to get all the details, just go to the link below.

http://www.familyforsophie.blogspot.com/

It is for a great cause and you know, you might win a Wii!

Good Luck Angela & David!
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

We Got The Call...

Finally after 55 days of anxiously waiting, wondering and jumping every time the phone rings, we finally got the call from our agency that our Pre-Approval (PA) had arrived. Very, very excited, I got off the phone, immediately called Rodney and shared the good news. Next came calls to my family. Although happy about the news, they all responded with, “okay, so what do you have to do next?” Can you imagine my family? They can’t let me stop stressing and celebrate about one thing before quickly reminding me about the task that lies ahead!! They keep me focused…stop celebrating and get back to work ;-)

So what is next??? We have to finish gathering our needed paperwork which includes the completion of our home study and our USCIS approval (immigration). After we get these, we then start the notarization, certification and authentication process. Next, is sending our paperwork, dossier, to China. That is the next step that China will actually play in the process. When they receive our paperwork, they will give us a Log In Date (LID)…this is the date in which the “time” really starts. After the LID, then China will review and process the paper work. Next comes the issuance of the Letter of Acceptance or Letter of Seeking Confirmation (LOA/SC). This is basically the step in which China asks a “final” time if you are sure you want to continue to pursue the adoption of this specific child. After the LOA/SC is signed and returned, China then will issue the Travel Approval (TA). This tells the adoptive parents that the adoption process is ready to be completed and you are invited to China to do so. After the agency/adoptive parents receive the TA, before actual travel dates can be set the Consulate Appointment (CA) must be established. This is the one of the last things that is done in China in the adoption process; therefore the dates in China are basically worked “backwards” from the CA. Of course, the most important date is “Gotcha Day” or “Forever Family Day”. This is the much anticipated date that the adoptive parents finally get to meet their child.

I would make estimations on the timeline, but I know better. With so many variables, it is just near impossible to know…if the Olympics didn’t come into play, I would think maybe August, but who knows how the Olympics will effect adoptions in China. They could speed things up to get people through and then not have adoptions during the Olympics, they could just process as normal and then stop adoptions while the Olympics are in progress or they could just keep on truckin’ and the Olympics not affect anything. So basically, we’ll know when we know.

We are so excited about the first real milestone that has been accomplished. We cannot wait to meet Elli for the first time and above all that, my biggest “moment” is when all my children are together for the first time. I cannot wait to meet Elli, but I really cannot wait until we bring Elli home where we will have all our children in our arms’ reach…now that will make a mother’s heart happy.

Now that we have our PA, I have opened Elli's blog. I would love for you all to follow our journey. We love your comments, your support and have some new things to try with Elli's blog.

Journey to Elli

Big YEEEAAAHHH for PA and sending much love and many hugs to Elli,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

God Has Responded...

What an amazing day today has been. Yesterday, the reality of deadlines hit, and hit hard. Due to the implementation of the Hague in the United States, we must have our I-600A filed before April 1. If it is not filed, the adoption would be jeopardized. I was totally stressed. After much debating, thinking, praying and finally swallowing my pride, I asked for help - scared, intimidated and a bit ashamed.

Throughout today, people, some that I knew through the adoption group and other’s that I don’t know contributed to the fund. I was blessed by each one and encouraged that God was providing for us. It wasn’t the way that I wanted Him to do it, but along with His provisions, He was trying to teach me a lesson about my pride. I know that I cannot do anything without Him, but I wanted Him to provide on my terms. I have had to ask God to forgive me for being ashamed to ask others for help. I have had more than one person today to tell me that we need to let others know about our needs. God can speak to people about our needs, but sometimes we need to tell others so they can help us “bear one another’s burdens”. I want others to be able to share with me as a matter of fact, I love when people can confide in me about their needs, but I guess it is very hard for me to do that in return.

After my request for help, there has been over $500.00 contributed today!! That should be enough to cover our physicals and hopefully part of our blood work. God has again amazed me and I have been humbled by the fact that people responded to our need so willingly. I know that there are so many people that love our family and love this little girl we so want to bring into our family. I will forever be grateful for every word of encouragement, prayer and contribution made to help us bring her home.

Shortly after we were agency matched with this little girl, we began talking about names. We discussed many names and disagreed on just about all of them. Finally after about 2 weeks of searching we found a name that we both liked, but absolutely LOVED the meaning. At the end of January we agreed on the name "Elliana"…it is a Hebrew name that means “God Has Responded.” Yes He has! What a story this little girl will have of all those that loved her.

Sending thanks to all of you, praises to God above & love to Elliana,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Number Five?!?

This may come as a surprise to some…not to others, but our family is hoping to grow AGAIN! We are currently in the process of trying to adopt another little girl from China. We have submitted our application to our agency, submitted a Letter of Intent for a specific little girl and are waiting for the Pre-Approval from China.

We were not planning on adopting so soon after getting home with Anna, but we knew that we wanted to adopt again. We believe that God has prompted us to move forward NOW in the adoption process and we want to be obedient to His will. We know that God will provide what is needed to complete this adoption, just like He did with Anna. We do not have the finances available to us as we did with Anna, but that fact alone is causing us to trust Him more to provide the means. We were going to wait until we had PA (pre-approval) before we shared the news, but today we decided differently.

For you all who know me, asking for help is not something that comes very easy. But, we just cannot do this on our own. I have started a couple of things to help with the expenses and I would like to share those with you all who have been so faithful to supporting and loving our daughter, Anna, and our entire family.

The first fundraising project underway is that I have started trying to sell Avon. I have posted on the sidebar the link to my Avon page where orders can be placed. If you live close, where I can deliver your order, I would be happy to get a book to you. Because I am just starting – this is my first week – the commission that I will make is greater for the first 4 “campaigns” (books). Also, there is a promotion on the online ordering where I will receive a greater commission off those orders as well.

The second is the obvious “ChipIn” account set up on the sidebar as well. This money will go for adoption expenses ONLY. I will post updates on how the money is being spent and on what. I don’t want anyone to think for a second we would take advantage of anyone or their generosity.

WHAT WE NEED NOW – well we all, as in 6 of us, have to have physicals. Rodney and I have to have additional blood work so that our home study can be completed. Our home visit is complete and our social worker is waiting on our physicals in order to be able to submit the completed home study to the USCIS, immigration. Because of our insurance, we have to pay office visits and blood work out of pocket – ouch! Right now it looks like it will cost about $500.00 plus the cost of the blood work. After the physicals are complete, we then have to file our I-600A with the USCIS. The fee to file is $670.00 and biometrics (or to be fingerprinted) at $80/each…which is a grand total of $830.00. Now, the kicker is…our I-600A MUST BE FILED BEFORE APRIL 1. The latest appointment that I could make in the month of March is Friday, March 21. I went ahead and made the appointment because I know it has to happen. I am hoping to make our physical appointments next week in order to get our home study update completed and off well before we go on the 21st to file the I-600A.

Somehow, we need to come up with all this and I do believe that if this is God’s will – it will happen. As much as I hate posting this, I have to. We are exhausting every resource that we have, which isn’t a lot right now. Winter is the slowest time for us…anyone who is self-employed knows – feast or famine ;-)

I would do anything for my children. God taught me so much about faith when we were adopting Anna and I do have faith that He will make this adoption happen as well, but I guess He is trying to teach me a few lessons on pride this go round.

I am doing 2 things, count them TWO things that I hate to do…asking people to buy something from me and asking for help. But for this little girl, the one I hope to soon call my daughter – I will swallow my pride, try to sell Avon and I guess whatever else God wants me to do. My silly pride and insecurities are so meaningless on the large scale. I may be a bit embarrassed or intimidated, but I am doing this for an innocent little girl who is waiting for a family. We want to be her family. We will do whatever we can to become that family for her.

We expect PA any day now. As soon as we get PA, we will share the blog I have set up for her and all the details on this little sweetheart. You will absolutely fall in love with her just as so many of you have with Anna. We are very excited to show her off and cannot wait for her to become a part of our family.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hoping and praying to soon become a family of 7,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna

Date Is Set...

We have set the date for Anna's first surgery. On Friday, March 28 we will be traveling to Jewish Hospital in Louisville, KY for an alveolar bone graft and potentially tubes in her ears.

They will be getting the bone from Anna's rib. They will then try to "fill" in the cleft in her gum line. Her surgeon will also be "working" as much of the hard palate as possible behind her gum line. It will be a hard day for our little girl. Sore mouth and sore ribs.

The surgeon's office is trying to get 2 nights in the hospital due to the graft. But, we are still unsure if that is going to happen or not...if not then we will just be there 1 night. We are also going to have to coordinate with her ENT on whether or not the tubes can be done the same day. If not, I will be requesting to wait until her next surgery. I don't want her put under anesthesia 3 times in under 5 months time. I don't think the risk of putting her to sleep is worth it when we can just wait a few more months when we know she is going to be having another surgery.

Please keep us, especially Anna in your prayers that everything will go perfectly. I am a bit nervous about the whole ordeal and dreads the days following the surgery.

Sending thanks to all you who care so much for our little girl,
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei

Babies & a Birthday...

Finally - we got clearance!!! After a month of my newest nephew Sam being home, I was finally able to see the little guy and he is real! As I have posted, he was born nearly 9 weeks premature and although I wouldn't have done anything to compromise his well-being....I really, really, really wanted to see him for myself. He is doing really well at home, no sickness, gaining weight, eating good and my sister asked if we could come over and visit....YES!

Thankfully our house has been well for over a week (yeah!) and we were comfortable visiting. I gave the kids the run down before we got there, "don't get in his face, no kisses, don't ask to hold him, don't run, don't scream, no fussing, don't ask Stephanie to fix you anything and Parker - no light sabers in the same room as Sam" you know, just the normal stuff when you have kids.

When we got there, Stephanie was fixing him a bottle and asked if I wanted to feed him, which of course I did. He is so tiny - so I can only imagine how tiny he was when he was first born. He was pretty lazy while eating, so I changed his diaper to "rouse" him up a little and it did. He was very bright eyed and appeared alert. Such a cutie too! He looks sort of like Jack, except Jack had black hair when he was a baby and Sam's is completely different. Sam's hair is blond, blond. Because Jack's hair was so dark and has been most of his life, I told my sister just a couple of weeks before she had Sam that it would be funny if she had a blond baby. I have 3 blond boys and a dark haired daughter, my brother has a blond son and a dark haired daughter and Stephanie has Jack with dark hair, so I thought she needed a blond. I don't think she or Rick thought he would ever blond - but he is!

He makes those little sweeting "grunting" noises when he sleeps...it's so cute!

So needless to say, I was a happy aunt. I got to see my sister's boyssssssss - as in plural, 2, more than one, multiple children and it made me very, very happy.

Can you tell I am happy?!?

On Tuesday, Feb 19th, Rodney has a birthday. He turned 40! Just to clarify any assumptions of my age....Rodney is 8 years older than me! Happy Birthday Rodney!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

When we got home from Anna's appointment, there was a sign on our front porch announcing to everyone that passed we had a birthday boy!

We spent his birthday in Louisville at a cleft clinic with Anna. We left the house about 6:00 am to make the 2 1/2 hour trip to Louisville for her appointment. We saw her surgeon, orthodontist, audiologist, clinic speech therapist, dietitian, and clinic dentist - whew! They were happy with Anna's progress over the last 3 months and started making the plans for her surgeries. Due to the severity of her cleft, they will have to repair her gum line first. Her surgeon said that because it is so wide, the scar tissue would literally collapse out her gum line if that was not repaired and stable at the time of her surgery. So, we will have her gum line fixed, wait about 3 - 5 weeks for the swelling to go down and then take her to the orthodontist for impressions. They will fit her for an obturator that she will wear until her palate surgery which will occur about 4 months after her initial surgery to repair the gum line.

I spoke with her surgeon's office today and tentative dates are March 28th or April 4th. Since she will have to stay overnight, I had rather have it on a Friday. That way whoever the boys stay with will not have to worry about getting them to school the next day. We are really excited about getting the surgery done - but dread, dread, dread the actual procedure and the days to follow. I am thrilled that we are able to get this done for her and know that it is the best thing to do - no doubt - but you hate to think about the pain that they will have to endure because of the surgery. We are praying that it all happens when it needs to and she just does beautifully through every procedure she has to face.

Anna had 2 little girls at Jacob's basketball game that came over with

Polly Pockets - Big Hit!

Anna really has progressed over the last few months. With the boys, it was no big deal for them to do some of the things that we are celebrating with Anna. Not that we didn't cherish their development but we didn't delight in the fact that they were playing in their spilled milk. Anna has had some issues regarding sensitivity and sensory with her hands. She has been almost obsessed with "flicking" textures. She flicks at almost everything...her cup, her toys, the fridge, clothes, shoes, furniture, etc., anything where there is a texture other than a smooth surface. She loves to feel things, but couldn't stand anything on her hands. Finger painting was seriously a traumatic experience for her. She got oatmeal creme pie "creme" on her hands and I was almost in tears before I got her hands cleaned. She was so incredibly upset. It was not just a "I don't want to do this" cry, it was more like she had crossed over to panic mode and couldn't gain composure until she was clean and being held.

We have since worked on getting her to stop flicking so much (still flicks, but not as much) and trying to "force" her to get a little "dirty" on her hands. She wouldn't feed herself, because she didn't want the crumbs of food on her hands. No crackers, chips, bread, cereal, nothing that could potentially leave anything on her hands. We really started to see progress when I had her in her high chair waiting for her dinner to cool. She had her sippy cup (which doesn't have the valve in due to her not being able to suck through the valve) and I ran upstairs to check on the boys. When I came back down, she had poured her milk out of her cup, onto the high chair tray and had it smeared everywhere, including her hair. Carter, Jacob and Parker...I would have not been so delighted, but I was thrilled that her hands were "messy".

"Are you proud Momma?"

Little does she know that the milk in the hair will result in having to wash her hair -

not her favorite pass time

Over the next couple of weeks, she began eating dry cereal, muffins, bread, and even sticky sliced bananas. I am really proud of her progress. However, now I don't snap pictures of her when she pours her milk out...she gets the typical "no, no" :-)

Just 3 months ago, she was still taking a bottle with formula and only eating mashed or pureed foods or jarred baby foods - NOW....anything we put in front of her. As long as it is bite sized, she will attempt it. She still can't 'bite' things off well, but if she can get it in her mouth, it is as good as gone. The sizes need to be small enough to keep her from gagging. She still does that pretty bad, but not as bad as a couple months ago. She eats beans, potatoes, carrots, rice, meats, cookies, biscuits, eggs, pancakes, pop-tarts, cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes, pizza...seriously ANYTHING! We are proud of our little pig.

Parker plays GameBoy - Anna plays GameBoy

"Monkey see, Monkey do"

I know that some of you have been reading the blog for a while and remember a friend of mine that was going to adopt a little boy from Anna's orphanage. If you remember China pulled his file and she couldn't continue with the adoption of K.C. She was heartbroken because she loved this little boy and his future was unknown. She continues to ask parents traveling to Anna's orphanage to get an update on K.C. for her and hopes that he will one day be eligible for adoption again.

Thankfully, she continued to pursue adoption and is leaving for China in just 12 days to adopt another little boy she will name John. I am so happy for her. I know this journey has not been easy for her or her family. I don't know why things happened the way that they did, but because of a series of very painful events a totally innocent, very deserving little boy will soon come to know her as his mother. I know John will not replace the K.C., nor do I think she is trying to, but John needed a mother too. I am so proud of her and just wish her the all the best!

Sending love and best wishes to Julie!
Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna Mei