Adjusting

This may not be a sunshine and rainbows adoption post.  So if that's what you're looking for, you may want to stop reading.  This will definitely be a reality check post!

We had 1 week of our routine before the Christmas craziness hit.  Kenzi had a great first appointment with our pediatrician.  She goes back to see him next week to get the results of some lab work he ran.  Her appointment with the cleft clinic is January 17th.  We will have a better idea at that point of what surgeries we're looking at to repair her lip and palate.

Christmas was great!!!!!!  The kids all got a TON of stuff.  The day after Christmas, we cleaned up and organized all the toys so that we could fit all the new stuff.  We put together boxes to donate and some toys to just put away for a while.

This week, we've all been stuck at home for various reasons ......... the weather was bad at the beginning of the week, Jacinda has had a cold, Luke and Kenzi have been coughing, and I have had pinkeye .... in both eyes.  Oh, and Kenzi screams her head off any time she's in the car anyway.  So we're all going a bit stir crazy this week.  School starts back up next Tuesday and we're all ready to get back to a routine.

Adjusting ........ I won't lie, it hasn't been easy for any of us.  Luke has been great, though!  He has settled nicely into having another little sister.  He's been such a big help and Kenzi ADORES him!

Jacinda - She has had a very hard time sharing her mama. Plus, she's had a cold, so that isn't helping any.  Her birthday is in a few weeks, so I'm hoping that we can focus on her then and maybe that will help.

Kenzi - She still wants me to hold her most of the day.  She is getting down and playing with Luke and Jacinda a little more every day.  She snuggled with her Daddy for a few minutes today ..... she initiated it, so I'm hoping it's the beginning of her deciding he's one of the good guys!

I've forgotten what it was like having an 18 month old in the house.  Our house is not baby proofed any more and Kenzi is exploring by putting things in her mouth.  Luke and Jacinda never really did that.  Also, I had gotten used to being able to have a few minutes to myself during the day to take a shower or read a book or whatever.  Not any more!  If I want to take a shower, I need to get up earlier than Kenzi.  Or, I have a water sling I can use to have her in the shower with me.

We've had a few friends bring us meals and that has been so wonderful!  This adoption stuff is not easy.  I thought I was prepared for it, but I don't think you can really be prepared.  But we're trucking through and know that everything will be fine.

I do believe that this is all an attack from Satan .... all the craziness that has happened since we've been home - leaking water in the dining room ceiling (which is now fixed), sickness, crack in the windshield of the van, on and on and on.  He doesn't really care for families being created and good things happening out of bad things (the good thing being Kenzi having a family, the bad thing being her birth family not being able to keep her.

I take comfort in Ephesians 2:10, which says:  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  I know that God has prepared us for this and that everything will work out exactly as it is supposed to.


And now, I leave you with a few pictures!


Kenzi's first trip to our favorite frozen yogurt place!

Christmas morning.  Happy girl!!!

My mom opening her Christmas present.  A better pic of the gift is below.

Luke with his new robot.

Jacinda with her "new"dollhouse.  It was her Grammy's dollhouse!!!

China Travel Tips

Here are some of our tips for your adoption trip to China:

• Pack everything in plastic baggies and bring extras in all sizes.  We used them for everything.  Also, bring a Sharpie so you can label them.  I labeled some like this:  Toiletries - Suitcase, Liquids - Carryon.  That way, you don't have to remember what goes where.
• Speaking of liquids, there are NO liquids allowed in carryons on in-China flights.
• There is a strict weight limit on checked bags for the in-China flights.  If your bag is overweight, your guide can explain to the airline employees why and you might not have to pay.  But the fee is pretty small.
• Sizes of clothes for baby - don't bring too many of one size.  The weights we had received for Kenzi were all over the place, so I assumed she would be the size of Jacinda when we brought her home.  Jacinda was 21 months and wore 12 month sizes, so since Kenzi was 18 months, I assumed 12 months would be a good size to bring.  Everything I brought in 12 month sizes was way too small!  You will be able to buy clothes in China.  They may not be the colors or patterns you'd prefer.  Also,  bring things like leggings and long shirts or dresses.  Sizes are a bit more forgiving for those.  Bring things you can mix and match.
• If you need to buy an extra suitcase in China, wait until you get to Guanzghou and buy it on Shamian Island.  We bought a huge suitcase there for around $20, and we didn't bargain much .... we could have gotten it a little cheaper than that.
• If your kiddo has an unprepared cleft lip/palate, bring more bibs and burp cloths than you think you'll need!!  I brought about 10 bibs and wished I had 10 more.  We went through 4 bibs a day!!!!
• Constipation - This is a common issue in newly adopted kids.  Between the stress and the new foods they are eating, we've experienced it with both kids.  Kenzi wanted nothing to do with the baby food prunes we brought.  In China, you can get Baby Enemas.  Or bring something with you, like glycerin suppositories.
• Packing clothes - pack an extra change of clothes for everyone in your carryon.  Also, divide up your clothes between your suitcases.  That way, if 1 suitcase gets lost, everyone has at least something to wear!
• Space bags!!!!!  Get the ones you can roll the air out of, not the vacuum ones.  But be careful .... they get you more space, but it's easy to get your luggage overweight!

Any questions about travel, just ask!!!

Home Sweet Home!

On Thursday afternoon, we picked up Kenzi's visa, and then boarded a train for Hong Kong.  We spent the night at the airport hotel in Hong Kong.  Friday morning, we started the long flight home.  We flew 14 hours to Detroit.  Kenzi was a champ on the flight.  The last few hours, she got a little fussy, but we all were by then!!!

There was a family from our travel group in the row in front of us, and that was fun to have people to talk to.  Their son also did great on the flight, which may or may not have had something to do with Benadryl :)

While we were standing in line at U.S. Immigration, Kenzi threw up all over me and her.  Our friends quickly gave us some wipes and we cleaned ourselves as quickly as we could.  We made it through Immigration and Customs.  Then we had to go back through Security to get back to the gate area.  Finally, we made it through and once again, Kenzi and I changed clothes in an airport bathroom!

We had a 5 hour layover in Detroit and all we wanted was to just get home!  We finally made it!!!!!  Aaron and I aren't jet lagged at all, thanks to something called No Jet Lag.  I highly recommend it!  Unfortunately, Kenzi IS jet lagged, which means she isn't sleeping at night, which means her mama is not sleeping at night.

On Saturday, Kenzi was napping in her own bed (for the first time), so I decided to take a shower.  Aaron came running upstairs and told me that water was leaking into the dining room downstairs!  So we'll be calling a plumber first thing this week!

Tomorrow is Monday, which means we are back to reality.  Aaron is going back to work in the morning, but he's working half days for a while.  Once I get Luke off to school, I have a ton of phone calls to make for Kenzi ... pediatrician, cleft team, and Early Intervention.

Dining and Shopping

Beijing
Pizza Hut and KFC in mall - across the street from the Novotel Peace hotel and about 2 blocks down
Le Cabernet - right outside hotel. Pricey, but good.
Dumpling place - mixed reviews. Not sure where it is, though.

Shamian Island in GZ
Cow and Bridge - thai
Lucy's - Western food
Orient Express - french
Fish tank place - across from Lucy's. not sure of the name, but it's local Cantonese food.
Starbucks
Subway

Near China Hotel
Starbucks inside hotel
24 hour McDonald's next door
Tekila - take taxi. Near garden hotel.  GREAT Mexican food!!!!!  We went here the last night and if we had remembered before, we would have gone several times.
Order Papa John's from Concierge
Agency took us to a local place and it was awesome. It's either in or near the Sino hotel.  about a 10 min. walk.
See my China Hotel post for more hotel food info.

Shopping
Save most for province and GZ
Agency took us to a silk store. It was not Silk Road.

Province
Get only local stuff - each province is famous for something, so get that stuff!

Shamian Island
A Gift From China  http://www.agiftfromchina.com/  MUST go here!!!!!  All handmade stuff and profits go to charity.
Local shops. Can bargain there
Jordon's shop. He will do your child's Name in calligraphy for free. Lots of good stuff. We bought our extra suitcase here. He's kinda pushy outside, but leaves you alone once you get inside. He'll also answer questions you have.  Bargain with him, especially if you get a lot of stuff.

Near China Hotel
Mall next door
Children's shops. Use underground walkway near Dong Fang hotel (not the Metro tunnel). Follow hospital exit.

Thoughts on the China Hotel in Guangzhou

For our last adoption, we stayed at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island.  That hotel was nice, and the island is quaint.  But we got tired of the shop owners asking us to come in and shop all.the.time.  A few of them even chased us down.  The White Swan is now being remodeled, so our agency is now using the China Hotel by Marriott, which is not on the island.

I know a lot of people will disagree with us .... even people in our travel group.  But we LOVE this hotel and we were SO glad not to be on the island.  Here are some things about it:

• We booked the Executive Suite and it is fabulous.  It has 1 1/2 bathrooms and 2 separate rooms separated with a door.  Our travel agency prices were not that much more for the suite, so we decided to go for it.  We are SO glad we did!!!!!  There is another suite called the Executive 55 suite and I think that one is larger than a regular room, but doesn't have the totally separate 2nd room.
• The Concierge has strollers you can rent.  It is a 200RMB deposit and then 20RMB per day.  The strollers are not that great, but it's getting the job done.
• The Concierge has a Papa John's menu in English and they will order it for you.  Go down to the desk and you can point to what you want, they'll call and order, and then tell you when to be back in the lobby for the delivery!
• The bed is perfect.  After the beds in Beijing and Fuzhou, our backs are thanking us!
• The Concierge staff speaks pretty good English.  If you want to go somewhere by taxi, they will write it in Chinese for you to give it to the taxi driver.  And the China Hotel info is on the little paper, so that can help you get back!
• McDonald's is next door to the hotel.  We are not McDonald's eaters back home, but we did eat there a couple of times.  It was cheap and the ice cream was great! They do have picture menus with some English on them.
• Hotel restaurants - Food Street is good, Cafe Veranda is where the breakfast buffet is and their lunch/dinner menu is good, but expensive.
• 7-11 is pretty close.  We found drinks and bottled water to be cheapest there.
• As usual, ask the Housekeeping staff to empty your minibar so you can use the fridge for your own drinks!
• Small convenience store is in the Shopping Arcade.  They have basics, including baby stuff.
• Exchanging Money - Technically, the hotel only allows you to change $200 per room per day.  However, the Concierge staff is wonderful and I bet they would let you change more.
• Shamian Island - By taxi, it's about 15 minutes, and 20RMB one-way.  We did go a couple of times to do some souvenir shopping.
• Marriott Rewards members get free internet.  If you aren't a member, join for free when you check in.
• Underground tunnels - there are a few we found.  One is for the Metro, but you can use the tunnels instead of crossing the street!  Yue Xiu Park is great!!!!!!
• The hotel has an outdoor play area on the 4th floor.

A few pics of our suite.  Please pardon the mess!!!!!

Front door and minibar/counter area.

Living room.  Just to the right of the couch is the door to the bedroom.

Safari Park Pictures

On the way back, we saw this truck carrying boxes labeled Hitachi!

Everywhere you look, you can see apartments buildings like these.  Just everywhere.

Tuesday - Safari Park

Quick post because i'm trapped under a sleeping baby! Tuesday, we went with the other families in our group to a Safari Park. We were there for about 5 hours and didn't get to see all the animals! Kenzi seemed to like the animals, which is good because we go to the zoo a lot.

Dinner was Papa John's pizza in the room.

Tomorrow is our US Consulate Appointment and the rest of our shopping. We leave here on Thursday to head to Hong Kong. We'll apend 1 night there and then fly out the next morning.

Fuzhou Lakeside Hotel

Trying to catch up here.  Here are some details about this hotel for future families:

• There is a staircase down to the path around the lake.  You'll need your room key.
• You can rent strollers from the hotel.  I think it's around 10 RMB per day.
• Not all of the hotel staff spoke English.  However, they were great about going to get someone that did if they didn't understand you.
• The hotel does have a doctor, but she doesn't speak English.  Just ask the Assistant Manager of the hotel and he will go with you and translate.
• The food at the hotel was great.  They did have some Western food in the restaurants.  The pepperoni is not the pepperoni we're used to, it was salami.
• There is a great grocery store about a 20 minute walk away.  If you're standing in front of the hotel, looking at the lake, walk to the left around the lake.  And just keep going!
• The hotel staff will empty your minibar so you can use the fridge for drinks or whatever!  This is true at all the hotels we've stayed at in China. 

Pictures!!!!!

Here you go!  Just click the link below.  I think they're in reverse order.

Pictures

Catching Up .....

It’s been a while since we have been able to post.  Kenzi is still attached to her mama and won’t let Aaron carry her.  We have seen a little improvement with daddy and she will at least give him high fives and smiles when she wants to.

We have all been sick with a stomach bug.  Sherry got it last Thursday, Kenzi got it on the plane from Fuzhou to Guangzhou and then Aaron got it last night.  Hopefully this will put it past all of us and we can all start feeling better.

Here is a recap of our trip so far.  We will try to get some pictures up soon.  Dates may be off as we are 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time

12/2 – Arrive in Beijing

12/3 – Orientation, meet other families in our travel group, sightseeing at Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

12/4 – Leave Beijing, Arrive in Fuzhou, Get Kenzi!!!!

12/5 – Finalize Kenzi’s adoption paperwork.  She is officially ours!!!!

12/6 – Visit Buddhist Temple in Fuzhou

Wednesday, 12/7 – Panda World (panda rehabilitation center).  This was pretty small, but Kenzi LOVED all the red pandas!  Walked to Grocery store and back and then just kept walking to keep the kiddo happy.  I think we ended up walking about 5 miles.  We almost got lost in the middle of Fuzhou!  Thankfully, our hotel is REALLY tall, so we just made sure we could see it and kept walking.

Thursday, 12/8 – In the morning, we went to a wholesale market.  They had lots of jewelry, jade, and pearl.  We got a piece of Shoushan stone for Kenzi, which her province is famous for.

Friday, 12/9 – Today, we spent the entire morning packing our stuff to head to Guangzhou.  Our guide, Tracy, had a friend that is a radio DJ in Fuzhou.  She called him and had Sherry say some English sentences and the Chinese translations for a commercial he is making.  He said that Sherry's Chinese pronunciation was excellent!  So Sherry is now a radio star in Fuzhou!  We picked up Kenzi’s passport and then flew to Guangzhou.  Kenzi got sick on the plane, so Sherry and Kenzi changed clothes in the airport bathroom as soon as we landed.  Kenzi continued to be sick the entire van ride to the hotel … about an hour.

We walked into our suite at the China Hotel by Marriott and we just about cried from relief.  The hotel is beautiful and the suite is AMAZING.  It was just what we needed after such a rough week.  We were so happy we had decided to pay the little extra for the suite.  And the bed. The bed is SOFT.  Again, I almost cried from relief.

Saturday, 12/10 – Today, we had Kenzi’s photo taken for her U.S. Visa – she is crying in the picture, of course.  She also had her medical check that the U.S. requires.  Aaron went to a meeting in the afternoon to work on the paperwork for this part of the trip.

After the meeting, our entire travel group (around 13 families) went out to dinner together at a local restaurant.  The food was WONDERFUL!

  

Sunday, 12/11 – Aaron had been sick the night before, so we slept in this morning and had a lazy morning.  In the afternoon, we took a taxi to Shamian Island.  That’s where we stayed on our last adoption trip.  There are some cute shops there and we needed to pick up our laundry.

Friday - Last Day in Fuzhou

We seem to have turned a corner!  At this very moment, Kenzi is sitting on the floor, 4 feet away from me and she is PLAYING with the toys we brought!  Thank you, Jesus!!!!!!!

This adoption stuff is hard.  Not only has Kenzi had a hard time adjusting, I managed to get the dreaded Montezuma's Revenge last night.  I'll save you the gory details, but let me just tell you how hard it is to be that sick with an 18 month old who only wants you to hold her!!!!!

We are packing up today and heading to Guangzhou.  Thankfully our flight is only about an hour.  Not sure my stomach could handle much more.  Guangzhou is where we do the American side of the paperwork.

I'd better not push my luck too much .... any second, I'm sure little Miss Kenzi-bug is going to realize that I am not sitting on the floor with her.

Short update

Sorry no blOgging. Kenzi is having a hard time. She only wants me to carry her and walk all day long. I have carriers, but i can't physically walk all day with an extra 20 pounds strapped to me. We leave tomorrow for the next place. Hoping things will be better there.

We are so thankful god has given us this previous little one. We knew it could be hard and we're hanging in there. Keep the prayers coming!

Day 4 - 12/6 - Part 1

typing one-handed. been holding kenzi for days. she will not let me put her down. i'm only sitting down at the moment because she fell asleep. i'm getting my exercise with all the walking and carrying an extra 20 pounds! she is grieving hard and it's so sad. will write more about that later.

Day 3 - 12/5/2011 - Fuzhou

Last night, we were so tired, that we all went to bed around 9 pm.  Of course, that meant we woke up at 5 this morning.  It could definitely have been worse, though.  At breakfast, we met the other family that is here adopting a little girl.  They are from the USA, but live in Italy.  They have a 19 month old son adopted from Ethiopia and their new daughter just turned 1!

After breakfast, we went to the Civil Affairs office to finalize Kenzi's adoption.  She's now stuck with us forever!!!!!  Then we went to a supermarket to get a few things .... snacks, toothbrushes because I managed to forget them, and drinks.

Then the rest of the day, we just hung out in our hotel room mostly.  Kenzi is doing great.  She has moments of sadness, which is totally normal.  She will not let me put her down.  Thank goodness for the baby carriers I brought!!!!!!  She wants to sit in my lap the rest of the time.  She loves it when I walk when I'm carrying her.  So hopefully I'm getting lots of exercise and losing some weight!

Last night, after we got her, she didn't eat much and she didn't drink anything.  We weren't worried yet, but today's priority was getting her to at least drink something.  Well, this girl can eat AND drink.  We just had to give her time and find what she liked.  She'll fit in well with Jacinda.  Both of these girls can drink an entire gallon of milk every day!!!!   For now, we're letting her drink as much milk as she wants. But that will need to change when we get home.  We'll start slowly and transitioning her to drinking more water.

Typing one-handed now, so I'll sign off for now.

Pictures!

I know you've all been waiting for pictures!!!!!!!!

The view outside our Beijing hotel room.
















Corn (we think) on top of a roof outside our Beijing hotel room.

Us and Socks the Monkey at The Forbidden City.  Socks is a world-travelling monkey.  He goes everywhere with us and the kids love to put him in creative places and see where he goes!

A few shots of the view outside our hotel room in Fuzhou:

Kenzi!!!!!
















The man on the left is the orphanage pediatrician and the woman on the right is one of the caregivers.

Day 2 - 12/4/2011 - Kenzi Day!

This morning, we got up early to head to the airport in Beijing.  We flew to Fuzhou, which is the capital of Kenzi's province.  We had about 15 minutes in our hotel room and then it was time to head down to get Kenzi.  She had come with the orphanage's pediatrician and her nanny.

I was holding Kenzi while Aaron did the first round of paperwork.  I'm sure it was hard for him to think straight while Kenzi was screaming her head off!  She continued to scream for quite a while.  We got her to eat a few noodles for dinner, but she won't drink anything yet.  We'll try again tomorrow with some milk or juice at breakfast.

She was clearly well taken care of.  She had on brand new clothes - several layers of them, which is typical of China.  The orphanage staff also brought us a large bag with lots of new clothes, a coat, new shoes, a photo album they made for us of all her pictures (including some we hadn't seen yet from when she was around 11 months old), the baby clothes she was found in, and some gifts for her that symbolize peace.  We are so blessed to receive all of that.  They love her and took great care of her!

Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.  Sorry ..... we are exhausted at this point.  Kenzi is sleeping, and I hope she stays that way for a while!!!

Day 1 - Sightseeing in Beijing - 12/3/2011

**** My dates may be a day off from when you are reading this!  We are 13 hours ahead of Eastern time.

We made it through our first day in China!  We started out with an Orientation with our adoption agency.  We got to meet all the families in our group and hear details about the rest of our trip.  After that meeting, we had a wonderful lunch with everyone.  Then we headed out for some sightseeing.

First, we went to Tiananmen Square and walked around for a little while.  The weather was beautiful today ... the temperature was probably around 40 degrees, but it was very sunny, so it felt warmer.  Then we went across the street to The Forbidden City.  It's in the background of this picture.
















When we finished seeing The Forbidden City, we had been walking for well over 2 hours!  Then we went to a silk factory where we learned about how silkworms spin silk and then how it is made into fabric.  It was really interesting.

Jet lag - We're doing pretty well with it so far.  It may hit us more in the next couple of days, though.

Tomorrow - Kenzi Day!  We leave for the Beijing airport at 8:30 am and then fly to Fuzhou.  We are scheduled to get Kenzi late in the afternoon.

We are in Beijing!

Well, we made it to Beijing!  We are tired, but ready to get this show on the road.  We just got to our hotel at midnight, so we're going to try to sleep.  We have a busy day tomorrow .... Our agency has Orientation for us, and then we'll do some sightseeing with the other families in our group.

And We're Off!

Today is such a mix of emotions .... excitement to go get Kenzi, sadness at leaving the other 2 behind, panic at wondering if we've forgotten something!  Plus, I am not a good flier, so there is some anxiety there.  I keep telling myself I'm looking forward to the 14 hour flight to Beijing because I can catch up on my reading and movies!  We've both loaded up our iPods with books to read and some new music to listen to.  Our plane has individual movie screens in each seat, so I will be able to watch what I want!!!

We are planning on having Aaron's mom and the kids drop us off at the airport curbside.  I'm hoping that a quick good-bye will help all of us to keep it together.

Here's our itinerary:

Thursday, Dec. 1 - Leave for Beijing
Friday, Dec. 2 - Arrive in Beijing late that night
 Saturday, Dec. 3 - Adoption Agency's Orientation and sightseeing amid a jetlag-induced stupor!
Sunday, Dec. 4 - Fly to Kenzi's province and get Kenzi!!!!!
Monday, Dec. 5 -  Sign the paperwork to adopt her officially
Tuesday, Dec. 6 -  Sightsee in her province
Wednesday, Dec. 7 - Sightsee in her province
Thursday, Dec. 8 - Sightsee in her province
 Friday, Dec. 9 - Get Kenzi's passport and Fly to Guangzhou (the city where the U.S. paperwork gets done)
Saturday, Dec. 10 - Kenzi's Medical Exam
Sunday - Tuesday - Sightseeing and lots of paperwork
Wednesday, Dec. 14 - U.S. Consulate Appointment
Thursday, Dec. 15 - Get Kenzi's visa to enter the U.S.
Friday, Dec. 16 - travel to Hong Kong and fly home!

We will be blogging while we're gone, so stay tuned!  Thank you to everyone for your support in many forms ..... financial, prayers, supportive comments, excitement for us .... it means so much to all of us.

T Minus 2 Days .........

I just wrote a long post and Blogger ate it :(

Suffice it to say that we have a HUGE To-Do List to accomplish before we leave this Thursday!!!!!!!

We're very excited to finally be leaving, but we're sad to leave Luke and Jacinda here.

More later today .....

More Amazing God Stuff!

This past Sunday night, we took all our carseats out of our Mazda5 and put them into hubby's brother's car. They are helping with the kids while we are gone and they have a 3 year old.  So we needed to play musical carseats to get 3 seats in their car.  That turned out to be the easiest part of the plan!!!!

Then we decided to go ahead and shift seats in our car so that Luke could get used to riding in the 3rd row now.  Well, we ran into some problems and we couldn't fit 3 seats in the car.  There is an issue with the 2nd row seats needing to be pushed all the way back if they have carseats in them.  Well, that means you can't fit a carseat in the 3rd row.  I had a mini-freakout.  We weren't really planning on buying a minivan before we left!!!!!  Hubby's brother is a mechanic at a Lexus dealership in town, so he started thinking about what he could do.  He said he'd rather us get a Toyota Sienna so that he could check it out and do all the work on it, plus he can get us a good deal.  But he said they never get those onto their Pre-owned lot.  He said the last minivan they got was about 8 months ago, and it was not a Toyota.  So he was going to ask around the next day and see if he could find something.

He called hubby first thing Monday morning and said we'd never believe what just happened.  He told us that a 2004 Toyota Sienna just came in to his lot and it was in amazing shape.  It has 90,000 miles on it, but they're all highway miles.  He told us that he could get us his price on it.  Well, like I said, we weren't really planning on buying a minivan at this point.  I had figured out how to cram the 3 carseats we needed in our current car.  But, I had to turn myself into a contortionist in order to buckle whoever was in the 3rd row.  It was possible, but definitely not something I could do long-term.  If only I was about 3 inches taller!

Then I called our credit union because we needed to know if there was any way we could get approved for a loan for the minivan.  I got the nicest agent on the phone and she was so excited about our adoption.  I told her we'd had to move money around and all kinds of stuff in order to pay the travel agency and now the minivan situation.  So she ran our application and we were immediately approved, with an interest rate BELOW their published rates.  Again, amazing.

Then, a friend contacted us and asked us how we were doing on finances for the adoption.  We told him that we had it all figured out, but that we were having to finagle things until our tax refund comes in next year.  He told us he wants to meet up before we leave and he is going to help us out with a little money.

We've known from the beginning that this adoption is something we were supposed to do.  We had NO idea how we were going to get the $30,000 we needed.  But God knew.  And here we are.  This journey to Kenzi started just over a year ago.  Now, on Sunday, December 5, there will be one less orphan in the world and Kenzi will be in our arms.  We are so humbled and blessed that God chose us to be her parents and we can't wait to see where God leads us next.

We Have So Much To Tell You .........

We have to tell you how amazing God is. In the past week, here is what we've been personally able to see God doing.

1. Our friend, Stacy, is currently in Mongolia ministering to orphans.  Each year, in October, she collects backpacks filled with school supplies and other stuff, and then takes them all to Mongolia to distribute to kids.  For this trip, they had 3 people traveling and 38 bags.  I'm sure you've all heard the news about baggage fees on airlines these days.  Well, United Airlines waived over $6,000 in fees and told them to have a great trip!  Amazing.  Keep track of their trip here:  http://www.2mongoliawego.blogspot.com/

2.  A good friend of ours found out a few days ago that his aunt had a stroke.  He asked on Facebook for everyone to pray.  The doctors were saying there was no brain activity, so he and his dad were about to make the trip to where she was in order to help make final arrangements.  Then, she moved a finger, so the doctors were doing more tests.  They concluded there was definitely no brain activity.  Then, the next update we heard, was that she was off the ventilator, breathing on her own, and communicating!!!!!!!  The next day, she was sitting up, talking, and eating!  She is having some issues with her fine motor skills and things like that.  But what a miracle!!!!!  The doctors have no explanation for going from zero brain activity for several days to this!  The explanation is God.

3.  For several years, Aaron and I have put together shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  For the past 2 years, we've gotten our small group Bible study friends excited about it and we've put boxes together with them.  This year, our church decided to do it as a church-wide event.  We held a family night a few weeks ago where we all learned about the kids and families who receive the shoeboxes.  Our church collected over 100 shoeboxes for kids all around the world!!!!!!  We're so blessed to be able to be a part of that!

Less Than 2 Weeks To Go!

We leave for China in just under 2 weeks.  We've been soooo busy.  Here's what we've been up to lately:

- Last-minute shopping for the trip.
- Gathering everything the kids will need for 2 weeks at Grammy's house.
- Still more adoption paperwork.
- We'll be home by Christmas, but I'm trying to get pretty much everything ready before we leave.
- Packing - Weight limits for flights are really strict these days, so we're trying to pack super-light.

Jacinda has been going to speech therapy 4 times a week and her new speech teacher is just amazing.  Jacinda is becoming more and more understandable every day!!!  It's so exciting to see her improving SO much!

Luke is having a rough week .... we think it may partly be the upcoming transition.  Both kids are pretty upset about us leaving them for 2 weeks.  We have some special things planned that their grandparents will be able to do with them while we're gone.  Plus, we'll Skype as much as we can.

On the other hand, Luke received an award at school this week.  For the 1st grading period, he "read" the most books in his class and got invited to a special party.  I put read in quotes because for now, we're allowed to read the books to him until he can read by himself.  He's very excited about the party!!!

Sharing "How to be the Village"

I just read an amazing blog post about how people can support adoptive families both before and after the airport.  The post is somewhat long, but there is just so much good information in it.

http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/11/02/how-to-be-the-village

Read it, digest it, and think of some practical ways you can support adoptive families that are in your life.

Confirmed Travel Dates!!!!!

We have travel dates and our plane tickets have been booked!  Here's our basic Itinerary.

Thursday, Dec. 1 - Leave for Beijing
Friday, Dec. 2 - Arrive in Beijing late that night
Saturday, Dec. 3 - Adoption Agency's Orientation and sightseeing
Sunday, Dec. 4 - Fly to Kenzi's province
Monday, Dec. 5 - Meet Kenzi!
Tuesday, Dec. 6 - Sign the paperwork to adopt her officially
Wednesday, Dec. 7 - Sightsee in her province
Thursday, Dec. 8 - Sightsee in her province
Friday, Dec. 9 - Fly to Guangzhou (the city where the U.S. paperwork gets done)
Saturday, Dec. 10 - Kenzi's Medical Exam
Sunday - Tuesday - Sightseeing and lots of paperwork
Wednesday, Dec. 14 - U.S. Consulate Appointment
Thursday, Dec. 15 - Get Kenzi's visa to enter the U.S.
Friday, Dec. 16 - travel to Hong Kong and fly home!

I can't believe we leave in just under 3 weeks!  We have a lot to do around here before we go.  We're so thrilled we'll be home for Christmas ..... probably very jetlagged still, but home for Christmas, with our whole family here with us.

Travel Approval!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, a couple of hours after I posted that we didn't have TA yet, we get the email that it came!!!!  We should have confirmed travel dates in the next few days, but our agency expects that we'll be able to leave on December 1st.

Kenzi, hang on!  Mommy and Daddy are coming soon!!!!!

Updates ....

No Travel Approval (TA) yet ... any day now.  Our agency has told us they expect us to travel around Dec. 1.  But that's assuming we get that TA this week.  Just waiting ......

We're in the Homestretch!

We found out today that our Article 5 has been issued and overnighted to Beijing.  This means that the U.S. has approved everything related to Kenzi's adoption.  Now China will issue our Travel Approval (TA).  Our agency tells us that TA could take up to 3 weeks to arrive.  We've been hearing of people getting TA MUCH earlier than that, though.  Once we get TA, we'll be able to make travel plans and we'll know when we're leaving.

I feel like I can see the light at the end of this tunnel.  This has been a hard wait and we just can't wait to get Kenzi home.  We know that having 3 kids with very unique needs is going to be a big adjustment.  We're ready and we want her home with us, where she belongs.  We know that this will not be easy, but following God frequently is not easy.  He has called us to do this, which means that He has prepared us and He will be with us.

Kenzi belongs in our family and we feel like we're missing a piece of our hearts right now.  I can't wait to fatten her up a little and show her what being in a family is like.  We're in this for the long haul and we're ready!

Here's a great blog post about what happens after all the excitement dies down.  It's long, but the writer brings up some really important issues.  HERE  Adoption is awesome and it is wonderful, but it is not easy.  Kenzi has been abandoned and has lived in an orphanage for the first 18 months of her life.  Those are very formative months, and we will need to help her as she grieves.  Her entire universe is about to be turned upside down.  But the important thing is this:

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deut. 31:6).

We know this will be hard, but we know that God will never leave us.  Never.

New Pictures!!!!!

We got some new pictures this week.  Here's a couple of them.  She has more hair and check out those cheeks!!!!!!!!!  She looks healthy and that makes this mama's heart happy.  We can't wait to go get her!!!!!!!

Thankful

I am very overwhelmed today at the support we have in our lives.  Here are some things I'm talking about:

1. Jacinda's new speech teacher - For so long, we've been frustrated at Jacinda's lack of progress in her speech.  We knew she would be getting a new teacher this year, so we decided to hold out and see how that went before we decided what to do.  Going back to a private therapist would have cost us a lot of money because our insurance doesn't cover it any longer.  But if that's what she needed, we would have figured it out.

Her new teacher has been wonderful.  She told me today that she spent the weekend researching ways to best help Jacinda.  I am so grateful to this teacher for investing her time and energy into Jacinda.

2.  Luke's teachers - They are both just wonderful.  Luke is a pretty unique kid and his teachers have been so unbelievable in helping us figure out what works for him and making this a good school year for him.  The structure of this particular classroom is exactly what he needed.

Here's the really crazy thing.  When we first bought this house, I told Aaron that it was a good thing we'd be moving before Luke got to Kindergarten.  I said that there was no way our kids were going to school at this particular elementary school.  Yet here we are ..... God knew that these teachers were exactly the ones that both kids needed at this exact time.  Boy was I wrong.  Just another lesson for me to learn that God really does know better than I do what we need.

I am also thankful for everyone in our lives who is excited for Kenzi to come home.  You have all been so supportive and we are so moved by the love you all have shown us.  It will be hard to have 3 kids who all have very unique challenges, but God is with us and I know that everything will turn out exactly the way it's supposed to.  Our family has been missing a member and I can't wait until she's here and our family is complete.  Exactly the way it's supposed to be.

Kenzi's Middle Name ........ Part 3 of 3

A few weeks ago, I was starting to stress out about Kenzi's middle name.  We just couldn't come up with anything we loved.  We tried to find a Chinese name, but nothing seemed right.  Several names we liked just didn't sound right as a middle name with Kenzi.  So I started going through baby name websites and we talked about names all.the.time.  Nothing.

I LOVE the name Lorelei, and as much as I love it, Aaron does not.  No amount of discussing it was going to make him like it.  So I dropped it.  One night, I was looking at a list of family names and the name Sarah was on it.  Sarah is a classic name that we like, but Kenzi Sarah doesn't sound right to us.  Randomly, a song by Caedmon's Call popped into my head ... I thought it was called Saralai - pronounced Sarah-lie.  Aaron wasn't home at the time, and I just dismissed it as a silly thought.

The next day, we were all in the car, and Aaron decided to play that Caedmon's Call CD on my iPod (I hadn't said a single word to him at this point).  Before he picked up the iPod, he said we could use the name Saralai, just like the song.  At this point, I couldn't believe he came up with that on his own.  He finds the song and we were both WRONG. The song is called Sarala.  So we had a good laugh and went on about our day.

The next day, I brought up the name Saralai again.  We had a very brief discussion about it, but it was mostly along the lines of .... wasn't that funny that we both thought of the WRONG name?  We chuckled and then got distracted by something.

Maybe later that day or the next day, I asked Aaron if he would consider it as a serious contender.  We talked about it for a few minutes and looked it up online.  Well, we attempted to look it up online.  It's not a common name at all.  In fact, I don't think it's an actual name!

One thing we like about the name is that Sarah is a name that's in my family.  Sarah is also the name of a dear friend of ours who has helped us a lot with this adoption.  She has written recommendation letters quickly for us and made things for us to sell at our yard sales.  Even though she lives across the country from us, she has been such a good friend and we're thrilled that part of Kenzi's name will remind us of her.

So her full name will be ....... Kenzi Saralai Wolfe.  There you have it.  The long awaited middle name announcement!  Whew!  My brain is very happy to not have to worry about that any longer.  Now I can focus on freaking out about our packing list!!!!!

Middle Names - Part 2 of 3

Again, we decided pretty quickly on the name Jacinda.  It was a name we had heard and we both just loved it.  But her middle name caused many .... discussions.  Originally, we were sure she would be Jacinda Claire.  I'm not really sure why we decided against it.  At some point, we started discussing other options.  We decided not to use part of her Chinese name because her name was given by the orphanage workers just going down a list.

We put the name Jacinda Catherine on the paperwork we had to submit.  Catherine is Sherry's middle name.  I (Sherry) had always wanted to give my daughter the name Catherine because I figured I would drop it when I got married.  But when we got married, I ended up keeping all my names, so it wasn't as important to me to give it to her since I still had it after all.

So when we left for China, I think we were still debating between Claire and Catherine.  We weren't in love with either one, but we really just couldn't decide.  The second day we were in Beijing, we were having dinner at a Peking Duck restaurant with some colleagues of my dad's.  The girlfriend of one of the men there was named Kai-Li.  (We have no idea how she spelled it, though.)  After we got back to the hotel, we Googled various options for how to spell it and decided that night that her name would be Jacinda Kai-Li.  It is pronounced Kai-Lee.  It's not pronounced like Kylie, it's really 2 separate names.

Kenzi's story is coming soon!

Middle Names - Part 1 of 3

We are getting close to announcing Kenzi's middle name.  But first, we'd like to document the stories of how we chose the middle names for Luke and Jacinda.  Their first names were all chosen quickly, but their middle names have been the subject of much discussion each time.

When I was pregnant with Luke, we had TONS of girl names we liked and no boy names.  Several weeks before the "big" ultrasound, I just knew it was a boy.  Sure enough, at 16 weeks, the ultrasound tech told us it was a boy.  So we began the task of choosing a name.  I don't really remember how we decided on the name Luke, but I'm pretty sure it was Aaron that suggested it.  We decided pretty quickly that Luke would be his first name.  We looked up the meaning of Luke and it means "Bringer of light", which we thought was pretty appropriate, given our infertility history.  His middle name was not chosen quite as quickly, though.

We spent months talking and looking and debating and not deciding.  We were in the car, driving to Maryland for our baby shower and we decided to just spend the whole car trip discussing it.  We started with Bible names and just named Bible name after Bible name.  One of us said Isaiah ...... we put it with Luke ... Luke Isaiah and right there, in the car, decided that was it!  We had already told everyone his first name, but we decided to keep Isaiah a secret until he was born.  It was kind of fun having that secret all to ourselves for a little while.

In the next day or two, Jacinda's story!

Moving Right Along ......

The adoption process is moving right along.  Right now, our paperwork is at U.S. Consulate in China.  We will probably get Travel Approval in early November and then travel in late November or early December.  We're hoping to be home before Christmas!

Other updates ......
- We're working on some applications for adoption grants and no-interest loans.  If you'd like to make a donation to our adoption fund, we'd be very grateful.  We have paid all the agency fees, we just need money to pay for our trip.
- We think we have actually decided on Kenzi's middle name.  We're still discussing it just a little, so I will wait to share it until we're sure.
- Luke is recovering from a pretty bad bout of strep.  He missed an entire week of school.  So this week is like the first week of school again ... we're all trying to get back into the swing of things!
- Packing - There are strict weight limits for luggage these days, so we're working on paring down our packing list to only what we absolutely need to take with us.  We have pretty much everything, we just need to shop for a few more little things.

I-800 Approval!!!!!!!

We found out today that our I-800 form has been approved.  This is the U.S. approving us to adopt Kenzi!!!!  Next, a process takes place that puts Kenzi in the system to get a Visa to travel to the US.  Once the US has approved her Visa, China will issue us a Travel Approval.

We're looking at travel probably in early December, assuming everything moves along as it should.  Looks like we might get a GREAT Christmas present this year!!!

Long Time, No Post

It's been a few weeks since we've posted.  There's been a lot going on, but not much on the adoption front.

- We sent our applications away for Chinese Visas so that we can travel.  It's a bit nervewracking sending our passports to the Chinese Consulate, but it's necessary.
- We're waiting on the approval of our I-800 form with US Immigration.  This form approves us to adopt Kenzi.  Once that form is approved, a process gets started to notify the US Consulate in China that Kenzi is approved for a US visa.
- We're still looking at travel in late November or early December.
- Luke had strep last weekend.  Hopefully, he's just getting his sicknesses over now so that we can make it through the winter with minimal germs!
- Jacinda has been LOVING having Luke in school!  At first, she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself.  But she quickly realized that with Luke in school, she doesn't have to share her stuff!  So she's all over that situation!
- Luke is transitioning well in Kindergarten.  He's had a few issues, but his teacher is wonderful and she's really helping us figure out what will work best for him.
- I've been furiously sewing and crocheting.  Once the weather cools off, I love to crochet, so I've been going a little crazy!
- Hurricane Irene did come through our area.  Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as predicted.  We lost power for about 12 hours.  We also lost a tiny piece of the wood trim on the outside of our house.  Hubby and his dad fixed it with no problem.

I think that's it.  Hopefully the next few adoption steps will move quickly.  We're ready to get our little girl home!!!

We got our LOA Today!!!!!

We got the call that our LOA arrived at our agency today.  It's headed to us for our signature and we will get it tomorrow.  Once we get it in our hands, we can send out our application to US Immigration to adopt Kenzi.  There are still quite a few steps left, but they are fairly straightforward at this point.

We will probably travel to China in late November or early December!!!!!!!!!

A New Phase .....

Our family has entered a new phase in our lives.  Luke started Kindergarten today!  I can't believe it .... I mean, he was just born last week, wasn't he?  He was so excited to get on the school bus this morning!  His teacher is fabulous .... we've been emailing each other already about some of Luke's 'quirks' and she is really committed to figuring out what will work for him and making this a good year.

Jacinda was a little sad when the bus pulled away, but she's fine now.  We're going to run a few errands and maybe include a special treat just for the girls!

Preparing for Hurricane Irene

This may be my last post for a little while.  We are about to get hit by a pretty substantial hurricane.  We are ready .... everything brought inside, stocked up on food, water, batteries, flashlights, lanterns, etc.

We're most concerned about a long-term power outage.  We do have 1 pretty large tree that is really close to our house, so I'm worried about that tree falling, too.

We have not been ordered to evacuate, so we're staying put for now.

If you don't hear from us for a little while, that's why!

A Wish List for Kenzi

I've had a few people ask about things we need, so here is our Wish List on Amazon.  Items do not have to be purchased from Amazon ... there is a link on each item that says "Buying this gift elsewhere?".

http://amzn.com/w/1CI6ZURETERGR

Monday, Monday ......

We're still waiting for our LOA.  It's frustrating because there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.  People that have been waiting less time than us have gotten theirs.  I know that once Kenzi is home, we won't even remember the waiting.  But it's hard to know that your daughter is in an orphanage and there are so many things you don't know ... does she have enough to eat (probably not), does she have someone to hold her if she gets hurt, does she get to play and laugh, stuff like that.  I really try not to think about it too much, because there's nothing I can do to change the situation right now.  Once we get our LOA, I have our forms ready to send to US Immigration, so that's my part in the situation ... being ready once we get the LOA.

In the meantime, it's pretty much the same old thing around here:

1.  We're enjoying our last 2 weeks of summer ... sleeping in and just being generally lazy.  Luke is very ready for Kindergarten to start!
2.  I (Sherry) have lost my college teaching job for this semester.  My classes didn't have the enrollment necessary to keep them.  So ... that's been frustrating, especially since we still need around $10,000 for our trip to China.  We're trusting God that this will all work out.  I am looking for other jobs that wouldn't require paying for daycare.  So we'll see if anything happens.
3.  When we're going - We're still hoping to go get Kenzi by the end of the year.  As long as we get our LOA by October 1st, we should be able to do that.  We have decided that we will both go and Aaron's mom will stay here with the kiddos.  It will be hard to leave them, especially if we end up being gone over Thanksgiving or Christmas.  But we know those are just dates on a calendar and we can celebrate another time.
4.  Kenzi's Middle Name - We're getting closer to making a decision.
5.  Packing List for China - We need to clear a space in our former guest room to start getting stuff together for the trip.  I've been buying little things here and there as they go on sale so we don't have a ton of stuff to get at the last minute.
6.  Jacinda is potty-trained!!!!!!!!  It took a loooooong time.  At the same time, I'm trying to wrap my brain around having a little one around again.  Luke and Jacinda can do a lot of things for themselves, including keeping themselves occupied for a few minutes so I can take a shower!  Life will change around here once Kenzi gets home!!!

Our Packing List

We're still waiting for our LOA.  Don't worry ... you'll know when we get it because you'll hear us all screaming and jumping for joy!!!!

Jacinda has been very sad lately because she says, "I miss my sister."  Breaks my heart every time.  I forget sometimes that this process is hard on the kids, too.

A friend who is also adopting from China asked for my packing list, so I thought I'd post it here.  Even though it will be a while before we go, I'm starting to buy things here and there so that we don't have to buy tons of stuff right at the end.  It looks like a lot, but it all works out somehow.

Here you go:

Luggage

Checked luggage: 2 large suitcases (1 for each of us)

Carry-Ons: Backpacks

Personal Items: Laptop Bag and Purse

Luggage must be under 44lbs/20 kg for in-China flights and 100ml liquids were allowed.

Toiletries

Q-tips

Individual Wet Ones/Wipes

Disposable Razor

Shaving cream

Travel shampoo

Travel conditioner

Face wash

Travel size dove soap

Baby shampoo/body wash

Oatmeal bath

Travel size tissue packs

Floss

Lotion

Hair ties

Hand sanitizer

Toothpaste

Hairbrush

Hairspray

Hairdryer

Flatiron

Contacts and solution

Extra Contacts

Glasses and case

Medical

(medicines were in plastic baggies with dosing instructions cut from box and in the bag)

Immodium

Cipro

Tums/Liquid Maalox

Ibuprofen

Afrin Nasal Spray

Benadryl

Tylenol

Infant tylenol (include dosing chart)

Infant Ibuprofen (include dosing chart)

Childrenʼs benadryl (1/2 tsp dose)

Sunscreen SPF50

Thermometer

Pedialyte powder - individual

Bandaids and Polysporin

Nail clippers

Safety Pins

Tweezers

Bug spray

Scissors

Office

Post-its

Pen

Paperclips

Power strip – not sure yet about this

Plug adaptors

Household supplies

Small dish soap

Laundry detergent

Extra plastic bags, sandwich size

Extra plastic bags, quart size

Extra plastic bags, gallon size

Small diaper trash bags

Reusable shopping bags for carrying stuff

Baby (18 months old, unrepaired CL/CP)

Diapers (30), purchase more in China

Swim diapers

Wipes (1 refill pack)

Travel changing pads

Sling – not sure which one yet

Take & toss bowls

Spoons

Bottle brush

Toothbrush

Bottles/sippy cups (2 plus cleft nipples) – not sure what we’re doing about bottles/sippy cups yet

Burp cloths

Bibs

Soft, comfy blanket

Toys

Small inflatable beach ball

Books – only 1 or 2

Socks

Sweaters

Light summer coat

Swimsuit

Long pants warmer outfits

PJʼs

Short-sleeve onsies

Long-sleeve onsies

Several headbands

Sherry

Swimsuit

Swim cap

Socks

Underwear

Lightweight pants (2) (wear one during travel)

Lightweight capris (2)

T-shirts (7) (wear one during travel)

Flip flops

Tennis shoes (wore them)

Aaron

Swimsuit

Swim cap

Socks

Underwear

Flip flops

Tennis shoes (wore them)

Jeans (1 pair) (wear during travel)

T-shirts (7) (wear one during travel)

Undershirts

Shorts

Snacks

Plastic bin for snacks (doubles as a place to wash bottles, cups, etc in hotel rooms)

Individual serving peanut butter (14)

Granola bars

Pop-tarts

Individual Coffee

Individual powdered creamers (took too many of these last time – coffee and cream are readily available at meals)

Individual sugar packets

Tea bags

Goldfish

Carry-Ons

Adoption Paperwork – Holt will tell us what we need

Translucent folder for paperwork – I think Holt gave us one last time

Thumb drive with scanned documents – also, upload documents somewhere online

PASSPORTS

Passport organizer

Extra passport photos (6 each total) – Holt will tell us how many we need

Extra copies of ALL documents (passports, visa page, driverʼs license, credit cards) - I

also left extra copies of ALL paperwork at home where our parents could easily access

if needed - I was convinced that if I had copies everywhere, nothing would go wrong!

Small notebook for taking notes

Printed travel itinerary

Travel insurance info

Information sheet of all hotels

Information sheet of Western doctors/insurance info AND consulate contacts

Contact sheet for US doctors and important ppl, including adoption agency

Sunglasses

Playing cards/card games

Cash

Credit cards/debit cards – let Discover and Chartway know we are traveling

Converter (no adapter needed for us - check the voltage on your electronics)

Travel tissue packs (2)

Toothbrush (2)

Travel toothpaste (2)

Individual wet naps (6)

Deodorant

Ibuprofen

Tylenol

Benadryl

Hand Sanitizer

Gum/Mints

Snacks

Laptop/charger

Ipods/charger

Contact case/lenses/solution

Glasses

Travel face wash

Travel moisturizer

Clothes & diapers to last baby a few days

Reading material for plane ride

Makeup

Iphone/charger

Camera/charger

Gifts

Holt will tell us what we need to bring