Three

Today marks three months since we have been waiting for our little one to show his/her face. The months are actually coming and going fairly quickly though. It's easy to say that now, we shall see how quickly they pass once we have been waiting 2-3+ years.

There hasn't been much movement with our agency lately. We haven't heard of any referrals since the middle of last year, and only a handful of waiting children have found their forever families. We have actually requested 9 files for waiting children. Eight of them they have either already been placed with another family by the time we inquired or their needs were more severe than we are willing to take on at this time. The last child we requested info on is actually being reviewed by the head office and we should hear by Monday the 22nd if we are the chosen family. This doesn't guarantee that she (yes, it's a girl) will be matched with us. Such a long and difficult process to get approval for a waiting child.

We actually sent in a request to change our home study about 3 weeks ago, and it was approved this week. We originally stated that we were open to a boy/girl up to the age of 18 months, and just recently changed it to boy/girl up to the age of 4 with the minor to moderate special needs. We were a bit nervous about making the change, but think it was a good decision for our family.

Can't wait to see what the next month(s) bring!

WE DID IT!!!!!!

Excited, nervous and very blessed are just a few of the emotions we went through this morning. Today was the day that we were to find out if we had met our goal and would be receiving the full amount for our adopiton grant. Around 1:00 we finally received word from their office that we had not only matched our goal but exceeded it. Through your gracious donations and the help of life song for orphans we were able to raise $10,106.64. Words can not even describe the feeling as we learned of this life changing news.

We were so nervous throughout this whole process. We really didn't know how our family and friends would react after receiving a letter from us and learning of our financial struggles trying to bring our next child home. God truly worked in each and everyone of your hearts and we are forever grateful to each of you for your donations.

Thank you to all that donated. We are truly blessed and because of you our child is one step closer to coming home to their forever family!

2635

We have just over a week until our grant deadline. So far, $2635 has been donated to our adoption. We are so close to reaching the $4000 mark...I get chills every time I think about it. We are truly blessed to have so many people willing to contribute to bringing our child home. Thank you all for your donations.

Bao Bei

I found this song posted on another families blog that is adopting from Taiwan. I think it is just beautiful. The artist that performs this piece, Zhang Zuan, is a Taiwanes/Indie singer-songwriter. Bao Bei means baby or little treasured one. Enjoy!

Two

Today marks two months since our dossier arrived in Taiwan. The only news that we have received lately is that they are now estimating a three year wait:( It makes us a little uneasy knowing that we could wait that long, but we are still plugging along. It is just so hard to think about. I mean, we just celebrated three years since getting the referral of our precious little girl. I couldn't imagine what the last three years would have been like if we had just gotten matched.

Even though it is a bit of discouraging news, we are still hopeful that our child is out there and waiting for us. We just pray that God with give us the strength to move forward during this process. We know that in His timing His child will come home to his/her family...and I can't wait for that day.

CEC Fundraiser

Unfortunately, our adoption fundraiser was a flop. We were hoping that the snow storm would hold off for a few hours or miss us completely. Instead, we got about 5-6 inches of snow and most of our friends and family had to cancel due to the weather. We decided to at least make an appearance just in case someone showed. We were there for about an hour and no one showed up so we decided to leave. With three businesses turning us down and then a no show, I think it is safe to say we are not the fundraising type. Maybe when the weather changes we can try to hold an event outdoors...they always seem to be better for us:)

Happy New Year!!!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! Praying 2010 brings you much joy and happiness and those precious little ones home.