Six, five, four, three...

...and so it goes....

I have officially hit the time when I just have too many other things that are far more important than counting down the days. I love it and I will continue to do so, but my moments with my children are too precious right now. The moments I have when they are sleeping are used for packing and cleaning... so you are going to have to continue the countdown without me.

I will NOT be posting on this blog while in China. I will post to our Story of You online journal - linked at the right ----------------------------------------------->

We have a "guestbook" attached to our SOY site - please feel free to sign it :) And of COURSE - I would LOVE to hear from you while we are in China.

Wow.
I might post one more time on this right before I leave; I might not.
Lots of love and much anticipation of what GOD will do!

seven

It's my decision, and today I decided that I didn't need to have a "seven" picture!
:)



This is a picture of Amy (left) and a little friend of ours - Piper! This was taken at the zoo a few weeks ago.
I am a LITTLE smitten with Piper... She is just a little younger than Anna and just about the same size (we think).

Ahhhhh... the thought of two little sisters with silky black piggy tails...

A good friend emailed me this afternoon and said that we will have Anna a week from now and hopefully she will be sleeping!
LOL!!! (It was about 2 a.m. China time)

Pray for my other three kids (and me, too). The reality that Momma hen is leaving her "peeps" for two weeks is starting to set in and it isn't very fun. They are testing me big time and I am praying that I can rise to the challenge (i.e. keep firm boundaries, correct misbehavior and love them like CRAZY!).

We leave in less than FOUR days!!!

eight...

(borrowed from Austin's eighth birthday)



Wow. I continue to be amazed at how time is flying by!

The suitcases are packed (with the expection of my clothes) and the tickets are in hand. The visas are in our passports.
The hotel room is reserved. Arrangements are made for the other kids.

Five days until take-off...

Nine!?

Holy COW! We are in the single digits!
A week from now we will be flying... still :) and three weeks from now we will be home - as a family of six!
I am beginning to get butterflies...
I don't know if it's the thought of flying that many hours - again! or if it's the thought of leaving my other three kids for two weeks or it's excitement that Anna will be with her family so very soon.
Nothing fancy today...

9

TEN!!!

Ok - you KNOW I have been waiting to do this one...



She is SOOOOOOOO ready for "Baby Anna" to come home. This morning I was giving her a bath and she told me that she will clean Baby Anna and teach her how to wash her hair!

Love it!

And - my Ashleigh comes home from camp today :)

ELEVEN!!!

How is it possible?! Only

more days until Anna is in this momma's arms! It's insane how fast these "long two weeks" are going! We leave a week from tomorrow! WOW!!!

We are just chugging along here in Rooster and Hen's home. Ashleigh is still at camp (but she comes home tomorrow!!!) and Austin is going to basketball camp in the mornings. Amy and I are enjoying quiet mornings together - and THAT is a treasure that will soon be a memory.

Last night Jim was talking about the "Belt of Truth" from Ephesians 6 (The Armor of GOD). I have been writing "truth" verses on post it notes to take with me to China. My plan is to plaster them all over our hotel room to serve as a reminder of what is TRUE. When we were there getting Amy, I didn't draw on my knowledge of Truth and the Devil took full advantage of my weakness. It was a rough time.

This time I am gearing up for battle! If you have a favorite "truth" verse (one that reminds you of GOD's lovingkindness), would you mind either posting it in my "comment" section or sending it to me in an e-mail? And then, as you read our Story of You journal while we are in China, would you pray that GOD would use that verse to show me Truth?

twelve...

thirteen

GOD in the details... and - - - 14 days!!!

I love it when GOD allows us to see him in the details working out...



The last few days Austin has been putting Amy down for "happy nappy". He asked if he could and we didn't see a good reason to say "no". He reads her a story (has read her to sleep twice) and then tucks her in and prays for her (like Momma does).

How awesome is it that Amy is beginning to rely on Austin for that "happy nappy" routine?! She will then have that consistency while I am in China. Surely she will miss her Momma, but isn't it precious that she has her "big brother" watching out for her?

I am getting more and more excited about our upcoming adventure!

I have been thinking about a few things (pretty serious things) the last few days. I truly believe that somehow, I am supposed to relay those thoughts on this blog. I will soon; just trying to pull it all together.

In the meantime...

14 days!!!

fifteen

I LOVE to "count down"... I counted down to my 30th birthday during our wait for Amy (that is when our dossier could go to China)...

So - this time - I am counting down the days til we "get" Anna/our 13th wedding anniversary!

16 days and counting...

...until Anna is in her Momma's arms...

take two...

We got our consulate appointment set today!!! It isn't at all what we thought the timing for this trip would be, but the truth is, nothing on this journey to Anna has gone how we would have planned it. Hmmmm. Might mean that we aren't very good planners!

LOL!

Ok, so here are the details...
We (Chris, Amber and I) are leaving Wichita on Friday the 29th in the early afternoon. We will arrive in China in the wee hours of the morning on July 1. Wow. We will be united with our precious Anna Chenghao on Monday, July 2. That happens to be our thirteenth wedding anniversary! Anna's adoption day is the 4th of July. There is an irony to us celebrating Anna's adoption and Independence Day at the same time. Chris will leave Guangzhou on the 4th (late) and arrive back to Wichita on the 5th around 10 a.m. Our consulate appointment is July 12. We get Anna's passport and take her citizenship oath on the 13th. We leave Guangzhou that night and arrive in Los Angeles (where Anna will be welcomed as a new US Citizen) at 6:50 pm on Friday. We will travel to Chicago and then to Wichita overnight and into the morning - arriving in Wichita around 10 a.m.

Whew! I am tired already!

My two big kids are supposed to go to camp on Monday the 16th, but I am beginning to think that plans may change out of necessity. We will work on those details.

Two weeks from now will start our whirlwind adventure to China; a month from now it will all be over. That sure puts it all in perspective, doesn't it?

Travel dates, Gotcha and Consulate appointment...

GOD is certainly trying to teach me something about HIS plans and my plans...
Not my plan...
We leave two weeks from today - June 29. We will get Anna on July 2 (our 13 year anniversary). Our consulate appointment is July 12. We will get home on the 14th.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge HIM and He will direct your paths.

Travel Approval!!!

It came this morning! Now our agency is working on getting our Consulate Appointment (CA) for us. We are hoping for July 5 - but we just have to see if it is still available.

Mailed yesterday or today

Our TA was either mailed yesterday or will be today. It should be here by the end of the week. This opens up a lot of scenarios I had not yet considered (since that is nearly two weeks later than we originally hoped for). I am struggling with it quite a bit, as Ashleigh will leave for camp on Sunday and be gone until Friday evening. I sooo did not want to miss her in passing - the end result being that I will not see Ash for three weeks...
Pray for me today. I should be thrilled to know it is coming - and yet - my heart is breaking... I am trying really hard to trust GOD's plan, but that is a stuggle right now.

Nope...

...it didn't come today.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe not.
Who knows?
GOD.
I wish He'd let us in on His secret...

just wonderin'

...who looks at my blog?
I have one of those handy IP address thingy's on my blog. I have some friends that I know check it several times a day (you KNOW who you are bank lady...) and I have sisters in law that check it, and second cousins and high school buddies and some fellow adoptive families...
but there are some IP addresses that stump me. I have family in TX, but not from the towns that I have several hits from.
Anyone care to come out of lurking???
Post a message on my "comment section".
It's Friday... is today the day for TA?

Thursday...

We had a fabulous Thursday! The weather was beautiful and we headed outside to enjoy it.
(I can't say it was hot - even though it was 90 degrees... Guangzhou has like 120% humidity :) and 100+ degrees!)
We went to the park with cousins Grayson, Tate and Caitlyn (although I managed to NOT take any pics with the cousins!). My aunt was trying to guess which one of my kids was going to the ER first! They are all daredevils!



About an hour before I took this picture, Austin managed to shimmy up the pole, walk balance-beam style down the connector along the top and then climb over the fence alone a walkway!

Ya gotta love it when you are in the right place to take a really great picture! This is one of those pictures!

I can't help it - that face is too precious!

While Amy had her "Happy Nappy", I filled our little kiddie pool in the backyard. The kids woke up and played in the pool for TWO HOURS! It isn't our friends Joe and Amy's pool, but it worked today!

Hmmmmm. Ashleigh reminded me that there will be a day not too far from now that FOUR kids will be splashing around in this pool!
I can't wait!

Well, originally we anticipated travel approval the past Monday. Obviously it did not come. Our agency most recently predicted that it would come "late this week". Now - if ANYONE had a clue as to when TAs would appear, I promise they would be very rich! So, while we hope it comes tomorrow, I am not booking airfare just yet. I would still LOVE to leave next week (Friday the 15th), but that would require some serious GOD stuff. For now -

He's everything to me! He's more than a story - more than words on a page of history. He's the air that I breathe - the water I thirst for! He's the ground beneath my feet - He's everything to me!
(Avalon)

I couldn't have said it better myself...

My Monday

The phone rings. It's a telemarketer. The phone rings again. Chris. The phone rings. It's Gail. The phone rings. It's everyone EXCEPT our adoption agency calling to say that the TA is here.
There's a new message in my "inbox". It's spam. Another new message. Marc. Another new message. Kathy at Small World! BUT it's from our Yahoo group about a party. Another message. Small World Adoptions! Some other "all client" message.
So goes my day as I wait in expectation for the ellusive TA.

I did manage to focus (albeit not so well) on what I DO have a bit yesterday...

Aren't these these three kids some of the cutest kids you have ever seen?! I know I am partial, but they are! Yesterday was such an awesome day as I watched my kids TOGETHER. Ash and Austin played together more than they fought yesterday (Praise GOD!) and Amy discovered Barbies! She played for over an hour with them as I folded laundry. (Yes - that means that there were several baskets sitting around our room...) I watched Ash bestow upon Amy her entire Barbie collection. A priceless moment (considering that I have given Amy most of Ashleigh's old toys - against her will).

Austin had his first baseball game last night. A beautiful night to be outside. (Notice his quite bald head???) Amy played most of the game with a little friend from church (Luke). That's about all she could talk about after the game last night! He is an ADORABLE little man with a Momma and Daddy that are raising him right!

Well, I will call that good for now. I hope that I am able to post some TA news very soon...