A little bit more about Kai...

I know you all have probably been wondering about how things are going and wanting to know more in general!  We don't really know any more then we knew a month ago but I can elaborate a little.  Probably the most frequently asked question I've gotten is when are we going to China?  When do we bring Kai home?  Well we don't know for sure but our agency told us worst case scenario is 5-6 months after referral.  That would put us at the end of September or the end of October.  It seems really long but we are very content knowing that everything is in God's timing and there is no use fretting and carrying on if we cant change it.  Also we have a LOT to do before the China trip!  I have recently changed jobs and I have such a big transition to make with that.  Lots to learn and a major career change.  Also Reuben has been working diligently on Kai's room.  It is far from done but is looking better every day!  I've been having fun buying things we will need for our little guy and our house has been taken over by miscellaneous boys stuff!  ha  So I guess I said a little bit more about Kai.  Well as I said in an earlier post he was born on January 26th 2010.  He is roughly 27 lbs and 31 inches tall.  I have had a time trying to figure out what size he is going to be wearing so if any of you have little ones about that size any insight would be much appreciated!  Also in earlier posts I mentioned that we are adopting a special needs child.  We feel the need to say a little bit about Kai's medical needs just so every one will know what to expect.  Kai is a completely healthy normal little boy except for one minor detail.  His left leg is roughly two inches shorter than his right.  He will require two to three surgeries in the future to hopefully lengthen his leg.  That being said, Kai can run, jump, and go up and down steps.  He is said to be a good sleeper and not a picky eater.  He is cooperative with getting dressed,and knows what no means.  The information we got is just so very positive about him and what a lovely, happy child he is.  Going through this process we so had our hearts and minds set on a little girl much younger than Kai.  It's funny though when we saw that little face, a read about how lovely Kai is, all that flew straight, directly out the window!  A wise man once said that adoption is fairly near the very center of God's heart and I couldn't agree more!  After all isn't that the story of salvation?  All of us who follow Christ are adopted into the family of God!  It is such a peaceful feeling knowing that God is in control of us, and this situation and that no matter the ups and downs and jet lag and exhaustion that face us we are in the perfect will of God!  Whom or what shall we fear??  Got questions??  Ask away!  I will be updating as I have anything to say.

Big news...like, the biggest!

 I thought you'd all like to meet someone... someone very special...

 This is our little boy!  He was born January 26th 2010 in Ningbo City, China. 

we accepted his refferal this afternoon and are so excited!  And the info I know my family has been waitin on he most is his name;)  So here goes.. his name is Kai Jaxon Miller!  We know a little bit about Kai, his Chinese name is Hu Peng, he likes to watch tv, play with toys and is very active.  He is also potty trained for the most part and is described as adorable, smart, not a picky eater, sleeps well and has a ready smile.  They told us he likes to imitate and shake hands lol.  So there will be more info to come but we all wanted you to hear our good news!  Thanks for all your prayers and keep em coming!!

Progress!

I'm enjoying this thundery morning with two cuddly, somewhat scared dogs.  They are more than happy to spend sometime in Momma's bed because of course, nothing bad can happen to you there. ha  I should really be getting some spring cleaning done but hey, I've got all day.
   Well as most of you know we went on a vacation to Florida a couple weeks ago, what I haven't told you is that on the way down we had a conference call with the lady from our agency who does the matching of the babies to families!  I thought maybe I'd tell you a little bit about how this all works.  One day a month China puts waiting children on a website accessible to all licenced agencies(shared website).  China is about twelve hours opposite us time wise so this happens in the middle of the night.  The agencies are notified that this is going to be happening.  So our lady, Renee, is ready and waiting to "lock in" any child that she thinks would be a good fit for us or anyone else that is waiting.  If she choses a child that she thinks would be a good fit for us she notifies us and we have about two or three days to say yes, this is the child for us, or no,  this is not a good fit for us.  During that time we will not only have to be in prayer about whether or not this is our son or daughter, but we will be in contact with Akron Children's Hospital who will be reviewing all the medical and growth information etc on the refferal and letting us know just what we would be facing medically with this child.  If we chose not to accept the child for whatever reason that child will go back on the shared list to be available to other waiting families.  If we do accept the child we will let China know that we would like to adopt him/her and wait for them them to aprove us!  I know it's a little complicated.  So the good news is we sent our Dossier to our agency yesterday for the final looking over before they send it off to China for approval!  Hopefully everything will be in order and in two or three months we will be logged in with China!  Renee said that she is now officially aggressively looking for a child for us on the shared list so accepting a refferal could happen any time.  However the time between accepting a refferal and actually traveling to China is longer than we realized, five to six months!  Bummer but hey,  what can ya do??  So I am very pleased with the progress we have made lately and we are happily anticipating seeing our child's face for the first time!  I was also gonna say that if anyone has questions or anything please, ask away:)  I hope you all have a lovely day!

Something a Little Different

 
                 This entry is going to be vastly different from any of my other entries so far.  I also am choosing not put a link to this on Facebook.  I believe those that truly love and know us will check for new entries on their own.  This is fairly new for me to post something like this so I just don't know that I'm ready to advertise yet. ha  So God put something on my heart today and many days before this, but especially today.  Today God reminded me that as Christians we are to be DIFFERENT than non-believers.  If we aren't that different, or our only difference is how we spend our Sunday mornings, I believe we are DECEIVED!  The way to Heaven is narrow and few will enter! 
                         " Forgive me Lord for being sucked in to things the world says is ok or normal.  Help me not to judge others lifestyle choices without condoning them.  Help me to be a RADICAL Christian and not luke warm.  For no man can serve two masters.  Help me to be a light in this dark world and let my life never hinder another believer or justify a non-believer.  Help me to remember that I am but an ALIEN in this world and my true home is in Heaven with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. "  Amen
                            Today I was also reminded that we are truly in the middle of a mission field right here in Holmes county.  I ask that all of my fellow believers join me in praying for those among us who don't believe, or those who profess Christianity but whose lives don't reflect that.  May God have mercy on us all.

Just Us


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My youngest baby:)



Baby Steps

Greetings on this somewhat gloomy, but nice and warm February 1st!  Hard to believe its really February already.  Once again its been a while since my last entry.  I really just did'nt have anything to write and still don't have anything just overly exciting but we have made a few baby steps;)  Reuben and I got our date in the mail from homeland security to go to Cleveland and get fingerprinted at the Federal Building.  The date and time is given to you by them and is non-negotiable.  If you fail to show up your entire application is void and you have to re-apply. Well the date was on a Friday morning at 8am which just happened to be the morning of the worst snow storm of the season so far. So we left at 5:30 in the morning and inched our way up there me chugging coffee all the way.  We finally made it to downtown Cleveland in about zero visibility roads totally covered and discovered that apparently folks that live and work in Cleveland don't go to the bathroom!  Ha!  Not a public restroom to be had.  It's funny now but wasn't at all at the time.  So anyway we made it to the building and my lovely husband decided to try and take a pocket knife through security.  nice.  Needless to say he no longer is the owner of a pocket knife.  Other than that it was un-eventfull and we got home safely. 
          So yesterday we got a letter in the mail from homeland security saying our I-800 imigration form is approved! yay So next we work on getting all the seals from the County, state, and federal goverment as well as the Chinese consulat.  It is so complicated even I dont understand so I wont try to explain it but once that is done we should be ready to send our Dossier to China to be approved!  Once that is approved we will be"logged in" with China and our agency can officially start looking for a baby for us!!!  This sounds like a few short steps but really is months away.
             While we wait we are trying to fill our time doing things to prepare for bringing our little one home!  We got the baby's room ready to be re-modeled which Reuben will hopefully work on tonight:)  Also we are planning a trip to Florida the end of this month.  It's exciting to think that, Lord willing, this will be our last vacation as a family of two.
             I also wanted to add that Reuben and I have been dicovering just how many local people have added to their families through adoption!  We are excted to get to know some of these special people and their children.
                            I will keep you all posted if and when we make any more progress! 

Don't trust the post office

Well I'm sorry to say there has been another setback.  A few weeks ago we sent our final paperwork into the agency.  This was to be the last of our preliminary paperwork including those medical forms we did and re-did quite a few times as well as a LARGE personal check to the agency and who knows what all.  The next step after these papers was up to the agency and we had a hard time adjusting to this process finally being out of our hands and up to someone else to take it and run with it.  But oh what a RELIEF  to be just waiting and excitedly imagining how things are going!  Reuben mentioned a few times that the check he wrote still hadn't cleared and he wondered why.  We let it go for a while thinking that they must be sooo busy working on our stuff the just hadn't thought to cash it yet.  Last week Reuben finally got suspicious and e-mailed the agency.   To our horror they said the never received a thing!  Our precious packet of final paperwork is officially lost in the mail!  We are crushed to say the least.  It took me a while to even be able to write this blog post.  We have lost at least 4-5 weeks in our adoption process not to mention having to re-do some papers including the infamous medical forms!ahhhhh  Can this really be happening??  Don't worry we canceled that check.  So you may be asking yourself why we aren't trying to track that package.  Well unfortunately in his hurry to get that mailed Reuben said "priority"  instead of "certified" when he mailed it and the promptly lost the receipt he got.  Oh well we all make mistakes.  So back to the paperwork.  We just decided we need to just get over the shock and get back to it.  I really don't like seeming like a negative Nellie on this blog and it was never meant to be a place to vent or complain but at the same time I want it to be"real" and this process is not always happy happy happy so I hope you all will bear with me as I hope to have positive things to say soon!  Thank you all for your prayers for us through this crazy but worth it ride!