DTC!

In the lingo of the adoption chat groups I read, DTC means Dossier to China! So, we are now officially DTC! Our agency mailed our dossier to China on Friday. Within the next one to six weeks, CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) will log us into their system, and we'll be "in line." If we weren't using the Waiting Child (special needs)program, we'd then receive a referral in 2-3 years! But with the Waiting Child program, it is much faster. We're hoping the phone call about our child will be coming soon. It could actually be any day, but it could also be months. So, we'll just keep taking it one day at a time. . .

Dossier in Progress

Our dossier is now in the hands of our agency, Living Hope. I mailed it January 28th, and they received it the next day. What's a dossier, you may ask? Well, it's a compilation of every possible thing you might ever want to know about someone, and plenty of things you couldn't care less about. Here's the list of what it included:

birth certificate for each parent (remember, we had to get newly certified ones as if the information might have changed)

employment letter for each parent (even for me, who's not employed)

marriage license (yes, newly certified again)

divorce/death decrees (we got to skip that one)

medical exam form for each parent

certificate of criminal or non-criminal record (thankfully, we both received the "non-criminal" version of this)

adoption application letter ("Dear China, We want to adopt one of your children, and here's why . . . ")

financial statement (which will be in much better shape if our house ever sells!)

completed home study (the requirements just for that would include a list longer than this one!)

USCIS notice of favorable determination (the form from immigration that I rejoiced over in my last adoption post)

three copies of each applicant's passport (why?)

two passport photos of each applicant (ok)

six photos reflecting family life (no, i did not send in the ones of the boys and the dog wrestling each other while the room around them is in utter chaos)

and, of course, a certified check (no, not a small one and not the last one)

So, after reading all that you can probably imagine my glee at having it all finished! Today we got an email from our agency saying, "Your Dossier is in the State Seal and Chinese Authentication process. We will let you know when we send it to China!" Yay!

No leads on specific children yet, but we could potentially get a call from our agency at any time; or we might find a child on their internet list when they receive the new one from China sometime this month.

So, it's an exciting time! But, for those of you who know me, you'll know that this whole process goes against my planned, scheduled, organized personality. I mean, we could go to China is less than 6 months, and we don't even have the date on our calendar yet! How can I even function?!!

=)

We had a family Valentine's Day celebration Friday night. We've never made a big deal about it before, but for some reason Ethan was very excited this year and kept asking "When's Valentine's Day?!!!" He even picked out a box of chocolates for me! We had a special fancy dinner, complete with candlelight. (It was actually dark outside, but the flash made the picture look like day time.) Then we gave the boys their candy and a new book about love (which we give them every year). Later, Heath and I watched Fireproof--very good movie for Valentine's Day. Then, this evening, Heath and I went out to dinner at Red Lobster. Fortunately, we got there before the rush and only had a 90-minute wait . .. but it was worth the wait for the delicious food! And tonight I got an e-card from a friend (thanks, Rachael) reminding us to think about God's great example of love for us . . . without which there'd be no reason to celebrate. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Family Outing

No, we didn't go to China today, but we did go to Lake Forest mall to celebrate "The Year of the Ox", aka Chinese New Year. We watched a Lion Dance, martial arts demonstrations, and some cute kids singing Chinese songs. We browsed some artwork and photos of China and enjoyed a yummy Chinese lunch. I guess you could call it getting ready for our real trip to China! (YAY!) =)

More good news!!!

I didn’t ever imagine it happening like this. I pray for my children's salvation, and I guess I had this idea that he'd gradually show interest, and then one night when Heath or I was tucking him into bed, we'd have a big talk about Jesus, and pray together. Well, I guess that wasn't God's plan . . .

The other day at breakfast, we were reading the boys’ Bible study lesson about John the Baptist, about how the people were being baptized because they were sorry for all the wrong things they had done and wanted to do right. The end of the story said that we also need to ask God to forgive us for our sins. Just then Ethan piped up and said, “I already asked God into my heart.” I was a little shocked! I asked him when he did that, and he said, “I think it was last Tuesday.”

Later that afternoon, while Jesse was sleeping, Ethan and I got to talk about it, and, lo and behold, he really does get it! He believes that Jesus died for us so that God could forgive us, and he said he loves Jesus and wants to obey Him.

I know this is only the beginning, and there's still so much he needs to learn, and so much growth ahead. But it's so exciting that God has already drawn Ethan's heart to Himself, in childlike faith. Despite the fact that it didn’t come about the way I’d always envisioned, I know this is the beginning of Ethan’s eternal life and his relationship with Christ. Hallelujah! God is awesome!

We got it!!

Today, on my way to run a couple errands, I stopped at the end of the driveway to get the mail. I was excited because I noticed a chunky envelope containing a kitchen cabinet catalog I'd been waiting for (for ideas for our new house). But I quickly tossed that aside as my eye fell on an envelope from US Dept of Homeland Security! I knew it was about our I-800A (application to adopt a foreign child). I figured that it was a request for more documents, because we still had another month before it was supposed to be ready. But I eagerly opened it, and literally started screaming for joy when I read: "The above application has been approved. . . You have been approved to adopt one child from the following Convention country: The People's Republic of China." I've never been so excited over a piece of mail!!

So, now we need to gather up our huge stack of documents and get all this to the agency ASAP. They'll translate, notarize, finalize, and send our dossier to China! That means we will soon be able to request a specific waiting child. Please pray for God's leading. This is a huge decision, and at times I feel scared to death to have to decide something this important. I think it'd be easier if we had no choice! We need God's guidance as far as medical conditions to accept or decline, and really just want Him to very obviously direct us to the specific child He has for us. We also still need a lot more money, but that seems really minor compared to this decision. After all, money's just money . . . choosing a child will radically change a little person's future.

We are so excited. Thanks for your continued prayer support.

Our first "tooth-fairy" visit

I thought kids didn't lose their teeth until they were 6! But obviously, I was wrong. Ethan's had a loose tooth since right around Thanksgiving, and he finally lost it on Thursday (1/22). It'd been bothering him for awhile, and Heath kept offering to pull it out. But Ethan wouldn't let him. I, of course, wanted nothing to do with it. Even though I successfully lost all my own baby teeth, and survived natural childbirth twice, the thought of pulling out my child's tooth makes me quite squeamish. Thursday morning, Ethan came into our room saying his tooth was really bothering him today. I looked at it, and it was sticking out straight forward, barely attached. I suggested he let Daddy pull it out, and he did! He's been quite excited to have lost his first tooth, and the one next to it is already a little loose too!