3 months home

It is late - too late to be trying to update our blog but it seems like there is very little time these days. My (momma's) days are so full keeping up with the three girls that there seems to be very little time for anything else - but I wouldn't choose it any other way :)

How are we doing??? Good, I think, all things considered. We have our good days and our rough days but each day things seem to get a little easier and the challenges less. I don't really know where to start - so much has happened, so much that I would love to share. Adoption is an incredible thing, a wild ride at times. In some ways it feels like it has been so much longer than 3 months since I brought EB home and at other times I feel like I am still getting to know my daughter. I have been going through EB's pictures from her first 2.5yrs and have found myself wishing that I had asked more questions when I was in HK, things that I think EB will ask at some point: like when she first started walking, and talking, and how old she was when she got her first tooth. I am forever grateful to her foster family for all they did for her - they changed her life!

EB is sleeping wonderfully now - typically 11hrs at night and 1-2hrs during her afternoon nap. She is still a great eater going after pretty much anything, although she LOVES her steamed rice :) She is talking so much now (not very clearly but A LOT) - mainly in english but still a few cantonese words here and there (po, chor, wan, sik sai). She has learned/is learning to use the potty :) :) very happy about that :) Elmo's Potty Time Video is one of her favorites... Books, blocks, lego's, coloring, singing (her favorite song is My Jesus, My Savior/Shout to the Lord), playdoh, Mr Potato head are just a few of her favorite things. She still sticks really close to mommy at home, and LOVES the long cuddle time before nap & night time. We've taken her to the zoo twice now and although she loves the elephants and giraffes, the monkeys swinging in the trees are by far her favorite animal! We are still working on boundaries and obeying Mom & Dad - no does mean no :) but we're getting there. The main challenge with EB is that she will still initiate conversation with anyone (cashier at any store, customer anywhere) and then try to hug/touch them. She has stopped telling them that she loves them (in Cantonese) which is good! but we are still working hard on her learning that we are her family and we are different from other people... our relationship is different... you don't reach for comfort from strangers... So would appreciate your prayers for that- for her continued attachment and bonding to us and strength for me b/c it is an issue every time we go out! and for wisdom to know how to best deal with it.

CC: She is doing so well! It was definitely hardest on her when EB came home. Her curly blond hair (which I'm sure EB had never seen before) was an instant magnet for EB (she just kept touching it over & over) which drove CC nuts! Right now CC loves her little sister who follows her around and copies everything she does (and I mean EVERYTHING!). She has also seemed to settle into her role of being a big sister too- wanting to help EB buckle her seat belt on her chair etc. CC has loved going to school (3 mornings a week) and is just doing really well overall.

AG: Is also doing great. She and CC are both at school 3 mornings a week - Daddy takes them on his way to work and they love that time with him in the car. AG is so excited for her upcoming birthday - I can't believe my first baby is going to be 5 already!!!!

Hubby & I: Are good... tired but good :) We have so much to be grateful for! We have gone out on a couple of dates recently, leaving the girls with our fantastic sitter after I've put EB to bed (so she has no idea we've left her!), which has been so good for us! EB started speech therapy a few weeks ago and this week I will actually be leaving her with the therapist for her sessions and I will have 45 minutes on my own! 2x a week! There is a barnes and noble about 2 blocks away so I can't wait to go and browse and have a little time to myself!

And now... a few pics ;-)

With their pumpkins and designs that they chose :)

Blueberry Tongues :P

At the zoo

Our journey

Dear friends & family,
This is loooong overdue but we wanted to let you all know that we are in the process of adopting from Hong Kong. We have already completed our home study & dossier and are waiting for final matching approval from the Hong Kong Adoption Unit. We can’t wait to bring our daughter home!

Backing up a little bit:
Before hubby & I were married we talked about our desires to expand our family through adoption and now here we are. On September 4th 2008 we attended an informational meeting about adoption and started the paperwork process. Up until this point we were unsure about whether we wanted to pursue a domestic or international adoption but after the meeting felt like God was directing us to Asia. On September 17th we went to our agency’s local office, to meet with the director of Int’l Adoptions. While we were there she showed us a long list of children who were currently available for adoption, some of them are kids that hubby & I had taken care of when we lived in Hong Kong. We printed out the profiles of a few of these precious children and took them home to pray about them. At home, there was one little girl whom we both fell in love with and felt was to be part of our family. We prayed a lot, requested more information about this little girl, met with doctors from our local Children’s Hospital International Adoption Clinic and on September 30th told the adoption agency that we wanted to pursue adopting EB. They put her ‘on hold’ for us, meaning she was no longer available for other couples to pursue, while we began all the paperwork...  and I do mean ALL the paperwork  :-)

What’s next:
All of our paperwork (dossier) is in Hong Kong being reviewed by the Adoption Unit of the Social Welfare Department. They had some additional questions for us which we just answered this week… So we are ‘patiently’ waiting to get the official matching approval (which means that we are approved/matched by HK AU to adopt EB). After that happens it usually takes about 3 months before we would go to Hong Kong to pick up EB. At this point we are planning on both hubby & I going, so will leave AG & CC here while we travel. We are concurrently going through the application process with the US Citizenship & Immigrations Services. We have an appointment with them on Feb 20t.

Your part in our journey:
1) We would really appreciate your prayers:
• For favor with AU as they review our paperwork.
• For approval of our USCIS application.
• For everything to be done in a timely manner.
• For God to be preparing all of us for the transitions ahead.

2) We would love to hear from you:
• Advice from those who have done this before – things we should or should not do :-)
• Encouragement/prayers etc

Thanks so much! We will do our best to keep you updated as things progress.

Much love from all,