Dear Family and Friends,

Dear Family & Friends,  

After 9 months of waiting, praying, longing, hoping— little Ella is on her way home! We are overjoyed at God’s grace, but we also realize this will be a season of adjustment for our family. We know that each of you reading this letter has– in some way– supported, loved and prayed for us. Because we know your care for Ella and our family, we want to share with you some information that we hope will best equip everyone around her to assist us in laying the strongest and healthiest foundation – emotionally, physically and spiritually.

In many ways, Ella  will be like the children who entered our family through birth; we will seek to bring all of them up in the instruction and discipline of the Lord. But there will be a few, initial differences in the way we have parented in the past. 
 

We are confident of this: God’s design is PERFECT! His plan for parents and children is a beautiful and meaningful picture of His love for us. Attachment between a parent and child occurs over time when a baby has a physical or emotional need and communicates that need. The primary caretaker (usually mommy) meets the need and soothes the child. This repeats between a parent and child over and over to create trust within the child for that parent; the baby is hungry, cries in distress, mom nurses & calms the baby – which teaches her that this person is safe and can be trusted. By God’s very design, an emotional foundation is laid in the tiniest of babies, which will affect their learning, conscience, growth and future relationships. The security provided by parents will, ultimately, give children a trust for and empathy towards others.

Children who come home through adoption have experienced interruptions in this typical attachment process. The loss of a biological mother and father at an early age can be a major trauma on their little hearts. Ella has experienced the loss of familiar and comforting caretakers as well as the sights, smells, and language of her birth country. When Ella comes home, she will be overwhelmed. Everything around her will be new and she will need to learn not just about her new environment, but also about love and family. She has not experienced God’s design for a family having lived in an orphanage setting. Her world is turned upside down. She may struggle with feeling safe and secure and she may lack the ability to trust that we will meet her needs. The good news is that we can now, as Ella's parents and forever family, rebuild attachment and help her heal from these emotional wounds.

 

The best way for us to form a parent/child bond is to be the ones to hold, snuggle, instruct, soothe and feed her. As this repeats between us, she will be able to learn that Mom and Dad are safe to trust and to love deeply. We are, essentially, recreating the newborn/parent connection. Once Ella starts to establish this important bond, she will then be able to branch out to other, healthy relationships. Ella will have, what may seem like, a lot of structure, boundaries and close proximity to us. Although it may appear that we are spoiling her at times, we have been advised that it is best that we meet every need quickly and consistently. She may show her grief and confusion in many ways, and we are prepared to help her through it and prove that we are a forever family. You may also notice us tighten our circle a bit, stay close to home, and we may seem a little less available socially, for a while. Please know that these decisions are prayerfully and thoughtfully made choices based on our personal research and instruction from trusted adoption mentors. We will be doing what we believe is best to help her heal from those interruptions in attachment as effectively as possible. 

Why are we telling you all of this? Because you will actually play an awesome and vital role in helping our Ella settle in, heal, and lay a foundation for the future. There are a few areas in which you can help us: 

The first is to set physical boundaries. We cannot WAIT to see some of you at the airport when we arrive home!! Keep in mind…It will help us immensely if adults limit what is typically considered normal, physical contact with Ella. This will (for a while) include things like holding, excessive hugging and kissing. Children from orphanage settings are prone to attach too easily to anyone and everyone – which hinders the important, primary relationship with parents. Waving, blowing kisses or high fives are perfectly appropriate and welcomed! Ella should know that the people with whom she interacts are our trusted family and friends. She is going to love each and every one of you!! 

 

Another area is redirecting Ella's desire to have his physical and emotional needs met by anyone (including strangers) to having us (Brad and I) meet those needs. Orphans often have so many caretakers that they, as a survival mechanism, become overly charming toward all adults. A child struggling to learn to attach may exhibit indiscriminate affection with people outside of their family unit. It may appear harmless and as if they are “very friendly” but this is actually something that isn’t good for the child. To share this is difficult for us because you have openly loved on our other children and we have loved on yours as well, and treasure that connection. Please understand that we want nothing more than to have Ella hugged, cuddled and cherished by ALL of you. But until she has a firm understanding of family and primary attachments, we would be so grateful if you direct her to us if you see that she is seeking out food, affection or comfort.

 

Also, please feel free to ask us any questions at any time. We are learning, too, and are grateful that you are seeking with us to help Ella feel loved, safe, and secure. We are incredibly blessed to have so many loved ones around us. We couldn’t ask for a better extended family & circle of friends for our precious Ella. Thank you so much for your love and support over the past year. We are truly blessed!!!

We look forward to seeing you all once we arrive home September 1st!!!

Blessings,

Tessa and Brad


And now a more satirical take on the matter...I borrowed this from a blog I love.

An Open Letter to Anyone We Might Encounter Post Adoption:
 

In less than a week, we will finally be traveling to China to pick up our child. Here are a few things I’d like our family and friends to know beforehand. (And YES, I’ll probably be seriously tempted to pass this letter out among complete strangers as well.) 

#1 We will be traveling from Huntsville to China, through the entire country of China, and then back to Huntsville. This will include several NIGHT and DAY time changes. We will be a #HotMess. Thank you for understanding! #WeNeedGrace #LotsOfIt

#2 Our new daughter will not feel lucky. In fact, for her, this will most closely resemble a kidnapping. We are ripping her away from everything and everyone she has ever known. This will be incredibly traumatic. It will be worth it.

#3 Trauma is expressed in different ways. My children may appear distant, hyper, angry, autistic, overly friendly or perhaps, perfectly fine. The child you see now, will not be the child you see in a few weeks, a few months, or a few years…

#4 She will grieve. My heart already aches for her and this part of the process.

#5 We will wonder “what were we thinking” at least once during our pick up trip. Our friends and family are all lined up for this.  “Adoption isn’t something you do alone.” -Joleigh Nicole #ittakesavillage

#6 We might not connect right away. #FakeItTilYaMakeIt

#7 Our first goal is attachment, not discipline. #Redirecting

#8 Hugs & Kisses: They may be legitimately terrified of you, please be respectful of their boundaries. 

#9 Establishing family is important: for the first few months we will be entering what is known to the adoptive world as cocooning. Basically, we will be limiting visitors and becoming temporary homebodies. #Weirdos

#10 Another big part of establishing family means that: we’d prefer (for a little while) that only Mama and Daddy meet their needs for: food, comfort, etc. 

#11 Our new daughter is biologically 4 years old.  However, she have grown up in an institution and will be “delayed.” This is normal; we are OK with it, and you can be too. 

#12 Speaking of delayed…we also plan on “regressing,” as much as she will allow. This will look really odd to the rest of the world; however, regressing allows children to experience all of the stages of development they missed. FYI: We may use a bottle, spoon feed, rock her to sleep, co-sleep, play with infant toys etc.

#13 Our main goal for the year is attaching, connecting and learning some English. I don’t know when she might catch up, and frankly, it doesn’t matter. She will get there, when she gets there. 

#14 With that in mind, our daughter may look different than yours for several years. Please remember, their journey is unique. (And thank you for being a part of it!)

“I always questioned if I was ready to adopt and then realized that no child was ready to be an orphan.” -Unknown

Signed,

   Mama Bear

Facebook Group

We have created a Facebook page to update with daily pictures, etc. during our trip. This is probably the easiest way for us to daily add pictures quickly. We will look into maybe starting a separate Instagram account for those not on Facebook.
Search for Bringing Hobbs Home- Our Adoption adventure to bringing Ella home! Or go to my profile and click the link to request to join. Thanks!

Romans 8:28

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

There have been many times I have clung to this verse in my life. We've grown through so many different circumstances that have crossed our paths and wouldn't trade some of our trials for anything. We know it develops perseverance, character, and hope. It builds our faith that might otherwise remain at a steady level. I've learned to be thankful no matter what our circumstances and be filled with JOY that comes from the Lord.

This week we have really felt a few attacks on our family. We feel strongly that spiritual warfare is taking place against our family as we fight to bring home an orphan and spread Gods love to another part of the world.
-Thursday morning we had a crazy flooding disaster in our home- 2nd floor toilet ran for a few hours- enough to damage our entire downstairs and move us to hotel-living for awhile. A total downstairs renovation from floor to ceiling- and partial upstairs renovation.
-Brad's precious grandfather passed away. This was expected- but still an emotional blow.
-Our AC unit went out and needed repair.

And the list continues. BUT we are feeling blessed and surrounded by Gods favor. It isn't our ideal timing, or plan, but God's got this and we trust in His timing, his pruning, and his ways all around. These are the positives that we are already experiencing despite these major setbacks-
-We have been able to share our story of adoption and our peace (which surpasses understanding) to so many we have come in contact with. Worker crews, contractors, store clerks, hotel workers, strangers at restaurants. The girls love to tell our story.
-We have been able to talk with our girls about the truths of spiritual warfare- and give them tangible examples that they can store in their little minds and hearts. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." The GOOD news is that God's already got this battle covered- we just have to tap into His resources and claim the victory!
- We get to design/remodel parts of our home that we will really enjoy in the long run!! Kitchen, floors, paint, carpet and bathrooms! More than we could ever imagined- but all improvements!
-The girls are getting GREAT practice at hotel life and living. We will be in China for 2 solid weeks doing hotels- so this week and a half before hand has been a good run through. We will possibly have to return to this same hotel once we are back from China. Regardless- our girls are being fabulous.
-No cooking or cleaning on my part for awhile.
-I have already had to pack and get organized for our trip. No procrastinating allowed when you don't have the luxury of putting it off at home.
-Brad and I have taken notice to the stress levels and possibility of really feeling division between the two of us- as we step into traveling, new parenting, and different family dynamics. Thankfully we both are feeling God give us grace for one another already and have been on the same page.
- and last but not least- we feel the power of friends and family who are loving, providing help, and praying for us. Please continue to lift us up as we prepare this week and as we travel in the weeks to come!

Travel Approval!!!

We received our official invitation to come to China on August 1st!! That was a super fast turn around for travel approval. We are so thankful that the 2 other families we have befriended got their TA the same day and we will be able to travel together. We secured our consulate appointment the following day- and will have an 8/30 consulate appointment in Guangzhou as our last stop before coming home. So our trip details and flights were booked on Wednesday- we used adoption airfare for our flights and a precious friend of a friend named Angela to do our Beijing travel and sight seeing. We leave Wednesday, August 17th and will hopefully be returning home on Thursday September 1st!! Home just in time to celebrate my birthday on the 3rd with some good old fashioned jet lag!! ❤️ 

The countdown begins...

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind! They have been filled with filling out forms, signing documents, applying for visas, obsessively checking for updates via email (by this I mean refreshing it at least 800 times a day), stalking China adoption facebook groups to see how others are progressing, calculating every different travel date scenario possible according to our latest approval, waiting, and lots of PRAYING!!! Here is our timeline for everything post home study/USCIS pre-approval for those who are curious about the process:

•DTC (documents to China)- 4/28

•LID (login date) & pre-approval- 5/9

•Received Ella's file- 5/12

•LOI (requesting Ella spefically)- 5/18

•LOA (approval from China)- 6/14

•I-800 approval from USCIS- 7/1

•National Visa Center cabled the petition for Ella's  visa to the US Embassy in China- 7/13

•Article 5 (paper work to finalize Ella's visa) this takes exactly 2 weeks and  will be overnighted to CCCWA in Beijing- 7/28

•TRAVEL APPROVAL-invitation from China to get our girl!! ???? Pray it comes 8/3 or 8/4 so we could possibly go ahead and get a consulate appointment scheduled in the books on 8/5....before the weekend! 

What does all of this mean? As of July 13th we have officially jumped through ALL of the hoops (China now knows us better than we know ourselves), and we are just WAITING for China to invite us on over to get Ella!!! This could take two days or it could take two weeks after our pick up date (7/28). Ideally we would love to get travel approval the first week of August. That would mean we could leave 8/17!! So if you see me obsessively checking my phone or if I forget to text or call you back…please have some grace!!! My mind is in CHINA.

As you can see from reading our timeline, this entire process has only taken us nine short months- from November to August! Although at times it has felt like an eternity- in the adoption world, this is extremely quick! Average adoption times are around 12 to 18 months. I believe God had Ella waiting for our family as soon as we yielded to His calling to adopt! 

These are such uncharted waters. It’s so difficult for me to put into words all that I’m feeling and thinking these days. I want to get our girl home as quickly as possible, but at the same time I am doing my best to be present with my girls and soak up time with them. I’m counting the days until we leave for China, but I’m nervous about being a mom of 4 girls! I’m so excited to meet her and hold her and love on her, yet I’m terrified all at the same time. Honestly, I think my adoption hormones and mood swings may be worse than pregnancy. But in spite of all of that, God continues to faithfully and gently remind me that this is HIS plan. He is entrusting Ella to us as our daughter. And HE will give us grace with each step we take. He reminded me again with an unexpected blessing and donation tonight!!  (Side note: God has now provided almost $20,000 from all of you who have been obedient to his call to give. This is HUGE.) I’m so thankful for this call to adopt. It’s been such a privilege and blessing to watch the Lord work. And I know it’s just the beginning. I can’t wait to watch him work once we get Ella home.

Please continue to pray for Ella's heart to be prepared for us and ours for her. Please also pray that we receive travel approval QUICKLY (by 8/4), and that we can find reasonable flights that will work well for our party of 6 traveling to China- and party of 7 coming back home. My mom will graciously be traveling with us to help with whatever we need. We are so thankful she is taking time off from work to hold our hands as we begin life with Ella. We are so grateful for all of your love and support, and hope to update you all with good news of definite travel plans SOON!!!

The last update and picture from the orphanage came last week. Her current measurements- 

33 inches tall, 30 lbs, her little feet- 5.5 inches (size 7)

We are coming soon Ella!!! Less than a month!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

This week

This week was fairly uneventful as we are waiting for our article 5 pick up. We did receive some more paperwork (surprise!), another few hours of training videos, and a post adoption phone conference with our agency. We also got our passports with Chinese Visas inside!! Yay!!! 

We hope that maybe we will have TA (travel approval) by August 2nd. We have gotten quotes from one travel agent who is with Adoption Airfare. We will likely check with a few more...but it's looking like we will hopefully be able to leave Wednesday, August 17th and have our Gotcha day on the following Monday, August 22nd!!🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💗💗💗 We are planning to fly into Beijing and see some sights for two days- then take the bullet train down south to Guangzhou where we will stay the remainder of the trip. Depending on when our consulate appointment takes place we could possibly come home on  Wednesday the 31st or September 1st!! Yay for a rough draft itinerary...we can't wait!! 

Amazon prime shopping is a dream!! We've started ordering things and preparing our stuff to pack in just a few short weeks. It's so exciting when a new package arrives on the doorstep. Even diapers! It's the little things like that which are making it feel the most real. 

LOTS of info being given to us through online meetings and videos. 

Spending our free time reading up on our new daughters heritage...even 2-3 grade reading levels offer us great info! 

We are so close!!!! Pray all goes smoothly in the planning process for our trip. 

GUZ # and secret codes!

Our next step in this crazy process was to email DAILY for about a week to find out our GUZ number and invoice ID in order to be able to fill out the next forms online. I had faithfully been emailing- but randomly decided late Thursday night to call and see what I could find out. Thankfully after 28 minutes of being on hold and conversing with a Uscis officer in New Hamphire...I got our numbers!!!! We have been assigned a GUZ (from the city in China where consulate is- Guangzhou) and our invoice ID!! Woohoo!!! Tiny milestones that make an adoptive mamas heart skip a beat!!! 

I quickly attempted to log onto the next form/application only to have my bubble burst when I couldn't access it at that time. Apparently this is very common- I learned this from watching others attempt and discuss on Facebook threads- so I knew it wasn't just me. I went to bed anxious to wake up early the next morning to try to log in.  And it worked!! Another high and exciting step on our journey. A great way to start off Ella's birthday weekend!!

So now things move fast- but slow. We are daily waiting for a response email with an attachment letter we have to obtain...in order to do what is called an article 5 drop off!😉 Which means nothing to most- but basically we literally have our documents dropped off in China and then picked up/approved 10 business days later. And of course it can only be on a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday to make the process trickier. But THEN travel approval can be issued- in a few days or up to a few weeks. But but that is when we will begin booking our tickets and trip details!! 

You probably don't care to follow as detailed as this- so I'll leave it short and simple that by the end of July we SHOULD have travel approval and be able to travel 2 weeks after that!! 💗

Ella's 4th Birthday!!

Our precious friends that have been supporting us along this adoption journey from the beginning have offered to throw a birthday party for our sweet girl on her actual birthday!!! My heart was and continues to be overwhelmed with their love and support!! We can't wait to celebrate with her one day- but with family and friends in spirit is the next best way! 

I 800

 The next order to be taken care of was our i800 forms that were sent to the USCIS. This process usually takes a few weeks to be assigned and officer and then a week or two more to be granted approval. This step was a huge worry for me because when we received our receipt I realized I had put the wrong birth year on Ella's paperwork. I had 2013 instead of 2012. I was terrified, sick to my stomach, and so disappointed in myself because we surely would be set back at least another week or two while things got straightened out-all the red tape in the process makes me sick. BUT God is on our side!!! Remarkably, we were granted approval and the mix up was quickly cleared up!! So our i800 approval was granted Friday, July 1st!!! And get this- we were given an officer who isn't known to be the quickest or most hospitable- and we were approved before anyone else we have been communicating with on our same timeline. I was truly blown away. I received this approval notice while I was in Rome at my parents- and I was shopping for the first time for Ella's new clothes. Such a sweet memory I'll hold forever. Giddy didn't describe me at that moment- I was floored! So thankful for a God bigger than government red tape and paperwork!! I'm positive He is determining our steps and our timeline and this once again reassured me of His faithfulness. 

The most exciting part of this process is that we are nearing the end of this process!! Only a few more steps until our travel approval will be granted and we can book our flights to China. Most of the steps we have to follow now are set in stone as far as how long the process takes...so we can pretty much put a finger on when we expect to travel and have our gotcha day!!! So exciting and so soon- like mid August soon!!! ❤️❤️ We are coming Ella!!!

**constantly studying and making notes of what the next steps are**

I also sent off all of our visa applications, passports, pictures, and return mailing items to Chicago. Our visas should be back in a few weeks. It was quite the process to apply and get all our ducks in a row for these visas. But check it off the list!! It's done!

Letter of Acceptance!!!

China said yes, and we did too!! We are coming for you Ella! We hope to travel mid-late August. We are over the moon excited. 

"Soft" LOA

As if adoption lingo needed one more crazy term...but we officially got our soft letter of approval to adopt our Ella!! It is coined "soft" because we can't move on to or next step without actually receiving this in our hands to sign- but it's en route!! We got an email from our agent Tuesday. Our i800 paperwork is waiting in the office to overnight once we get then"hard" physical copy of the LOA. This is BIG news because it typically means you will be traveling 8-10 weeks from the date you receive this letter. 

In the meantime- we are keeping busy with visits with friends, trips to the beach and nesting for a new member of our family. 

Busy days with precious friends.

Flowers from a friends garden...the purple flower is Ella.💗

Beach trip for daddys work and time with my parents. 

Random Panda pillow that reminds me of Ella. 

Where is Ella?

My mind and heart are in China. This post puts it into words beautifully. 

http://www.nohandsbutours.com/2015/11/09/my-mind-is-in-china/

Im case you've wondered what part of China our sweet girl is living in now- Ella is in the Guangdong Province in China in the city of Yangjiang. They speak Cantonese. 

Dream along with me!! I cannot wait to be on a plane going to get her!! 

TulaToddler Practice

All three girls...and all 50-60lbs of sweetness made me try this carrier on with them inside!! We can't wait until Ella is all snuggled up inside this carrier. She should fit MUCH better than any babies around here! 

The girls have also started carrying Ella's picture around town with them...even in the car as we drive down the road they let her "watch tv" with them. So sweet. Hurry home sister!! 

Somebody is already verrrrry loved!!

My sister sent Ella a sweet package this weekend!! It thrills my heart to think about introducing our fourth daughter to all of our family! 

We are stockpiling all your goodies in your room Ella for when you get here! 

OOT

Last Tuesday, May 31st we had a phone call interview with our lifeline agent to update or home study. Because Ella is turning 4 next month the age bracket in our home study had to be changed from 0-3 to 0-5. A simple form, phone interview and another check or two and it was done! Thankful it didn't take to much effort. 

The best news came at the very end of our conversation, we were told that our dossier had moved "out of translation" or OOT!! This was wonderful news- and it came quickly. The great news is that the next big step is Letter of Acceptance...and those usually come a week or so after a dossier is out of translation. 

So what this truly means though- is that once we have received that Letter of Acceptance- LOA- that usually means 8-10 weeks out until travel!!!! There are many steps in between, but that's huge!!! And that's August!!! ❤️❤️❤️

I have formed some Facebook friendships with 3 other lifeline agency families that have been amazing! We are all about on the same timeline and sharing our excitement and frustrations together is priceless. So thankful God has already started forming bonds with other adoptive mamas who can identify and hand hold through this new and exciting but intimidating experience of a lifetime. We may actually be traveling with some of these families so it is really neat to get acquainted. The Facebook pages that I am a part of have been invaluable tools as well- it's a place to toss out any and all questions about China, traveling, orphanages, etc. and link you to someone who has been there and done that. Such a blessing! 

We also received the girls passports in the mail last week!! It's getting real...and actually feels like it's getting close!!  

Until next post...which hopefully will be soon and titled LOA!...keep praying for us  and sweet Ella. We feel them and are so thankful for you  ❤️

Little Affirmations

Brad and I were talking a few nights ago about how we are so madly in love with our little girl all the way across the world! It's crazy that we had only seen 2 pictures and a short 1-minute long video of her. We think God heard our hearts desires without us even having to voice them- because the next day we received an email from our case worker with a new video of our sweet girl- not just a 1 minute clip- but double that- a 2 minute one! These things matter a lot to adoptive parents!! My heart about stopped beating while I literally pulled my car over and watched with anticipation...and fell more in love with our sweet Ella!! I quickly emailed the video to Brad and he did the very same thing. 

Little moments like this just feel like a confirmation or a little pat on the back for us as continue to push towards getting Ella home. We are thankful for these sweet moments that give us a glimpse into our sweet girl in China.

Care Package Sent!

One of the awesome things we get to do now that Ella is almost ours is send care packages! Our agency has someone in China who puts together care packages and gets them to your child. We immediately took the chance to bless our sweet girl and her nannies. We also got to include a picture book with our family photos...so she is seeing our faces for the first time and hopefully becoming familiar with us! Pray that she starts forming attachments to us even now.  We also have a birthday party cake, snacks, pictures/video planned to be delivered on her birthday in July. 

Here is a picture of what we sent her this go round- 

Introducing Ella....

Last Thursday, May 12, we were shocked when we received our first phone call and referral. As it turns out, God was more than ready to hurry up and introduce us to our 4th little love. We are so thankful for that and His timing- we thought we would be waiting for a very long time. We have a lot of amazing details of how God worked that entire day, through the weekend to lead us to accept this sweet girls file. That is a whole other post when I have more time to sit and write! We sent our Letter of Intent on Monday, May 23 and we received Prior Approval from China on Wednesday, May 18th! And just like that- she's ours!!

 But for now, without any further a do...meet our Ella.

She is 3 years old and all smiles!!! We are so completely in love with her. You can probably tell why by those beautiful eyes and precious smile. We are so thankful for her and we have only known about her for 1 week today! We have watched the same video we received in her file over a million times...soaking in each and every feature of our sweet girl- and she is absolutely more than we could have ever dreamed up! We are hoping optimistically for an August or September travel date.

Dear Ella Katherine,
From the moment we laid eyes on you we knew you were ours. So many beautiful instances of God drawing you to our family. You are absolutely gorgeous- we cannot wait to be the reason behind that big smile. You are in our every thought, almost every conversation, and all our dreams. Your sisters keep your picture by their beds at night and pray for you...they no longer call you "our China baby" but now "our Ella". God whispered that name to me as I lay awake last week pondering our life with you- and we think it suits you perfectly. We love you so much and cannot wait to get to China. We would be gone yesterday if we could. You are such a special part of our family- already apart of our hearts.

Love,
Mommy

Girls Passports ✔️

Done! Third time is a charm- and the paperwork for the girls' passports has been sent in! We waited a loooooonnng time to get this accomplished today- but we weren't leaving until it was done!! 

One more step to check off our list! Very exciting news and announcement coming soon...we had an amazing weekend this past week and we can't wait to share our announcement with the world soon. Stay tuned!! 

These goobers were nothing but silly and giddy telling everyone they came in contact with that they would be traveling to China to get their new sister soon. 

Matching Process and the long wait ahead

A little bit of information on how this whole matching process happens. Again- we are learning as we go! 

First eye opening fact: Majority of orphans in China will never have a file written up on them. Orphanages write up files on children at their convenience and in no particular order.

There are 2 ways or types of children to consider adopting from China (CCCWA):

1) LID- Logged In Dossier File -  Children whose files require that a family have their dossier completed and Logged In with CCCWA before they can be matched.  Usually these are very young children with more minor or correctable medical needs and girls up to age 9 with minor to moderate medical needs.  More girls are designated as “LID Files” than boys. *This is what we are doing.

2) Special Focus Files- are children that can be matched with families at any time during the adoption process, even before starting paperwork if their agency has determined they are eligible.  These children have more moderate to severe special needs and are usually older.

Agency Designated/Specific File – CCCWA allows agencies to hold Special Focus files for 90 days to advocate for those children.  In exchange for their efforts they are the only agency that can match those children during that time period.  LID Files can only be held for 3 weeks and only when an agency has a partnership with the child’s orphanage. Our agency has partnerships with 8+ Chinese orphanages and receives these LID files.

When we completed our paperwork we went through a list of 100 or more special needs and prayerfully considered what our family would be comfortable accepting. We could check yes, no, or willing to consider. We had a lot of willing to considers! So now our agency has families that are logged in and waiting for matches...and they go through their lists and match based off of what we have requested and what files they are presented with...in the order of when families got logged into the system.

Our agency will call us when they receive a file that they feel would be a successful match for us and make the referral via phone call. We will get to review a short snippet of the child- and either accept or decline. Once we accept we will get a more in depth file and then wait for our Letter of Acceptance or LOA from CCCWA stating that we can adopt the particular child we matched with. 

While the whole matching process is going on our dossier is being translated, reviewed, and then matched. We will receive notification of when our dossier makes it through each of those levels. Right now it is in translation.

Our agency says that a conservative wait time for our child is between 3-6 months. And so we wait. And we pray. And trust God's timing. Getting all of our ducks in a row is tedious and it often feels like we are controlling everything- but we know that God's got His hand on each and every portion of this adoption and we want to gain this blessing of a child no sooner or later than He has planned for us. 

I hope this helps explain what the matching process looks like a bit more!

Yard Sale

Our Yard Sale was a huge success! I am so overwhelmed and grateful for all of the friends and families that donated towards our sale, and ultimately had a hand in bringing our baby home! We collected things in our garage for months from anyone who had items they were getting rid of. The week before the sale I started organizing it, sorting it, attempting to price things. I also decided to jump the gun and try my hand at online/Facebook yard sale groups- and had a huge success! A lot of the larger items I posted and sold the week before the actual sale. It was a lot of running around and arranging meetings with buyers- but it brought in a lot more cash than I believe we could have made on the items on yard sale morning. 

On the night before the sale, Brad and I set up everything beforehand so we wouldn't have to wake up even earlier than our 5:15 alarm. I was so thankful we did this, and that it didn't rain! We live on a steep incline/mountain so we were not to worried about anyone taking items. My parents and great friend Jame came and we started preparing for shoppers. And they quickly arrived...6:20 we had our first customers....and the people continued to show up at a steady pace all through the morning until around noon! It was neat to talk with people who knew nothing about adoption, or those who had adopted themselves! We met a lot of neat people and enjoyed sharing our story with many. We couldn't have done it without our family and friends!! We were so thankful when the day was done, the leftover junk was loaded and donated, and we could sit down and rest our feet. The grand total for our yard sale was $1,800! I was very thankful and we felt overwhelmed by God's provision. Yard sales are a lot of work- but making close to $2000 for essentially a few days of hard work- was worth it!

LID!!!

We were officially logged in with the CCCWA May 9th! I got a call from my social worker that morning and we were able to talk through a little bit and celebrate together. I knew LID was soon after being DTC, but the excitement of seeing a Birmingham number show up on caller id was just what I needed to make my Monday perfect!

We received a long email from our social worker explaining the next steps...but mostly waiting is what we will be doing for the next period of the adoption. We are waiting to match with a child, and also waiting for China to send us the Letter of Acceptance once we have matched. Then-the next ball will start rolling.

Middle Georgia...Cakes for a Cause!

Our dear friend Mrs. Linda has so graciously agreed to continue blessing everyone this summer with her amazing cakes!!! Take a look and place an order today...holidays, special days....any day! 

Attachment and Bonding

It's exciting to think about starting life with our family of six when we arrive back home. But we have been told and hear story after story about how DIFFERENT parenting is for adoptive children. Old discipline styles, tips, and tricks are not usually what this new member of the family will need. When the first weeks, months, and years of a life are not nurtured... it is truly unreal how far the reprucussions follow. Learning about this before hand is a great idea- and highly encouraged- but of course each child and situation is very different. 

Here are some articles that address the attachment and bonding issues that may or may not become a reality for us when we return. 

http://www.bbinternationaladoption.com/sites/default/files/ckfinder/files/Top10thingsnottoexpectpostadoption.pdf

 

Cut and paste these links into your browser:

http://empoweredtoconnect.org/transition-and-attachment/

http://www.attachmentparenting.org/support/articles/adoption

Maybe this will interest you...if not...it's helpful for me to have to reference in the future!💗

DTC...Dossier to China!!!

The day I've anxiously been waiting for is here!!! Our paperwork and documents are now in China!! This is a huge milestone in this adoption journey. We are very close to being able to receive files for potential children and we will hopefully get to find out soon what precious child God has for our family!!!

My heart and mind have been flooded lately with just the desire to know this child that is all the way across the world waiting for us. I've had the most real, vivid dreams about being in Chinese orphanages going through files looking for "our daughter". The wait is hard now...and I can only imagine how much harder waiting is once you've laid eyes on this precious soul. It's so exciting getting to see Gods story and heart played out throughout this journey...and to see His hand leading, providing, and pointing us to our child. 

We are really enjoying life as a family of five and want to soak in the beautiful season of life we are in now before this life changing transition comes in.  Our daily conversations are quickly being filled with "our adopted baby" this, and "our China baby" will do that. It's beautiful to watch the girls fall in love with a sister they only have dreamed about. It's amazing to watch them learn about Gods love for EVERYone...whether our neighbor next door....or the orphaned baby across the world in China. We are already flooding prayers upward asking God to prepare our bio girls' hearts to the life transitions that we will encounter once baby is home. 

Adoption is a foreign realm to do so many. It was to me -and still is foreign until I actually cross over into each new phase of it! The post adoption life is just as foreign...and I could probably point you in a million different places where there are entire blogs related to life after adoption. And maybe I will share some things to read soon- but we are obviously hoping for the best, but also bracing for hard. We hope our friends and family join us in understanding this completely unpredictable and foreign endeavor with us as we keep going on this journey.  

So now what? 

Here is a brief look at what the next month(s) will entail...

The dossier goes through review stages-

•         Registered or LID (log in date)                                                 The dossier has been logged in- usually 3-4 weeks after DTC 
•         In Process of Translating                               The dossier is in translation. 
•         In Process of Review                                      The dossier has been translated and is in review. 
•         To Be Matched                                                 The dossier has been reviewed and will transfer to the matching department. 
•         Matched                                                              The family’s dossier has been matched with the child’s file and the Letter Seeking Confirmation will be issued next. 
•         Seeking Confirmation                                    The Letter Seeking Confirmation has been issued. 

Our agency will update me as we move through these stages... And I can't wait to update the blog with each new step as well! Until next time...

I800a Approval!!!

I don't usually rush to the mailbox. But in the back of my mind I knew we had to be close to receiving our approval letter. So today when I felt the nudge to walk down our driveway and check- I did. And I almost overlooked our letter from homeland security! This was the final piece of our dossier that we had been waiting on to be able to send our documents to China. And it is here!!! I quickly scanned it, sent it to my agency, and she started our authentication process on it today! We are so close. Woohoo!!!! 

Our Video Story

Most likely we have never had the chance to sit down and truly share our hearts with you on why we are in this wild and beautiful adoption process. We encourage you to take a minute and let's pretend we have invited you into our crazy life to sit down,  have a cup of coffee and hear our story.

Video by Chris Olson

Fingerprints- ✅

Brad and I woke up early and drove to Birmingham to get our biometric fingerprints done. It was a success! We hear that the wait for the i800a approval right now is rather lengthy. So now we just sit and wait for our approval to arrive in the mail, and then we will be DTC shortly! It was a nice early-morning date with my love. We had breakfast, and then headed back to Huntsville. We were back by 11 AM.... Just in time for a nap! 😂

Falling...

I'm totally falling in love...with China. And of course ultimately our new baby girl. But it's amazing how much my heart yearns to be there, to learn more, and to be ready to meet our precious child! Sometimes you just have to find things to keep your heart afloat during the wait...like these cute lotus flower earrings!   Probably not something I would have been draw to before our adoption- but now- each little piece of China I can get is special! 

Overwhelmed by generosity!

We are so honored to announce that our amazing "mamapreneur" Jennifer Gray Elwell from Tales of A Peanut and Minipeanuts has created some AMAZING items to sell for our adoption! She has created timeless prints, beautiful scripture prints, and my favorite- God Answers Prayer records to record special prayers on and possibly frame and gift to someone special . She also has so many amazing things in her store- so please go take a look and SHOP for a cause! She will write a blog feature on our family this Thursday...so check back on her site to read about it later this week.

For the month of March, 10% of all shop profits will go to our family- and 100% of profits of our adoption collection will benefit our fundraising! Click the link below to begin. Thanks so much friends and family for all your love and support so far! 

*If you are local- I have a few prints at home with me ready to hand deliver! So check with me before ordering- I may already have it and could save you shipping!

We are so thankful for Jennifers friendship and her support for us during our adoption. She is a blessing to our family and we are overwhelmed with her amazing talent and generosity.

Hobbs Adoption Collection 

Tales Of a Peanut 

MiniPeanuts