Our Precious Makalynne

Sunday, May 29, 2011

We are home

Unfortunately, I was unable to update our blog from China as they don't allow access. Over the next few days I will be updating with details and photos of our trip. Makalynne is doing very well and we are so fulfilled with the addition of her to our family!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Time Ticks On

Well. Last week was definitely wild. After we got our travel approval on Monday, everything took an odd and scary turn on Wednesday. The agency called and said our travel was on hold because of a problem with the spelling of our daughters Chinese name! What? Ugh!!! We just couldn't take it! They told us they didn't know when we would be able to travel nor how much paperwork would be required to be redone. The issue was that she has a compound last name but there is no Chinese character to symbolize such. Therefore, no one knew it until they were verifying our consulate appointment. THEN... It comes out!!! Why now??? We were so distraught. We just knew we could not handle having to redo all of that paperwork... So, we called in all of our prayer warriors and they each called in theirs. We had people all over the U.S praying for us! Well, God heard and He answered!!! At 10:00 that night we were called by Jenny at GWCA and she said all was squared up and we were set to leave as scheduled! Whew, what a relief. We are so thankful to God for intervening in this for us! He knew we were just to weak to go on:) So, here we are.... We are leaving for China on May 11th! Just one week away!!! And the best part is that we will be traveling with our new friends the Jenkins!!! Again, just one of Gods mighty blessings... We are so blessed to have friends to share in this journey together! I know we will be friends for a lifetime and our daughters will have each other to support and love for equally as long! Again, what a mighty blessing! Glory be to God for all of His miraculous ways:-)
For the next few days I'll be running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to finish getting ready! Lots to do and time just keeps ticking away.... We are almost there. Yippee!!!!!

Monday, April 25, 2011

TRAVEL APPROVAL IS IN!!!

Woo hoo! We got travel approval at 10am today!!! We are so excited. We were so surprised though because our agency told us there would be no way to get it any sooner than this coming Thursday as families have never received TA before two weeks. We only waited one week!!! That's what I'm talking about... Why couldn't everything have gone this well?? It doesn't matter because we will soon be on our way:) We have been given a tentative date of May 12th for departure.... We have to wait for the consulate to verify our appointments and then we will have a definite date for departure. I can't believe that three weeks from today my daughter will be in my arms!!!! We can't wait:))

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

1 week down

Well, we are one week into the wait for the travel approval!!! We are praying everyday for it to come on in.... We really aren't expecting it though until week after next at the very earliest. But hey, we will take it just as soon as they'll send it:) I've started our packing and we are just about ready. We just need to pick up one more list of stuff and we will be set! Hooray!!! When they call with that TA we will be ready to board that plane:) Everything is really starting to feel real, although another 5-8 weeks away does seem so far in the distance. We know that it will fly by though.... I'll post with any news of course!!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Article 5!!!

Hooray! We got news today that our article 5 had been picked up and would be delivered to the CCAA by Thursday, April 14th. The article 5 lets the CCAA know that Makalynne has been approved for a Visa to get back into the US as a citizen. Now..... We are finally on our last step!!! We can hardly believe that we are at this step in the adoption process. Now, we just have to wait 2-9 weeks to get our formal travel invitation from China to come get our little angel:) What???? We really cannot believe this!!! While they say it can take up to 9 weeks, the average is 3-4 weeks so please pray that it comes sooner rather than later.... Jenny, our travel advisor is really expecting to see our travel approval come through by the first week of May. PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS:-)
We also think this is pretty cool how things are working out. This week we have really been trying to re-evaluate things since we are going to be traveling after the kids get out of school for summer. After careful consideration and weighing all pro's and con's, we have decided to take them with us on this journey. We really feel that they need to be a part of this process from the very first day. Makalynne will probably adjust better too. We are so very excited about our forever family day! We will keep you posted.

Monday, April 4, 2011

We got another update:)

Last Monday, I requested our agencies waiting child specialist, Cori, to get an updated picture and measurements for us. Well today.... Here they are! That was the fastest update ever... I wasn't expecting it until next week. But I was so grateful to have it arrive early! If we could just continue to get things early, I would be one happy momma!!! However, I'm unsure if our article 5 will be able to be picked up this week as apparently the Chinese are off for Tomb sweeping Holiday and are closed through Wednesday of this week. Oh well, we are still going to stay positive and hope for the best:) We were so excited to see our little princess in the photos today. She looks absolutely beautiful and she even looks happier in these photos. (Or maybe that's just her momma thinking she looks happier because I'm so happy to see new pictures of her, lol). Please continue to pray for our family as we hold on for this last couple of steps. Looking at other families travel approval dates and actual travel times, we are anticipating travel by the first of June. However, we are really still praying for the first of May... Makalynne truly looks well and we couldn't be happier!!! We also sent her a care package along with a photo of our family and a letter written to the nannies of her orphanage. It won't be long but we really need prayer to get us through this last stretch of time. Hold on Makalynne!!! We love you so much and we will be on our way soon:)

Friday, April 1, 2011

A little Early:-)

Well, we were hoping that our packet would be dropped off at the consulate for article 5 processing on Monday 3/28/11 or yesterday 3/31/11 at the latest... Well, I emailed Jenny Monday to see if it had been dropped off that day. She emailed me back Tuesday and informed me that it had actually been dropped off the Friday before 3/35/11.... What?!!! I was so excited. Finally, something working in descent time:) So we are just waiting to see when it gets picked up. As of right now, we are scheduled to have the article 5 picked up next Friday, April 8th!!! Then........ alll we wait for is travel approval from the CCAA so we can get our consulate appointment set up and get on that plane!!! Hold on baby girl, we are almost there:)) Keep praying!!! PLEASE!!!!!