Our Journey to Finding Faith in China

2008-01-07T21:40:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WOW, the year 2007 ended with a bang! I can not wait to see what God has in store for our family in 2008. It is still hard to believe it is finally over and Faith is home. I think we finally got back to our regular schedule today. After traveling to China, Christmas, and everyone being sick we have been in disarray for about a month. Faith is slowing adjusting to her new world. She is now going to Daddy regularly and allows him to hold her. She is starting to play with our daughter, Miranda. However, I think it is going to take some time before she is ready to bond with Ethan. They have been competing for Mommy's attention from day one. She is still giving the cold shoulder (literally, she turns her back) to anyone but Mommy & Daddy. I will tolerate this for a bit longer but it is extrememly rude and will have to come to an end soon.

I am going to try to update our site at least once a month. Here are some pictures from Christmas.

2007-12-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

This is the new and improved "Ladybug Room". As I stated in my last post my wonderful friends from church give me a surprise baby shower. They set me up with a new crib & changing table which matches the white furniture already in the room. (They had heard me whinning about the light oak crib I had that did not match) They gave me bedding for both the twin bed and the crib and a cute ladybug lamp to match. They also showered me with other thoughtful gifts & lots of quilt squares. Words cannot express how much I appreciate their thoughtfulness. They were so attentive to my heart's desires. I love you guys!

2007-11-30T09:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a big day!!!! We received our Consulate Appointment for 12/17, this is the final step before returning home. We also received an update on Faith. They have pictures & medical reports they will send with her. She also received the package we sent. YEAH!!! We bought our plane tickets and expect our Passport/Visa delivered today.

The biggest surprise was last night my Ladies Small Group surprised me with a baby shower. I was overwhelmed with love! They basically gave me my dream room for Faith. I will post pictures later.

So, we will leave next Thursday 12/6, gotcha day 12/10, return home 12/19. We don't have our itinerary yet. We will have our final travel meeting on Monday.

2007-11-26T21:56:00.000-05:00

We received TA today!!! They are trying to get us a Consulate Appointment for December 17th. Tentative date for departure is next week December 6th. Which means we could have Faith in our arms on December 10th. I will update when we get more info.

Update on Faith

2007-11-16T19:06:00.001-05:00

We received an update from the orphanage today. The slide pictures above are from today's update. Faith weighs 20.7 pounds and is 30 inches tall. I don't know how accurate the weight is I can't believe she gained 4.5 pounds in 4 months. If you notice in the pictures she has on several layers of clothes. She has 6 teeth. We still do not know if her palate has been repaired. Our agency is going to ask again. God Is Good, she is growing and thriving and we are grateful.

Finding Ad

2007-11-14T00:55:00.001-05:00

Today we received the finding ad that was placed in the Jaingxi Business Newspaper. When a baby is found abandoned they place an ad in the local Province paper to try to locate the parents. While we were disappointed that the picture was not clear we are so fortunate to have this information regarding her finding spot.

Translation: Xing Fu Xiang, Female, She was born on March 20, 2006, On March 22, 2006 She was found under the Xingcun Stockade Village in the County. She has a round face, single eyelids, thick black hair, and has a cleft top palate and top lip.

We used Brian Stuy with Research-China.org to get our finding ad. We were very happy with his service here is the link to his site. Research-China.org

LOA HAS ARRIVED

2007-11-09T00:25:00.001-05:00

Today we received our Letter of Acceptance from China. One more step closer to going to get our little girl. The LOA will be mailed back to China tomorrow. The next step is to wait for TA(travel approval). The current waiting time is 2-4 weeks. Once we receive our TA we can go! We will start making travel plans while we wait for TA and make final plans once it arrives. Here are some pictures of us officially signing LOA saying, "Yes, we want Xing Fu Xiang to be our daughter".

2007-11-07T12:52:00.000-05:00

I don't have any update information, we continue to wait for our LOA. As time passes it looks less likely that we will be able to travel before Christmas. I have been doing a little research about Faith's province while we wait. Faith is from the Xingcun Village in Xinfeng County which is in GanZhou City in Jiangxi Province. I have yet to find any information about the location of her village. Xinfeng County is located in the southern part of Jiangxi Province where it borders with Guangdong Province. Xinfeng County is known for their naval oranges. Here is a website for Xinfeng Orange

Here are some pictures of her orphanage I found from my yahoo group.

2007-10-28T20:28:00.001-04:00

We have been so blessed by God with such wonderful friends. Below is a picture of the blanket and diaper bag a dear friend of mine embroidered. I'm sure the picture does not do it justice, it is absolutely gorgeous.

If you would like information on her business you can contact her by email, Embroidered Keepsakes by Shannon Dunn, sdunn14@hotmail.com.

Little More About Faith

2007-10-25T13:38:00.000-04:00

幸 Xing 褔 Fu 祥 Xiang
These are the Chinese characters which make up Faith's given Chinese name. They mean good fortune, promising success.

Faith's growth report at 16 months of age states that she can crawl fast, walk with two hands held, and hold her own bottle. She can also wave bye-bye and clap her hands. From reading her report and talking with some OT friends it sounds like Faith is at a 9-12 month old development range. Based on her measurements at 16 months she is the size of a 6-9 month old in the USA. Granted, Asian females tend to be smaller is statue then US females. Of course, the information we receive is not always accurate so she could be farther behind or more ahead than we think. There are so many unknowns it has been hard to prepare for her coming.

It looks like her daily routine is similar to ours so hopefully after adjusting to the time difference she will fit right in.

Stay tuned for more updates.

2007-10-24T20:50:00.000-04:00

We continue to wait for LOA. After we receive this approval all that is left is our travel approval. In the meantime, we have been working on Faith's ladybug room. Darren made ladybugs for her room. Here is a slideshow of what we have done so far.

THANK YOU

2007-10-16T19:31:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to write a note of thanks to everyone who has sent messages of prayer and good wishes. Our family has been blessed by each and every person who has sent us a message. We will continue to keep your families in our prayers as you continue on your journey. God is Good and Faithful.

2007-10-12T20:57:00.000-04:00

GOD is FAITHFUL even when we doubt

We mailed our dossier to China in February 2006. At that time, the estimated wait to be matched with a child was between six and nine months. One day in March 2006 I was standing in the kitchen, I think I was fixing lunch. I got cold chills and God said, “Your daughter was born today”. Well, I thought that was really cool and starting counting the days of how old she would be when we got our referral. As the wait got longer and longer I began to think that day in March was just wishful thinking. If she was born on that day she would be two or older before we finally got her and we had specifically requested a child younger than nine months of age. OK, skip forward to September 2007. We had decided several months ago that we felt God leading us to apply for a child with a special medical need. We had already applied for two children but were not matched with them. Of course we were very discouraged because we really felt we were following God’s lead. A new list of waiting children was released on September 11, 2007. I immediately scanned the list and found two children that fit into our age range and the type of medical need we were approved for. I printed their information out to review it with Darren but I still wasn’t content. I kept going back and looking at the picture of “Angela”. She was much older than what were had originally said we would adopt, but she kept tugging at my heart. I had to print her papers out. We did apply for three girls, including “Angela”. I couldn’t sleep at night without dreaming about her. Finally, on October 4, 2007 we got THE CALL from our adoption agency. We had been matched with “Angela”. I just fell to my knees and cried like a baby. At the time I did not make the connection back to that day in March 2006. A few days later we were on our way home from church and suddenly it all clicked. “Angela” was born on March 20, 2006. She was the little girl God told me was born in China that day in March 2006. WOW!!! I am humbled beyond words. We have given her the name Faith Xing Fu Xiang Maas.

2007-10-10T21:14:00.000-04:00

Today we turned in our LOI to the adoption agency and it will be mailed to the CCAA in China on Friday. Next, we wait for our LOA from China. OK, the LOI is the Letter of Intent to Adopt which is basically us asking the Chinese Government permission to adopt Faith. Then they in return will send us the LOA, Letter of Acceptance saying YES you may adopt Faith. So, how long does that take. On average it is taking from 30-90 days, however, it has taken anywhere from 15-140 days. Of course we are praying for sooner than later. After we receive the LOA we can start planning to travel while we wait for our TA, travel approval from China. Wouldn't it be great if we could get her home for Christmas??

Here are a few more swatches for Faith's quilt,
so keep them coming.

Of course Mommy and Granny cannot stop shopping
so here are the latest additions.

Please, Please fly home soon!!!!

About Faith Xing Fu Xiang

2007-10-04T20:59:00.000-04:00

As of July 9th 2007 her physical states that she has a cleft lip repaired and a cleft palate unrepaired. Faith was also diagnosed with rickets at this physical. She was 28 inches long and weighted 16 pounds. She is a tiny little girl.

The report describes her as stubborn, she will fit right in with the family. Here is a quote, "If adults pat her on purpose, she showed like being hurt or sad, even turn her head and ignore." It says she likes outdoors and playing with dolls. I think she and Miranda will have great fun playing dolls.

REFERRAL DAY

2007-10-04T20:41:00.000-04:00

On September 11th at 3:40 p.m. our agency posted a new Waiting Child list. Darren & I had already agreed to apply for all the children that had the SN were we approved for. There were three girls on the list that met our pre-approved SN. We did apply for all three girls but God placed one particular little girl on my heart, Xing Fu Xiang, an 18 month old girl with a CL/CP.

Guess What??? Today at 3:15 p.m. I received a call from Dana at AHH(our adoption agency). Dana said "Rebecca, this is Dana with AHH I called to say congratulations." That was all she had to say I broke down sobbing and could not stop. After I recovered she told me that Xing Fu Xiang had been referred to us.

I was expecting Darren home around 4:00 so I printed out a picture of Xing Fu Xiang and got the video camera ready. When Darren got home I had him and the kids sit down on the couch and told them that mommy had a surprise. I told them about the phone call I received and showed them the picture. Darren was speechless and after it soaked in Miranda starting jumping up and down. Needless to say I have been on the phone or sending emails since I found out. I have a feeling I will be up all night.

2007-09-25T20:45:00.000-04:00

We received our first swatch of material for Faith's Bai Jia Bei quilt. Thank you Aunt Maria! I am anxious to get started so get busy and send me those pieces. I have posted our ONE swatch of material and a picture of some things I have picked up for Faith. Granny bought the ladybug pillow, Thank you Granny. Her room is decorated in Ladybugs but I can't help and buy panda stuff too.

Well, Granny says Faith will be coming soon! She received a phone call the other day and the person was looking for someone named Faith. How crazy is that! Granny says that's a sign and she is coming. I hope she is right!

There are no updates on the adoption. We continue to pray for God's guidance as we consider applying for a Special Needs child.

I will keep you posted.

Panda with Cleft Lip

2007-09-13T23:45:00.000-04:00

I can't sleep and now I am watching Operation Smile on TV and can't stop crying. The picture to the left is a baby panda that was born with a cleft lip. Unfortunately the baby panda only lived a few days. But isn't he cute.

We recently decided to get satellite but have the family plan so we don't have many stations but we do get CCTV which is a Chinese/English TV station out of Beijing, China. I saw a documentary on this baby panda a few weeks ago.

There is not much happening on the adoption front. We continue to wait and rely on God's faithfulness.

Our Long Journey!!

2007-09-05T21:35:00.000-04:00

I thought I would write a little adoption background. We began the adoption process in November 2005. I was super fast getting the paperwork completed and had our dossier(paperwork) to China in early February. Yeah Me!!! Of course it did not help since referrals slowed down almost immediately after I filed our papers. When we began the process we were quoted 6-9 months after China received our papers we should get a referral. (Getting a referral means we get matched with a child and they send us pictures and a medical report.) While I’m not going to discuss all the rumors but for some reason the referrals slowed down. China makes all the rules and of course they do not share much information with us. As of Sept 7th we will have been waiting for 18 months for our Faith.

There have been some emotional moments along the way. Sometimes we questioned should we continue on this path???? But God always gave us a resounding YES! So, we have had to renew our paperwork, some expired at twelve months, fifteen months, and eighteen months. We have had to renew family education credits which expire every 12 months, including child/infant CPR. Our agency has also had some ups and downs along the way. We have gone through one social worker, two family advocates, a special needs coordinator, and a travel coordinator. There are currently no remaining members of the AHH staff, with which we had direct contact with, from when we started in 2005.

During this long process we have reconsidered the option of adopting a child with a special need. There are so many families waiting for healthy children we began to feel that maybe we should consider adopting a child with a special need. Many of the children which are considered special needs are easily treated in the USA and do not have any further complications. China sends certain agencies a Waiting Children list (our agency happens to be one of them)which list children who have special health needs. Our agency allows anyone to apply for a child and then they review the applications and place the child with the most qualified family. Darren & I reviewed the most recent list and applied for two different children but neither child was placed with our family. The Special Needs application process has been difficult and emotional. We continue to rely on God to help us make the right decision for our family. We are currently waiting for the next list of Waiting Children to be released. We are approved to apply for a child with a congenital heart disease or a cleft lip and/or palette. Again we will review the list and pray for God’s direction on whether to apply for another child.

While we continue to consider the option of adopting a Special Needs child we remain on the regular waiting list in China for a healthy child. At this time the current projection for a referral is probably next spring or summer. Of course there is a chance that China will continue to slow down the referral process or even speed up which would change our projected referral time. We will keep you posted on our progress.

100 Good Wishes Quilt

2007-09-02T14:42:00.000-04:00

Dear Family & Friends,
We are still on the path we began almost two years ago to adopt a daughter from China. Along the way there have been a few bumps and turns but we remain steadfast. During this process God has continued to refine us and prepare us for our daughter. Since beginning the adoption process it has been laid upon our hearts to consider adopting a Special Needs Child. Currently, we are approved to adopt a female with a congenital heart disease and/or a cleft lip and palette.
While we are waiting for the arrival of our daughter, Faith, we are working on a project that we REALLY need your help with. We are creating something called a "100 Good Wishes Quilt." There is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. When a child is born, friends and family are invited to contribute a scrap of old clothing along with a special wish which is to made into a quilt by the child's mother. It is said that the quilt contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.
Parents adopting from China have taken on this tradition by creating One Hundred Good Wishes quilts for their children. With each fabric piece that is given to the new parents, a wish for the child is also sent, written on paper so that the child will always know the wishes made just for them.
We are asking you to please participate in this project. We love the idea of welcoming Faith into our arms with a warm blanket filled with love from all our family and friends.
Here is what we would like you to do:
1. Choose ANY 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from clothing or from a fabric store. It just needs to be a design and color that you like.
2. Cut two (2) 7" squares from the fabric OR one (1) 7” by 14” piece of fabric.
3. Include your "good wish note" to be placed in a scrapbook that will be given to Faith someday. This can be written on a note card or index card.