Long overdue adoption update

Where to start....my last post was full of whining about my LOA so I will start there. We got our LOA (letter of acceptance) from China on 8/7. This is the paper stating that we have China's final approval to adopt Max. Our LOA wait was 65 days this time, much better than the 96 days we waited for Cora's. When we got the call from our agency on 8/7, we had just gotten back from my Grandmother's funeral....such a bittersweet day. My Grandmother was an amazing woman. She was really excited about Max joining our family. I really wish that she could have met him, but that was not meant to be.

Here is a photo of us with the Fed Ex guy that delivered our LOA to us....I am sure he thought I was a little crazy, but he was super nice and humored me, and he was willing to join in on the picture taking. (Can you tell I was excited to finally have that LOA in hand?!?!)

The next step was to fill out our I800 application and send to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). The I800 is basically our government's approval of the adoption. It is them saying that "Yes, these people are qualified to parent Max specifically." Our I800 was approved on 8/20. From there our paperwork had to go to the National Visa Center. We had to fill out yet another form, wait for it to be processed and then after we received all the receipts and numbers from that, our paperwork got dropped off at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China. The Consulate will take 10 business days to issue an Article 5 letter that states we have our final approval to adopt and that he will qualify for a Visa. We had a few holidays that affected our Article 5 time line so our Article 5 will finally be ready on Thursday, 9/18. The Article 5 will be sent to the China adoption officials who will issue us our travel approval. The average travel approval wait has been taking about 8 days. So since China is 12 hours ahead of us....as I am writing this it is already Wednesday 9/17 in China so our Article 5 will be picked up in just one more day!

That was a really long explanation....if your eyes glazed over reading that (and I am sure that they did)....this is all you need to know: WE ARE ABOUT 1-2 WEEKS AWAY FROM BOOKING OUR TRIP TO CHINA!

So here's the nitty gritty and where we would love some prayers. Let me explain....our agency has only 1 scheduled travel group per month that we can go with. They will not let us travel outside of the scheduled groups. The group dates that we would fit into are either 10-10 or 10-31. I have been hoping and praying all along to make it in the October 10 group. That way he will be home before his 2nd birthday which is on 11/6. (Also Cora's birthday is on 11-1, so if we go with the October 31 group...we will not be home to celebrate her birthday with her. I already missed her 1st birthday while we waited to bring her home...I don't want to miss another one.) It will still take a small miracle to get the final approval in time to get everything scheduled for the 10-10 group. There is a week long holiday in China from October 1-7 which will make scheduling difficult. Please pray that we will be able to squeak into the October 10 group.

So here's our prayer requests...and we truly covet your prayers.
1- Pray for Max and that he is receiving good loving care while we wait to bring him home.
2- Pray for God to prepare Max's heart for all the changes he is about to go through. (We are excited to bring him home, but this adoption means he is losing everything that he knows in order to become a part of our family.)
3- Pray for approvals to arrive in time to get everything scheduled for the October 10 travel group.
4- Pray that Tj and I can get everything done at home without too much stressing as we prepare for this trip and bringing our 5th child home.
5- Pray for the financial portion of this adoption. There is still a significant financial need there to be able to pay for the travel expenses to get our Max home. (Any rich friends out there with money burning a hole in your pocket....we could put it to good use. ;-) Ha!)
6- Pray for our other 4 children that will be staying home while we travel to China. Please pray that our absence while in China is not too hard on them.

I will leave you with a photo of Max from March...gosh I can't wait to give this little guy a squeeze!

Happy Tuesday friends.
-katie

prayer requests

So far everything with Max's adoption process has gone quite quickly (which is an answered prayer). We applied to our agency the end of January. We got Max's referral the beginning of March, and we had all of the paperwork that  China needed done by May. My desire since getting Max's referral is that we would be able to have him home before his 2nd birthday. If we do not get our LOA (letter of acceptance from China) in the next couple weeks....we will probably not be able to get him home before his birthday on November 6. We are on day 43 for our LOA wait, and lately the average wait is somewhere between 60-80 days. It is looking more and more like we are going to miss our wish for early to mid October travel. :-( However, we serve a big God and he is able to make the impossible happen. Would you all please pray that we get this LOA document very soon. I just want our Max home so much that some days my arms actually ache with the desire to hold him! Please also pray for us (me specifically because TJ doesn't get as worked up about this as I do) that no matter what happens to trust in God's timing.

Max just looks sad in all the photos we have gotten of him. I know that orphanages do the best with what they have, but our little guy NEEDS to be home with his family. An orphanage no matter how good it is....is NO place for a child to grow up...it just isn't. Please pray for Max and all the other children that are growing up in an orphanage. Please pray that these children will all someday know the love of a family.

I don't want to harp on this as TJ and I will do whatever it takes to get Max home, and I don't want to scare anyone away from adoption because of the cost. (It's amazing how God provides when he calls you to do something. And trust me when I tell you that there are many ways to afford adoption...so please anyone considering adoption...don't let the cost scare you away.) With that said....if you would continue to pray for the financial aspect of our adoption. TJ has started his own construction business recently. Please pray that God provides him with just the right amount of construction jobs to be able to fund what we need for adoption and travel expenses. (If you or someone you know is needing a remodeling or new construction project done....call Authentic Construction....the owner is the most honest, hard working man I know.) ;-)

Our prayer requests:
1- LOA to arrive very soon (like in the next couple weeks)
2- For Max and that he is receiving the love and care he needs until we can bring him home.
3- For all the other children currently in orphanages around the world, please pray that someone is loving them and that they may all find families.
4- For God to meet our financial needs for adoption expenses.
5- Please pray that Max will get to come home before his 2nd birthday.
6- For God to prepare Max's little heart for all the changes coming his way.

Thank you friend for listening and praying. Our family continues to covet your prayers.

Happy Wednesday!
-katie

Max update

Our Mr. Max is now 20 months old. We received an update on Max last week. According to the update he is 31.5 inches tall which puts him in about 10th percentile for height. They also told us that he weighs 21 pounds which falls below the 5th percentile. We are hoping that (like with Cora)....with some good food and the love of a family that he will grow to be a bit higher percentage on that growth chart.

The update we received seemed a bit generic. They answered all but one of our questions, but they answered the questions with very little details...oh well. It is an update none the less and gives us something to hold onto while we wait. We did not get the video that we requested, but they did send a couple new pictures. So without further ado....here he is. Gosh I can't wait to get this little guy in my arms!

Day 41 of LOA wait today. The average wait is between 70-80 days right now. I am praying that we blow that average wait right out of the water, and I pray that we get our LOA very soon. We ask that everyone continue to pray for Max. Please pray that he is receiving good care and that his nannies at the orphanage are loving on him lots. Please continue to pray that God prepare his heart to join our family. Please pray for our family to be prepared for another child to join our family. We are praying that we get to bring this little man home soon....this Mama's arms are aching to hold her little boy. We covet your prayers friends.

happy Monday everyone!

-katie

adoption update

Just a quick update on where we are at in the adoption process for Mr. Max. Our agency sent for an update on Max last week so we are (not so patiently) waiting for them to get back to us with some updated info and pictures. We haven't had an update since March. I can't wait to see how he has grown! This waiting is so hard knowing that he is growing and learning without us there with him. I want him in my arms so bad it hurts....

We sent our dossier (all of the paperwork that China requires of us) to China at the end of May. We are now waiting on the China officials to review all of our paperwork and issue us a LOA (letter of acceptance). We can't proceed until we receive this form that is basically China saying...."yes, you can in fact make Max your son." So for now we are in a holding pattern. This is the step that will determine when we will travel. It could take anywhere from 30-100+ days. We are hoping for a short wait. We had to wait 96 days for this step with Cora...we are hoping for much shorter this time around. This whole adoption process has gone so much faster than it did with Cora....so we hope that continues for every step of the process for Max. When we received our LOA, the typical time frame to travel is about 8-12 weeks....so we need to get this form sooner than later if we are going to make it to China in October like we are hoping.

We covet your prayers for our Max and our family during this process. Please pray that Max is receiving good care, that he is being loved, that he is safe, and receiving enough to eat. Pray that God begins to prepare his heart to join our family. This little guy has lots of changes coming his way. While joining a family is a good thing...it also means that he will be forced to give up everything that he knows and will lose everything familiar to him for that to happen. Please pray for our kiddos at home also....pray that their little hearts are prepared to have a new little sibling and all that a new sibling entails. Please pray that each step of this adoption process goes quickly and that we can have Max in our arms sooner than later.  Please pray for us financially and that we are able to pay for the fees and travel and that the financial part of this won't hold us up when it is time to go get him. We are pinching pennies, working extra, and giving up lots of activities that we would normally enjoy this time of year....we are saving every little bit that we can to reach the amount needed for our expenses. God called us to adopt again....we have faith that he will provide for us financially to get our Max home, and we know that will mean hard work on our part. We do not expect to just be given the funds, however we would also not turn you down if you felt led to donate to help cover our adoption expenses. ;-) We are more that willing to work hard to get our little Max home. Hopefully, the next time I update the blog I will have some new pictures of our little man!

Happy Tuesday friends!
-katie

p.s.- For those wondering....the ipad mini winner was Terri Brostrom, and the fitbit winner was Tiffany Mann. Thank you so much to everyone that helped support our adoption and entered the drawing.

Raising money for our adoption expenses...enter our drawing.

 

We are currently having a drawing for an I-pad mini and another drawing for a Fitbit Flex. It took me a bit but I finally figured out how to get a donate button on the blog (the donate button is on the sidebar of this blog). If you would like to enter our drawing here are the specifics.

1- We will be drawing for both items on Memorial day.
2- We will notify you as quickly as possible who the winner is. (I will announce on the blog and on facebook.)
3- Each entry is $3. Or you can do 2 entries for $5. You can enter as many times as you want. We must receive your donation prior to your name being entered.
4- If you want to enter.(Please please enter) Please use the donate button on the sidebar of the blog. After you donate, please leave me a comment so that I can make sure I get your name entered into the drawing. Include in your comment how to best get a hold of you if you are the winner. Also include which drawing you want your name entered into.
5- Thank you in advance friends!


All donations will go directly towards our adoption expenses to bring Max home.

Happy Thursday friends!
-katie

The big announcement

Well....I am sure that you have all been waiting on pins and needles for this. ;-) We filled out the application for another adoption in mid January. We are using Holt again this time around. I have felt more of an urgency to get things done quickly this time around...even more so than our first adoption process. We found out why I have felt so urgent in the beginning of March. We were sent a file of the sweetest little boy to review. His special needs were something that was not even on my radar, so I took a little time researching and talking to doctors. I wanted to make sure that we made a decision that was best for this little guy and for the rest of our kids at home. My heart said yes, but my head was a little slower. My husband however, fell in love with him immediately. He was picking out names for him the day we received his file. :-) We finally decided together that no matter what his special needs may be....it doesn't change the fact that his biggest need is the need for a family. So after much prayer we have decided that this little guy will fit right into our crazy household. We are going to make this little guy a part of the our family, and we are thrilled!

So we officially sent LOI on March 18th. (....letter of intent for those not in the adoption community. This is the letter to the China officials that says we would like him to be our son.) We got our PA (approval from China) on 3/27. We are working as quickly as we can to get all our dossier paperwork (fancy name for our adoption paperwork) done. We are waiting on one last document from our government, and then we will have everything we need to send to China.

We are hoping to travel in the fall to bring him home....for this to happen all the stars need to align. We have several more steps that we will be waiting on Chinese government and our own government to process our papers....so it all depends on how quickly these steps take. (fingers crossed that things go extremely quick) I am praying that as our papers are shuffled, they are always put on the top of the pile instead of the bottom. ;-)

So here's the details...his name is going to be Max Emmet Werner. Our little guy will turn 2 on November 6. I am secretly hoping that we will be able to get him home prior to his 2nd birthday. (fingers crossed again) He is waiting for us in an orphanage in Beijing. And for the 2nd time in my life....I am head over heels for a child that is living on the other side of the world. It doesn't matter that I haven't met him....I am in love with this little guy! I just can't wait to get our little Max in my arms!

Much love to you all. Please keep our family and our new little man in your prayers. Pray for all our paperwork to be processed quickly so we can bring our little guy home.  Please pray for us to have all the finances fall into place for this adoption. Also, please pray that God is preparing our Max's heart for all the changes that are coming his way.

Happy Thursday!

-katie

I am back!

Well...it has been about a year and a half since I have updated this blog....poor forgotten blog. The kids are growing up much to quickly for their mother's liking. Cora is 3 now. She has had her palate repaired back in October of 2012. She is just a few days away from her 2nd forever family day. Owen is 5 now. He is in preschool this year and is really liking it. We weren't sure at first as he is a Mama's boy and wasn't real thrilled about going to school without mom. Ethan is 8 and a half. He is in 2nd grade this year. He is doing really great in school. He is playing baseball right now, and will be starting tackle football (it took a little convincing to get mom to agree to tackle instead of flag) this summer. Grace is 11 now. She is in 5th grade this year. School is going fairly smoothly for her this year. Grace discovered gymnastics last year, and she has really been enjoying it. She has several after school activities that she attends, and she manages to stay quite busy.

The whole purpose of this update is to let everyone in bloggy land that follows my blog (all 3 of you) that the Werners will be going to China again. I have felt for quite some time that we could make room for another little one, but TJ wasn't as sure. I had all but given up on the idea when we attended our church service several months back that was focused on adoption. God used another adoptive mama to speak to my husband's heart. It was after that church service that TJ got on board for another blessing through adoption. We have come to the conclusion that our family is not yet complete, and we are making room for another little blessing from China. We are hoping to travel yet this year for our new little person. :-)

There is much to share, but I will save that for another day.

Hoping all of you are having a blessed day.

-Katie

surgery day...or so we thought...

Cora went in for surgery on 10-16-12 to have her cleft palate closed. The plan was to look at her ear tubes, if they needed to be replaced, they would do that and then move on to the palate surgery. I was happy the the anesthesiologist offered to let me carry her to the OR and stay with her until she went to sleep. (I didn't even have to ask!) They told us it would take 4-4.5 hours until she was done....so TJ and I went and got something to eat and then settled into the waiting room for the long wait.

The ENT doctor came up to give us a report on how things looked with the tubes. One tube was completely out, the other tube was occluded with wax, and when they pulled it out there was actually some puss behind the tube. So both ear tubes were replaced. She told us that Dr. Coots was just getting started when she left so it would be 3-4 hours yet.

After about 30-40 minutes...we see Dr. Coots in the waiting room...we're instantly a bit confused. He had come to inform us that he couldn't do Cora's palate repair today....WHAT!!!???? Apparently, the perfectly healthy child we brought for surgery....was not as healthy as we thought. He got in there to get started and he noticed some pus in her sinuses, and she also had a little pus on her tonsils. He didn't feel like it was in Cora's best interest to continue with the repair in the presence of an infection. He said because her cleft is so wide he just couldn't chance it. We were not upset at all with his decision...just completely shocked that she had an infection....and we had no clue.

I still feel a little silly/stupid about the whole thing. She was a little crabby about 5 days before surgery, and I was a little concerned that she may be getting sick. The next day however...she acted fine, and I noticed a new tooth in her mouth...so I assumed that was what her problem was. She has acted like her happy little self since then. She had a CBC on Friday that was completely normal. She had no fever, no cough, no runny nose...so to say we were shocked about them finding an infection...is an understatement. I feel so bad that she has to go through all this again.

She is now home. She will be on an antibiotic for 10 days, and surgery is rescheduled for 2 weeks from today on the 31st...which means she will be in the hospital for her birthday....BUMMER! I guess we will just celebrate early. I think I am going to take her to the pediatrician the day before surgery...just to make sure they think everything looks good. ;-)

This girl even makes a hospital gown look cute!

Sorry about the poor picture quality...but her cute smile was just to cute not to share. I guess we'll get another chance for a better quality picture of her in her hospital gown in a couple weeks.

We were certainly shocked by how this played out, but everything happens for a reason. So whatever the reason, we accept that this is all in God's hands. So now we will continue to pray the infection goes away and that the surgery in 2 weeks will be successful and as pain free as possible.

Happy Wednesday friends!

-katie



Quick update

Just wanted to put a quick update on my completely ignored blog. The last 6 months have just flown by. Cora is doing great, and so are the other kids! We have had tons of doctor appointments between the 4 kids...
I got a call from the school nurse last week that Ethan had an accident on the playground, and she thought he needed stitches. We got to visit the lovely staff in the Mercy ER...and sure enough...it did need stitches. 2 layers of stitches in fact to get his forehead back together. He was really quite proud of his stitched up "battle wound," and was very excited the next day to go to school to show it off to all his friends. ;-) Other than the "battle wound," Ethan is doing well. He is excelling at all things 1st grade. He is such a fun and easy kid to be around!

Owen is now potty trained....yeah! It took about a week, and he had it down...we almost never have any accidents now. My baby boy is getting so big! Owen is still obsessed with all things Star Wars, and wants me to watch Star Wars with him on almost a daily basis...fun, fun! He definitely keeps me entertained during the day when the big kids are at school.

Grace is turning into a wonderfully entertaining young lady. She keeps us busy running her to eye therapy appointments (to get her eyes to work together like they should), soccer games and practices, awanas, and church choir. She can be quite sassy and the dramatics are increasing as she gets older. I am getting eyes rolled at me more and more often. And I am also getting that "mom you are so stupid" look from her more and more these days. She is definitely growing up! She is learning to become more responsible these days. I am proud of the young lady she is turning into.

Cora has made amazing progress in the last 6 months. We don't see any of the quirky "orphanage behaviors" anymore. She started walking in July, and is now running, climbing stairs, and getting into everything. She has made huge progress with her oral aversion issues. She finally started eating baby food off a spoon for us in late July. She is now eating small amounts of table food, and does fairly well with that. She is still cautious around some foods, but doesn't seem to have any fear of it anymore. She is still a bit hesitant to actually swallow some foods that have unfamiliar textures....but we are getting there! She is babbling a ton, but the only words we can understand at this point are Mama, and Hi.

I have left a ton out...but that is a very brief update on what we have been up to. Happy Sunday friends!

-katie

6 months

10-11-12...was exactly 6 months since I got to hold my baby girl for the first time.

She has brought so much joy to our family. We are completely overjoyed that she is our daughter! We are SO BLESSED!

Cora (and Grace) now....

Cora Marie we all love you more than words can say!

-katie

WHOOOOOSH....that's the sound of our summer flying by

Well, I am not so great about keeping this blog up to date. Our summer is literally flying by....3 weeks from yesterday the 2 "big" kids will be back in school. I will have a 4th grader and a 1st grader this year. How did that happen?!?! They are getting so big, so fast!

We bought the kids a big pool this summer. Well big for us...it is an above ground pool that is 4 foot deep....my kids think it is huge ;-) It has kept them so busy, and has been so nice to have something fun to do outside in the 100 degree temps that we have been having this summer. Everyone loves it...even Cora.

Speaking of Cora....she is doing amazing. She's sleeping well, she's been walking for about 3 weeks and getting better every day (I'm sure she'll be running to keep up with her siblings soon), she's adjusting to our family amazingly. Her siblings have also adjusted amazingly to having a little sister. I thought for sure that Owen would go through some jealousy, but he has done so well. They all continue to love her to pieces, and I swear they think she hung the moon. I know they wouldn't use these words, but I think they feel as blessed as TJ and I do that she is part of our family. We are so lucky to have her! Adoption rocks!

Cora has really adjusted easily to being part of our family. Our only real struggle with her...is with eating. While we were in China, she refused to eat anything but a bottle for us. The orphanage indicated that she was eating soft foods so while in China, I honestly thought it would all be better once we got home. We gave her a few weeks at home to adjust before we pushed the issue with food. When I decided to push the issue with her....it did NOT go well. It was like we were torturing her by simply putting a bite of baby food in her mouth. She was literally covered in sweat because she was screaming so much. Even giving her a sippy cup instead of her bottle would send her into hysterics....I decided that maybe we were in over our head and we could use a little help.

We were lucky to be in China with a couple that lives about 10 miles from us....and lucky again that 1/2 of that lovely couple happened to be a speech pathologist. She has given us many helpful hints for helping Cora and her eating, and she also helped us find a wonderful speech pathologist that specializes in eating issues in children. We are learning it is not necessarily a control issue for Cora like we thought, but a sensory issue. For example, she hates having food on her hands, and is very hesitant and fearful of new textures. (You should see her barefoot in the grass....not pretty) I noticed right away in China that she wouldn't put toys in her mouth when she was playing. This is one thing we have really encourage her to do here at home while she's playing. As she is exploring her world more by putting toys and other things in her mouth...her willingness to eat is also improving.

About a month and a half ago Cora was finally starting to let us put very small tastes of food in her mouth, but then she would refuse to swallow anything. She has made amazing progress in the last few weeks....she is now eating stage 2 baby food off a spoon and she is actually swallowing it! We have to make a few modifications for her like reclining her highchair....but SHE IS EATING! We have a long way to go before she is eating like a normal 20 month old, but we are making progress....praise the lord! Please pray that we continue to make steady progress in the eating department.

Cora had tubes put in both ears last month. She can very obviously hear much better now. She interacts with everyone so much better now that she is hearing us better. She is babbling much more now also. She has another appointment with the cleft team in IA city in mid August. We will be scheduling her palate surgery after that. We are thinking sooner than later for the surgery since she will only eat pureed foods at this point anyway. We are working to get rid of the bottles since she can't have them after surgery. I am hoping to have her down to maybe just one a day by the time we do surgery. (She gets 3 bottles a day right now.) I'm a little nervous that we are going to majorly regress with everything after the surgery.

I am sure that I have left out tons of our goings ons in the last couple months, but I know all of you would rather look at pictures that read my ramblings.....so here you go

This is one of Cora's favorite spots to play.

(Please ignore the dirty bib that she is wearing)

 This is Grace on the fourth of July...not looking so happy in the heat....but I love how you can see her cute freckles in this photo.

She is so stinkin cute!

This guy had a birthday and is now my big 7 year old (Please be kind and ignore the filthy         smeared patio door behind him...I find it impossible to keep it clean for longer than 5 minutes) ;-)

Owen and Cora are only 20 months apart in age.....I find their size difference hysterical.

He's near the top of his growth chart (yes folks, he is only 3), and she is barely on the growth chart.



Happy Friday everyone!

-katie

Life with 4 children is....busy!

I am not so good about updating this blog...I am sure the 2 or 3 people out there that actually follow this blog were really concerned about no updates right?!?! Life with 4 kids is busy, but life with 3 kids was also busy...so it has really been a pretty easy transition for us. Our laundry seems to have multiplied dramatically...I seriously can't ever seem to catch up. Cora is doing amazing, and we can tell she is really feeling much more comfortable in her environment now. We are all sleeping at night now....which is amazing. It only took about a week to get her sleeping though the night. Now that we are on this side of it...she really did transistion pretty quickly, but holy cow that first week was rough!

Look at that sweet face....we are so lucky to be her parents!

Cora arrived home about 2 weeks before softball and t-ball started. We were thankful she had that little cushion of time before we were at the ball fields 4 times a week. She is learning to be a lover of all things softball and baseball....haha! She is getting tons of attention from the other parents...so she is having a great time at the games. Owen can keep busy during the games by climing up and down the bleachers, and there are a couple other little brothers of players that he plays with so he's a happy guy at the games also. Grace and Ethan are both having a great time playing...so everyone is happy!

Cora has had 2 trips to the pediatrician's offiice so far. (I wouldn't let them do the shots and blood draw the first time....she hadn't been home a week yet, and I thought that was to soon to put her through that yet, so we had to come back.) She is barely on the american growth charts, but she seems to be a very healthy weight for her height! The 2nd visit....baby girl got 6 immunizations, she was diagnosed with bilateral ear infection, and she got a blood draw and finger poke. She was NOT ammused.

She had her first appointment with the cleft team in IA City last Monday. Talk about a whirlwind day. They didn't really give us a whole lot of information that we didn't already know. The plan is to wait 4-6 months to give her a good adjustment period before we do the surgery. TJ and I both feel like this is great, and we were both very agreeable with this plan. Plus it will be nice for her not to have "ouchies" during the summer.They want to see her maybe 2 more times before they do the surgery. We will probably end up with tubes in her ears prior to the palate surgery, but we most likely will do that closer to home not in IA City.

We have been having lots of fun with Cora. The kids think that it is so fun to take her new places, and do "firsts" with her. Here are a few pictures from the park the other day.

Baby girl LOVES to swing!

Owen cheesing it up for the camera...silly boy!

Ethan was nearly impossible to get a picture of...he didn't want to slow down long enough to get a picture taken....I guess that probably makes him a very typical 6 year old boy!

Grace...my first little love. Love this girl!

The kids still think Cora hung the moon....and by kids I mean Grace and Ethan. I think Owen could take her or leave her somedays. He's getting used to having to share mom during the day. He has done really well actually. It is Cora that seems to be the jealous one. She can be playing happily, and if Owen climbs in my lap....she is over by us in no time and quietly nudging him off of my lap....little turkey! She hasn't figured out yet that Mommy has plenty of room on her lap to love on her babies at the same time!
We have been having so much fun with her home. We feel so incredibly blessed that God chose us to be parents to all these munchkins!

Here is a picture of the kids at the park the other day. We made them take a break from the playground for a picture. (All 4 looking at camera = success!)

Happy Tuesday friends!

-katie

update

I didn't get the blog updated before we left China. We left on Thursday morning Apirl 19. We met our guide in the hotel lobby at 5:45...a little early in the day for my liking...but yeah we're coming home! Our flights were fairly uneventful. Cora did amazing on all the flights. I think she did better than her Mama. Other than a couple emergency poop explosions (by Cora...not TJ or I) everything went great. We didn't bring enough clothes to account for the pooping issues on the plane....so by the time we landed in Chicago...Cora and I both had poop on our clothes....(those tiny airplane bathrooms are not the most ideal place to deal with a extremely messy diaper)

We have been home for 5 days now. We are jet lagged and really struggling to get Cora to sleep well. She slept well for us in China but, now she has developed an aversion to being laid down to sleep. She slept all night last night and it was magical! It's amazing what a little sleep will do to improve your outlook on life! TJ and I neither one are very good at sleeping in a recliner...so we are hopeful the full night of sleep is a trend that will continue. I wouldn't even care if it was my bed she was sleeping in....just so I didn't have to hold her in an upright position all night. She has still been on "China time" and was waking up between 2:00 and 3:00am everyday since we got home, and she would not go back to sleep after that. I don't think we were either one prepared for how exhuasted we would feel.

On a much more positive note....we finally have all our babies under one roof! Cora is doing well adjusting to being home. She is such an easy going girl. (except at night) Her sister and brothers have been so excited to have her home, and Cora really seems to enjoy playtime with them. I let the kids stay home from school last Friday so they could spend time with us and their new sister...they loved that! Owen has been proudly telling everyone that he is a "big brother" now. So cute! We were so ready to be home...we were REALLY missing the kids at home. I will leave you with a picture of all my babies TOGETHER!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

-katie

Tuesday, April 17

Today was the consulate appointment day. It was really very low key...not necessarily what I had been picturing in my mind. Now we are just waiting on the visa for Miss Cora. Next step is....HOME! Our little girl will officially become a US citizen on Thursday, April 19 when we land in Chicago!

After our Consulate appointment, we did more shopping....bought a few more pair of shoes...HA! We bought the kids some souvenirs, and we bought Cora some special items that we hope she will always treasure as reminders of where she was born and spent the first year of her life. Hopefully when we get home I won't wish that I had bought more.

We went on a dinner river cruise Tuesday night on the Pearl River. It was only a "dinner" cruise because we had all ordered pizza and brought it with us on board. We ordered Papa Johns pizza, and it tasted just like back home. We rode on the Dragon boat. It was fun to see Guangzhou all lit up at night...very pretty.

Cora is all ready to go on the river cruise.

Cora and her Daddy.

Enjoying the sights on the river cruise.

We will be home soon!

-katie

Monday, April 16

Today was really a fun day. We went to the safari park...which is a big zoo here in Guangzhou. It was really the best zoo I have ever been to. It really would have been lots of fun to have the other 3 kiddos with us today, but we took lots of pictures to show them. I would definitely recommend the safari park to anyone going to Guangzhou. Cora slept through the first half of the zoo, and she was really not that impressed with the rest of it. TJ and I thought it was great though! My favorite part...we got to see lots of Pandas!

Cora was really impressed with the Panda's!

After we got back to the hotel, we headed over to Shamian Island again. We ate at a little Italian restaurant. It was really pretty good. I really enjoy the atmosphere on the island. There is much less people and it is much more relaxed over there. This Iowa girl was definitely not prepared for how crowded it is here in China!

Cora has been a little off today. She is not feeling the greatest again...poor girl is a bit constipated. (Anyone that is preparing to come pick up their little ones....remember something for constipation.) We didn't bring any meds to help with constipation problems....but gotta love these adoptive families...someone helped us out by giving us some meds to help her. Thanks again Tamra and Chris! (I am sure when she gets older...she will love that I shared that with everyone!)

Our Consulate appointment is Tuesday morning. We will get her visa sometime on Wednesday, and then we will leave for home on Thursday morning. So our flights are Guangzhou to Tokyo, Tokyo to Chicago, and Chicago to DesMoines. I am praying for no delays and easy travel back home. We thought it was a little rough coming here...now we get to do it with a 17 month old...(I am not complaining...this is an answered prayer)  We are praying that she sleeps much of the 12-13 hour flight from Tokyo to Chicago.

I am getting so anxious to get home to my the other kiddos. I am really missing them. I am so excited to introduce them to their new sister! Cora is not going to know what to do when we get home and have more of a schedule...we have been dragging her all over the place here and keeping her very busy. It will be so nice to get home and establish a routine. I am really looking forward to a home cooked meal!

I will leave you with a cute Cora picture. She is SO FLEXIBLE! She can sit with her legs out straight and lay her head on the floor between her feet! She is such a joy!

-katie

Sunday, April 15

We had a great day today. We got to go to a church service that was held at a nice little church on the island. It was an amazing experience to see a room full of Asian believers. It was a Chinese/English service so we did understand most of it, although I don't think it translated quite the same. I am so happy that we were able to do this. I can only assume it was Cora's first church service she has ever attended.

After the church service we did more shopping. We went to Sherry's place...she had tons of squeaky shoes! Miss Cora got LOTS of new shoes! I bought I think 15 pairs....and yes TJ she NEEDED them all ;-) I bought 2 or 3 pairs in each size up to a 9 (I think.) The shoes are very nice quality and were all in the $5-$10 range! I bought her a pair of Zebra print boots that I seriously can't wait till she can wear them....ADORABLE! Any ways...enough about shoes....

We got back to the hotel and took a cab over to the jade and pearl markets. (We missed the tour bus our group took....me late???...never) We got there fine by taxi, and we eventually found our group. The pearl market was 6 floors of shops that all sold basically the same thing. At the jade market was tons of beautiful things....we han't found our tour guide yet, and it was difficult to shop without of Chinese speaking guide. TJ and I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to go see and experience more of China.

We were able to take the tour bus back to the hotel with our group....we were very happy that we were able to find our group in such a busy, crowded place. There definitely is comfort in numbers. (and a guide that speaks Chinese)  ;-)

We went to dinner with our group that night. I thought the food was pretty good. I didn't ask what it was, but most of it looked pretty safe. We were told that if you like the food, just enjoy...and don't ask what is in it! Ha! Ha!. Everyone in our group is so so nice, and it was so great to get to know some of the other families a little better.  It really is wonderful to connect with all these adoptive families.

After dinner we walked next door to another restaurant. They had tanks of fish, turtles, crab and many other unrecognizable things right in the front of the restaurant. These tanks of animals/sea food were not for decorations...but it was actually the things they would be cooking for your dinner....yuck!

We think the bucket on the right was chicken hearts. (maybe...we really have no idea)

Some sort of snake that yes...will be eaten (not by me!)

This is alligator tail...sounds yummy doesn't it?!?!

Turtle anyone??? Another thing I have never dreamed of eating.

It was a great day here in China. Cora is feeling better today, and we continue to see more and more of her personality. She really is AMAZING!

-katie

Saturday, April 14

Saturday was our medical check day. We left the hotel at 9am. Our guide told us to expect a crowd, as there would be about 60+ families that all needed their children seen, and the clinic was only open in the morning.

They were right....it was very crowded in the clinic. It was very hot and stuffy inside and all the warm bodies in there didn't really help with that, but whatever we have to do to get her home....we will do. The amazing thing about the clinic being that crowded is....it was crowded with adoptive families! Which means there are that many more kids that now have families...God is good!

Saturday evening we went over to Shamian Island and went sight seeing with another couple that has been to China before for an adoption a couple years ago. They helped us find our way on the subway. It was definitely an interesting experience...very crowded. I am not sure we would have been brave enough to try the subway to get over to the island without them.

I wanted to show you how crowded the subway was. People just push their way in and you end up packed in there like sardines. I have noticed while out and about that the buses are like that also.

We ate at Lucy's while we were on the island. Lucy's has always been a popular restaurant for adoptive families. It was kind-of like an American diner type of restaurant. TJ and I both had cheeseburgers and fries. It was different than home...but actually was pretty good.

We also did a little shopping while we were over at the island. We finally found some cute things to take home for the kids. There are lots of cute little stores on the island that cater to adoptive families. I really enjoyed Shamian Island. It is not very crowded, and it really is very beautiful. (Thanks Chris and Tamra for showing us around!)

Cora is still refusing to eat anything. She actually cried for about 5 minutes because I put a cheerio in her mouth. The orphanage said she was eating "soft" food. I have tried so many things, and she just pinches her little mouth shut. She spits things out if I actually get a bite in her mouth. I have just decided we'll keep trying but she may just live on formula and rice cereal (I am mixing in the bottle) while we are in China, and we'll fight the food issue later when we get home. She is doing fine on the bottle...so that will work for now.

On a happier note....she is really starting to warm up to us. We are seeing her cheerful little personality lots more today. Also she slept all night for us! That was her first night that she really slept well....yeah for more sleep!

-katie

Day 1 and 2 with Cora

Cora is definitely warming up to us. The first day with her we would see glimpses of her personality, but mostly she was very quiet.I feel like the first 24 hours especially...she was simply just tolerating us....poor girl. I am looking forward to getting to know her personality more with each passing day. She definitely prefers me over TJ, but she does go to him willingly.

On Thursday, which was our first full day together we had a pretty low key day. Cora has a cold and wasn't feeling the greatest plus....she wasn't sure she really liked us yet...so we hung out in the hotel room quite a bit.

We did venture out to the mall and a market that was close to our hotel.The mall had lots of floors. I think there was 6 floors, and the market was under the mall in the "basement." We bought Cora a couple toys to play with, but we didn't really buy anything else at the mall. Pretty much everything there was things I could also buy at home...and it was for a similar price.

The market we went to was a little more interesting. It was kind of like a Wal-Mart, it had a little bit of everything. It was interesting to say the least. The meat department was probably the most foreign to us. The meat was all in refrigerated cases, but it was all open. So imagine the meat department at your local grocery store...except it is all open and you can just scoop out whatever amount you want all by yourself. (Just imagine if someone sneezed....yuck) We saw pigs feet and chickens with feathers all plucked but their heads were still there...yuck! There was also a big tank with live fish for you to buy, and lots of foreign looking fish and seafood.

 By evening on Thursday (1st full day with her)...she was definitely not feeling well. Poor girl has what I assume is a cold, runny nose and cough. We gave her a bath...that she did NOT enjoy. We also gave her some Motrin (which she also did not appreciate us giving her), and that made a huge difference. She was much happier and smelled much better after that.

We have not been able to get her to eat any food. She does take a bottle well, so she is living on formula and some rice cereal that I have been mixing in her bottle. She absolutely refuses to take a bite of anything...oh well. We will push the issue with food at a later date. Hopefully she will just decide on her own to start eating. She was obviously fed well at her orphanage...Miss Thing has got some pretty chubby little "thunder thighs" going on!

On Friday we traveled to Guangzhou...we were delayed and spent lots of hours on a plane sitting on the tarmac waiting for take off. I will not whine about it.....but imagine a hot plane, lots of Asian people staring at you, and a sweaty, kind of fussy baby that you have known for 2 days that is not so happy to be stuck on a plane. I'll let you imagine that and come to your own conclusions...

The good news is....we are now in Guangzhou on the last leg of our trip. Just need to get baby girl's visa, and then we can go home. Guangzhou climate feels a little like Florida (hot and very humid) so any future pictures with me in it....will most likely not be my best hair days...just thought I would warn you ;-)

-katie

Introducing Cora Marie

Well the day has finally arrived that we have been waiting for since September...Cora Marie has officially joined our family! Us and the lovely couple that is with us in Hebei province left at 9 am for the civil affairs office to meet our kiddos. It was a very small building, with a VERY small waiting room. Not exactly what I had been picturing all these months, but I'll take it!

TJ and I were asked to come to the next room to start our paperwork. We hadn't even gotten our names both wrote down on the first piece of paper, and the orphanage staff walked in with the kids. The other couples little boy started crying, and I turned around and there was Cora right behind me! The orphanage staff handed her over immediately. She did not cry at all. She had fallen asleep on the 2 hour drive from the orphanage....so she looked a little bewildered.

She has been very quiet. The staff told us that DongYu (Cora) does not really ever cry. She is very "mild tempered." I am hoping that when she wakes up from her nap she will warm up to us more. She is making good eye contact, snuggles with us, and we have even gotten her to giggle a few times... but she seems a little indifferent about the whole situation. Please pray that this transition will be relatively easy for her.

She is small. I would say more the size of a 1 year old or younger not a 17 month old, of course I am comparing her to kids in the US. Developmentally she is behind her age also...but we were expecting that. Her lip repair looks pretty good, but does have a noticeable scar. I have not really been able to look at her palate...didn't want to push her to much.  None of that really matters to us though....we think she is absolutely perfect!

And without further ado....here she is, Cora Marie!

-katie

Day 4 - long van ride...

Today we explored a little around our hotel in Beijing. We walked around a mall, that was pretty upscale...lots of things that we would find in the USA, and everything was about the same price. We didn't buy anything, but it was interesting. They had SO MANY employees at this mall. I think every 10 feet there was another employee. In the malls we go to...we are often searching for employees to help...not the case in China.We were almost smashed between a car and a bus....pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way in China. It was way to close for comfort for us....apparently to close for comfort by Chinese standards also because the Chinese man walking in front of us (that was also almost smashed) chased after the man in the car yelling at him.

I had my first Squatty potty experience....if I wasn't aware of being far from home before that....I am definitely aware now. Wow...not much else to say about that ;-)

I found snickers while we were out and about!

We ate here last night...do you recognize it? If you said Pizza Hut....you are correct! Pizza tasted very similar to home. The menu was very different though. It was interesting watching our Holt representative (China native) try to eat with a fork....he didn't quite get it. That's fine...because I totally do not have chopstick skills!

This is our hotel all lit up last night.

We left for Hebei Province around 12:30. It was a 4.5 hour van ride. We are that much closer to our Cora...in fact as I type this....we are leaving in 2 hours to go get her!

-katie