PA

~ This was written 1/31/12 ~

Guess what came to our in-box today!  PA baby!  :)  (PA = online pre-approval)  It is so hard to wait for these little baby steps now that we have our son's picture.  This process is so different from our first adoption.  After we saw Hope's picture for the first time, we had to wait just a month to have her in our arms.  It will be 4, 5, maybe 6 months before we get to bring our son home.  So, while I'm so so so happy to have his sweet smile to keep me company through a couple of snapshots, I think time is going to seem to pass slowly for a while. Anyway, here is the news:

The CCCWA agrees to "handle and process" our case.  hmmm - I realize this is not the final approval.  We need to have that signed LOA (Letter of Acceptance, a.k.a. Letter Seeking Confirmation from Adopter) in our hands to make all of this official.  However, with each baby step, I can feel the weight lifting.  CR says it could be 4-12 weeks before we see this arrive.

We've also been advised to keep our news somewhat private until the official LOA is signed and returned to China.  Although it seldom happens after the PA has been received, things could still change at this point.  C'mon LOA!  I'm not so great at keeping secrets.

LOI

~ This was written 1/19/12 ~


Had this e-mail exchange today:
~~~~~
Katie,
SEND IT SEND IT SEND IT!!!!
:)
Can I call you this morning?
~~~~~

Hi Beth!

This is great news!  I will upload your information right now and let you know when everything is uploaded successfully! :)
~~~~~

Dear Ron and Beth,

This email is to confirm the successful submission of your documents onto the CCCWA online system!

~~~~~

These messages are referring to our LOI (Letter Of Intent).  This is a letter that is written by prospective adoptive parents of waiting children that states their intention to adopt a specific child.  Whew!!!  The last few days have been a whirlwind!  After Katie called on Monday, we had 72 hours to consult medical professionals, specialists, other AP's (adoptive parents), etc...anybody we thought could offer us sound advice regarding our (I can say "our" now, yes?) little guy's ear condition.  Can I just say that these last few days of scrambling have been so hard to do under the radar.  We are trying to keep things quiet as we make these early decisions.  With so many unknowns, we just feel it is important to work through these early stages without sharing much information.  *SIGH*  I wish I could just have someone tell me what to do, that it's all going to be OK, and that we are strong enough to handle this.  Uncertainty is NOT my friend.


Anyway, we did it!  It is our intent to adopt Han Le Guang from Xuzhou SWI, Jiangsu Province, China.


Flashback to Monday night...there was absolutely nothing we could do after 9:00 in the evening about contacting anybody.  However, Tuesday morning...my dialing fingers got a workout.  Without going into the play by play, within a couple of days I was able to consult with our pediatrician, a specialist at the U of M, an ENT in Maplewood, and an AP who has two daughters with the same ear condition.  We talked for hours and asked endless questions.  The final question I asked each of the doctors was, "Do you see anything in these few pictures that would cause you not to pursue the adoption?"  All of them answered, "no."  That's it.  Let's do it!  :)  Both Ron and I sort of knew it was a done deal already.  However, with all of the questions, discussions, and phone calls, we were able to find out a lot more about what the future may hold for us and our family.


We were able to get our letter written, sent off to our agency to be translated by Tu, and sent to China, all within that short 72 hour window.  Can I sleep now?

LID & More!!!

~ This was written 1/16/12 ~

Oh my gosh! Oh My Gosh!! OH MY GOSH!!! I don't even know where to start.

We'd had instructions during the week to send our photos that CR would submit with a match so we got that together and sent them yesterday (1/15).

TONIGHT at 8:00 pm I got a phone call from Katie at Crossroads saying that she'd matched us with a baby boy! BOY? BABY? Whhhaaaaaat?! I was crazy with questions. Honestly...the information we had was that new children are typically added to the waiting child list on the last Monday of the month. That's two weeks away! And, HEY! We don't have our log-in-date yet. How could you match us. "Oh yeah. We got that today, too!" Can you believe this!

Two minutes later at 8:02 we got an email with this little guy's information. Here's the thing...Ron was at bowling!!! Do I open the email? Do I wait? What harm is a little peek? Well, I waited. Ron got home shortly after 9 and we opened the message together. He's amazing! Wait until you see this sweet boy!

BOY? Yes.

BABY? Yes.

AAAHHHHHHHH!!! My head is spinning!

Chinese New Year 2012

Welcome Year of the Dragon!!! It's going to be an exciting year for the Heut fam! To quote my mom, "Dare I say that next year we'll have another little one at the table?" That's going to be so fun! Wonder if we'll have to serve congee. *GRIN*

We started of this year's celebration with a big family dinner on Sunday afternoon (1/22). We had church commitments that morning. This is Hope in her Sunday best.


After singing our way through the morning we were ready to head home and start the preparations. Part of our tradition the past few years has been inviting Hope's grandparents to join in the celebration.



We pass out the Tsing-Tao and everybody has a hand in the preparations.





We were all business in the kitchen. There were some shenanigans going on in the other room, though.



Dinner is served! YUM! Our menu this year: Pork Dumplings, Cream Cheese Wontons, Steak and Onion Stirfry, Sesame Chicken Skewers, Broccoli and Hazelnut Stirfry, Szechuan Green Beans, and Fried Rice. And, P.S. to my family reading this, your effort in staging this photo to make it look like you all used your chopsticks did not go unnoticed. :)


Dessert


After dinner there was time for some Just Dance for Kids and a couple serious rounds of Uno before we called it a night. Happy New Year!!! I just know our year of the dragon is going to be an exceptional one.

Timely Verses

God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. ~ Isaiah 12:2

"If we believe in God's promises, then we don't need to be afraid." These were words from Hope's evening devotional the other night (1/18). Granted, the story was referring to being afraid of the dark or strange noises, but poignant still? I think so.

And, the Proverbs 31 Ministries daily devotional two days ago was called "Listening to God." Renee Swope wrote, "Like Jesus, we will discover God’s purpose for our lives through dependent hearts that seek to listen to His...."

What is going on? What is this knock upside the head? This happened to me during our first adoption too. I know I wrote several times about how as we walked through the adoption process there were lessons sprinkled all over the place about God's master plan. Well, it's time for another lesson. Time to let go. Time to open my heart and mind, and to remember that God's got this. He knows our future child. He sees our family as He has designed us to be.

Trust Him.

Works every time.

(So God? If we could just speed things up a little that would be great. Thanks, Beth)

Hope Has An Announcement

Hey Everyone! I took these pictures back on August 20 and made a Shutterfly announcement for our family sharing this news, but I thought it was about time I shared it here and gave this blog thing another try. It was such a wonderful outlet for us during Hope's adoption and first couple of years home.

It's true! Our family has some exciting news to share. Doesn't it look like Hope can hardly keep our secret?


What do you think it is?


This picture makes it a little more clear.


We are LOVING the idea of Hope becoming a big sister.


Hope is such a precious girl. She is going to be an awesome big sister. Just look into those beautiful eyes. They travel deep. She has a lot of wisdom to share with her new little sibling. We can't wait!

Hope has been practicing her coloring skills.


We are getting ready to celebrate Chinese New Year soon.