Here is our schedule:

Thursday, March 10-fly to Beijing

Tuesday, March 15-fly to Singapore to visit my brother, sister in law
and their two kids

Sunday, March 20-fly to Kunming where Vivienne is!

Monday, March 21- We get finally meet her!

March 25-fly to Guangzhou

March 30- train to Hong Kong

April 1-Fly home!

Thanks again for your prayers!

Yes, we will need a luggage cart, thank you

We're packed!

I am happy to say that after fourteen months of being in this adoption process and five months of knowing who our little girl is, we're SO ready to go!  Our bags are packed and as we leave our house tomorrow, we know that when we come back will have Vivienne in our arms and in our family forever. 

I would be lying if I didn't admit that some fears have surfaced for me in these last few weeks.  There are so many unknowns and we're about to travel to five cities with five kids!  Our Associate Pastor preached a sermon a few weeks ago and used a great analogy.  There was a balance beam.  He compared us walking across the balance beam with us serving Christ.  When we're willing to take the walk across it, even though it's scary, we're serving Christ. The other alternative and be comfortable and sit on the balance beam and cling to it where it's safe.  Months ago when we decided to do this adoption, the walk across the balance beam was something that we were excited about.  Serving God is exciting.  Over the last couple of weeks, I have definitely had some anxiety with all of the unknowns: what Vivienne's personality will be like, Sydney giving up the baby status, etc.  The amazing thing is that in my daily devotions, God has been right there to hold my hand as I try to stand up on the beam.  Here is what was in my "Jesus Calling" devotional today:
"Walk by faith, not by sight.  As you take steps of faith, depending on Me, I will show you how much I can do for you. When I gave you My Spirit, I empowered you to live beyond your natural ability and strength. That is why it is so wrong to measure your energy level (keep in mind I have been packing for 7 people) against the challenges ahead of you.  The issue is not your strength but Mine, which is limitless.  By walking close to Me, you can accomplish My purposes in My strength." The verse that went with it was 2 Corinthians 5:7, "For we live by faith, not by sight."
I am SO human and it is so easy for me to try to think I have to do all of this with my own strength.  Then I read scripture and I am reminded that I can ask God to help me. 
I will be posting our itinerary tomorrow night from Chicago.  Thank you for all of your prayers, support and encouragement!

We finally got Travel Approval and a Consulate Appointment!

We are thrilled to announce that we finally received our TA on Monday.  We thought that was the end of the waiting, but apparently the Consulate Appointment takes a few more days..ugh! We finally got that today and we have started packing.  I have made so many trips to the travel sections of Meijer, Walmart and Target that I know all the products by heart!  Seriously, if you're taking a trip, I can give you the lowdown on any toiletry item out there!

The Consulate appointment is what our whole trip is based around.  There is a ceremony that will take place at the US Consulate in Guangzhou (with tons of other adoptive families) where Vivienne will be sworn in.  This takes place at the end of the trip and the whole trip is based on that date. 

John has been working on our flights ALL day.  Since we are bringing the kids, we're trying to get the best rates possible.  I'll post the itinerary when we have it finalized.

Meanwhile, the kids and I are laying out clothes to bring, packing backpacks and trying to get our house in order for a baby! 

Haven't seen one of these in our house for quite a while!

Why China? Bella!

When we as a family made the decision to adopt back in the fall of 2009,  we then began to pray about where to adopt from.  We filled a questionnaire from Loving Shepherd ministries as a first step. http://loving-shepherd.org/  They sent us back a summary of each country that we would be eligible to adopt from.  It was a HUGE help to us.  Laura and Ron had just brought Bella, our niece home from China in September of 2009.  We prayed that whole fall, looked through the options and on Thanksgiving Day, we got our answer. 

We were at Laura and Ron's house for Thanksgiving dinner and another family with two little girls who had been adopted from China were also there.  John's Mom put Bella on a chair with the two little girls and as she took the picture, I knew.  I knew it would be so amazing for Bella and her cousin to have a similar history and the same birth country.

Bella came home in September of 2009.  I remember when I first met her, she touched my face and I was smitten.  She has been such a fun little addition to the family ever since. Bella has also  made it seem less scary to go back to the "baby stage".  I have not carried a diaper bag in at least five years.  I did get a cool one this time around though!  As a side note, I will mention that baby equipment has come a long way in the last seven years. 

We recently had the joy of watching Bella for nine days while rest of her family went on a mission's trip.  We spoiled her rotten and God gave us a test run on what it was like to have a little one in the house again.  It was such a blessing for our kids as well.  They shared, helped, sacrificed, played and caught a glimpse of what's ahead. 

These are some fun pictures we took of Bella for Laura and Ron to see what she was doing while they were away.  They always call me the "Candy Aunt", so I thought we would make sure they knew Bella was at "Candy Camp"!

Bella learned a lot in our schoolroom while they were gone!

We couldn't get her to put this down!  We think we're funny!

She has a name and Finding Ad!

On Christmas, we finally named our sweet baby in China!   Her name is Vivienne Shan Yu. I fell in love with this name a while back.  We went back and forth about whether or not to keep her Chinese middle name.  In the end, we decided that it will be nice for her to have the name she was called for most of her first year of life.  It will also be a piece of where she is from.

Our Article 5 was delivered to the Chinese Consulate in Guangzhou this Thursday! It will be issued and sent to the CCAA on February 10th, after Chinese New Year.  We will be officially waiting for Travel Approval as of the 10th!!!  That usually takes an average of two weeks to get TA.  We hope to travel in late March, but that's still anyone's guess! 

We ordered her finding ad and got this sweet picture of her from when she was only four days old.  We got the actual newspaper that she was in sent to us as well.  We found out that she was left in a flower bed at a tea factory.  You see, in China, sadly, mothers do not have the freedoms that women in America have.  If they cannot afford to pay a fee keep their second child, they are often abandoned. In some provinces, they are easing up on this rule.  They also need to have a boy to support them when they are elderly. At the same time, it is against the law to bring your child you cannot keep to an orphanage.  That is why the mother has no choice but to abandon the baby.  It is a brave choice. She chose life for Vivienne.  I cannot imagine how hard that must have been for her.

 This ad was posted in the newspaper and it is a picture of her when she was only four days old on the day she was found.  It is so nice to have, because it might be the only baby picture we get of her.  And she has hair!!!  We can't wait to meet her!

I-800 Approval and a Package to China!

Today we got our I-800 approval!  That means we are just a couple steps away from Travel Approval.  We are hoping to travel sometime in March. 

The week after Christmas, we sent a package to her orphanage!  We sent a very special book that my sister in law gave us and some chocolate for the orphanage staff.  The book has about ten pages of questions about our baby's life so far.  Each page of questions is written in English and in Chinese.  It asks questions about her development, her likes and dislikes, "firsts" and information about the day she was found. You can find the book here: http://www.sharpbooks.com/ We have high hopes that the orphanage staff will give us some information, but our orphanage has a reputation of being very private and not sharing information about the children.  They also don't give updates.  We know that she was in the orphanage until Thanksgiving, but we aren't sure if she is still there or she is in foster care.  The Kunming orphanage has a great foster care system.  No matter where she is, we pray everyday that she is getting loved and held.