Friday, December 30, 2011

Her 2nd Christmas

It looks as if Hope had an absolutely wonderful Christmas!  I found photos of her on her foster home's website.  Here are a couple of them, but you can see more of Hope and all the children here in a scrapbook they posted.





Can you see the love?  We can.  Hope is so very loved right now.  Its a beautiful thing.  It scares me a little bit.  I know she is going to grieve so greatly the love she's had all these months and months when we take her away from all she's known.  Hope won't know anything, but love and security and we will be taking that all away to give her a new life in a foreign land with crazy brothers and a mommy and daddy who are...well, we're crazy too.  Lord, prepare her heart for us.  Prepare us for her.

She had a wonderful Christmas and thanks to many sponsors all of the children in her foster home did too, but they still need families.  Could one of them be yours?  Next Christmas there will be one less!

15 months & some rambling

Today our little girl is 15 months old.  When I first laid eyes on her she was only 6 months.  She's growing up so fast it hurts. The good Lord has worked long and hard in our lives since then and now here we are, 9 months later, anxiously waiting to bring her home to our family forever.  In some ways it seems like just yesterday when Hope came flooding into our lives and in other ways it seems like years. I have faith that God's timing is perfect, but its easy to get caught up in the "why's" when I start to dwell on all the 1st we're missing in her life.  I have to be very intentional about trusting Him on this one because I want her home and I want her home NOW, but I know there is a reason much greater than just the nonsense of bureaucratic red tape holding up the timing of things.

For instance, we know that God's hand carefully chose our adoption timeline to coincide with the conclusion of Sully's surgeries.  He knows that we emotionally and financially could not meet the needs of our family as a whole while having two children going through this process simultaneously, on top of a Lincoln's needs and attention...oh, and our marriage :)  It is also looking very promising that we will be traveling during the summer when I am off from work.  That is ALL God.  I have very little leave time available as a teacher and so when it comes to surgeries and babies and all that good stuff we work very hard to "plan" around the summer months.  If it works out to bring Hope home in June or early July, we can be certain that is a special blessing from God...no detail is too small or too big for him.

Today also marks day 51 of our wait for the USCIS (Homeland Security) to approve our family to adopt from China, in other words, approve us to bring an immigrant into the country.  This really should not take this long.  Its ridiculous.  Its one thing to wait on China for approvals, but its a whole different ball game waiting for your own government...especially when we've already been "checked out" by the FBI, our state government, our home study agency, six references and who knows who else.  Its frustrating, but necessary...I guess.  I've called a number of times and even though our paperwork has been in their hands since November 9th we still have not been assigned an officer.  This is your tax payer dollars at work friends.  Did I mention that this approval costs a ridiculous amount of money...to the tune of 800 dollars!?!?

So we wait some more.  If the averages prove correct, we are looking at another 10-14 day wait for our approval.  Once that comes there will be a fury of activity on our end and then some big, exciting news with letters like DTC, LID, LOI, PA that will all happen in a matter of a few short weeks.  I'll explain all about those things as they come around.  For now, say our prayer for our little 15 month old and for our 797.  We want our hands on both of those things...like YESTERDAY!!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Missing You at Christmas

Its Christmas Eve and its wonderful to be home at the farm, spending time with family and relaxing, but there's a big piece missing this year.  Ever since I saw Hope back in April, she's taken a piece of my heart.    Now that we've been matched as Hope's family its a million times worse.  A part of our family is half way around the world and it hurts.  It hurts to know she's ours and we couldn't get on a plane and bring her home 3 months ago.  I just want her to know what my arms feel like.  I want her to know what its like to go to the farm to celebrate Christmas, to see Grandma J's Christmas lights, to meet Great Grandpa Roling tonight.  I want you home.



I found the most beautiful song "Merry Christmas" by Third Day that writes about waiting for your child from China over Christmas.  I HAD to make a slideshow of special photos with that song.  Get your kleenex ready...



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Another photo slideshow by Smilebox




This will be your last Christmas without us baby girl.  Merry Christmas, Hope!


We are about a month away from getting our paperwork to China, also known as Dossier to China.  This is a HUGE step in the right direction.  We are anticipating travel in summer of 2012 to bring Hope home forever.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Christmas for Hope!

A piece of my heart is in China this Christmas.  The only things that are keeping my heart full are knowing that Carl and I will have a blast with the boys this year and that God has Hope wrapped in his loving arms so tight that I can feel them from all the way around the world.  I've had the house decorated for Christmas for a *few* weeks now (gasp, I know...it was just after Halloween).


The thing is....we're 7000 miles away from Hope and I didn't want any problems with the mail getting hung up through customs and not make it to her in time for Christmas AND I just couldn't send off her gifts and the gifts for her foster home brothers and sisters and ayis (nanny's) without having a picture of them under our tree.  There.  That's my wonderful excuse reason for decorating early.  She's worth it.  Sooo worth it!!

One full box was stuffed full of clothes and toys for the foster home that we used a vacuum sealed bag to maximize space in the flat rate shipping box, two were filled with gifts for Hope and one was filled with gifts for her caregivers.  I hope that our gifts will be a blessing to all the children and the loving people caring for Hope while she waits for us.  We found out this week that they've already safely made their way to China so Hope's Christmas is all ready for her.  I can't wait to see if the foster home will have pictures of all the kids opening their gifts on their blog.  We'll just have to wait and see!

We had such a wonderful time shopping for Hope.  Oh, it was so fun to hit the "pink" aisles :)
We carefully wrapped Hope's special gifts and got her a special "H" stocking to match the "C", "B", "L" and "S" hanging in our living room.  But the most important gift I bought was this...

Hope's very first baby doll!

I looked high and low to find Hope her very first baby doll which wouldn't have been so tricky if I hadn't been adamant that it couldn't be just any old ordinary baby doll, it HAD to be an Asian beauty just like our girl.  When I found this FAO Schwartz doll, the only Asian doll in our Toys R Us, it brought me to tears.  Its perfect!

Lincoln thought it was pretty cool, too.  He's sure she'll love it and I am too.


My mom couldn't resist shopping for Hope and added a few special things.  Sandals, new socks, a cute little outfit and a special book "It's Time to Sleep, My Love" by Nancy Tillman with the coordinating panda bear.

And then are the gifts from mom, dad and the boys.  New clothes, books, a puzzle,her baby doll and new jammies...


and a completely impractical, but absolutely stunning Christmas dress.  This is actually the dress that I would love to have her wear when we go for our consulate appointment that makes our adoption of her official in China, if it still fits by then.


I also have an extra special idea for this dress....
Do you want in on a little secret?

Of course, you do.


This dress might just end up being what my little princess wears when we take photos for HER fundraiser cookbook :)  That's right!  We're toying around with doing a cookbook fundraiser for Hope as well.  If I can pull it off, it'll be a collection of holiday recipes and traditions (all holidays, not just Christmas) from all of YOU. I'm thinking a great title would be "Hope for the Holidays."  What do ya think?

Hope is going to need even more surgeries than Sully has and our out of pocket expenses per year have now more than doubled.  I know God will make a way, but we'd be foolish not to start thinking now about how we're going to take care of her medical expenses and the cost of travel involved.  Hope's first surgery is scheduled for August 2nd, 2012 if she's home by then and I pray she is!

So this is where YOU come in :)

If you would like to share a recipe or a holiday tradition that your family has (even just a few sentences or an idea of what your family does to celebrate any particular holiday), I would LOVE it if you would send them my way!  I'll be collecting recipes and traditions for a while, but what better time to send them my way now when you already have them out to make all your favorite holiday recipes :)

The funds we've raised with Sully's cookbook over the last 2 years have been an absolute blessing beyond words.  God has provided in miraculous ways and we have no reason to doubt that he'll take care of Hope, too.  God is so good!! And something tells me.."Hope for the Holidays," Hope's medical fundraiser cookbook will be pretty good, too :)

You can send your recipes and traditions to:  

bethnagel@ymail.com

Beth Nagel
413 W 8th St
Dell Rapids, SD  57022

Monday, November 28, 2011

Fingerprint Appointments!

Today we got a special little appointment letter in the mail from the USCIS-Homeland Security with a time and date for our biometric fingerprints to be taken.  This is pretty exciting since it means we're moving in the right direction with our 797 approval.  Oh, how I want that approval so we can get the last of our paperwork authenticated and send everything to CHINA!!!  The sooner we get things there, the sooner our baby girl will be coming home :)  A little birdie told me that the gifts we sent her arrived on the other side of the world.  To think that this is the LAST Christmas she'll spend without fills me to the brim with joy.  Its gonna be a rough holiday, but the best is yet to come!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Thankful for Hope!

I've been seeing a lot of talk on Facebook of 30 days of Thanksgiving.  Of course, the idea is to take time to think about those things you are most thankful for.  Our lives have been richly blessed this past year in health and in love, especially by our two little boys and the little girl who has rocked our world!

2Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
We sent off four special boxes of things for Hope's foster home, her caregivers, her "brothers" and "sisters" and for her for Christmas this week.  I know its early, but I didn't want anything to get in the way of them making it there on time.  I want our girl to have a wonderful Christmas, even though we're on the other side of the world and I know that she will :)  The "Everyone is Thankful for ME!" shirt was tucked in with the gifts because I just couldn't pass it up.  Its so true.  EVERYONE is thankful for Hope in our house and amongst all of our family and friends.  She is so very loved already.  What an incredible blessing to wrap our heads around this thanksgiving!

1Chronicles 16:34 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

1. I am thankful for the internet that allowed me that first glimpse of her sweet face (and many more to follow).
2.  I'm thankful for Hope's two more notable birthmarks on her face, sharing with me the insight that she, too, was a perfectly polk-a-dotted baby.
3.  I'm thankful for the Doshier family, who met Hope at her orphanage and followed the Lord's leading to get her the care that she would need and to name her with such a beautiful name.  I'm thankful for their willingness to not only advocate for Hope, but to financially sponsor her at her foster home.
4.  I'm thankful for Hope's birthmother, who chose life for our sweet girl.  Without her, we wouldn't have Hope in our lives...literally.
5.  I'm thankful for her foster home and the phenomenal care she is receiving while she waits for us.
6.  I'm thankful for my adoption as a child of God and the beautiful inheritance He has for me as a coheir with Jesus Christ, or should I say heiress :) (LOVE Beth Moore's the Inheritance...the Bible study I'm doing right now!)
7.  I'm thankful for the miracle of Hope's referral on September 27th, 2011.
8.  I'm thankful for a husband who has joined me in my passion for adoption.
9.  I'm thankful for the two little boys who pray for their sister and share in our excitement at the process of bringing their MeiMei (little sister) home.
10.  I'm thankful for the way God opened our eyes to the world of Congenital Melanocytic Nevi through the birth of Sully.  I can't believe I'm saying it, but its true.  I'm thankful for Sully's birth mark!  Thank you, Jesus for polk a dotted babies :)

Thursday, November 17, 2011

I800a: Back in Texas


We received a notice on Tuesday, November 15th that our I800a application was received at the lock box back down in Texas and is being forwarded to the National Benefits Center.  This is the farthest we've gotten with our paperwork so things are looking pretty sweet right about now :)  What happens next is that we will wait for a notice indicating who the immigration officer will be that is assigned to our file and when our fingerprint appointment is scheduled for.  Then, we will go in (before our scheduled date and time), get down on our hands and needs and beg them to give us an earlier appointment.  There are no guarantees, but an earlier appointment MAY mean an earlier approval of this paperwork granting us the coveted "797" approval, verifying our suitability to adopt from a Hague Convention Country.  The wait time between receipt and approval is runs anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. Holt may have to do some leg work for us with Hope's referral if we can't make it in time for our December 27th DTC date.  Its not looking too promising at this point of meeting that time line, BUT anything is possible through Christ.  We will not be defeated by looking at the calendar.  The only timing that matter's is HIS and its always impeccable even if it doesn't make sense to us.  At this early stage in the game, our best estimates regarding when we will to travel and bring Hope home suggest May-July as the most likely window, but I'm praying for a Mother's Day miracle.  Won't you join me?  :)

After the 797, approval what's next?

We will expedite our certification and authentication of 3 documents at the Embassy in Washington, D.C. which should take about a week and then overnight our Dossier to Holt's headquarters in Oregon.  They will carefully look over everything and get our DTC (Dossier to China).  HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!!

From there, things will be a whirlwind for a few weeks as the legalities of obtaining a Log In Date, submitting our Letter of Intent for Hope and receiving our Provisional Approval to adopt Hope are received relatively quickly and then we begin a long wait to receive our official Letter of Acceptance which has been taking anywhere from 28-125 days!!!

Once that LOA comes, our estimated travel time will be narrowed in pretty well and we'll be up, up and away to bring our little angel home within about 5-8 weeks.  It gives me butterflies just thinking about it. 

Friday, November 11, 2011

Authentication: Round 1

There was a very important Fed Ex delivery today!  Our first batch of documents to be authenticated in Washington, D.C. at the State Department and the Embassy of Ch*na arrived.  The authentication process is simply a way of making a formal document, even more formal than it already was by verifying that it is a true original a fourth time (signed 1st, notarized 2nd, certified 3rd, authenticated 4th).  Here's what authentication looks like...



The process is getting more and more exciting as we get closer and closer to sending our completed dossier (aka important paperwork for adopting a child from Chi*a) off to the Far East.  This shipment of documents included everything we need for our dossier except Carl's new employment letter, an updated financial statement reflecting his new job and our approved 797 which is still in process with the USCIS.

So now we wait some more...
We wait on:
1. Hearing when our fingerprint appointment will be with the USCIS (we should hear in 2-3 weeks when that appointment will be, maybe less)
2. Receiving approval of our I800a application, granting us a 797 which grants Carl and I approval to adopt from China on the US side of things (praying this will be sometime around mid December, but who knows)
3. Sending off the last batch of documents to be certified in Pierre, SD and then to be authenticated in Washington, DC.  That will be the LAST step before we turn over the biggest part of our adoption paperwork.  After that Dossier is in Ch*na, we will still have a long wait in front of us but the worst of the paperwork is over.  That, my friends, will be a day to celebrate!!

In the meantime:
We're doing a bit of shopping for our girl, her nannies and her friends at her foster home for Christmas.  We have a very strict budget right now which makes things a bit tricky but Hope is going to have a wonderful Christmas with lots of special little things from all of us, even the boys.  We're wrapping and getting ready to send them off very soon.

Please pray for a very quick 797 approval.  It is taking around 60 days for this process from receipt to approval and we really don't have that kind of time if we are going to make it with our goal of getting our DTC by December 27th.  Praying that Holt has a plan in place if we're a little behind that Dec. 27th date.  I'm sure that they do and if not...well, I don't know.  God knows we don't have a back up plan.  Hope's our baby girl.  He's our plan and this is His story so we'll just keep givin' him the glory.  Can I get an AMEN??  :)  Authentication Round 1-Done!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption month.  I'll be completely honest that I've never observed this special month before.  I didn't even know it was coming up this month until I noticed so many blog posts from other adoptive families recognizing the orphan crisis in our world today.   The truth of the matter is that I am just now beginning to understand the depth of the problem of children needing families in this world.  Did you know there are 147 million babies in the world without families right now?  I didn't then, but now I do.  When our hearts were called to adopt, all we knew for sure was that we loved God and He called us to love this little girl.






And now here we are just six months after we saw this little picture and God has opened door after door after door to lead us to her and her to our home.  We love Hope.  Today Hope is just one of 147 million, but soon there will be "One Less" (cue the song "One Less" Matthew West) and she is going to make our family bigger and better than ever.  We aren't on a mission to change the world, but we're ready to do our part right now for this child.


If my I had heard just a year ago about the many children, both domestically and internationally, that needed families I'm sure my response would've been lack-luster.  My eyes and my heart were closed to the world's need and to the love that I most certainly had to share with a child grown not in my womb, but in my heart.  I had no idea that this is the special path we'd be heading down to follow God's lead, but He did and now we're "celebrating" our first Adoption Awareness Month with a whole new perspective.  Adoption is going to change our lives forever.  It already has.  I guess I just want to encourage those of you who may be feeling that gentle nudging on your heart for orphans.  Don't be afraid to step out in faith if your heart is drawn toward adoption.  Maybe God's plan for your family doesn't involve a journey around the world to a little one, but instead He will open doors to mentoring at risk youth, foster care, orphan ministries in your church or supporting adoptive families.


Happy Adoption Awareness month!!!  Just another month closer to bringing our baby home :)  


James 1:27 “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for the orphans and widows in their troubles  and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Math is Not Mama's Forte

Its not as if I didn't already know this, but Math is not my forte. My husband knows this all too well as he's witnessed my "finger math" time and time again throughout our 9+ years of marriage. So it should've come as no surprise when we received a important package in the mail this week from the USCIS thi week. I can't believe it, but apparently in spite of my meticulous organization when it has come to our adoption paperwork I failed to send a check for the correct amount for our I800a application. I shorted the government 20 bucks and that, my friends, is a BIG no-no. All of our application for "suitability to adopt a child from a Hague Convention country" was returned to us with a note that we underpaid and must resubmit everything. Jeesh... I guess this is why Mr. D had a fit with my sub-par math skills in Advanced Math back in high school.

What does this mean?

Well, it means a couple of things. First, we must resubmit our paperwork with the correct amount of money which is too much as it is but God has apparently had a few more things up his sleeve. I better recap where we're at with Carl's job search...

Because Carl lost his job we were already going to have to do an amendment to our application to update his employment situation within the next couple weeks. We were praying for Carl to find a new job FAST because so many things were contingent upon it...most importantly insurance! We have until the 31st to figure out our insurance situation which is coming really, really quickly. The amount of prayers and support and job leads Carl received was humbling and a blessing beyond our imagination. I'm not sure I could ever adequately describe what it feels like to be completely dependent on others for support in every way imaginable. This isn't the first time we've experienced that and my hunch is that it wont be the last if God has his way in our lives :) So the applications went flying out as Carl pursued every single lead that was shared with us, within a couple days the calls for interviews began (PRAISE GOD!!) and by Wednesday the 26th he received his first offer on the spot after his interview. The offer was okay, but the hours would be tough on our family. The benefits were good, but the job wouldn't begin until the very end of November. That would be a long time to go without any work but we were just so excited to hear "You're hired" that we figured the rest would sort itself out. Then a couple hours later Carl received a 2nd offer from a different company. Yep...I gotta believe that is a miracle. Another miracle God handcrafted for our family, and especially for my husband, to show us his mighty power and fulfillment of promises for us. Carl needed a job--In this economy, in this time, and FAST...that's what we prayed and what you prayed with us and he answered our prayers!! The second job offer was better. It had better pay, better hours and was also in the collections area...something that's not for everyone, but something which Carl has found as a niche because of his eagerness to help people get their money troubles straightened out and his kind, patient demeanor. The benefits? Not too bad. The best part? Adoption Benefit!!!!! Wells Fargo also had an adoption benefit for 5000.00 which we would have been eligible for and was actual a part of our decision to pursue adoption in the first place. Obviously, when Carl lost his job...we lost the adoption grant. BUT God had another plan. Carl's new job will also make us eligible to receive a similar adoption benefit. WOW!! It rings quite true to the bible study I'm doing right now, Beth Moore's "The Inheritance". She explained that God's very nature is to give...God will give and will take away, but ALWAYS gives back again. That's who He is!

So... Carl has a job, a good job, with benefits and it begins November 7th. A new beginning...here we go!

As far as our application goes, our I800a application was returned to us on Wednesday, October 26th (the EXACT date Carl was hired at his new job...how's that for God's perfect timing?) this means we may have a chance to correct mom's 20.00 slip-up AND update Carl's new employment status all in one shot. Maybe its not such a bad thing that math isn't mama's forte :)

Our I800a application was returned to us on Wednesday, October 26th.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

A Big Bump in the Road

This week we faced our very first giant bump in the road of our adoption.  It could be described more accurately as a "rip your car into pieces kinda of crater" with our process.  Carl lost his job on Wednesday.  (Giant Sigh)

My first thought was we're going to lose our baby.  Oh, the agony.  I couldn't breathe.  Carl was, as would be expected after nearly 10 years with the same company, devastated and in total shock.  After a frantic phone call to our agency in tears, we received a wonderful call of encouragement and support.  We've never doubted how wonderful Holt International was as an International Adoption Agency, but they have cemented their place in our hearts as more than an agency.  They have rocked!!

Yes, we are overwhelmed and have no idea how we're going to pay for our adoption at this point BUT as long as Carl can secure a job of any kind (even helping out at my family's farm) with a very modest income within the next 30 days our process will not be impacted.  We are still coming to get ya, baby girl!  We will have to update our I800a paperwork with current employment within that 30 day mark so as to not impact our timeline and everything else.

Carl has already had an interview and has two more lined up for this next week, all of which have been very promising especially with his great work history.  We've had such wonderful  support from so many friends and family who have been praying for and encouraging us through this big bump in the road.  We know and we trust that God's plan is bigger than our own.  He's shown us over and over and over that He is in control of even the smallest of details.  A job loss is not outside of his power.  A new job is definitely not outside of his control and care and love for us.  An unlikely adoption referral with the most perfect little girl for our family is absolutely within his power and HIS plan and HIS perfect timing.

While a job loss at this point in our adoption process feels pretty insurmountable, its NOT!  We are moving forward bolding with our plans and trust that God has this all figured out.  We'll just keep walking (and paper-chasing) for our special little girl...who just happened to have to get shots this week, she obviously wasn't happy (second from the left)--  :(


Friday, October 14, 2011

I800a submitted

The same time we sent off our documents to South Dakota's Secretary of State we also sent off a very important document to the USCIS.  The full name of the document is the "Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country" but its most commonly referred to as the I800a.  The USCIS will go through our application and our approved home study and decide whether or not we are suitable to adopt a child from China.  We are assured that this is not as scary as it sounds because we wouldn't have gotten pas the home study process if we didn't meet the guidelines.


Based on information taken from www.china-adoption-online.com this is what happens now that we have  sent our I800a off to Texas via express mail...





  • About 7-10 days after sending our USCIS Form I-800A and all supporting documents to the address listed above, we will receive a Notice of Receipt from the lockbox in Texas. 


  • Then our your application will be forward to the National Benefits Center (NBC) where all I-800A application are reviewed and approved!!


  • Several weeks after that, we will receive your biometric (fingerprint) appointments from USCIS. 


  • Once we've been fingerprinted at our local USCIS office, an officer will be assigned to our case. He or she will review our homestudy and your fingerprints, and if all are acceptable will then issue approval our approval!!!


  • Once your Form I-800A approval has been received by you in the mail, then you can notarize, state certify, and authenticate it for your dossier.  This is our very last step before tying up loose ends and getting our Dossier to China (DTC)!!!

And so we wait...and wait some more...

Home Study Approved!

On Friday, October 14th we received a pretty awesome package in the mail.  Our signed, sealed and delivered (not to mention notarized) Adoption Home Study!  This is the document that contains, in writing, every facet of our family life that you can imagine and will demonstrate to Ch*na and the USCIS (immigration services) that our family meets eligibility criteria to adopt from Ch*na and bring our daughter home.  One very big step has been made!!



Next step?  Send all of our documents off to the South Dakota Secretary of State to verify that the notary's we used and the documents we have prepared are "authentic."  This should only take a couple of days and our documents went in the mail TODAY!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Most Beautiful Birthday Girl in the World

Do you care to see the most beautiful birthday girl from the East in the world?  Of course, you do!  We were blessed to find a precious picture update this morning of some birthday photos of our little China doll at her foster home posted on their website.  I'm sure you'll agree she's simply scrumptious.  Sweet daughter of mine, You are an absolute treasure!

Making a very important wish...


Ohhh!!


I feel so pretty in my new clothes! Mommy is so glad you have a great fashion sense. Its going to come in very handy because your mama is the last of the ALL-TIME shoppers, meaning I love to shop All The Time :)

Are you really coming for me? Yes, baby...we are!
And you definitely are the most beautiful birthday girl in the world because Mommy & Daddy say so :)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

She Chose Life

Dear Birth Mother,
I know that today must be a very hard day for you.  I remember that day, too.  I remember how you held me and said goodbye.  I remember the scared look on your face and the tears that fell and kept coming.  I remember how you fed me and loved me those special days after I was born.  I know you did the only thing you could do for me out of love.  When I was placed on that chair, I know that you chose that special place carefully.  I'm sure you thought that the pediatric ward of the hospital was the only place that could bring me hope and a chance at life.  What a wonderful, careful choice you made!  I am so blessed!  You chose life for me, birth mother.  I am so grateful for you.  I am so grateful for this life you gave to me.  You may have thought that I had no chance of living because of my special skin.  You didn't know.  That's okay.  I'm going to grow up strong and healthy and absolutely beautiful.  God has wrapped me in his arms from the moment you couldn't hold me any longer.  I have a mommy coming for me and I am loved and cared for every day of my life.  People all around the world have prayed for me.  I know you have, too.  I know that today you're thinking of me and wondering what might have happened.  Oh, how my mommy wishes she could tell you the story and share with you the HOPE that I have because of God's powerful work in my life.  My mommy and daddy are on their way to bring me home.  They love me and know exactly how to take care of my skin because they have a little boy just like me and a big brother who I hear will be the best big brother in the world.  I can't wait to go home, but I will always know that you were my first mother...the one who chose life for me, the one who loved me first, the one who opened up a beautiful future of Hope for me by making the most difficult choice.  We are praying for you today, mother!  We hope that you know you are loved and cherished by me and the family I will soon call my own.
Love,
Xiang Fei
Hope Isabella Xiang Fei Nagel

Today marks one year ago when our daughter was found on a chair outside of the entrance to the pediatric ward of a hospital in the Guangdong Province of China.  I can only imagine what Hope's birth mother might have felt and experienced during the few short days she had with her child.  While Hope will have no memories of her birth mother, I'm sure that she will spend plenty of time in her life wondering about who she was and what brought about her decision.  I won't have answers to those questions, only guesses. These words may not be anything like what Hope will think and feel one day, but if she could talk today I wonder if this is what her letter to her birth mom might say.  The thoughts and feelings she has about her adoption and her birth family are for her to uncover herself, but I will always be quick to share the most important piece...her mother, her family, chose life for her.  I will always let her know that her mother's choice was a difficult one, but one that God has blessed richly with his love for her.  That is what I know.  I  will never know the details of what events led to our daughter's arrival in a hospital on October 4th, 2010 but I have hope that God has been and will continue to wrap her birth mother in His arms all the days of her life, just the way he's done for my baby girl.  That's what life is about...HOPE in Jesus Christ.

*The song playing on the blog today is in honor and thanksgiving for Hope's birth mother on this most difficult day for her.  Thank you is not enough for the gift of a child.  Thank you, Jesus for Hope!!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby!

Our birthday miracle came true and here we are on September 30th, 2011 soaking in the joy of our daughter's birthday.  What an amazing feeling.  Completely indescribable.  It really isn't possible that just a week ago I was saying, "There's no way we'll have her referral in time for her birthday, but that's what I'm praying for anyway."  Then I'd back slide a little bit and pray, "Please Lord show us just a little bit more about where her paperwork is at in the process."

He looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible, But with God everything is possible!"  Matt 19:26


And here we are just a few days later and we have been reminded over and over that NOTHING is impossible to Him who loves us more than we could ever imagine.  I feel it tonight.  I feel love like its running through ever vein in my body.  Life is so very good, but there's that little twinge of "I want more...I want her here with us NOW! that's lingering today on her very special day.

We are just figuring out all the good stuff we need to know about China like geography, climate, time differences :) and because the time in China is 13 hours ahead of us here in the Central time zone Hope's birthday is already past (Boo).  However, last night we had a very special little celebration during what would've been just in time for Hope's party at her foster home.  Carl, the boys and I made two videos for Hope wishing her a happy birthday and telling her who we are and how very much we love her.  We got out the special birthday plate from the cupboard...

pulled out a banana cream pie (totally not homemade) and put a candle in the top...

and sang happy birthday to our daughter and new baby sister on her first birthday.  We quickly uploaded them to vimeo and ta-dah!  Hope was able to see her mommy and daddy for the first time on her 1st birthday.  Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.  It probably always will.  We weren't able to get a package to her in time for her celebration but we know that there will be pictures coming soon of her at her party in a special birthday dress bought for her on our behalf.  This girl is loved, I tell ya!  Her cup is overflowing :)  I'll share her special party as soon as I see or hear something.

As if it wasn't a miracle enough that we know that we will be Hope's forever family on her 1st birthday, God reminded me of the seed he planted in my heart to adopt years ago earlier this week.  It never even dawned on me while I was praying so hard for a birthday miracle that God had shown me the miracle was already in motion years ago.

Look at this book...


About four years ago while on a trip to Madison to get Lincoln's hair cut we made a stop at the local Pamida and I was browsing through the bargain books bin and stumbled upon this book, "Every Year On Your Birthday."  I was instantly struck by the beautiful little Asian girl on the cover and quickly opened it to find a beautiful story written by an adoptive mother of a Chinese little girl and the thoughts and prayers that she prayed for her daughter every year on her birthday.  I bought the book and put it in my sewing room (the girliest room in our house) and have kept it there ever since.  I didn't even remember I had the book until Wednesday night when I was thinking about all of the ways God moved to put Hope in our lives (I wasn't sleeping...)  So when I woke up for good Thursday morning I ran downstairs to find the book and sit and cry as I read the pages.  Here are a few that hit me like a ton of bricks...

"Every year on your birthday I think about the day you were born, how the sun must have shone, or the moon looked so bright."

"I wasn't there, but I was thinking about you as I waited at home to be your new mother."

"Every year on your birthday, I think about the six Chinese girls who shared a big room with you in China.  They knew you before I did.  They are your first friends, like sisters, the ones who touched you and heard you cry and laugh for the first time."

""Every year on your birthday, we look up at the stars and remember your Chinese family.  They are a part of our family now, and I hope somehow they feel the magic of your love too."




There is so much of our birthday girl's story yet to unfold and yet God's handiwork is all over the place for us to enjoy as we go.

Its been a day of reflecting and joy and a few tears here and there.  I'm thinking about the mommy who carried Hope in her tummy.  She was the first person in the world who undoubtedly loved her with every fiber of her being.  She was the one who gave birth to her and faced the same shock and despair that I did just two short years ago.  She was the one fed her and loved her for at least a couple of days before making the ultimate sacrifice in g leaving her in God's hands on a chair outside the entrance to the pediatric ward of a hospital on October 4th, 2010.  My heart breaks for her because I know how she must have felt giving birth to such a beautiful angel.  I know the fear.  I know the heart break.  Oh, how I wish her mommy would've had a chance to feel the joy I feel today on this her birthday.  I pray that she's filled with hope about her daughter's future.  Hope's birth mama will always be in my prayers.  Never a day will go by that I'll take for granted that my joy in being Hope's mom began out of the despair of another.

Dear Hope,
Its your special day!  Happy 1st Birthday, baby girl :)  May your days be filled with love and happiness until we make our way to you.  It may seem like a long wait, but often times the best things in life are those we must wait for.  We consider it a privilege to wait to be your mommy and daddy, although its pretty hard because you're so very precious and we just wanna scoop you up and bring you home NOW!!  While you've not yet felt the warm of our hugs or heard that crazy laugh of your mama's on your birthday this year, there will be a time soon when you'll hear and feel and taste all the love you can imagine coming your way.  This birthday will be your last birthday without us, Hope!  May you always remember that you were fearfully and wonderfully made exactly as you are today and that God is in complete control of your life with his infinitely loving ways.  We prayed for a birthday miracle that you would know you have a mommy and a daddy on their way and we would know you were ours by September 30th...you birthday.  God gave you your miracle, baby girl, and he gave us ours too...YOU!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Lincoln & Sully

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Big Brother Love

There has been a whole lot of Hope talk around our home the last couple days and the boys are both picking up on this little sweetie's place in our family :)  Today on the way home from school I was trying to explain to Lincoln why the social worker was coming tonight to visit.  I told him that she was going to come and help us to bring Hope home.  Here is how the conversation unfolded:

Lincoln:  What can't Hope's mommy get in her car and bring her here?

Mom:  Lincoln, Hope's family couldn't take care of her so right now she doesn't have a mommy or a daddy or a brother so that's why your daddy and I are going to go to China and bring her home to our family so I can be her mommy, daddy can be her daddy and you and Sully can be her big brothers.

Lincoln:  But why doesn't she have a mommy?

Mom:  I don't know, but maybe they didn't know how to take care of a baby with a birthmark like hers and like Sully's but we do and you need a baby sister, don't you think?

Lincoln:  Yeah...

Just a couple hours after we had this little talk  Lincoln amazed me when he was able to tell the social worker without any coaching that "Hope doesn't have a mommy or a daddy or a brother so we're going to be her family."  Oh son, YOU GET IT!!!  Lincoln's love is growing by leaps and bounds for his sister already. Its going to be so fun to see the boys get wrapped around our little girl's finger...and ours :)

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Introducing Our Daughter!!

It is with overwhelming joy and excitement that we introduce to you our daughter...

Hope Isabella Xiang Fei Nagel

Born September 30th, 2010 in the Guangdong Province of the People's Republic in China

We received "the call" this afternoon informing us that our agency had indeed secured the file of Hope for our family.  We are MATCHED!!!  The longing of my heart to be this little girls mommy has come to be.  Only God could have orchestrated the many details that had to align so perfectly for us to be matched with this sweet little one.  I cannot fully wrap my mind around it all yet.  My heart is raw and so full of love and awe of how big and mighty and absolutely amazing God is.

Look at my baby girl...


We knew that Hope was developmentally doing very well and her referral confirms that.  She is reported to love music, is bonded well to caregivers but not afraid of strangers, has been a very healthy little girl, sleeps well, is active, carries a ready smile and laugh, obstinate sometimes (haha), impatient sometimes, is full of personality and adored by her caregivers. 

Medically, her skin looks very good.  She is perfectly spotted everywhere :)  While she has a lot of nevus to deal with...most of her back, her bottom, her, hip, parts of her tummy and some big spots on her legs and one on her arm...she also has a lot of areas of "good skin."  There is not a shadow of a doubt that Dr. Bauer will have my little girl all fixed up in no time.  

We still have a long road of paperwork ahead, but we know that this little girl will one day come home to the family who's loved and prayed for her like crazy.  She's ours and we're so very in love!

Its the middle of the night...

Its 12:57am and my night of sleep is OVER!  Just last week we learned that Hope's paperwork had been submitted to the CCCWA and that as of a couple of weeks ago it was in translation.  When I heard that my hopes instantly soared thinking that her file could be "ready" sooner rather than later.  Then I learned that tonight, in the middle of the night, the newest batch of available children with special needs would be released to the list of "ready to be adopted" children.  My hopes soared even higher.  I thought, "There's a REALLY good chance that her file could be released with this group."  So I did what any potential adoptive parent who knows that God is in control of even the most minute of details does...

I began begging for people to pray with us for  "a birthday miracle."  You see, Hope's first birthday is this Friday, September 30th.  She will turn one in a very special foster home with people who love and adore her, but she won't have her mommy and daddy there with her.  The only consolation to that sad reality would be if God could orchestrate a divine miracle in the life of our family and His precious daughter, Hope...blessing her and her future family with the knowledge that she has a family that is on its way!!!

"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my request before you and wait in expectation."  Psalm 5:3

I'm pretty sure that I never stopped praying since about last week Wednesday about the possibility that tonight would be "the night" when we would learn if Hope's file would be ready.  What this all means is kinda complicated but I'll briefly break it down into steps.

If Hope's file is ready, then she is officially available to be matched with a family...

If she's available to be matched with a family, then we are praying that she will be placed on a specific list for children with more significant needs.  This is a multi-faceted "praise" if she is because it allows our family to lock her as our child well before the typical matching process would take place (meaning instead of not knowing who our daughter is until January-ish...we could know next week!!).  It also means that we would become eligible for more grants based on the severity of Hope's needs.  Every penny saved is crucial to us being able to complete the process and stay afloat....

If Hope is on the Special Focus list (for children with more moderate to severe significant needs/older children), Holt must work to get Hope's file designated to them to find her a home.  If anyone can do this, they can :)

If Hope becomes a designated "Holt Special Focus" baby, we will be able to view her file, pray over it, send it around to a few important doctors and make a final decision about our intent to adoption her as our baby girl.

The rest is a whole lot more paperwork which will be much more meaningful down the road, but the most important part is that we get her file, prayerfully review all the information and make our decision to pursue her.  Then we wait for provisional approval and on and on the waiting game continues. We are expecting that we could travel sometime in the late spring/early summer at this point.

So let me cut to the chase here.

At 9:00pm I received an email from our agency containing these words, "we think we found your girl :)"

Oh dear Lord, could it be!?!?!  That was all the email said.  What does that mean?  Did they find her on the shared list?  Was it the special focus list?  She wouldn't have said "your girl" if things weren't positive, would she?  Could God be so good as to bless us with yet another miracle!?!?  Will Hope be ours, Lord?  Oh please let her be ours!!!


After many shed tears of joy and a couple phone calls, I tried to settle down for the night.  I knew that the chance of getting a good night's sleep was slim to none and now...well, no way.  So I put my phone on silent, knowing I'd be checking it a gazillion times for more emails from Holt without giving myself a chance to fall asleep.

At 12:30am I rolled over and saw my phone flashing and scanned through the latest emails to find yet another email from Holt.  Yes...Yes...YESSSSSSSS!!!!!  "Yep (she was on the special focus list)...we are doing well and I will give you a call as soon as possible in the am."

Heavenly Father, how could I every doubt your love for me?  I have such a small faith and you've blessed my family over and over and over with such obvious miracles.  I asked for a birthday miracle and even though it seemed a little silly you knew my heart and answered my longing with gifts greater than I ever dreamed possible.  When I think of how I'll share this story with our sweet girl, I'm speechless.  If it wasn't for living this journey and seeing Your hand in it over and over and over, I might not believe it if I was told.  The timing?  Amazing.  The circumstances?  Unbelievable.  The story of bringing a precious little girl to our family?  Miraculous!


So now in the middle of the night, with tears streaming down my face, I write with joy that tomorrow morning God will shed new light onto the life of a sweet girl we've loved since before we ever saw her precious face.  A girl who has been completely wrapped in love by God's own hands since before she was knit together in her mother's womb and in my heart.

"Blessed is she who has believe that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"  Luke 1:45

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."  John 1:16


We may very well get our birthday miracle.  Hope may get her birthday miracle, too!

Friday, September 16, 2011

They don't "get" it

There are some people in my life that just don't "get" adoption.  They don't "get" why we would want to flip our lives upside down, making sacrifices of every kind imaginable, to adopt at this point in our lives.  They don't "get" why we would be willing, or even eager, to embark on another an unpredictable journey with a child we know will have a special challenge of some kind to face.  These are the same well-intentioned folks that insist on questioning us and our parents over and over about the cost of adoption and whether or not we are 100% sure that our adoptive child's medical care will not be considered a pre-existing condition (and therefore not covered by insurance).   They just don't get it...

She's worth it!

She's worth the hours of paperwork we've put in, the money we've put away, the tears we'll shed for her, the worry of how we'll meet her needs, the sacrifices we'll make with our finances...she's worth every bit of it.

Our daughter, while not conceived in my womb, is every bit as real and already a part of our family as the two living, breathing sons playing trains downstairs right now.  I know people have a hard time wrapping their heads around that, but its true.  Our daughter will not be known as our "adopted daughter" for the rest of our life...she will simply be our little girl.  The distinction of her being adopted is going to be no more significant than the color of her eyes or the sound of her laugh when it comes to who she is.  Just as we've never wanted Sully's birthmark to define him we don't want our little girl's adoption to define her.  Its a special part of who she'll be, but its not the only part.

And just to set the record straight to those of you who still don't "get" it...yes, yes a thousand times yes! Our daughter will be our daughter in every sense of the word and that means she'll be a little Nagel to the state of South Dakota, to the United States of America, to the People's Republic of China and the ever-important health insurance company.  Whatever needs she may have will absolutely be covered by our insurance.  I'm not saying we may not need to fund raise for medical and travel expenses down the road just as we have for Sully, but our little honey will be covered.

I hope that more people will "get" adoption and that God will move in powerful ways to set orphans in the families they deserve.  He moved our lives and he's still moving people :)  I can't think of a better example of the value of life than that of Paige.  You can go here to read about her life.  She was worth it.  ALL orphans are, especially our little angel.

PS On a super positive note, our social worker is coming out the week of September 26th for our first home study visit!!!  We're also about a week and half away from being able to check the status of Hope's dossier again.  Always praying.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Filling our "Hope" Chest

This past week has brought a big milestone in our adoption process.  We are home study "ready."  Our paperwork was reviewed in Omaha on Friday and as long as things look okay our file will be passed on to a social worker who will conduct the "study" of our family.  We are hoping to hear from the social worker early this week to get our first appointment on the calendar.  This "study," which basically is a written document describing every detail of our family life, is our representation to the China Adoption Affairs representatives and everyone else who will be helping to unite us with our daughter.  Its a very important piece of this adoption journey and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about how it will go.  I am....very nervous, that is.  I think we have a great family and all but its kinda weird having someone examine our family in such a personal way.

When I think about our little one waiting for us on the other side of the world I've been struck lately by the reality that she has already been born.  Our daughter's miraculous birth has already taken place, but the circumstances of which will probably always be a mystery.  Her birth family has already made such a great sacrifice in giving her a chance at a life they didn't feel they could give her, but that will probably always be a mystery as well.  I just wish I could fast forward in time and see who our little girl will be.  Will she have chubby little baby cheeks?  Will she be busy like Lincoln?  Will she be spunky like Sully?  All of these things are a great big mystery, but yet I have to keep reminding myself that the journey to our little girl is a story that can't be written in a day, a week or even a month.  The only one who knows the beautiful fairy tale ending (and yes, I believe there will be one) is God Almighty and he'll reveal all those precious details to us in His perfect timing.

While we wait on His precious timing I have begun having a strong desire to....well, shop :)  When Sully was a baby I bought him a very special blanket that was a giraffe print and the softest minky you could ever find with a ivory satin edge.  It was beautiful and I apparently wasn't the only one who thought so.  I left it at a Dr.'s office when Sully was a few months old and it was never "found."  Well, I just so happened to find the My Blankee outlet center on the great www and stumbled upon this sweet little ladybug blankie that has my daughter's name all over it (even though I'm not sure what her name is yet-haha).  It arrived Fed Ex on Thursday :)  Its extra special because ladybug's are a symbol of Chinese adoption and polk-a-dots are kinda special to us nevus families too.  This blanket will go into my little "Hope" chest of things I've been picking up here and there for our little sweetie.  


I'm going to have to be careful or the Hope chest may explode :)

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Not yet...

We've learned that Hope's dossier is not ready yet in China.  The agency is going to a check on her file about once a month so it looks like we'll have to wait until this time next month and check again.  Its not a big surprise and I'm not terribly disappointed, knowing that these things take time and God may have an entirely different plan in store for us.  We are going to continue to pray that her paperwork would move through seamlessly and so would ours so we can "meet in the middle!"

In the last week I've been so blessed by two ladies who have been showering  Hope and our entire family with prayer.  One of the women I became connected with online has actually been praying specifically for Hope for a long time and was longing to know if there was a family pursuing her.  Its quite the story and I'll have more to share about how God has used her and has brought us together.  I'm simply amazed at how BIG and how GOOD God is.

You may notice that some photos are no longer here on my blog of Hope.  If you'd like to see new photos of her, I will be sure to include links to the photos on her foster home's blog.  There is a fine line about how much information a foster home can share on the Internet and with those people praying for and pursuing adoption of the children they care for.  There are many guidelines and laws impacting Chinese adoption and we don't want to do anything that could compromise our adoption process.

Of course once we have officially received our referral and know who our daughter will be, pictures will be a MUST and once given the adoption agency stamp of approval we will post as many as we get :)

So we're still praying and waiting which we're learning is VERY typical to this adoption process.  I guess we better get used to it!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Special Focus Child!?!?

I don't know how to write this update without posting my optimism so I'm just gonna go with it.  We received a gentle nudging from some adoption friends asking about whether or not our adoption agency is willing to try and secure Hope's paperwork for their agency and for us.  Of course, that is what we're trying to do and our agency has been aware of that.  But yet it got me to thinking that I should probably make a call to the director of  Holt's China program to see if there is anything more we should be doing in trying to secure  Hope's file for our family.

So yesterday I made the call.

After a great visit I learned a bit more about the way in which we might be able to secure Hope's file which is far different from how I had originally thought the process would go.  I thought that because Hope's condition is correctable that she would be considered a "Child of Promise."  Child of Promise adoptions take place when a child available for adoption with a minor, correctable condition is placed onto a shared list and all agencies scramble to those children to match them with their adopting families-usually during the middle of the night on the computer-when they are released.  This is kind of a difficult situation because so many variables go into whether your agency is able to lock a child's file before its locked by another party.  Its very iffy and that is how we assumed Hope's  file would be handled.

But it sounds like we were wrong.  And that's a VERY GOOD thing.

The China Program Director feels that Hope's condition, while certainly correctable, is not likely to be considered "minor" which therefore makes her eligible for a different type of matching process.  We are now 99% sure that Hope's adoption will be a part of a Special Focus group for children whose conditions are considered to be more involved or significant.  We don't see it that way, but I guess needing a bunch of surgeries is a sure thing so thats enough to qualify as "significant."  Special Focus children are able to be matched with families through a much different process and one that eliminates  the challenges of snatching a child from a shared list in the middle of the night with no guarantees.

To put this complicated process in very simple terms:  There is a chance that if Hope's file is ready for adoption in China right now that we could lock her file very soon without all of the unknowns of the shared list and waiting until we have a Log In Date.  It seems our odds of being able become Hope's forever family have increased.  God is moving mountains and parting the seas to bring our daughter home!

As if that isn't good enough news for one day, check out this big girl standing up in the middle of the floor all by herself at just shy of 11 months old!  Click here for the picture we discovered :)

At this point, I can barely sleep wondering if her paperwork is ready and if we could be getting our referral in the next week or so.  I know that I won't know anything until next week, I suppose.  My gut tells me that her paperwork hasn't been started yet by her home orphanage, which means a wait of at least one to two months before we could secure her file.  That is still much sooner than when we were expecting a referral...more like January/February which is so very encouraging.  If you're in the business of praying and would be so kind to pray for our family, we could really use prayer that this part of the process goes smoothly and that we would know who our daughter will be as soon as possible!  Next week would be great :)

PS.I should add that even though we may know who our daughter is earlier than the typical process, it will not speed the process up all that much at all.  Maybe a few weeks at most, but we're plugging away!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Home Study?!?

You may be wondering what this Home Study business is all about.  Basically, its an opportunity for a social work to meet with us and learn about our family.  They will be talking to us as a family and also individually about who we are and what has brought us to our interest in adoption.  They'll be making sure our home is a safe, loving environment for a child to call home as well.  I'm actually really looking forward to it because when the visits are complete (2-3...I don't really know for sure), the social worker will put together a document that tells all about our family so that our agency and China will know all about us as they match us with a child.

There is one glitch to our Home Study already, but those hiccups are to be expected in this process and we are simply rolling with the punches at this point.  Our Home Study will not be officially "complete" and ready to be authenticated in Washington, DC (the last stop before it goes to China with the rest of our Dossier) until we attend a Parenting class (called Parents In Process or PIP class) in Omaha which is only offered every other month.  This month there was a class that was offered and is actually happening right now as I type this, but we couldn't attend because I didn't want to have to take off of work my second day of school.  That would be trying to pack to pack too much in to this very busy time.  So we have to wait for the PIP class to be offered again on October 7th and 8th.  We will not have our Home Study officially complete until that time and that's okay :)

For now, we're just praying that we're healthy and strong enough for the Chinese government to consider us acceptable candidates to adopt one of their precious children.  We'll see...

FBI Clearance!

On August 18th we found out that our prints for the FBI have cleared and that we have recieved police clearance from criminal and child abuse activity from the state of South Dakota (for both Carl and I) and Minnesota and Iowa for Carl!

Apparently we weren't on the FBI's Most Wanted List...go figure :)

We are getting very close to beginning our home study which is very exciting.  The only remaining steps are our health physicals which are scheduled for Monday, August 22nd for me and Wednesday, August 31st for Carl.  After those are complete and our test results come back, we will be ready to for the social worker to come out and begin this next step!

Passports are Here!

On August 8th we recieved our Passports in the mail!  We can travel outside the country and can't wait to get our China stamp in our book :)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Sweet Little Toes

I was just talking to a friend yesterday who is also in the early stages of adoption.  We were giggling as we talked about the ways that bonding may be different with these special additions of ours.  She said, "I wonder if I'll need to like wear a low cut shirt so we can have that "kangaroo" time when we first meet(skin-to-skin bonding which is considered very valuable to newborns/infants)?" We laughed, but in all seriousness...there is a lot about bonding with an adopted child that is uncharted waters.  Will we still marvel at every little feature on our daughter's sweet little body?  Will we spend an abundance of time admiring her precious little hands and her adorable little toes.  yes. Yes. YES!!  I am sure that just like we have with our little bio, our bonding may be slightly different but there will be no stopping the awe that will come from soaking in God's handiwork designed perfectly in every way.  Ahhhh...I can't wait!
This morning while checking New Day's blog I realized that Hope's pretty little spotted toes were helping to "decorate" their site this morning.  Oh.  So.  Sweet! (Notice how they have her in a hat to protect her from the sun...thank you, Jesus for the wonderful care she is getting!)


Praying for the special family who will get to soak in every special thing about her from the top of her head to those precious little toes.  Give this baby a family, dear God!!  May your will be done in her life and ours.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Passports!

We sent in our passport applications on Thursday, July 21st over Carl's lunch hour. They said it would take about 3-4 weeks to get them.  We need valid passports to travel to China, of course, but we also need valid passports for our Dossier.  I'll explain all about the Dossier another time, but suffice to say its a VERY important document in our adoption journey and we are in the "gathering" phase of getting that ready to send to China. 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

"Hope"-ful Update

I have gone back and forth about whether I should even be posting about Hope, the sweet little girl who has been pretty influential in getting our adoption plans rolling, until the time we are officially matched with a child. After all, Hope may not turn out to be our forever child and then what? What if I have all these updates and information about a little girl who turns out not to be our daughter at all? Something tells me that my sadness in not being able to snatch Hope up will be quickly filled with the joy of knowing who our child is and that Hope will have a family of her own as well.  Not to mention that our daughter, whoever she may be, will know that God uses all kinda of people and places together for the good of those who love him. There is no doubt about it. Hope is part of our daughter's story whether Hope is our daughter or not. Hope is being used for the good of our family and the good of our daughter-to-be. What a special gift she's already given to us all!

"It will all come out in the warsh." as Grandma Julia would say. While we wait to learn who our daughter will be, I am continuing to pray for Hope and loving her to the best of my ability as a "sponsor" from this side of the world.

we're clean, I promise

We just received the first to documents back that will go into our Dossier (pronounced Daws-ee-ay) to send to China. The Dossier is the most important document of our entire adoption process and will take us the next 4-6 months to complete. Once we collect all of the notarized documents we need, then these documents must go back to Pierre to be certified as being official and then they go on to Washington, DC to be authenticated one final time before heading to China. Its a big deal, a really big deal so the first arrival of documents for our Dossier is pretty cool. It means a couple of check marks off of a big, long list but its progress.

While we assured them in our signed and notarized application/agreement that we have clean records with regards to criminal offenses (speeding tickets don't count...thank goodness :), we needed proof. The state of South Dakota has declared that Carl A Nagel and Beth A Nagel are clean, squeaky clean. Oh, and they weren't afraid to notarize that either.

We have police clearance for both our home study and our dossier (thank you Julie McDonald for that time-saving tip!)

We're a teeny tiny step closer to you, baby girl!  Mommy is really enjoying using her type A part of her eclectic personality to organize our adoption guidebook, fill out online requests for documents and try and figure out this whole international adoption thing.  I've also been spending a little bit of time dreaming about what we will name you and how I'm going to turn the nursery into a very special place for you.  I think your big brothers are going to be very excited when they see the bunk bed plans I have for their room :)
 

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