Finally some news!!!

Yesterday we called our agency to see if they had received our paperwork from the Chinese Embassy. They said it would take about 3 weeks for the papers to be approved/stamped so we were thinking they would be done any day. The social worker that has been taking great care of us at LHAA went on maternity leave last week and so we now have to contact another person who is filling in for her. So when we called her to check on the papers, she informed us that they had received the papers last week from the Chinese Embassy and they had already sent our dossier to China. WHAT!!! Was not expecting to hear her say that! I was just hoping to hear that they had received the papers back and were getting them ready to go to China. That was super exciting to hear:) So now what happens is that we wait for our log in date. This is where China lets us know that they have received our papers and are going through them. We do not have to wait until the papers are approved to receive this log in date. So good news there! That will take about a month before we receive that. Once we have the log in date, we are able to be put on the list to be matched. The agency will receive a monthly list from China of children that are eligible for adoption. Our agency will look at that list and see if there is a child that matches our criteria. If they find a match, we will receive that child's information and can decide yes we want this child or we can decline and wait for a different child's file. This happens once to twice a month. Once they match us and we accept, we will have a picture and information about our little girl. So hopefully sometime in May/June we will be matched with our daughter and finally be able to put a face with her:)

I am so excited, nervous, anxious all in one trying to be patient! So to try to keep my excitement to a minimal, I'm trying to occupy my time with prepping for the garage sale, making/selling bows, and beginning to decorate the girls room:) I want to thank everyone who has already given us some things for the adoption garage sale. Our dining room is already overflowing with things! You guys are the best and we so thankful for every one of you!! If you would like to donate items to our garage sale we would so appreciate it. We would be happy to pick it up for you too. If you have any questions please feel free to get ahold of us. The sales are April 30, May 1 and May 2.

I think that's it for now:) Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. They definitely have an impact and are what's getting us through this adoption. Hopefully next time there will be a really exciting update next about receiving our log in date and maybe a picture!!!;)

What's going on

Here's what's going on right now. We are still waiting to hear back from the Chinese Embassy in NYC. We are hopeful that in the next week we will hear that they have authenticated our paperwork and it can be sent to China's government.

As far as ways that you can be involved if you feel called to help us bring our little girl home. There are a few options as of right now.

* There is a portrait party fundraiser that is happening next weekend. A friend and local photographer has put together this fundraiser for us. You get a really good deal on spring pictures of your children and support us all at the same time. Here is the link if you would like more information.

http://kathrynproto.com/portraitfriendsdetails/

* At the beginning of May we are doing a garage sale. As you are spring cleaning and purging to make room in your house, we would love to take your junk or anything that you would be willing to donate to our garage sale. We would love to come pick it up from you too!! The more the merrier:)

* We have been approved for a special project called Both Hands. Things are still in the works but our site is open and you can make a tax deductible donation to our adoption. So if you feel called to give a monetary donation to bringing our daughter home, you can do so by mailing it in and shortly it will be available online as well. If you would like more information on this project you can visit their website. When we have all details we will let you know what's going on and what this great opportunity we have through this organization to raise funds for our adoption.

If you mail in your donation here is what you would need to do.

Mail checks payable to:

Both Hands

PO Box 2713

Brentwood, TN 37024

Attach a piece of paper indicating your giving preference is “Smits #160 adoption” 

http://www.bothhands.org/home

* I have a little side bow business. A few friends have asked for a few orders, so I thought while I'm in the process of filling their orders, I would see if anyone else needed any bows for their little girls. I can make any size and color. The big bows are $3.50 and smaller bows are $2.50. I do make infant bows too that are $1.00 a bow. This picture is the ribbon that I currently have. I can get any color if I don't have what you're looking for. I do need to get a light pink. If I need to ship it to you, we can figure that out:)


So if you have any questions please feel free to contact Aaron or I. Thank you so much to those who have already done so much for us. We are so grateful for you and can't thank you enough for making it possible to bring our little girl home!!!