Happy 7 months Ella!

     It will be a month this week that we received the phone call. Ella turned 7 months last Thursday. I wonder if she is sitting up yet and how much she has changed already since the first picture.
     We finally finished the online adoption coarse we had to take. We are done on our end. Now we have to wait on our government and Korea's to finish the rest.
     This week in Korea they are celebrating Chusok which is the Korean thanksgiving. Families come together for a ceremony of thanksgiving to their ancestors and visit their tombs. Fathers enjoy a relaxing week's holiday and mothers are kept busy cooking special Korean dishes. I love that there is so much respect for family.
      Because it is the week of Chusok, Holt will be closed. There will be no news this week for sure. I can't help but think that she is not with her family. But our thoughts will be with her all week and thankful she will be with us in a couple of months. Keep the prayers coming for our I600 and emigration permit.
   

Legals and mailed I600

     Well it has been over two weeks since we got the phone call about Ella. I had no idea how much harder the wait would get after seeing her picture. We cannot get her here soon enough.
     Shopping has already taken place by multiple family members. We mailed her care package last week. I hope she gets it soon. They are usually good about making sure they get it and a lot of times they will send a picture of them with their gifts. We are definitely hoping to get a new picture.
     We received her legal paperwork from Korea Friday and we mailed I600 Friday as well to declare her as a family member. Everything is out of our hands once again. Everything else is in the hands of Holt Korea.
     We ask for prayers for several things: for her safety and health, for USCIS to issue our I600, for Korea to submit and approve emigration permit very quickly, that she would be able to come home in December, and for us as we wait. Is that too much to ask for? I hope not!
     A friend of mine had posted this post on her facebook page and I thought it was perfect for how we are feeling. " I am not the author of my own story. My narrative is being penned by One who is the definition of all that is wise, loving, pure, true, and good. But since I am in the story, I am often called to wait. So, Lord, once more I ask for the grace to wait not only so that I can get what I'm waiting for, but that I will become what you want me to become while I wait."
                                                                P.D. Tripp
   

Referral! Intoducing Ella Marie

                                                                                  
      How many of us really can recall a specific time that God is visibly working in our life? I don't think he could have been more visible than he was today. We started the morning off at the hospital to welcome our dear friends baby boy into the world. It is always a miracle when a healthy baby is born. We were excited to add joy to the most dreaded day of the year for us which is the day our sweet Cambell Grace was born. .It was such a joy to see his precious newborn face and his proud family.  That was just the beginning of the joy that is yet to come for the day.
      I spoke with my sister-in-law, Kerry, today on the phone and she said, "Call me when you get your referral today." We just laughed. I have had several friends telling me August was going to be our month. Brittany had even said, "Wouldn't it be great if it was the 24th!"
     Nolan and I had lunch with Nat, his sister Lisa, and her husband Doug, at Garcia's. We headed home because Nolan needed a much needed nap before we picked Nathaniel up from school. Shortly after getting him to bed my phone rang. It was the call we have anticipated all year.  Jessica from Holt told me she had a baby girls file in hand and she thought we would be interested. After filling me in on the details the tears started rolling. I knew this was going to be our daughter!!!!!! I called Nat to get home so that we could open her picture together.
     After rushing home we waited anxiously for the email to come through. I called due to my impatience and she said it would be just a few more minutes. Finally the email popped up and I cannot begin to explain the feeling of overwhelming excitement and joy. She was so beautiful and perfect in our eyes. Our first thought was how pretty she was. We read through all her family and medical backgrounds and so thankful that she is healthy. The doctors all described her as alert, fine, cute, and adoptable without any medical problems. We were speechless and overwhelmed by God's perfect timing.
    We are now in the process of acceptance paperwork. We ask for prayers that the next 4 to 6 months goes smoothly and that we can get her home as soon as we can. We hope to have her before her first birthday on February 16th.
     We questioned for a year if adoption was really what God wanted for us. Wow! has He made it visible or what? We are still overwhelmed with all He has done in our life over the past four years. This just really topped it off getting our referral on Cambell's day. Beth Moore stated in one of her studies once, "If you feel like God is calling you to do something and you don't do it, you are the one that misses out." We are so thankful He kept opening the doors for us so we did not have to "miss out." August 24th will always be a sad day for us but now it is blessed also with joy!
    We feel so blessed! Please pray for her and that we continue to get healthy well baby checks and that we can get her home! We are beyond thrilled! Nat's fortune cookie the day before said, "You will be crossing the great waters soon." We hope that is really soon!

   

Summer is coming to an end

We have had a great summer and it is coming to an end very soon. Our vacation in Vero Beach was wonderful. We enjoyed great quality time together and celebrated the Fourth of July with amazing fireworks over the water. Nolan loved the sand. Nathaniel enjoyed the waves and fishing.

Nathaniel started first grade two weeks ago and loves it. He is my social butterfly. I am not so sure he enjoys the academics. He has the teacher he really wanted. He is happy!

My  baby turned three years old on August 10th. He asked me for weeks, "Is it my birthday yet?" Broadway the clown came to help us celebrate along with friends and family.

Many have asked me have we heard any news on the adoption. We are still just waiting for that email to come along with our referral. I am trying to be patient. I feel like we are so close! I check my email and read the forum daily. Pray we receive our referral before Holt meets their quota for the year. Otherwise we will have an even longer wait time.We will keep you posted!

Summer Update

We are becoming very anxious for our referral as we might be closer than we originally thought. We know of three couples who turned in their paperwork just weeks before us has already received their referrals. I found this out last Friday night while everyone in the house was already asleep. I couldn't stand it so I woke Nat up and he said, "Don't get your hopes up." Well it has not worked because my hopes are pretty high these days.


The golf tournament for Joseph's Hope foundation was on Monday. It was a success! We had a half day at Crosswinds with 68 players and donations were also made. We hope to make this an annual event. Plan on coming next year! We are already thinking of other fundraisers. I think the next one might be at Park Mammoth shooting range with a competition.


I finished writing book reviews today and put them in the mail. We are required to read five books and watch a medical DVD for educational purposes. The only thing we have left to do before we would go to Korea is an online adoption class. It is hard to find the time when you have two little boys running around here.


I try to wait patiently. However, I am not very good at that. I know God has already chosen our baby and we just have to wait for her on his timing. Nathaniel is getting very excited too. When I told him about the other families getting their referrals he couldn't stop hugging me. He is going to be crazy about her even though he pretends girls are yuck!


Summer so far has been a blast! We have been swimming and at the lake a lot. We are headed on a family vacation with my in laws to Vero Beach. This will be Nolan's first big trip to the beach. Last time he had just started walking the week before. He is going to love the sand! Nat really dislikes sand on him so I have already made him take an oath that he will not whine about it for the boys sake. If he does one more shopping day for me! Ha Ha!


Nathaniel called Nat today and asked if he could buy me a gift. He said he would use all his money in his bank. He told Nat that I really wanted the just dance wii game , which I did, and that he wanted to go get it for me. I think it might be one of the best gifts I have ever gotten. We danced our hearts out. By the way it is an awesome workout. If you have not tried it you really should.


Keep the prayers coming for our baby girl! Maybe it will be sooner than we thought! We will keep you posted.

Spring Update

I thought I would add a little spring update. Nolan and I began Easter weekend at mom and dad's while Nat and Nathaniel went turkey hunting. Sunday we celebrated with Nat's family after church at Olde Stone. The boys had so much fun seeing the Easter bunny and hunting eggs with cousins and friends. Nathaniel has started soccer for his 5th season and loves every minute of it. I still wonder where this athletic blood is coming from. It has to be from Nat's dad.

As for the adoption update not much has happened. We found out our marriage certificate was not civilly registered. What does that mean? I asked Nat what that meant and he asked, "Are we really married?" Well the answer is yes we are. The court house had a copy on file and we had to pay five dollars to get a copy of our own marriage papers. Everything was resubmitted and we officially have our USCIS approval. Our homestudy was approved March third. Now that everything is done I contacted Holt and was given an estimation of 12 months from March third. So possibly 10 more months until we receive a referral!


We are all starting to feel very anxious. Some days I question all this and it doesn't take long to get a confirmation that we are doing the right thing. I have been working two extra days a week to save money to be able to bring our baby girl home. Nat has been doing tile jobs for friends and family at night and on weekends to also save money. I found out today that I might have another job for October through December for another maternity leave for a friend. Everything just seems to keep falling into place. We have saved over 3,500 dollars so far but have a long way to go. Everyone has been telling me if God opens the door He will provide the way.


Nathaniel is so sweet talking about our baby. He keeps asking lots of questions about her age, when we will get her, how far away Korea is, and her name. So we have officially decided that her name will be Kinley Marie. We had this name picked out if Nolan had been a girl. It still just seems to fit. While talking about Kinley Marie he still asks about Cambell. He told Nolan while we were in the car this week he had a big sister. How sweet he is. He never ceases to amaze me. Nolan also told one of his Sunday school teachers a baby was coming. We were surprised to realize that he knows what is going on. Both boys are really excited about the idea.


We will continue to update. We ask that you keep praying for our baby girl!

There has been a lot going on this week. First of all we are so very proud of Nathaniel. He received two awards on Tuesday at school. One was for reading and the other was student of the month from his class. He was so excited! We were too! He said we should do something special since he got two awards. He wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese and that is where we celebrated his special day. He also lost his first tooth and finished his very first season of basketball. Wow!

Here is the latest update on the adoption process. We had our fingerprints done this week. I asked the lady if this was what it felt like to be a criminal and she said, "At least it is not black ink and a mug shot." It went well and it was very quick thankfully. We were in and out in 15 minutes. Our homestudy has been sent to Holt and USCIS and Holt has approved it. We should get our confirmation from USCIS in 60 days or less. Our social worker says this is our golden ticket to bring our little one home. If we have to wait longer than 18 months we will have to be fingerprinted again. Hopefully that will not happen.

Also this week we were able to visit with a very special family from our church, Tim and Nikki Buchannon. Isaiah, their five year old son who had Apert's Syndrome, has been in and out of Vanderbilt for surgery and visits more than I can count. They have been a true blessing in our life and such an example of faith and strength. Isaiah is now in Heaven. He will truly be missed. I ask everyone who reads this to please pray for comfort and healing. I know he is in the Lord's arms and I hope Isaiah has already met my Cambell.

This week I am especially thankful for my family and two healthy boys.

I wanted to share with you the necklace my wonderful sister-in-law, Kerry, gave me. It is the Korean symbol for hope. Tomorrow is Valentine's day. By this time next year I hope to have at least a picture of our new little one by then. Until that picture comes I will wear my necklace and continue to pray for her. Visit seoulidentity.com if you know of anyone who would like a necklace. They also have Chinese symbols.

We will be having a golf tournament this spring for Josephs Hope Foundation. Those of you who like to golf will have to plan on coming. The date has not yet been set. I will let you know.

Decals are now available on the website for Josph's Hope Foundation. They are $5.00 and all the money will be donated to the foundation. Check them out!

What a busy and amazing week this has been. Our week started off Sunday at church with sanctity of life Sunday. Our friends Benji and Gina Harmon gave their testimony of their adoption journey and our associate pastor's sermon was also about adoption and their adoption experience of five children. It is just so amazing how all this has unfolded from when we mailed our application December 18th. We went to church two days after our application had been in the mail to hear Pastor Steve preach on adoption . He based his sermon from scripture in Ephesians 1:5-6. It says, "In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." He also referenced a book, Adopted for Life, by Russell D. Moore. It is a great book! I have never heard our relationship with God put this way. Wow! We are his Children! He loved us so much he adopted us! After we were in the car leaving church I asked Nat do you doubt this now? We were both speechless. Last Sunday the scripture was from the book of James. It says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." It is our duty to look after orphans. Sometimes I ask myself, why me and Nat? But mom quickly put me in my place and said,"Why not you."

Nat and I are helping support Josephs Hope Foundation. Our friends, Benji and Gina, that I mentioned above have started this all on their own. It is named after their two adopted children from Korea. This foundation will support families with financial assistance to be able to adopt. The cost of adoption has continued to rise unfortunately. Many take out loans to adopt. Giving a child a home becomes a financial burden. I encourage you to go to the website and check it out. Unlike many foundations, 100% of the money brought in will go straight to families who are in the adoption process. Not only can you give but there are raffles to win awesome prizes and it is all tax deductible. There is also a benefit concert scheduled for February 6th on Western's campus and a golf tournament in the works this spring. You all will be hearing more about this in the near future. Nat and I will be helping put all this together. Please take a look! Go to Josephs-hope.org and be sure to click on the information site that is highlighted. The children in the video are all the children we have fell in love with and who have helped lead us to the adoption process.

This week has been filled with medical exams, our first home study meeting, CPR class, and applying for passports. After we left our 2 1/2 hour home study meeting I told Nat everyone should have to go through this before they have a child. Unfortunately it just does not work that way. I know the busyness of all this will soon come to a temporary halt and then the waiting begins. That is going to be the hard part. Those of you who know me well know that I am not a patient person. Although I have gotten better over the last 3 1/2 years. This is all in God's hands and we are willing to wait!

The Roller Coaster Ride Has Begun

Well we knew there were going to be ups and downs. Everything has been so postive up to this point until today. I had a discouraging phone call with our agency. She pretty much told me that it was going to be very unlikely that we would get a healthy girl from Korea after the social worker said it was going to be a great experience and Korea was her favorite country to work with. She placed three healthy Korean children in the Bowling Green area last year two of whom were girls. After making another phone call a family with experience said this happened to them too. So once again we are going with Hope! Dad sent me an email yesterday that was a good reminder that Hope got Nolan here. Mom had given me a necklace with hope on it the the month I found out we were expecting him. I wore that necklace almost everyday. When mom and Dad arrived at the hospital the day Nolan was born this picture is what they pulled up to find outside. Here is a quote dad sent me. When God leads you to it. God gets you through it. So once again our theme is hope!

But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared them that love Him. 1 Cor. 2:9

Blessings

What a blessed life we live! My family is blessed with all that matters most and more. But we all go through trials in our lifetime. Those things make us who we are. We cannot just amputate them and act like they never happened. But we can learn and grow through them by God's grace.
My life has always seemed to go as planned "my plan" until December 2005 when we had a miscarriage. I thought that was pretty tough until August 24th, 2006 when Cambell Grace Love was born at only 24 weeks of pregnancy. It was too early for us to keep her here with us. God had greater plans for her life. That one hour I got to hold her was one of the sweetest yet hardest hours of my life. From that day our lives were forever changed. One day we will see her again. But for now she is in the Lords arms. For now I hope she sings, dances, and plays in all of Heavens beauty. She will forever be our baby girl and hold a special place in our hearts.
We often wonder what good God can bring from such horrible circumstances. God is good to us even when he is up to things we don't understand. I have a greater appreciation for my children. They did not just spring into my life as one of those expected "plans." Because of Cambell, Nolan is here today. I will never forget the words of our pastor as he prayed over Nolan at the hospital. He said, " Cambell paved the way for Nolan to be here." Those words made so much sense to me and gave me a greater peace.
Through those tough circumstances we had faith that God would give us another child. We became pregnant just three months after our horrible loss. The pregnancy went great until 20 weeks came along. My body was already wanting to start the labor process but with a cerclage placed and 17 weeks of bed rest our little miracle , Nolan, arrived at 37 weeks when doctors predicted 30. What a blessing he is to us. I cannot imagine life without him.
When we thought we would not be able to have more children we knew we would adopt. But after having two healthy children we never thought we would entertain the idea again. However, the door keeps knocking. We have wrestled with this for three years. The longing has never went away . Our family doesn't feel complete. How can I miss someone so much that I have never met? For this reason we have begun our journey to Korea!
Much of the paper work has been filled out. There are many other hoops to jump through before we can hold the end result. We know it is going to be one big roller coaster ride but we are ready. We are excited and nervous all at the same time. There are fears of coarse. It is going to be worth it in the end. If this is meant to be we know God will provide the way. We hope this is one more blessing from Cambell Grace's short life.

Let it snow!

Our snow dance worked! Nathaniel had his first official snow day from school on Friday. This is Nolans biggest snow! We played football, rode the four-wheeler and went sledding. Nolan lasted about 2o minutes until he was crying, "mommy warm my hands up."