REFERRALS!!!

CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO GOT TO SEE THEIR BABY FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY. WE ARE THRILLED FOR YOU!

100 Good Wishes Quilt

An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break."
- Chinese Proverb

May 2007


Dear Family and Friends;

Michael and I are thrilled to let you know we are on the official list to adopt a baby girl from China. Many of you know that we have been working on this “paperchase” for months now and we are thrilled this part is over. The wait for our baby girl continues to grow and it may be up to 2 years before we get our blessed referral. A referral is when China matches you with a baby and you receive all the information including pictures of your child. After the referral, you travel to China within 3 months to complete your adoption.

We would like to invite you to be a part of our first gift to our daughter and hope you will participate.

There is a tradition in the northern part of China to give a new baby a Bai Jia Bei, or a 100 Good Wishes Quilt. The custom has been picked up by adopting parents here and other parts of the world. I would like to take part in this tradition.

The custom is to ask family and friends to send a piece of cloth and a note card with a wish written on it. The squares of fabric are quilted together to make a wish quilt. The note cards are put in a special place for the child to read when he/she gets older. A small swatch of the fabric is attached to the note card to recognize the wish with the square in the quilt. The quilt contains the love and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

I have asked a few of my friends to help in actually making the quilt and I am thrilled to get to learn quilting.

Examples of the quilt and some ideas can be found at Avas Quilt!!

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Here are the directions:
1. Find a piece of 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be old or new. It can represent you or just be a piece that caught your eye. Wash the fabric to get the treatment off, I forgot what it is called.
2. Cut two squares. 1- 8x8 inch square and a 1x1 inches.
3. On a 4x6 note card (3x5 is good, too) Write or type a wish, hope, thought, a poem, or a quote you love. Anything that inspires you. Attach the small swatch to the card stock.
4. Drop it in the mail to me.
The Christopher Family
4828 Old Field Drive
Kennesaw, Ga 30144
If you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to ask. I truly appreciate this. I know how busy everyone is now a days. I will keep everyone posted on our progress. We will have a link on our adoption blog and will post all squares and wishes that we receive. Our blog is www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.comWe are so thankful for all of the prayers and encouragement you have given us. The wait will be long, but the reward will be greater!
Michael and Amy

Childrens books and rumors!

Apparently several agencies are reporting that referrals will be sent. its hard not to read the rumors but when actual agencies are reporting these things, its hard not believe.

It looks like a few more days were matched this month which is great! I am so not going to report what I read just in case I disappoint someone.

My next obsession: children's books. I can not believe how many there are! My first thought is getting as many Chinese related books as possible. I don't want to do that. I want a variety. Of course I want books that our daughter can relate to and I think thats important; but she is also going to be a young little girl and will probably love all books the same! Cant wait to get the classics!

What are you favorite books? Our first gift was Love you like CrazyCakes and its just precious!!!


Come on referrals!!!!!

Today

Well today was an Amy and Michael day. I am so glad we were both home when I got the email.

Michael and I went grocery shopping but I wanted to buy something today, just because. A lot of adopting moms go and "buy pink" but as our wait may be long and I am not sure what our tastes would be, and finances are tight, we chose a book! We have a few books now, but here is the one we chose today

Ladies and gentlemen

We have a Log in Date!!! April 23rd! Woohoo..More details to follow!

Oh where oh where is our LID? Oh where oh where can it be?

Dude, where is my patience? Im checking my email at least 50 times a day and the CCAI website..DTC with dates of 4/9 were logged in last week so I was hoping to have a date early this week..Hopefully its on its way..We need to be logged in by May 1st!

Amy

Does anyone have a 100 Good wishes quilt letter example I could use? I want something that some sort of picture or frame around to mail to friends and family once we are logged in.!!!!!!
I know that several people have their original posts on their blogs but wanted suggestions on
a)what letter to mail and b)is it the same thing you post?

Scavenger HUnt and other blog

If you are looking for the scavenger hunt over at Amys Random thoughts, you picked the wrong blog..Go here for that..

Yes, Amys Random Thoughts is having a Scavenger Hunt starting May 1st. Didnt want you to miss out!

the wait

Today I had lunch with Kathy, who will be a mommy very soon. She is getting close to the finish line and I hope she is home with her baby before Christmas! We had a great time and it was nice to hear whats been going on with her. She gave me a lot of information and I am very appreciative. I have lots of things to do while we wait for baby Christopher to come home.

Its official. The wait is lengthened but its okay. It gives Michael and I more time to prepare ourselves and our home for our baby. I am blessed that Michael has no problems with this wait. He has become very patient and I can not wait for our LID!


For family and friends, please pray for us as we begin the long wait..For you pregnant moms, you thought 9 months was a long time..Ha! Pray for those whose wait is almost over.So many people are so close to referrals and I can not wait to hear about them!!!!

Stay Positive!!

Another Great email

Congratulations! Your dossier has been delivered to the China Center of Adoption Affairs.

Changes to the blog

You may notice I changed a few things here and there will a bigger change to the header in a few weeks. I have added blogs that I read to the side and categorized them by the Log In Dates.

We are hoping for ours in a few weeks and we shall be celebrating when we get it. Nothing else is really going on. I took a few moments at work and explained dossiers, LID, referrals and GOTCHA day to a few girls at work. It was nice that they were so interested in it all..

If you do not see your name on the side, its either because I haven't gotten to it yet or I do not know your LID!!!!


Amy

Adoption thoughts

I spent some time talking tonight with some coworker about adoption. They had questions.. Their age, infertility,costs, risks, spouses. A lot of questions. Some I could not answer but I hope they find their own.

6 years I ago I would never have thought we would be on this journey. Now, here we are awaiting our LID and we will start preparing our home and ourselves for this amazing experience. My family thinks this blogging thing has been good for me. Its easier for me to write my thoughts on here than to share them with people.

I was able to visit a patient and family who I took care of in December. Their child is from China. HE will face many surgeries. This family gave me hope and encouragement then and now.

I do feel like my friends and family are on this journey with us. I have felt peace that can only be from my Heavenly Father and for that I am eternally grateful!


Exciting stuff is going to happen, SOON! We will come up with a name, start our quilt (for those who are not familiar with it, details to soon follow), get our home ready, and learn more our daughter's origin. Thats a lot of stuff. It could get overwhelming. I hope so!

Question regarding CCAA

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2006.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before October 26, 2005.

What does this first part me? Reviewd applications before March 31, 2006? Is that another review? I know thats not the match but what is it?

Thanks

want an update????

Just got an email that said, Congratulations Michael and Amy, your dossier has been sent to China! WooHoo! Translation did not take long at all! here is to a really quick LID! (we can always hope)

Perseverance

I think I am going to post this on both of my blogs. I am involved in several adoption yahoo groups, including a few specifically with my agency. I get them sent in digests and a few with individual emails. Yesterday I think there over 75 emails sent to the groups and half of them were negative! I understand that these groups are for people to vent, express their fears and other feelings. These are such an encouragement to me and I am learning so much and meeting the neatest people!

I know this wait is long, and I know it could be longer. I am going to enjoy this wait and the time it takes God to prepare Michael and I to be the best parents to our daughter.

There may be a time when I do get down, but right now I am ready for the long wait !We are going to need prayer for family and friends and I hope that their enthusiasm for us continues.

On a happy note, our dossier has been in Colorado for 2 days now!

Im just venting, so I am sorry. There are a lot of us whose wait is just beginning. I pray we stay strong and encourage each other.

On another note, I found a neat website one someone elses blog that sells things for adopting parents..Check it out here!

and a question for your adoptive parents..On some of your blogs, things break down into smaller blogs like your quilt making, nursery, registries. Do you just make several posts or they different blogs and you just link them to your main blog?

Dossier

According to FedEx, our dossier made it to Colarado this morning at 5:38! Woo...Here is to a quick DTC and finally a LID!!! Yippee!


Michael and I talked and I think we are going to come up with a name soon. Mostly, I want to be able to pray for her by name and pray for what impact she will make on people in China.

That's it for now!

First Friday

Last night was the April First Friday group meeting. I have been looking forward to this all week. It began with dinner at TGIFridays with Karen, who is farther into the process than we are. She is a stinkin funny chick and we always enjoy our time with her. We never have to worry about where our conversation is going.

Then, we headed to the Chapmans where we saw uhm The Chapmans. Then our friends Tim and Laura arrived and I just love them. They are our age and Laura and I get along famously.Our log in dates will just be a few weeks apart and its just neat to have another friend who understands. We met more friends last night. Actually, some of them have blogs I have been reading for a while and didn't even recongnize them. I am afraid that people do not think I am that friendly there, but thats probably my paranoia kicking in.

Topics included log in dates, referrals and baby names.. So then there was the question, HAVE YOU PICKED A NAME? Someone suggested we go ahead and pick one before someone claims it. Well, let me just say that the names Michael and I like are a bit popular and we will have fun choosing the right one..More on that later

The gathering was informative and met a new baby who has been with her new family for a month and we met another family who is leaving later this month to and get their new baby.
It was such a time of encouragement and fellowship and I have enjoyed meeting new people and talking to people who have been there. Michael was able to talk to a lot of people as well and I think he enjoyed himself too!

don't you.....

Don't you love it when you are in the middle of cleaning your kitchen, concentrating, wishing the phone would quit ringing and then, lo and behold, you get a great phone call??


OUR DOSSIER IS OUT OF CRITICAL REVIEW AND OFF TO TRANSLATION IN COLORADO!!!

Major Announcement!

As of 3pm today, Wednesday, April 4, 2007, we are DTC (kinda).

Most people know of DTC to mean "Dossier To China" but in our case it is first "Dossier to Colorado" for the critical review (which is simply the final double/triple/quadrupal check) and translation, and THEN it will be off to China!

We only had one last hurdle today and that was the production of copies of our certified, testified, corrugated, litigated, notarized, martinized, legalized, and any other -ized or -ed they could be documents. We needed a photocopy of every page of each document and that meant a trip from the agency office to Kinko's.

Have I mentioned my distaste for Kinko's? About 3 years ago they eliminated the policy of picking up a counter, plugging it into the copier and going from there. You know have to pre-purchase a copy-card with money loaded on it to use the copiers (nothing like being treated like a college Freshman again). After you make your copies you then have to engage in a battle to get your money back off the card.

I first encountered this while making copies for work, which I needed to do a paid-out for and had no desire to keep store funds locked in a Kinko's copy card. Today we had to buy $20 worth of credit (the only cash I had on me) to make $5.00 worth of copies. The trained response from the associate when we were done and asked for our refund was "The card is reusable."

Obviously the plan is for you to take the card (while they keep the money) and let them hope you lose the card or forget about it because honestly you visit Kinko's about once every 4 years.

I digress....

So back to the CCAI office and by the time I am done visting the restroom Amy and Jamie have got everything set. The documents are ready, the checks are written, the pictures are collected (including one of us with my favorite cousin, who has no idea we are adopting because she does not use the internet!). Now for the wait, and the prep. We have a lot to do around the house including cleaning out and preparing the baby room and organizing the garage, but we'll have fun.

It's a week of new life and growth as today is Maundy Wednesday. Monday I planted some new azaleas and other flowers, and in 5 days we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, so if this week isn't about life and love, I don't know what is!

-Michael

May we introduce you to

may we introduce you to: OUR DOSSIER! That's right! Everything is here. Passports (copies of passports), group photos, couple photos, birth certificates, 1 marriage license, employment verification, home study, financial statement, adoption petition, health forms, letters from doctors, etc. WOOHOO! This is what we have been working on since October of 2006!!!! We will certainly make the May 1st deadline and then the waiting really begins. I have never been more excited to wait in my entire life. Once we are logger in, we will begin some special projects, one which will include you, our friends and family. We are very very excited and can not wait to learn more of the Chinese culture, prepare our home and hearts for this most magnificent journey!!
God's hand has been on us this entire journey and we are so thankful. Please pray that He will continue to guide us on this journey. More prayer requests are listed on an entry below!! No need to read below, let me post them again


Please pray
1)our agency encounters no problems with reviewing or translating and our dossier gets to China before May 1
2)Pray that as we begin the wait that God will prepare us and that we will be open for changes
3)for our friends and family who will be a HUGE support to us when we get home
4)pray that we find a home church and become actively involved
5)pray for the people in China who are caring for these babies and for the birth moms.
6)pray that we will use this time wisely
7)pray that we fund raise and save money


Praises
1) my passport is in Atlanta
2)agency payment has been taken care of
3) The Hoffmans have a LID
4)i have met some sweet ladies because of this process
5)this process has brought out a new side of Michael and I


We shall be turning this in on Wednesday because Jamie has jury duty today and I am working tomorrow! How excited are we? Totally excited!!!!!

We are blessed

Well, our dossier will be turned in next week which means we will make the May 1st deadline. My passport will be here Monday, we have gotten our group photos and the finances will be settled before then.I am thrilled and I cant wait until we we are DTC (dossier to China for those who are not familiar). After that we will be LID (we will get a log in date) and then the waiting begins.

I am hopeful. I am hearing people say the wait is now 2 years from LID but I am at peace that it will be quicker than that and if not, I am okay. God is giving us this time to prepare our home and hearts for the life changing event. This is so awesome..Sorry, another Jerry Maguire moment there. I can not wait to get that LID. I can not wait to join groups that have others with LID similar to us.

Please pray
1)our agency encounters no problems with reviewing or translating and our dossier gets to China before May 1
2)Pray that as we begin the wait that God will prepare us and that we will be open for changes
3)for our friends and family who will be a HUGE support to us when we get home
4)pray that we find a home church and become actively involved
5)pray for the people in China who are caring for these babies and for the birth moms.
6)pray that we will use this time wisely
7)pray that we fund raise and save money


Praises
1) my passport is in Atlanta
2)agency payment has been taken care of
3) The Hoffmans have a LID
4)i have met some sweet ladies because of this process
5)this process has brought out a new side of Michael and I

passport

FedEx tried to deliver my passport today but I was not home..they will try again Monday. WooHoo! All we need now is to figure out our next payment and our dossier will be turned in..We are too excited!!! Looking forward to DTC and a LID!

yesterday

Yesterday was awesome. After I got home, I slept from 830-10am. Then I got ready and headed up 575 to invite meet some new friends. I was invited to lunch with some ladies involved in Chinese adoption. Some already had their babies and some were sooo close to a referral. I had no idea who would be there, but most of them had blogs I have been reading for months now! These ladies answered a lot of questions for me and it was really nice. I finally got to meet Maisie which was a huge surprise. I have been reading her blog since before her mommy and daddy got their referral! There were 2 Lisa's there. One Lisa is a frequent commenter on this blog and I did not realize it until I got home. She has been such a positive influence. She will be getting her referral very soon and I can not wait. The hostess is also close to getting her referral and I am thrilled for her. I was able to see the toy room and the nursery. This was the first time I have talked to ladies so far in the process. It was nice to the nursery and the other Chinese items she has in her room.. I was so motivated when I left. I really hope I see these ladies again and I hope they don't judge me based on my sleep deprived state yesterday!!!


After lunch, I came home and rested for another few hours. I got up and picked up Lucy the basset hound from doggie day care and dropped her off. Then I proceeded to head to Carrabas to have lunch with Laura, another future mommy who is very close to us in the adoption process. It was wonderful to have some girl time and to get to know each other. She is such an encouragement!!!

Well, we have all documents from the Consulates in our hands on the dining room table. I ordered our pictures from Winkflash and if we do not have enough group photos, we will get them at trivia on Wednesday and find some people to take pics with. I just called the Passport place, paid to expedite it, and I should have the passport on March 30th!

Once we establish how we will make the payment, our dossier will be ready to turn in as early as next Monday, which will be awesome.

I am having lunch tomorrow with some other future adopting mommies nearby and then I have having dinner with Laura tomorrow night. Laura and I will have log in dates about a month apart and we are the same age and she is as sweet as can be!

Thats it...things are moving..Let the waiting begin!!!!!

Adoption thoughts

So to clarify,
In order to turn in our dossier we need to
1) go to post office and pick up envelope from DC Chinese embassy
2)get group pics (still missing 2, hoping family can help)
3) get payment ready
4)get passport (should be here anyday)

Once we turn that in, it gets translated, reviewed and sent to China. We are still hoping for a log in date before May 1st!

With that being said, the question is, "when do you get your baby"? I had originally said possible December 2008 would be a possibility but its looking like 2009..This is okay. the wait is our preparation time and I am looking forward to it.

Things to be praying for
1) my passport arrives THIS WEEK!
2)financial needs are met
3)pray for the children and their care givers in China
4)pray for those families who have received their children this week
5)pray that we may encourage others who are also in the process

This has been awesome!!!!!

Another question that's asked, "have you thought about the baby's room or have you bought anything?" Oh how I would love to. I look, I really look. I have been looking at baby stuff since our first anniversary. Its hard to answer every ones questions. I am so glad people are asking, they support us and are excited for us.

To other adopting parents, when did you start buying things? We are also going to do the 100wishes quilt project once we are logged in but I was wondering if there was a time frame that most people use.

Another one of those moments

This weekend, I have been told I have to go meet this family and finally at 9pm I did. What an amazing experience. I met a mom who has 7 children, 2 are daughters from China! One daughter arrived 11 years ago at the age of 9 months and a second daughter who is special needs is almost 12. This means her daughters are 6 months apart! It was the special needs daughter who was admitted . She is doing great. I spend time time talking to her, and she showed me what English she has been learning by repeating things from TV. What a sweet spirit she has! We watched Animal Planet and saw some tiger cubs. She spent a great deal of her life in an orphanage but before she came to the US she was able to hold a tiger cub.

This mom has used the same agency we are using and spoke so highly of them. She gave me some tips on flying and airfare and what to expect..It was awesome!!!

Tuesday afternoon, I think I am going to get to meet some other adopting moms for lunch and then possibly dinner with a friend!!!

its been a great night!!!

my passport

We applied for my passport Feb 14th. It would be a replacement for my original plus a name change. It needs to hurry up!!!!!!!! I am hearing from some people it may be another month..This would stink! They did cash our check this week, so we will see.....

Our friends

Our friends The Hoffmans have a LID! (LOG IN DATE) I AM SOOOO EXCITED FOR THEM!!!!!

Our friends

Our friends The Hoffmans have a LID! (LOG IN DATE) I AM SOOOO EXCITED FOR THEM!!!!!

Houston, we have a problem

You will NOT be hearing us say that as our paperwork from Houston arrived today. Actually, I just got back from the post office and now its displayed on our dining room table. I hope this means the DC embassy will be just as quick. We are now waiting on the DC embassy and my passport. As soon as we collect a few pics and get those, we will be ready to turn in our dossier to our agency. WooHoo!

email and prayers

Well, today I sent out an email to family and friends explaining what was left of the paperchase. Then I went upstairs to do laundry. I saw the maillady and hoped she would have to stop and bring me something inside. I never saw her pass our house..BooHoo!

Well, I just went to check the mail and there was a card from the post office..Its from the Chinese embassy..Its either from DC or Houston. I called the post office and they said it would be back at the post office by 2pm. So, I am headed out to thy gym to waste some time and then I am headed to see the postal people! I hope its the documents and not a note saying messed something up!

WooHoo!
Amy

Update

Well, the paperchase is just about done! We get to turn in our dossier (that paperwork stuff I am always talking about) as soon as the following arrive

1) the documents we sent to the Chinese embassy in Houston
2)Michael's BC from the Embassy in DC
3)My passport

We are actually expecting all the 3 to show up in the next 2 weeks. At that time, we will make a payment (working on that now)and turn in our dossier to our agency. Then they will review it, translate it and sent it to China. At that point, we are DTC which is DOSSIER TO CHINA, then we wait for our LID (LOG IN DATE) and then we CELEBRATE and WAIT!

Question,
Michael and I attended a spaghetti dinner and silent auction last weekend for friends adopting from Taiwan. During our wait , Michael and I will need to look at fundraising ideas to raise money for the flight to China..Do you guys have any ideas?

Need an idea

Hey guys, I'm looking for ways to decorate containers to put around the house for spare change. Anyone have a creative way to decorate? Right now, we are using laundry detergent containers

Spaghetti Dinner anyone?

Hey guys, short notice. Friends of our are having a fundraiser tomorrow night in Ackworth to help pay for their Taiwan adoption!!!

They are serving dinner from 5- 7 Saturday night along with a silent auction that sounds awesome..

Email me at www.amyschristopher@comcast.net if you want to go! We would love to have others support them.

Also, Michael posted that we are almost done. All we have left is to collect pictures of Michael and I in group photos..This has been hard. I am almost ready to have a picture party and just visit all of our friends! HAHAHA!!! Just kidding

Amy

All documents off to consulates

Yesterday Amy took our 12 documents for Houston to the post office and sent them off for the final authentication. We've been worrying about the return of my birth certificate which we sent to the U.S. Department of State for authentication. Well, yesterday we had a attempted delivery note in the mailbox. Today I was home when the postman came and she had the letter, my birth certificate authenticated by a lady who signed Condi Rice's name and then her own name to the document. Amy went back to the post office today and sent this document off to the Chinese consulate in Washington, DC.

BTW - Why was I home for the mailman? I left work after an hour today and got an appointment with the doctor to find out I very positively have strep throat. Amy was off at lunch with a coworker/friend and her 3 kids for a play date. I get to have to take tomorrow off to rest and enjoy my antibiotics.

So anyway, we're another big step closer!

-Michael

Worried...

Michaels BC is still not back from the state authentication part. Its been 2 weeks and I had it fed-exed. The agency says to keep an eye but sometimes it takes 2-3 weeks. I am mailing out the rest of our paperwork to Houston for final authenticating. The we wait for my passport, Michaels BC and then the rest of the paperwork to come back from Houston and we are ready to turn in our dossier.

Pray

Amy and Michael

the paperchase continues

This week will hopefully get our last paperchase event started. The hope is that we can get our documents to the Chinese Consulate in Houston and Michael's BC to the DC consulate. We are also waiting for my passport and to find a few more group pics of Michael and I with some friends! Then our dossier will be complete once we get everything back!

We have decided to support other local adopting parents on Saturday night. One couple is having a silent auction and spaghetti dinner Saturday night in Acworth, and we think it will be fun. Let us know if you want some information!

the paperchase continues

This week will hopefully get our last paperchase event started. The hope is that we can get our documents to the Chinese Consulate in Houston and Michael's BC to the DC consulate. We are also waiting for my passport and to find a few more group pics of Michael and I with some friends! Then our dossier will be complete once we get everything back!

We have decided to support other local adopting parents on Saturday night. One couple is having a silent auction and spaghetti dinner Saturday night in Acworth, and we think it will be fun. Let us know if you want some information!

1st problem

We really havent had many problems with this whole process. I spoke too soon. Michaels BC is not back from DC authentication. It has to go back one more time before we send our dossier to China. Please pray it comes soon. I even fed-exed almost 2 weeks ago. I know they have gotten busier and I hope thats all it is, but we need it pronto. We also need to find more pics of Michael and I in group photos

Congrats on the referrals this month!

referrals

Hi everyone! Its been kind of discouraging the last few days, reading other blogs from other Chinese adopting fammilies. You see, this month, the CCAA or the Chinese group that matches babies and families only sent a hand out of referrals. This could be because of the Chinese New Year and everything was closed for a week or this could mean the wait for everyone is getting longer. I refuse to get down on it..I just want to get logged and start the long wait.

I dont know whats going to happen but I pray we all have patience. Its a long long road to our babies but our time will come. Lets pray for no new hold-ups in China and that the wait actually shortens this year!

Amy

How we got to this place

Ok, its been asked so let me tell it..Its odd, its strange. Its awesome.. It can only be from God

Michael and I were married October 6, 2001. Since before we were married, we talked about babies..I love babies. I love baby names..It was actually an obsession. Every Monday and Thursday while we were dating, Michael read out the baby names from the Orlando paper and we would assess the situation. You also have to understand that 10 year ago I worked at Jackson-Madison County Hospital and swore I would have twins and name them Jackson and Madison. At the time, I did not realize that everyone thought the same thing. Seriously, they are the most common names EVER! Dang it!

Well, we married and moved to Atlanta. I started working a CHOA (childrens health care of Atlanta) with a lot of women my age who were pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Really didn't effect me until 2 years into marriage. I wont get to personal because really there isn't a lot to tell. We just didn't get pregnant and decided just to be patient. Adoption was never ever in the picture. I never thought I would adopt nor did I have the interest. God is smiling now.

Let's back up again. I went to a Christian college in TN (GO UNION)! I really got into Contemporary Christian music. Steven Curtis Chapman became my top favorite CD to listen to. I became a huge fan for a variety of reasons. 1) his music now brings back memories from college 2)his music helped shape my walk with Christ 3)his music makes me listen. I say that because his music ministered to me and I needed that ministry at the time. When his song "When Love Takes You In" came out, I didn't like it. I skipped it all the time on my CD player. This is very true. I never skip Steven songs. But anyway. When did this whole adoption thing start you ask?"
Michael has taken me to 2-3 concerts but it was the last one that hit me. I can not remember the year or time, but it was like God was knocking on my skull. We started talking about what a cool idea it would be AND

Christmas 2005 Mercy Me/Steven Curtis Chapman Christmas concert. Halfway through the concert, 1-2 dozen Chinese Children came out singing and I couldn't keep my eyes dry. It was horrible, in a good way. Our hearts opened like never before and after that, we talked.

Lets speed up a bit. May 2006. Disney Cruise. Michael and I go on a stingray excursion. We wait in line and they ask for a party of 2..We quickly get on the boat. During our trip we see a beautiful Chinese girl and her parents. As nosey as I am, I ask about the adoption thing and thank God they are nice people. They share their story, I talked to Marissa for what seemed forever and we exchanged addresses. They live 15 minutes away..How cool is that? They also have a younger daughter from China! Back in January, we watched the National Geographic video, Lost Daughters of China and I forgot our new friends were in it. It was wonderful to watch.

We applied with our agency, CCAI, in September and got our approval on our anniversary trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

This experience has been awesome. It wont be too long until we turn our dossier our agency and we are hoping for an April log in date (LID).

Amy and Michael

monthly First Friday meeting

Once again, we were blessed. It is so nice to be around people with this common bond and to develop friendships. We had dinner with Karen, another future mommy and then we headed over and talked some more. There is another couple who is our age and is about to be logged in to the China system. We are very happy for our friends.

After socializing, the host and hostess usually say a few words and then there are questions. one guest brought up something interesting. She seemed concerned that a lot of people depend on this group for encouragement and things, which is good. She encouraged us to make our own support groups outside of this group and to start encouraging others. It hit home that "our story" can encourage and impact others..She gave us lots to think about and I will probably post about that later today or tomorrow..

Its just that after every meeting, we come back so excited..

Amy and Michael

I 171

Ok, here is my view of what happenned.
Yesterday after I woke up after coming home from work, Michael and I watched some TV. He fell asleep and I went to the post office to pick up a certified letter. I was actually hoping this was the form. I got their, waited in line for 35 minutes to find the letter was actually a letter from our mortgage company.I was sad but realized we actually had weeks to wait for our form.

I get home and Michael has already gotten the regular mail. He asks me to check out the form and as I read it, it seems its just a normal letter from the immigration center saying they have our info. I kept looking at it and looking at it. I noticed it said 797 on top so I knew it wasnt what we were waiting for. Still, I was curious.

We went to trivia and looked at the form again and again. We found a form in our adoption guide that looked different, but it said the same info..A light bulb went off. My heart was racing, but I didnt want to get my hopes up..

Then, I turned the page to the guide. I found a page that said I 171 example and it had the 797 in the corner like ours. I kept reading the pages and noticed it was identical to what we had in our hands. We were ecstatic. I had Michael look at it a few times just to make sure and when we got home, I got online and asked all of our online friends.

I went to the agency to get it notarized and they said this was the quickest they had ever seen..Yeah God! This is awesome. They said they had no doubts we will get logged in before May 1st. That stress is behind us.

What we are waiting for before our info goes to China.
-we are waiting for my passport (its been 2 weeks)
-we are waiting for michaels bc to come from DC so I can send it back to DC before sending it to our agency

We now send all documents to the CHina consulate in Houston and then they will sned it back to us and then our agency gets those.

Keep praying

amy and michael

WOW !!!!!!!!!!

Wow!

In the mail today, Wednesday, February 28th we recieved our I-797, also known as the I-171. This is TWO WEEKS, yes, just FOURTEEN DAYS after we were fingerprinted!

We are on our way, just needing two last documents to be ready to submit, my birth certificate which was mailed to Washington, DC on Monday. It gets one more trip home and one more trip to DC, and we need Amy's passport which we sent off for two weeks ago.

I have not heard of ANYONE getting their documents so quickly after fingerprinting. We are grateful, amazed, and blessed.

-Michael

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

This is the 3rd time I have posted this video since starting this blog..Mostly out of selfish reasons. I was never a huge fan of this song until one night at a concert, it hit me and I think it solidified our decision to pursue our daughter from China. I hope any new readers will enjoy this!

Mail

I woke up from my nap to find Michael home, who had brought the mail in. In the mail were 2 letters from the Senators offices that we visited last week. At least we know someone wrote back.
I am at work and I have just made sure that all forms we are sending to Houstin have been copied. I have written the cover letter and gotten the application ready. I just need Michael to double check and add the money order!

Michaels BC made its way back to DC today and I thought I made a mistake by sending it FedEx but apparently they only accept FedEx. Whoo!

My old college neighbor posted below and shes been logged in for a few months. I cant wait to hear more stories from her!

Its Amy

I'm glad Michael has been posting because he is very good with words. TO continue with the paperchase, I hope to send Michaels BC to DC tomorrow. Its been almost 2 weeks since we were fingerprinted..Lets hope we get a miracle and get it soon! Im trying to stay positive. I talked to one of the plastic surgeons at work today..There are 2 pediatric ones who work at my hospital. I asked him if he does a lot of cleft lip/palates on Chinese children and he said his surgeries have doubled this year already. He said for some reasons, Chinese children usually stay an extra day and that may be because of low birth weights or nutrition deficiencies or such. It was nice to talk to him about that.. I think it would nice to adopt a special needs child if this one goes smoothly. I guess we will see..


ATLANTA FRIENDS, IF YOU ARE GOING TO THE FIRST FRIDAY GATHERING THIS WEEK AND WOULD LIKE TO DO DINNER BEFORE HAND, LET ME KNOW!

Another small step

Today in the mail we received my state certified birth certificate from Maryland, so it will be mailed off on Monday to some office in Washington, D.C. after which it will come back to us and be mailed to the Chinese consulate in Washington, D.C.

Funny thing is I just finished watching season 4 of "24" and they do some things at the Los Angeles Chinese Consulate in that one. :)

Recap of a 2nd Productive Day

So friends, yesterday was our second consecutive productive Wednesday regarding our paper chase. Not everything went the way we anticipated, but here is what we have to report.

I went to work from 6:30 to 11:30 while Amy got some sleep as she had worked the night before. I got home a little after noon and we got everything together and started out on our mission around 2pm.

Our first stop was the office of the Secretary of State of Georgia. Mapquest was a little vague and the result was we circled a block twice before discovering the place we needed to be is a two tower building atop the Georgia State University MARTA station (MARTA being our bus and train system in Atlanta). We paid $5 to park and climb a steep hill to the entrance which is behind a nice park with fountains and war memorials to Georgia's fallen soldiers. The walkways have benches and bench swings.

We entered the capital office building and immediately came to an information/security desk where we were asked our business and for our identification. Amy seldom carries her ID on her so this was a problem. I showed my driver's license and we were told Amy would have to wait downstairs. I proceeded to the 11th floor and found the office. I told the receptionist I needed document authentication and she said she would call the person I needed. I asked about the security measures and another employee was heading out. That employee heard me and asked for Amy's description and she actually went down and got Amy for me.

The process at the Secretary of State's office was quicker than the County clerk of Courts as the county guy had to hand type a lot of things including our notary's last name (Chwemelewski). We had all 9 documents certified and paid our $90 in about 10 minutes and the documents were very nicely set up in official folders.

We left downtown and headed towards home to make stops at our two Senator's offices. I did not use mapquest, but had looked to see where we needed to be. We circled Cumberland Mall a bit and found Johnny Isakson's office first. There we met a case worker who told us things have increased tremendously since January 1, as the immigration people have added more staff to process I-171 applications. Everyone in this office looked very Republican, all clean-cut white men wearing ties, it was like a room full of Alex P Keatons.

We went next to Saxby Chambliss' office which is less than a mile away. There was seemingly no one there except an attractive young woman who greeted us and set us up in a room to fill out a request form for intervention to go with our letter requesting help. As we left we helped ourselves to some of the GEORGIA PEANUTS which filled a bowl in both Senator's offices. Perhaps this could be a nickname for our baby, the Georgia Peanut.

Since we had finished our mission, we called Amy's sister and found she was not feeling well throughout the day. We told her to go rest and we went to grab a snack at McDonald's and then drove to her hotel. Kelly was not feeling great and we debated what to do for the evening. The end result was we took her to Jason's Deli where she made a salad and got some soup and cheesecake. We took Kelly back to her hotel and we headed home until it was time to head out for trivia. We were in 3rd place going into the final bonus which we answered correctly, but did not wager much on, so we won nothing but had a good time.

FYI - the final bonus was "Who was the highest paid child actor in the 1980's?" Answer - Gary Coleman. The other question that hurt us also was a bonus with wager - "In 1998, who was the oldest woman to have a number one single in the US pop charts at age 52?" We guess Streisand for her duet with Bryan Adams - it was Cher.

Another Work Day

Today will be another good day for the adoption journey as I will be at work until 11am or so after which I will come home to get Amy and we will drive the half hour or so downtown to visit the Georgia Secretary of State's office to get our documents certified at the state level. After that we'll be visiting the offices of our two senators to petition them for help in expeditiing the I-171.

I'm thinking if we have time afterwards we'll go see a movie together before we go pick up Amy's sister Kelly (she's in town for her job) and take her to trivia tonight.

Whats going on.

I received so many wonderful ideas on the post below and I thank all of you. Today, Michael and I will head downtown to get things state certified and then we will figure out what to do next. I am royally confused but just emailed my agency so I hope they can help!

Presently, we are waiting on:
1)my passport
2)the famous I-171
3) Michael birth certificate (which went fro Maryland to our house back to Maryland and when it comes back, it will go to DC and then back to us and then back to DC and then back to us and then our agency and then China! Was I clean enough??


Thanks for all the prayers and support!
Amy

HELP!

There are a few of you who are also going through this experience of have already completed the process! I want some ideas on how to bring the culture into our family while we wait. We have every book to read and plan on reading a lot once we are logged in!
Im looking for anything that will keep us occupied!Whats keeping you busy?

Happy New Year!

Today marks the day to celebrate the Chinese New Year! Hope you have a good day! Found this article on CNN today..Click here!

I-171 wait Day number 3

We expect a wait of a few months but we are trying to be patient! Hope everyone is doing well. I am suprised at how many people have asked if we have a name picked out yet. The answer is no. MIchael and I have quite a list of traditional names that we like, but thats about it.

FYI, Using delivery confirmation, Michael's BC made it to Maryland and now we are waiting for it to come back so that we can send it to DC!!!!

This weeks adoption plan:
Take documents to Sec of State to sign! Glad its in Atlanta!

Prayer Requests
1. That all documents get where they need to go
2. Pray for our patience
3.That nothing gets lost in the mail
4.That we can stay organized
5.That our marriage stays strong as we prepare for this huge change
6.Pray for those that are caring for the babies in China
7.Pray for our friends who are also adopting

A VERY Productive Day

Good Afternoon Friends!

Amy and I are relaxing at home for a few hours while Lucy is at doggie day-care and befoe we head out to trivia tonight. More importantly, here's our day so far...

6:15 am wake up

7:15 out the door heading to the Immigration offices in Atlanta to be fingerprinted for our I-171. It was an efficient and painless task, using no ink they now use digital scanners and a lot of Windex. While we were there we chatted with another couple who are adopting their second child from Kazihkstan. They had their 4 year old daughter Alma with them and it turns out the husband is a teacher at a school very close to my restaurant. The only weird thing is they have a rule that you cannot have a cell phone on your body in the building. They don't frisk you or anything, they just ask, and if you say yes you have to go back out to your car and come back in.

8:45 We were at immigration for about 45 minutes total and on the way out we hit a Chick-fil-a for some breakfast and headed up to the CCAI offices to talk with the dossier advisor. We cleared up a few questions and found a change we need to have made to my medical form. Jamie notarized all of our current documents and we found out we need to send my birth certificate back to Washington D.C. after it comes back from Maryland, and it will be done. I figured it was a null element considering I was born on Federal Government property, but since my birth certificate is from Anne Arundel County, MD, we have to play this game where we sent to MD to get it, they sent it to us, we had to send it back to MD to do something extra to it and now it will return to us so we can send it to the Chinese consulate up there.
The good news is there is a county court office and car tag office about a mile south of our old apartment and we were able to take everything Jamie notarized to that office to be certified. We'll take some time next Wednesday to go to the Georgia Secretary of State's office to have the county certification done and we'll be set for all documents except for the I-171!

10:45 Being done at the county clerk's office, we drove home to get Lucy and take her to doggie day-care. We continued back to Sandy Springs for our Valentine's lunch at Carro de Bois, our favorite Brazillian restaurant. It is one of the type where you serve yourself at a hot and cold food bar and return to your seat where servers come around with many, many wonderful meats including lamb, roast pork with parmesean, garlic pork tenderloin, chicken, sausage, and about 4 or 5 types of steak. It's the kind of place where you eat very little before and after your trip. We chose to do lunch there to avoid the dinner rush for Valentine's evening and we are going to trivia tonight.

12:45 We finished lunch and headed back to the house for a pit stop before heading out again for Amy's 2:00 appointment at the post ofice for her passport. That took til about 2:45 but Amy shold have her new passport with her correctedname in time to make a copy for the dossier and she'll be set to travel next year as well. We stopped at Walgreen's on the way home and got our extra passport photos for the dossier as we needed 3 sets each.

So now it's about 4:30 and we're back at the house watching "Little Miss Sunshine" before we have to pick up Lucy, our own little miss sunshine and we'll go play trivia tonight with Peter at Winston's. So we accomplished a lot today and we are happy.

This report brought to you by Michael

Birth Certificate

Today, I sent Michael's birth certificate back to Maryland to get it authenticated. I'm glad its done and we can get on to our fingerprinting on Wednesday. I also have an appt on Wednesday to renew my passport and/pr get a new one as I can not find it and I also need it in my married name.

So, I get in line, make sure its priority mail and leave. Then I realize I forgot to add the 5 dollar check! Whoops! Back in line I go, ready to mail another envelope. Bless the postal worker, she found my package, opened it, stuck the check in and sealed it back! That was nice of her!

Happy, ecstatic for friends!

Our first Friday friends received their 171 form today! How exciting! There is hope that ours wont take 12-13 week! I am thrilled for them..They will soon be logged in!

Fingerprinting!

Its time to paperchase. Michael and I are getting fingerprinted Wednesday at 8am and the we wait on the I 171. You will hear about this form a lot, as its the last big thing you need before sending your dossier to China. Michael and I will have to go over all paperwork on Sunday and begin getting things notarized and then going to the county, and then the state secretary and then Washington DC and the the Houston Consulate. Dont worry, we dont have to go to these places but please pray that Fed Ex doesnt lose the important papers!!!!

We will let you know how things go on Wednesday!

Mark Schultz -

ANother awesome adoption video!!! Its good and he is so wonderful with words!

Home Study received today

We received our homestudy from our agency today! Oh how I love getting mail. It was notarized so now we must collect all of our paperwork and start the great paperchase.

On another note, I met Miss Abby whom I have heard about for months. there is a patient whose family adopted Abby from China about a year ago. She is not even 2 and she is the most talkative baby from China I have met! Shes awesome! the mom and I shared stories and it was quite nice!

A home study is a pretty neat thing. It was neat to read how a social worker views us just by our autobiographies, interviews and recommendations!

I am ready to be logged in and have all this over with although I will tell you, it hasn't been that bad! A few people at work have been asking questions and that's been cool. So far, everything has been positive!

First Friday

Last night Michael and I had a sort of date night. After watching this weeks ER, we headed to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. After our dinner, we proceeded to go to our First Friday gathering, which has been a great support for the adoption process. We met a new China baby, celebrated with a couple who recently got a referral of their little boy (they were expecting a girl) and got to know people who were also in the waiting stages. I have enjoyed this greatly and I wish everyone lived closer so that we could spend more time with them.

The family who opens their home for First Friday usually talks a little bit and answers some questions. I am happy to say that after a few months, we actually participated and received some hope. Even though it was a smaller crowd, I am really glad that we went!

So this week, we we will be sending Michaels birth certificate back to Maryland to get it notarized and authenticated, we get finger printed on Valentines day and the wait for the most wanted piece of paper, the I-171!

Its us again. I feel bad that there has not been any substanance to this blog lately. My posts have just been updates and not the good stuff. For that I am sorry. We are thrilled beyond belief and I am ready to absorb myself in the Chinese Culture and traditions and hope to post a lot here. I think I am afraid. I really want to wait until our dossier is actually in China and then focus on the other stuff. I shouldnt be afraid. If we are turned down, we will seek elsewhere.

On another note, my friend took care of a patient who was adopted from China. I spent some time with them and learned not only did they use CCAI, but they are about to use them for the third time..It was nice to talk to him and to hear the dads version of this.

Its been a week since an update!

You will notice a new blogroll to the side. These are adoption stories I am using to pray for and be encouraged by.

On another note, at the beginning of our journey, we were given many ideas on how to pass the time on this long wait.
One of the ideas was to read parenting books but I have no idea where to even begin? Do you have any suggestions?

Not much more to update. We have our First Friday this week and as always, we are excited to be going.

I have not posted in a bit but I am glad Michael did. We are getting fingerprinted on the 14th of Valentines day and then we wait for the 171 form. This is a long wait, nearly 3 months and sometimes longer. We need to be logged in by May 1st, but realistically we do not see that happenning. We have to work on diabetes and weight and that may keep us held up but you never know. I did get the cutest little ladybug toy at the hospitals gift shop the other day!

I will update more this weekend..Thanks for checking in!

Fingerprinting Appointments!

We received our invitation today to get our fingerprints taken. Unfortunately it is almost four weeks away, but Amy and I have our appointments on February 14th, that's right, our Valentine's gift will be completing a major step in our adoption process!

Michael

Our first gift

Michaels brother and his wife (Tim and Mery) gave us our first baby gift..That just sounds so strange to type that. I am going to share pictures of my first gift. Its a memory box that was filled with 2 books, a teddy bear, an ornament and diaper cream. It was also the first time I have gotten anything from a Pottery Barn Store! Our family rocks!

the waiting continues

Still hoping our date for fingerprinting will arive shortly. A lot of family and friends and noticing families with children from China. Its been neat to hear everyone getting interesting in the process. I really enjoyed spending time with my patient and his family last week at work and just really hearing how the process has been for them.
I am very comfortable of one day adopting a special needs child. Looking forward to the rest of this journey!

GOod news

We received a letter today from the immigration place that they received our money and application for fingerprinting and that they will send us a date very soon! Yippee!

On another note, I took care of yet another family with a special needs child from China. This family works with another agency but knew a lot of people I have met at First Friday plus the family we met on the cruise last May. They were such a blessing to me tonight and she took the time to share some family pictures and give me the ups and downs of her journey!

Thoughts

There are numerous rumor sites and I mean numerous. I have not really paid any attention to them nor do I plan to. I am tempted, but I am afraid what I will read. I am unusually calm about things right now and just want to get logged in. This process has helped me meet new friends and read many stories..

Thats all I have to say about that right now.

Amy

Good news

Apparently the I600A got where it needed to get at 8am this morning. Thanks to delivery confirmation. Hopefully it wont take too long to get our fingerprint appt..You know what would be nice? IF the letter was waiting for us when we get back from Florida next Tuesday..hmmm..
We will see!

Amy

Mail

Another piece in the mail. The I6ooa went out today..For those not in the adoption world, you mail it in to get an invitation to get your fingerprints done..Im so glad its in Atlanta..Apparently it does not take that long to get so let keep hoping!

Amy

First Friday

We got home from the First Friday group and Michael went straight to sleep as he has to be up at 430am. I wish we had had more time to talk about what went on because once again, it was truly amazing.

God is doing some cool things through this process. I will be honest. There is a chance that China will deny us. They are getting strict. I may not lose the weight I need. But you know what? Its okay.

Someone posted on this blog at such the perfect time to "Go until God says stop". God has opened many doors and if he closes them, we will be so disappointed. But He knows the future, not I, and I must trust that he will provide.

Am I expecting to be denied? Of course not. I spoke to the Ga Director tonight and he is going to do his best to get us logged in by May 1st. We will see. I'm always motivated when I leave these meetings.
I hope Michael will post his thoughts because we had an amazing interaction with a little princess tonight!
Pray for us!

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

Just thought I would repost the video that captured our hearts. I have to admit, this song grew on me as God placed the idea of adoption in our hearts.

and.....

Well, not much more to report except our Socia Worker emailed us our homestudy but I think I told you that. Michael was able to help a customer who was meeting with a social worker for a post placement visit and they had used our agency. I am very comfortable and trust they will do everything to the best of their ability.
I have met a few really neat people through this blog and am keeping up with dozens of other stories.
I am still getting some odd questions but its usually from well meaning people.
Tomorrow evening Michael and I will get to attend the function we went to back in September where there will be dozens of families who are also waiting and we will also meet some new babies who are now with their forever families. We are both quite excited about this.

I just want to be logged in by this summer! Ugh!

Amy

Reviewing Name selections

What name do you like for our future daugter? Feel free to make suggestions
	Rebekah
	Elizabeth
	Katherine
	Sara
	Hope
	Rachel
	Abigail
	Margaret (to be called Meg or Maggie)
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Home Study done

Well, our social worker emailed our completed home study to us today and it was long..I didnt know there was that much to know about us. There were actually things about Michael I learned through it. You see, Michael and I had individual interviews with the social worker. I will probably read it again later but will take my tim.

This week, I was given another patient from CHina. He was not even 2 and had only been in the country 2 weeks..This lady had used CCAI, our agency and raved about them. That was awesome. She made us realize something. When he came to the floor, she realized that the crib looked a lot like the crib he had in the orphanage so we quickly moved him to a bed..It was a great learning experience!

Last night, Michael and I sat down to watch National Geographic's Lost Daughters of China! HOly cow! If you didnt have tears pouring down your face, I am concerned. This video involved the journey of a few families going to China to get their daughters. Remember when we told you the story of meeting a wonderful family on our Disney Cruise who had 2 daughters? Well, their story was on this video. It was awesome. It made the whole thing feel more and more real..Please borrow our video or check it our at your library..It was awesome.

Also, please pray for me. The Dr just called and said I had a high white blood count..Not too hight, just a little bit and she was going to send me to a hematologist to see what was going on. She said she really wasnt worried to much, just wanted to rule things out..PLease pray its nothing..The idea of going to another dr just freaks me out..

Thats all..Michael isnt feeling well either so keep him in your prayers as well..
You guys rock!
Amy

We are waiting for financial means before we send out our I600A. That is the form needed for the fingerprinting. We need that in order to get the I171 which we need to complete the dossier.We will update when we can.

Hope you had a miraculous Christmas!
Amy

update

I read the new rules about the Chinese adoption and its okay. Our wait will be longer. I think I may be the only person looking forward to the wait. We will be celebrating when we get our I171 back (the last piece of paper we need) and when we are officially logged in.
I had my physical yesterday and my dr is going to work with me. Not sure how that works as I will be doing the work but whatever.

Thats it for now..Merry Christmas

I am so happy for the families who got their China babies this week! Maisie and Chloe are now with their forever families!!!!

Snoozing

So, I worked last night and slept on and off this morning as I am working tonight. I was awoken at 3:15 by our agency staff who I just love. Anyway, it turns out that if I can not lose the weight, we will be denied by China. I figured this out anyway. Dude, I lost 50 pounds one semester in college by going to the YMCA every morning. I know I can do this again!

Will update later..

Amy

Apologies to those I work with

Okay, so today was the day of my physical which meant nothing by mouth after midnight. I worked an extra shift last night from 11p-7a which meant nothing to eat or drink. If you know me, I drink a few Coke Zeros on my shift and usually a snack. Apparently I was not a nice person to work with last night. In fact, 2 staff members made me promise to never let my blood sugar drop at work again..

So, I left work, ready to go to my 920 appt at the dr. I got there, they pulled me aside and said the dr called in sick and they forgot to call me. Excuse me??? I and the people I work with suffered for nothing?

The worst part she can fit me in until after Christmas and that means my home study will not be complete and i wanted to have all of that done before hand. So I am a bit down but I know things could be worse so I am ok..I have been having some good talks with God lately, which is awesome!

THanks for the awesome emails and comments peoples!

If you would like to be a part of the prayer email list, shoot me an email over at amyschristopher@comcast.net

Prayers needed

Ok, so there is bad news and good news. I spoke to our agency this weekend via email and today by phone. I feel like we have one of the most reputable agencies around. They are just awesome and do not tell you anything unless confirmed by China!
That being said, things in China are changing May 2007. I am only going to post what affects Michael and I so if you are thinking about adoption, please email me and I will send you to other sites.

1)China fees are actually increasing January 1, 2006. Not too much, but enough for Michael and I to look at the budget again
2)Weight is a big issue now. Michael does not have to worry. It all has to do with the BMI or body mass index. It has to be a certain number. In order for me to reach that number, I need to lose 50 pounds. I have done this before, its not impossible.

If we can get logged in by May 1st or have our dossier (the whole paperwork thing) in China by May 1st, we will be okay. After that, the above applies. I do have a doctors appt this Wednesday to go over this. Its a blessing that our Dr is also adopting, because she knows what its like.

This is a bit of a stress but its not impossible and we are in no way giving up. Either
A) we get our paperwork really going which means finding extra money sooner to get our stuff done or
B)prepare to love weight quickly and find lots of support.
The good news is I have needed to lose weight for a while and regardless of when our dossier gets to China, I will use this as an extra incentive to lose the weight.

So that's what's going on, plus the wait time is increasing. They cant say how long but the sooner we get our stuff into China, the better. The last piece of our home study will be the drs notes and me finding Michaels employment letters. Then we apply for finger printing and then we get the governments permission to adopt from China and that takes about 3 months so we have lots to do.

More to come after I have had more sleep. Thanks for checking in!

Ok, well our agency sent an emal regarding dossier changes. I am ok with changes and I hope we are still approved. Apparently China is changing some of the rules and I worried for a minute. There will be a weight restraint so I need to get busy losing or whats the point..If they are going by your BMI, Michael has nothing to worry about!!!!

I have my drs appt on Wednesday and we will talk about weight stuff and immunizations for going overseas. Our biggest hurdle is money. Once we get what we need in, we can mail off for fingerprints and then our long wait form. The only thing the SW needs now is our medical forms and our financial statement. I will let you know when we hear what the actualy changes are. I hate to think we have spent this money to get started to have us turned away. We could use your prayers during this priocess.

Thanks
Amy

Our wonderful social worker just called to clarify what we still needed. She is almost done with her home study. Michael is going to the dr tomorrow and should get his form filled out and I have mine next week. Those are the last 2 hard forms to get. Once we get the home study down, then we start really paperchasing and finally getting our dossier together. WooHOo! I shall say this now. I would love to be logged into China by June 1st! We will see how close we get to that!!!

Amy

Steven Curtis Chapman-All I Really Want for Christmas

ANother adoption song..Hope you enjoy!

New Prayer Requests

1) That we will stay focused and motivated
2)That we will learn the heritage of our daughter during our waiting time
3)that all paperwork will be done in a timely manner by us and others
4)that all paperwork mailed will arrive at its destination and will not be lost
5)for our social worker and agency as they work on the paperwork
6)finances that we will have the money needed at the right times
7)the orphanages where the babies are-that they will be loved and cared for
8)China in general

next step

Well, more paperwork arrived today. My birth certificate and marriage license was mailed from the secretary of the state of Florida. Time to mail out the I-600A and get our fingerprints. Then we have just our doctor forms to fill out and we can apply for the last form and thats taking over 3 months to get back!

Wow, at least things are coming together!

Well, unfortunately our Friday gathering was cancelled but we are looking forward to the January gathering. Just wanted to let you know that the other song played is Third Day's Merry Christmas. Its an awesome cd and this song is great. Please be patient for the download and take a listen.

Amy

song

Eeyore Jeff told me tonight he could hear the song on this site. If you have time to wait to hear it upload, listen to the lyrics. Its Rascal Flatts and the song is called "My Wish" and I assume it is a letter from a parent to child

and so it goes

Not much to report today. I have been faxing copies of things to our SW so that she can finish our homestudy. Next up, filling out forms that will get us fingerprinted and get us an important form needed to send to China.

We are looking forward to Friday. We will be going to a couples home to have fellowship with other families who are either back from China or in the same boat we are. We have not been since September but we are vey excited to go. We may even see the couple we met on the cruise who introduced us to all of this!!!!!!

hmmmmm

Well, the social worker visits are done and she is just waiting for us to fax over copies of papers so that she can finish our homestudy. We are waiting for Maryland to have the Sec of State sign Michaels birth certificate and a few others..Once the home study is done, we will start waiting on more paperwork.

Our social worker recommended a lot of books for us to read and to my surprise, my MIchael has been ordering them from Amazon and they arrived this week. I am not sure how much we will be reading before Christmas, but we have a lot that we can do during our week.

God has been so good to us and has openend so many doors. I am meeting many families with Chinese children at work and I have loved learning about their experiences.

me

Michaels birth certificate arrived from Maryland today..That didnt take long. Now we have to send it to the secretary of state for authentication. Hope mine gets here soon!!!

etc

Well, the good news is that state of Florida has cashed my checks which means we are in the process of getting our marriage license and birth certificates. We mailed a letter to Maryland for that one.

The actualy homestudy is done. Now we have to give our social worker papers for her to be able to complete it. That includes our police reports, license, birth certificate, and all kinds of stuff. Not too bad.

I hope all of you are well. Apparently there were no referrals in October but quite a bit in early November. Congrats to all of the new families. The holiday season is quickly approaching and I wonder how many more we will have before we go to China. I am hoping 2007 will be our last Christmas with just Michael, Lucy and I.

I am trying to find a person/site to help with this blog and make it a bit more creative. If you know of someone who does this and has had success, please let me know!!!!!!!!

Last nights visit

So, would you like to know how it went? WE PASSED! She said she had no problems with us becoming parents and it would take her a few weeks to get her study together. That's ok, it will take a few weeks to get our paperwork together.

I got home at 9am yesterday and then I slept until noon. I got up and was quite motivated. Michael had already done a lot of work, but I spent 5 hours scrubbing bathrooms, cleaning our room, Making sure the downstairs looked clean and homey. Is that a word? Also, I just found the Swiffer? MY goodness, my I express my gratitude to the inventor. Its awesome! Lucy was over at doggie day care so I had freedom to do the whole house.

6pm Mary Poppins arrives. That's not her name, I just prefer to call her that. We say hello and take a tour of the house..I offer her a Coke Zero and we learn she likes this..Yippee! She likes the backyard and even the big green wall. This is good. The garage had been improved and she changed our water heater in hopes to save us some money. We will see. Saw the white room, which will be the baby room. The only safety issue she pointed out were the corners of the fireplace on the bottom..She recommended that we just soften the corners but we have time to do that!

After the walk around, we did our interviews. We had typed up our autobiographies and she went through those. I was up first and I really enjoyed it. She had given us a sheet with potential issues and we had to choose some to talk about. Most of it was parenting and adoption issues and how the public and friends and family will react. I loved this. Then it was MIchaels turn and I headed upstairs. I have no idea what they talked about, but he passed.

We ended the evening by saying she doesn't think we need another visit but that was up to me. We are meeting with a marriage counselor to talk and make sure we are ready. I am looking forward to this. Please don't think we are having issues. We are trying to prevent any issues from coming up.
Thanks for all of your prayers. This paperchase is crazy but I am loving it and I am looking forward to the long wait.

Amy and Michael

Awesome New Christmas CD with a powerful track at the end

Amy and I were driving home tyoday and listening to our new Third Day Christmas CD. Get a copy and listen to track 13. You'll find out why I was crying.




Third Day

Home Study/Paperchase

1.Paperwork has gone to Florida and Maryland to get certified copies of our birth certificates and marriage licenses..WooHOo

2.Our Home study that will include the walk around of the house is on Tuesday evening. Pray that we can get everything done..Thank God for doggy day care..I am serious..

Scroll down to vote!!!!

Chinese Holidays

Official Chinese Holidays
New Year's Day (January 1)
Not as much celebrated as it is in other parts of the world because it is overshadowed by the upcoming Chinese New Year somewhere a month away. However, employees will enjoy a paid day-off. And there will be parties everywhere, in parks, dancing halls and universities where students will leave for the winter vacation and won't be able to celebrete the Chinese New Year on campus.
International Women's Day (March 8)
Interestingly, women employees will get a whole or an half paid day-off on the day while the men are at the mercy of their employers.
Tree-Planting Day (Arbor Day) (April 1)
Highly promoted since the late 70's by the reformist government and yet to become established. It marks the begriming of a greening campaign all over the country during the month each year. There is no paid leave on this day.
International Labor Day (May 1)
No less celebrated than the New Year's Day. Prompted by economic development and commercialization, employees are granted five days paid leave so that they can tour the country and do their shopping. Parades and organized parties on this day have become history.
Youth Day (May 4)
A day in memory of the first mass student movement in 1919—a movement touched off by the then Chinese government that gave in to the Japanese government's attempt to colonize Shandong Province. It is also an anti-Confucius movement as well as one that promoted the western scientific and democratic ideas. Today, youth rallies are rare, but parties and picnic outings are gaining popularity.
Children's Day (June 1)
It is the most memorable day of Chinese children. Access to almost all entertainment and educational facilities such as cinemas, parks and children's museums is free to them. Elementary schools throw celebration parties while parents shower them with presents.
The CCP's Birthday (July 1)
It marked the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 in Shanghai. It is usually characterized by front page editorials from major government news pagers. Employees do not have a paid leave day.
Army's Day (August 1)
A communist-led nationalist army staged the first armed uprising in Chinese communist history against the Nationalists on August 1, 1927. It was regarded as the beginning of the Red Army (later the People's Liberation Army). Now the anniversary is often used to promote better relationships between the army and civilians, a tradition believed to have helped it beat the Nationalists during the civil war in 1949. It is not a paid-leave day.
Teacher's Day (September 1)
It was started in the early eighties as an effort to reverse the anti-intellectual sentiment nurtured by the "Cultural Revolution". It has become an established holiday. However, it is yet to become a paid-leave day for the teachers.
National Day (October 1)
It is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 in the wake of routing the Nationalists who have since taken refuge in Taiwan. Celebrations of the day went through different phases in history. Before 1960s, there were regular parades during the day and firework shows during the night in major cities. Later, the celebration was reduced to mere organized parties in parks. Beginning from the 1980's two grand parade happened in Beijing, each in the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin eras. Beginning from the late 1990s, Chinese employees have been given a week-long paid leave so that they can travel and spend to pump more money into the country's economic development. Both May 1 and October 1 weeks were called huangjinzhou, or "a week of gold." Fireworks and parties are integral part of the first day of the week of gold.

its Monday!

HI again. We missed the First Friday gathering this weekend again because I was working . I am a bit bummer out as I am not sure when we will be able to go. I hope all of you are doing well.

The good news is that there have been many referrals given to families this past week. How excited do you think they are? That means that many children from China have been matched with their forever families. The families received pictures and info about their little ones..I will try to link some websites when I can. I just want to make sure I am allowed to.

WE are finalizing another home visit with the Social worker. This will be the visit where we will be doing seperate interviews and she will be walking around the home and giving suggestions. I am pretty excited as this means we are working on completing a new step...Stay tuned for more information regarding China, which I will be posting later today!!!!

Last night

Its official. I am overwhelmed. Don't hate me. I told you guys this would be an honest look at this process.

Yesterday, Michael and I got our police reports. Mine took 5 minutes to print out, Michaels almost 15. Not to worry, both of ours said NO RECORD FOUND.
Then we came home and worked on the white room which will be the baby's room. This room has been full of boxes the past 2 years. I would say we are almost halfway done..Yeah that Lucy went to doggy day care..That helped.

Then we traveled to Starbucks for our first visit with the social worker. I must admit, Starbucks is a nice place to sit and chat..I had a pumpkin spice latte and Michael had coffee. No details here, but we had a nice visit with the assigned social worked and got way more detailed than I expected. Michael loved this visit. It was healthy but it opened our eyes to a lot of things. She gave us suggestions on resources we can be reading while we wait, and suggestions on how to communicate better. I left stressed, but then again, personal issues stress me out..I feel much better today.
I have a nasty cold which is making me tired and yet I have so much that I want to do! Nothing to stressful, I just want to stay busy.

Lets see what is stressing me out?????
1.Organizing the house- I am aware it doesn't have to be perfect. The fact that we don't have children, is actually a plus here. We aren't required to have the safety things in place just yet..But this is the biggest one.

2. My work schedule and Michaels. I am worried about this because with me working night shift, we don't have the time to talk and go over things, like other couples. This has been on my mind for a while

3.paperwork. As careful as I may be, I am afraid I will send the wrong thing somewhere or forget to sign something

4.Not getting things done on time. I am extremely laid back, but when I want to focus on something, I want to focus.

Thats that..Nothing negative, just worries which are natural..
More updates coming. Check out the name votes..Its getting close...