Leaving for China

If you're reading this you probably know that my family is leaving next week for China to complete our second adoption. And since I completely dropped the ball when it comes to blogging, I'm not going to pretend to have resumed. However, a few of you might stop by because you know that last time we traveled, I did post pictures, videos and journal entries from our trip (check October 2008). But for that sort of thing this time around, you are safer to follow my wife's blog www.raisingtomatoes.blogspot.com.

However, here are a few picks we have of our son, Jack Yintao.

More "24 things I've learned about my daughter"

Last year after the first week with Kate Nana, I posted a list of 24 things I learned about my daughter. Since today is the one-year anniversary of her adoption, a.k.a. "gotcha day," I thought I would add to the list what I've learned.

1. She is even more absolutely perfect-er (cf. last year's #1).
2. She is brilliant. Watching her play, interact, sign and learn new things, I'm convinced she's a genius.
3. She is now an incurable "mama's girl." The first several weeks of her new life with us, she was the ultimate daddy's girl, never wanting to leave my arms. But coming home and with me going back to work during the day, she soon attached herself to Amy and now has an unmistakable preference for her mom. (It's okay though, I'm learning to deal with it and am waiting a few years until she reverts back to daddy's little girl.)
4. She's a feisty, independent woman. Kate loves to do things on her own. "I do it," she says.
5. She loves to do whatever her brothers are doing, including playing trucks, screaming at the top of her lungs, or wrestling as pretend superheroes.
6. She won't wear hair bows or barrettes, so we're forced to cut her bangs (which kills me). Sometimes she'll let us put her hair up in pig tails.
7. She can get her feelings hurt pretty easy when you tell her "no."
8. She is quite athletic... she's maybe the best of the three kids at soccer!
9. She is very excited about starting preschool in two weeks. She talks about it non-stop.
10. She is potty trained... mostly.
11. She loves houseboats, pools, and "baybing soos" (bathing suits).
12. She likes to eat treats (ice cream, candy, gum, milkshakes, "emmies"-M&Ms) and meat (hotdogs, chicken, bologna), but mostly just stares at fruits and veggies (though she likes lima beans and asparagus most of the time).
13. She loves to talk on the phone... which is funny because very few of us can understand her, especially when she gets to rattling off some big story.
14. Like most women, she changes her mind early and often.
15. She sings like an angel. Part of our nighttime singing ritual usually includes "The B-I-B-L-E" and "Jesus Loves Me."
16. She is getting more and more used to her reconstructed palate and learning to make lots of new sounds and funny faces with her mouth :) And her ear tubes have worked wonderful so far to keep away earaches. We're still hopeful that she'll eventually have full hearing in both ears.

17. She is ticklish everywhere and has a contagious laugh, along with the most beautiful smile... careful, it will melt you!
18. She doesn't seem to have many of those tearful "grieving moments" anymore... though she still requires one of us to stay by her room until she falls asleep each night.

19. She loves to "help." Whatever it is, she wants to be in on it with the excuse "I want to help!"
20. She likes to wear dresses, tights and anything pink... or with Spiderman on it!
21. She is growing very big and tall. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 years old soon!
22. She likes to go on trips and doesn't like to be left home when anyone is going out.
23. She's still very hot-natured... it's funny how easily she works up a good sweat.
24. And she's still much more wonderful than I deserve!!!! I'm so thankful to be her dad.

25 Random Things

There's are notes being posted on facebook, "25 Random Things," where you write 25 random things about yourself and then pass it on to 25 friends. I thought I'd go ahead and post it here, too. Enjoy!

1. My whole family is great (and there's a lot of my mom and dad in me), but my dream is that I turn out just like my grandfather, Leland Schindler.
2. I love hanging out with teenagers, I think maybe especially middle school guys (so long as there aren't any little girls around for them to impress).
3. It's been a long time since I've done some of my favorite things-- snow ski, golf, play poker, wear bowties, or study ancient Hebrew and Greek... very sad.
4. My middle name is John. I was named after my grandfather, John Claire Swinehart... another amazing man :)
5. I don't think my wife is as amused as I am that I have so many "old flames" as facebook friends (and, Cindy, no comments on "the list"!)
6. I was a student at UK when we went to three straight national championship games and won two titles ('96 & '98)... maybe I should go back to school!
7. Amy and I met in 1996 at UK (tomorrow is the 14-year anniversary of the day we met). It turned out we had several friends in common who were helpful in getting us to start dating :)
8. My favorite restaurants are Chipotle, Sonny's BBQ, Chick-fil-a, Giuseppe's, the Melting Pot, and any kind of Hibachi Japanese place (I like meat and chocolate... but not at the same time).
9. Though I played trumpet and french horn in band, I most enjoyed choral music and eventually taught myself how to play guitar.
10. I enjoy blogging (www.grabacorner.blogspot.com) and reading blogs, listening to podcasts, texting, facebook, twitter, etc.
11. As I type this, Kate is napping next to me... so sweet! I love my daughter more than I ever imagined. Truly amazing!
12. Adoption has taught me more about God than I am able to put into words. I highly recommend it :)
13. I'm usually bad at details and better at big picture stuff. (Amy does not like this feature in her husband.)
14. I love playing with the boys. Ben and Will are getting to that age now where we can do more and more fun "guy" stuff... I only wish I had more energy!
15. Not that I want more kids, but if we had another boy, I wish my wife would let me name him "Cook"... after the English name of a kid I met in China in 1997.
16. I love football. (This will be a long offseason.)
17. Though I've got some close friends, as a whole, I've never been able to replace my college "accountability group"... Shawn, Cager, Greg, Chuck (Last one on facebook is a eunuch, Chuck!)
18. With that said, I really miss Monday nights in Somerset (Poker for Jesus)
19. I love to read... but won't read fiction.
20. I watch much less tv these days, though I still carve out time to watch the Simpsons and the Colbert Report (usually on hulu.com)
21. Because Amy won't live north and I don't want to live south, we have a short list of places we would likely live: Hawaii, North Carolina, Kentucky, overseas, and Virginia (in that order... for me, at least).
22. Images are important to me (usually in the form of metaphors or stories)... they are useful for helping me think about/ understand things I have a hard time putting into words.
23. The trip to the Liberty Bowl this year was so much fun... thanks Alex and John.
24. I truly enjoy hanging out with my brothers, Rick and Brian, and wish I got to do that more. (It's funny how things change over the years, huh?)
25. Especially since so many high school classmates are on here now, I think there should be a 15-year class reunion for PHS class of '94. Any plans in the works, Emily, Jessica, or Steve?

Top 10 Highlights of 2008

In honor of the new year, I thought I would do a top 10 list of my highlights from 2008. Enjoy.

1. Kate & China
The biggest highlight of the year, of course, is the adoption of our daughter, Kate. We were finally matched with our daughter this summer on July 11th. After getting our LOA and TA, we traveled to China for two weeks in October, and on October 13th, 2008 we met her for the very first time. While we were in China, we went through Beijing and saw the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, traveled to Nanjing and Suzhou and walked around the beautiful canals and the Ming mausoleum, and finished up in Guangzhou with some final shopping and the oath ceremony at the US Consulate. After an extremely long flight, we returned home on her 2nd birthday, October 23rd. She has been a constant joy, even as our new family struggles through the newness and strangeness of it all. She has gone from wanting me non-stop for the first two weeks, to not wanting me at all (only Mommy), and now--especially in the last little bit-- she seems to be comfortable with us both (though sometimes she still just wants Mommy). We have worked through a lot of communication issues already: we picked up some Chinese, she seems to understand a lot of English now, and we've all been learning sign language. She loves her brothers, and the boys absolutely adore her. I can't tell you how thankful to God I am that we are now together at last.

2. the Boys
The boys are great kids. I'm so proud to be their dad. This has been a wonderful year with them. Ben and I have always been close, but now that Kate has come along, I think Will is becoming a little less of a Mama's boy and has been closer to me. This summer they both took swim lessons, and they're starting an indoor soccer program next month. In the Fall, Will started preschool two days a week and Ben started half-day Kindergarten five days a week. They are so smart and are great at teaching Kate new things. In 2008 Ben started reading, and I'm so amazed with his ability to read so well (he reads anything and everything he can get his hands on). And Will is very creative and athletic. The work he brings home from school and church are very imaginative, and he's becoming quite coordinated as we play ball together. I'm so excited to watch how they continue to grow!

3. 10-year anniversary
This August, Amy and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary, and we took a long weekend trip together to Myrtle Beach (via Chimney Rock, NC). If you know my wife, you know how lucky I am. She is beautiful and sweet and smart and witty. She loves God and her family and supports me and my ministry in a hundred different ways. I love that she "gets it" (i.e. she cares about the things that you're supposed to care about), and she's so great at listening to me go on and on about whatever I need to talk about. She's my favorite.

4. Baptisms
This year, three students from our youth ministry were baptized: Buckley, Sarah and Stefanie. I was also privileged to perform the baptisms for Stefanie, her step-dad Dean, and a new friend, Aaron. It is a huge honor to be a part of such a special moment in their spiritual journey.

5. Toronto
I think the highlight of our youth ministry in 2008 for me was probably our mission trip to Toronto, Canada. It was awesome to be a part of a group of 10 youth and 3 adults from our church to serve in the urban center of Toronto this summer. We had a great time, and I got to witness God using our teenagers to go outside their comfort zone and serve others. I'm continuing to see ripples from this week of ministry all throughout our youth group.

6. Fusion, Summer Internship, and Student Leadership
In my second year of youth ministry here, I'm proud of three new developments. One is our youth ministry network called Fusion. In January, I began contacting and pulling together youth ministers from churches all over town and setting up opportunities for us to get together. In the Fall, we pulled off our first joint venture-- Fusion: United-- community service projects and joint worship service. I've enjoyed getting to know these awesome leaders and look forward to what we'll do together in the future.

Second, we started a summer youth internship program. Blair, a junior at the college next door, worked with the youth this summer and did a fantastic job. She was full of great ideas, was great relating to the youth, and was fun to work with. I've enjoyed hanging out with Blair and am glad that she's continued working with our girls high school small group.

Finally, there were a few students who were ready to take the next step in their relationship with God and their role within the youth ministry. So, we've begun a student leadership program with four students who have committed to being contributors instead of just consumers. We're meeting to talk about what it will take to be the kind of leaders within the student ministry that God wants them to be. It's so exciting seeing their enthusiasm.

7. Jacob & Hawaii
Back in January of this year, Amy's mom took the family to Hawaii for two weeks. It was our Christmas present and basically a last chance to spend family time with Amy's brother, Jacob, and his wife, Alison. Later in 2008 they would leave for the mission field. It will probably be quite some time before we get to spend much time together again, so the trip to Hawaii was such a significant two weeks. It was so nice to escape the cold January winter for the warmth of the Hawaiian beaches. But more than that, it was great for us and the boys to spend some time with some of our favorite people. We saw the sights, ate good food, drank Jamba Juice, visited friends (Kele and Kaala & their kids), sat on the beach, and played together. Especially since Ben and Will miss them so much now, I'm glad we got these two short weeks together.

8. Presidential election
In 2008, we saw the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America. I'm still in shock that it happened, but I'm very excited for this new time for America. I saw him in person at the campaign rally for the Democratic nomination in Louisville on May 12th and followed the general election on the news pretty regularly. I'm proud to be a part of this historical moment in our country's history, and I look forward with great anticipation the work that he'll do when he begins his term in office.

9. New Guitar
In March, with some of the money my grandmother left me, I purchased a new guitar. It's a Takamine EG543SC Acoustic Electric, and it's beautiful. It's got a great sound, and I love playing it. I think Grandma would be happy that I'm enjoying it so much :)

10. Cubs, Browns, UK basketball disappoint, but football Cats make 3rd straight bowl game

As you would expect from the Browns and the Cubs, I was very disappointed this year. Both had high expectations-- the Cubs even led the NL in wins-- but both failed miserably. The Cubs got swept in the first round of the playoffs to the Dodgers. The Browns barely even made it out of the gate before finishing the season miserably with two injured QBs, no offensive TDs since early November, and firing the head coach. Pitiful.

The Cats struggled in their first year with new head coach, Billy Gillispie. Had it not been for the emergence of Patrick Patterson it would have been very ugly. And even barely squeaking into the NCAA tournament, we made an early first round exit to Marquette. I don't even remember the last time we were ranked in the top 25. As we head into the SEC part of the schedule in 2009, I'm starting to have some hope for the Cats yet.

On the positive side, congratulations to the underestimated/ overachieving UK football team. Even though no one expected them to have much of a year, they crawled their way across the six and six line into their third-straight bowl game appearance (and hopefully third-straight bowl win). I'll be heading to Memphis tomorrow with great hope that they'll pull another one out, this year against the Conference-USA champions, the East Carolina Pirates.

update on Kate

I should apologize. If you were faithfully reading this blog, I've let you down. I've not been posting much lately, and I'm sorry. (Hopefully you've used this time to go back and re-read all the wonderful and insightful things I've written in the past... haha.)

In addition to other distractions, I think I've not posted very much because I'm not sure what to say or quite how to articulate my thoughts about the changes in our family.

If you've been around our family recently, you probably know that Kate isn't the daddy's girl she used to be. Since we've been back in the country, she has become attached at the hip with Amy. I don't blame her. Since I have to leave every morning (and often in the evenings and weekends), I'd probably pout, too. Sometimes she just looks at me like she's mad at me and is planning on holding a grudge for a while. The things she used to do that indicated good attachment-- look to me for comfort, hold eye contact, willing to show affection-- she doesn't do nearly as much. So, it makes me feel sad (because I feel like I've lost a little bit of her already) and guilty (because it's my fault that I have to leave her behind all the time).

Don't get me wrong. She's a great little girl and we are so blessed that she is adjusting so well. But I attribute that to two things: One, she has two wonderful brothers that think she hung the moon. She gives Ben the biggest hugs, and Will is constantly making up songs and singing over her! Two, it's because her mommy is so great (and because she's now figured that out!). She really is thriving. And really I can't complain too much... Kate still let's me hold her (at least for a while), take afternoon naps with her, take her to the store, give her baths, feed her, brush teeth, change diapers and clothes, and most other essential things (especially when I get her brothers involved). But it's not what it once was between me and her.

A while back, in order to better facilitate Kate's attachment with her, Amy took over the bedtime ritual (see her recent post). It worked well... maybe too well. Because when I went to put her to bed last week to give Mommy a break, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. She cried, kicked and signed "mommy" non-stop for about an hour (all without ever looking at me)... I think we underestimated each others' stubbornness. The decibel level only grew whenever I said that Daddy loved her or that Mommy was not coming. She would not settle down no matter what I tried. In fact, she worked herself into such a fit and got choked on so much snot and mucus that she threw up twice. After changing clothes and bed sheets... and tactics and positions... she finally wore herself out and settled down in her bed with me laying next to her. Exhausted she fell asleep. Since then, Amy and I have been doing bedtime together more often... at least when I'm home in time. I hope this helps Kate attach with both of us.

So pray for us... that we'll know what to do. That we'll know how to build trust and acceptance. That we'll know when to hold on and when to back off. That she'll know that we are her Mommy and Daddy and love her more deeply than we can say.

And let there be no doubt, even in the midst of what will likely be a temporary struggle, truly God is good and we have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season!

guangzhou

Here is some video from Suzhou... It's fun to see our family interact. I think Kate must think all we ever do is eat (which seems to be okay by her!).

We are now in Guangzhou. We flew in early yesterday (Monday morning) from Nanjing. Here's a picture from the flight, not long before she spilled that cup of water (pictured on the right) all over my shirt and lap. Nice.

Once we arrived and checked into the White Swan hotel, we had a fairly Americanized lunch at Lucy's down the street. More expensive but worth it. We then took Kate to her visa picture and medical examination for the paperwork for the American consulate. Not fun, but I'm glad she's so healthy. That evening, Amy worked diligently preparing all the paperwork to be filed this morning. (Great job, honey!) Because that took a while, we ate a late dinner at an Italian restaurant a little walk from the hotel. Not bad. I think everyone enjoyed it pretty well.

This morning we really didn't have anything scheduled. Just be available in our rooms from 9:00am to 10:30am while our guide filed our paperwork with the US consulate so she could contact us if there were any complications. Along with the other families from our agency, we dressed up all the kids in traditional Chinese clothing for pictures. Isn't our daughter beautiful? Then a little trip to go shopping and pick up some pizza for dinner. Because there were no naps, we just sent everyone to bed early tonight!

Tomorrow is our last full day in China. I guess we'll take part in the oath ceremony at the US consulate and try to get everything packed up. This may be my last post until we're back, but, for all you who twitter, I'll probably update once we arrive in Detroit.

what you come here for

I don't doubt that the reason most of you come to visit my blog is for the videos I've been posting, so here you go. This is from the Humble Administrator's Garden we visited yesterday. We attracted quite a crowd. Enjoy.

Daddy's Little Girl

(Brushing our teeth!)

A quick update. (I don't have much time... I distracted her with Cheerios, but she won't let me be away from her too long!)

Everything has been going very well. We went to the Civil Affairs office this morning to sign all the paperwork to make Kate officially ours (at least as far as the Chinese government is concerned)! We had to take Kate with us back to the place where we picked her up yesterday. She seemed to handle it pretty well. Actually, when some of the orphanage workers who brought her to us yesterday tried to get her to come to them, she refused to leave my side! Wow. However, she was not especially patient of the time it took to complete the paperwork... many times she got upset with me that when she grabbed my hand I wouldn't follow her outside.

Also, a highlight of my night yesterday: She got upset and started crying just before bedtime, so it was left to me to try to soothe her. I picked her up and took her to the bedroom. I bounced her for a moment, which soon led to dancing in circles, which soon led to me singing to her. For some reason, James Taylor's "You Are My Only One" came to my head. She loved it. She hugged my neck a little tighter, took some deep breaths, and totally gave it up. I have no words to describe what this feels like to have this strong connection already with this precious little girl. Like I said before, she's the other woman of my dreams!

I'm the luckiest dad in the world

My daughter is amazing. I can't believe we are finally together! I am even more amazed that she has bonded with me so well already! Oh, how my heart is ready to burst :)

(my new favorite picture, I think)

Well, since I'm nice and all, I let Amy get on-line first after we put Kate to bed tonight (that, and it's taking me a long time to convert all the video to the computer). So, go visit her blog soon.

Amy is quite amazing, too. What you don't know is that, because I knew it was common for the adopted child to have a preference for one parent over the other, I was afraid I would be the one rejected. What would have devestated me, Amy is handling wonderfully. She has been great, finding opportunities to bond little by little, helping me out all the time, and encouraging me and giving me confidence that I'm doing a good job.

Video of our first moments with Kate...

Some time well spent at Haagen Dazs...

here we go!

A lot of people have been asking me if I'm excited about leaving tomorrow for China. Honestly, I don't know how to answer them. Of course I'm excited! I mean, we're flying half way around the world with my whole family (including my mother-in-law). We're getting ready to add a little girl to our family full of boys. And this little girl, who's almost two years old, doesn't know us... doesn't know English... we don't know Chinese... and we are going to take her from everything she's ever known to live with us back here. Exciting? Terrifying and wonderful and sad and beautiful and traumatic and a dream come true and, yes, exciting, too.

This morning I woke up with butterflies in my stomach. (My stomach is always the first physical indicator that something's going on.) I guess it's kicking in that I'm about to leave on a journey that will forever change my life... to meet the other woman of my dreams :) Amy told me earlier that she has to tell herself to breathe. My prayer has long been that I would be a really good father. Ben and Will have been relatively easy so far, but a girl--will I know what to do? Talk about heartache! I know this little girl will have the capacity to either make my heart soar or break it to pieces. With all my heart, I hope I can be everything she needs.

I love you, Kate. I can't wait!

8 days to go

How is it that time is moving so slowly? (Although I still can't seem to get everything accomplished I've got on my to-do list!) I can't wait to get my arms around this little girl!


These pictures are now six months old, but we just got them last week in a file we were sent from our agency. What a wonderful surprise! (Click here for more recent pictures.)

One week from tomorrow we get on the plane to China, and in 11 days from right now (given the time change) we should be meeting our daughter! I can't believe how amazing this is.

We're hoping to have good internet access on our trip so that we can post regular updates to our blogs-- this one and Amy's (see "Raising Tomatoes" on the right-hand side of the page). We look forward to reading your comments as we post from China.

China Travel Itinerary

I don't know what you're going to do with your October, but here's most of mine...

October
9th-- leave home at 11:15am, through Detriot and Tokyo
10th-- arrive in Beijing at 9:35pm (Beijing Traders Hotel)
11th-- visit Summer Palace and Great Wall (Juyongguan section)
12th-- visit Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City, fly to Nanjing (Manderin Garden Hotel)
13th-- meet our daughter, Kate!!!
14th-- civil affairs office for registration
15th-- train to Suzhou (Kate's birthplace), visit Humble Administrator's Garden and Panmen Scenic Area (Holiday Inn Youlian Suzhou)
16th-- visit Tong Li Town, the water county and Suzhou Embroidery Institute
17th-- visit Suzhou Children's Welfare Institute (SWI) and Lingering Garden, back to Nanjing (Manderin Garden Hotel)
18th-- visit Ming Dynasty Emporers' Tombs
19th-- visit Qin Huai River
20th-- fly to Guangzhou (White Swan Hotel), medical check-up, fill out forms for US consulate, get Kate's passport
21st-- guide helps complete consulate documents
22nd-- oath ceremony
23rd-- leave Guangzhou at 8:20am, through Tokyo and Detroit, arrive home at 4:25PM

a different kind of trip

We found out last weekend that we got our official Travel Approval to go to China, and a couple days later got back our passports with their Chinese visas (above, on left). But we were disappointed to learn that the US Consulate did not have any available openings until October 21st to schedule us for the finalization of the adoption on the American side of things. I guess this is what should be expected when you are working with bureaucracies from two different countries!

So we will be traveling to China on October 9th. But this isn't my first trip to China.

I first traveled to China in the summer of 1997 (see visa at top, right side) when, along with five other college students (Shawn, Sharon, Qny, Momi and Angie), I spent five weeks in Yangshuo, Guangxi (near Guilin). We traveled through Hong Kong and southern China by boat, train, airplane, bus, taxi, bicycle and foot. We saw breathtaking landscapes filled with limestone mountains and terraced rice fields, picturesque towns with pagodas and ancestral shrines, and amazing cities with skyscrapers that climb to the sky. We spent our time with a school full of kids (mostly around 13 and 14 years old). We learned Chinese and taught English. We played basketball and ping pong and learned tai chi and mahjong. We snacked on "sheep-on-a-stick" at roadside vendors, dined on some odd-looking pizza at "americanized" cafes while they showed movies (like an "edited" version of Braveheart), and accepted invitations to traditional Chinese meals (where I was first introduced to beer... "Gan Bei"!). We tubed down the Li Jiang and bicycled to Moon Hill. We haggled in the marketplaces and took lots of pictures. We danced and laughed at birthday celebrations and wept, hugged and set off firecrackers at good-byes. The most amazing part for me was answering the girl who asked, "Teach me how to pray," and hearing my closest friend, Cook (pictured below), tell me that he believed. It was an awesome trip, and I can't imagine what my life would have been without it.

Now 11 years later, I will be going on my second trip to China. Like before, I expect to see a lot of amazing sights and experience meaningful moments. But this trip will be a very different kind of trip. Two weeks instead of five. Through Beijing instead of Hong Kong. Probably pretty comfortable accommodations throughout. Again, I will be there with five others with me... but they'll be my family members Amy, Ben, Will, Mimi (my mother-in-law) and Kate. But the purpose of this trip is to adopt my daughter! We will arrive in Beijing, meet our agency workers, adjust to the new time zone and then meet our daughter in her home province of Jiangsu. We have to spend a week together with her there according to the Chinese guidelines of international adoption. Then we will go to Guangzhuo to the US Consulate to swear on oath that we will take care of her and raise her well. We are so excited to finally be with this little girl that we have planned for and prayed for for so many years.

I can't wait to return to such a beautiful and wonderful country that I have grown to love dearly. Though this is an extremely different kind of trip, I'm not sure this journey would have happened if it weren't for the impact of my first trip to China.

New Pictures of Kate!!

Enjoy!!

Adoption Update

Everything still seems to be on track for traveling around the second week of September. So today we sent off our China visa applications, passport and some more fees. Basically, we're asking them to kindly let us into their country. I'm a little nervous putting my passport in the mail, but it should come back with this cool looking stamp on the inside of it saying that we are officially invited to come in. We also got most our vaccination shots... I still have to go back for my tetanus shot in a few weeks (they were out because of all the kids starting back to school).

Our next priority is to get our official changes made from the USCIS on our home study document (changing it to match with an older child with special needs)... which we're already expecting to come in the mail any time. They don't always expedite these changes, so we will have to stay on top of it.

Also, we want to get Kate's care package in the mail quickly. We are sending a blanket that we've been sleeping with for a couple weeks, a disposable camera, a picture album of her new family with Chinese written on it (check out my profile picture or other examples on Amy's post: http://raisingtomatoes.blogspot.com/2008/07/taras-rockstar.html), and a journal with questions written in Chinese that we are hoping one of her care workers will fill out for us with additional information about her last 21 months. You never know if the care packages are going to make it to their intended destinations, but it's certainly worth a shot.

Also, we got an email from our agency saying that we will not be able to take a tour of Beijing due to the recent tragedy of the stabbing death of the American at a tourist site at the start of the Olympics. It's unfortunate for us, but it's obviously not the point of our trip. And who knows, it may change again before we actually arrive.

* I hope my new web address hasn't caused problems for any of you, but I hope you understand that I changed it in order to remove our last name and other identifiers from this public forum. Thanks for your patience :)

LOA

Here she is! Our beautiful daughter, Kate (Xunuo). We got our LOA ("Letter of Acceptance") at the adoption agency yesterday and FedEx-ed to us at the house today! I'm so proud to be able to post (i.e. "show to the world") her picture now. We are amazed that it came so quickly-- only 10 days from our LOI ("Letter of Intent")! Isn't she the most absolutely amazing little girl you've ever seen?! Once we got the paperwork, we signed it and will get it back to our adoption agency right away. They will file everything by Tuesday, and they expect to get an appointment in about three weeks after that. Hopefully this means we will travel by mid-September. Wow! When we go, we will arrive in Bejing, travel to Suzhou (where she now lives) to get her, and then to Guanzhou to complete the American side of the adoption process.

What can we say? Everything is happening so fast. We have so much left to do. We have a change form pending with the USCIS (immigration office) to stay on top of, Parent Education credits to finish off (reading, videos, write-ups), a care package to send, payments to make, travel arrangments to apply for, vaccinations to update, room to get ready-- all the while celebrating a 4th birthday for Will and getting two little boys ready to start school next week! Such an exciting time :) Lord, thank you for your greatness in all of our joys!

*********

Meanwhile, the boys finished up swim lessons today. Over the last two weeks, Ben and Will have been taking lessons at the Pavilion. They have done so well and have learned so much. Even if we had to bribe them with swim goggles, it was worth it. I think they've come to enjoy the pool so much more now. Here's a few pictures of my little swimmers...

check Ben out...

matched!

Wow! Now that we've shared the news with many of our family and friends, I can get away with blogging about it. My wife and I were matched with our daughter this past week!!!!

We have been in the process of adopting a daughter from China for a long time now. About this time three years ago, we first began filling out paperwork. January 2006 we sent our homestudy along with many documents, forms and pictures to China and received back a log-in date (LID) of March 7, 2006. So now after 28 months of waiting to be matched, we finally received the referral for our little girl. (See my blog entry puzzle pieces from 1/26/07... who knew that at the time I was writing my daughter would be three months old?)

My daughter, Kate, is so beautiful! There's a lot we can't post online until we receive our official Letter of Acceptance (LOA)-- including her picture-- but she is absolutely amazing. I am so in love with her already! After some more paperwork gets processed, probably in about two or three months, we will travel to China to get her.

Pray for us as we prepare ourselves, our family and our home to welcome our new daughter. Ask God to give us the wisdom it takes to respond to her special circumstances and needs as she goes through this huge change in her life. Thanks!

...just wanted to share the good news :) Oh, and check out the link to Amy's blog, "Raising Tomatoes."

puzzle pieces

I have a son, Ben, who loves puzzles. This morning I noticed him hold up a piece of one of his many puzzles and say to his mother, "Hey, I found the piece that was missing yesterday!" The thing about his statement that was so amazing was that he recognized that particular piece separate from the rest of the puzzle... he picked it up out of a pile of many random pieces. I'm not sure how his brain processes puzzle-working, but if you watch him work puzzles, it seems as though each piece of each puzzle is memorized... and, in particular, how it connects to the rest of the picture.

He is so thoughtful about a puzzle... and I'm not sure that I'm even that thoughtful about the most important pieces that make up my life. Do I put that kind of care into "giving thought to" all the parts of my life? What about the pieces of my life that go unnoticed and neglected? Could I pick out each piece, tell you about it, and explain how it's connected to the bigger picture? Probably not. Maybe that's part of where I want to go through this thing.

Here's one piece. My daughter. I have a beautiful baby daughter that my wife, my sons and I thank God for every night. We also pray that she will be safe and healthy and that God would provide people to love her and care for her right now. The problem is that she is still in China; she is an orphan and needs a family. But we haven't been told we can go get her yet. In fact, we haven't even been told her name or given her picture... but she's there right now waiting for us. And we are waiting (not so patiently) for her, too. I try to explain to Ben that we are waiting in line and it's not our turn yet... that we have to wait until we get to the front of the line to go to China to bring her home. Though I don't know the first thing about her, I love her and my heart aches to think about how I long to hold her in my arms. If my life is a puzzle, she is definitely a "missing piece."