Flying Kites

March

While we wait, I am trying to figure out new and exciting things to put on our blog. I have been wrestling with how to share more then just a few pictures from our trip while we are in China. I know some of you might enjoy lookiing at all the pictures we take, so I have been looking into how to do that. I think I might have figured it out, but no promises.

The above picture (or set of pictures) was taken a few weeks ago when it was beautiful outside (it is no longer warm and georgeous!). Emily still loves being a kid (Yippee!), and loves doing "kid" things. I love it that she has not "Grown up" so much that she has forgotten how to have fun. So many teens seem to lose sight of fun. She is into flying kites these days. Thankfully, she has gotten the other kids into it too. We have a field next to our property that is perfect for flying kites. I took these pictures (well, most of them) while they were having fun flying kites. For those who are interested in checking out the other pictures, just click on the picture and it will link you into my photo album (if all goes well, anyways).

Our LOA has arrived!

I had given up hope today. The phone rang at 2:30 and I thought for sure that it was Emily. School is out then and she is suppose to call me when she heads home. But, it wasn't her... IT WAS BETTY!!!! Yippee!!! Yeah!!! Hooray!!!! I think I leaped in the air.

OUR LOA IS AT FTIA and being Fed-Exed overnight. We will sign it and send it back tomorrow. The next step is waiting for our TA. Last group of TA's took anywhere from 13 days to 22 days from LOA. We could get it as soon as April 16th and possibly as late as 24th (based on the last group). If it gets back quick enough, we possibly may travel early May. If not, then it should be the end of May.

All I know is that I am praising God for His faithfulness despite my lack of faith. We will travel when God wants us to bring our son home. Personally, I am praying for the early May dates.

A Precious Note

The "pains" are getting harder then ever! We still wait for our LOA, hoping for it to arrive in the next batch sent. This morning when I awoke, this is what I read in an email that someone very precious sent to me.


Hi. I just wanted you to know that I got to play with your son today.
He is SOOO cute! He is so mild mannered. The other kids in his room
are full of energy, but he just calmly plays. So, so cute! I
gave him a book from the shelf, and he sat down and flipped all
through the pages. The funniest thing today, though, was that his
pants were a little too big around the waist and kept falling. Kept
me laughing.

Just wanted you to know I saw him and that he is SO SO sweet and cute!

What a precious, precious gift to read this morning. The wait is getting harder.

Well, I am beginning to feel the "pains" of labor. It is getting more and more difficult to wait. My heart is aching. I check my email about every 10-15 minutes anymore, hoping for some news. I sit and practically stare at my phone, hoping for it to ring and be Betty, our family coordinator. But... the funny thing is, my phone has never rang so few times!

I know that it is in God's time, not mine. I know that very clearly and truly want ONLY His time, but it is getting harder. I watch the video over and over and see the emptiness in Ri's little eyes and I ache. I ache for him to know he has a family who loves him. So, the video is a bitter-sweet thing to me. I love watching him, yet it has caused me to long to hold him all the more.

As we sit and wait, our life continues to be in full motion. Emily is in the midst of OGT tests. They are crucial tests for all high schoolers. It is a very stressful week for her, so if she comes to your mind, please pray for her. Erin just made the Junior Varsity Softball Team for her school. Not much of a down time for her between sports. Sam has joined the track team. We are thrilled to see him getting involved and can't wait to go root him on! Jacob had his first practice for his traveling soccer team last night. Sam's traveling team begins on Saturday (if he plays this season). Neither Erin nor Emily are playing softball this year. It breaks my heart. They both would love to, but I am unable to coach. That took the wind out of their sails. It would have been Emily's last year to play in the league. I have coached her since she was 9 years old! It broke my heart to not be able to coach her that last year, but life is calling me in other directions. I will have 2 toddlers, both of which will not want me gone 3 nights a week. Plus, we think we may be traveling to China in the midst of the season. We do not know for sure, but chances are very, very high. With that in mind, it would not be right for me to take on a team. It was a hard decision for all of us. In addition to all of the sports, Emily is working 2-3 nights a week. So, once school is over during the day, the running begins.

A video clip of Ri in his orphanage!

With great joy, we were given this incredible gift. I have found many new friends through the adoption process and through are support groups. A new friend adopted her daughter in January. She sent us this video of Ri. He is the little guy on the far left, the one swinging his legs. I can't wait to have him in our arms!

passports and visa's

That's a lot of passports!!



Yippee!!! Thanks to our great friends, Alexa and Brandon, we now have our passports and visa's all in order! Yeah. We just received them back in the mail today. That is a load off my mind.

WHat does the PA look like?

Ok, I have seen others post a picture of their PA on their blogs. I thought that was a cool idea. So, for Ri's sake, here is a picture of CHina's notification to us that we have been pre-approved. It was 11/28/06 when we found out.

Friends in the orphanage

Ri is the littlest guy to the far left. Here he is with some of his friends.

Paul Liu Ri Chen Miller

We have officially named our son. His new name will be: Paul Liu Ri CHen Miller. We will still call him Ri, which is pronounced "Ree". That isn't the way it has been pronounced in Chinese, but we can't seem to master that sound. We are so use to calling him Ri that we really can't imagine changing it. We were told in the beginning that it was pronounced "Ree", but a very good friend of Mark's shared with us that it is not.

We all want Ri to have an American name. We feel it is important for him. As a family, we have chosen Paul as his first name. It was not chosen the way that Elizabeth was chosen (a family vote). This time, we felt very lead to name him after his Uncle. Uncle Paul is very precious to us. He loves the kids as if they were his own. He is a man who loves the Lord with all of his heart. We wanted to honor Paul by naming our son after him.

The new pictures are a true gift! A family just adopted their daughter from the same orphanage. They were allowed to visit and were shown the toddler room. The nannies were so loving towards all the children and genuinely cared for them. They pointed out Ri and shared with the family that they had hopes that he would be adopted soon. Yeah!!! They took some pictures and sent them to me. I am truly grateful!

Just thinking about our boy.

We just got new pictures of Ri. He looks like he has gotten a little chunkier and a haircut.


I've been thinking so much about our little Ri. I use to be able to confidently say that God had taught me so much through Elizabeth about His timing, not mine. I have easily just rested in His hands as we have waited these 5 months. I use to think it would be so much harder waiting on a "special needs" child because you know who they are for so long. With Elizabeth, we had her picture only 2 months before we held her in our arms. With Ri, we have known that he was to be a part of our family since September, when we first laid eyes on him. But for 5 months, I have not been anxious or "going nuts" about him. I haven't sat on pins and needles waiiting for a phone call to give me any more information. I have been at peacea about it all. It has been a wonderful feeling, yet something that has baffled me. Deep down, I wondered if I wasn't using "the lesson God taught me" as an excuse to cover the fact that, maybe.. just maybe I was not really looking forward to having another child. Part of me was somewhat fearful that I had fooled myself into thinking that I was excited to have Ri.

Well... I am happy... and somewhat sad... to announce that I am getting very anxious to hold my son. I am beginning to ache, to long for him, to think of him constantly. I have begun to imagine what it will be like with him, how it will feel to see him, to touch his face and kiss him all over. I look at his picture and my heart begins to ache. There is a part of me that is relieved to finally feel that ache. Yet, there is a part of me that is realizing that I have begun to take the fears and worries out of God's hands and placing them in mine. I don't want to do that because the peace I have in His hands is so much greater!

When I left it in God's hands and didn't worry about when we would go, the days seemed to have passed very, very quickly. I can't believe that it has been well over a months since we have been logged in. Now that I am getting anxious, I think the days have slowed down somehow.

My agency shares with me that we might be one of the next families to recieve our LOA (letter of acceptance). It is a new stage for waiting children. We now have to send a letter back to China informing them that we have accepted Ri as our referral and intend to adopt him. Once we send that back, it appears that the TA's (travel approval) are being sent about 2 weeks later. It is then that we will find out when we can travel to China to bring our son home. TA's enable us to make CA's (Consulate Appointments, to finalize everything). The CA determines the exact dates of our travel. I am told that we will probably be traveling 1-6 weeks after we recieve the TA's.

With all that said, it could be April when we are able to travel. I'm more confident that we will travel in May. We will see. Anyway I look at it, it is still a long time until we get to hold him.

All I know is that I love this little guy and I can't wait to hold him for the first time. Please pray for his heart to be healthy and strong. Please also pray for him to be able to bond with our family. While you are at it, please pray for Elizabeth...as her world is about to be rocked quite a bit! Pray for her in China. The time change is 13 hours (complete night and day shift). She does not handle her routine being changed very well. I think it is safe to say that her routine will be slightly changed in CHina!!!! We are really praying that she loves Ri and is not jealous of him.