China in pictures

Here is a look at our trip to China in pictures.  These are just from our camera.  Most of the ones I took on the phone have already made it onto facebook.  :-)

Gotcha Eli!

Our family with Eli's orphanage administrator, foster mom and nanny (left to right)

Eli with his foster mom and nanny (left to right)

Playing bubbles!

Filling out paperwork

Waiting in a warm bank for our dirver...

Our favorite way to dine in Changsha...hotel room picnic

Visiting the orphanage...Orphanage director, Eli's foster family and orphanage administrator (left to right)

Touring the orphanage

Eli's buliding

Going away party for Eli

Eli's finding spot

It's official!

Touring in Guangzhou

Eli's favorite spot in any hotel room...looking out the window

Dinner cruise

Our three kids!

Special Days

We have had two very special days come and go and I am just now getting around to writing about them.  I think this busyness might just be a small look into what life will be like once we are home with Eli.  December 31, 2013 will go down as a HUGE day in the history of our family.  First of all, our sweet Trip got braces!   What?!  How is that possible?  He still has baby teeth.  True, but the permanent teeth that have come in have no place to go and so we need to go ahead and make space for them.  So, we had step one of phase one on December 31st...braces on his top 4 permanent teeth as well as his two baby eye teeth.  There might be more steps to this phase, but we know for sure that these will be off in 8-10 months and then he'll probably need more work when he is older.  FUN for Trip!

We arrived a few minutes early to the BIG appointment, so before we headed into the orthodontist's office, I checked my phone to see if I had any new emails.  Boy did I ever!  Probably my favorite email so far!  We had a confirmed appointment for our court date to adopt Eli!  This meant we could go ahead and book our travel.  But, the best part about the date we received is that it made it possible for Trip and Mady to come with us.  They will only be missing school for 8 days, so they will not run the risk of being withdrawn from school for too many absences in a semester.  I shared the awesome news with Trip and he could not have been more excited!  Mady was too when she came home from her friend's house after the appointment.  In fact, I think she has tried to pack her suitcase at least 5 times since I told her they were coming with us!  Then, just when I thought things couldn't get better, I got an email from the woman in China that helps us send our children care packages.  We sent Eli a birthday party package on his birthday which includes a cake and food for Eli and the other children and the nannies at the orphanage.  And, for us, includes more pictures and a video of our sweet boy!  What a treat!  To know that we are coming to get him so soon and then to see his precious face and hear his adorable voice singing to us in Chinese.  Oh my!  I cannot get enough of it.  Below is my favorite picture from the party.  Looks like he really enjoys cake.  I cannot wait to see him eat cake in person and get to be the one to wipe off those cute cheeks!  Thank you Lord, for days like December 31st that remind me of your provision for us and your plans for our family!

Onto the next special day for us, January 10th.  Last Friday was January 10th.  Which may not seem like much, but that is exactly one month from the day we will get Eli!  In adoption world, it's called Gotcha Day!  One month!  It seems so far, but yet, it's only 30 days.  I was sharing this with my teens that I lead at bible study on Friday.  And, as I thought about it, I realized this.  That in exactly one month, we will be holding Eli in our arms, and chances are that also in exactly one month, he will be screaming at us in Chinese, or pushing us, or ignoring us, but either way, he will be with us...FOREVER!  Screaming, pushing, or hugging, no matter what he will be forever ours!  What a blessing!  So, let the countdown begin...27 days and counting!

The last time

Yesterday, December 27th, Eli celebrated his birthday at the orphanage for the LAST TIME!  My heart breaks that we could not be there to celebrate with him.  But, I take great comfort knowing that it is his last birthday away from us.  His last birthday in China.  His last birthday without a brother and sister begging to play with his new toys.  His last birthday without a mommy and daddy to kiss him first thing that morning and tell him "We are SO glad you were born!"  I also take comfort knowing that he got to have a birthday party.  Our wonderful agency provides us with a contact in China that will send care packages to our little ones while they wait for us and one of those options is a birthday party for Eli and his friends and caregivers at the orphanage.  We should be getting pictures soon and I am checking my email hourly in search of them.  I am also checking my email hourly or even more frequently than that, hoping for some information on our travel approval and plans.  Again, I take comfort knowing that God's got this and His timing is perfect and we will be there to get Eli and bring him home at just the right time...but it is HARD to wait!!!

Over the next few weeks, Eli will be experiencing a lot of lasts, although he probably has no idea that he is.  I pray that God is preparing his heart for all of the firsts he has coming his way too.  His first time to be loved unconditionally in this world.  His first time to be kissed good night.  His first time to eat a McDonald's happy meal.  His first time to be comforted by his mommy or daddy when he gets a boo boo.  His first time to have a family...mommy, daddy, brother, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more.  All of whom have been praying for him and can't wait to meet him!  Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Overwhelmed!

The only word that comes remotely close to how I have been feeling this week is overwhelmed!  Last week was one of those weeks in the adoption process where I felt incredibly deflated.  Our paperwork had been slowed down, just by a few days, but enough to pretty much remove the chance of us traveling in 2013.  And, so I was upset knowing that might impact TJ's vacation time in 2014 and Trip and Mady's ability to travel with us without being withdrawn from school.  I know (and I truly believe) that God's timing is perfect, but I fight against that when His timing and my timing do not line up.  And, let's be honest, most of the time, they do not.  But, all of the time, HIS timing is best!  

Which brings me to this week!  What a week!  God has taken my sadness and anger away and replaced it with an overwhelming joy and appreciation for all He is doing in the life of our family.  And, so many of you have been a part of that!  On Tuesday, I received an email from Promise 686.  This is the ministry that awarded us a $4000 matching grant to help pay for our remaining adoption expenses.  So, as most of you know, the deal was this...we raise $4000, they match that and we get a total of $8000 toward our remaining expenses.  Well...we FAR surpassed this goal!  We raised over $6,000, so with the matching $4,000, we raised over $10,000!!!!  What wonderful, selfless, giving friends and family we are surrounded by!  The even more amazing thing about this amount we raised is that our remaining agency fees and in country expenses are estimated to be about $10,500-$11,500, so we will be covered!  God IS SO GOOD!   

And, then, today we received an update on Eli.  The last medical information we have on him is from when he was a baby.  And, we only have 2 pictures and a short video.  We have been aching for an update.  Today we got his measurements, a precious description of him and a new pic!  He looks so good!  And, here is the description (keep in mind it is translated from Chinese):

He is such a smart boy. He can remember so many children songs. He can count up to 20. He is very active. And he is a full boy. He likes to help other children on wheelchair on the way to school. He also likes to help to comfort younger children when they feel upset. 

Is it weird that I feel such pride to be his momma even though I have nothing to do with the sweet boy he is today!  I just can't wait to meet him!  This is the photo we got today.

THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!  THANK YOU!!  There is no way I can ever tell each of you how much your love and support means to us.  It is overwhelming!  Please keep praying with us that God will prepare his heart to be loved by us and prepare our family to become a 5 man team in HIS perfect timing!!

Helping us bring Eli Home…

Well, we are just a few months away from traveling to China to bring our precious Eli home!  We are anxiously awaiting the moment we finally have a travel date in our hands!  Until then, we still have lots to do to prepare for his arrival.  The biggest challenge for us is not opening our hearts and home to another child, but it is in finding the finances to make this happen.  We estimate our total cost for adoption fees, document preparation, home study, airfare, travel, attorney fees, etc. to be $30,000 - that’s certainly money we don’t have, but we know God is faithful and is leading us to trust Him.  By God’s grace and generous giving from our friends and family, we’ve been able to pay the initial $10,000.

Many of you have asked how you can help us.  There are two BIG ways in which you can help us with these final steps in our adoption process:

1. Prayer – Please pray God would tenderly care for Eli in China until we are able to bring him home, that God would prepare Trip and Mady for the upcoming changes to our family, and that God will give us wisdom, discernment, and insight as we raise Eli in our forever family! 

2.  Financial support -   Will you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us pay the remaining $20,000 in adoption expenses, to bring Eli home?

Promise686 (www.promise686.org) has graciously given a Matching Grant of $4,000 to help bring Eli home. If you would like to be a part of bringing Eli home, you can send your tax-deductible gift to the address below.  Your donations will be matched by promise686 on a $1-for-$1 basis up to $4000.  Promise686 will reimburse adoption expenses out of funds received.  Promise686 is a non-profit adoption and foster care ministry dedicated to expanding God’s Kingdom by helping to bring the fatherless into Christian homes.  Promise686 is a tax exempt 501c3 organization and your gift is tax deductible.

You can make your donations to Promise686 one of two ways.  Either CLICK HERE to make an online donation.  Or follow the steps below to send in a check:

1.      Please make checks payable to:  Promise686, Inc. You must preference how the donation is to be used by writing “Eli Kuehn Adoption-178” in the memo section of your check. 

(*Note:  per IRS guidelines, promise686 maintains complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.)

2.      Mail checks to:

Promise686, Inc

3600 River Ferry Drive

Johns Creek, GA 30022

We are hoping to be able to bring Eli home early in 2014, so we have a small window of time to raise the money for our remaining expenses.  Thank you for loving our family and supporting our adoption!  We look forward to personally introducing you all to Eli in 2014!

LOA!!!!

This says LOA.  I cannot get it to turn the right way on this blog...you get the idea.  

One of the silly things that adoptive families do on the adoption groups that can be found on sites like facebook is to take creative pictures spelling out the latest acronym for the step of the process they have moved to.  China adoptions, in particular have lots of acronyms.  Here are just a few: LID, PA, LOA, TA, etc...  So, here is my attempt at a cute picture spelling out our next step using some of the kids candy from Halloween because that was the day we moved to this next step.  It is known in the world of Chinese adoptions as LOA, which stands for Letter of Approval.  That means that our paperwork has made it back from China and we are officially approved to adopt Eli!  This is a BIG step forward for us!  Once again, just as I was beginning to get uncomfortable at our lack of movement, God moves and so does our process!  We are one step closer to bringing Eli home!!!   One step closer to having him here, sleeping soundly in his bedroom that he will share with Trip.  One step closer to being able to kiss his sweet little head.  One step closer to telling him daily how special he is and how much we all love him.   One step closer to completing our family!  I am ready to just start taking huge, giant steps or even running to bring this wait to an end, but I trust God's timing is perfect and so I'll just keep stepping, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.

Trip and Mady saving a seat for Eli!

Counting our blessings!

It is so easy for me to get caught up in the stresses of this adoption process, that I often lose sight of the many ways God has blessed us over this past year.  So, I wanted to take just a moment and count our blessings!

Blessing #1: Being surrounded by a community of adoption supporters...Before TJ and I even knew that this was in God's plan for our family God was surrounding us with a community of adoption supporters.  It seems like every where we turn we have friends that are either adopting themselves, becoming foster parents, connecting us with other adopting friends, even placing Trip on a soccer team last year with a family that had just adopted from Ethiopia and then this year placing Mady in a Kindergarten class with a precious little girl that was adopted from China and has the same special need as Eli!  

Blessing #2: Being born into families with hearts for adoption...This may surprise our families to know this, but TJ and I both come from families that created in us a desire to bring others into our families.  First, when TJ was a Senior in high school his aunt died after a long battle with cancer.  She had three amazing daughters and TJ's family welcomed them into their family without hesitation and they are more like sisters than cousins.  Being witness to such commitment to family, was TJ's first glimpse into the world of adoption.  When I was growing up, my parents often talked of a dream they had for their retirement.  They wanted to buy a big farm and take in foster children and love on them.  It was listening to conversations like this that first planted the seeds of adoption in my heart.

Blessing #3: Being connected with the right people at the right time...God continues to bring just the right people into our lives at the perfect time.  For example, as we reviewed medical files on each child we were asked to consider, God place the perfect expert on their particular medical condition in our path.  It was really amazing!  I now know people that are experts in pediatric limb deficiencies, hearing loss, heart conditions, as well as physical therapists and radiologists!  And, I feel like TJ and I know so much more about the many medical conditions that can affect children.  So...if you have a question, we probably have an answer, or at least know of someone else that does.  :-)

Blessing #4: Being overwhelmingly surprised by the financial outpouring from our friends and family...If you are reading this and thinking, maybe she is talking about us...then I am!  Our friends and family are amazing givers!  We have never before been so blessed to see people step up, without being asked, and help us financially afford to bring Eli home .  And, your gifts come at just the right time and in just the right amount!   In fact, a few days after I first began writing this post, we found out about our most recent financial blessing.  We have been approved for a matching grant from Promise 686!  Stay tuned for more details on how you can help us raise the funds to finish paying for Eli's adoption.

Blessing #5: Most importantly, being given the amazing opportunity to add to our family through adoption...The biggest blessing of all, is Eli!  It is a blessing to be a parent, whether the children are given to you biologically or through adoption.  But, I consider it a gracious gift to be allowed to take a child of God that has been abandoned and knit him into our family!  What a privilege!

One of my favorite songs lately is called 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redmond.  It helps me remember to focus on the blessings!  Below are some of the lyrics:

The sun comes up; it's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I worship Your holy name