Our home study is finally on its way to NBC/CIS after a very long month at DHR. We have our fingerprint appointment tomorrow and I am really hoping we will get our 797 next week. That is the FINAL piece of paper that we need to send off our dossier. My goal was to be DTC by Nov 12th..chances are slim but I think it could happen.
I am constantly checking other adopting family timelines and it looks like from the time you are DTC/LID to travel time is somewhere close to 5 months give or take a month or two.
We took the kids to get their passports today so that is one more thing checked off our list!! Woo Hoo

Look mom...NO WHEELS..training wheels.

We were so excited that Sophie learned to ride her bike w/ out training wheels while we were camping. Her siblings were cheering her on like crazy it was so cute to see how happy they were for her. EG took a lot of great videos for us.

No News

Unfortunately, I have no new adoption news. I am waiting until we are DTC to send Jax another package and to try and get more pics of him. Our HS is still at DHR and I can't remember the exact time frame (I think my brain is in denial) but I think my SW said it could take up to 6 weeks. :( Then from DHR our HS(home study) has to go to CIS where they will match it up w/ my I800A application and then send us an appointment to get fingerprinted and then we wait for our final form we need for our dossier. So to be honest our "official" wait has not even began. I was really hoping to be DTC by our Anniversary Nov 12th.
Whoa is me. :(

Camping again

Last Wednesday we headed over to Lake Guntersville to do some camping. It was sooooo nice! Our new favorite campsite. The kids enjoyed a lot of biking, fishing..didn't enjoy hiking, enjoyed reading and playing A LOT of cards..and eating a lot of s'mores! On Friday Amber came and joined us and actually stayed with the kids so Bert and I could go to our church married's retreat which just happened to be at The Lodge at Guntersville state park which worked out perfectly. We were all sad to come home Monday and get back to the daily grind.
Amber feel free to add your pics on here!!

Button Bear

Two weeks ago Sophie had the privilege of bringing Button Bear home from pre-school. We were to take Button with us everyday and let him share in our daily activities. Well, our first trip was to the grocery store where Sophie and Button helped me pick out yummy treats. Then we went home and made some fall crafts with grandma and siblings. The next day we took Button with us for Sophie's 4 year check up. She had to get 3 shots (Button declined his shots). Then we got to take Button with us to celebrate grandpa's 65th birthday!! Button also was able to meet Sophie's Great Uncle and Aunt from Wisconsin(who also brought us yummy veggies from their garden). We are sure Button was pretty exhausted when he headed back to school on Tuesday.

Sophie 4k

I haven't had a chance to post about Sophie starting 4K. She absolutely loves it! She is going 3 days a week from 9-2. She is such a little social butterfly and loves her teacher and class to pieces! It really helps me focus on school with the older 3 while she is at her pre-school. We still do some home school work with her here at home. She loves counting and doing different things with her daddy! She even got to do homework to make up what she missed while we were at Disney. I haven't decided if she will go to K-5 next year or if she will join the homeschool pack here at home. I guess it really just depends on Jax adjustment and how everything is going with that.
Uhh check out the pics,,,can you tell she is a poser??

Sophie-Fett

Chengdu Gals

One of the highlights of our trip to Orlando was meeting up with two Chengdu adoption families. My friend Marye who lives in Atlanta was in Orlando w/ her family and had us come to their condo and enjoy pizza and swimming. We were also able to meet Diana and her sweet daughter Robiana who is also from Chengdu. Diana and Robiana live in the Orlando area. Robiana was adopted in March 2006 and Sophie in Dec 2006. So the girls were most likely in the orphanage together although Robiana is a year older. Marye's 2 girls are also both from Chengdu. She has a sweet 3 yr old son and is currently adopting another son from Chengdu and we are about in the same place in our paper chasing. The kids all had a blast together and I was so glad for Sophie to meet her Chengdu "cousins"!

Disney 2009

We had a wonderful trip to Disney. This was our first time to go in over 10 years. The older three were so little the first time they don't remember the trip. Bert and I wish we didn't remember..lol. The kids were 9 weeks, 21 mos and 3. WHAT WERE WE THINKING? We had a side by side double stroller and it rained every day. We never wanted to go back. Well, it took us 10 years to get up the nerve to try again and it was so worth it! If you have never been to touringplans.com it is worth going and using them to plan your trip. We did not waste a moment and were able to see and do everything that we wanted. I was able to get a great deal on our room at mousesavers.com and get our tickets cheaper through undercover tourists. I really tried to budget out the trip since we are also in the middle of an adoption. For a family of 6 it was cheaper for us to stay off site...and our hotel had a free shuttle to the parks everyday. The kids had a blast! Sophie loved wearing her Belle dress to the park and being called princess...it definitely fits her. We had so much fun but now we need a vacation from our vacation!

Jax gets his birthday cake!

Birthday giggles!

Sorry about the grainy video, I had my camera on the wrong setting. I don't know what made Sophie get so tickled...but I love it!

One month

Since we sent Jax's LOI. His 7th birthday is this Sunday. He should be getting a cake from us either today or Monday and then we will get some new pictures..I can't wait!!!!

Sophie's Medley

Sometimes it's hard to stay focused...

Just a peek..

A sweet mom from my Adopt Chengdu yahoo group sent me this picture. This was taken in June of 2008, at her son's 3rd birthday at the Chengdu CWI(he is now home). Jax is the little boy in red.  Look at him checking out that cake.  I can't wait to hug and kiss this precious boy!!

  

Care Package

We sent Jax a package and he should have received it last Monday. It included a letter from us, pictures of our family, books, disposable cameras and a Ultra Man action figure. We used Ladybugsnlove to send this package and Angela there is so awesome. She was so sweet and is super fast to get back to you.  We also have a cake ordered for him that will be delivered around his birthday(August 30th). I am so excited b/c the orphanage usually takes pictures of the children with their cake so that means new pics!!!  

 Many of you have asked me does he know we are his family. Well, I am sure he is starting to understand since he has the package now. Does he speak English? No, but I have no doubt that he will catch on quickly. We are also doing the Rosetta Stone Mandarin so hopefully that will help our transition a little. 

 

It starts...

So, today was our official first day of school. As tradition has it we stayed in our pajamas till the last possible minute and then we had a "NO back to school" party dinner with friends.  Sophie missed her nap today and fell asleep tonight coloring...how sweet are these pics! All it takes is for her to actually HOLD STILL and sleep will come, it is the whole holding still part that she has trouble with. I wish you could see a really good picture of her clothes. She always wants to wear a tank top. So she has on a purple tank top, white t shirt, purple tie dye dress and blue pajama pants...she had a tiara on earlier...who knows where that went!

Looks like a Pierce to me!

We are so excited to announce the referral of our new son Gou Fa Ke..who we will rename Jaxin and call him Jax. The way this adoption has come to be is such a God thing! We are so excited about our new son. Our kids are beside themselves with excitement about their new little brother and Sophie's big brother. Jax is 6 years old. Sophie is so excited about getting a big brother from China. Jax is even from the same orphanage as Sophie. There are so many exciting details I can't wait to share!(coming soon). Our LOI was sent on July 28th and we received our PA today!! We are just beginning the paper pregnancy so we have a long road ahead of us! Please pray that all our paperwork will go quickly and smoothly and please remember little Jax in your prayers. We are praising God for our new son....more details to follow...