Updated Pictures of Hope!!!!!

What a surprise when I opened up my e-mail tonight. We received 5 pictures of Hope enjoying the HUGE birthday cake we sent her! What a thrill to see her beautiful face and a SMILE! She is smiling in one of the pictures and it's the first time we have seen her smile. It's so cute and lopsided. I can't believe how big she is. We saw our first pictures of her a month ago, but the pictures had been taken in November, when she was only 10 months old. These pictures were taken this week, now that she's 16 months old. I am so thrilled to be able to see that she still looks healthy and happy. The e-mail that accompanied the photos said that the no one had expected her to dig into the cake herself and that they all had a good laugh about it. If you look closely at the first picture, you can see her hands are covered with cake. That's my girl!!!

Hopeful...

I just received word from another adopting mom, who's daughter is in foster care in the same city as Hope, that she received updated pictures of her daughter through the service we both used to send care packages to our daughters. She sent her care package about a week before I sent mine. I am so hopeful that I will have updated pictures of Hope in a week!!!

Care Package for Hope

After receiving Hope's referral, we knew we wanted to send her a care package. She's too young to understand everything that's going on, but I'm hopeful that we can provide her with a couple of transitional items. Another adopting mother recommended that I use a site called "Lady Bugs 'n Love". I was able to choose what I wanted in the care package and they put it together. The care package is assembled in China and then delivered to the child. I composed a letter for Hope that they translated and included with the care package. Here's a picture that "Lady Bugs 'n Love" e-mailed me of the specific care package they put together for Hope:



The treats are for Hope's foster family. There is also a little photo album. We were able to e-mail pictures of our family to "Lady Bugs 'n Love" and they put them in the album and labeled each picture in Chinese so her foster family can go through the album with her. A disposable camera is also included. We are hoping that Hope's foster family will take pictures of her in her familiar surroundings. We will hopefully get the camera back when we get Hope. Finally, we included a little doll.

We also sent money to the orphanage for them to get Hope a birthday cake. Her birthday was in January, so we're obviously late. However, when an adopting family sends money to the orphanage for a birthday cake, the orphanage is supposed to provide proof that the money was spent on what it was intended for. So, quite often, a picture will be taken and then sent to the adopting family. We are very hopeful that by ordering a cake, we can get a picture of Hope with her foster family enjoying the cake. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we can get an updated picture of Hope. I think about her all the time and wonder what she looks like since the only pictures I have of her are when she was 10 months old (she's now 16 months old). I'll keep you posted!

No Stealing and new Paint

Yesterday afternoon, Micah (age 6) got out paper and crayons and started working diligently on a picture. This is nothing new. He and Samuel make daily creations. However, this time the subject matter was different. Usually his pictures are of some type of sporting event. Not this time. Here is what he made:



If you can't make it out, it says, "No Allowed Stealing". He also drew a picture of a man stealing a clock and a book and then crossed it out. He taped it to the door that leads from our garage to our mudroom. It cracked me up!

Also, for Mother's Day I asked Mike to paint two accent walls for me in our great room. It was a fairly big undertaking since it's a 2 story room. But, what made it do-able is that we are having crown molding installed, so Mike didn't have to go all the way to the ceiling. I had a professional recommend the color. I was nervous at first, but now that it's done, I LOVE it!!



The room had been all khaki and we added the chocolate color. It was one of the many things I wanted to get done before we go to China. I know life will be crazy when we get home, so we are trying to get some projects done in these last few weeks before we go get our little honey!

LOA and Name Addendum

We received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) on Monday. I feel like everything is happening so fast. Of course, with our LOA, comes a boat load of paperwork that needs to be filled out, signed, notarized and returned within 5 days. So, yesterday was filled with a lot of running around for me. Now we are working on applying for our visas. Mike and I have our paperwork filled out. Once my parents (who are traveling with us) have their paperwork filled out, we will ship our passports to Chicago to get that going. Then I can take a breather until our TA (Travel Approval) arrives and then the craziness will set in again.

Also, we have decided on Hope's official name. It will be Hope Elizabeth Qing. Qing is her current middle name and we found out that it means clear and sunny. Sounds kind of like a weather report, huh? Well, we think it goes well and that way she can have a piece of her Chinese heritage with her name.

It's crazy to think that we started this process 2 1/2 years ago and everything is finally coming together. I can't believe we may be able to meet Hope in a month!!!! Below is a picture of our family in October 2007, the same month we submitted our application to adopt:


















Below is a picture of our family in April 2010, the same month we received our referral and laid eyes on Hope for the first time:















We are so excited to add Hope's little face to our family photo!!!