Amazed

This process is long, amazing, exhausting, financially depleting, complicated, growing, bumpy, lonely at times..and of course totally worth it.

The other night while praying over precious William and just talking to the Lord about our entire process, I broke. Sometimes you carry something for a while and just..break.

The next day I went ahead and wrote the names of the few people who've donated to our account, posted it on Facebook, and re-posted about our puzzle fundraiser.

Little did I know that $1,500.00+ would be donated *that* day. If you know me, you know I don't cry easily. I've always tried to hold back (one reason: I'm the ugliest, I mean UGLIEST crier you've ever seen). Blame the adoption hormones or whatever else, but I broke down again. Not only a huge financial help, but it was much-needed encouragement.

Before I go further, please know we don't expect anyone to contribute financially, in fact, we know some of you probably are against any type of adoption fundraising, and you're entitled to feeling that way about it, and we respect that completely.

Soon after posting on Facebook, a sweet incredible adoptive-mama-in-process commented that she was donating toward three puzzle pieces in honor of her THREE children waiting in our son's province. Yes, you heard me...three!! All aged 2-3 years old.

I was speechless.

You're telling me, of all people...a mama who's in an adoption process for not one, or two, but three sweet babies is contributing to our process for one?! Friends...there are no words. No words.

Was I completely shocked though? Not really.

You see, I've watched in secret fundraising groups led by adoptive-mamas, and have *seen* with my very eyes other adoptive-mamas both already home and in-process come and band together to help others get their children home. It's absolutely one of the most miraculous beautiful things I've ever witnessed. These same mamas are newly home, quite honestly probably still recovering from all the costs ontop of everything else involved in an adoption; others are in-process struggling to come up with thousands themselves. And they know first-hand that adoption changes lives, and want to see these children get home! Amazing is an understatement.

When starting this process I was told by other adoptive-parents to be prepared to watch those who you'd think would give you support wont, and those you'd least expect will.

I also know that those in process or who have adopted know first-hand the struggles there are when faced with a $15k+ bill staring you in the face ontop of all the other complexities in the process. When you experience it all yourself, you can't help but to help others in the same valley you once were in.

As for that dear friend who's in process for three littles in our son's province who gave toward our process, will you cover them in prayer when you think to pray for us?? Thank you.

If you missed our puzzle fundraiser post - we're having one to where you can "buy" a puzzle piece for $20 (donated to our account). We'll write your name on the back of the piece, and once finished we will frame the puzzle in a see-through (front and back) frame to where our sweet boy will be able to see for himself all those that helped bring him home piece-by-piece. Are you the next piece??
adopttogether.org/stumpfamily

Piece-By-Piece!

Today we're launching our puzzle fundraiser!!

We're looking at traveling in just over a month from today, at most, 1 1/2. It is getting down-to-the-wire, and we're humbly asking for your help. Any bit helps.

Would you consider being a piece of the puzzle in loving lil William all the way home?? If you donate $20 to our AdoptTogether account, your name will be written on a piece of the puzzle. Purchase two pieces, then your name will be written on two pieces of the puzzle! This will be a forever-cherished-treasure to be hung in his bedroom (framed in a see-through frame so it can  be flipped around at any moment for him to see everyone who helped bring him home, piece-by-piece).

www.adopttogether.org/stumpfamily

We're grateful beyond what words can express for your encouragement, prayers, and moral support so far. As always, *thank you.*And thank you for considering in being a piece of the puzzle in seeing him home.

800 Approval!

We received our 800 approval today, friend!!

In other words - the US (Homeland Security; US Citizenship & Immigration) *APPROVED* us to adopt our sweet boy!!

Another approval??

You've heard me say "approve" quite a bit haven't you? The biggest and main approvals through this process is first, the approval to adopt from China in general from the US (800A); second - approval to adopt your child from China (known as Letter of Acceptance/LOA); lastly the 800 which is a petition to adopt your specific child from the US side (USCIS)  -- which is what we received today!!! This is the LAST big approval (that is before travel approval)!

These last steps will FLY right by!!  I'd love to be telling you right now we're able to get on the plane Nov.4 (our agency's next travel date for his province), but it looks like we'll be missing that by days (yes, just days!!) -- that's honestly been hard to swallow, and we hate that our baby boy has to wait another month just because of missing a scheduled travel date.

So since we're missing Nov.4, we're looking at Dec.2, and meeting him Dec.5. These are not approved dates, but we don't have any reason to believe we'd miss Dec.2 for sure. We'd be coming home Dec.16th or so -- just in time for Christmas!!! It will certainly go down as the best Christmas we've ever had!

So today marks less than two months to go!! That seems so far away, yet I'm overwhelmed right now with an ever-growing to-do list! Just so much to do, but I'm putting it all in God's hands and trusting He's got control. He's. Got. This.

What's next??

We're currently working on our applications for our Chinese visas. We're also waiting now for the National Visa Center (NVC) to send us a letter stating they've notified the US Consulate in Guangzhou (China - where his adoption will be finalized) that our 800 was issued. This should come by the end of this week. After we receive this, we'll then file the DS-260, which is applying for his US visa. Then we'll wait for our "Article 5" (a notice that the consulate sends to request our travel approval from the CCCWA), then last but certainly not least, we wait for our travel approval from China!!!! We're almost there!!!

Keep on praying!!! It's needed more than ever!! If you haven't stopped to check out our profile on https://www.adopttogether.org/stumpfamily, please check it out! Stay tuned!!

Help Love Him Home

With only two months left to go (and very unlikely but possibly only one) -- we figured it was past time to kick things into high gear.

Quite honestly, I'm writing to you today with fear trembling through my fingers, and nervousness pounding my heart like never before - but there is a sweet lil boy on the other side of the world that is waiting for us, and he's our motivation. 

As you've heard me say, we've currently paid 9,000.00 in adoption fees and related expenses up to this point.

With that said, the biggest fee is due soon (a whopping $15,000.00)! This fee is the main adoption program fee which includes a $5,700.00 orphanage donation, and the rest of the costs go to  cover his Chinese passport and U.S. visa fees costs associated with obtaining updates, costs for personnel, administrative overhead, training and education both in the U.S. and China; Legal adoption services and communications, working with government and agency authorities, central authority fees (including fees related to these services), and child welfare projects in China.

We have prepared to pay the rest of the costs ourselves out-of-pocket (approximately 13k for all traveling expenses which includes our visas, airfare (including in-country flights), guide fees, transfer fees, food, hotel, and more. We are also paying a couple thousand dollar post-placement visit and processing fee as well, all totaling over 15k. 

We understand this is our choice. But we also understand it was not his choice to be an orphan. We also certainly do not expect any help, but will graciously take any help that's offered.

I'll always remember a part of one of my favorite adoption books, where the author speaks of being in process to adopt his son from Russia, and an elderly man at his church randomly offered a 10,000.00 check to help. The author continues to write and said he refused the check and said he could never accept such a gift, then the elderly man looked straight in his eyes and simply said, "Look, this isn't about you." Those words stuck with me since. It isn't about us. It never was.

We are beyond thankful for the prayers and words of encouragement that have helped bring us to this point. There are no words to express our gratitude in that alone. We've been asked by a few people how they can help monetarily. I know that when we've helped others in the past, we wanted our money to go the *farthest,* and we've always preferred to donate directly to a cause without purchasing something (let's say I pay $25 for a t-shirt for a fundraiser, the fundraising family gets approximately $15 of that -- that's 10 more dollars I'd prefer just to donate directly -- but I understand why this is amazing for those who like to shop, etc). We also know people are uncomfortable sending checks through the mail, so we looked into our options and created an AdoptTogether account (a fundraising site solely for adoptive families). Most donations are tax-deductible. Once you look at our profile, feel free to check out "How It Works" and watch the video. Many adoptive-families (some we know) have successfully used AdoptTogether.

http://adopttogether.org/stumpfamily

Any amount will help, but if you're not able to give and still want to contribute - your prayers are coveted the most. If you want to put some legs on those prayers, feel free to share our story. Share our blog. And share our AdoptTogether site. Every 'Share' helps! You just never know who out there has adoption laid upon their hearts and may be blessed in contributing.

If you missed it, go to our previous post where we introduce our little guy to you!! Yes, there are pictures!!

adopttogether.org/stumpfamily

They Said YES and Pending 800 Approval!!!!

Friends...

We are beyond happy to share with you that...

China said YES!!! We have our LOA (Letter of Acceptance)!!!!

I thought this day would never come (or at least that's how it's felt!).

So...

Without further ado....

(The photo on the left is the most recent we have which is a stillshot from a video we received in July.      The pictures on the right were some of the first ones we saw of him - taken in early May!!)

We yearn to have him in our arms safe and sound, and forever..

But the good news is our process will be moving full-steam ahead at this point!

So now what are we waiting for (to travel)???

The same day we received China's approval in hand, we applied again and overnighted our application and all the supporting documents to USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration) to adopt him *specifically.* You may remember earlier on that we applied to the USCIS to adopt in general -- now we must have approval from them (US side of things) to specifically adopt this sweet lil guy. :-)

*This approval (I-800 with USCIS) should come in about a week. Once we receive our I-800, there are a handful of other steps before we receive our travel approval from China. If all steps run as smoothly and timely as possible, we could travel in November - but we are most likely looking at December it seems. Please pray for a speedy process at this point! We're hoping and praying hard for early November travel (next would be early Dec). Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Stay tuned!!

August Update

I just realized recently that we pretty much left you hanging on that last post, and that was close to two months ago - my apologies!!

This process has already been proven to be bumpier than we hoped (we expect things to get bumpy, but are admittedly always too hopeful they wont be -- assuming that's just human nature).

There are always unknowns in this process. And the unknowns are typically "harder" than the knowns. But recently I've been trying to stop dwelling on the unknowns and put trust in the fact that they are God-knowns. We may not know, but God does, and that alone gives us much needed peace and comfort.

We got videos!!!!!

We received a small medical update as well as three short videos. Three. Short. Videos - you all! You can imagine how many tears flowed when viewing these. In one video he's playing with this wooden fishing game (I found it on Amazon!), another he's threading that thick string through little blocks with holes, and the last one he's drawing on one of those magnet-doodles. We caught a glimpse of his smile in one video where he proudly puts the wooden stick on the hole where the fish goes and looks up at the nanny holding the camera and gives a quick smile!! You bet I screenshotted it and saved it as a picture. While he's doodling on the magnadoodle-type-toy, at one moment he's proud of his "work" and lifts his hands in celebration and makes an "Eee!!" sound -- undoubtedly the most precious sound you've ever heard.

In the videos we also got to see his arms and legs since he's in a t-shirt and shorts (like I said before, he's layered up in the first pictures we received). He's so little!! His face is less filled out in the videos, and he has the sweetest tiny arms and legs.

So now what?!

We're currently waiting for China to send our "Letter of Acceptance" which is a formal letter stating we can adopt him. We should have our LOA within the next couple of weeks!! After we receive our formal Letter of Acceptence, we'll have to file again to the USCIS (US Immigration) to specifically adopt him. Some more paperwork is tied up in this phase of the process, and then we'll be waiting for travel approval and a Consulate appointment from China (granting us permission to come and finalize his adoption).

When will you travel?

From receiving our LOA, we could potentially travel in as little as two months , or three, and as many as four. As of right now, we are praying and hoping we can travel November 4 (our agency's travel date for his province). The next travel date if we miss Nov 4th is Dec.2nd. As much as we hope for Nov. 4, we are thinking we may end up traveling Dec. 2nd...but boy, would November be nice!! We just hope we can travel as soon as possible!

Please keep praying!

One day is one day too long in an orphanage, and our little boy will have spent about 2 1/2 years in his by the time we're able to get him. There is no wrapping your mind around that alone. Please pray for him. I pray every day that God wraps His loving and protective arms around his little body until we're able to wrap him in ours.

Please pray that the rest of the process runs as smoothly as possible.

We have unknowns regarding his medical that won't be answered until he's finally home with us and seen by doctors. Please pray for an as positive outcome possible regarding all of that.

Please pray for the financial aspect of this process. So far we've paid close to $9,000.00 out of pocket in cash (in direct fees and related expenses). The biggest fee (which consists of different fees into one big one) is to come within just a couple months which is $15,000.00. We also have added costs between that fee and travel costs (Visas, post-placement visit fees that are paid in advance, etc). After that, we have to pay for our travel which will easily total over $10,000.00.  I know, I know.. *Breathe in...breathe out* Ontop of those costs, we have to prepare for out-of-pocket medical costs our insurance may not cover once home. It's easy to get overwhelmed when adding up all these costs in our heads - but we try to have peace that it will all work out.

I'll share more later in another post why the process costs so much, and break down the costs so that it's more easily understood. I've said it before, but I guess I'll say it again -- the process to adopt is what consists of all the costs (children themselves do not cost anything, so please don't ask adoptive-couples how much their "children cost"). $35k+ seems like a lot of money, but if you ask me, it's nothing when we're talking about one less orphan. This isn't something temporary or short-term, or a frivolous investment -- we're talking about making an orphan a beloved and forever cherished son.

----

So, in the meantime we will certainly keep you updated!! We are praying and hoping we have our Letter of Acceptance from China in the next couple of weeks. Once that happens, we will post pictures, and you will finally get to see the little sweetie you have been reading and praying so much/so long about!

Below::

Here is the photo album we sent to our agency just recently to have sent to our little guy! It's an amazing feeling to know soon the little one you've been thinking, dreaming, and praying for is finally going to be shown and told he has a mommy and daddy (and brother and sister)!! He cannot comprehend what "mommy and daddy" really means (yet!), but we pray and hope he is granted some peace and comfort as he looks at the album.

 We'll hopefully receive pictures back of him looking at it within the next month!

 This was a blanket made close to 55-60 years ago for Billy's dad and/or aunt (so made by our little one's great-great grandma). Check out the panda holding the US flag!! This will be the most treasured addition to our little guy's room for sure!

 Just a few things we've collected for our boy! (Pictured on Micah's old bed that we haven't stored away yet -- our little one will start out in a crib. Thankfully we saved the kids' crib and toddler bed, so we're good to go bed-wise!)

 More precious room additions. Childhood books given from a grandparent.

The Day WE GOT THE CALL!!

After posting our last blog post stating I've felt God whispering in my heart the words "Soon you'll find out why you've been waiting" -- just a couple hours after we received THE long-awaited-and-prayed-for call of our lives! Seriously...God's amazing. We are so undeserving of His goodness in this process. So undeserving to have the privilege to walk this journey with Him leading us, and so very undeserving to become parents to an amazing little guy. We are already humbled, and the journey is only beginning.

The day we got the call

It was a beautiful sunshiney and light breezy yet pretty ordinary-feeling June day; June 24 on Friday. It was also a day that was particularly hard in the waiting, yet I had peace and hope that I felt God was impressing upon my heart. I had just written that blog post and even sent some messages pouring my heart out to another mama that's adopting -- honestly doing a little whining (I know, shame on me!). We were getting ready to head out for a homeschool families' picnic that evening when the phone rang. Something in me just felt this call would be different. I run for the phone, look at the ID number and saw it looked similar to our social worker's. So I pick up and answer, "Hello?!" She begins to tell me about this little boy who just turned 2. "He is described as a smart lovely boy.." "It says he is talkative, though shy." "He is squatting down in one photo and in another stringing a string through a block with a hole in it." And after several more words..."Would you be interested in viewing his file?" With no hesitation I responded "Yes, yes, yes, of course!!!" The director of Holt's China program called to tell some more information, and let me know they would send the file via e-mail shortly after.

My head is failing at even attempting to swim at this point; heart is pumping a million beats per minute. I call Billy, then text asking to call me back. Finally - he answers and says he'll be leaving work as soon as he's able to get home so we can view the file together. ONE hour, friends! I had to wait ONE hour for him to get here! I think I managed pretty well. I finished making fruit salad for the picnic, swept floors, and grilled brats while waiting for him to get here.

He walks in the door and greets our super-excited-as-usual-tail-waggin'-dog and kids, then we head immediately to our bedroom to open the file without the kids around.

We wanted to read all the information about him before seeing any pictures, but right-off-the-bat there was a tiny headshot picture of him. I think I was so shell-shocked with a flood of emotions that couldn't even fully process that picture -- and we just began to read and pour over his file. Every known fact and date about this lil sweetie's life was listed right before our eyes.

His pictures

After reading his file we get down to five amazingly clear and big pictures of this lil guy. One picture it seems he was caught mid-play with this half-looking-smirk (possible attempt of a smile) on his face holding a lil lego-looking-toy car in one hand. In another picture he's squatting like a champ looking at the floor. Another he's at the table putting this thick string through a hole in a block very inquisitively. The next picture he's in a pit of clearish-plastic-balls just looking upward toward the camera with a very solemn look (this is our favorite picture of him). He's got layers of clothing on (common for China of course). A shirt underneath, a thick yellow (scratchy-looking) wool-like sweater, a puffier vest over that, and dark blue jeans (which seem to have layers under as well).

What he looks like

Very short obviously buzzed hair that's beginning to grow into maybe a half inch of pure heavenly-rubbable-fuzziness. Small yet entrancing dark brown eyes. A little drawn-down-mouth with lips that easily purse -- I imagine great for pouting and melting our hearts. Little hands showing amazing dexterity already; and precious little fingers perfect for wrapping mama and baba right-tight-around each one of them. And little cherubic kissable cheeks and forehead for sure. :-)

Some about him

He's described as a "smart and lovely boy." Described as shy but also talkative. He's supposedly a great sleeper (will not get our hopes up on that one!). He loves fish, noodles, rice, rice mush, and "fruit mud" and is described as having a good appetite. He also loves to "bask in the sunshine." Ha! I hope that's true and that he gets fresh air every day. His fine motor skills seem on target. Developmentally doing well considering. He's 24 lbs; 32 inches tall. Though we suspect his weight is under that -- they're known to weigh them with all their clothes (which are usually layered). Over-all, he sounds beyond amazing to us.

Reality sinking in

Amazingly the next two nights we got sleep. The first couple of days we had the file I had tried to just stay calm until we could get a doctor to review the paperwork. The third night having his file is when I really began to process it all; I maybe got a couple hours of sleep that night. I just poured and poured over it all and his story; obsessing over every detail or lack thereof. A flood of emotions overtook and broke me that night. I had seen so many little faces through advocacy and read pieces of their stories, but it's so different when you're holding pictures and the backstory of a little one that very well may be your child. Your. Son.

Billy is smitten. I think that's obvious. The kids? Definitely. There really are no words to describe all of this. You pray, dream, obsess, research, and wait like crazy for months and months, then just randomly one day you get a call that potentially will lead you quickly to your son or daughter. Crazy (good)? Yes. Amazing? Definitely. Scary? Yes. Exciting? For sure. Miraculous? Absolutely!

We had his file reviewed by a doctor specializing in international adoption, who's Chinese himself and reads Mandarin (a blessing because he can read the original file that's in Chinese). The report back to us was better-than-expected. We are requesting additional information from his orphanage, which we now wait for. I don't want to over-share in this post, so I'll keep it at that.

Thank you for taking your time to follow our journey! Thank you for praying! And please keep praying!! Now's the time it's needed more than ever!
...STAY TUNED...

                         








Daddy (Bill[y]) showing our girl pictures of the lil guy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>