Waiting and Rushing

Yesterday we got our U.S.Consulate appointment, and now are working toward finalizing tickets! So as much as we are "waiting", we technically are rushing to get everything done.  Lia is now "totally getting it"; she has begun to role play, pretending that she is Rosie.  (When she processes things, she often role plays).  BTW, Lia will be going with us. So this morning,  I got out her suitcase so that she can think about what she'd like to put in it.  And also, to help her process more!

Rosie is waiting too, with us in a strange way.  And we are all hoping.   I thought this blog entry written by Pat Marcus was a real eye opener. Pat Marcus is from Super Kids Charity.  She visits Shanghai Children's Home often  and helps the kids with OT issues and gives them most importantly, love. "...they wait for everything.  Wait for a caregiver to tell them it's time to get up, wait for breakfast, wait for a diaper to be changed.  They wait to be fed, wait for a drink, wait to get washed up, wait for a turn to play with a toy; waiting in every aspect of their life.  Responses are not immediate for the children in orphanages. They get used to needs not being met immediately.  Most of all they wait for Love; that one Mom and Dad that belongs to them.  The people that will Love them unconditionally, forever – a family!  All of this is beyond comprehension as they wait in the orphanage.  They do not know what it feels like to be in a family.  Their lives are a succession of caregivers and different rooms as they grow.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a family waits.  A child is growing in their heart.  They wait too.
So, who is good at waiting?  No one!  Do we show patience in any aspect of our lives?  Personally, I am a most impatient person.  'Do it now, get it done, just keep at it' are my mantras.  While I persevere, I keep hope alive that all my efforts will make a change.  I think in many ways that is what waiting children do.  Once while visiting with a child in foster care outside of Shanghai, a child who was six going on seven asked me, why did it take so long and why wasn't her family coming to China to get her yet? 'Hmmm, umm', I told her that it would be soon and took a picture for her waiting family.  Both waiting for each other, both hopeful. Every child I meet in China is hopeful, as is every family in the process of adopting.  It is a quality of the human spirit, to strive forward into the unknown, to wish for what we may not even understand."

Waiting to be together...with much hope.

Travel Approval!

We got our Travel Approval yesterday.  Our agency is working on securing a date with the Consulate before the 3 day weekend.  Our first choice didn't work because of the Dragon Boat Festival; all offices will be closed then...so we'll be going the following week.  Just waiting on confirmation (today!) and then we'll be buying tickets!

However Motherhood Comes to You, it's a Miracle

As we are waiting for our travel approval, I think about all the little threads of a tapestry that got us to this point...

     Last April, we interviewed a new agency.  One of their requirements was that we had to take a workshop in Fort Worth.  No daycare was available, but we were excited to move forward with filling out an application.  As we started the paper trail, we looked into taking the necessary course.   The only available workshop was in September, but we asked to be put on a waiting list for a June workshop since I was going back to teaching in the Fall. A slot became available, and with very short notice, we moved forward with making plans. We decided to ask Keith's sister to fly out and meet us so that she could babysit Lia.  It was a long shot, but we were able to make it work!  We learned a lot in the workshop and Lia and Barb had a blast doing excursions (including the Dallas Fort Worth Zoo) and getting to know each other.   In the evening, we got to do really cool things...of course we went to a rodeo, and bought Lia a cowgirl hat.  We loved Texas!!!!!  And, of course, the company was wonderful.

     During the workshop, we sat next to a family that was also going to adopt from China.  We kept in touch and found out in the next few months that they had a match to a little boy in SCH.  A few months after that, we got a match to our little daughter-to-be in the SCH.  They were the same age!  So, when our friends adopted their son, they were able to meet Rosie!  How cool is that!  While they were in Shanghai,  they sent us this video of Rosie.  Watch for the ending...Rosie is one hip little chick!  It cracks us up every time.  Thank you to our friends Abbe and Scott for going the extra mile to give us this video, and congratulations on the adoption of your son Jack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJYWnZpSK3c