Updates, Updates, here they come!!

So, I've been advised to update my blog often for the benefit of those following our story.  It's really hard to find time right now, but I'm going to do my best!  I really enjoy blogging and look forward to sharing it with our children when they are older, too.

So, I'll be updating on our adoption process, financial status and the preparations for our children.

We are coming around the last bend of the process now!  We submitted our Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt Frannie Joy in late May 2014 and received PreApproval (PA) 6.19.14 to adopt her and PA to adopt Finton 10.23.14.  We will likely be in China exactly a year after PA!

It's been a whirlwind of a year, yet still seemed like a looooong year.  To have children half a world away from you is just... emotional.  I love these children I only have a handful of photos and 30 second video clips of.  Yet, I really have no idea how they act on a regular basis, what their interests are, how they will react to our family or... anything. It's an odd place to be right now, but my focus is so much on paperwork and packing...it's hard to even focus on some of the emotional part.  It just sneaks up on you when you see an Asian mom kissing her toddler.... or a little girl with Down Syndrome... or a 2 year old little boy playing with a ball.  Then, it rips your heart out.  And all you can do it pull up a photo or video and... wait a little longer.  Sigh.

We will be getting our official Letter of Approval (Letter Seeking Confirmation/LOSC/LOA) in the next day or so.  That is basically a letter from China that is officially MATCHING us with Frannie and Finn. They PreApproved us before, but now that we have proven who we are and they have accepted our dossier, they are officially matching us.  It's one of the most exciting steps in the process!!  We had been specifically praying since December that we would receive this letter BY April 1st so that we could travel in June.  I had also planned to have our dossier to China in late December, but that didn't happen until late January.  It was a long shot to still get LOA by April 1st, BUT...God!

We should receive our LOA in the mail tomorrow, April 1st!!!

So now the process gets a little confusing and overwhelming for me from here on out.  There are lots of steps every 2 weeks or so until travel.  Travel plans are entirely up to me, so I have lots to research. I hope to book flights soon because travel in China is super expensive in June/July due to the Dragon Boat Festival and summer.  My mom is going with me and thankfully her schedule is flexible.  Mr. Prince will stay home with the other 5 kiddos.  I'm thankful I have many adoptive friends on Facebook and tons of China Adoption groups, but the information is still overwhelming to process, honestly.

But, it looks like right now my travel options are June 4th-26th or June 25th-July 17th.  We are trying to decide if me coming home while Mr. Prince and 3 of 5 kids are at summer school for 2.5 weeks is better or worse than me coming home the day after summer school is over.  I'm a little concerned the two littles might be overwhelmed with all the kids home, all the time, from the day they come home.  But, I also don't want Mr. Prince to work for so many weeks before he's off for the summer.  I think my older 4 kids will have a very hard time allowing us to cocoon them, so maybe it's best they are at school for a few weeks...?  I just don't know yet.  We homeschool all year, so summer school is only a summer thing for us.  But, it might be a good tool to use as a buffer to help the kids bond to me as Mom first.  Still thinking on this...

I think I'll post another blog about our finances and preparations later this week.....

I'll leave you with photos of my babies.....

Check out our Adoption Timeline on the right side of our page and read more about our family!  

You can also donate to our adoption by using the donate tab at the top of the blog!

Many Blessings!!