March 17th, 2008

I'm not even Irish, but I might just be the luckiest Mama around. Gotcha Day isn't even over, but I have to fill you in so far.

We left for the Chengdu Children's Welfare Institute at 8:45am. As we arrived, it was almost surreal. There were nannies on the grounds taking children outside to the playground...all just so little and so sweet. I wished I could take them all with me---I KNEW that would happen! I began to get very teary as we made our way to the 'adoption room.' Each family sat in a love seat while the nannies and other worker did all they could to make us comfortable. I was completely surprised when the nannies brought me a photo album that they had made of our daughter, with so many pictures of her growing up. I completely lost it---it was the most beautiful gift I could have been given, and I had no idea we would get that. They also gave me back one of the disposable cameras and the photo album that I sent. As I was looking through the album, all of a sudden they were bringing in the girls! Leila and Riley came walking in holding hands.

After that...oh boy. To put it mildly, Leila was NOT happy to be seeing her new parents. It was absolutely heartbreaking as she cried and cried in my arms, reaching out to her caregivers. I wasn't surprised by her reaction---I knew this would be a very hard transition for her. I did feel at one point that this might be more cruel than just leaving her at the orphanage, but I hoped it would eventually pass. The orphanage director came in a few times and spoke somewhat sternly to Leila, at which time she would calm for a moment. Her nanny came in one time and calmed her down, but when she handed her back to me it was back to sad, sad baby. Jason and I signed our initial papers and received all kinds of documents from the orphanage (most of which will be completed tomorrow). We tried to comfort Leila with a baby doll, toy, and blanket, but it seemed that each of those items just made her more sad. The ladies at the orphanage did give her a lollipop which helped somewhat, but the grieving our daughter was doing was evident and so hard to watch. Our guide Rosa told me to take her outside, that this will usually help. When we walked down the front steps, a group of children Leila's age walked up to her and waved goodbye. As you can imagine, this was not exactly helpful but so sweet to witness. We then boarded the bus and just like that (maybe 30 minutes after arriving), we were on our way with our sweet girl in our arms.

The bus ride was intriguing to Leila. She watched intently out the window, crying at first but soon calming and becoming very sleepy. She never took the sucker out her mouth, but began clinging to me and me only. Jason would try and hold her or at least talk to her, but she wasn't even close to ready. However, as she snuggled into me, there was a glimmer of hope that she wouldn't cry for the rest of her life! I did tell my sister though that so far, this adoption thing was WAY harder than actually giving birth.

When we returned to the hotel, Leila had fallen asleep but immediately perked up when we walked into the hotel. Jeannie was holding Riley, so we think that seeing a 'friend' helped. It was really amazing...all of a sudden...something clicked and Leila looked at me, looked at Jason, and seemed to be OK. By the time we got to the elevator, she was holding on to me tightly and reaching for the "up button"! When we got up to the room, you would not believe the little personality that popped out. Leila was absolutely hilarious! She was laughing, doing little tricks with her tongue, and talking up a storm. First it was all Chinese, but soon she was a parrot, imitating everything we said (even in English). She responds well to her nickname from the orphanage (Ting Ting), so we've been calling her that and Leila to get her used to her name. My parents and Jason's parents will tell you---we were able to Skype with each of them for a short time---she was waving, laughing, telling them 'Ni hao' and 'bye bye.' She went potty on the potty 3 times this afternoon, she picked up on several sign language signs (more, drink, eat)---it was just amazing. The best part of the day is when she finally went to Jason. There was a dog outside, which she loves, and he held her up to the window to see it. You can only imagine his joy to finally hold his girl!

Although I left her clothes on for awhile, I just had to change her into one of the outfits we brought. Karen made her the cutest Gotcha Day shirt, which we put on with jeans. She was so good, she could almost get her clothes on by herself. She looked so darn cute---pictures SOON I promise! We then made her some lunch (Ramen Noodles) which she LOVED (she even fed herself). This kid LOVES to eat---she just went crazy with the noodles, raisins, teddy grahams, and fruit snacks. She also loves to hold things--food mostly, but also these cute little panda finger puppets that we brought. She is definitely attached to them, it is hilarious. We did try a nap this afternoon, but it just wasn't happening (she just laid there and talked to us in Chinese, it was very funny). Once we turned the lights back on, she smiled at us with the biggest smile---she had us. We played all afternoon and did a little shopping as well.
We are so thrilled to finally have our daughter in our arms---JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE HER! It's a little hard now not to want to just hurry home, but we know we still have lots to do, including lots more bonding! Thank you for praying for us today---we could feel those prayers and we are so thankful for you. I am emailing photos to my brother, hopefully they will be up soon. For some reason, yahoo is blocked here, so I'm not getting emails. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime, know we love you and are so thankful for you.

Much love,
Alissa, Jason, and Leila Grace

3/16/08

Hello everyone, thanks for checking in! Today was a great day. We started by attending a church service at the Beijing International Church Fellowship. It was amazing to be able to come together with so many other people to worship and praise God! The service was for 'foreigners' only, so you had to bring your passport, but the theater was packed, I'd say close to 500 people in all. It was a bilingual service, so we sung songs in both English and Mandarin. The most amazing moment for me was listening to hundreds of people around me singing "How Great is Our God" in two languages...it was encouraging and brought hope to our group.

Next, we checked out of our hotel and visited a pearl factory. It was basically a five story shopping mall with a very famous pearl shop. I didn't buy anything there, but did find a strange little souvenier that I couldn't pass up. It was a little brass turtle with 4 baby turtles, all kind of stacked together. Hard to visualize, I know, but was meaningful to me as tomorrow, I'll have 4 babies...how amazing is that?

For lunch we had a wonderful Beijing Roast duck. It was delicious and great to just enjoy each other's company for a couple more hours. After lunch, we headed to the Beijing airport. Four families (including ours) boarded our flight to Chengdu, while the other families headed out to their various provinces. It was hard to believe that when we come together next Friday, we'll all have our babies (finally!). Many of you may have heard about the terrorist threat that occured in China last week. Rest assured, we are just fine. This only created mass airport chaos as officials tighten security, and long lines of angry folks who aren't used to these measures. We kept our eye on the future though---it's not about the inconveniences, it's about completing our journey to Leila Grace.

So tomorrow....Gotcha Day! I'm nervous, excited, ready to go. We are told we'll leave the hotel at 8:30am and head to Leila's orphanage. Out of the four couples in our group, three of us will get our girls at the orphanage, and the other will travel to the Civil Affairs office as their baby girl is in foster care. Of us three, only Jason and I are already parents. The others are our now good friends Elissa and Kyle from San Antonio, adopting Lily and Jeannie from Charlotte, NC adopting Riley. Should be an eventful day, to be sure...keep checking in!

Love,
Alissa

Ni Hao everyone!

We are now in Beijing---having a fantastic time. We arrived Friday afternoon and joined our group around 5pm. I was SO happy to see my sister (she came Thursday), and finally meet some of the wonderful couples I've been communicating with over the past year. First, we went to the Acrobats of China show. It was great! We then went to a delicious dinner, and then returned to the hotel. Jason and I were exhausted from traveling and Karen was exhausted from touring earlier in the day (Tianemen Square, Forbidden City, and Hutong)---so we went to bed pretty early.

This morning we started our day at the Summer Palace. This was a summer home for the emperor, and was beautiful! We saw incredible architecture, paintings, and carvings, and our weather was perfect (50 degrees and sunny). On our way there, we got to see the stadium for the Beijing Olympics coming up in August. It is designed like a bird's nest---for good reason. You would not believe all the preparations going on for the olympics...this is such an exciting time to be here!

After the Summer Palace, we went to the jade factory. We learned how jade is formed into beautiful carvings for decoration, jewelry, and other amazing pieces of art. We bought our first major souvenier at the jade factory---but I don't have a picture of it yet. Will have to share that one later!

Following the jade factory, we had a great lunch and were able to see cloissones being made. These are beautiful vases, pictures, even ornaments made of brass filaments, then painted and fired, and finally polished---it was really neat to see the entire process. We were forced (not really) to buy a couple 'reminders' of what we learned...


The high point of our day was seeing the Great Wall of China. It was absolutely breathtaking (not only the view, but the climb itself!). We opted for the more challenging hike, and made it as far as you can go on that side of the wall. We took some great photos, and had a fantastic time together climbing, laughing, and just enjoying every minute of our time here.
The Great Wall was everything you can imagine, just an amazing structure with such a rich history. I feel blessed to have seen it in person. One thing that surprised us were the amount of 'peddlers' selling all kids of souveniers, including 2008 Olympic hats, shirts, and other items! They were waiting on all parts of the wall, hoping to convince us to bring something home 'for your mom' and for 'very good price.'


Tonight was Pizza Hut and cards when we got home, and of course catching you up on our day! We are all doing well, everyone is healthy, and just enjoying our time here to the fullest. We have one more day in Beijing and then off to Chengdu for Gotcha Day (on Monday).

Photos to come soon thanks to my brother...enjoy!
(Update: Photos added... by yo' brother!)

Love,
Jason, Alissa, and Karen

Hello everyone!

We are waiting in the Tokyo Narita airport to board our flight to Beijing. My sister is already there, so we are looking forward to seeing her soon! Our trip over to Japan was very long, but we did get some sleep and then last night stayed in a beautiful hotel called the Tokyo Conrad (Thanks Wade for the hotel room!) Today we'll fly to Beijing and do some sightseeing, which will continue tomorrow. When we get to Beijing, we'll meet up with the rest of our group (25 other families who are adopting---from our agency). It will be great to finally put faces with the names of all the families we've been communicating with by email for the last couple of years.

Hope all is well---we are excited to be here and can't wait to continue our journey to Leila! It does feel great to at least be on her side of the world (finally!).

Much love to you,
Alissa and Jason

Wanted to show you the 'mini-quilt' that my mother in law, Linda, made for us to take with us to China as a gift for the orphanage. It does include all the fabrics that were sent to us, but on a smaller scale than the one she is making for Leila. It is absolutely beautiful and we can't wait to give it to the Chengdu Social Welfare Institute. If you are still interested in sending in fabric/wish for the 100 wishes quilt, feel free to send it to Linda Potocnik directly. You can email me and I'll give you her mailing address!

7 hours and counting...we're coming Leila Grace!

3 more days...

Hello everyone!

We are feverishly packing, planning, and preparing for this amazing adventure we are about to begin. We've been waiting so long, it's hard to believe we are actually ready to go! On Friday we received our itinerary for our trip...here it is:

Wednesday 3/12: Depart Kansas City
Thursday 3/13: Arrive in Tokyo (J and I will stay the night)
Friday 3/14: Fly to Beijing (arrive around 2pm). Today we will tour Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, and Hutong.
Saturday 3/15: Continue Beijing Tour (The Summer Palace and the Great Wall)
Sunday 3/16: Palm Sunday church service, late afternoon flight to Chengdu
Monday 3/17: GOTCHA DAY! Meet Leila Grace Potocnik!
Tuesday 3/18: Civil Affairs Appointment
Wednesday 3/19-Thursday 3/20: Paperwork, sight-seeing, shopping
Friday 3/21: Flight to Guangzhou
Saturday 3/22: Medical Exam and Paperwork Party
Sunday 3/23: Easter Sunday church service and shopping
Monday 3/24: Consulate Appointment
Tuesday 3/25: Pick up Leila's Visa
Wednesday 3/26: Depart from Guangzhou---Fly home to Kansas City (because of the time change, we will actually arrive on 3/26 as well).

We would specifically ask for prayer for our flights, travel safety, Gotcha Day (for Leila especially!), and the flight home (20+ hours with a 2 year old---need I say more?)

We love you and thank you for checking in.

Love,
Alissa and Jason

11 Days and Counting...

Hello everyone,
Just a quick update. We are now confirmed on our travel days and we do have plane tickets! We will fly out of Kansas City on March 12, stay in Tokyo overnight, and then fly to Beijing on March 14th. My best guess is that we'll meet Leila on March 18th and then fly home March 26th. I'll post a more detailed itinerary as the week goes on and our in country travel plans are complete. As my dad said tonight, "it's really happening." We are so thankful for our friends M&K (I'm not sure if they wanted to be anonymous or not), who very graciously gave us their frequent flyer miles in order to fly us to China and back. We're quite sure that they have no idea how much this means to us---we have the most amazing friends and family you can imagine. I have been keeping track of all the wonderfully generous gifts---some monetary, some gifts of time, babysitting, etc.---the list just grows daily as everyone wants to play a part in getting our sweet girl home. The list of 'things to do ' is still long, but we're getting it all done. This weekend we'll paint the girls' room and J will do our taxes (I think painting sounds a lot more fun). Next week we finalize all travel plans and before we know it, we'll be on our way!

Please keep praying for travel plans and for my sister's passport to arrive---she'll need that to go with us and to get her VISA!

Much love,
Alissa

Don't you just love surprises?
Here's the email I received today around noon from my travel coordinator:

Dear Travel Group 132,

We are happy to announce the arrival of all Travel Approvals! Because Travel Approvals were not delayed by Chinese New Year celebrations, we are able to move your tentative travel dates up two weeks earlier than originally anticipated. Your travel group will tentatively depart for China on March 13th and will return to the US anywhere between March 25th-27th. We will move forward today to request your Consulate appointment. We anticipate a response from the Consulate in 1-5 business days. Once we receive the official Consulate appointment date we will be able to establish concrete travel dates, finalize flights, and complete in country arrangements. Please continue to wait patiently for concrete travel dates, as we promise to contact you as soon as we have any new information.

Congratulations again on receiving your Travel Approvals!

Yep--that's right. 16 days and we are on our way to see our girl! Yes---we are so excited! No---I'm not at all ready! But that's OK...it will all work out. More tomorrow, I promise!

Love,

Alissa

How cool is this?

Our 16-year-old friend Bianca did this amazing pencil portrait of Leila from one of the photographs we received (she did it in about 24 hours, actually). She and many other kids from our church are going on a mission trip to Jamaica this summer, and this is one of the ways she is raising money for her trip. We are so thrilled---we can't wait to have her do one of Leila smiling!

I am ready to send the care package tomorrow, as Bianca also wrote a letter for us in Chinese (this is one talented girl!) to put with the package. It is so beautifully written, even if I don't have a clue what it says! Bianca's father is Chinese, her mother is American, and she spent many of her first years in China. We are so thankful to know her and her family, and are looking forward to getting to know them better!

If you would like to support Bianca or the other kids at LSCC going on this summer mission trip, and would like a portrait done like ours (she does best with one or two faces), let me know and I can get you in contact with her.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Love,
Madison, Caeden, Rudy, and Leila's Mom

More fun facts about Leila Grace!

We received a translated growth report for Leila last week and have read it over and over since it arrived. I have to say, it is kind of surreal to read about this little girl we've never met, who lives thousands of miles away, and yet know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was meant to be ours. Here's what we know so far:

• Leila was found on February 21, 2006 at 9:40pm wrapped in an orange blanket. We believe she was found in a public park (it's actually illegal to abandon a baby in China, so the moms leave them in a public place where they will likely be found quickly). The police were called and officers went to the scene immediately. No family/relatives were found and thus, she was identified as a 'foundling' and taken to the police station. She was then sent to the Chengdu Children's Welfare Institute, where she has lived since.
• Leila 'appeared' to be approximately 6 months old, and thus her birthday was backdated to August 21, 2005. She was diagnosed as a healthy baby girl when found.
  
• Leila's name "Gou Er Ting" was given to her as she was found in the year of the dog (Gou). "Er" means "Child" and "Ting" means "Graceful." (She may be the ONLY graceful Potocnik!)
• My favorite fact about her is that in the orphanage, they call her "Ting Ting." When Maddie read that part, she said "Oh we are SO calling her 'Ting Ting,' Mom!" I'm sure we will use this sweet name to transition and make her feel at home.
• She was rolling at 6 months, sitting at 10 months, but loved to be held. She was standing at 12 months, but didn't walk until she was almost two. It says that once she started walking, it was 'the most exciting thing to her' and that she loves to listen to music and dance.
• When she moved to the "little sisters" program at age two, she had trouble transitioning. She did adapt, and now enjoys this class as much as her first 'class.'
• Ting Ting's personality is timid, quiet, and shy; she is relatively introverted. (Poor child...wait until she meets Rudy!). It also says she is 'obstinate at times' (sounds like a true two year old!)
• She is on a great schedule every day, and is potty trained. She "has deep sleep" (my second favorite part of the report).
• She eats rice cereal, veges, ground meat, noodles, and biscuits (cookies?)
• She is doing well with motor and language development, loves to play outside, and enjoys 'musical toys.'
  

The rest is about labs and immunizations...none of which I fully understand. However, I think I've memorized the rest. We know that she'll most likely have a tough transition, but we are praying that the nannies are preparing her as best they can, and that God is preparing her heart for the next 5 weeks before we travel.

Tomorrow I will send a small care package, including a small stuffed panda, a photo album with updated pictures (all of ours are 3 years old!), and a disposable camera. Most families with children from this particular orphanage have had good luck with their children actually receiving the items, and even coming home with them on "Gotcha Day."

Have I mentioned how excited we are?

Love to all,
Alissa

Tentative Travel Dates: March 27-April 10th
We received our travel packet yesterday, and today received word that we do have tentative travel dates as above. We are getting so excited but there is so much to do. I have a lot to write about, but I keep getting distracted by paperwork, packages to mail, etc. Above are pictures of Jason and the boys right before we opened the package that held Leila's photos. Jason took the day off (we both just wanted to sit on the porch and wait for the FedEx man). He also bought me these beautiful lillies (same as the ones in our wedding!) with a card that said 'Hope does not disappoint!' That is for sure...we are just making the most of this season of joy, and coming closer each day to flying to China. I will post more about our itinerary when it is set in stone...thanks for checking in!

Love,
Alissa

Better than Christmas.

I have to say, aside from my wedding day and the births of my three biological children, this has been one of the best days of my life. I cannot describe the feelings I had when we opened that package and finally saw our daughter's face. I am so thankful, so in awe of a God who knew from the start who our daughter was and specifically placed her in our hearts so long ago. We found out today that her Chinese middle name means 'graceful' (we named her Leila Grace near the time of her birth). We also learned that my great-grandmother Leila Ross (our daughter's namesake) was born just one day earlier than our daughter (August 20, 1899). We have no doubt that this child was meant to be ours. We know there will be challenges and some difficult times ahead, but we also know that there will be so much joy. My day started with flowers from Jason with one pretend flower that said "It's a Toddler!" After receiving the package and showing the boys the pictures, I was able to share the pictures and news with everyone at my Bible study. What a great start to the day. I then surprised Madison by showing up at school during her lunch hour to show her (and all awaiting teachers) the pictures. The kids are SO excited! We finished out the evening with dinner at Fortuna Wok with some close friends who came to congratulate us (and many employees of the restaurant who were excited for us as well! They even translated a little bit of her paperwork for me!). All in all, an amazing day. Hopefully one we will never forget.

I've been leading a Beth Moore Bible study at my church focusing on Psalms 120-144 (Psalms of Ascent). I have learned so much in 4 weeks, but my new favorite Psalm is 126...it's so appropriate for this time in our lives! It talks about remembering a time of great fortune, and hoping for more of that in the future. This is the message version...such an awesome song!

Psalm 126: A Pilgrim Song

(The Message version)

It seemed like a dream, too good to be true,
when God returned Zion's exiles.
We laughed, we sang,
we couldn't believe our good fortune.

We were the talk of the nations---
"God was wonderful to them!"
God was wonderful to us;
we are one happy people.

And now, God, do it again---
bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
So those who planted their crops in despair
will shout hurrahs at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

I have received so many amazing emails since Monday just congratulating us and offering your best wishes. I want you to know that Jason and I just sat in awe of our amazing friends and family, and their love for us and willingness to be involved in the life of a child they don't even know yet! We saved every email, they are incredibly precious to us, but our relationships with you all are the most important of all. Thanks for your love and friendship.

Much love,
Alissa, Jason and kids

Here she is! We are head over heels in love with this girl! We received the package this morning, and have had the BEST day just looking at that sweet face and imagining having her home with us. Her medical exam came today and she is very healthy. We have also learned that she is in a very good orphanage (click here for more pictures), which is supported by Half the Sky Foundation---an amazing organization that is committed to orphans all over China. I promise to write more later, but wanted to get these pictures posted before too long! She might possibly be the most beautiful 2 1/2 year old we've ever seen (I know...we're biased!).

Thank you ALL for your awesome messages of congratulations and love. We are so glad you're on this journey with us!

Love,
Alissa, Jason, and kids!

It's A GIRL!

We are so excited to announce the referral of our little girl. Apparently God knew that we love surprises! Our "baby" is actually 2 and 1/2 years old!

Her name is Gou Er Ting
Date of Birth: August 21, 2005
In November, weighed 26 lbs, and was 85cm tall.
She lives in the Cheng Du Children's Welfare Institute, located in the Sichuan province. If you'd like to see pictures of her orphanage, click here
They tell us she is darling...we'll receive all the pictures tomorrow and promise to post them right away.

We are thrilled...blessed...over the moon excited!

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Pray for our daughter, her orphanage (the weather is a mess in China and many are without power, heat, etc.) Please also continue to pray for us as we prepare for a little bit older child, and all that this entails.

See you SOON Leila Grace!

12:45 pm, just received this email:

Dear Family,

It is with great excitement that we email you today to let you know that your referral has just arrived! We just received referrals for both Group 243 and 244 (LID's 12/20/05 and 12/22/05) You have endured the difficult wait and have persevered, and will soon see the face of the child that you have waited so long for. We look forward to contacting you soon to tell you about your precious child.

Blessings,

Anna M. Graham

9:15 a.m. Email received from my agency:

Dear Family,

America World would like to inform families that we are anticipating referrals at any time. Currently, we are experiencing technical difficulties with the CCAA’s internal website and cannot verify the processing dates of the referrals, but are expecting to receive LID’s 12/20/05 and 12/22/05. As soon as we have further information from the CCAA’s internal site, we will pass that along. We do want to remind families that AWAA does not receive information on when referrals will arrive or when they were sent, but we want each of you to be informed of where you are in the process. Once we have confirmed the dates that the CCAA has processed through, we will send that information to you. Please know that once referrals arrive, your child and your process becomes our highest priority. We will be working diligently to have information to you concerning your child as soon as possible. We hope to be contacting each of you soon with the news of your precious child.

Blessings,

Leah Rockey

We apologize...

Hello everyone! Thank you to all of you who check in regularly to keep up on our adoption. Jason and I were able to get away this weekend for some much needed rest, relaxation, and time to just be together before the excitement begins! Unfortunately while we were away, someone got into our blog and posted pornography where another photo used to be. We are thankful for a friend who caught this immediately and called my mom, who was able to delete the picture immediately. We have no idea how this happened and are sickened that someone would hack into a blog to do that kind of damage. If any of you came across it, we are so very sorry. It sounds like it was caught in a timely manner, but again, we hope no one had to be exposed to that kind of trash.

Now---on to the excitement: We are definitely expecting our referral this week, tomorrow at the earliest. Chinese New Year starts Thursday, so by Wednesday we'll have the news we've been waiting for (for 2 years!). We promise to post as soon as we know, and pictures to follow, of course. Thanks for riding this roller coaster with us!

Love,
The Potocnik 5 (almost 6)

No news yet...

Hello everyone! Thanks for checking in. Not much to report in terms of referrals but we're hopeful for Friday or next Monday. I did call my family coordinator today and she was pretty sure we'd receive our referrals next Wednesday at the latest (Chinese New Year starts Thursday---they always send them out prior to that day). In the meantime, I am trying to actually take care of my patients at the hospital, take care of my children at home, and not jump out of my skin every time that phone rings!

We have had an amazing week in so many other ways. It's after midnight and I can't write it all now, but please check back later this weekend as I plan to share the way God has blessed us through our friends, family, neighbors, and other loved ones in so many ways. It bears repeating: from Day One of this process, God has been so faithful to see that Leila Grace is a part of our family. We don't ever want it to be about us...it's just not. Jason and I are completely humbled by the love we are shown by all of those who already love Ms. Leila as much as we do. We are so thankful for you.

Here's hoping for Friday!

Love,
Alissa

Maybe this week...maybe next...we'll see!

Every day (okay, maybe several times a day), I check a website created by the "Rumor Queen." "RQ" as they call her, has two children from China herself, and does a great job of keeping everyone informed of any rumors she has heard regarding China adoption information. No agencies are mentioned (this is a rule), but her information is usually pretty accurate.

Here's the post from today (www.chinaadopttalk.com)

Matching has begun

January 27th, 2008

Word has gone out from one of the larger agencies that matching has begun.

No word from them on a possible cut off, but if matching has begun then they should (theoretically) be mailed sometime next week.

Not sure exactly what this will mean for us---we may be waiting one more week. But what's one more week in light of the 2+ years thus far? It will be a Happy Valentine's Day for sure---we love you Leila Grace!

Spring Festival (Also known as Chinese New Year)
　　As the cold winter begans to recede and the warm spring is about to begin, Chinese people customarily celebrate the first traditional festival of the year— Spring Festival (Lunar New Year). Every family put red couplets on the gates and lunar New Year’s painting on the windows, as well as decorate their houses. The evening before the Spring Festival, called the “Lunar New Year’s Eve”, is the most important time for family reunions. All the family members gather and have a “family reunion dinner” together. After the dinner, they sit together and visit or play games. Many people do not sleep that night, which called “Shousui”. The next morning, they go to visit their relatives and friends to pay a New Year’s call, to congratulate each other and wish for luck and happiness in the new year. During the spring festival, there are many local events all over China, among which events such as “Lion Dance”, “Dragon Lantern Dance”, “Land Boat” and still played most often.

Elephant pregnancy:
22 months

Potocnik's "pregnancy" (so far):
25 months

Happy 6th Birthday Caeden Michael!
We LOVE YOU!

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No news yet...but we will NOT be discouraged!

Well...not exactly what we were hoping for but at least there is forward movement. This is the announcement made on the China Center of Adoption Affairs website. Obviously they matched families logged in before December 19th (we were logged in the 22nd)...so no referral for us this month! We are determined to stay positive...we believe (as we did 3 years ago) that God has the perfect child chosen for us and He's developing patience in us as we wait. We are now praying for a Valentine's Baby!

Happy New Year, from the Potocniks!

We could be NEXT!

Thursday our agency posted this GREAT news!

"America World is pleased to announce some exciting news about our
referrals! Today we received 8 referrals- one boy and 7 girls. We also
received two referrals of Chinese heritage. One family also received
twins! The children ranged in age from 5 months-27 months and were from
the Jiangxi and Liaoning Provinces. Families receiving referals today
were logged in 12/12/05. Please join us in congratulating these
families on their exciting day!!"

The above group was group 242...in case you forgot...we're group 244. The log in dates for group 243/244 are only two days apart. Although this is sounds like gibberish to most of the world, to us it means that it is very likely they will process our groups together, and we may receive our referral NEXT MONTH!

We are beyond excited and even if I am getting my hopes up, I won't be too disappointed if it doesn't happen in January. At least it's a sure thing in February! Chinese New Year is mid-late February, so either way, we will probably travel in March.

If you are waiting on our Christmas card...it's coming late this year! I couldn't stand to send one more card saying "No really...we ARE getting our daughter this year!" so I'm sending a late one with the big news!

Please keep praying that they will process these 2 groups together next month!

Love,
Alissa

Home Study, Part 3.

Yesterday I received a packet from America World to help us in completing our 3rd home study update! We will need physicals again, confirmation of employment, criminal and child abuse reports (including fingerprinting), income reports---it's pretty crazy the amount of papers we will need to pull together in the next couple weeks! Oh well, this really
should be the last time we have to do this, and everything else is good until next summer!

In the meantime, fabric has been pouring in for our Bai Jai Bei 100 Good Wishes Quilt! It's so exciting to see what everyone has chosen and read the beautiful verses, notes, and good wishes from our friends and families! For those of you who are reading this and are worried that it's too late, it's not! Please know that you can send the fabric and note ANYTIME and we'll be thrilled! I'm working on getting the album organized and next week, Jason's mom will start getting the fabric that she does have together and cut out!

I will soon post a picture of the fabric we have so far---so much fun to look at and try to visualize what the quilt will look like.

Here's to QUICK referrals!

Much to be thankful for,
The Potocniks

I jumped the gun, but in a good way!

Just 30 seconds after I posted, our agency posted this announcement:

America World is pleased to announce that we received 16 healthy
female referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into
the China Center of Adoption Affairs on December 5th of 2005 (group
241). We also received a referral for a family who was expedited due
to Chinese heritage. The little girls are currently located in the
Jiangxi & Guangdong Provinces. The girls ranged in age from 9 months
to 22 months. Please join us in congratulating these families, and in
praying for them as they prepare to travel.

That's 241 checked off the list...now we just have 242 and 243 and it's our turn...did I say I was waiting patiently? I lied.

Blessings,
Alissa

"The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before December 8, 2005."

We are excited to hear that these dossiers have been processed, though our agency has been pretty quiet the past couple of days. However, I took the above quote from the CCAA website, so I believe it to be true! Our documents were logged in December 22, 2005...so just 14 more days worth of dates to be processed (this could take 2-3 months), and we're on deck!

No other news right now...just waiting...patiently!

Love,
Alissa

Would you look at that sweet baby?

I'd like to introduce Ady Margaret Borchert, born September 19th at 5:07pm EST. Her proud parents are Karen Borchert (my little sister) and her husband Taylor. She was 7 lbs, 14 oz, and she is possibly the most beautiful baby around! Madison and I went out to Washington D.C. last week to see our new niece/cousin, and she has stolen our hearts!

When we started this long journey to Leila Grace, Karen and Taylor were planning on joining us on the trip to China. However, the wait became longer than expected and all of a sudden, we heard that Baby Ady would make her appearance sometime this September. Of course, we were SURE we'd have Ms. Leila home before Ady arrived, but we were wrong again! Anyway, we are pretty excited that Leila will have a cousin close to her age, and we couldn't be happier for Karen and Taylor!

Congratulations---we love you Ady!

Love,
Alissa

Legacy of An Adopted Child

Once there were two women who never knew each other...
One you do not remember,
the other you call mother.
Two different lives, shaped to make Your one...
One became your guiding star,
the other became your sun.
The first gave you life,
and the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love,
and the second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality,
the other gave you a name.
One gave you a seed of talent,
the other gave you an aim.
One gave you emotions,
the other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile,
the other dried your tears.
One gave you up...that's all she could do.
The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.

And now you ask me, through your fears,
the age old question unanswered throughout the years...
Heredity or environment...
which are you the product of...
Neither my darling...neither...
just two different kinds of love.

-Author Unknown-

This poem was found on the back of a program from the upcoming movie "Bella." We were lucky in Lees Summit to be able to have a pre-screening, offered free to members of the community who have a heart for adoption (sponsored by Royals player Mike Sweeney). The movie has won many awards but was very low budget, so will only premier in the larger cities in mid-late October. If it does come to your city, I would STRONGLY recommend it---it's a great story of adoption and love. Jason and I really enjoyed it, and were especially impressed by the lead actor, who was there to answer questions. He is very famous in Mexico, sort of the 'Mexican Brad Pitt,' but has decided to only do movies that are made with decency and utmost integrity. We were amazed by his testimony and his commitment to what he really believes.

Have a great day!
Alissa

WE'RE IN THE 240'S!

The official announcment just arrived:
America World is excited to announce that we received 19 healthy referrals today! Families had log in dates of 11/22/05 & 11/24/05. The girls are from the Guangxi & Jiangxi provinces & ranged in age from 6 months to 11 1/2 months. Please join us as we congratulate each of these families!

Jason and I are beyond excited! These two log in dates represent groups 239, and yes, FINALLY, group 240! This means only 3 more groups to go and then it will be our turn! (As if I haven't said it 3000 times, we are group 244). So the big question is, when? If the referrals keep coming as they have the past 3 months, I think the earliest referral date would be November (fly in Dec/Jan), the latest would be January (fly Feb/Mar). In the meantime, we are celebrating like crazy as we've been waiting for a long time to be this close!

Thank you to those of you who have shared in our excitement today. It's truly frightening to think how I'll be acting when it really is our turn! Also, congratulations to our friends the Peltons, who we met way back when at our adoption class at Adoption and Beyond. Here is their website if you are interested: http://www.freewebs.com/peltonadoption/. We can't wait to meet Makenna!

Have a great night!

Love,
Leila's family

Today I sent my big 5 year old on the bus to Kindergarten and my oldest to 3rd grade! Here's a photo of Rudy (age 4), Madison (almost 9), and Caeden (age 5) on their first day. I can't believe how quickly time has flown by...it seems like Maddie was JUST holding Caeden at the hospital when he was born! Now if only the time before we get Leila could fly just as fast!

Have a great day,
Alissa

Ok...we received word today that we are in the 1-4 month range for receiving a referral! I am trying not to get my hopes up too much, as things can (and always do) change. Regardless...that was a great email to receive. Also, wanted to let you know that I did NOT write this great devotional posted yesterday---someone on my online adoption group submitted it and I felt it was a great post for August! Have a great weekend!

Alissa

Waiting Is A Blessing

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you
compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who
wait for him!" (Isaiah 30:18, NIV)

Yes, you read it correctly. "Blessed are all who wait for him!"

We may find it difficult to comprehend that waiting could be a
blessing. We'd prefer not to wait. We don't like to wait for our
food. We don't like to wait for the movie to start. We don't like to
wait for answers to our questions. We do not like to wait for
information.

While we don't like to wait, the prophet from God gives us three
reasons why waiting really is a blessing.

We are blessed when we wait on the Lord because the Lord longs to be
gracious to us. He doesn't just think about being gracious to us, He
longs to be gracious. Sounds like He is looking for opportunities
to be gracious to us. He longs to be gracious (kind and merciful) to
us. He does not have to be gracious to us. We certainly do not
deserve it. Yet, He longs to be gracious to us. That's worth waiting
for.

We are blessed when we wait on the Lord because the Lord rises to
show us compassion. Obviously the Lord never sleeps or slumbers
(Psalm 121:4) but this statement brings to my mind the image of the
Lord getting up in the morning checking his notes and saying, "Well,
let's see what can I do to show Tom how compassionate I am today?
"What can I do to show Tom how sympathetic I am as he goes through a
difficult day? How can I show Him how concerned I am about Tom and
his family? " Or, perhaps the Amplified Bible explains it better,
"He lifts Himself up, 'that He may have mercy on you and show
loving-kindness to you.'" Sounds like He enjoys showing us
compassion.

We are blessed when we wait on the Lord because the Lord is a God of
justice. That reminds me that I do not need to spend a great deal of
time trying to make sure that justice is handed out to people. God
is a God of justice. He will take care of it. Justice is His
business. Justice is His nature.

It also helps to see waiting as a blessing when we more fully
understand what Isaiah had in mind with the word wait: "Blessed
(happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait
for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His
favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken
companionship] !" (Amplified Bible)

The last part of that explanation can help us develop a better
appreciation for waiting: When we "expect and look and long for Him
[for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His
matchless, unbroken companionship! "

As you wait for the Lord to do what the Lord longs to do, rises to
do, and is His nature to do, look for Him, look for His victory, His
favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken
companionship.

Waiting can be a blessing.

Posted today:

America World is pleased to announce the receipt of 7 healthy female
referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into the
China Center of Adoption Affairs on November 16 of 2005 (group 238).
The little girls are currently located in the Hunan Province and range
in age from 16-19 months. Please join us in congratulating these
families, and in praying for them as they prepare to travel.

5 more groups and we're up! Keep praying for 2007, please!

Love,
Alissa, Jason and kids

From July 6, 2007:

America World is pleased to announce that we received 9 healthy female
referrals from the Hunan Province today. The girls ranged in age from
7-8 months old and were all located in the Chenzhou Children's Welfare
Institute. Please join us in congratulating these families on their
exciting day!!

The above group is #237...we are #244...slowly but surely we're getting there!

Love,
Alissa

Hello everyone,

Many of you know that we had over 20 families donate some GREAT stuff for our garage sale last weekend and because I leave for vacation tomorrow, I just cannot get a personal thank you note to each of you in time. However, Jason and I want you to know how much we appreciate your generosity in donating to our sale, and ultimately, the adoption of our sweet little China baby.

The sale was amazing! We had people here almost all the time, all 3 days. The weather was hot, but perfect for the sale! We set up a sign about adoption, China in particular. We even had a donation fishbowl on the checkout table, and people were amazingly generous...I can't tell you how many people blessed us!

The great news---we made almost $2000 for our adoption from the sale. We could NOT have done that without your donations and we are so thankful. We had no idea that it would go that well and we are well on our way to finishing out our expenses. God has blessed us greatly and we thank you SO much.

Thank you to these families...and PLEASE forgive me if I forgot anyone:

Elaine Lewellan
Teri Burns
Scott, Linda, and Laura Burgess
Cori and Carrie Weeda (and friends!)
Phil and Marian Rogers
Paul and Karen Miller
Greg and Kim Zoltek
Jeff and Cindy Madden
Mike and Angie Magee
Linda and Rudy Potocnik
Jason and Teresa Kemper
Tim and Nona Luke
Jason and April Lee
Doug and Autumn Leach
Rusty and Shannon Brotherton
Todd and Rebecca Long
Robert and Kellie McQueen
Scott and Tracy Robinson
Bert and Traci Mattis
Michael and Julie Coram

Also, thanks to those of you who donated time (getting us lunch!) and energy (baking treats for the kids to sell at their stand)...and Traci Mattis gets the prize for donating an insane amount of time to helping me organize, price, mark, etc. (Her husband gets the credit for loaning us his truck multiple times!)

Thank you to everyone---now if we could JUST get to CHINA soon!

Much love,
Jason and Alissa Potocnik

Today I Will Make a Difference
by Max Lucado

Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my masters. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark. Today I will make a difference.

I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant. I will drink each minute as though it is my last. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving. Today I will make a difference.

I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It’s OK to stumble… I will get up. It’s OK to fail… I will rise again. Today I will make a difference.

I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. A man can own the world but be poor for the lack of love. A man can own nothing and yet be wealthy in relationships. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world. Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking or listening. Five undiluted minutes with my mate, children, and friends.

Today I will make a difference.

From Shaped by God
Copyright (Tyndale House, 2002) Max Lucado

Hi Everyone!
In that last picture, Caeden was hiding but after our trip to Lincoln a couple weekends ago, I have a new one to post. Although Caeden is shirtless---at least you can see his face! Still waiting...hoping for referrals next week (not ours...just forward movement!). Have a wonderful weekend!
Love,
Alissa

24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. -Romans 8:24-25

Now you're in the know!

Here's the latest information we have received as to WHY the wait time is so long.

Q: Why has the wait from LID(log in date) to referral increased over the past year and a half?

A: At a meeting held in December 2006 the CCAA announced that the number of dossiers received at the end of 2005 and through 2006 had increased over 200% from previous years. With this increase there are more dossiers for families than paper-ready children available for adoption, causing the wait time to increase. There are literally thousands of dossiers at the CCAA awaiting a referral and while there are undoubtedly enough children available in China, not all orphanages or children are registered with the CCAA for adoption. Unfortunately, there are extremely rural orphanages that lack the resources needed to register with the CCAA. The CCAA is working to register more orphanages; however, this is a lengthy and complicated process. America World is praying diligently and working to find new ways to see all orphanages become registered with the CCAA to allow all adoptable orphans to be placed in forever families.

It does help to have a little bit more information, and we are truly happy that the amount of dossiers has increased by 200%---that's more children with forever homes, and that is something to thank God for! It's important to keep it in perspective--
our desire is not only to bring home a daughter from China, but to see all orphans find a home, and thankfully that IS happening, slowly but surely!

Have a wonderful week!
Alissa

7 groups away!

Here is the announcement that our agency received this past week:

"America World is pleased to announce that we received 25 healthy
female referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into
the China Center of Adoption Affairs on October 27 and 31 of 2005
(group 235-236). The little girls are currently located in the
Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Hubei provinces and range in age from 7 to 15
months. Please join us in congratulating these families, and in
praying for them as they prepare to travel."

We're hoping now that the May 1 deadline has passed (with all the new restrictions), that maybe the process will speed up. IN case I haven't said it 300 times so far, we're group #244, logged in Dec 22, 2005. We're getting closer!

Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Alissa and Jason

This devotion from Proverbs 31 ministries was found on my yahoo group today and I thought it was perfect for today! This wait is excruciating...there has been absolutely no movement for almost a month, but God is good and we know His timing is perfect!

April 23, 2007

You Will Not Be Forgotten

By Glynnis Whitwer

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a
day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."
2 Peter 3:8 (NIV)

Devotion:

When my third child was born, my oldest was three. And they were
all active boys!My husband and I were outnumbered and my life was
completely up-ended. For the next three years I couldn't even go
shopping at Target by myself with the kids. While one raced down
the aisle, the toddler climbed out of the cart. Meanwhile, the
baby, who disliked being confined from the moment of his birth,
screamed! I was a mess! I felt like climbing over the cart and
racing down the aisle screaming myself.

In those difficult three years I kept trying to regain my old life.
An organizer and leader by nature, I'd volunteer to oversee
something at church and then make my kids and me miserable trying to
get it done. My heart is heavy when I remember the times I dragged
my three little boys to one event or another, only to leave angry
and in tears because they couldn't sit still.

Instead of accepting my life as it was, I plowed ahead, wanting to
serve God and feeling certain He was pleased with my sacrifices.
The problem was that my innocent children made the real sacrifice by
enduring my non-stop lifestyle. I wish with all my heart that
someone had taken me out to coffee and helped me get some
perspective. I was too blind to see.

What I know now is that sometimes God calls us to a new mission
field that on the surface looks like we've been called out of
the "game." But nothing could be further from the truth! Those
three years I was afraid to stop pursuing my goals in case an
opportunity might pass me by. Instead I missed the opportunity to
minister more deeply to my children passed me by.

Second Peter 3:8 says, "But do not forget this one thing, dear
friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day" (NIV). Although this verse is
speaking about the Lord's return, I believe it can be applied to any
time of "waiting." God doesn't see time as we do. Three years
seems like an eternity, when it's really just a breath in time. The
first part of verse 9 offers hope to those who think opportunities
are passing them by and God has forgotten them: "The Lord is not
slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness."

I wish someone had told me that God would not forget me, that I was
right where He wanted me, and that I should relax and see the
opportunities He had placed in front of me. Even though my days
felt like years, they really were just a blink. At least, that's
what I know now …

Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your faithfulness. No matter what
my circumstances look like to me, I know You have not forgotten me.
Help me to see Your hand in every moment of my day, and to look for
ways to serve You and those around me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

9 groups away!!!

Today brought more referrals for our agency, as stated in this announcement below:

"America World is pleased to announce the receipt of 19 healthy female
referrals today! Families receiving referrals were logged into the
China Center of Adoption Affairs on October 19th and 24th of 2005
(groups 233 and 234). These families waited roughly 16 months from
log in date to referral. We also received referrals for 2 families
who were expedited due to Chinese heritage who were logged in on April
14th, 2006. The little girls are currently located in the Jiangxi and
Guangdong Provinces and range in age from 6 to 15 months. Please join
us in congratulating these families, and in praying for them as they
prepare to travel."

We just hit the 14 month anniversary of our log-in date, but despite the long wait, we are encouraged that the referrals keep coming. Based on the above information, and 'rumors' on various sites, I am anticipating a referral in August or September (which means we would fly in late Sept/early October). It IS going to happen eventually!

In the meantime, we have been so blessed by two families, as well as a neighboring church, who have helped us tremendously with the financial part of this adoption. The costs have just kept going up as we have had to re-do so many documents that expired during this extended wait time. Jason and I knew the financial part of this would be hard, but we also knew (and were told by many) that God would provide in one way or another. We are so thankful not only for the donations, but for the hearts behind those gifts. We know that we have been blessed beyond measure, once again.

THANK YOU for checking in, and please please keep Leila Grace in your prayers as she has probably been born by now.

In His amazing grace,
Alissa and Jason

Happy New Year!

Thanks for checking in. I haven't posted in awhile as there hasn't been much progress since the end of December. However, today 19 referrals were received, which included groups 231 and 232. This means we are now 11 groups away---almost into the single digits! We've heard that summer is about the worst time to travel in China (very hot!), but we really don't care at this point---we just want to get there and meet that sweet baby girl!

Last week we had our fingerprints redone at the Department of Homeland Security here in KC. Apparently, fingerprints 'expire' after 15 months, so we had to do them again just in case one of us had committed a felony recently (we didn't...phew). I also learned that almost 10 years of working in a hospital (and washing my hands constantly), leads to 'difficult to read fingerprints.' I tried to say something clever about that, but the people at the Dept of Homeland Security don't have the best sense of humor.

I also made a call this week to our agency to ask what I need to do with the revised home study (it also expires). I expected to have to send it 3 different places for certification, authentication, etc. etc., but my coordinator instead told me that I would be handing that to the officials in China! I don't know why, but it just made my day having someone assure me that yes, someday we'll be headed to China and this long, long, wait will be soon forgotten.

Much love from Kansas City,
Alissa and Jason

Merry Christmas
by Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for mama's arms
At an orphange just outside a little China town
Where the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms
And tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white
And make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that Heaven's angels come to carry you here

Christmas is the time we celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate His perfect gift of love
He came to Earth to give His life and prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with Him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And tell you from my heart
I'll tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

If I did have music to accompany, you could get the full effect, but I can't very well listen to this song right now without lots of tears! I love the song, it really applies to where we are in the process but we have hope...she'll be here at exactly the right time!

Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Potocniks

Things are moving forward...

We were so glad to hear yesterday that groups 227, 228, and 229 received referrals this week. 34 referrals were given out, all of which were logged in to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs in Aug/Sept 2005. So...we were logged in Dec 22, 2005 and are group 244, so at least we are getting closer! And while I am a little bummed not to be including Leila in our Christmas picture this year, I am enjoying my time with my 3 sweet kids, and just enjoying the holiday season. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Love,
Alissa

Bumps in the road...

Hello everyone,
Well, as of last weekend, group 227 received their referrals, so albeit slow, things are still moving (we're group 244). In our neck of the woods, we are dealing with some major challenges with the home we moved into less than 18 months ago. When we bought this house, we knew that it had, in the past, had some foundation problems. However, we had a structural engineer look at it and in May of '05 when we bought it, everything looked good (and had been repaired by the previous owners). However, after a long, dry summer, we have now noticed significant movement in the home, and have had many companies out giving estimates over the past 2-3 weeks. This is heartbreaking for us because we love this home, and know it is where we are supposed to be. However, the necessary repairs are quite costly...more than the total cost of our adoption. We are determined to move forward with the adoption, as we feel that although the house is very concerning, getting Leila Grace is our first priority.

Daily, I am tempted to be worried. However, Matthew 6:25 says "Do not worry..." and I have to just trust in that. I truly believe that this is all part of Leila's story, and boy will it be a story of God's faithfulness! If you are praying for us, we would ask you to pray for our continued faith in God's provision for the financial end of these challenges, but also that Jason and I would be very much aware of what it is God is trying to teach us through this situation. We appreciate your prayers so much and as always, thank you for checking in!

Love,
Alissa

Progress!

Yesterday we received news that the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs) has officially reviewed all documents received in their office as of December 31, 2005. Our documents (logged in December 22nd) were included in that group. This means we are one step closer to the 'matching room,' so this is great news! This said, there is still a very long wait ahead. Currently, groups 223/224 are on deck to receive referrals and we are in group 244. I have stopped making estimates, but we know it will not be this year as we had hoped. Maybe next Spring or early summer, we'll see. Thankfully, we are not in control and we are now working to renew a few of the documents which will soon expire (home study and fingerprinting). This is a frustrating experience both timewise and financially, but we'll do whatever we have to do...it's all part of the journey! The good news is, our kids will be a little bit older (most likely 8, 5, and 4) by the time Leila gets here, so they can understand even more about what is going on. Thank you again for checking in on us!

Love,
Alissa

Thank you for checking in!

At this time, last year, we thought we may be travelling to China right now to pick up our little girl. However, the referral wait process has slowed considerably since that time. No one really knows why, but at this time, they are processing referrals from July of 2005 (we were logged in December of 2005). They put all the families into groups. We are group 244 and they are currently on group 221. So...your guess is as good as ours as to when this will happen. Most likely, 2007. We know that God knows what He is doing, however. Rudy is having a lot of separation anxiety issues right now, so leaving for 2 weeks wouldn't be best this summer anyway. We know that we will go get our little girl whenever God has her ready for us.

A lot of people have asked me about Leila and whether she is waiting in China, growing older, wondering where we are! We have not yet been matched with a child. We did name her early on, but we do not have a specific child in China yet. We will be matched based on the order our paperwork arrived in China, and immediately after being matched, we will be called with our referral. 6 weeks later, we will fly to China to get her. So, no, there is not a specific baby there waiting for us, and it's possible she hasn't even been born yet!

Thank you for checking the blog and for your prayers. Please pray that the process would speed up again (it goes through cycles of being very slow, and then very efficient again...), and that we would be patient during this long wait. We know that all the BEST things are the ones worth waiting for!

Hello everyone! It has been quite awhile since I last posted, but felt I should update everyone on the current status of our adoption. We are learning that the referral process has slowed considerably since we first applied. Our documents remain in China, and have been there for almost three months now. However, what was once a 6-7 month process, has now turned into an 10-11 month process. We are hopeful for a referral by the end of the year...we'd love to have Leila home by Christmas. However, we know that God's timing is always better than our timing, and we plan to just rely on Him in this whole crazy process! Thanks for checking in---we promise to let you know when we hear ANYTHING!

This is the corner of Leila's room, which is also Madison's room. We are so excited for Leila to get here, but we believe it will be at the end of summer or early Fall. Right now, groups 210-211 are headed to China. We are group 244...so we have a ways to go. Thank you for checking in, for praying for us, and for our youngest daughter.

May you be safe and sleep soundly through the night,

May you be safe as you wake to the morning's light.

May you feel my love from so far away,

May it comfort and protect you throughout each day.

I will pray for you my little one,

Until our time of waiting is done.

I will pray the the Lord keep you safe from harm,

Until the child of my heart becomes the child in my arms.

-- Anonymous--

Happy New Year!

We are so excited that it is 2006...the year we will go pick up our baby girl in China! As I said in my last post, our paperwork was sent to China on December 9th. We just received word today that the paperwork was officially logged in to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs on December 22, 2005. This is great news, as it often takes longer between DTC (Documents to China) and the actual log-in date. Our agency is telling us we should receive a referral in 7-10 months, so now I really do feel pregnant! We appreciate your prayers for Leila, as we are guessing she has been born by now, and for our family as we wait patiently for that phone call! Thank you for checking in, and for journeying with us.

Love,
Alissa

Our dossier has been approved!

Hello everyone, thanks for checking in with us! My sister was able to pick up our documents on Friday from the Chinese Consulate in D.C. She then mailed them to our agency for us, and they were received today. I received a call this afternoon that the dossier was reviewed by two coordinators and no problems were found. This is GREAT news but the best part is, the dossier will be sent to China on Friday! So now the big wait begins. We are excited to receive our group number later this week, as well as a list of people who will accompany us on our trip to China. It's all becoming very real now...

Thanks again for your interest and for following along with our journey. Have a great week and a wonderful holiday season!

The paperchase is almost over...

Last week we received our 171H form back and we mailed all of our documents to my sister Karen in Washington D.C. Today she took all the documents to the U.S. State Department for authentication. This process took about 30 minutes and everyone was apparently very helpful. Karen then took the documents to the Chinese Consulate for final authentication. She was told that they would be ready on Friday after which the entire Dossier will be ready to send to our adoption agency. We expect our documents to be sent to China by the end of next week, and we hope to be given a group number at that time. (The group number is something we can track in order to have some idea when we'll receive a referral). Words can't express how much we appreciate Karen being in Washington D.C.--usually I don't appreciate that because she's just too far away! Karen's enthusiastic willingness to help us paperchase for Leila is amazing. Each phone call I got today from her saying "I'm done at the State Department!" or "The papers are safe at the Chinese Embassy!" just felt like a giant step forward in the process. Her excitement to be part of the process means the most to me, and I can't wait to share in the China experience with her as she and her husband Taylor travel with us.

In not so great news...the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs is currently moving their offices (in China). Our agency has informed us that they anticipate delays which means our referral (the big phone call telling us that they have a baby for us!), could come anywhere from 7-10 months from when our documents are logged in at the CCAA. We are praying that it will be more like seven months, but at this point, I have given up trying to pinpoint a specific time. We know that God will give us the child HE chooses for us, and He will do so in His perfect timing.

Most of all, we are so thankful for those of you who are praying about this process for us. We would ask for continued prayer regarding the scholarships we have applied for in the past month (one at our church, two national foundations). We hope to hear from 1-2 of those in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, keep praying for baby Leila, that she'll be home with us soon!

Moving Forward...

Thursday was a big day for us. We started the day bright and early at the Kansas City Department of Homeland Security. The appointment was relatively fast, and the people were very un-government like...compassionate and genuinely interested in getting us in and out of there as fast as possible. Even the security guards were cheerful at 7:45 am! We turned in our I-600A form and were fingerprinted, then on our way in just over an hour.

Thursday afternoon I went to the Secretary of State's office to certify my MO documents. Aside from one small glitch, all went well and again, everyone was very happy to help. There is something about knowing that another child will be safe in a loving home that seems to warm hearts and make even total strangers excited for the road ahead of us.

I have had a few friends ask recently what they can do to help in this process. My number one response is to just pray for our daughter and for the process in general. Obviously the financial aspect is another concern, but we have been blessed by a few family members that have helped tremendously in just getting us as far as we are right now. Just today, we received acceptance from the Eternal Family Program, which is sponsored by our agency, America World. The fund allows us to receive donations from friends, family, or church members as it is a nonprofit (501-3) organization, and can then get those funds to us to help with the midpayment and final fees. We are not planning on sending out unsolicited letters, as we don't feel that this is the proper way to fund our adoption. However, for those of you who have mentioned wanting to help, please just drop me a quick email at cherrykitchen@peoplepc.com, and I'll let you know how you can contribute to the Eternal Family Program.

Now, as I said in my last post, we will wait on the treasured '171H' form (the acceptance letter after fingerprinting), after which my wonderful sister will be walking all of our documents into the State Department and Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C., where she lives. This is an incredible blessing, as we will not have to rely on the mail system and someone we trust will have our documents in hand the entire time.

Real religion, the kind that passes muster before the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world. -James 1:27 (The Message Bible)

Wow! So much has happened since I last wrote. Our home study is officially complete and in my hands. We have certified our Kansas and Nebraska documents, and just have Missouri documents left (I hope to walk those in to the KC office this Wednesday). Once all those documents are certified, they will be sent to the Chinese Consulate and then on to China! Once our documents are in China, we hope to have a referral in 6 months or so. This Thursday, we have our CIS appointment, at which time we'll get fingerprinted and fill out the paperwork necessary to bring an orphan on to American soil. This is a huge step (the final piece of paper) and here is where we ask for your prayers. From speaking to many families, this process usually takes approximately 2-3 weeks (to receive your approval letter). However, it can take up to 90 days, which is a distinct possibility with the upcoming holiday season. Every week longer that it takes is another week we wait to get our documents to China, and another week later that we go pick up our daughter. We would ask you to pray for a speedy turnaround of this 171H document...and thank you in advance for praying specifically for this need.

Other than that, things are moving forward. We received our new passports, we are applying for financial assistance from many organizations (they all require a completed home study before letting you apply), and we are getting more and more excited for next summer! Thank you again for checking in---we love and appreciate you!

Jason and Alissa