Article 5 Wait

Just a quick update of where we are...
December 18: Article 5 was dropped off at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China.
This process normally takes 2 weeks. Unfortunately, we hit both Christmas and New Year holidays, pushing our Article 5 "pick-up" day until next week.
Once we have our pick-up, the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) will be issuing us Travel Approval. When we get Travel Approval, our travel dates are planned and we can leave soon after! We are hoping we can leave by the end of January.
Now that Christmas is over, it is time for us to begin packing and preparing for China!

I love how God is providing as we prepare to go to China...

• Jason and I just finished putting together a crib for Max in Drake's room. Thank you sweet friend who donated this crib, you know who you are :) SUCH a blessing. 

• My sister-in-law gave us her double stroller. We are so thankful for this much needed accessory!

• Another precious friend donated a carseat and pack-n-play. Praises to God for her!

• Max received several Christmas gifts, including a booster/highchair, clothes, toys, books and feeding utensils. A huge thank you to our family for these. 

•  Hand-Me-Down clothes!!! OH SO GRATEFUL... friends, you are awesome!

• Donations--- we received several unexpected checks over the Christmas holidays, and I cry every time. It takes my breath away and the tears just flow. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I cannot express to you how much it means to have your support.

• Work for Jason- Since Jason started his own business in March, God has provided work. We knew He would, but when you live week to week, not knowing what's next, you tend to worry. It has been amazing to watch Jason over the last year. Projects and jobs just come. There have been times when he's needed to hire help in order to get finished. Talk about overwhelming thankfulness. And thank you, Jason, for working SO hard to provide for me and the kiddos. I admire you and love you more every day.

Most importantly, please continue to lift us up in prayer. My mama heart is scared. I fear that I won't be the mother I need to be for 3 young children. It seems impossible sometimes, because I already have trouble with Anne Riley and Drake. But, God said He will do the IMPOSSIBLE, so I have trust.
I will be posting a prayer list soon as we get ready to travel.
Blessings :)

Referral Video!

I watch this almost daily. It's our referral video of Max. So ready to go get this little guy! Click the link to watch on YouTube. 

http://youtu.be/5VlKqa37eoU

Today we got our Visas for travel as well as our National Visa Center letter. Our Article 5 drop-off should be Thursday!

Our travel is going to be delayed some over the holidays, but we are still thinking we will leave for China by the end of January! Let's hope so :)

Visas and new pictures!

Jason and I are working on our Visa applications, and we will mail those out this week. 

We are waiting on our letter from the National Visa Center, stating they have our immigration approvals and adoption case.  Once we recieve that letter, we can then apply for Max's visa to come home! At that point, we enter the Article 5 wait time of a couple of weeks and then China will issue us a travel approval to come get him. 

Unfortunately, the CCCWA will close down a week after Christmas, so that will delay us a week. 

We are getting so close to travel. I can't believe we will have Max in our arms soon. 

We were able to take over Max's sponsorship a couple of weeks ago. They send quarterly updates to all sponsors. We got our December update along with the last update on file. I was so excited to get new pictures and information about him! Here's our little man.... 

10 months (youngest pic we have): 

13 months: 

My favorite piece of info given is that the nannies put a "bit" of sugar in his bottles.  This little guy is going to be in heaven once he is able to eat some yummy real food! We plan to bring Cherrios, puffs, and yogurt bites!