The report says that he is active, healthy, and he received his care package from us. Only a few more months and we will be holding him in our arms.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Another Nate Update
We are so incredibly blessed by all of the updates we have received about Nate. Today we received an update from the orphanage. This is the first time we have gotten stats on him since we locked his file. His file was almost two years old, so the info was from when he was two. He is currently 31 pounds and 35 inches tall. Lily is actually heavier and taller than him. I better prepare myself for all of the twin comments that are going to be said about Lily and Nate.
The report says that he is active, healthy, and he received his care package from us. Only a few more months and we will be holding him in our arms.
The report says that he is active, healthy, and he received his care package from us. Only a few more months and we will be holding him in our arms.
Living Simply. What Will it Accomplish?
After spending six days clearing out my house, I pause to think about the benefits. What will pairing down our possessions really accomplish? Here are some of my reasons for adopting a more simple lifestyle.
1. I know exactly what we have and where.
2. I have rid myself of things that make me feel guilty, or weigh me down.
3. We have the space to welcome two more children into our home.
4. I have less to clean or clean around.
5. We actually use what is in our house.
6. We no longer feel like we are growing out of our house. This leads to the next few points.
7. We will be able to continue to make changes on our house to make it us.
8. Staying in our house will keep us under budget leaving money to have adventures, bless others, or even adopt another!
9. We will continue living down the street to some wonderful neighbors. I would miss being near them tremendously.
10. We will have less to take care of leaving us more time to spend growing in our faith and loving on our kids. (Now I just need the discipline to use my time for these reasons!)
I don't want to spend my days thinking about how I am going to spend my money, decorating my house, or how we are ever going to keep out of debt. I want to be free from the trappings of stuff!
1. I know exactly what we have and where.
2. I have rid myself of things that make me feel guilty, or weigh me down.
3. We have the space to welcome two more children into our home.
4. I have less to clean or clean around.
5. We actually use what is in our house.
6. We no longer feel like we are growing out of our house. This leads to the next few points.
7. We will be able to continue to make changes on our house to make it us.
8. Staying in our house will keep us under budget leaving money to have adventures, bless others, or even adopt another!
9. We will continue living down the street to some wonderful neighbors. I would miss being near them tremendously.
10. We will have less to take care of leaving us more time to spend growing in our faith and loving on our kids. (Now I just need the discipline to use my time for these reasons!)
I don't want to spend my days thinking about how I am going to spend my money, decorating my house, or how we are ever going to keep out of debt. I want to be free from the trappings of stuff!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Living Simply. Progress Report 2
I emotionally lost it the other day in all this de-cluttering.
At first, I was on a roll. Things were being tossed left and right without much thought. I was being brutal.
My teddy bear from childhood was being tossed. (However, my mom couldn't bear to have it in the garbage and rescued it for her house.)
My old band jacket didn't make the cut and ended up in the garbage.
All of these things just sit in a closet gathering dust. No one wears them or plays with them. They will not follow us to Heaven. Having a picture of the item should be enough to remember.
And then I hit a wall.
Jon and I sat down one night to go through all the Playmobil. We were planning on keeping some of our kids' favorites and selling the rest.
In the beginning of sorting things out, I was doing really well. We planed on letting go of some of the things that our boys rarely played with. I was ok with some of it, and then my sweet, wonderful husband wanted to let more and more go. I just couldn't do it. I admit that I love our Playmobil. It fosters the imagination like few other toys. I keep imagining our little ones playing together with all these wonderful toys.
So, most of the Playmobil will stay. We have a few sets to sell, but not as much as we originally planned.
I failed with the Playmobil, but we did get rid of so much other stuff. I still need to tackle the laundry/craft room. Hopefully, I will be able to let go of more.
To be continued....
At first, I was on a roll. Things were being tossed left and right without much thought. I was being brutal.
My teddy bear from childhood was being tossed. (However, my mom couldn't bear to have it in the garbage and rescued it for her house.)
My old band jacket didn't make the cut and ended up in the garbage.
All of these things just sit in a closet gathering dust. No one wears them or plays with them. They will not follow us to Heaven. Having a picture of the item should be enough to remember.
And then I hit a wall.
Jon and I sat down one night to go through all the Playmobil. We were planning on keeping some of our kids' favorites and selling the rest.
In the beginning of sorting things out, I was doing really well. We planed on letting go of some of the things that our boys rarely played with. I was ok with some of it, and then my sweet, wonderful husband wanted to let more and more go. I just couldn't do it. I admit that I love our Playmobil. It fosters the imagination like few other toys. I keep imagining our little ones playing together with all these wonderful toys.
So, most of the Playmobil will stay. We have a few sets to sell, but not as much as we originally planned.
I failed with the Playmobil, but we did get rid of so much other stuff. I still need to tackle the laundry/craft room. Hopefully, I will be able to let go of more.
To be continued....
Living Simply. Progress Report 1
Phew! The last few days have been intense. Our garbage is full to the brim with some waiting to be added, and the garage is filled with items waiting to be sold. I am amazed with how much stuff we were able to remove from our house.We have never amassed a ton of possessions. I am not a shopper and Jon hates to have clutter, so it was realistic for us to get through all of our rooms and the garage in just three days.
Our bedroom was first. All clothing items were analyzed and paired down. The big dresser was emptied and everything in there was removed from the house or moved into the closet. Some of the furniture was moved around, and our room now feels like new. I love it!
Jon and I blazed through the kitchen removing anything that we didn't use on a regular basis, tackled the hall closet, and stripped the garage.
The kid's rooms were difficult and time consuming. I have been blessed with hand-me-down clothes for Lily, but there was just too much! I weeded through and saved only those that I really liked. She now just has around ten outfits and a few dresses.
The boys' room was especially tough to weed out. They have over sixty pounds of Lego! I was appalled by how much Lego they had. I was also shocked by the amount of Playmobil that was hidden in their closet. We will keep some and sell the rest.
I still need to go through all of my school supplies and the laundry room. That is going to take a little more time and thought. Stay tuned for progress report 2.
Our bedroom was first. All clothing items were analyzed and paired down. The big dresser was emptied and everything in there was removed from the house or moved into the closet. Some of the furniture was moved around, and our room now feels like new. I love it!
 |
| My side of the cleaned out closet |
Jon and I blazed through the kitchen removing anything that we didn't use on a regular basis, tackled the hall closet, and stripped the garage.
 |
| We never were able to have too much in our kitchen, so there wasn't much to clear out. |
The kid's rooms were difficult and time consuming. I have been blessed with hand-me-down clothes for Lily, but there was just too much! I weeded through and saved only those that I really liked. She now just has around ten outfits and a few dresses.
 |
| All those hangers used to have clothes on them |
 |
| The shelves were jam packed. Now there is space. |
The boys' room was especially tough to weed out. They have over sixty pounds of Lego! I was appalled by how much Lego they had. I was also shocked by the amount of Playmobil that was hidden in their closet. We will keep some and sell the rest.
|
| This is all Playmobil. Yikes! No child needs this much. |
I still need to go through all of my school supplies and the laundry room. That is going to take a little more time and thought. Stay tuned for progress report 2.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Living Simply. Can it be Done?
For the past few months I have been pondering how grafting in two more children will effect our living space. I was slowly and reluctantly realizing that our house was too small and we would need to move. Part of me looked forward to a move. Maybe we could find a house with more land. Having another bedroom would relieve some of the pressure of all our stuff. My family and most of our friends live on the other side of town, and it would be so nice to live close to them. It is difficult to be actively involved in people's lives when you live 30 minutes away.
Then, I would look around my home and be sad. We have done so much to this house to make it our own. We even have plans to do more. We have wonderful neighbors down the street who we interact with on a regular basis. Jon works only one mile from our home. Most days he comes home for lunch. Our current location is close to so many things. Did we want to give all of that up? Not only were those reasons compelling to stay, but another main reason was financial. Did we want to increase debt just to have more elbow room?
Thursday night, I was cruising the Internet and decided to google the minimalist lifestyle. I have been accused by friends that I am somewhat of a minimalist. Really, I have way too much stuff to be considered a minimalist, but we do have less than most. Most minimalist are a bit, or more, into New Age as well. There are some Christian minimalists and I spent sometime reading their blogs. Needless to say, I was inspired.
It was as if God had just lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. There is no reason to move. We just needed to get rid of our stuff. There is an enormous amount of stuff stashed away in our house that is never used. What is the point of keeping it all? It just takes up space. Friday I woke up with a mission. A mission to seriously de-clutter our home. We are only keeping what we love and use. There are going to be empty shelves and drawers in our house and we are not going to fill them. The hardest room is going to be the boy's bedroom.
Stay tuned for updates on our mission to simplify.
Then, I would look around my home and be sad. We have done so much to this house to make it our own. We even have plans to do more. We have wonderful neighbors down the street who we interact with on a regular basis. Jon works only one mile from our home. Most days he comes home for lunch. Our current location is close to so many things. Did we want to give all of that up? Not only were those reasons compelling to stay, but another main reason was financial. Did we want to increase debt just to have more elbow room?
Thursday night, I was cruising the Internet and decided to google the minimalist lifestyle. I have been accused by friends that I am somewhat of a minimalist. Really, I have way too much stuff to be considered a minimalist, but we do have less than most. Most minimalist are a bit, or more, into New Age as well. There are some Christian minimalists and I spent sometime reading their blogs. Needless to say, I was inspired.
It was as if God had just lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. There is no reason to move. We just needed to get rid of our stuff. There is an enormous amount of stuff stashed away in our house that is never used. What is the point of keeping it all? It just takes up space. Friday I woke up with a mission. A mission to seriously de-clutter our home. We are only keeping what we love and use. There are going to be empty shelves and drawers in our house and we are not going to fill them. The hardest room is going to be the boy's bedroom.
Stay tuned for updates on our mission to simplify.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
PRAISE THE LORD! Our LOA's came today for Nate and Mae
I am so excited I can hardly think straight. We have been waiting for our Letter of Acceptance for Nate for over 40 days. We have had Mae's for about 80 days. We are finally moving forward again. I can once again focus. The next few steps will move along in a somewhat predictable manner. After that we will wait for our travel approval. That step can be rather unpredictable. There is still hope that we will make it before Aug. 1.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
When China Asks You to Jump, You Jump
Wednesday morning, I woke up thinking that I would have a productive day. I actually got out of bed early, went for a run, and was ready to jump into school with both feet. Around 8:30 I checked my email and read something that turned my day upside down. I quickly called my friend (we will call her Sally) to see if she also had received the news. The conversation went something like this:
"Did you get an email from our agency?" I asked with trepidation. I was gripping the phone in anticipation of her response.
"No," replied Sally in confusion, "I haven't received anything."
"Have you checked in the last minute?" I pressed further. I could imagine Sally opening up her email and scanning her inbox for the bad news.
"Oh no," cried Sally. "I got the email."
"I am not going to cry," I sniffed as I considered our options. "When are we leaving?"
The dreaded email held news that no one in the adoption community wants to hear. China had requested more information from us. In fact, only select dossiers have been asked to provide more documentation. We were the privileged ones. What an honor.
To give you some history, we are currently adopting two children at one time. One, an almost two year-old girl, is considered a waiting child with special needs. The other, a 4 year-old boy, is a special focus child also with special needs. Our original dossier was put together for our little girl. In order to adopt a special focus child, China is allowing us to reuse that original dossier. All that was needed was a home study update and immigration approval for two. These documents were put together so quickly, that it was clear that God's hand was in the process.
We have now been waiting for China to issue us our letter of acceptance. This is a vital step for us to move forward in the process. There is also a bit of a time crunch with getting our final travel approval. After August 1st, China is requiring additional post placement that will have huge financial ramifications for us. Getting the letter of acceptance in the next few weeks is crucial to making that deadline. There was concern that if we did not get the documentation to China quickly then they might delay our process. That was the last thing that we wanted to happen.
China was asking for three of our documents to be certified by the Secretary of State of California and authenticated by the Chinese Consulate. They also wanted a passport picture of each of us.
Sally and I decided that we were going to be proactive and get this done quickly. There is nothing we wouldn't do to bring these children home. Within four hours, our documents had been notarized, money orders obtained, and our bags were packed. It was time for a road trip.
Once again, God's fingerprints were all over this circumstance. We were able to leave quickly and make it to the Secretary of State's office before they stopped accepting documents. Family lived close to San Francisco and let us crash for the night, so no hotel needed. The drive into San Fran was uneventful (except for one incident. That will be a story for another day), and we arrived fifty minutes before the consulate opened. The line at that point was not very long. Upon entering the consulate, we were the first in line for getting our documents authenticated. Ten minutes from walking in, we were out and free to enjoy the five hours before we picked our paperwork back up.
The laughter we shared that day was such a blessing. It relieved the stress that had been building over the last twenty-four hours. Everything was hysterical to the point of tears rolling down our faces. I would relay them all to you, but they seem to be not so funny in the retelling.
The documents were successfully picked up from the consulate and overnight-ed to our agency in Colorado. Our wonderful agency was on high alert to our package and able to turn around and send them to China that day. Within 48 hours of receiving the dreaded email, our documents were on their way to their destination. We pray that this will not impede our progress. Maybe, just maybe, China will look favorably on us.
"Did you get an email from our agency?" I asked with trepidation. I was gripping the phone in anticipation of her response.
"No," replied Sally in confusion, "I haven't received anything."
"Have you checked in the last minute?" I pressed further. I could imagine Sally opening up her email and scanning her inbox for the bad news.
"Oh no," cried Sally. "I got the email."
"I am not going to cry," I sniffed as I considered our options. "When are we leaving?"
The dreaded email held news that no one in the adoption community wants to hear. China had requested more information from us. In fact, only select dossiers have been asked to provide more documentation. We were the privileged ones. What an honor.
To give you some history, we are currently adopting two children at one time. One, an almost two year-old girl, is considered a waiting child with special needs. The other, a 4 year-old boy, is a special focus child also with special needs. Our original dossier was put together for our little girl. In order to adopt a special focus child, China is allowing us to reuse that original dossier. All that was needed was a home study update and immigration approval for two. These documents were put together so quickly, that it was clear that God's hand was in the process.
We have now been waiting for China to issue us our letter of acceptance. This is a vital step for us to move forward in the process. There is also a bit of a time crunch with getting our final travel approval. After August 1st, China is requiring additional post placement that will have huge financial ramifications for us. Getting the letter of acceptance in the next few weeks is crucial to making that deadline. There was concern that if we did not get the documentation to China quickly then they might delay our process. That was the last thing that we wanted to happen.
China was asking for three of our documents to be certified by the Secretary of State of California and authenticated by the Chinese Consulate. They also wanted a passport picture of each of us.
Sally and I decided that we were going to be proactive and get this done quickly. There is nothing we wouldn't do to bring these children home. Within four hours, our documents had been notarized, money orders obtained, and our bags were packed. It was time for a road trip.
Once again, God's fingerprints were all over this circumstance. We were able to leave quickly and make it to the Secretary of State's office before they stopped accepting documents. Family lived close to San Francisco and let us crash for the night, so no hotel needed. The drive into San Fran was uneventful (except for one incident. That will be a story for another day), and we arrived fifty minutes before the consulate opened. The line at that point was not very long. Upon entering the consulate, we were the first in line for getting our documents authenticated. Ten minutes from walking in, we were out and free to enjoy the five hours before we picked our paperwork back up.
The laughter we shared that day was such a blessing. It relieved the stress that had been building over the last twenty-four hours. Everything was hysterical to the point of tears rolling down our faces. I would relay them all to you, but they seem to be not so funny in the retelling.
The documents were successfully picked up from the consulate and overnight-ed to our agency in Colorado. Our wonderful agency was on high alert to our package and able to turn around and send them to China that day. Within 48 hours of receiving the dreaded email, our documents were on their way to their destination. We pray that this will not impede our progress. Maybe, just maybe, China will look favorably on us.
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