Life Doesn't Stop.

So... we might have a problem.  :-)

Rob is at fault too.  He INSISTED we get the dress on the right.  I loved the one on the left too.  Thank you TJ MAXX for letting us buy these cute dresses for cheap and then also for letting us return them when we have buyers remorse.  I'm guessing on her size.  I know she will be small for her age and these little dresses might be too big but... we'll try anyway! She's gotta have clothes, right? :-)

I'm reminded that while my mind is in "adoption mode", there is life going on around me.  Crazy, scary, sad, stressful, busy, complicated, hurtful, joyful, happy, wonderful...life.

I'm so conflicted these days.  There's my step dad and his health issues... started with Cancer diagnosis last February and watching and helping as we rallied around him while he went through treatment much of the spring and summer. Rob and I held the fort down here in Snyder.  Taking care of the pack of dogs (babies) we have between two families as well as their house and yard.  My mom in Houston with Joe...standing by my step dad while he struggled through treatments and all the feelings I can't imagine you feel when you're diagnosed with Cancer.  For the second time in your life.  My Mom.... what a saint. Seriously.  What an example she is to me.  Standing by her husband, sucking up her feelings and pain while she helps him deal with his.  I know my mom.  I know when she's hurting, when she's sad.  I also know... that she never says a word about it, she never complains.  She worries about me and everyone around her.  Man, I hope I can be more like her!  Now Joe is in the hospital again.  Having some nerve/spinal cord problems.  Most likely related to the Chemo/Radiation treatment and we are back at square one with the healing/helping process.  I'm not complaining... well maybe a little, I'm human... but I get this is where we are.  For such a time as this. We keep moving forward, hoping for reprieve, for healing.

Then there's work and the day to day stuff that bogs you down on a daily basis.  The stuff you're ashamed to complain about when you hear about the strife and struggle in other's lives.

Then there's the JOY that surrounds the struggle, hurt & pain.  The joy of a dream come true.  I'm fully aware of the incredible GIFT we are being given with our sweet Emily Katherine.  I'm hyper sensitive to the realization of prayers being answered left and right.   There is NO doubt in our hearts that God has placed Emily right into our lives.  None.  She is an answer to prayers on Every.  Single.  Level.  One day I'll blog about all those "levels" but know that it's amazing.

So while i want life to stop until Emily gets here, there's much to be accomplished, much to be learned. Somehow between now and Gotcha Day, I've GOT to learn how to be organized.  How to plan ahead.  How to make less than 12 trips to the grocery store per week. :-) HA!  In the midst of all the learning there's the struggles that slow us all down.  We fight through it and embrace it all as part of our "lesson".

 Today marks 29 days since I sent off for our USCIS approval to adopt from a Hague Convention Country.  I SWEAR... it seems like I put it in the mail yesterday.   She will be here before we know it and I pray that God prepares her heart for this crazy bunch that loves her to pieces already! She is the hope in our darkness.  The bright, sparkling, shining light that leads us away from the difficult parts of life to the wonderful.


With Love and Perseverance.
Jenn & Rob

Things work together for the good.

It's amazing to me how God's hand is smack-in-the-middle of my life/ the adoption process/ etc.  It shouldn't amaze me, but it does.

For  a couple months I've been anticipating getting our "fingerprint date" for our USCIS (homeland security) application.  I've seen person after person say they went early, before their assigned appt with no problem.  They said it wouldn't speed anything up to go early, but people do it all the time.  In my mind, I kept thinking... sure... i think it WOULD speed it up and it must be some conspiracy to keep it hush hush.  HA... ahhh the mind of an adoptive parent. :-) It never even occurred to me that there would be a possibility that we COULDN'T go early until right before we got our appointment.  There was a fellow adoptive parent who called to find out the status of her fingerprint appt b/c it was time for her to have it and she didn't.  She had (i thought, mine was actually 2 days earlier) the same "receipt date" as I did.  I took her advice and called as well.  She warned me that the same "officer" that I spoke with advised her strongly against going early unless you were military personnel.  This was the first I'd heard of it, so i asked around on the many FB adoption pages I am on.  There was a mix of "don't go early" and "go ahead, no big deal".  Now i was stumped.  Rob's vacation time is precious this year.  He will use the bulk of it to go pick up our Emily Katherine.  I surely wouldn't want him to take a day to go early and then be denied.  That was a possibility.  So... I error on the side of caution and decide just to stick with our date.

Fast forward to this weekend.  My step dad has been very sick since his cancer treatment ended.  He's had tons of pain and has progressively been losing use of his arms and hands.  After many of his doctor appts and testing, his Dr. called him Saturday and told him to get to the ER ASAP (90 miles away in Lubbock) He has finally read his MRI and was very concerned about compression in his spinal column, he'd have the neuro surgeon meet him there.  Lets not forget my mom broke her knee cap (thanks to my negligence and messy garage) a few weeks ago and had surgery to repair it.  That left me to drive them to Lubbock and get them settled in.  Today we learned Joe's surgery will be Monday afternoon.  The day of our fingerprint appt.  In Lubbock.  Rob is off work, He's able to be there for me while I try to be there for my Mom & Joe.  I think that's some pretty amazing divine planning.  I'm so thankful I didn't jump the gun and run to Lubbock to try to get the prints done early.  God is so cool like that!

We are at the mercy of two governments and all the luck we can muster to get to our Emily before her second birthday.  There's no significance in that date really, but I'd just like her to celebrate as few birthdays away from her family as possible.... not to mention we love her so much and just want to wrap our arms around her and kiss her sweet face! I read on these Facebook pages and websites about speed ups and slow downs in the process.  I'm trying with all that is in me to trust in HIS timing.

There's lots going on in the Taylor/ Henderson houses.  More than I'd wish on anyone.  We truly appreciate your prayers as Joe goes through surgery tomorrow on his spinal cord.  It's a scary/ tedious surgery that quite frankly... overwhelms us.  My mom's knee is really hurting her and I feel pretty much helpless in the whole scheme of things.  Luckily, God's hand is evident.  I KNOW He is here.

With Love and HOPE!
Jenn& Rob

PS.  I may or may not have bought another dress.  :-)

A shift....

There's been a shift in my thinking and really..... It's awesome. While "gotcha day" seems like a million years away, we are preparing our hearts and thoughts and our lives. I realize more everyday how our lives are changing! 

We are  organizing, planning, shopping....

Yesterday we bought Emily Katherine's first outfit! I have no idea if it will fit her.  I'd love to have bought about a hundred other dresses, etc. but not knowing helps contain you. Ha! 

I realize the time is flying. We get our homeland security fingerprints the 24th! We are at least half way through that wait and then we are close to having our dossier finished! Crazy exciting!!!! 

Im at a resort in the Austin area as we speak, for work...  It's a family oriented place and I keep catching myself day dreaming about family vacations and watching her grow! We are SOOOOO blessed !! I cannot wrap my mind around it! 

Should get another set of documents back from the Chinese consulate this week and will send off the bulk of our dossier to our agency. That's a big step folks! We lack two documents and pictures. Those will be expedited as soon as we can get them in our hands! 

I've got plenty to distract me/stay busy. God seems to be preparing me for the chaos of adding another person to team Taylor, lol. 

Praying for a system that is typically slow to speed up at the perfect time! 

God's will, Not mine!

With love and anticipation! 

Jenn & Rob

Gotcha Day's

In the adoption world... at least in International Adoption... They call the day you get your kiddo "Gotcha Day" I encourage you on those nights when you can't sleep or you're bored... go check out "Gotcha Day China Adoption" on youtube.com.  I think I've watched every. single. one.  Twice.

As I follow the blogs of adoptive families it's so exciting to watch these things happen! In fact, as I type this there are 13 families in Zhengzhou China meeting their little ones for the first time! I keep sitting on my couch hitting "refresh" waiting for a picture..video... something :-) It's a beautiful beautiful thing! It gets more exciting the closer we get to Gotcha Day!

I've played out our Gotcha day in my head a million times.  I've seen enough to know it can be anywhere on the spectrum.  She may run and jump into our arms and there may or may not be music in the background... lol.. ok most likely she will scream.  She will be forced away from the people she knows into the arms of people she doesn't know.

As you pray for our adoption process and all it entails.  Pray for Gotcha Day.  Pray that God will prepare her heart for us as He is preparing our heart for her!

On a side note, there is a family in my little adoption community that found out yesterday that their little girl had died.  I cannot imagine.  Please join me in praying for them as they sort through the grief of losing a daughter that they'd yet to meet.

Jenn

....And so we wait some more.......................

Not much going on in adoption-land.  Calendar is ticking ticking ticking....

Currently we are waiting for approval from USCIS (us government) to adopt a child born abroad. I keep hearing it's speeding up.  It was 70+ days a couple months ago and today I saw two people approved in the 39 day range. There is HOPE!! We're 10 days in... our receipt date is 1/27.  PRAY people... PRAY!! :-)

I've been busy pushing paper.  Sent some documents off to be authenticated with the Chinese Consulate in Houston.  Sent Emily Katherine's first care package filled with pictures, toys, books, and candy for the nanny's!

Other than that.... it's wait wait and wait some more.

I "get" that this isn't terribly exciting news.... but ... I wanted to keep you all updated!

We are busy preparing a place for her.  I'm looking and looking at bedding and all the things you put in a little girl's room to make it absolutely perfect.

We DID receive our first gift for Emily this week.  A co-worker of Rob's made a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL blanket for our baby! It's perfect!!

We're eagerly waiting for the next step in our process.  Praying that God is speeding things up every day!

With Love and Hope
Jenn & Rob

Snow!!

Dear Emily, 

Today was the perfect day in the Taylor house (Well.. as perfect as it can be without you!)!!  Last night I knew when I went to bed that it may snow... but figured it wouldn't.  So this morning while i was snoozing away, your Daddy came in and patted me on the shoulder to tell me it was snowing.  I jumped up out of bed and went rushing out the front door smiling!  I soon realized i had short sleeves on and was barefoot....  Emily Katherine, your Mommy LOVES snow! When your Daddy and I first got married and moved into our new house, we had a BIG snow.  I had woken up first and noticed it.  I crawled into bed with your Daddy (who was still sleeping) and told him "You can either get up now and go outside and have a snowball fight with me or I'm bringing them in here to you! "  He learned quickly that he might as well join in!  We both love the snow and are both excited when it comes to Snyder! 

This morning while we were taking our traditional drive in the morning snow to see what everything looks like quiet and covered in a fresh blanket of snow.... I mentioned I couldn't wait until we you were here and we could bundle you up and make snow angels in the fresh morning snow! Oh, sweet girl... I'm sure hoping you inherit your Mommy's love for snow! I promise we will have some fun times in it! Plus, we can gang up on Daddy and get him with snowballs!! :-)

Every single thing we do since the day we saw your beautiful face we do with you in mind.  I cannot even begin to tell you how excited we are to meet you and hold you and love you.  I realize you're probably going to get tired of that sentence whenever you read back through these one day, but our cup  runneth over!  

Praying that you're safe and warm and loved.

With all Our Love, 

Mommy and Daddy