We've been cleared!

The mail man showed up at our door this morning with registered mail. We were so happy to see the return address of the FBI. All three of our FBI clearances were there and we have all been cleared, what a relief! Ha-ha
Now our agency will mail off our I-800A form, we wait to be finger printed again and then they will mail us a I-171, then finally our paper work can be mailed to China and we can be matched with Leah! I'm still thinking it will be towards the end of March when we are matched. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and quickly.. Happy New Year everyone. 2011 will be the year we become a family of 6, how exciting and scary.

Come on FBI clearances

We hope everyone had a  Merry Christmas. We sure did, we spend it with our family and enjoyed some much needed down time at home with just the 5 of us. I've been having issues with one member of our extended family, but I didn't let her ruin my Christmas.  The kids enjoyed their new gifts and the time we spend together.  We thought about Leah Grace and how next Christmas she will be home with us, enjoying the gifts and holidays with us. Santa brought her a baby doll and bedding for her room, her sister Jenna bought her a toy cell phone and sippy cups and her Nana and Papa got her a blanket and piggy bank with her name on it.

We are still waiting on our FBI clearances to come back, I think they have been come about 8 weeks now, I asked Scott was he hiding anything from me that would cause the long delay, ha-ha. Once we get this back we will have a 30 day wait for the I-171H form, then we will have everything sent to China. We first hoped for a February match, but it's looking more like a March match. Still much faster then Jenna's adoption, so no complaints from me just yet!!  Happy New Year everyone...

Not much free time to write

Boy can I tell a big difference in the second adoption from the first. With Jenna's adoption, I had more free time to blog and write in my journal. These days I'm lucky to get a few free minutes each day to myself. I've been working so much overtime to try and pay off bills, save money for the adoption and buy Christmas gifts.  I feel guilty that I don't seem to devote as much time documenting Leah's journey as I did Jenna's journey. It's is every bit as important to me, I want her to have the same memory books as I made for Jenna. With Jenna's adoption I had 3 long years to document every step and thought in my head. Now with 3 kids and working full time, dance class, preparing one child's for college departure, I just don't have the time to keep up. I know it's really not an excuse and I
am really going to try and do a better job for her.

Since my last post, we have completed so many steps in the adoption process, we only have one home study left and that is scheduled for December 7th. Then we can mail off for our I800A form.  It will take around 45 days to get that back. Once that comes back we will be ready to ship it all to China and our wait for Leah will begin. Our family advocate Dana thinks we could possibly be matched with Leah as early as the end of February or March and travel hopefully August. Even though I don't write as much about the adoption, she is equally loved and wanted and we are so excited to see her beautiful little face soon. We pray each day Leah Grace is healthy, happy and safe and we will know who she is very soon.

Adam has been accepted into Western Kentucky college. This is a big weight off my shoulders, I hope he continues to be excited about it and doesn't let thing and people discourage him from his dreams. We are so proud of him and I know he will do great things with his life. Now if you could say some prayers for some scholarships and grants, we would  could really use them.

Alex and Jenna are doing great. They are both excited about Christmas coming and going to China with us in the summer.

It takes a quite moment to myself to reflect on all my life has been blessed with. I get so busy and stressed sometimes that I forget to slow down and say thanks. I'm so thankfully for my best friend and sole mate. Though I'm sure I drive him crazy at times, he sure can make me laugh and always make me feel better. Scott is a wonderful husband and father, he is my everything. And I'm truly blessed to be a mother of four beautiful children. I would never have imagined being a mom of four kids, but I'm thankful God has blessed me with this opportunity. I love you all very much, Adam, Alex, Jenna and Leah.

It's Official, Leah's Adoption has begun!

We have been so busy lately, I feel bad I haven't had the time to post the excited news that we have officially got the ball rolling now. On October 23rd, we mailed our application off to A Helping Hand. Jenna was so excited, she has been (helping) with Leah's paper work gathering for weeks and has been hounding for us to go mail it off. So on Saturday October23rd we drove up to the post office and she carried her sister's papers and placed them in the big mail box! She was so cute about it. Since then we have our first home study scheduled for November 15th and we have went to be finger printed for our FBI clearances. Most of my collecting of paper work in done already. I'm just waiting on new copies of our birth certificates, the FBI clearances to come back and our physicals our schedule for the first part of December. Anyone who knows me knows I like to be prepared and get things done, so I try to kill out most of that paper work in a few days. Jenna really enjoyed looking at her papers from her adoption, it helped her see how the process works, she has a excellent understanding of it all. We are hoping to be DTC (date to China) at the end of January, then our wait for Leah's picture will begin. Hopefully like other families we know it will only be a month or so after that when we see her beautiful face. The whole process will be much shorter then Jenna's adoption.

Chinese New Moon Festival

We just got home from our friend's Marla and Doug's home where they hosted a great party. We went last year for the first time and loved it. We enjoy being with our friends who have also adopted from China. We all share a special bond. When you stop and look at all the beautiful little faces, it truly takes your breath away. At that moment you can truly see one of God's greatest miracles, how under many different circumstances he has created so many amazing families.  Enjoy the pictures and thank you so much Marla and Doug for being wonderful host. We had a blast.

Lots of fun and great kids!

Our neighborhood use to only have a few kids. When Adam was younger he only had Tyler and Derek who lived close by. Over the past few years, more and more families have moved in which has provided many more kids. Alex truly has a great time most everyday. We were blessed when Scott's brother and his family moved in right across the street. This has given our kids the opportunity to play together and grow very close to one another. We have the Patterson family on one side of our home, they have 5 kids now. The Allen family live behind us and they have a son and about a year ago the Loveland family moved in a few houses down and they have two children. Now Alex spends his days with his best buddies, Matthew, Madelyn, Evan, Nick, Girl Alex, Abby, Trey, and Cole. They play hind and seek, basketball, go on walks, ride bikes and play video games. They have enjoyed the summer, swimming, camping and hanging out every day. I grew up in a neighborhood with lots of kids and remember all the great times we use to have. I'm so happy to see Alex get to enjoy his childhood and have great friends to share his days with.
They truly are a bunch of good kids...

It's been a few weeks since my last update. We've been pretty busy the last few weeks. We had our friend's daughter's birthday party to go to. She was adopted about 6 months after Jenna and they are the same age. We cherish our friendship with the Hunter family. Caroline has been such a support to me over the years. The kids are so sweet, just like their parents. We love spending time with them.
We had a yardsale the weekend after Labor day. This was our first yard sale to raise money for Leah's adoption. We baked cookies and sold them for extra money. We got $200.00 in cookie sales and donations, the total yard sale help us raise $900.00. Jenna loved helping with the cookies. She sold over 50 cookies by herself. It's hard to say no to that little face, so she played that to her advantage! She loved telling everyone that her sister is waiting for her in China and that we are going to go get her next year.
My parents have decided to try and travel to China with us this time. We are excited about that. Jenna is thrilled to show her China to her nana and papa.
Jenna's dance class has started back up for the fall, she loves it. Her dance teacher has suggested we start her in compition dancing, so she will now be taking two classes a week. She is thrilled that she will be doing solo dancing, she loves to be the star. We are also going to be starting cheerleading and gymnastics, so Jenna is going to be a busy girl this winter.

Wo Ai Ni (I Love You) Mommy

Scott and I watched Wo Ai Ni Mommy last night on channel KET. It's about a 8 year old little girl adopted from China to a family here in the US. The little girl had a foster family she lived with in China. It is a very heart warming, but sad story of the struggles this one brave little girl and both her families went through. Us being big supporters of adoption, I think it's a must see for adoptive families. It makes you understand how much these little children actually go through when adopted. Fang Sui Yong (Faith) went through so much, your heart will be moved by her.
We saw so many of the same emotions and struggles with Jenna when we adopted her.  Scott and I were both crying within the first two minutes of this film. It was very neat to see many of the same places and sites
I highly recommend checking your local listings and watch this program. 

Why are we adopting again?

Why are we adopting again? God only made one Jenna, she is perfect, you won't get another little girl like her! These words came from the mouth of a family member! It never ceases to amaze me the things people think they can get away with saying to you and think they aren't going to offend you. Considering the source of the person who said this to me, I shouldn't be shocked, but like I said when it's family, you would think people would understand the reason. I've come to the conclusion when you adopt people think this gives them the right to say what ever ignorant thing pops into their small brains to you. I've never heard anyone say "Why are you getting pregnant again, your first child is perfect?"

We don't adopt to see how pretty of a child we can get, how smart of a child we can get or how perfect of a child we can get. We adopt because our hearts long to bring another child into our family, to give unconditional love and to share our world with them. Adoption is something that touches our souls and if we could we would adopt 100 children. So my answer back to your question would be, spend 5 minutes with my daughter and she will educate you on the meaning of adoption and what a family is.

Brooklyn

On August 3rd Brooklyn Diane Patterson made her way into this big world. She weighed in at 3 pounds 12 ounces. She was about 4 weeks early, but only had to stay an extra 6 days in the hospital. She is now 3 weeks old and weighing in at 4 pounds 2 ounces. She is so tiny and precious.

Crystal invited me to be in the delivery room with her and Rodney. It was a beautiful moment and I will never forget it. We are all very close, much more then just friends. They have been there for me when I've needed them and we have been there for them. Since we lived right next door to each other we see one another almost every day.
We love you guys and will always be here for you. We look forward to watching Brooklyn grow up. 

Our prayers were heard

Jenna does not have a tumor or cancer. She has a eye condition called Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. Her optic nerve does not connect to her brain. This means she is legally blind in her right eye. This is a condition she was born with, so she isn't aware she can't see out of the eye. With the information given to us about the eye condition and the information we have on her heart condition we were able to get some questions answered about her medical history. I'm not going to disclose this information as it's personal, but it is nice to finally have some answers.
She is a fighter, she has to fight for her life since the day she was born. Her strength and determination amazes us each and every day.
School has started back, we have a senior, 7th grader and kindergarten now. The first day of school was good for everyone, I hope we have a good year.

Please pray

We took Jenna for her kindergarten eye check this evening. It felt like we were kicked in the gut when he told us she could hardly see out of her right eye 20/400 vision which is legally blind. Her left eye appears fine for now. He has referred us to a specialist to see what is going on behind her eye that is causing this. Please pray there isn't any tumors or disease that is causing this. We are so worried and stressed out, not to mention we don't have vision insurance on her either. It's been a really rough week for us and I pray they can give her strong glasses and she be OK.

God's plan

Sorry for not updating lately but I've been pretty down and worried. I found out last Wednesday that I will be losing my job. They are closing our office after 17 years with the company. To say I had a panic attack is a understatement. I've never felt like that people and it really scared me. I've always had trouble with anxiety so hearing those words caused a complete breakdown for me. Where will I go making what I make an hour? Losing 6 weeks vacation. What will we do for health insurance? The fear of having to interview after 17 years with one company. Having to give up friendships and make new friends. Knowing I will never find a job with such a flexible and caring boss.
I took the next day off work and laid in bed and felt sorry for myself all day long. I've never laid in my pajamas all day before. My kids were worried about me, but I just needed some time to grieve and feel sorry for myself.
Friday I went back to work and talked with my boss. She states that it will be a long process to transfer our work over to the other sites that will be taking our jobs. She is hopeful that it will be 12 to 18 months before we are jobless.
I'm sure a lot of people don't agree with my plan, but I've come to terms with it and don't want to try to be talked into doing something different. I'm going to wait it out, hopefully it takes the full 12-18 months, then I will get a severance package that will pay 7 months of my salary and I can draw unemployment. Scott will be adding us to his insurance. This gives us time to pay off bills and YES start our adoption paper work. We are going through with the adoption of Leah Grace, we feel God has a plan for our family. This will allow me to be home with her for several months and be paid while doing it. Then I will start looking for jobs, hopefully I will find one closer to home.
We have had to listen to many people say I should start looking now, and I appreciate everyone caring about us, but we feel this is what we should do and that's our plan for the time being.
I'm trying to leave my anxiety behind and know that God has a plan for our family.
I'm going to add some of our family pictures we had made on June 29th. Thanks Melissa they turned out great. I look at my family and know it's all going to be OK.