Easter 2014

Easter 2014 was another one for the books!  It's hard to believe that Easter 2013 was Ava's first holiday at home, what a difference a year makes.  

Ava and Lau Lau showing off their dyed eggs

Nai Nai and Lau Lau hunting candy

Uncle Craig with Ava, Kaden, and Carson at the farm

Ava checking out some of her Easter eggs

Daughter Dates

Matt and I love our one on one time with our sweet Ava.  And make a point to have one on one time with her at least monthly.  After Ru gets home we will still divide up at least once a month for "dates".  Dates with Ava and Ru have been something that we have talked about since before the kiddos existed.  My parents used to do this with me and my brother and they are some of our favorite memories.

Matt and Ava often end up at Red Robin for their dates.  Another favorite of theirs is the zoo.

Eating donuts before hitting the zoo during their last daughter/Baba date

Ava/Mama dates usually end up a little more girly.  We like to head out shopping and often end up at Orange Leaf for some yummy frozen yogurt.

Ava and Mama getting pedicures during a recent date day...of course followed by Orange Leaf.

Matched...With a Baby Boy!!!

That's right...our family is growing again!!  This time our family is growing by a baby boy...we are beyond excited!

We received the call from our social worker on Friday evening at 4:30pm that we were being matched with an 18 month year old boy.  Matt and I were both on our way home from work when I checked my messages and noticed that I had missed a call from our social worker.  She simply said "I have good news, call me back asap!!"  Since I was driving I knew I just needed to get home to call her back so that I could safely absorb the information.  I called Matt and told him to hurry home as well and we could call Bonnie together.  As I loaded Ava up in her carseat at daycare, my phone rang again...Bonnie.  I couldn't help myself, I couldn't wait anymore!!  So I answered and that's when I learned that there is a healthy, 18 month old boy at the Holt Peace House in Beijing waiting for us.  She gave me a brief over view of his file and then asked if we wanted it sent our way..."Yes!!"

I did wait until Matt got home to open the file ;)  Luckily he wasn't far behind us!!  I shared with Matt what Bonnie had told me and then we both agreed that he sounded perfect and we definitely wanted to review his file.  When we opened the file, tears of joy came...he is a precious, beautiful little boy who has been through more in his young life than any one person should ever have to endure, especially as a baby.  He was abandoned as a newborn and immediately needed surgery.  At this time we don't have a lot of the details of his abandonment nor where he was found.  But we do know that he was in Guangdong Provence for the first part of his life.  He spent 6 months in the hospital for intestinal atresia repair which required several further surgeries as things did not go as planned.  The intestinal repair resulted in a fistula which required further surgery and a temporary colostomy.  But it appears that he was well cared for and is now doing very well and thriving.  He has a surgical scar that is the width of his abdomen that proves his strength.  All I want to do is kiss him all over and let him know that he will never have to endure something like that again, alone.

After the hospital, Ru was in an orphanage in Lianjiang City from April 2013- February 2014.  In February, Ru was moved to the Holt Peace House in Beijing.  It is amazing to know that until we can get to him, Ru is in the best place possible.  The Peace House is run by Holt and is usually for kiddos who are preparing for major surgeries.  Being at the Peace House allows them to gain strength prior to surgery and a safe place to heal afterwards.  We learned that they had several openings in February and Ru was one who was selected...God is SO good.

Because of where Ru is currently we not only were able to review his chart and pictures but we also got videos!!  I can't tell you how exciting that is nor can I keep track of how many times we have watched the videos :)  As we were watching the videos, Matt said with pride, "that's my boy!" as Ru was being silly with one of the caregivers.  Ava loves to watch the videos of her brother.  She watches intently and says baby brother over and over again.  She is excited and will quickly learn what having a baby brother means.  

It took us only an hour to know that Ru was meant for us and to send in our letter of intent to adopt him.  Now we are waiting for his medical file to be reviewed by Dr. Kolb to advise us on questions we should further ask.  The other amazing part is that our dossier is not yet in China.  It is still in Oregon and Holt is working quickly to have our paperwork certified and authenticated.  As soon as that is done it will be sent to China.  We have emails out to Holt asking how not having our dossier in China yet will affect our travel time frame.  Obviously we are anxious to get there as soon as possible.

Talk about meant to be...again...Ru being matched in our family is truly a God thing.  Our paperwork isn't even in China but they still thought of us and thought of us as a perfect match for each other.  We cannot wait to meet this little guy!!      

Ru, we are so excited to meet you and hold you in our arms!!  We pray that until we get to you that you are safe, fed, happy, learning, laughing, smiling, and loved.  We promise to get to you as quickly as we can.  We love you beyond words and continents already.  May God keep you healthy and safe until we can be together.  We promise you will never be on your own again.  We love you!!  Mama, Baba, and your big Sister!

Dossier is Done!!

"Hot diggity dog!!!" as Ava would say!  Our dossier is put together and on it's way to Oregon where Holt's main office is.  Once there, they will take care of getting all the paperwork authenticated and certified.  If memory serves me correctly this part took approximately a month last go around, so if all goes well our paperwork will be on its way to China in a month!  Cannot wait!!  One more BIG step closer :)

We are getting more and more excited to meet Baby.  Matt and I have been talking about names and dreaming about who they might be or what they might look like.  We are constantly talking to Ava about her little brother or sister and even though she doesn't really understand, we think she's excited too :)  It's so hard to know that Baby is most likely already in an orphanage, already going through more in their little life than any of us ever have to endure, already searching for love, and already wondering if there's anyone out there who can meet their needs consistently...time cannot go fast enough until we have you in our arms Baby.

Baby F we pray for you constantly that you are loved, safe, have a shelter over your head, cuddled and hugged often, fed, have a warm place to lay your head, can go outside and enjoy the sunlight, have other kids around to listen to and learn from, that you smile and laugh, and that you know that we are coming to get you as soon as we can...once we have you in our arms we are never letting go.  We love you more than you can imagine and haven't even seen your face yet.  Love you Baby F