We're coming soon Harper!!!

We just found out that we get custody of Harper on August 13!  We are finalizing travel plans now!!

The Nursery is Ready!

We finished the nursery today!  We can't wait to bring Harper home so she can play in her new room!

 

A huge thank you to Melissa and Payden for letting us borrow their crib (and stroller and car seats and high chair and toys!!!)

 Thank you to my father-in-law Chris for making the toy cubbies, wall flowers, and wooden letters for Harper's name.

The Road to Harper

     A Chinese proverb states that there is an invisible red thread that connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break.

     A few years ago, when our older daughter went away to college, we decided we would like to raise another child.  Ashley was a complete joy to watch grow up and we are so proud of the young lady she has become.  

     By March 2012, we had completed all the required paperwork and were approved to adopt from China.  While we were waiting to be matched with a child, I looked at pictures of numerous children who were waiting to be adopted.  There was one photo that kept drawing me back for another look.  It was Harper.  When I searched for more information about her, I discovered that Harper was on our adoption agency's list.  If she would have been with another agency, we would not have been able to adopt her.  Some children are assigned to specific agencies to be matched, and Harper was assigned to Bay Area Adoption Services.  God moment number 1.   I contacted our agency and requested her medical file.   I was already in love with her, but Shawn and Ashley were apprehensive because of Harper's special need.  We are an active family, and there were no guarantees if Harper would be able to walk, let alone play sports and keep up with our active lifestyle.  So with a heavy heart, I informed our agency that we would not proceed with her adoption.  But God had other plans.  A few weeks later, I got a call from our agency informing me that they received an updated video of Harper.  She was crawling and walking!  God moment number 2.

     I decided to search for an international adoption doctor who specializes in Harper's medical condition to get another opinion.  When I searched on Google, the only doctor in the United States who fit the criteria works at Children's Mercy Hospital right here in Kansas City!  God moment number 3.  The specialist was able to review all the information we had about Harper the very same day.  He called me and we discussed all the information available including an MRI, several short videos, an old discharge sheet from a hospital visit, and the medical files provided by the orphanage.  He agreed with me that the diagnosis on her medical forms was probably not correct.  After his assessment, we decided to adopt Harper.

     This journey has taken quite a leap of faith.  What will her medical needs be?  Are we crazy to want a baby after not having one for 20 years?  Are we too old to parent again?  Regardless, God will make sure that we have the tools we need to best provide for this child.  We are so blessed to be able to raise her.

     God brought this child to our attention, made sure she was with our adoption agency, and provided us with information that made us comfortable proceeding with the adoption.  So it appears there is an invisible red thread that has tied this child to us.  It is fate.  She is meant to be a part of our family. 

Travel Approval!!!

We have travel approval!!!  Our agency will book the earliest Consulate Appointment available and then we will know exact travel dates!!!  We should know travel dates early next week!! 

Adoption for Dummies

I found a fabulous chart that explains the adoption process.  We are currently on step 12!  It's a bit hard to see step 15 on the blog page, but if I make the picture smaller it is hard to read.  Step 15 is travel to pick up Harper!

Updated info about Harper!

Last week we sent a photo album to Harper.  It has lots of pictures of our family, and we hope that the nannies at her orphanage will look through the photos with her and introduce us.  We also sent a dress for Harper and some dresses for the other girls at the orphanage.  Finally, we sent a letter asking a few questions about Harper.  We got the answers today and are so excited to have a bit more information about our daughter!

We received updated information about her height, weight, and foot size.

height:75cm (29.5 inches)

weight:9.5kg (21 pounds)

foot:12cm (4.7 inches)

We learned that she has 6 teeth.  The last update from a month ago said she had 12 teeth.  She must have gotten into a bar fight and had some of her teeth knocked out.  Or maybe she bit the person who was trying to count her teeth so they stopped counting.  We've heard that sometimes the information received from the orphanage may be incorrect, and clearly one of these teeth counts is a bit off.

My second question was "What do the nannies call her?"  We are happy to learn that she is called Ji.

I asked about her diet.  In China, children remain on a bottle much longer than they do in the US.  We learned that she is still on a bottle, but also eats congee (like a watery oatmeal) and other solid food.  The nannies said she eats anything and is not picky about her food.  I hope this part is true!

She is not potty trained.  I am glad for this!  Chinese potty training is a bit different than in the US, and I think it will be less confusing for Harper if we start from scratch several months after she comes home.

She wakes up at 6:30 in the morning, takes a nap from 12 until 2 and goes to bed at 8pm.  Perfect!

She likes to sleep with light off and sometimes she likes to sleep with a fan on.

She has been in the orphanage her entire life.  Some of the kids are in foster care.  Having this information will help us during her transition.  Children who have always been institutionalized will often have a harder time adjusting to life outside the orphanage.  We are prepared for her to grieve heavily, but pray that the transition will not be too difficult for her.

We are so blessed to have this new information!  Anything we can learn about her will help ease the transition. 

Finding Ad

Since 1999, the orphanages in China are required to run a provincial newspaper advertisement for children that are found and brought to their orphanage. These are referred to as "Finding Ads." These ads contain information about where and when the children were found and which orphanage is caring for them.

We are so excited that we were able to find Harper's finding ad.  It includes a picture of her when she was about 1 month old. 

We were able to buy an original copy of the newspaper that ran the ad.  We also bought a copy of China Daily from the day she was born.  China Daily is the official English newspaper of China.  Someday, we can look at it together and see what was happening when she was born.