Log In Date

Well, finally today we received our LID, after a month of anxious waiting. Turns out we have been logged in since March 8th, but China only sends confirmations of the dates once a month. So we are happy to mark another milestone off the list of our journey. Only about 2000 more to go, but I'm trying to be patient.

Kelly

Update

I was waiting to update when we received our log in date (LID), but was told by our family coordinator that it may be another week or two before we hear something. I did receive an e-mail from Amanda who runs the foster home where Aiden lives. She discovered that he has 3 teeth growing out of his palate (instead of the gum line). She said he had been really fussy lately, and now she knows why. At first I was so sad about this news because I can't be there to comfort him, and get him the medical help he needs. Then I realized that it's not my place to be in control of this. God is with Aiden now, just like He was from the beginning of his life. He has protected him all along the way without any imput from me. Doesn't mean I won't still worry, as that is a momma's job, but I have to trust His plan. It's been perfect up until this point, and will continue to prove perfect until completion. Just a bump in the road, but thankfully we are still on the road moving forward. I'm thankful that Amanda is on top of the situation, and has given us updates so we can plan for his care when we return home. I plan to talk to Cambrie's pediatric dentist in a few weeks when I take her in to get his opinion. Eddie and I are thankful for your prayers for Aiden, and we will keep you updated on how God continues to bless our family with the addition of this special little boy.

Kelly

Officially DTC

Well, today we received the e-mail from America World that our dossier is on it's way to China. What a relief!!!! Once it arrives in China, it will be translated, and then reviewed. Then they will review Aiden's file with our file and approve us to adopt him. Sounds simple right? It will probably take about 2-3 months. We will then get what's called a RA (referral approval). We have already been pre-approved to adopt him, but that really just means that he is on hold for us until they reveiew our files. After we receive this approval, we will file our next application with USCIS (immigration) indicating the specific child we are adopting. More paperwork, but I'm trying not to worry about that until the time arrives, since I can't do anything about it now. So, we would appreciate your prayers as our paperwork travels thousands of miles over the next few days, and we begin the next period of waiting. Pray for a speedy RA, so we can go bring our boy home.

Kelly

DTC-next Friday

We heard from our family coordinator yesterday that our dossier should go to China next Friday. They only send them once a week, and because of Chinese New Year, the consolate was closed this week, and they couldn't get the authentication completed. They didn't even send a batch the Friday before because all of the Chinese offices were closed. Soooo we will wait another week, knowing that His timing is never wrong. Unfortunately we are human, and we want things NOW. So we continue learning this hard lesson of patience, but with thankful hearts that our Aiden is well cared for and loved while we wait. We have heard from 2 volunteers that loved on our boy over the last 1&1/2 yrs. They both raised money to fund his surgery, and we will always be grateful for their servant hearts. Rachel is actually the one who visited the orphanage and found him there. She told Amanda that he was very malnourished, and asked her to bring him to the home. She was able to see his first smile, as well as witness him crawling for the first time. She sent us photos of those momentous occasions. We will forever treasure them. Just another blessing along this journey, and we are thankful.

Kelly

Pre-approval!!!

We received our PA (pre-approval)from China today. Very fast, only 5 days after EA (electronic acceptance). We were told it could take 2-6 weeks. I'm thankful God is still showing us immeasurably more than we expected. Hope that trend continues, but we know His timing is perfect. Next up is DTC (dossier to China), hopefully late next week.

Kelly

Out of our hands

Well, the dossier is on its way to our agency for authentication, and then on it's way to China. We finished our copies at Kinkos tonight at 7pm. Glad FedEx is right there in the same building. I was nervous handing over all this paperwork I had spent so much time and money preparing. I wanted to tell the guy behind the counter that he was holding my child's future in his hands, and to be gentle with it. I decided at the last minute that by the looks of things, he probably couldn't have cared less. But I digress. Anyway, the point is that it is completely out of our hands and our control at this point. We must begin the dreaded wait for China to approve us to adopt Aiden, and we pray that the process will go quickly. Next up on the list is pre-approval that will hopefully arrive in the next week or two. We will keep you updated.

Immeasurably More

I thought it only appropriate for my first post to introduce and explain the title and purpose of this new blog. I'm generally not one to write down thoughts or feelings for myself, much less for others to read. However I have been inspired to step out of my comfort zone by the love of a little boy. Although I have never laid eyes on his precious face, or physically touched his sweet hand, I am completely in love with this child. I was in love with him well before I knew his name, age, or physical characteristics. I fell in love the night I told my husband that I wanted to go back to China, after years of being convicted that our family was complete and perfect. It was his fault for asking me if I ever secretly wished to return to China and add to our family. I really had not considered the idea seriously, but his question led my heart right where God wanted it to go. From that moment, I knew our family was not complete, and somewhere in China was the missing piece of the Rogers' family. Eddie did not feel the same right away, and I encouraged him to pray and seek out his feelings on the subject. It took about 2 weeks, and upon arriving home after work one night, I found a rose on my pillow with a note that said "let's go to China". We have never looked back. I had already requested the application from our agency, of course, secretly hoping he would come around. After filling out the application, and selecting girl as the obvious choice from China, I was prepared to mail it the agency and get the ball rolling. I dropped my daughter Cambrie off at pre-school that morning and met a very adorable classmate of hers named Max. You see, Max was adopted from Korea, and all of a sudden my eyes were opened to the possiblity of another son. In the parking lot of the post office, I quickly changed our application to "boy or girl", with a prayer that acknowledged God already knew who he/she was, and that I would trust His plan for our family. Although paperwork was somewhat easier this time around, I had less free time to complete it than when we adopted Cambrie. We did get everything completed in December, and then waited on USCIS (immigration). On January 21, in my son's elementary school gym at his basketball practice, I received a call from Melissa at our agency. I knew before she said anything that we were parents again. She told me that she had a referral for us to consider, and that we had less than 48 hours to talk to a doctor and make a decision. "It's a little boy who will turn 2 in May. He has a repaired cleft lip, and also a ceft palate. The paperwork is unclear as to whether or not it has been repaired. So you need to consider that he will likely require at least one surgery and speech therapy when you return. His file will not be on this shared referral list long, so if you want me to lock him, I need to know now." I didn't even have to think about it. This was our son. Whatever he needed, we would see to it that he got. Less than 24 hours later we had seen the pediatrician, been advised on his possible future therapy, and accepted his referral with thankful hearts to God who had given us the most amazing gift of being his parents. Which brings me to the title of our blog. Immeasurably More! Beyond what we can ask or imagine! I never truly apprecitated this scripture until the few days following our referral call. We have treasured friends who we met on our first trip to China to get our sweet Cambrie. They were adopting their first daughter Lucy. We've kept in touch over the last 4 years, and we recently followed their journey to bring their second daughter Rita home. When we received our referral, we discovered that our son was in Xi'an, the same city as Rita. Teresa immediatly had wondered if our son was in the same foster home as Rita because this home arranges surgeries for orphans in need. I checked their website and looked at the photos of all the sweet babies. None seemed to be our son, but really not a surprise with the millions of orphans in China, what are the chances?!. Shouldn't have limited God. As I scrolled down the blog of the woman who runs the home, I saw one of our son's referral pictures. I screamed at Eddie to come see the computer. We couldn't believe that we found him. I immediately let Teresa know he was there. She had already contacted the director, Amanda about him, and received updated pictures of him from her. Amanda also let us know that he just recently had his palate surgery, and that he was happy and healthy. Now, if you know anything about Chinese adoptions, most parents are fortunate to receive 2-3 photos of your child, and little to no history of his/her life. We are blessed to have information on him since he came to the foster home at 3 months. Amanda is happy to send updated photos of him and even Skype with us. Of course the greatest blessing is the peace of mind we have knowing he is being cared for, nurtured, and loved on a daily basis. Also on this same day we received our approval from USCIS, only 6 days after our fingerprint appointment. Immeasurably more than all we could have asked or imagined! Sorry for the long blog, but I figured background was necessary for understanding our journey to bring home Aiden Thomas Rogers. We can't wait to hold you sweet boy.

Kelly