Happy Birthday to Emmie!

Recently, the awesome children's home where Emmie is currently living posted a picture of her celebrating her third birthday....so I can share that on my blog, too :) They have also updated her bio info and posted a new cute picture...check out the link below!

http://www.anorphanswish.org/special-care-unit/emmie.html


We have received Pre-Approval to adopt Emmie, and are currently waiting for our final approval. After we receive this, we will then wait for our travel approval, and finally will travel to bring Emmie home. From the average time frames given to us by our adoption agency, by my calculations the soonest we would be able to travel to China would be the end of April. The more realistic timeframe seems to be mid May for travel. That seems soooo far away to all of us! But, at the same time, we are blessed to have been able to have received many photographs of Emmie to help us through the wait. We also are continuing to work on her room. My mom and I recently found a bed to refurbish- I know my mom will work her wonders :)

I have her closet organized, too. It is amazing how much cute girl stuff there is out there! I just can't wait to see her in it all.

How God Brought Us Our Daughter!

This Christmas was extra special for our family! God gave us the wonderful gift of a daughter! The easiest way to explain it all is just to tell you exactly what happened, so here goes :)

As I had mentioned in the previous post, we had been given the chance to review a file for a little boy who was an absolute doll.  We knew from the get-go that he had some medical needs that had the potential to be very advanced, but we felt led to learn as much as could from the information we had been given. We had a general pediatrician look at the file, as well as a  pediatric specialist with four daughters adopted from China (one with the same special need as this little guy). We consulted with the two different doctors several times, requested more information from the orphange, and took the entire two weeks we were alloted to make the decision. It was very difficult, and covered in much prayer. In the end, we did feel as though this sweet boy's needs were more extensive than what we were prepared for.

So we told our agency on Wednesday, December 19th, that we could not accept the referral. Because of the Christmas and New Year's holidays, we found out later that day that shared matching would occur that night. So, on the same day that we told our agency we could not accept the referral for this precious boy, there was a chance that we would be matched with another child. This was beginning to be a roller coaster ride!

We tried not to think too much about matching, and helped out at the Angel Tree party at church. Our entire family had a great time. It was such a blessing to interact with those sweet families. We got the boys in the bed that night, and were watching some television, when around 10:30 my phone rang with the 703 area code- there is only one number I know with that area code, and that is our adoption agency! We knew they were calling us about a potential match. On the phone, they mainly just tell you the basics. So, when I answered that night, they told us about a little girl who had just turned 3 with a medical condition that affected her bones and joints. The condition did not sound too serious on the phone, but we knew that we wouldn't know anything for sure until we read her file. We agreed to review it, and our case worker told us she would be sending it via email in just  few minutes. About ten minutes later the file had arrived. We decided to read through her file first, before we looked at the three pictures that were also in the email. She indeed had a bone and joint disorder. She appeared to be able to walk, which was good news, but we were not very familiar with her actual diagnosis, nor what it meant for her.  Her other medical information seemed to be very normal, and we decided that we would look at the picture. The first picture we saw of her she was smiling from ear to ear and had the cutest pig tails and big black eyes.  I think we were both ready to say "yes" at that very moment, but we knew we had to have her file reviewed.....and make a final decision in 72 hours.....did we mention all this while going into the biggest holiday of the year??!!!

We had to move fast. I forwarded her file onto the same doctors we had used for our last referral review, and waited patiently. A day went by, and we hadn't heard back. Very strange. We began to try and network with other parents of children with her diagnosis to find out as much as we could while we waited for the doctors reply.  We began to formulate questions for the orphange. Sometime during all this I remembered that one of our close friends had a friend who was a pediatric orthopedist.....exactly what we needed for this specific referral! I texted my friend and in a matter of hours I had sent the file to their friend. He replied the same day, and the next day I was able to speak with him on the phone. We were so hopeful for a positive review, but unfortunately the news wasn't exactly what we had hoped for. The doctor was not able to tell us for certain if the original diagnosis was even accurate, and without xrays to look at, could not tell us the extent of her needs, or how progressive her diagnosis could be. There just was not enough information to know anything for sure. We didn't give up, but rather we made a list of questions for the orphanage, asked for xrays (we knew this was a major long shot, as China will not perform any additional tests if they were never originally performed) and prayed, prayed, prayed. The orthopedic specialist was travleing back to the USA from Canada, but gave us his cell phone and told us to get in touch with any additional info. Remember, we were matched Wednesday night, which meant the file was only locked until Saturday afternoon. We were truly going on a wing and a prayer.

Thursday came and went with no updates from the orphange. Friday too. We went to bed Friday not feeling very positive about being able to accept the referral. We didn't even know for sure what her special need was! I earnestly prayed and asked God that if He wanted this sweet girl to be our daughter, could he please provide the information we needed to make a decision? I sent one last email to our awesome case worker about any additional info, and she replied back that at this point we may not receive anything else. I decided to go to bed. The night before I had dreamed that we had received videos and lots and lots of information.....but in my dream I didn't know if it was good or bad. Maybe the morning would provide the answers we needed.

Saturday morning the ringing of my phone woke me up. I didn't get to it in time, but the missed call was from our agency. They immediately called back and I answered! Our caseworker told me that she had just sent me an email with updated information. She then told me that in all her years in working with Chinese adoptions, never had she seen so much information sent about a child! It was an amazing, specific, answer to prayer. I didn't know what the email contained, but I did know that God had provided the information we needed to make a decision, either way. As an added blessing, the case worker told us that this sweet girl was at a private non profit rehabilitation institution....an amazing place for an orphan to wait for a family! This institution is known to be absolutely amazing....we were getting excited.

This was Saturday morning. Our deadline was the same day, at 2pm. I opened up the email and found several xrays, exactly what the doc needed to see. I found a letter from the director of the institution, explaining the probable cause of her need, how it was treated, and exactly how she is able to function. Amazing. I forwarded the email on as fast as my fingers would let me. At around noon that day, we spoke again with the orthopedic specialist. He, too, seemed amazed by this new info, and was able to give us a much more positive outlook for this sweet girl. Sometimes things are not always what they seem. This can especially be true in adoption, and it most definitely was in this case.

We quickly signed the needed paperwork, scanned it, and emailed it all to our caseworker, by 2pm... We were saying YES!!!

Emmie, as she is known at An Orphans Wish (the name of the institution where she is currently living), will hopefully be coming home in the spring time. There are still many more processes that have to take place, and I won't go into it all in this post, as most of it is paperwork and receiving approvals, etc.

We have talked and talked about what to name her, and the more we look at her pictures, Emmie just seems to suit her. So, Emmie Grace Caldwell will be her name. We chose Grace because of the unbelievable amount of grace that God has supplied to us from the very beginning in 2007 when we signed the paperwork to begin our first adoption journey to bring home Caleb. Emmie has been described as lots of fun, and a bit fiesty, so she should fit in well with our family ;) The boys are ready to go get her today, and so are we.

It really has been an exciting and fun past two weeks. God has blessed us above and beyond what we could have imagined. Just as with every adoption our family has experienced, he has been faithful to guide us and give us strength. He has been faithful to place loving and caring people in our lives who have prayed for us and provided insight to us. He has been faithful to answer prayer. He has again in his own way woven together a beautiful journey for us to grow our family. 

Though we can not post any pictures of her yet, if you are even the slightest bit of a detective, you can google "An Orphans Wish", then "meet the kids" who live there. I have already told you her name :)

Hiding God's Word....And Matching News!

For some time now God has been impressing upon my heart the importance of guiding my children to put God's Word in their hearts. More than anything else that I could hope for their lives,  I pray that they will seek and know God's truth, and that this truth will guide them throughout their lives. God has helped me to see that if this is truly my prayer, then I must act! In the world we live in, children are exposed to and drawn to many so called "truths" that I feel parents must take a proactive role in making sure their children are exposed to the real Truth- Jesus Christ!

Though we try to read the Bible or a devotion each night with the boys, we have not consistently focused on scripture memorization. It has been on my radar for several months, but the hecticness of life seemed to always take over whenever I tried to find a system or program that we could use. I was browsing the internet today, and found this easy idea to start the process of helping children hide God's word in their hearts! I am so excited!! Check out this link for a simple idea for scripture memorization:
http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/2012/04/abc-bible-verse-flashcard-printables/

In a world that seeks to find "truth" in so many other places, I can't think of a more urgent and life altering lesson to impart to my children than the one truth- the Word of God. May he give us wisdom as we strive to seek Him.

In adoption news, we have been called twice to review files of children! This process has been more stressful and difficult than we could have imagined, but God has been faithful to give us wisdom and guidance. We did not accept the first referral we were called about due to several circumstances- there was some discrepancies in the file regarding the child's medical needs that we did not feel comfortable with, and the timing of the referral was just not right- when families are matched from the shared system, a decision as to accept or reject the referral must be made in 72 hours (per China laws)! In this time frame, the family must secure a doctor to review the file, send any questions from the family and doctor to China, receive the answers back, and then make a decision. We were called early Friday morning, which meant trying to get a doctor to review a file on the weekend was very difficult (our deadline for making a decision was Sunday at 2pm!). This was no easy feat, and along with some other circumstances, we felt as though God was not leading us to accept this referral.  It was difficult to say "no" to a life. It caused feelings which were difficult to process, but we knew we made the right decision with this particular child.

Yesterday we got another call. We are currently still reviewing this file and praying about God's leading. It is not a shared referral, so we have more time (about two weeks) to make a decision. Please pray with us as there are several different factors to consider. We desperately desire God's leading!!

LID!!!

Yesterday we found out that our dossier, which was sent on October 26, 2012, was logged in on October 31...so, our LID (log in date) is 10-31-12...Happy Halloween!

Once a family has a LID, they are eligible to be matched with more children than while they are paperchasing. So, this is exciting news for our family! We anticpate the next round of matching to occur the last Monday in November, which would be November 26th. We have been told that we should not expect to be matched with a young girl with minor special needs for several more months, as these requests are the most common. However, we have indicated some needs that are not as common, so there is a small chance we could be matched by the end of the year with a young girl with these needs.

Zack and I have also spoken about considering adopting a boy, as there are literally boys waiting as we speak, with some of the minor special needs that we have indicated. There is a wonderful chance we could be matched with a boy by the end of the year.

It may seem as though we are being impatient in wanting to be matched soon. I will be honest, it is hard to wait! We are hoping to be matched by the end of the year primarily because that would mean we would travel during the summer, which is ideal for our family, but even more so, for our new child. Because I work for our local school system, I am already home in the summer, and this time would be wonderful to bond with our new child. I would not be rushed to return back to work, and I could even take additional FMLA time and theoretically be able to be home several months with our new child. Zack and I both are firm believers in one or both parents being at home with a newly adopted child for at least a few months. The benefit to the child and the parent is just invaluable. I have been blessed to have been able to do this with Caleb and Noah, and I know it made  their transistions so much easier. As I said, invaluable.

This also means that financially it would be better for our family, as I would not have to take unpaid time off from work. The benefits of being able to travel in the summer seem to dictate our timeframe. So, if we are not matched by the end of the year, we feel as though we should wait until around fall of next year to be matched, to ensure we travel in the summer.  If we do this, we most certainly would be matched with a young girl with minor special needs, and travel in late spring or early summer of 2014. 

2014 seems a long way away. And we don't want to wait that long. But, God knows exactly what child belongs in our family, and we trust Him with this timeline.

So that is the news for now. God works miracles, and we are praying that he will work a miracle for our family by the end of the year!

In other news, this past Sunday we celebrated Orphan Sunday at our church. As a part of this wonderful celebration, we presented a video featuring local famililies in our community of London, Kentucky who have been impacted by the miracle of adoption.

Faces of Adoption from Rebecca Caldwell on Vimeo.

DTC 10/26/12!!

Finally, all the paperwork is out of our hands!! The last of it is being authenticated at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, and we should be Dossier to China (DTC) on Friday, October 26, 2012. Once the paperwork arrives in China, it usually takes around 2 weeks before it becomes "logged in". At this point, we will receive a log in date (LID), and we will be eligible to be matched with many more children than while we were paperchasing. We are very excited!! The paperwork has been more challenging than we have experienced in our past adoptions from Ethiopia, and it has taken us longer than anticipated to complete it all, but we trust God's timing.

We have been made aware of one little girl who has a special need we inidcated that we would accept. We have been told she is around one, but this is all we know about her! Our agency thinks she might be in the November matching group, so we are very excited and anxious. We have also been told that once we are mathched, we should expect to travel in 6-8 months.

The boys are becoming ever more aware of their sister, though we don't even know her yet! They often think of her when we are shopping and find something that they think she would like....today Caleb saw some princess rain boots and suggested we get them for "our sister". It truly warms my heart!

We also are 90% sure about a name...but we do want to wait to see her face first :)  A hint...we are sticking with the Biblical theme.....Noah, Caleb and ????

To pass the time as we wait, we have been busy with soccer, I have been busy with graduate classes, and our family  has enjoyed with nice weather. This fall has been so beautiful and a wonderful reminder of God's amazing creative ability. The boys have had such fun hiking and exploring nature. Fall has always been my favorite season, and I love enjoying it with my family. Below are some pictures of our most recent outings......

The Caldwell Family Has Some News to Share...

About this time a week ago, I was turning 30! I am doing okay with being 30. I feel the same as I did when I turned 25, which seemed like just the other day….. It seems like just yesterday that I was telling everyone I was now halfway to 30….this made sense in my mind, though I realize 15 is half of 30, not 25. Oh well.


Anyway, besides being a significant milestone in general in terms of age, being 30 years old also has significance to the Chinese government. What type of significance, you might ask? Well, once you have reached the age of 30, you are able to submit a dossier to China and be matched with a child for adoption. Hmmm. Interesting. Wonder why I might be bringing up this piece of information.

Well……now that I am 30, our family can officially be matched with a child from China…specifically, a little girl!

For the past 6 months or so we have been completing paperwork to complete an adoption for a girl, ages 1-3, with minor or correctable special needs from China. We knew all along we would want a girl someday, and it seems like the time is finally here, and we are super excited!!! We did go back and forth about how a girl would fit in our family…would a boy be easier, since we have all boy things and all I know about is boys? Would I be able to fix her hair? (hey, I was 12 before I could fix my own hair, just ask my mom) Are we ready for a third (and for sure most likely the last) child? Can we afford another adoption? (hello, we have never been able to afford it, but God has!!) Through all our doubts and worries, God kept saying, “Yes!”.

We then had to make the decision as to which country to pursue an adoption from- that was a toughie. Of course, our hearts will forever be in Ethiopia, as it is the beautiful home of our sons. We know that one day God will give us the chance to return to this special place, but after much prayer and thought, making spreadsheets, and talking, talking, talking, we did not feel that this was the country from which God was calling us to adopt our daughter. There were many reasons, but the one that stood out the most to us was the requirement to have to travel twice to Ethiopia. With our jobs and two young boys at home, we did not feel this would be in our families best interest at this time. So, we began praying about adopting a little girl from the China Waiting Child program, as it is a relatively quick program and there is only one trip required.

We are super excited (and I am very nervous!!) about adding a sweet girl to our family. The boys talk about their sister almost on a daily basis, though we don’t know who she is, how old she will be, or what province in China she will be from. Caleb is ready to not be the “baby” any longer, and Noah is excited to show his little sister all kinds of cool tricks  No names or anything like that have been decided upon yet, but the boys have also been very helpful in adding in their picks on that topic as well.

The China Waiting Child Program is very different from the way Ethiopia processes adoptions, and I will not go into all the details, as I am not sure that I even understand all the intricacies. But, basically, once a month, usually on a Monday night toward the end of the month, China will release hundreds of children who are ready for adoption on a shared system to every adoption agency licensed to facilitate adoptions from China. Every agency has access to this list, and every agency is working to match their waiting families with a child. Once a child’s file is “locked” for a family to consider it is also blocked from other agencies view. A family has 72 hours to either accept or reject the match. Some children can be matched with families who are paperchasing, like our family (we are still waiting on a few documents to send to China), while other children can only be matched with families who currently have a dossier in China.

Tonight is actually the first night that we have been eligible to be matched due to my age! So, it is feasible that we could get a phone call tonight or in the morning with a referral to consider. But most likely, that will come in the next 2-4 months, given our age range and special needs that we are open to. After a referral is accepted, travel usually occurs 6-8 months after. We are praying we will be matched sometime before December, so that we can travel during the summer months.

We desperately covet your prayers as we wait and pray for our daughter. We pray she is being loved and nurtured, wherever she may be. We pray that already God would begin working in our hearts and her hearts to create a special bond and love between all of us. God has blessed our family so unbelievably through the miracle of adoption, and we look with great hope and anticipation to the future.

Catching Up.....

The summer is almost over, and I haven't even caught up the blog from spring yet....so I have a lot of ground to cover!

First, Noah graduated Kindergarten and we are so proud of him! He finished strong and is looking forward to beginning first grade. Below are some pictures of his graduation. Caleb will attend preschool next year and is excited to be at school with his big brother!

The boys also played tball this spring and had a great time! Noah actually got to play first base and "pitcher"!

They are currently both swimming on our local swim team, the Barracudas! At the beginning of the summer, neither of them could truly swim by themselves- they either needed to use floaties of they wouldn't let go of the wall! Now they are both able to swim alone, and Noah is even diving in! They love the water and have come so far! We are so proud of all their hard work...below is a video of their most recent swim meet.

In March I began working for our local school system as a family educator, and I have been so thankful to have had this summer to spend time with the boys. We have had tons of fun and I wouldn't have wanted to have missed a minute of it! The boys are both growing and changing so quickly. They are each developing their own VERY DISTINCT personalities, to say the least. Some of my favorite times are reading books to them, especially our Family Reading Bible. It has been a wonderful addition to our family library and I highly recommend it! It guides your family through the Bible and comes equipped with questions to ask after each story.... and listening to their responses is so interesting and reminds me how important it is for Zack and I to pray for our boys every day. Our hearts desire is that they will desire God's truth to guide their lives.

 I also began taking classes this summer, working towards completing my Master of Education degree with an emphasis in guidance counseling. Thankfully, I am blessed with a supportive family who has made sacrifices to allow me to take four summer classes! I will only have two classes left in the fall, then a practicum and internship to complete- prayerfully it will all be done by 2014!!

Well, that seems to have hit the highlights of our spring and summer thus far.....one month from today I am celebrating a significant milestone :) and our family will be celebrating a significant milestone as well....more to come on that!