Update and New Pics

We were surprised on Tuesday when we received an update on Eli.  We received some updated measurements and development information as well as 2 pictures (yay!). 

On the home front, the boys started school this week.  Aidan is now a 4th grader (how am I old enough to have a 4th grader?!).  Keenan started 1st grade.  They both had open houses and we got to meet their teachers.  They were all smiles after the first 2 days of school - so thankful!  Bella starts Kindergarten this week.  We also went in and met with her teacher this past week.  We have heard only wonderful things, so we are really excited about her year. She CANNNOT wait to get started!

Soccer is also in full swing.  First games are today and practice between the two happen almost every night.  We are a busy running family right now, but we love it!

The bracelet orders and dog collar orders are starting to come in and we are all very excited about this!!  (Thanks to those you have ordered some!  And thanks to those who have donated to our puzzle!)  Will post pics of the boys making them soon.

Introducing our Eli!!

We are so excited to announce that we have been matched with our Eli!!  We have been waiting to share our news until we received our PA (pre-approval) from China.  (Although, if you have seen us, you probably have seen us oozing with joy and ready to share our pics.)  We sent in our Letter of Intent to adopt Eli on August 4th and his file was locked for us on August 9th.  What can we tell you about Eli??  Well ... he is 17 months old and has the biggest, most adorable eyes.  We are totally in love with him and CANNOT wait to bring him home.  He is in Luoyang Orphanage in the Henan Province.  From what we have learned, this orphanage has around 600 children and the Henan province has 20 orphanages in all.

Eli was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate and both have been repaired!!  We know there are more surgeries that he will need, but are thrilled that his palate has already been repaired. We are not sure when we are going to get to travel, but we're praying it will be before the end of the year.

Everyone is curious what the kids think of Eli.  Well, let's just say they are soooo excited!  Aidan has already bought him a sock monkey, made him a bracelet, drawn pictures for him, and has decorated a gift bag that says, "Wecome Home Eli!".  He also wants to buy him a little soccer ball so that he has his own.  Keenan wants to get him big blocks since I explained that Legos may not be a good idea yet.  We aren't sure what Bella thinks yet, but she knows Eli is from China just like she is and she asks about him daily.

Now ... for the not so fun part.  As most know, adoptions can be very costly and China adoptions range from $25,000 to $30,000.  Michael and I are blessed that we both work for companies who provide some adoption assistance, but it is not enough to cover all of the adoption costs.  One cost is the orphanage donation that is around $5500 and normally has to be made in cash.  To be honest, this is one expense we are not ready for.  We are starting a couple of fundraisers and if you would like to give to help bring Eli home, we would love your support!!

We are creating a puzzle for our first fund.  The puzzle is being made with a picture of Eli.  We are asking for a donation of $10 per puzzle piece.  Once you donate through PayPal (link on the right of the page), we will add your name to the back of the puzzle piece(s) and we will put the piece or pieces together.  We think this is one way that Eli will be able to one day see who helped bring him home.

The second fundraiser is that Aidan and Keenan are making bracelets and dog collars out of paracord and selling them through ebay.  They have been working hard on these.  Essentially, you can choose your color, size (small, medium and large) and style (regular or king cobra).  They can also make dog collars if they are given the length that you need.  The bracelets are $5 or $10 (for king cobra bracelets).  The dog collars are $15.  The paracord makes them very sturdy and they really are pretty neat!!  Click on the links below the pictures to take you to ebay for details on the bracelets or send us an email.  We can either send you the products or can deliver them if you live close to us.

Paracord Adoption Bracelet

http://myworld.ebay.com/michaelgarlandsf

Paracord King Cobra Adoption Bracelet

http://myworld.ebay.com/michaelgarlandsf

We do appreciate your prayers throughout this entire adoption process.  We could not do this without all of the support and encouragement that we are given.  We give all the glory to God for matching us with Eli.  We know he is our son and can't wait to get him in our arms. 

Blessings,
The Garland's

3 years ago today ...

We met our little girl for the first time!!  Happy family day sweet girl!

Then

Now

We have our LID!!

We found out on Thursday that we have our LID (Log In Date)!!  Our LID is 7/24/12, which is the same day our dossier was delivered to the agency in China.  This is the date that our documents are logged into China.  This LID is very important in that it means we can now be matched at any time with Eli.  I have thought all along that we would be matched immediately since we are open to little boys with various special needs.  All of the files that our agency has that currently would be a match for us have either been matched with other families or other familes are still reviewing the files.  So we wait and now I am beginning to realize that it may be awhile before we are matched. 
In church today, I was reminded to wait and trust in the Lord.  And so I will open my hands and release the control that I want to have and return it to Him.  Appreciate prayers in the meantime.

"Be still and know that I am God."   

Adoption Update

So far this journey has been more of a roller coaster ride that the last time (or maybe it is because we are in this now and just like childbirth, you sometimes forget how heart wrenching it can be once it has passed).  We ARE moving forward and we are excited about that, but we are sooooo anxious to see our sweet little guy's face for the first time, to know that he is ours and to prepare for our next journey to China.  We have reviewed a couple of files, but each time we have known pretty quickly that the little boy is not "our Eli".  That's the hard part ... saying no.  But we have been comforted to know that the first little guy we reviewed has now been matched with his forever family, which is a prayer answered for sure! 
Our dossier left for China last Friday, the 20th ("DTC") and it was delivered by our agency yesterday, the 24th.  We now wait for the all important Log In Date ("LID").  With this date, we can then be matched either from the shared list that China puts out once a month for agencies (this is the list where Bella's file came from) or from an agency specific file that is designated "LID only".  There are essentially 3 ways we can be matched ... LID only agency specific files, shared list that all agencies see once a month or from a Special Focus child file that is sent to our agency.  Typically these kiddos have multiple or more severe special needs. 
It is a lot of hurry up and wait with adoption and PATIENCE (which I don't have)!  :-)  Our prayer currently is that we will receive our LID, we will be matched quickly with Eli and then will get a speedy Letter of Acceptance ("LOA")  Of course, this is coming from the not-so-patient momma sitting here waiting.  Michael does much better with the wait, but is also very anxious to know who Eli is.  We also pray that whereever he is that he is getting wonderful care, lots of hugs and attention.

In the meantime, we have continued to have a great summer.  The boys just back from visiting their cousins in Texas.  Mamaw and Papaw braved the 16 hours of  driving each way to take them and they had a blast!  I haven't seen all of the pics yet, but I am sure they are great.  They visited Fossil Rim and Lego Discovery; went to play Laser Tag and also got to swim a lot.  We missed them so much while they were gone, but really got to enjoy a lot of one-on-one time with Bella.  And let me tell ya, she ate it up!  Here are a couple of pics of a trip we took to see Clifton Mill and then to Young's Jersey Dairy Farm.

Clifton Mill

Bella

Bella feeding the goats

  

Road Trip 2012

We just returned from a road trip through the South.  We were able to visit friends and family and just enjoy time together.  We first went to Nashville to visit with friends who just returned back from China with their little guy, JonJon.  We had a great time getting to see them and sharing time with our growing families.

We then headed even further south to Alabama and spent a few days with Bella's foster family.  (For those that don't know, they are originally from Alabama but lived in China for 15 or 16 years.)  We had a wonderful time hanging out with them.  Bella and Cassie LOVED being together again and the boys thought it was awesome to be with Cole and play Legos and video games.  We ate lots of yummy food (thanks Bobby and Julie for your hospitality!), went to a peach park and were able to meet extended family who all knew Bella before she came into our lives.  They really enjoyed getting to see her again.  We think that it is so special for everyone that we all get to see her grow up. 

Here is a picture of the dynamic duo - Cassie and Bella

Keenan, Cole and Aidan

After Alabama, we went to Hilton Head for our yearly trip to meet up with my family.  We all rented a house and there were 13 of us this time (we missed you this year Thomas!).  We were able to do some of our yearly traditions ... spend lots of time at the beach, visit our favorite restaurants, go golfing, ride bikes around the island, spot some wildlife (alligators, horseshoe crab and dolphins), go to the Shannon Tanner show (favorite for the kids) and just spend time together with family.  Keenan really loved riding the waves this year.  Bella continues to be a mermaid and we can't get her out of the water.  As soon as we would get to the beach each day, she would take off and be completely in the water before we were even off our bikes.  Aidan really enjoyed playing soccer on the beach and building things in the sand this year.  We also celebrated Father's Day, my sister Janel's birthday as well as Michael and my birthday.  Some pics from our trip ...

Family pic

My hubby and I

Keenan - look at those baby blues!

Our little mermaid



Bella-boo

Our niece, Addyson

Michael and Aidan

The trio hangin' with Neptune



Michael and the kiddos

Aidan, Keenan (check out his blue lips from a slushie) and Bella

Aidan, Keenan, Bella and Addy

Bella

From the adoption front, we have sent all of our dossier docs to CCAI today with the exception of our I797 (USCIS approval to bring a child into the U.S.).  We hope to receive that approval within the week.  Once we get that document notarized and authenticated, we will be ready to send our dossier to China!!!  Once we get logged in China (LID) we should get matched pretty quickly.  Please pray for us as we start reviewing possible files that are referred to us.  Please also pray for Eli wherever he is right now; that he is being cared for, fed, held and loved.

More Spring Fun

We have been busy this spring with projects around the house like painting Bella's new "princess" room and moving her into it.  She has been so excited about it and loves it.  I will have to take some pictures to post since she is so proud of it.  Michael has also made me a couple of garden boxes.  I have wanted these for several years and now I have them!  Just hoping that with all the torrential rain the past couple of days that the seeds haven't gotten washed away!!  Keenan has especially enjoyed helping me plant both the seeds and the plants.  I think he is going to be my helper with this new project of ours this summer. 

We have also tried to get outdoors and have some fun together.  We went to the West Chester kite festival in April on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.  The wind was actually a little too much for the kites and people were having a hard time controlling them, but it was so neat to see so many different kinds of kites.  Here is a pic of Keenan, Michael and Bella in front of the huge octopus kite that we saw ...



 

 And here is a picture of Keenan with the kite in the background

Bella having fun 

April also brought many birthday party celebrations.  I think we are averaging one a week for the past several weeks.  The fun thing is that all three kids have had parties that they have gone to together as a family as well as individually for their friends.  Our nephew, Hunter, turned 6 in April as well.  Here is a pic of Hunter and Aidan ...

Since the weather was so cold and crummy last weekend we took a little road trip to the Dayton Air Force Museum.  I had heard a lot about the museum, but had never been even though we don't live that far from it.  The museum is free, which is an extra bonus.  We had a great time and the kids were amazed (as was I) seeing all of the airplanes, rockets, satellites, etc. that this place had on display.  We could not even see everything in a day, so I guess we will have to go back again soon.  Here are a couple of pics from our day there.

Keenan, Bella and Aidan



Michael, Bella, Keenan and Aidan

After the museum we sought out the local Friendly's.  My grandma used to take me to Friendly's when I was a kid and unfortunately there are no longer any of them around Cincinnati, so we took a little bit of a "scenic" route home so we could stop at one.  Each of the kids enjoyed their treat.

Aidan with his

Keenan did not hesitate to dive into his

Who needs a spoon??

We don't have any updates to report on our adoption.  We are anxiously awaiting the home study report to be finalized so we can move onto the next step.  Hope to have more updates on this soon!!