Hadley is continuing to heal

Today we had Hadley's second visit to the hospital to get another dose of IV antibiotics. We're going to have to go back again tomorrow for another round and then the Dr. will revaluate how she is doing at that point. She has truly made strides after both visits and because the infection is hanging on we believe that it's in her best interest to follow the recommendation of the Dr who has been caring for her and take her back in for the third round. Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow. This morning was the morning that we saw leaps and bounds and so I'm hopeful that tomorrow morning will be more of the same!

Thank you so much for all of the encouragement and prayer!!!
These photos are from this morning :)

Getting better!

Hadley is down for a nap but her most recent temp was 100.5- HOORAY!  She's on the mend.  We go back to the hospital today for another dose of IV antibiotics and the Dr. said he'd evaluate her again tomorrow to see if we need to do it again.  Thank you so much for your prayers!!!  Praise God for what he is doing!!  She had a great appetite this morning for breakfast and is sitting up now, it's obvious she's feeling better and we are so thankful!!!!

Hadley Update

I wanted to send out a quick note to let everyone know that Hadley had to go to the hospital this evening...We were unable to break her fever (102.5 and up) with Ibuprofen. We had a truly WONDERFUL Doctor come to our room and he said she needed to go to the Hospital and get an IV of antibiotics and fluid. So thankful he was working tonight!! :) They took good care of her and we are now back at the hotel and she is resting peacefully!! PRAISE GOD!!! I haven't taken a bunch of pictures because it's been a little hectic but as she begins to feel better in the next couple of days, I promise to post pictures!! :)

Thank you for praying for Hadley and for us! Brandon and I have had strength and a peace that surpasses all understanding. I thought to myself at one point, I'm amazing myself...But the TRUTH is it's not me, it's the Holy Spirit comforting us and giving us a peace beyond what we are capable of! The entire time we were in the hospital I kept thinking as I was holding her I had scripture popping in my head...HE IS THE FATHER TO THE FATHERLESS...WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US AND ANYTHING YOU DO FOR THE LEAST OF THESE YOU HAVE DONE FOR ME. Proof yet again that HE is SO faithful to protect us, to comfort us and to remind us that he is walking with us in the valley!!! Once again I stand in awe of him!

Love you!
Robin

We have our Hadley!!!! The orphanage Director, along with our guide brought her to our hotel room as planned at 4:10 today! She is absolutely precious as she can be and is slowly adjusting to her new surroundings. We opened the door and there she was...Our baby girl! I'm keeping this one brief and including a couple of pictures because we are all exhausted and little Miss Hadley is sleeping like a rock. She's sick and is running a fever of 102.8 and very congested...We are so thankful that we had prepared Meds for her in advance!! Praying for a speedy recovery because we have her Medical exam in about 4-5 days and they will be giving her several vaccines that day. They are required by the U.S. prior to her being able to leave China and come to the U.S.


We miss you and can't wait for you to meet our baby girl!!! We have truly felt everyones prayers and we're so thankful that friends and family are praying for us half way around the world!!!

LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE

Robin

Here are some pictures:  First two pictures are of Hadley sleeping, Last 3 are the view from our hotel room

WE HAVE HADLEY!!!!

We have our Hadley!!!! The orphanage Director, along with our guide brought her to our hotel room as planned at 4:10 today! She is absolutely precious as she can be and is slowly adjusting to her new surroundings and us :) I apologize but I'm keeping this one brief and hope to send pictures later...right now we are unable to post pictures due to the issues with blogspot but I may have a way around that via someone back home. We are all exhausted and little Miss Hadley is sleeping like a rock. We are asking for prayers for her....She's sick and is running a fever of 102.8 and very congested...We are so thankful that we had prepared Meds for her in advance!! we are praying for a speedy recovery because we have her Medical exam in about 4-5 days and they will be giving her several vaccines that day. The vaccinations are required by the U.S. prior to her being able to leave China and come home, so they are not an option we can decline.

We have truly felt everyones prayers and we're SO SO SO thankful that friends and family are praying for us half way around the world!!! That is such a comfort!!!

LOTS AND LOTS OF LOVE

Robin

Today is the big day!!!! We are in Nanchang!!!

Good Morning!
We just got up at around 6:00A here and B is bouncing around getting ready for breakfast. He just made himself some coffee, after I insisted he boil the water like 10 times (haha!). Thank goodness for Starbucks, VIA ready brew coffee!! I don't know what he'd do without it. Ok, that just sounded like a commercial! I, on the other hand am still dragging and feel a bit light headed so I'm going to try to lay down for another hour or 2. We got news from our guide Karen that they will be bringing Hadley directly to our room today at 4:00P.M., give or take. Today's the big day!!!!! Brandon and I were talking about how much we miss Wyatt and then he says, "We are going to have another little life this afternoon that is just as important to us"...It melted my heart because it's the truth! So while y'all are sleeping soundly, we will be holding our daughter for the first time and I'm still saying...pinch me! I promise that once we've had some time to settle in with her, I will post but I don't anticipate that it will be right away because I really want to focus on her. I can't imagine how frightened she's going to feel and what a great shock to her system it will be to leave the place (the only place) that she has known her entire life and come to two very strange looking people...Well maybe one strange looking person, Brandon (haha ;-) Just kidding! He's definitely my BETTER half! He's filling in for Sandy with the, "deep breaths- deep breaths" :) But even though we already love her and have the best of intentions, we're aware that she's at an age where she understands somewhat but not entirely know what is happening to her and I pray that God gives her comfort and peace that transcends all understanding. I know this is going to be very hard on her.

A little sweet moment about Wyatt that my mom and sister shared with me...We left pictures for my parents to show Wyatt and while they showed him our pictures, He layed his head down on one and said, Mama! Oh how precious these little ones are and OH HOW BLESSED BLESSED BLESSED we are that God has ENTRUSTED his little life to US! That still boggles my mind! Now another precious little life that he is entrusting to us and another tremendous responsibility it will be to raise her to know Jesus! Wow!!

I love you guys!!! Thank you soooo much for praying!!!! This will very likely be my last post until sometime tomorrow!!

Last but not least...I plead the 5th on how together my thoughts will come across with the lack of sleep at this point, so bare with me :)

Big squeezes and hugs from Nanchang!!
XOXO
Robin

PS- Anyone who is getting ready to travel soon...The Colgate wisps (mini travel tooth brushes) are the BEST when you've been on and off planes for 30 hours. It was SO refreshing to have them! And, the sani-wipes have been another blessing when cleaning things off or washing hands on the plane!

We are in Shanghai, China!

Hi!! Just a quick note to let you know that we are in Shanghai!! We leave within the hour for Nanchang, where we arrive at 11:30PM (China time). Tomorrow is the BIG day!!!! I don't know what time they will be bringing Hadley to us but when I have time to post, I promise to hop on here and share! :)

hugs and love!
Robin

Less than 24 hours!!!!

So while I've said I'm not stressed and think I've got it all together...Yesterday I found out otherwise.  Wyatt and I arrived safely in Orlando on Tuesday, early afternoon.  Wyatt did great on the flight down, we got here in one piece and settled in pretty well.  Brandon was scheduled to come in early afternoon yesterday and about 30 minutes before he was scheduled to take off...I had a flash of something come over me that I had forgotten.  So much for checking and cross checking!

Wyatt- check
all baggage- check
all adoption paperwork- check
vaccine and passport info- check
mile long packing list (i'll spare you the details)- check
HADLEY'S RETURN PAPER TICKET- a gigantic whoops!!!
my brain- NOT check!
So here is where I thank everyone for prayers because I really don't know what came over me, randomly in the middle of the day yesterday to make me think to check for her plane ticket.  She has a paper ticket required, for whatever reason and when I was attempting to be diligent and print a copy for my parents to have, I left her ticket on our printer.  Fabulous-o!  The GREAT news is that I thought about it yesterday, called the travel agent, she purchased another ticket for her and overnighted it to us...We just received it this morning...PHEW!!!  In the nick of time...Imagine that! :) So maybe I'm a little more anxious than I admitted (ha!) if I left our daughters plane ticket that we are going to China to get, at home! :)

So our plans today...we are tying up some last minute loose ends including baby proofing grandpa and grandma's house.  Wyatt managed to find every possible breakable item they have in the first hour he had arrived.  So rather than everything my parents own being broken while we're gone by our cute little interior designer (Wyatt) we have rearranged furniture, taken things off all remaining tables and this afternoon are going to purchase cabinet locks, door handle covers, etc.  He's already giggly over grandpa and grandma and of course they are the same way over him...which is helping me with the sick feeling in my tummy.  I am having a tough time shaking it yesterday and today, even though conceptually I KNOW he is in amazing and capable hands.  Ugh, that sweet little smile with his broken words that he jibber jabbers all the time, is all that I can think of.  Deep breaths as my friend Sandy would say :) 

Ok, so last and definitely not least...I do not know what we've done to deserve the truly unbelievable people God has put in our lives! SERIOUSLY!  From family to friends we are so undeserving and truly blessed!  The phone calls (sorry I'm not answering), text messages, emails...we've been overwhelmed by the support in such a way that it's hard to even describe or put words to.  The cute messages from a sweet friend with reminders of possible things I may have forgotten and her genuine humor to make me laugh amidst my nerves...The people taking care of our animals, our business, you name it!!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!!  We cannot say it enough!!! THANK YOU!!!  I really am overwhelmed once again with the love that we are surrounded by and I can't help but think, we do not deserve it, why us?  God is so good to have put these people in our lives! We are so grateful!

Alrighty...I'm off to hop in the shower, off to get a final booster shot, pick up some meds for Hadley and finish baby proofing grandma and grandpas.  I hope to post again before we arrive in China to include our itinerary and other info...

BIG HUGS and LOVE!
Robin

The count down...One more week!!

One more week until we leave Orlando for China!  We have all of our travel booked, from Indy to Orlando (Aug 3rd) and from Orlando to China (Aug 6th).  Our bedroom is beginning to resemble the lost baggage department at the airport.  The evidence of this was when I thought I had moved everything out of the walk ways in our bedroom and managed to trip over an open suitcase anyway. The airlines allow 2, 50 pound bags and 2 carry ons and we are definitely maximizing that option!! I'm packed, Hadley's packed, Wyatt's packed and Brandon is my mission tomorrow. We're slowly but surely getting our documents together...Have you ever done that thing where you think you may have left the iron on...You're pretty sure you've turned it off but you go back and check and cross check?  Well that's me with our documents.  I keep going through them making sure they are in order, printing extra copies, just in case...One for each bag, purse, carry on...You name it.  An extra set for my parents to have, "just in case".  Over kill???  YEP! :)  You betcha!  We also received confirmation that we will meet Hadley on August 8th (it will likely be late August 7th in the U.S.), the morning after we arrive in Nanchang!! YAYY!!!  On top of that we had requested to visit Hadley's orphanage in Poyang county and we were granted our request!!!!!  We are beyond thankful for this opportunity because its our one chance to see where Hadley has lived for the first 17 months of her life.  It's a 3-3 1/2 hour van ride one way,  in rural China so we'll see alot of the countryside and hope to get lots of pictures to share with everyone.  Can hardly believe we are a week away!!!


Last but not least...Our trip to the beach in July!  Looking back...Had we known we were going to get TA in July, we very likely wouldn't have gone on our annual trip to the beach.  It ended up being one of our best trips yet!  So happy things played out just as they did!!  God is good!! :)

Consulate Appointment

Just a quick note that we got word this evening that we received the Consulate Appointment we were hoping for! We now will officially be leaving for China, from Orlando, on August 6th. Our plan is for me to take our little man down early next week to get him settled in with grandma and grandpa in FL before we leave. Right now we're just scurrying around tying up all the loose ends. Wyatt is helping me pack (I mean UN-pack). For every pair of shorts I put in my suitcase, he takes two out :) We'll continue to keep you posted!

Thanks so, very much for all of the very loving and encouraging emails and phone calls we've received over the last few days!! They mean so much to us!

Hugs,
Robin

WE HAVE NEWS!!!! TA! TA! TA!!!!

Praise God for the news we received today!  To HIM goes the GLORY and honor!!!!!  This will be a long one  :)  Some straight talk....We had been hoping and praying we would receive our TA (Travel approval from China) this week, knowing it wasn't "likely".  Tuesday of this week, a bunch of TA's came in and ours was not included.  Yesterday, I was somewhat hopeful, but no TA.  Then yesterday when we didn't get a phone call from our agency, I called and was talking to one of my friends sharing my disappointment and she gave me some very candid advice.  She said, "Robin, if you WANT your TA, why not just pray specifically, "God, if it does not go against you or affect your ultimate plan, I pray that we receive TA on Friday"...I never thought of it that way! Ultimately, we just want to be in line with Gods plan so I decided, that's how I'm going to pray!!  And I did.  Well TA's typically come in early in the morning and the Tuesday TA's that came in this week were posted very early (around 10A.M)...So, 10:45 today came and went and I was beginning to lose hope.  12:00 came and went and I had given up completely and thought to myself, well today is not our day and that's ok.  Then (12:15), Brandon pops in for 5 minutes during the day, my phone rings and I see, "MADISON ADOPTION ASSOCIATES" across the screen.  I looked at it for a second and paused...It was our TA!  I answered the phone to hear a very kind voice on the end say..."I have good news for you, Robin, you received your TA".  PRAISE GOD!  He had answered our prayer!!!!!  At this point, Brandon who popped in from his day at work is dancing around the living room.  As if news of TA was not good enough...There's more!  I'm going to go backwards a little bit so that I don't leave any of this out....(keeping it real) Early this morning, before we received TA, I was going through a guilty period of thinking to myself and talking to God saying, "are we doing the right thing, is this fair to Wyatt, is this going to affect him negatively in any way?"  I was playing the doubt game, which is never good.  I asked God for confirmation, even though he has given that to us throughout the process time and time again!  So ashamed to share my doubtful heart but it's real.  So now back to the present...Not only do we get TA on the day we ask God for it BUT, you may remember that it was very important for us to travel before my mom went back to work.  For various reasons...My fathers health has not been perfection over the last 2 years (battling cancer, still and having a heart attack).  If we traveled to China and were not back by August 22nd my mom would be back at work and my father would be at home caring for Wyatt, primarily by himself.  I had been asking God over and over for mercy on my family as they were so willing to help us and support us by taking care of Wyatt during this time.  Well we were beginning to run out of time.  Now back to my conversation with our agency...So after the good news is shared with me that we have our TA (travel approval), I say..."So what's next, what do we need to do now?"  The person on the other end says, well we are looking at possible CA (Consulate appointments in China) dates and we are thinking the 23rd of August...Would that work for you?  I pause for a minute and am thinking, uh-oh.  I start to stutter out a pitiful, frazzled story trying to put all of this together and explain that if at all possible could we get a date any sooner, it would be HUGE for us and for my family.  She says, "tell me what's up"...So, I proceed to explain what you all, already know (the situation about my mom going back to work and my father home with Wyatt).  She says, "well, let me see, we can request it but that means you'd have to leave very quickly.  I explain that that's ok we'll figure it out.  So she says, well let me look at something....Then I hear, "oh wow, this is good news, there is another family traveling to YOUR province (Nanchang) requesting the same dates you all would like to travel, so that would make it easy on the people scheduling travel!"...I'm thinking, WOW!  Not only is there another family going to the same Province but they want the same dates!!!??  Then she says, but we'll have to see if her (Hadley's) TB test results will be back in time for you all to have the same Consulate appt date....Then I hear, "oh wait, this is great, because Hadley is under 2, you don't have to wait for the TB results and you should be able to get the same Consulate appt date!"  By now, I'm getting chills over and over!  The icing on the cake of this story is....As of right now, we have a tentative ticket booked to leave to go to China on August 6th and return on August 18th!  That means that not only will my mother and father be able to watch Wyatt together but they will have time to fly Wyatt back to Indianapolis (from FL) over the weekend we return home. meet Hadley and make it back to Orlando in time for my mom to go to work on Monday!!!!  ONLY GOD!  AMAZING!  Could the timing have been any more perfect!?  The reason our tickets are on hold and not formally booked is because our Consulate appt needs to be confirmed late Sunday night, early Monday morning in China (they are 12 hours ahead of us).  Our agency is pretty sure the Consulate appt will work out and we will continue to pray that everything falls into place.  I believe God will finish what HE has started!  We'll keep you posted!

We plan to blog while we are in China and we invite you all to follow along as we go to get our daughter; Wyatt's sister!!!!  Here we come Hadley!!!!!!

Hugs and lots of love!
Robin, Brandon and Wyatt

Thoughts as we wait for TA any day!

The wait is coming down to the wire and as the time for possible travel gets closer, my mind has been racing.  There are a litany of things that have run through my head as we prepare to leave the country to go get our little girl that is waiting for us 7,000 miles away.  Probably the most difficult part of this process by far, will be leaving Wyatt for 2 weeks.  The reality of that is beginning to sink in and since we haven't left him for as much as an overnight, the thought has been burdening me lately.  As crazy as this might sound, I'm going to be brutally honest...I keep thinking to myself, is he going to think we've abandoned him?  2 weeks is a long time when you are 13 months and all you do is play, eat and sleep :)  Lots of praying surrounding saying bye-bye to our little man for 14 days.

When I think of Hadley right now, I can't help but walk through what her life has been like for the last 16 months...our little girl, an ocean away, has never known or understood what it's like to have a mommy and daddy...Those are words that are very likely foreign to her.  She doesn't know what it's like to have someone tuck her in at night, hug her or hold her when she's scared, protect her and look out for her, comfort her when she's sad and lonely, greet her in the morning with a smile when she wakes up, have a brother to play with, a full tummy all of the time, unconditional love and affection, family, parents and most importantly the opportunity to know Jesus Christ!  Wow!  All of these things I am ashamed to say and I dare say, I have grown so accustomed to.  All of these blessings many of us have known since birth....All of these things she has likely never experienced.  All of those things that she has never known or experienced have been HER NORMAL for the last 16 months. Boy is life about to change!  She is about to have a FAMILY and doesn't even realize it yet!  God bless and prepare her little heart and mind as she waits these remaining few weeks for us to get there!

Hugs and love,
Robin

Getting closer!

I'm a little delayed in posting because we were fortunate to take a trip to FL (the beach) for the last week with my family. I was really hesitant on going, thinking it was too much with China around the corner. Brandon put his foot down, thankfully and made an executive decision and we went anyway :) Turns out it was a good choice for multiple reasons and we are all very glad we went. We actually had a momentary laps in sanity and decided to drive, thinking we'd bring Wy's things down and leave them at my parents for when we go to China. Wyatt was such a trooper driving down...I honestly can't believe how easy going he was! We are now in the car driving home, 3 hours in and so far so good. He's reading B and I books in what sounds like Chinese in the back seat.

So I talked to our agency (Madison) yesterday and got a better idea of where we are in process. Our Article 5 was picked up on time, as planned so we are about a week after Article 5 waiting for TA. Our agency is "cautiously optimistic" that TA may come before the end of the month! IF that happens then we could be on a plane for China the 2nd week in August!! B and I are throwing around alot of different thoughts and ideas that I'll explain later when I'm not typing on a 3 inch keyboard :) But my point in sharing that is to ask for prayer as we make decisions...That they be God honoring. Also asking for prayer surrounding our upcoming trip.

Can't wait to share beach photos and more...

Hugs,
Rob

Water baby and China update

This was Wyatt's 1st time taking a swim with his daddy a few weeks ago.  He loves his baths so we just assumed going in the pool would be more of the same and it turns out that it was...The two boys were too cute together, having their male bonding moment in the pool.

CHINA UPDATE:

Nothing terribly eventful to share on our upcoming trip to China.  We should be receiving Article 5 tomorrow and from their we will wait for our TA (Travel approval).  Once TA is issued, our agency then books our CA appt (Consulate appt) in China.  All travel is scheduled around the CA appts because they are at the very end of our 2 week stay in China.  When the CA appt is booked by Madison, we will then book our outbound flight from the U.S. to China.  We were told that all July CA appts are booked so even if we receive our travel approval right away...We will have to wait for an August CA appt.  We are hoping for an early August CA appt but we'll keep everyone posted.  

Hugs and love,

Robin

UPDATED PHOTOS OF OUR DAUGHTER!!!!

PRAISE GOD!!! These pictures were taken China time-TODAY of our Hadley!!!!!!!!  I have no other words....I'M HEAD OVER HEALS IN LOVE!!!!!!! Brandon just keeps saying...She's so beautiful, she's so beautiful!!!  OOHHH MYYYY!!!!! Get me on that plane!!! 

Wyatt gets his 1st haircut

So we go in and both get cute little black capes...Wyatt was not a fan of his at all.  Trying to convince him he was a super hero was not working.  So we started off with a little bribery...FOOD!

"I'm humilated, mom and I can't stand this cape but you can go ahead and keep the food coming.YUM!"

"Mom, this haircut lady is really nice...I'll come back again if you promise to bring my favorite crackers the 2nd time around...K???  Mom??? Mom??  Alright, fine...I'll come back anyway"

 I delayed W's first haircut as long as I could because I was so afraid that when we cut it, we'd lose his curls.  I was thrilled that after it was all said and done...The curls remain! Mission accomplished!!

Wyatt's 1st Birthday!

It was a wonderful day with family in town and friends over!!!  Our little man is 1!! He started taking multiple steps on his own this past Friday, the 18th. Today he's been walking from one thing to the next!  He's so proud of his wobbly little self and you'd think that he walked on the moon for the first time based on our reaction.  I really feel like every stage becomes the new "best" stage!

NVC NOTIFICATION!!!!

Hi family and friends!  Today when I got home, in the mailbox was waiting our NVC NOTIFICATION!!!!  Celebrating another big step today!!!  Our last hurdle prior to TA (travel approval) is our "Article 5"...That is expected/anticipated to come on or around July 8th (based on when we received NVC).   By all logical standards...It doesn't look like we will be on a plane heading for China until the 1st part of August.  BUT, that's by logical standards and nothing is impossible for God!  So we are going to rest in knowing that He has his hand on the clock and the timeline for Hadley to come into our family...Better him than me! :)  With that being said, we would still love to travel in July before my mom goes back to school for convenience purposes (1st/2nd week in August).  Continuing to pray for Miss Hadley as we wait to meet her.

Hugs,
Robin

Photos from the Poyang fundraiser

I'm excited to share more photos from the Orphanage Clothing Fundraiser at Poyang!!!!  These are pictures of babies that are currently at Poyang in the clothing that friends and family purchased a couple of months ago!!  How awesome to see those adorable little faces in new, clean clothing!!!  Huge thanks to everyone involved!!! :)  XXOO

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY WYATT!!!

There are genuinely no words to even begin to describe the emotion that Brandon and I feel as Wyatt turns one today.  There is so much reflection as the journey to him was filled with winding roads. Both Brandon and I agree that never in a million years could we have ever imagined the different paths we would have followed and how they would have lead us to this perfect baby boy!  This time last year we were in labor and delivery and C had just been induced...little did we know how much our lives would change at 4:08 P.M. and how spectacular God had worked all of the details out for everyone involved.  So often I think about how amazingly our journey to Wyatt was orchestrated...We started off saying no to fertility intervention, and an ABSOLUTE NO to domestic adoption (haha :-), wanting to adopt from China but didn't qualify, decided on Vietnam and went through all of the processes and the country shut down...We moved on to Russia and withdrew, only to enter our paperwork into Korea for 2 days and then received the phone call that would change our lives forever!  Who planned this?  Not us...We weren't even looking in our sons direction at that time.  We had our own agenda.  But miraculously God directed our path in a direction we had previously said "no" to and in the meantime he had softened our hearts.  The phone call we received on a Thursday afternoon was telling us about a woman with two little girls that wanted to give her unborn baby a good life.  The decision she made gave not only her son a new life but us as well.  This precious angel, Wyatt makes us smile on any given day more times than I can count. The joy we feel as his parents is indescribable.  He was hand picked by a loving God specifically for our family and as I sit here typing this post, my eyes our filled with tears because on my BEST day I couldn't have orchestrated such perfection!!  No thank you will ever be big enough...No prayer will ever be lifted up high enough to show our appreciation for our son!  Thank you to that special someone who picked up the phone that Thursday afternoon!  You already know how God has used you in so many ways to change lives!  Thank you to Wyatt's birth mom and father for making a decision that my mind cannot even begin to comprehend...The love that it took to place him in our arms is beyond anything I've ever felt before.   We love you all in such a new and unique way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRECIOUS WYATT!!!!  We love you so, very much!!!