Photo Friday — Jovie

I haven't shared this little treasure yet —this is a picture of Jovie in January.  I love seeing a tiny glimpse of how she's grown.  She has teeth and oh my, the kissing cheeks!! When we were told Jovie was in New Hope orphanage I googled and found that they have a website... and a newsletter.  In January Jovie was supposed to receive heart surgery and this picture was taken before she left.  The caption said "Ysabelle went for heart surgery in Hangzhou." (To protect the children's identities the orphanage has picked names for them "Ysabelle," instead of using their real Chinese names.) We know that Jovie did go to Hangzhou but they were not able to perform the surgery that she needs — Jovie is missing the valve that pumps blood from the heart to her lungs. She will need open heart surgery and mechanical valve put in her heart when she comes home.  She will need 2 more surgeries to replace the mechanical valve before her 16th birthday.

The New Hope orphanage, where our baby girl is, is very special: it is privately run and funded by Show Hope Charity here in the US. There are doctors and nurses on call every day and these children get individualized care, as there are only about 30 children there.

Another big blessing is that they have heat in their building. Most of China does not have heat or air conditioning... this is huge for a heart baby.  Jovie's body is already struggling to get her blood circulating and staying warm this past winter would have been difficult for her.

Here are pictures of the orphanage where Jovie is:

Jungle Book room

Jungle Book room

laundry room

Ayi's closet

Ayi's kitchen

Nemo room

Nemo room

Nemo room

hallway

nurses

Snow White room

Peter Pan room

Peter Pan room

Peter Pan room

Peter Pan room

staff kitchen

staff kitchen

storage room

treatment room

treatment room

treatment room

A Snail's Pace

Today I find myself really struggling. It feels like time is creeping by slower than a snail's pace... and the weight of everything feels so very heavy today.  Can we just get these kids home already? I'm ready to know our children... I'm tired of talking about their special needs because it's all we know about them.  I want to know the sound of Ian's voice and know what makes Jovie laugh.  I want to know everything about these sweet babies God created and my heart is aching!

I feel like I've been somewhat patient this far... Maybe because I've been very busy with mounds of paperwork and fundraising in every area I can think of.  Right now China has our paperwork and we are waiting for their approval. Our agency has told us that China has installed a new system and that it looks like this has slowed things down. They closed their offices for a week before we got our paperwork in, so they could install an all new system.  And since they have updated, our agency hasn't received any LOAs for families ahead of us.

Everything is uncertain, and daily I am having to give this to God.  I can not do anything at this time to get closer to knowing Ian and Jovie.  It feels like I'm stuck and our life cannot move forward without them— and it hurts.

 

We've been in the adoption process for eight months now. For the last six months we have known of Ian and dreamed of having a son. For the last four months we've held the picture of baby Jovie and prayed for her, and for the last three months Ian and Jovie's highchair has sat at our table.  We are waiting for the day that they are where they belong. 

Monday Funday :: Kool-Aide Play dough

 

Kool-Aid Play Dough

1 Cup Flour ¼ Cup Salt 1 Packet Kool-Aid

⅔ Cups of Boiling Water *You will be using between ½ and ⅔ cup 1 Tb. Oil

• Mix the flour, the salt, and the Kool-Aid together. 
• Boil the water. 
• Add the oil to the water. 
• Pour some of the water into the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon. 
• Keep adding water and work the dough until the color is uniform and feels like playdough. 

this recipe is awesome and super easy. 

Monday Funday turned into a Tuesday this week since we've been out of town.

Today we made a little homemade Kool-aid play dough. How fun is this??  It is colored with kool-aid and so it smells yummy!  (one of the recipes suggested using 2 packets of kool-aid to get darker colors) Making the dough was so simple and Mae loved helping me. Then she played and played for hours.  As you can see we had a lot of imaginative play with it.  I absolutely love to see what Mae thinks of —her little worms lined up for supper. So funny! What is she going to say or do next??  We have a funny little girl for sure.  (:

Photo Friday

 We celebrated our Independence Day in small town USA, Selma, NC. I have to say, I walked around thinking of how different everything is in a small town... and couldn't help but think it was unlike anywhere I've ever been to, other than in a book I've read.  (: It was fitting to me to be here celebrating our great nation in a part of our nation I've never seen... with our little Chinese daughter that is now an official US Citizen.

 We came to Selma, NC to visit Cody's cousin -- Patrick. (Cody and Pat were so close as kids and haven't been able to see each other at all as adults.)  Pat has his precious daughter, Abby, on his shoulders above.

 For a small town their fireworks were surprisingly great.  This was Mae's first time seeing fireworks and she loved them.  It was so fun to hear Mae describe all the colors she saw... with her hand motions.

Monday Funday :: Snow Dough

 

This is so easy and was hours of fun for Mae.  All you do is mix shaving cream and cornstarch and the result is a fine powdery dough that can be shaped and molded.  It's the fun of snow without the cold! It really didn't stick to our hands but there was quite a lot of snow on the floor around Mae's seat at the end.

You would never guess that little girl has never seen real snow as much as she talks about it.  She is constantly having make-believe snow ball fights, making snow angels on the rug and building snowmen out of nothing. (Did I mention she's very good at imaginative play... and a little obsessed with snow.) So this is the closest she's been to snow, poor thing.