Tag Archives: Family Friday

Family Friday: Article 5

We have finally reached the last step of our adoption journey before receiving the go ahead to book our trip!

Last Friday with the leaves all aglow we received our Article 5 letter. I know most of you are like, “Article 5, what’s that?” Let me just tell you, I am right there with you. I have looked it up and asked what it is several times but every time I get bombarded with a whole lot of information. It has something to do with the U.S. consulate receiving notice that we have I 800 approval. Thankfully this step only took a few weeks and required very little work on our part.
Now we are on the final step of our adoption wait and are waiting for our High Court Order from Hong Kong. Once we receive it we will be able to book our trip. This wait is running around eight to ten weeks right now. Which would put us receiving approval around mid January and possible travel around the end of January or beginning of February. I can hardly believe we are so close! Originally we had hoped to bring Esther home before Christmas but now we are glad it will be after the new year. It could have been very confusing for her to come home to a house all decorated for the holidays only to see all the pretty decorations disappear a few days after coming home. Even without all the decorations it is a really busy time of year and looks unlike life the rest of the time. Please continue to keep Esther in your prayers. Becoming part of our family is going to be a major life change for her.
We were blessed to receive new video of her last week and updated pictures and a health report of her this week. She is absolutely adorable and lets her personality shine. It is so sweet to hear her soft Cantonese voice as she interacts with her caretakers.
Her caregivers will begin preparing her in the coming weeks for her new family and the transition that will follow. This will be huge for an almost three year old to deal with. She will be leaving many caregivers behind that she loves dearly and considers family as well as all her friends who are like siblings to her. This is the only family she has ever known but we hope she will grow to love our family and look forward to having her here in Birmingham with us!

P.S. There are just a few hours left to enter the Lilla and Rose giveaway. The winner will be announced tomorrow.

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Family Friday: From Bham With Love

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Last night our adoption agency Lifeline Children’s Services hosted Beloved: A Women’s Event.

It was amazing! The night consisted of mother’s of adoptive and foster care children sharing how God had worked in each of their circumstances and in each case how he ultimately received the glory. Each story brought tears to my eyes and again reminded me of how big and sovereign my God is! Lifeline also shared about two of their ministries: (un)adopted and Lifeline Village Maternity Home. One focuses on providing life skills and sharing the gospel with orphaned children who are aging out of the system and the other on ministering to birthmothers, sharing the gospel to them, and teaching them life skills. I just love how Christ centered our adoption agency is. How they bathe everything in prayer. How they love!

In addition to getting to attend the event I also had the opportunity to set up a table for Color Created Family, my crochet shop where all proceeds go towards helping bring Esther home from Hong Kong. It was so much fun meeting other adoptive moms and finding out where they are in the adoption process. One lady I met was Sybil. We were set up next to each other and had the opportunity to talk throughout the night. She and her husband are adopting a little girl from Bulgaria. Before the night was over I bought an adorable hand made clutch from her and have plans to purchase some burlap embroidered place mats. Her products are all available online at her Esty shop, From Bham With Love.

I would love it if you would head on over to check out her stuff. Each purchase goes towards their adoption. It’s seriously a win win… shopping and helping a family out.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. It’s tax free shopping here in Alabama this weekend so we may do a little clothes shopping. I’ll be back next week to catch you up on our patio progress and let you know what’s in store for Color Transformed Family over the next couple of months.

I wasn’t paid or perked for this post. I just want to spread the word about her shop and help her bring their little girl home.

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“Family Friday” Special Monday Edition: The Big Transition

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I know it’s Monday but I thought maybe your week would be a little better if we started out with a “Family Friday” Special Monday Edition!

You may remember a few months back we bought Noah her big girl bed and rearranged the room so we could have it set up for her.

One thing that I forgot to mention was that we didn’t transition her over to the crib immediately. First she had to learn to fall asleep in her crib by herself. Which in reality means, one of us staying in the room with her until she fell asleep. Some nights it was quick, others we were there a while. Nevertheless she finally got the hang of it.

Then, all her incisor teeth came in… at practically the same time. Which was a major sleep disruptor. We weren’t about to throw an extra curve ball at her then. There were some nights where she just lay on the floor crying until the pain subsided. My heart felt so sorry for her but she didn’t want to be held, or rocked. All she wanted was to cry in her misery. So I let her… and we survived and are happy to report that all four teeth made it in safely.

Which brought us to last week. The Big Transition. It was totally unplanned and unexpected. Up until this point we had mainly used her bed for story time… that is until last Monday. It was nap time, I placed Noah on her bed while I put clean sheets on her crib mattress. By the time I turned around she was already twirling her hair and settling down in her bed. She looked so comfy and peaceful so I decided to lie down beside and see what happened.

This is the end result. Some of you may have seen it on Instagram.

I was surprised but didn’t think it would be a permanent change. Noah thought other wise. Monday night she wanted nothing to do with her crib. She insisted on sleeping in her big girl bed. So we tried the same routine again. Sleep didn’t come quickly though. Her excitement compared to the excitement you feel when you move into a new house and want to get to know and explore every inch of it. That’s what she felt like she had to do to her bed… until 11:30 p.m. when she finally crashed.

As I closed the door to her room that night I was a little sad. My baby girl is growing up. We might as well go ahead and start buying bedding for her dorm room. It’s all happening so fast!

So for the past week she has slept through the night every night… except last night. I’m really surprised she made it that long. Not that she doesn’t normally sleep through the night but I had been anticipating her rolling off the bed and waking up. That still hasn’t happened thankfully and if it does we have the trundle bed rolled out so she will just fall from one mattress to another. Last night she woke up because she lost her paci. Instead of crying I woke up to her door opening… a new skill she learned last week. I quickly led her back to her room and put her back in bed. After some tossing and turning she went back down and slept until this morning.

All of this just to let you know Noah is growing up!

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