Great ideas!

Thank you all for your encouragement and some really great ideas! We're going to try them all and see what works. Today was a better day, Thank God, so we're extremely thankful for that. Some of the ideas had to do with taking the negative and turning it into a positive by engaging Lily's help with Jing Jing and really celebrating her role as a big sister. One friend had additionally thought having Lily help with things that are more nurturing like helping put lotion on Jasmine for example. She also suggested having mini-one-on-one time with both girls by literally bouncing from one girl to the other and having 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there while the other one is occupied w/a play activity. We're going to continue to reinforce discipline/time-outs when she doesn't behave and try to help her put herself in Jing Jing's shoes. Hopefully between all of these ideas and switching their rooms around, we'll see a little bit of progress. In all of this, we continue to trust God for strength and wisdom and discernment as we see what works and what doesn't. Thanks again everyone and we'll continue to keep you posted!

Bad day

Hi everyone. I just wanted to do another quickie update to ask again for your prayers. Yesterday was such a bad day for me. I think I shared that Lily was acting out quite a bit but yesterday it started first thing in the morning and went ALL day! It was a very discouraging day and to top it off, Jasmine was quite cranky as well which left us both completely drained and discouraged last night. I just want to ask for wisdom and discernment as we try and figure out the best way to handle Lily's behavior as well as give both girls the attention and love that they need. It feels like a fine balance a lot of times. I think the worse part about it is that Lily seems to have no remorse whatsoever when she's confronted and it's that part that REALLY bothers me. Please pray for wisdom and discernment there. I really long to see her heart connected to her decisions (I guess by heart, I mean conscience.)

We are going to try a couple of things to see if they help. The main one has to do with making sure that she still has a personal space. (That was a recommendation of Adoption.com) So, we're going to separate the girls and bring their play room into their rooms which will require us to move around some furniture this weekend. Additionally, we're trying to work it out so each of us has some one-on-one time w/both girls every day if not each week. Again, we're still trying to figure out how that will look so we'd appreciate your prayers as we continue to try and figure out what will work and what won't. If anyone has any great ideas, please feel free to pass them along! We're totally open.

Also, I do have a slight update on Jasmine's tests. It looks like she does NOT have acid reflux, which is awesome, however the radiologist did see some kind of twist or kink either in her intestines or stomach that he would like further testing on. We don't know what this means but are awaiting our pediatrician's call on what test they want to do next. We're praying that everything will come back normal and for wisdom and discernment for the doctors. Everything in her wrist appears to be normal (so weird!) but our doctor may have us take her to an orthopedic surgeon to further consult on that one so we'll keep you posted. All of her lab work appeared to come back normal but unfortunately the lab messed up (twice now) on one of the tests so we'll have to take her back in a third time to repeat that test.

I think that's it for now. Thanks again, everyone, for all of your encouragement and support! We could not do this without you and without God. We are trusting Him to guide us in this as He knows both of our daughters' hearts better than we do. Thank you, God, for not leaving us alone!

Settling in

Hi everyone. Sorry it's been a week or so since I last posted. We've had a rough transition home and, while some things are still rough, we're getting over some humps with Jasmine. Thanks so much for all of your prayers! Seriously! It's the prayers and encouragement that are getting us through right now so thank you for making a difference!

So, Jasmine seems to be settling in nicely. We're finally getting some sleep as Jasmine has slept through the night for the last 6 nights! Yeah God! This week, Jim went back to work so I've been trying to muddle through on my own and adjust to our new "old" schedule again but this time with 2 kiddos. Lily, on the other hand, is now starting to act out quite a bit and every day since we got home has felt like a battle with her. I'd really appreciate your prayers as I feel like I'm at my wit's end right now and really need God's wisdom and discernment to help get her settled in and to know when to nurture and when to discipline. I'm still exhausted from everything so that hasn't helped either. It's funny because I really thought that I had prepared myself for how hard it would be with Lily adjusting to a new sister but I think when I saw how well she did in China, I hoped that it would go easier than it's going. I guess, as is true w/most things, there's really only a certain point that you can prepare yourself to and after that, you just have to go through it.

As far as the tests go, we were able to get all of the lab work done by the weekend and then her upper G.I. and xrays of her wrist were done on Monday. We're now waiting for all of the results to come back. It does appear that she does NOT have acid reflux but something else did come up that the Dr. wanted to check his films further on. No idea what that was but we're praying for a clean bill of health and are hoping to hear back this week on all of the results. We will definitely keep you posted.

As tough as things have been, we wouldn't change a thing. We know that God's plan is WAY better than anything we could ever imagine and we KNOW that this is God's plan for our family. We have no idea how God's going to take care the rest of the adoption expenses, how we're all going to bond & attach or how to best come alongside of Lily but we KNOW that He is in control and that He loves us and He WILL NOT LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US! Praise God that even in our toughest times, He is there and gives us everything we need. We don't deserve a thing from Him and yet He still blesses us and provides for us. Amazing! Please continue to pray for us as we work through this tough time and we'll be in touch soon. We love you all!

Mini update and prayer request

Hi everyone! I still want to update on our last day or so leaving Hong Kong and San Francisco but wanted to give you a little update on what's been going on since we arrived home. We continue to need prayers for rest as the past couple of days since we arrived home have been really brutal. The jet lag has really affected all of us and, on top of that, Jasmine hasn't been sleeping much at night so we're additionally exhausted from that.

So, the main part of this update relates to Jasmine's first visit with our pediatrician yesterday and the main part of our prayer request. We found out that she definitely has a severe allergy to milk and probable acid reflux, double ear infection and a broken wrist that was not treated! The obvious emotional trauma and loss aside, no wonder our girl has been hysterical at night! We will be taking her in on Monday for an Upper G.I. to test for the acid reflux & x-ray her wrist and ask for wisdom and discernment for our doctor as we try to eliminate all of the physical things that have been bothering her for quite a while. Our doctor will also be doing some blood work and stool samples to test for parasites, hepatitis, iron levels & vaccination levels (many orphanages water down their vaccines). We ask for your prayers over all of these things, that she would be healed physically as well as emotionally and mentally from all that she's been through. Additionally, we know that she has some slight delays, which will also be evaluated, but are hopeful that clearing up some of the physical symptoms (i.e. broken wrist) & lots of love and nurturing will help get her caught up. We'd like to ask for prayer for us for wisdom and discernment to help figure out the best ways to love and nurture her while still getting the rest we need to be the best we can for each other and her. And obviously, prayers for bonding, attachment, healing and REST would be HUGELY appreciated as well.

We'll be meeting w/our caseworker on Sunday afternoon and have already gotten some fantastic support from our agency so once again, we are incredibly thankful for CCAI! Thank God for them! Seriously!

One last prayer request is the financial end of things. We were turned down by the last of the grant agencies so between whatever medical bills and the $3600 we were short for the adoption, we're needing & trusting God to still provide. Please pray that our faith would remain strong and for God's provision.

As far as Lily goes, she was absolutely AMAZING during our trip but now that we're home and reality has sunk in, she's having a harder time and is acting out. We ask for your prayers for us and Lily that we have wisdom and discernment to love and nurture her through this big change in her life. She is doing fantastic at preschool and has transitioned beautifully back into her class and routine so Praise God for that!

Before I close, I do want to share 1 last praise. After the Doctor's visit and some of CCAI's fantastic resources, we tried something slightly different last night w/Jasmine's bedtime and raised 1 side of her mattress to help w/the acid reflux. She slept for about 7 hours straight. PRAISE GOD! She slept which meant we all slept! We're trying the same thing tonight and hoping we stumbled onto a few keys to night time sleep. We'll keep you posted.

Well, once again, thank you all for all of your prayers and encouragement. We've been blown away by all of the support and feel so blessed to have you in our lives!

We're home!

Yea God! As you saw, from Jim's earlier post, we are home! We were unable to post anything once we flew to mainland China due to the government restrictions on blogs. We had no access to any blogs, facebook or twitter and so could only send out limited emails. So sorry for the long absence but hopefully this will help you all get caught up!

It was a harrowing trip home as there was a lot of turbulance and we're completely exhausted from the trip & jet lag and from dealing w/Jasmine's tough times. There's more to update but for right now, please continue to pray for us as the last few days home have been extremely rough. Acclimating our bodies back to this time zone has been tough enough but we've had multiple sleepless nights because Jasmine has been inconsolable for hours on end. Please pray for wisdom and discernment and REST!!!! We are so beyond depleted right now and really need God's hand on our family.

For now, please feel free to go back through the blog and read the stories and see the new pictures. It took me about 3 hours to update and I've not even tackled the videos or our facebook yet! I'm trying to do this while things are still fresh so I can have these memories forever. Thanks so much for your prayers and we'll talk to you soon! :-)

2/13/10 – Departure Eve

1 more day until we leave! Yea God! Hi everyone. We wanted to say thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement. You have all been absolutely amazing in supporting us and we thank God for you all the time. We have not had the quiet times that we had hoped while we’ve been gone, we’ve been brought to the brink (especially me) and back and yet God has still NEVER forsaken us nor stopped watching over us. We don’t deserve such an amazing God.

It’s hard to believe that this part of our journey is almost over. In so many ways, it feels like months and months since we’ve been gone. We’ve really been able to experience quite a bit of Jasmine’s culture and as enjoyable as that’s been, we are so ready to get home and get back into some routines. We are completely counting on God (“Counting on God” by Desperation Band has become our mantra for this whole journey) to finish the bonding and attachment that He has already completed in Heaven. I’m reminded again how, with God, there is only NOW and NOW has been finished. It helps remind me that I don’t need to do God’s job because it’s already done. I just need to focus on my part. It’s amazing how relieving that is!

At any rate, this will be my last post until we get home. We’ll continue to need your prayers as we expect the first few weeks to be rough and exhausting as we acclimate back to a 15 hour time difference and the exhaustion from the trip, not to mention adjusting to a new family member & her adjustment to us. We’ll be clinging to God to get us through and can’t wait until things begin to level out a little. We’ll be overwhelmed a lot and will need your prayers and encouragement to get us through the tough times ahead. Thank you again for partnering with us on this journey! Much more to come!