The journey has begun.

We have landed & have 2hrs before we board our flight to China. Things have been smooth sailing thus far & the kids are doing great. I actually ended up at the doctor's office yesterday to treat some fluid in my ears but thanks to Alan Imes & a cocktail of steroids & meds I am feeling great & no pain in my ears like I was fearing. Praying the same for the next flight.

Thanks so much for the prayers. They mean so much to us!  Will be landing in China about 2am Atlanta time but will post as soon as we get settled & internet.

Jodi

WE LEAVE IN 2 DAYS!!!!

God is just so cool!  I think sometimes maybe he does these things just to make us smile on a journey that can be marked with so much uncertainty.  Below you will see our itinerary for our China trip & it's hard to miss the "God-incidences" with these dates.  You see the day we leave it's my Mom's birthday (Feb. 13th).  We arrive in China on Valentine's Day (I mean could adoption be described with any better word than LOVE).  And Lexi Marie's "Gotcha Day" (the day we will get her & meet her for the first time) is Feb. 18th which is the 20th anniversary of when her namesake Jill Marie, my baby sister by 7min, met her abba Father for the first time in heaven.  I don't know, I think God's pretty cool folks.  (Oh & a little side-note you may not have known.  On our first China trip to adopt Addison our Beijing China guide's name was Jill......I mean is that even a Chinese name, haha.  She was with us the first 4 days of our trip.  Maybe it was God's way to let us know that Jill was with us in spirit!)

Anyhoo, here is our itinerary for those of you that like details:

TRIP ITINERARY 

2/13     Leave U.S. for Beijing 7:25am. 

2/14     Arrive in Beijing at 3:10pm China time (that is 13 hrs ahead of Atlanta - EST)

            Free day to rest, sleep, catch up from jet lag.

2/15     Tour Beijing. 

2/16     Tour Beijing (Great Wall)          

2/17     Fly from Beijing to Zhengzhou (the capital city of Lexi Marie's province)

2/18     Today is GOTCHA DAY!

(The Orphanage Officer will deliver Lexi to us)

2/19     We will take a bus to Lexi Marie's orphanage city of Xuchang

2/20     Rest or optional group shopping trip to the Lotus Center

2/21     Receive your notary documents in the afternoon. 

2/22     Receive child passports. Those not received will be mailed to Guangzhou. 

2/23     Fly from Zhengzhou for Guangzhou for final leg of the trip 

2/24     May go to a local church some friends have told us about.  Free day in Guangzhou.

2/25     Take a bus to the clinic to complete your child’s visa physical and visa photo taken this morning.           

2/26     Meet with CCAI representatives to prepare paperwork for the Consulate appointment:

2/27     Today is our Consulate appointment.  In the morning we will go to the U.S. Consulate to take the oath.

2/28     Receive your child’s visa packet.  Late afternoon we will take a train ride from Guangzhou to Hong Kong where we will spend the night in prep for our flight home the next morning.

3/1       Depart Hong Kong at 8:20am.  Arrive HOME in ATL at 1:25pm.  For those planning to greet us at the aiport, it may take us awhile to get through customs.  Not sure how long but probably at least an hour or 2.  Will keep you posted.

WE GOT OUR TRAVEL DATES, FLIGHTS ARE BOOKED!

We got our official Travel Approval (TA) from China yesterday!!  And just like we had prayed, were told that we could travel the week of Feb. 13th.  Yea God!  We had to wait until today for our Consulate appointment time to be accepted before being allowed to book our flights.  Our consulate appt is the final thing that has to happen in Guangzhou, China before heading back home.  Thankfully we got our first choice & it is set for Wednesday, Feb. 27th.  We will pick up Lexi Marie's visa the next day, drive to Hong Kong that evening for an early morning flight back home that Friday (March 1st).

As for when we will be heading to China, our flight leaves early Wednesday morning, Feb. 13th which is my Mom's birthday!  Yep, that's only 2 weeks from this Wednesday!  Crazy!!!  But we are beyond excited!  We found amazing flight schedules too (after hours of looking), & the kids are only going to miss a total of 7 days of school which is flat out amazing.  

Thanks for caring & following along on our journey.  We will post more details about travel soon!  Can't wait to meet our little Lexi!

Love to you all!

Jodi & Bart

Holla, We got new pics & an update!

You can only imagine how excited I was late last night when I popped open my laptop to see that we had gotten a much hoped for update on our Lexi Marie.  My heart literally skipped a beat.   So without further ado, here are the two new pics of our Lex (some of you may have already seen on Bart's Facebook).  And I also included below the actual update they sent on what she's "up to" these days.  It sais "she can say mama"......oh my heart can hardly take it.  In case you didn't know "mama" is one of the few words that is the same in the Chinese language.  And how funny they noted that "she knows red".  Too bad she's not potty-trained....haha.  Kind of hoping for a free pass on that one.  We did get some updated weight & size measurements but you never really know how accurate they are.  According to what they sent she would still be in 6-12 month clothes.  Of course it's really hard to tell with all those layers on.....and what's up with that outfit, haha.  Glad they are letting her hair grow out though.  Headbands here we come.

Medical/Development:

Her current health is good.

She can take several steps by herself, walk holding onto something.

She can say mama.

She is not potty trained.

She knows red.

Personality:

They call her Xiao Cao.

She is active.

General:

Her sleeping and diet schedule:      

Sleeping time: 8:00pm-6:00am

Nap time: 12:00-2:00pm

Eating time: 6:00am, 10:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm

Her main foods are formula, noodle, congee.

She is in the orphanage now.

ON THE HOMESTRETCH

We are one big step closer to getting our Lexi Marie!  Our Article 5 was picked up at the US Consulate yesterday which means China can now officially issue us our TRAVEL APPROVAL.  This is the final step & what every family waits for in order to book our flights to China.  We should be receiving our TA (adoption lingo for Travel Approval) in 2-3 weeks & will leave for China 10-21 days later.  YIPPEE!!  Our agency determines our actual travel dates based around our consulate appointment in Guangzhou which is the last thing that happens before we head back to the US.  One kink is that the Chinese New Year celebration is February 9-15 which means all government offices are closed that entire week & they won't have us flying in the week before since it would mean us staying in China a whole extra week waiting for offices to open.  So here's the deal.....If you want something BIG to pray about, we are hoping & praying that if it is God's will we could leave for China the week of Feb. 13th which is actually during Chinese New Year so that we could be IN China finalizing the adoption during our kids Winter Break off school Feb. 18-22.  Our agency has said that this is possible & still within our expected travel time line but of course a lot of things have to fall into place for this to work out ever so perfectly.  Our trip will last about 16 days so being there during Winter Break would mean that our kids don't have to miss so much school & that's kind of a big deal now that Keaton is a middle-schooler (which still blows my mind).  Ultimately, we know God's timing is perfect & whatever He wills is what we also desire & we will rest peacefully in that.  We have seen His amazing provision throughout this entire adoption journey & know He will continue to guide & provide.

Matching Grant Opportunity

As most of you probably know, the financial side of adoption can be the most daunting & "faith-testing" part of the whole process.  In fact, it's one of the main reasons people decide not to go the adoption route.  Bart & I have always valued living a debt-free life so taking out a loan or putting adoption charges on a credit card just weren't options for us.  So how in the world were we to come up with the $30,000 it would take to adopt again.  We had always told people for years not to let finances hold you back from following God's call if He was leading you to adopt but it's a different story when it's you sitting in that boat.  We would encourage people to seek out the numerous grants out there & look into fundraising opportunities.  In fact, through 2011, you could receive a $13,500 federal tax credit once your adoption was final.  Well, that tax credit ended in 2012.  On top of that, at the same time we began the adoption process, our church Momentum was in the middle of attempting to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to launch it's second campus so we felt conflicted about fundraising for our own adoption.  Still with all of that, we knew we were to keep trusting God to provide while doing what we could on our end.  So Jodi  made it her second job to apply for any & all grants she could get her hands on.  And it truly paid off with us receiving $12,000 in grants over the past several months.  Plus Jodi picked up extra hours at work which helped too. But that still left a short fall & increasing anxiety as the adoption journey seemed to pick up speed as of late & our travel now right around the corner.  Again, we had to keep trusting!!  

On December 5th, we were so relieved when we got the call that we had been approved for a $3000 matching grant from Promise 686 (http://www.promise686.org).  They are a partner with Lifesong for Orphans (www.lifesongfororphans.org) & all donations are actually directed through Lifesong.  The super cool part about a matching grant is every dollar given up to $3000 is matched for a total of $6000, and anything donated over that amount still goes towards our adoption expenses.  The bad part is we are not allowed to personally donate towards our own grant.  In order for us to get the full matching amount, the money must be donated from our friends & family.  We know what a financially difficult time of year this is & do not want anyone to feel pressure.  In fact, we'd prefer you to pray about it before giving.  If you then feel led, we are including the address below you can mail a donation to & also including a link to the right if you would like to donate online.  Please include in the memo line of your check "preference Stone/#3507 adoption". If paying online, there will be a place to enter this same information.  All donations are tax-deductible & 100% received by Lifesong for Orphans go directly to cover adoption costs.  Nothing is taken out for administrative costs. 

          Mail check to: Lifesong for Orphans

                                    PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford Street

                                    Gridley, IL 61744

Thank you for what you have meant to our family and for coming alongside us on this journey.  Your prayers & encouragement really do mean more than you know! We love you all and can’t wait for you to meet Lexi Marie!

So humbled & grateful,

Bart & Jodi

We got our I-800 Provisional Approval! Holla!

Well I'm am starting to think that God wants us to get to Lexi Marie sooner than later!  Our agency gives us estimated time frames for each step of the process and we continue to be getting everything super fast which is SO not typical in the adoption world.  I just read a blog where someone recently waited 7 months for their LOA.  We got ours in 37 days.  But what I do know is things could come to a screeching halt at any minute so I need to count my blessings while I can & hold on for the ride because it could get bumpy.  Here's the crazy part though, if things do keep coasting along at this speed, we could be getting our travel approval (TA) in the next 3-4 weeks & be traveling to China 10-21 days later (that is late Jan/early Feb folks).  WHAT!!  It was so cute tonight Bart said "Babe, I can't get there fast enough.  I'd go tomorrow if I could." Me too, Babe!  Who needs a nursery anyways?!!