Our precious Maya

I have wondered since we found out Maya was in foster care what the situation was like. I knew very little of the foster care system and China and had very little information given while in China due to keeping the families privacy. But I did find out that the children in foster care are placed most of the time with families that they call "model" families. They foster 4-5 children & that is considered their job. They have no other employment. They treat their children as their own--feed, care & love them. I believe that the foster family was hand picked by God for our precious Maya and that they loved her so amazingly for the 7 months they had her in their home. I will be thinking of them and say a prayer for them as I am so grateful for all the love they must have shown to her and how hard that must have been to say goodbye to her. I was also reflecting back and looking at pictures as I was scrapbooking our trip to China and reminded of how difficult it was for the two orphanage employees who brought Maya to us to say good bye to her. She is such a special girl and I can see that they had bonded with her and her with them. She has changed so much in the 3 months we have had her from how much her hair has grown, to talking so much, and changed from the scared little girl that was thrust into our arms to a very secure, energetic, determined and fearless little girl.
Next Monday, October 26th we will be driving to Children's Hospital to have Maya's foot casted. We were very optimistic that this wouldn't have to happen as they corrected her foot in China, but her foot has regressed and we are so pleased to have a great doctor to work with. After 4 weeks in a cast we will know if we are progressing with 4 more weeks in a cast or surgery.

The Blessings of our Children

The blessings of our children seem endless. Even the tough days can teach us so much about our selves and perserverance and complete reliance on God. Through this season of adjusting to a new blessing of little Maya our family is growing together and learning to be completely united. Maya is adjusting wonderfully - of course we still have the 2 year old tantrums, but she seems to daily get more and more comfortable. Sydney and Mackenzie are enjoying being a part of teaching Maya how to play Ring around the Rosy, The wheels on the Bus and more. Maya loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Some of her favorite things to play with are a stuffed dog named Giger and a tea set. She is so silly and full of funny faces. And to listen to her giggle is priceless. Rich and I seem to be giggling at her giggling. The girls love to make her laugh as well as they chase her around the house.

We are enjoying the last days of summer and have picked lots of berries and are preparing our garden for a fall crop. Maya likes to wash the weeds in a bucket of water after we pull them from the garden.

Mackenzie is getting ready to start up in Fall Soccer and Sydney is enjoying photography. Maya is getting used to BaBa going to work each day and has accepted it a bit better than when he first went back. She is also accepting the cats a bit more. Each day we go out for a walk and Maya loves to ride in the stroller and look around for birds and other animals.

The Joy of the Lord is our strength. We rejoice at our growing family.

Maya has been with us a month!!!!

Today marks the one month anniversary. Hmm, has me thinking I should do some special sort of celebration to mark her with her forever family. I will be pondering what I will be doing. Maya is adjusting well with typical regression. She is taking control in a few areas of her life - eating, sleeping and potty. She came fully potty trained and now is not. She isn't resisting it, she will sit on the potty, she will also just go in her pants and not care about it. She has opted to not take naps which creates some mighty fine tantrums due to exhaustion, and she is very selective what she will eat - fruit and veggies are very rare for her to eat. I imagine this will all work itself back out as she realizes this is the real deal. We are a family - HER family and will never ever abandon her. She is here to stay, we just have to get through this phase and let her come to believe and trust in her time that this is indeed for real. We love her so much and the girls are great with her. Not to say that Mackenzie and Sydney haven't had their own adjustments as well. Maya is definately a daddy's girl and is his little shadow whenever he is home. He is beaming over having 3 daddy's girls!!!! We are slowly getting settled at home and rearranging to accomodate another family memeber. Mackenzie has requested to move into her own room for some space and alone time. We will be making that happen in the next few days. Mackenzie and Sydney have shared a room for quite a few years and the extra room was a play room. Eventually when Maya is ready to move out of our room she will share a room with Sydney.
My mom and dad have been an amazing asset to us with helping and supporting us. She has taken Mackenzie by herself (yesterday) and they had great one on one time sitting and talking, soaking their feet, foot massages, making and painting a birdhouse, etc. She was able to spend the night and be spoiled by mamaw and Papa. Sydney's turn is next. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!!

Happy one month anniversary Maya!!! We love you so much and are in awe that you are really here. The amount of energy you have is amazing, the giggles and smiles make us laugh and smile and the hugs and kisses melt our hearts!!!

Home and almost settled

We have been home for over a week and are getting settled. Each day Maya is more and more comfortable. She seems to take most things in stride and has adapted quite well. We still experience some great tantrums from her, but overall she is an energetic happy toddler. Both Mackenzie and Sydney love having her around and playing with her. Today is the 3 week mark of having her!!! She is still extremely afraid of our cats and chickens still and is loving them from a distance. She is sleeping much better, which makes for much happier parents!!! For the most part we seem to be over the jet lag and enjoying the hot summer days with evening strolls, trips to the park and swimming in the pool!!

Anxious to travel

We had our travel meeting with our agency today and were filled with a lot of paperwork to take with us as well as great information. We have our itinerary and are excited to go and experience China. While in Beijing we will get to see the Olympic 2008 grounds, take in an acrobatic show, walk the great wall, see the Forbidden City and more. Then while in Guangzhou we will go to the zoo, have a city tour, check out the sites and of course, the highlight of the trip - picking up our daughter on July 13, 2009.

We are hoping to update everyone along the way. Maybe even be able to send a picture or two!!! Thanks for all the love, prayers and support. We can't wait for you all to meet our newest family member!!

The tickets have been purchased

We are very excited to have been able to purchase the tickets. We are leaving on July 8th!! We will be coming home on the 23rd. With each step of this process it becomes more and more real. Please pray for Maya as we pick her up and bring her home. Please pray for bonding and attachment to us and acceptance of us as her family. We have been loving her and wanting to bring her home for so long and for her this will all be thrust upon her.

Travel date - July 8th,2009

One of the days we have been waiting for is here. We got the call from our agency and the Travel Approval is here and our re-fingerprinting is back. We are now scheduled to leave the 8th and pick up our daughter on the following Monday. There is a lot of travel prep to do between now and then, but that will help pass the time!! The girls are so exited to finally get to meet Maya.

Waiting on paperwork

On May 22 we went and were fingerprinted and went to the adoption agency to sign paperwork to be sent to the CCAA to submit for travel approval. It takes 2-4 weeks to get the paperwork back on our fingerprinting and approx. the same time for Travel Approval from China on the documents we signed and submitted on the 22nd. As of today no paperwork is back yet. Our adoption agency will check on the status of the fingerprinting documents on Friday (June 12th) if it hasn't shown up yet. We can't get our Consulate appt. for when we are in China until these fingerprinting documents come back to us and we can submit them to China. As far as Travel Approval that will be here anytime. Our tentative travel dates are July 1st or the 8th. I am tending to believe we will leave the 8th.

In the meantime we are preparing our home for Maya, getting so excited to travel, picking up last minute items and gifts to take to China and waiting.

Our verse for Maya is Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

The wait is nearing an end!!!!!

We have our re-fingerprinting done, papers signed and are just waiting a last document from China. Our tentative travel dates are July 1 or 8th. We are so excited and getting all the prep work done for travel. It is almost a surreal feeling that in a month we will be holding our precious daughter in our arms and bringing her home to her 'forever family'.

A bit of a downer, perhaps a pity party

Well, we went from a serious high to some downs. With the swine flu causing havoc amongst the different countries, international adoptions are being affected. Although the CCAA hasn't announced the halting of paperwork, our adoption agency isn't receiving anything. Our letter was expected about 2 weeks ago and they still haven't received it. It could be days, weeks, or months. Oh, so hard to wait. And to think we thought we were so close. And of course, we could be - we are just having to trust and rely on God's perfect timing.

Prep work, paper work, and anticipation

We have just received pictures of Maya. She is getting so big and it makes us all the more anxious to go and get her. If only it was that easy and we didn't have to wait on paperwork. Hopefully that will be coming in the next week or so. The travel date has been moved up to June (no official date, just the month ) and we are all prepping for the trip. Typhoid oral vaccination is starting this week. This is a 4 pill series that you take one pill every other day. The vaccination lasts for 5 years. We have also filled out visa paperwork and begun the process of gathering what clothing we will take for us as well as Maya. It is so exciting to think she will be home so very soon. Later this month we go down to Tukwila for a scheduled appointment to be re-fingerprinted as our old fingerprints expire. We are taking a 3 day tour in Beijing before heading down to meet Maya. Walking the Great Wall, seeing the forbidden City as well as a few other things will happen before getting Maya. The girls are so excited to take this adventure of a lifetime!!!

Celebrating Maya's 2nd Birthday

As we anxiously await to bring home our daughter we are celebrating her 2nd birthday and are so glad that her next birthday that she will be at home with us!! We can't wait to have her as a part our our daily life in our home. We are praying that God will prepare her for this huge life adjustment and that she will have a fierce attachment for us. We also thank God for whomever is caring for her now, feeding her, holding her, rocking her, dressing her and loving and protecting our daughter for us.

Happy 2nd Birthday Maya!! We love you.

The planning ,waiting, and prep

We are eagerly waiting to hear of our travel dates. We don't expect them for awhile yet and hope to travel late summer/early fall. We have received our pre-approval letter from China and then next we hear from them will be our confirmation letter and with that our travel dates!! We have our pictures of little Maya and are praying for her transition to our home/family to go smoothly. We are so anxious to go and meet her and are loving her so much already. I (Jill) am starting a life book for her and hope to have it completed by the time we travel. It will be the story of all the information we know from birth until we meet her. I have her referral pictures in it and am starting on putting all the paperwork/information. It is a bit overwhelming and exciting all at the same time. Her given name is Wang Xiao Xue. Wang means hope, wish, desire. Xiao means morning and Xue means snow. Maya means great one, Minnie means desire and protection. We are naming her Maya Minnie XiaoXue Munson. My great-grandma who was so special to me and I have such a fondness for is why Minnie will be her middle name. We have also kept her first name from China as her middle name.
We are also preparing for the trip in other ways such as visiting the Great Wall, the forbidden city and other great sites. The girls and I have studied China in our schooling and are enjoying embracing the culture. We are thrilled that the grandparents will be joining the four of us on our trip.

Our waiting is over....well almost

We have received our referral!!! We are overjoyed and it is somewhat surreal for us. She is a beautiful little girl and we can't wait to bring Maya home.

Waiting.....still waiting

I am definately not good at keeping up to date on this. Since the last entry we have gotten word that Vietnam is in the very beginning stages of talks, or at least meeting to discuss getting a time to start negotiations regarding adoptions. As far as China, we are just waiting for a referral. As we wait for the referral we are using this time to prepare our home a bit more. We are painting one of the girls' rooms, re-structuring the closet to accomodate more than one child, replacing carpet in that same room as well as our bedroom, and finishing up painting the remaining ceilings in the house that are in dire need of paint. It feels good to get this all done and get one step closer in the preparation for Maya and Ava.

Growing our family in faith, hope and love

So much is happening with the adoption and with our family of 4, soon to be family of 6 (well, hopefully soon!!!). This Christmas season we have a theme for our family and it is simplicity. Celebrating the birth of Christ - pure and simple. It is such a great blessing for our family to have made the choice to not overschedule and to enjoy a few holiday festivities while also being home and experiencing Christmas without the exhausting things "to do" While all the acitivities are fun, we are truly enjoying the activities we have picked and teaching the girls about the birth and the amazing journey Mary took on the donkey and then delivering in a barn.
We are also expanding our family and feel at peace and very led in our adoption journey. We are being stretched in our faith and believe with all our hearts that God would not lead us down this path and then not provide not only financially, but in every other need that comes our way on this journey. We are also filled with hope and joy as we anticipate the arrival of our girls. Mackenzie and Sydney are also very excited and can't wait to meet their little sisters.
To date, we have our homestudy for the China program done and ready to be delivered tomorrow. We also have all our dossier documents either finished or in the process of being completed. Upon completion they will need to be authenticated and translated and sent to China.

The twists and turns in the journey

We have decided through prayer, thought and lots of discussion to go forward with a concurrent adoption in China. This means our paperwork will remain in Vietnam and we will wait for the country to open back up, as well as move forward with an adoption in China. We have the choice of taking which ever comes first or taking both. We are going forward with bringing 2 girls home - one from Vietnam and one from China.

In Jeremiah it says I know that plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, give you hope and a future. Wow is that ever the case. God is so good and faithful and we had know idea going into this that we would end up on this route. But he has had it mapped out from the beginning.

Where exactly is Ava - Could she possibly be in a completely different country?

Family and Friends,

It has been awhile since we have had any updates. Today we got confirmation that the talks in Vietnam are postponed. There was a miscommunication with the DIA and the Dept. of State and due to that there is nothing officially scheduled. They are hopeful they will happen starting in December, but that is not for sure. In talking with our agency today, she mentioned it could be a long time before Vietnam opens up again to adoptions. Once again we find ourselves revisiting the question of "Is Ava really in Vietnam?" Our agency has encouraged us to either pull our dossier out of Vietnam completely or do another country in conjuction with Vietnam. We could decide to go with whatever country sends us a referral first if we did the latter or take two children. Of course the blessing of 2 children would be wonderful, but that is also double the fees. So Rich and I will be talking, researching our options, and praying about this. On December 3rd we will be talking with our agency. In the meantime we have our agency mailing us some packets of information on 2 different countries.

Thank you to everyone who is following our journey of adoption. We appreciate all the feedback, encouraging words, and prayers.

Love,

Rich and Jill

Still no definites

We have received several updates from our agency just keeping us posted, but I haven't included them in the blog as there wasn't any new information. They were just confirmations that talks are still in the works. Here is an excerpt of a recent email with a bit of new information:

USCIS and DOS have issued a joint statement with the government of Vietnam announcing that the processing of new adoption cases will not resume until both countries sign a new bilateral agreement. Please see the press release, below, as well as the attached releases, FAQs: Adoptions from Vietnam to the US and the Joint Statement, for more information. This information can also be found on Joint Council’s website, www.jcics.org.

The United States government is committed to supporting Vietnam in its efforts to establish practices necessary to appropriately process intercountry adoptions. We have therefore expressed our willingness to begin negotiations on a new bilateral agreement with the government of Vietnam that addresses the deficiencies in their current system. We cannot predict when a new bilateral adoption agreement with adequate safeguards for all parties will be concluded.

As indicated in the joint statement, all dossiers that have not been matched with a referral will be picked up by our agency representative and held in our office in Hanoi. Please know that this is merely a matter of where to store the dossiers during the interim. It is Faith’s understanding that the DIA and the U.S. Embassy have set Monday, October 27^th as the date to officially begin negotiations toward a new agreement. We will continue to monitor the progress toward this agreement and send out any updates as we receive information. Again, the returning of dossiers to each agency representative in Vietnam does not necessarily indicate a step backwards towards a reopening, but is rather a logistical step of where to store the dossiers while a new agreement is worked on. Families will remain in the same spot in our queue during the interim.

We continue to pray and trust that God will work it out in His timing. Sometimes this is proving to be easier than others. Somedays I sit and know she will be here and dream of what it will be like to look back on this journey and praise God for the wonderful blessing she is to our family as well as all He taught us along the way and somedays it is just a bit discouraging and sad to be waiting and waiting and waiting.......

At peace knowing God is in control

No new information regarding the adoption from our agency. We have been sent information that talks are still in the works to get an interim agreement between Vietnam and the US. The following excerpt is from our agency:

Joint Council continues to be in close communication with officials at the Department of State to ascertain the progress of diplomatic efforts between the United States and Vietnam on a new Memorandum of Understanding. As stated previously, only those families who received a written letter of referral from the DIA on or before September 1st, 2008, will have their cases processed to completion.

According to the latest numbers released by the Department of State, 524 families were matched with a child by September 1st, and of that number, 247 families have filed an I600 petition with USCIS.

Joint Council will continue to release more information on the processing of these cases as we receive it from the Department of State and USCIS.

We feel a deep sense of peace over this situation. Several people have asked us - and we are grateful for all the people following the journey and all the prayers and support - and we have come to know that our God is bigger than all of this and we will look back on this someday knowing exactly why it didn't go quite like we thought it would. Our plans are definately not His plans and we serve a mighty God.