We are so excited to be the featured family on the web site called Give1Save1 this week. Since we started our adoption journey to China, we have been following it and have "met" some amazing families. We have seen God graciously provide for their adoptions. So, we are thrilled to be featured on their web site this week! The idea of their site is for people to give at least $1 to the family of the week. Click here to go to their website and see their (very sweet and gracious) post about our family. Thank you, Give1Save1, for having us - it is an honor!
And, we have something else so fun to share! The very talented Josh Sliffe made a video for us, capturing our adoption journey. Here is our story:
Harmon Adoption from Josh Sliffe on Vimeo.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Little Feet
Leah is learning to tie her shoes. Today, for the first time, she wore her "tie shoes" out to the park.
As I was taking pictures of her tie shoes, Molly and Daniel wanted to get in on the action:
I love pictures of feet. Sweet little shoes can tell so much about personality of a kid. I can't wait to have another little pair of feet to take pictures of. We do have this picture of our other son's feet:
He has on the new blue light up insect crocs that we sent him. Well, a sweet lady in China picked them out for us and sent them. She was super excited about them and just knew he would love them. I do love having this picture of his feet.
Every picture of him or tid-bit of info we can get from the orphanage is a treasure for us. We are trying to piece together his story, but there are lots of things we will never fully know about him. I wish I could know his true birthday (not just their estimated birthday for him), how much he weighed at birth, when he started sleeping through the night, when he started crawling. Little milestones that mean more to a mommy than to anyone else.
I'm so thankful though, that his story doesn't end there. It doesn't end with milestones unnoticed. What is broken (the fact that he doesn't have a family) is being restored, renewed, redeemed (he does have a family now) and friends, that is beautiful. It's also our story - that we are broken sinful people yet we are restored, renewed, redeemed in Christ, and that is the most beautiful thing there is.
And, just because it's fun, here are some pictures of pre-trip-to-the-park bubble blowing on the back deck. I can not wait until our family is all together, until our son is home blowing bubbles on the back deck with us! Can't you just picture him right in there with these 3? I can and it makes my heart so happy!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Waiting
Many people have asked where we stand in our adoption process so here is a little update.
1. We have been matched with this sweet little boy. And here he is with our picture in his hand. We are totally in love and can't wait to get him home!
His medical special need is a bone issue in his chest wall. His sternum is raised and on his left side, his ribs scallop out to the side. There is a specialist here in Raleigh that will help us evaluate his condition when he gets home.
2. We have PA (Preliminary Approval).
3. We are waiting for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. We hope to get that in August.
4. Then, we will submit our immigration/visa paperwork and wait for our Travel Approval.
5. We are still hoping to travel in November, but that could change.
Overall, we are doing really well! God is faithful in the waiting. We've seen him work in such cool ways. He is at work in the details, friends. Hopefully we can share some of those stories on the blog soon. In the meantime, thanks for walking with us. We are so grateful!
1. We have been matched with this sweet little boy. And here he is with our picture in his hand. We are totally in love and can't wait to get him home!
2. We have PA (Preliminary Approval).
3. We are waiting for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. We hope to get that in August.
4. Then, we will submit our immigration/visa paperwork and wait for our Travel Approval.
5. We are still hoping to travel in November, but that could change.
Overall, we are doing really well! God is faithful in the waiting. We've seen him work in such cool ways. He is at work in the details, friends. Hopefully we can share some of those stories on the blog soon. In the meantime, thanks for walking with us. We are so grateful!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Puzzle Update, Week 33 (final puzzle update!)
115 new pieces were sponsored since our last puzzle update. Which means that...
every single piece of our puzzle has been sponsored!!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Praise God for his amazing provision!
every single piece of our puzzle has been sponsored!!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Praise God for his amazing provision!
Once I get all the names and hearts on there, it will be a full beautiful picture of community - of God's people working together!
And, while you are here on our blog, scroll down to the last post and take a look at our little man again - isn't he the cutest! Oh my word, I love him!
And, while you are here on our blog, scroll down to the last post and take a look at our little man again - isn't he the cutest! Oh my word, I love him!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Care Package
She notified us that Love Manor had gotten the package and sent her these pictures of our little man!!!!
That's our son holding our picture!!
The shoes light up when you walk... wonder what he thinks of them. :)
So so exciting to see updated pictures of our little guy and to know that he has seen our faces!!
God is good.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Love Manor
Our son (the name we are giving him is coming soon and we are not allowed to publish his Chinese name so for now, he is just referred to as "our son") is in Chongqing city at an orphanage called Love Manor. We have been blown away as we have learned about this place. A group from The John 14 Project went there and wrote this:
Honestly, this facility broke every idea, stereotype and preconceived notion that I had regarding orphanages. This was the most impressive childcare facility I have ever seen…anywhere.
Wow! There are walking trails, a music room, a sensory integration room, a beauty shop room, a physical therapy room, a tea room, nice cribs, bright toys, sweet nannies, etc. To see the entire article (and some amazing pictures of the place) by the John 14 project, click the link below.
http://www.thejohn14project.com/2012/06/childrens-love-manor-garden.html
This orphanage was built to house 15,000 orphans. 15,000!! It is not full yet as it is still pretty new. It is an attempt to be a model for future orphanages.
Here is a short video about the vision for it:
LARGEST CHILDHOOD WELFARE CENTER by tvnportal
I had expected to be very concerned for our son during the period of time where we were waiting to travel. So, it is a HUGE blessing for him to be in this facility. We still can't wait to get our son home, to snuggle him, and to teach him the unconditional love of a mommy & daddy, but we are extremely grateful to the Lord for his provision in the mean time!!
Another quick AMAZING tid-bit we wanted to share - we just saw on the website of our agency that the other boy whose file we were given has been matched!! He is going to be adopted! I was wrecked by the idea of not choosing him so finding this out has been music to my soul and has brought sweet joyful tears to my eyes! Thank you for praying with us for him to be adopted! And thank you, Father, for being a Father to the fatherless. "In you the orphan finds mercy." (hosea 14:3)
Honestly, this facility broke every idea, stereotype and preconceived notion that I had regarding orphanages. This was the most impressive childcare facility I have ever seen…anywhere.
Wow! There are walking trails, a music room, a sensory integration room, a beauty shop room, a physical therapy room, a tea room, nice cribs, bright toys, sweet nannies, etc. To see the entire article (and some amazing pictures of the place) by the John 14 project, click the link below.
http://www.thejohn14project.com/2012/06/childrens-love-manor-garden.html
This orphanage was built to house 15,000 orphans. 15,000!! It is not full yet as it is still pretty new. It is an attempt to be a model for future orphanages.
Here is a short video about the vision for it:
LARGEST CHILDHOOD WELFARE CENTER by tvnportal
I had expected to be very concerned for our son during the period of time where we were waiting to travel. So, it is a HUGE blessing for him to be in this facility. We still can't wait to get our son home, to snuggle him, and to teach him the unconditional love of a mommy & daddy, but we are extremely grateful to the Lord for his provision in the mean time!!
Another quick AMAZING tid-bit we wanted to share - we just saw on the website of our agency that the other boy whose file we were given has been matched!! He is going to be adopted! I was wrecked by the idea of not choosing him so finding this out has been music to my soul and has brought sweet joyful tears to my eyes! Thank you for praying with us for him to be adopted! And thank you, Father, for being a Father to the fatherless. "In you the orphan finds mercy." (hosea 14:3)
Friday, May 17, 2013
Meet our son!!
We got our PA yesterday so we can now share with you about the little boy we have been falling in love with! We are completely excited to tell you about him!! There are so many things we want to say. To start with, here is our boy:
Isn't he awesome!! We think this picture is from late 2012, but it is the most recent still picture we have.
And if you aren't completely in love yet (and even if you are), here is a video of him that we think is more recent. Watch the whole thing, if you can. (Our favorite part is 1:18 - 1:25. Sweetness!)
Password is: tucker2
Be still my heart!! I can't get enough of watching this video.
Okay, so now that you are head over heels in love (or is that just us?), here is some basic info about him:
He is slightly younger than Daniel, so when we welcome him into our family, it will be like having twins. This is so beautiful to us because it means we were pregnant at the same time his mother was. I have been especially drawn to this and feel a real connection to and compassion towards his birth mother. I can't imagine the very difficult situation she was in and the thoughts that she was going through during the same time Daniel was an infant. While we were being brought meals and cared for well, she was struggling and wrestling. I have so many thoughts about this.... but I will save that for another time and for now just say that this is a perfect example of God being at work all the time in ways we couldn't even know.
He is at an amazing orphanage! We aren't sure how much detail we are able to share about this yet, but we hope that in the near future, we can tell you all about it. God has truly protected and blessed him by putting him in this particular orphanage.
His "special need" is called pectus carinatum. Simply put, it is a bone issue that is a protrusion of the sternum and ribs. For our son, his sternum is pushed out a little bit and his ribs scallop out to the side. Our son is fearfully and wonderfully made and was formed this way in the womb. He was lovingly made this way by his Creator. It isn't a result of an injury or anything anyone did to him. Based on our conversations with our doctor, we think that it is mainly a cosmetic issue. It is possible for there to be lung or heart issues that go along with this particular special need, but the tests run on him so far do not indicate that he has any other issues. We won't know for sure about that until he is home and seen by a doctor here.
In God's amazing providence, there is a doctor who specializes in these type of bone issues right here in Raleigh! Once our son is home, we will have him evaluated by this specialist and he will give us our treatment options.... one of which will probably be to do nothing. Medically speaking, he should be fine with this condition! Treatment options might include a brace or surgery once he is older.
Along with his medical file, we also have some precious baby pictures of him:
Thanks for reading this very long blog post, for loving us well, and for already having open arms to welcome our sweet son home. We are grateful! If things go as they should, we will be travelling in November to bring him home and officially make him a Harmon!!! We are still working on his first and middle name. Will have it soon, we think. :)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Isn't he awesome!! We think this picture is from late 2012, but it is the most recent still picture we have.
And if you aren't completely in love yet (and even if you are), here is a video of him that we think is more recent. Watch the whole thing, if you can. (Our favorite part is 1:18 - 1:25. Sweetness!)
Password is: tucker2
Okay, so now that you are head over heels in love (or is that just us?), here is some basic info about him:
He is slightly younger than Daniel, so when we welcome him into our family, it will be like having twins. This is so beautiful to us because it means we were pregnant at the same time his mother was. I have been especially drawn to this and feel a real connection to and compassion towards his birth mother. I can't imagine the very difficult situation she was in and the thoughts that she was going through during the same time Daniel was an infant. While we were being brought meals and cared for well, she was struggling and wrestling. I have so many thoughts about this.... but I will save that for another time and for now just say that this is a perfect example of God being at work all the time in ways we couldn't even know.
He is at an amazing orphanage! We aren't sure how much detail we are able to share about this yet, but we hope that in the near future, we can tell you all about it. God has truly protected and blessed him by putting him in this particular orphanage.
His "special need" is called pectus carinatum. Simply put, it is a bone issue that is a protrusion of the sternum and ribs. For our son, his sternum is pushed out a little bit and his ribs scallop out to the side. Our son is fearfully and wonderfully made and was formed this way in the womb. He was lovingly made this way by his Creator. It isn't a result of an injury or anything anyone did to him. Based on our conversations with our doctor, we think that it is mainly a cosmetic issue. It is possible for there to be lung or heart issues that go along with this particular special need, but the tests run on him so far do not indicate that he has any other issues. We won't know for sure about that until he is home and seen by a doctor here.
In God's amazing providence, there is a doctor who specializes in these type of bone issues right here in Raleigh! Once our son is home, we will have him evaluated by this specialist and he will give us our treatment options.... one of which will probably be to do nothing. Medically speaking, he should be fine with this condition! Treatment options might include a brace or surgery once he is older.
Along with his medical file, we also have some precious baby pictures of him:
Thanks for reading this very long blog post, for loving us well, and for already having open arms to welcome our sweet son home. We are grateful! If things go as they should, we will be travelling in November to bring him home and officially make him a Harmon!!! We are still working on his first and middle name. Will have it soon, we think. :)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)