Kai's Room is ready!!

We have been working on Kai's room since we started by painting it over the summer. Yes, I'm glad we didn't paint it pink. Yellow and green with panda bears will suit little Kai just fine. We had the furniture delivered last week. We went back and forth between: toddler bed and twin bed. Yes, I'm glad we hadn't already bought a crib. Here's a couple pics:

Care Package #2

I'm sure many of you have heard about the terrible, record-breaking snow storms all over China. I had been wondering what to send in my next care package. I wanted to send a little something for the foster parents and other 5 foster siblings. Then it came to me...scarves! I went to the fabric store and picked out some fleece fabric that reminded me of Chinese New Year. I cut it into scarves with fringe-no need to sew! I wrapped them up in red tissue for Kai, 3 older foster sisters, 2 older foster brothers, and the foster mother and father. I also included a package of oreo cookies and a small teddy bear.

I took pictures of me making the scarves and a pictures of Gary and I wearing the matching scarves I made for us. I will put these in the package--an excuse to send more pictures of us!

Quilter Needed!!!

I'm very close to having Kai's 100 good wishes for his 100 good wishes quilt. I'm currently at about 80 squares and the last 20 are trickling in. I had one prospect via the internet, but she is no longer doing quilts.

I had set aside a little money to pay someone to assemble the quilt. However, it is not nearly enough to pay the professional quilters that are being suggested to me. We are planning on traveling in about 3-5 months and I would REALLY like to have his quilt completed by the time we leave. There is not quite enough time to save more money for quilting. Although I appreciate the encouragement from others that I could do it myself, there is not enough time for me to learn to quilt AND put it all together, nor do I have the funds or space in my house for a sewing machine.

Sooooo.....If any of you quilts or knows someone who does, please contact me. I'm only hoping for a simple "sew all 100 pieces together" quilt. You can reach me via e-mail: Ninacesena@yahoo.com

Care package for Kai

Last week we sent Kai a care package. We included; 2 coloring books with a package of 8 crayola (fat) crayons, 2 matchbox cars, a small john deer tractor toy, fish crackers, Milano cookies (because they came in cute small packages), a small photo album with pictures of us and our dogs, a small stuffed rat (for Chinese New year-year of the rat), and a disposable camera for the foster family to take pictures with. Our agency gave us a generic letter translated into Chinese that asks the care givers to take some pictures of Kai and his environment and to return the camera to us when we come to get him. Our agency also told us that sending a care package right away is very important, because this is the first indication to the orphanage or foster family that Kai is going to be adopted. They don't get officially notified by the Chinese govornment until they approve us for travel, which is only 2-4 weeks before we actually go! We'll most likely send another care package in a couple weeks and include something nice for the foster parents and five foster siblings we just found out he has!

An update already!!!

Wow-things are moving kind of fast! On the 30th we received PA (Pre-approval). This comes from the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and it is their acknowledgement that they have received our Letter of Intent (LOI)and they are going to find our file (which has been in their office for a year) and move it into the match room with Kai's file.

I was surprised yesterday to see that there was a file titled "Cheng Kai" in my inbox from our agency. Usually, the orphanage doesn't give any updated information until 3 months after the LOI gets sent. There were new photos and developmental information dated for January 28th! This was quite unexpected!!

We are hoping and praying that this means the rest of the process will be going quickly, as I'm sure they want Kai to be adopted as soon as possible.

The next step: We are now waiting for the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) which comes from China and is one more document we need to sign and return to the agency. Then we will be awaiting Travel Approval (TA).

**So many abbreviations, so little time!!

And as you will notice, the blog is no longer pink, I updated it in honor of our little boy!!!

Inquiring minds want to know...

I didn't post much actual info last time, just an announcement. Here's some of the information that our agency has provided us about sweet little Kai:

"Cheng Kai is an active, cute, and bright little boy. He has a round face with a pair of bright eyes and when he smiles, his eyes become little slits. He has fair skin and look healthy. He is very charming."

"Cheng Kai is a capable, sweet child. He can feed himself with chopsticks and can go to the bathroom on his own. When he wakes up in the earl morning, he can dress himself in simple clothes, pants, and shoes. Cheng Kai is polite to people. When he sees a familiar person, he always greets them on his own initiative. When a guest comes to his home, he will find slippers for them to wear, and when the guest leaves, he will say 'goodbye'. Cheng Kai is a good child who likes hard work. At home, he often imitates his foster mother to sweep the floor or clear the table, etc. When his foster father comes home from buying food, Cheng Kai will take the food from the foster father's hands on his own initiative and help him put it in the kitchen. Cheng Kai also likes to play outside, and he especially likes to go to the amusement park."

We do know he is in some type of foster situation. The translated paperwork describes it as a "simulative family environment." This is good to know. We are hoping he is receiving more love and care than he would in an orphanage setting.

Please keep Kai in your prayers that the Lord keeps him safe in the months that we are waiting to go get him, and that the foster parents prepare him emotionally for such a monumental event!

For where your treasure is....

there your heart will be. -Matthew 6:21

I always knew that God was preparing my heart for something really amazing. What I didn't know was that he was preparing us for a son. What I really didn't know was that he was preparing us for a 4 year old son!

It is with great surprise and sheer joy that I announce the referral of our SON "Kai":

He is four years old and is waiting for us in the Chongqing province of China.

I will post more information very soon, but I wanted to let you all know as soon as possible, as I know you've been as anxiously awaiting this arrival as we have!