The Fanning Four

You know the kind of news that you hear that leaves speechless? You are so shocked and saddened you can hardly take a breath. We've gotten that news twice in the past three days. Dear friends moving away and another friend who is now fighting strong against cancer. I haven't really had time to process because we're on a mini vacation/trip to a wedding. That means little time to myself to sit and think. But I do know I'm sad. I also know the One who is in control. That's all I've got tonight.

We were cabled on Tuesday. No, that doesn't mean we got our own reality show. It means that the National Visa Center received our preapproval from Us customs and Immigrations for Caleb to become our child and they have uploaded it into the embassy's system in China. We will complete the process in China. Don't worry if it doesn't make a lo of sense- I don't totally understand either. Buy it's good news- I know that! So today out agency sent all our remaining paperwork to China. It will then be delivered to the to somebody important(I forget who and I'm on my phone typing this). It will be a two week wait and then we'll receive word that everything is good to go! After that China will issue out travel approval-usually within three weeks. After that we can go! They just have to make all the arrangements which can take a little time. So, basically it's getting very close!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter- we sure did!!

St. John in the Virgin Islands. This is where I'd like to be right now. Without a computer. Just me and my family and little else. Simplicity. The waiting of this last part of the adoption is getting to me. I need someone to ship me and my family off to St. John, pack my China bags for me, arrange Bethy's childcare while we're gone, put some frozen meals in my fridge, clean my house, and call me when it's time to board the plan for China. In the meantime, I'll be hunting for sea turtles and brightly colored fish, armed with my mask, snorkel, and fins.

So, even though we knew our I800 preapproval was given a few days ago, we were still waiting for the letter to arrive in the mail. I thought it would come Friday but no. So I was SURE it would come today. I had just asked Tom if he had heard the mailman yet. He said he hadn't been listening. Some people in the Fanning household aren't mailman stalkers- guess there has to be one normal person right? But then I heard the truck! WOOOHOOO! I ran to the mailbox, flung the door open, and it wasn't there. I vomited a little in my mouth. Ok, I didn't. But my stomach did start to ache. I began to imagine the letter washed up on some remote island with a crazy bearded man, and a volleyball named Wilson. Lost forever..... It was then, in the middle of figuring out how to track down our letter that I saw the mailman walking back towards me. Maybe he was going to ask me to stop stalking me. But no, what's that I see? Is it a bill? Is it an ad? No, it's THE LETTER!!!!! ...

I'm pretty sure my mailman thinks I'm stalking him. I know that he comes about 3:30 every afternoon. So, all week, I have stood at our front door, looking out, waiting and hoping that he has good news. As soon as he drives away from my mailbox, I practically run out to check. Monday-nothing. Tuesday-nothing. Wednesday-nothing. Thursday- nothing. So, I did what any obsessive adoptive parent would do. I emailed the US Customs and Immigrations office. In my email I said, "Please stop making me a crazy person and just approve Caleb's I800 already would ya?!?!?". Ok, I didn't say that. I said something way more polite. My sweet Immigration officer emailed me back within an hour. "Congratulations", she said. "You're I800 was approved on 4/19 and should arrive in the mail soon." The I800 is an approval that says that Caleb can become a US citizen. So we have three steps left- 1. Our last bit of paperwork being sent to China- "cable...

Bethy started getting a runny nose and coughing this past Sunday. Hearing her cough again turned me into Ninja Mom! I went into attack mode. Those allergies attacking my baby's body won't even know what hit them when Ninka Mom strikes!!! We started her breathing treatments again and added her nasal spray. Ninja Mom will triumph over this and we will not pay a copay this week!!!!

It's 10:41pm. Do you know me? If you know me, you know I don't stay up this late. I'm just not a night person. When I stay up too late I get all yucky feeling and my right leg aches. Weird right? I get really quiet. I sometimes feel nauseous. This is why when I was a youth director, I never did one lock in. Not one single lock in. It's like youth director code that you have to do lock ins. Not this youth director. And when I had a newborn? Well time was just a blur anyways so 1am might as well have been 1pm. But you get the point right? No late nights for this girl. The exception (besides college of course where you're not considered a real person unless you stay up until ungodly hours of the night eating dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets and playing cards while laughing hysterically at 1am in Village Inn) was when I was in my last trimester of pregnancy. I could not sleep. I wanted to. I was tired. But my mind would race, my body would ache, and I would find myself...

The adoption process is a series of paperwork, wait, rejoice, repeat. The paperwork work feels productive, the wait is killer, and the rejoicing is glorious. There's a message board for OCD Adoptive parents (Moms mostly) where we can spend hours obsessing over when the wait for this or that might end. The site tracks averages for each stage of the adoption process so you know about how long of a wait you have. When we were waiting for our letter of acceptance I knew I had a long time to wait so I was not obsessed about it yet when we got the call that it was here. It was a shock and SO, SO nice to have something come earlier than expected. We rejoiced for about two days and now I am waiting again. This time it's for a letter to come in the mail from US Customs and Immigrations. It's been two weeks since we sent it in so really, it could come any time but it could be another week. So begins the cycle of hope each day as I walk to the mailbox and the disappointment when I d...

I may need an intervention. I have already filled two bins worth of stuff to bring to China. That's not even including our clothes. And we should probably bring clothes. I am going to hope that once I take things out of boxes and put them in ziplocks, it'll greatly decrease the size. Or else I may need some help. For instance, why did I buy lice shampoo? Caleb has no hair. They buzz it. And how many Curious George bandaids does one almost two year old need? Someone who is good at packing light come help me!!! We went and picked strawberries this weekend with my Mom while she was in town. It was really fun except Bethy wanted to be carried most of the time because she was scared.....of the chickens......that were in a cage.... Silly girl! Here's pics of her being brave and roaming around....even with those vicious caged chickens.  Also this weekend, a couple of friends gave Caleb a baby shower. It was close friends/family and we had a good time. Caleb got some good...

The Shoes

It was a beautiful sunny day on the beach. Bethany was just shy of one and crawling all over the place. My friend Tiffany came over to help me prepare a traditional Nicaraguan meal. We were several weeks away from leaving on our mission trip and Tom and I were hosting the team for dinner and our last team training. The menu was rice and beans, fried plantains, churassco steak, tortillas, tres leches cake, and mango juice. I didn't soak the beans long enough and scorched them. The smell of burnt red beans filled our house as we started the beans again. The second time was a success and the meal was delicious. Our training was led by some friends of mine from Tallahassee and it was just the preparation and inspiration we needed as we prepared to go. The team was amazing and being together that day made me excited for the trip. It was a wonderful day. It is only now, almost two years later, that I can fully appreciate how wonderful that day really was. On tha...

It was a two sticker day at the ENT's office!!! Bethany got to pick TWO stickers after her visit. But the best news is that we are not going to pre op tomorrow. And we are not headed to the surgery center on Friday. And she is not getting ear tubes any time soon! Her ears are clear! She's had a really great couple of weeks with her health. I hope the trend continues! I bought shoes today for China. Expensive shoes. I hate paying a lot for shoes. I only pay more than $15 or so if I'm buying running shoes. Cause my feet are flat. For running, I need good shoes. So for China, I figure I also need good shoes. Here are my reasons: It will be hot. I loathe hot weather. And I'll be darned if I am going to wear socks and bulky tennis shoes all over China. No siree! I will be walking a lot. I may at any point be carrying a small toddler in an Ergo on my back or front.  Flip flops and the Great Wall doesn't seem like a good idea. Flip flops and a street market where th...

I had the flu last week- it was MISERABLE! I'm better now- thank the Lord!!! Also last week, I took Bethy for a follow up at the pediatrician's office and her staph infection is clear, her ears are clear, her lungs are clear. So clear in fact that the dr. thinks we may not need that ear tube surgery after all! AND, we don't have to do breathing treatments unless she starts coughing again. She's been doing breathing treatments at least twice a day for many, many months-a break will be nice. This was good, good news!!! A couple things I don't want to forget: The other day I was telling Bethy that her shirt said "LOVE". She smiled really big, sat up, said "I love you", and gave me a hug. SO stinking sweet!! Also, we were reading a little book about Beauty and the Beast. Bethy pretty much has it memorized so I let her finish the sentences. So I said, "Belle came to live in what?" and Bethy replies, "Beast's castle. Actually,...

What's next in the adoption? Our I800 form arrived in TX today. This is our application to specifically bring Caleb into the US to be a citizen. The US Customs and Immigrations has already approved us to adopt a child. Now they are approving Caleb to be adopted. This should take about three weeks. That puts us at approx. April 27th. Then our approval is sent by our USCIS officer to the National Visa Center and then it will be cabled (sent online) to the Embassy in China. The NVC will enter the info into their system and send a letter stating that this is complete. This process takes around 10 days or less. So let's go with a May 2nd date. Then our agency sends our Letter of Acceptance for Caleb, and his visa application, and that letter from the National Visa Center to the Embassy in China. The US consulate in China will review Caleb's visa application, give it the go ahead and issue a letter called the Article 5. This takes about two weeks. Let's say May 18...

Let's recap- Last Monday-we found out Bethy needed eartubes and scheduled the surgery for this coming Friday. Wednesday- At school Bethy got bitten by some sort of bug and developed a staph infection. Thursday- We were at the dr. taking care of the staph infection. Also, we learned that my Uncle Jimmy was not doing well and in Hospice care. Friday- I stayed home with Bethy because of the staph infection. We made the decision to go to see my uncle on Sunday (leaving Sat with a stop for the night on the way). Friday night we got the call that our Letter of Acceptance from China was in and would be delivered Saturday. We also called the ENT to reschedule Bethy's ear tube surgery- it will now be next Friday. Saturday- We planned to pack and get stuff done around the house while waiting for the LOA package to arrive. We got the call that my uncle was not doing well. We raced around packing quickly and arranging for someone to pick up the package up for us. As we were walki...

During dinner tonight the phone rang. I was expecting someone else so I was surprised to see "Holt" on the caller ID. Hmmm, I wonder what they want. I never thought our LOA would come so quickly. For goodness sakes, I didn't even start obsessing over it yet! But I heard her say, "I have good news" and I knew immediately what it was. WE HAVE OUR LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE FROM CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that's no April Fool's joke. Ya'll this is the big one (other than the travel approval and of course meeting him). This is the big step because it means China has looked over all our paperwork and says we're in. They've officially approved us to adopt Mr. Caleb!!!! And then my social worker said this......"We estimate you should receive your travel approval in about 3 months." 3......MONTHS! It's like the third trimester folks! That would put us on schedule to leave early July. Only remember that the agency usually gives the cons...