Moving right along, or so we thought...

As long as this entire process is, lately everything seemed to be moving right along.  Our I-800 approval came in the mail on June 13th, and then the letter was hand delivered in China on June 18th.  Our Article 5 is scheduled to be picked up tomorrow, July 2nd. Most of you who are reading this are probably saying what? and huh?... I know, it's all this crazy adoption language. :)  The short of it all is that we are truly in the FINAL stages before we are able to travel to China.  The next step after tomorrow is to wait on travel approval (which generally takes 2-3 weeks) and then get a consulate appointment (which takes just a few days, if that), and then LEAVE FOR CHINA!  Yep, we are THAT close!  It's a dream, I've wanted, wished for, hoped for, prayed for, for so very long, and it's just around the corner..... or so we thought.
You see we knew that there weren't any holidays coming up in China that would delay our process at this time.  However, the consulate in China is closing the last two weeks of July to move their office.  That means, no adoptions will pass through during this time, as well as future appointments made, etc.  Two weeks from July 2nd (probably THE earliest possible date that we could get our TA (travel approval) is July 16th.  The office is closing on July 15th... and we need this in order to get our consulate appointment.
Please join me in praying that God moves mountains like we know he can and that we get travel approval in record time!  I would love to be leaving at the beginning of August, not waiting to get my date.  In the end, I find great comfort in knowing that God's plan is PERFECT, he knows whats best, and he is in CONTROL!
We are coming sweet girl, we are coming soon!  (I got this sweet picture of her today too so I thought I would share)

God's PERFECT plan...

Jackson, our oldest son was born in 2001.  Just 15 months later, Anna Kate was born.   Parker followed 18 months after that, and then Grayson 18 months after Parker.  Yes, they are close.  :)  It became a joke that I was always pregnant before the first birthday of the next child.  When they were younger, I got all kinds of strange looks and even the “Did you mean to do ‘that’, are they ALL yours??, and are any of them twins” types of questions.  The nurse that helped deliver Grayson in May of 2005 almost chocked when I told her my oldest had just turned 4 in January, Anna Kate would be 3 in three days, and Parker was 18 months old. :)  As “crazy” as all that might seem, when Grayson turned one I was so sad that I wasn’t pregnant again.  I wanted more and quite frankly felt very ungrateful for feeling that way.  I knew we had closed the door for us to have more physically, and we had been blessed with 4 beautiful, happy, healthy children, so why? why did I feel so empty??  Over the next few years I continued to have the “emptiness” feeling, and each birthday was hard, as it just symbolized another year, without another child.  I began to pray, Lord, PLEASE take this feeling away from me!  But he didn’t, and now I know why! 
As always, God had a plan!  Chloe was picked out for our family long, LONG before we knew it!  Can you guess how far apart Chloe is from Grayson?  YEP!  18 months!!  For you see, when Grayson turned one, I was “pregnant”, just in a much different way!  I’m so incredibly thankful that HE goes before us and paves the way, HIS plan, HIS way is perfect!  
Counting down the days until I can hold my daughter in my hands!  

Meet Miss Chloe Hope Taylor

     It's becoming more and more real that we are REALLY going to get to bring our little girl HOME!  It seemed so far "off" for so long.  It's been a long journey, but God has walked with us every step of the way!
     We got our LOA (letter of acceptance) on May 14th.  Up until then, we weren't really suppose to share pictures of Chloe.  I've also had many, many questions about what her "special needs" are and although I don't mind answering, I thought I would post it as well for those that don't know all about her. :)

     Chloe was found on the steps of a police station, and they guessed that she was about 3 months old at the time.  She then went to an orphanage, where she spent the first 5 years of her life.  She has a repaired cleft/lip pallet, and had surgery when she was 1 1/2 and 3 to repair her lip and pallet.  Last August, a family travelled to China to adopt Chloe, but once they got her, they realized she had more "needs" than just the cleft lip and decided to leave her in China.  As traumatic as this seems, I know God had a plan for her and he choose US to be her forever family!!  It also got Love Without Boundaries involved and they were able to put her in a special foster home.  She suffered from extreme malnutrition, she wasn't and still is not speaking more than 4 or 5 Chinese words, she wasn't potty trained, didn't feed herself or dress herself.  Her "special foster mom" has worked with her over the last several months and has taught her to eat more than just a liquid porridge, is mostly potty trained, and can even ride a bike! Although she will need lots of different therapies, we are blessed that God has chosen us to be her parents!  Here are some of the recent pictures that we got of her....

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Making a difference with Amazon

Partnering with Amazon... 4% of purchases made will go back to our adoption... send to your friends, help spread the word, and make a difference this Christmas season!

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Scrapbook Adoption FUNDRAISER

Ok, so I must admit, I'm very new to the whole blog thing, and obviously NOT very good at it! I'm embarrassed to see that it's almost been a year since my last post <yikes!>, but I'm very excited to say that we are still plugging along! We finished our home study in December, one of the HUGE steps in moving forward in the whole process.
My post today though, is to talk about the fundraiser that, as I call them, "the 3 sistas" are putting on for us this weekend!  They have worked very hard, done all the advertising, planning, etc. and they are hosting an All Day Crop, this Saturday, January 21st!  Do you like to scrapbook?  Message me for more details!  It's NOT too late!  I'm VERY excited about this special day and would love for you to join us!
May you all have a BLESSED day!
Katie