The Call

I know.  I left y'all hanging with that line at the end of my last post about our world being rocked again and you may have heard the news by now anyway, but I wanted to post it here anyway for posterity's sake.  Bear with me ;-)


Rewind to the day after the grass fire near our house (September 1st).  It was a busy day for us.  Amelia and I stopped by Mother's Day Out to meet her new teachers and check out her new room.  One of my fellow-adopting moms, Beth, and I chatted about where we each were in the adoption process and how Jason and I (ok, really just me) had regrouped and were back on track to getting the paperwork done for our dossier. I had just exchanged several emails with our new Family Coordinator at our adoption agency about our Waiting Child application.  I confirmed it was active and inquired whether we could be matched while we were paperchasing (doubtful).  A new Shared List had been released on Monday - of course we hadn't received a call so we were looking towards next month.  And for our family, looking toward getting our paperwork done!


Amelia and I left Mother's Day Out and headed home.  We stopped on the way to check on the horses at our neighbor's then continued home so I could figure out how and when we'd bring the horses back to our property.  Jason got home from work late in the afternoon.  I picked up Ava from school and we did a quick opening of birthday presents because it was Jason's 40th birthday!  That celebration was cut short because we had to hook up the horse trailer and bring our herd home again.  Hooking up the trailer, driving to the neighbor's, trying to load some uncooperative horses, making one trip home to drop off some horses, finally calling our friend to bring his stock trailer again (since the difficult ones DID get in there) then finally returning home, took several HOURS!  We were exhausted by the time we got home.  I think I served cereal for dinner ;-)  I tucked the girls in bed late (like 9:30) and Jason and I collapsed into bed around 10:15 ourselves. 


I was off in dreamland when my ringing cell phone woke me up.  I looked at my clock as I tried to get my bearings.  It was 11:30 pm.  What was going on?  Who could be calling me this late?  It had to be a prank call.  I looked at my cell phone and saw the (703) prefix.  My heart fluttered.  I knew that prefix.  It was a Virginia prefix and the only people who ever call me from Virginia was my adoption agency.  And I KNEW there would only be one reason why they'd be calling me in the middle of the night.  But how could it be?  We were just starting to really get some traction on accumulating our paperwork!  


I picked up the call in disbelief.  "Hello??!"  I asked incredulously.  It was Leah, the Waiting Child Program coordinator on the other end.  At least I think it was.  I was in shock and still processing what was happening that I'm not sure I remember her saying her name.  She went on to explain a little girl had popped up on the Shared List who fit our family's profile.  She was 15 months old.  (15 MONTHS OLD!!?? --- so young!!)  She had repaired spina bifida.  I remember Leah saying something about her having surgery in Beijing.  She ended the short call by saying she would be emailing her file over now and we had 48 hours to meet with doctors and decide if we wanted to permanently lock her file.  If so, all paperwork for her Electronic Acceptance had to be submitted to China within 72 hours.  


We knew the drill.  We had the same time constraints with Amelia though referrals move much more quickly on and off the List now.  The Waiting Child program has become VERY popular in the last few years as the wait for a "healthy" child from China has lengthened to 5+ years.  And by the way, these calls for referrals are routinely happening in the middle of the night (or late evening depending on where you live) now as China releases their lists the morning of their time zone.  So morning in China is the middle of the night here.


So, to continue, I got off the phone and quickly filled Jason in.  I ran to the office and was maniacally hitting the "get mail" button, looking for that email!!  Where was it!!!??  I texted my friend, Beth, to be praying.  I didn't expect she would get my text until the morning but she replied a bit later and we continued to text into the wee hours of the morning.  Jason had said he'd look at the file in the morning and went back to sleep, he couldn't stay awake to wait.  I know!! 


When the email with her medical file finally came through I did a very dangerous thing.  I looked at her picture first.  


And she is Absolutely.  Adorable.  There were three pictures in the file, one of her smiling.  Smiling!!  All the photos we received with Amelia's file and all subsequent updates were of Amelia looking at the camera straight-faced, not smiling.  For so long I wondered what her smile looked like!  So I was especially happy to see this one's gorgeous smile!  


The next few days went by quickly.  We were able to get in touch with Amelia's pediatric neurosurgeon and get his thoughts on the medical file as well as a pediatric radiologist as there were MRI readings included in her file.  While this little girl's spina bifida is more complex and potentially more severe than Amelia's, we felt reassured that what we were expecting was probably, based on what we were given, reasonable to expect.  In actuality, the doctors were a little more optimistic and favorable about her prognosis than we were anticipating.  


So, with excitement, we submitted our Electronic Acceptance (EA) on September 3, 2011.  We received our Pre-Approval (PA) from China on September 14, 2011.  Our next step is to submit our dossier (hopefully sometime in November?) and then wait for the Referral Approval (RA) and Travel Approval (TA).  There are many other steps in between those milestones but it's mostly out of my control and waiting on the US and China governments to issue different approvals and documents.  We don't know when we will travel, but if we travel in late spring/early summer (about the same time we traveled to get Amelia) I will be a VERY happy momma!  


Until we receive our RA from China, I cannot post her picture, but I can guarantee you she's as cute as button!  And I promise, I'll be sticking that camera in her face constantly once we have her to make up for the lack of pictures now ;-)


Please keep her in your prayers - pray for protection and complete healing and that the Lord would already be preparing her little heart and mind for the big changes about to come her way, Lord willing!  Ava and Amelia are excited beyond belief to know who their baby sister is going to be.  We still don't have an American name picked out but Ava and Amelia's top picks are Dora, Tinkerbell and Ariel.  Hmmm...somehow I don't think we'll be deciding on one of those.  


Check back here when you can, I'll be posting all breaking news and updates on our process here...and if/when I start a separate adoption blog, I'll be sure to post the link!

Video of the Week - Week 24 - Go-Kart

Here's a little bit of Ava trying out her Daddy's 30+ year old go-kart!!

Project 365 - Days 163-169

Yes, yes, I will get to the earth-shattering news we received the night after the fire.  But first, I wanted to squeeze in one more 365 post ;-)

Day 163 - June 12

The girls love spending time with Grandpa!

Day 164 - June 13

So we were swimming in the pool and Ava found another baby turtle swimming around.  She quickly adopted him (or her?) as well and named it "Caicos".  So she had "Turks and Caicos" as her little pet turtles.  Poor things.

Day 165 - June 14

Amelia has found that Grandpas are very good for playing the part of the Prince.

Day 166 - June 15

I believe this little guy is the same baby we found nestled deep in the brush last week.  He and his momma came wandering up very close to the house and the grass is so tall on the other side of the fence he was jumping and boinging through the brush to keep up with his momma.  At this point, he turned and was jumping straight toward me and I got this cute shot!  He looks like a little kangaroo ;-)  Here's a picture of him standing next to the fence so you can see how little he really is:

Isn't he the CUTEST!?

Day 167 - June 16

The girls were really spoiled this week when Grandpa and Grandma Schuh came a few days after Grandpa and Grandma Norman left!  Amelia (and Rosie) found their favorite spot next to Grandma Becky.

Day 168 - June 17

Grandpa and Grandma were driving our motorhome back from California and were able to bring an extra surprise with them in the baggage compartment - Jason's old go-kart.  Ava took to this quite easily and was racing around with ease - that's a pillow we put behind the seat so she could reach the pedals ;-)  This go-kart has special significance to me because this is what Jason was riding the first time I ever remember seeing him - I would have been about 12 years old, Jason would have been about 13.  We had just arrived in California and were staying next door to Jason at his uncle's house.  I walked outside the next morning and here was Jason, racing up and down their driveway in this thing.  As I remember it, I asked him if I could ride it and he said, "no."  Typical. ;-)

Day 169 - June 18

Gorgeous sunrise once again...

Little Too Close

I'm going to interrupt my stream of boring Project 365 photos to blog about a scary event that happened here.  I must preface by saying we are really really really dry in Texas, in case you haven't heard.  Some are saying this is the worst drought in history.  Most of Texas falls under the "exceptional" drought status.  We are right on the edge of the "extreme" to "exceptional" drought, here in our little town.  Our state is literally a tinderbox.  


So, on August 31st, about noon I had gone up to the barn to get the horses pulled in as my farrier was coming an about an hour.  When he pulled up to barn, I walked outside to greet him and smelled that acrid smell of smoke.  Something was burning.  And the wind was blowing about 15-20 mph.  Not good.  To the south of the barn, a large fire had started.  Soon, you could hear the sirens and in between horses, my farrier and I would walk outside the barn and check on the fire.  


It was close.  About 2 miles south as the crow flies.  I started calling neighbors and was getting status updates from friends who were driving to the scene to get updates from the fire chief.  Friends out of the path of the fire started calling me, asking if we were all right or if we needed help with anything.  For the most part, the wind was blowing west, and spreading the fire parallel to us.  But, every once in awhile, the wind would shift, start blowing to the north, and head straight for us. 


About the time my farrier left, I was feeling pretty confident that we were out of the path.  I started to relax.  Then, at about 3:15, I left to pick up Ava from school.  I drove down our road about 2 miles and saw this, which sent chills down my spine despite the 103 degree weather:

Wow.  Looked much closer and bigger.  And scarier.  As I sat in the carpool lane, waiting for Ava to get out, I called my neighbor again.  She just got an update from the fire chief who said the fire was out of control and he had called in Ft Worth and other larger cities to come and help.  My  neighbor was packing, taking her dogs and cats to the kennel in the next town and was getting ready to bolt at a moment's notice.  I started to freak. out.  I called Jason and told him what was going on.  He said he'd go up to the barn and start hooking up the horse trailer.  

By the time I got home, the fire looked like this from our place:

This is our driveway and that's my barn on the far, right hand side.  Here's what it looked like from up at the barn...

It seemed to be a bit closer, and while it may not look "that" big, I just can't express to you enough how hot and DRY it is out here.  I kept thinking about the story my farrier had told me that afternoon about the time back in 1980 (the last time Texas has seen this kind of drought and heat) when he was a volunteer fireman and one of these monstrous fires broke out.  He said the wind shifted, the chief called for them to quickly jump in the truck and retreat.  He said he was flying across pastures and that fire was on their tail, just roaring through the countryside at 50 MPH!  They barely made it out.  If this fire started moving that fast, it could be at our place in a matter of minutes.  

We started calling friends in the area and some wonderful friends that Jason works with (and whose daughters have been our babysitters) said we could bring our horses to their place.  We called in reinforcements to help with loading and another friend came to our rescue with his stock trailer.  And I'm so glad he came because my horse, Tommy,would not get in my horse trailer but did get in our friend's stock trailer.  It took several hours to load up all the horses and get them over to our friends house.  All the while, we were keeping a close eye on the fire.


We heard reports they were getting it under control, but we went to bed late and didn't sleep well that night.  Here is what we saw on the news:

  

The next morning dawned with no smoke on the horizon, no smell of anything burning.  We heard it still wasn't completely contained but we were feeling better, not so scared.  I went over to check on the horses and this rooster was there to greet me ;-)

Oh, and did I mention they had some pasture mates?  

Star was hanging out with this guy when I got there but mainly, the cows stuck with each other and watched the horses warily ;-)

Tinkerbell was wondering where in the world they were!  Tommy and Magic gazed longingly at the wonderful, fresh green grass that was just out of their reach on the other side of the fence.

So I know I just said how dry and hot in a drought stage Texas is and then I show this beautiful, lush looking pasture.  Well, these people have exceptionally beautiful pastures and the inch of rain we did get about a month ago was enough to keep this green and growing.  The man who fertilizes, cuts and bales their pastures has taken over our fields and I'm hoping, that in a few years, our pastures can look like this!

So alls well that ends well, I guess.  The fire was completely put out, thank the Lord.  And even though it was Jason's birthday, after he got home from work, we spent another several hours loading the horses back up and taking them home, where they belong!  It turns out they would have been fine to stay at the house but you never know and it was a good "fire drill" for us!  I now know which horses I really have to work on trailer loading with ;-)  

After all that drama, we went back home and collapsed, thinking our night was over now and we could relax.  Little did we know, that in a few hours, our world was about to be rocked again...

Stay tuned....

Video of the Week - Week 23 - Mayhem

These commercials seriously crack me up.  This actor is great at playing the part of "Mayhem"...

Project 365 Days 156-162

Day 156 - June 5

I like this picture for a few reasons.  1) It shows Ava play-acting something out in her imaginary land (I know, not obvious to know that from the picture but I promise you, this is what she was doing!); 2) It shows Rosie hiding out in the cool bushes to escape the heat yet watching over Ava at the same time; 3) It documents (by the bright sunshine and Rosie buried in the bushes) the beginning of the 2nd, if not the number 1 most hottest (is that a word?) summer on record.  A few days before we got back from Turks, the temps shot up to 100 degrees and basically, have only come down for a few days the ENTIRE summer!!!  I'm not kidding.  The entire summer.  In a few days from this post, we will most likely top the record of 69 days of summer that were at or above 100 degrees.  Seriously, we love Texas but this heat and drought have really made us question how much do we really love Texas ;-)

Day 157 - June 6

I found this little guy up by the barn.  Ava loved him and quickly named him "Turk" in honor of us just returning from our trip.  She made a temporary home for him in her bug barn...

Day 158 - June 7

We had our pastures fertilized and the man who came out to do the fertilizing mentioned that he saw a baby deer out in the pasture, a very young deer!  So, the girls and I set out to look for this deer in the area he pointed out.  It was VERY difficult to spot him/her nestled in the brush.  I mean I looked for a good 10 minutes and he was sitting there in front of me the whole time!  In fact, this was the best picture I could get of him, he was camouflaged  so well in the brush and undergrowth.  Beautiful little guy though - his enormous white ears are what finally gave him away!

Day 159 - June 8

A girl and her dog, enjoying an ice cream cone together.

Day 160 - June 9

It is that time of year again and Ava had her ballet recital.  This year they did "Cinderella" which Ava was very excited about.  She was a snowflake and had the most beautiful costume this year!

Day 161 - June 10

My parents flew in to spend some time here and see Ava's recital.  It wasn't long before they had talked my Mom into reading them some books before bedtime!

Day 162 - June 11

Ava discovered this bird nest in her favorite climbing tree and was watching it daily to see when the eggs hatched!  I climbed up to take these pictures but sadly, I don't think the little guy (or his nest-mates) were long for this life.  I believe one of my cats had noticed all the attention we were paying this tree, noticed Momma bird, and took care of her :-(  Still, what was amazing to note about this nest is that probably 75% of it is made up of Rosie's dog fur!!  I think that would make a nice, cozy nest too!