"Picture Page, it's Picture Page, it's time to do the...

Picture Page." Name that tune?

"Magic" by E.t.H.a.N

I've been stalking The National Vias Center now for 2 solid weeks. I've always heard really nightmare stories about them too. So everytime I call my heartrate goes up and I am praying that they don't take all my paperwork and either burn it or put it at the bottom of the pile. I mean do these people know the power they have in their hands?

I called this morning (9/9) and was hopeful. It was my day and I was sure of it. The sweet, sweet girl on the phone asked me the normal battery of ID questions and then says how can I help you? Please God, let her tell me that I've been cabled. "Just wanted to know if I had been cabled yet?" "Nope. Looks like not yet. Call back tomorrow." Really? Again, call back tomorrow?! I hung up and not once since the day we got Collins referral have I cried until now. I think the helplessness is just overwhelming at time. Well, and the fact that I had talked to my baby girl just the night before. Seen her eat breakfast and smile and stare at goofy white people who are telling her they love her.

Finally, the mama bear came out of me and I was caling back. And I was calling back and talking to a supervisor! When I finally ask for a supervisor she reluctantly says yes, puts me on hold and for 3 minutes nothing. I'm praying the whole time and honestly praying for a man to answer. The reality is that women really think that women should just get over it and suck it up. I've found that they are much less sympathetic.

When the phone picks up, I hear just what I wanted too...Ethan. Well, I wasn't waiting on Ethan, but a man. I tell hime that I am sorry. I'm not really a crier but it was his lucky day to get long stories and tears. I make a joke about everyone being scared of NVC and thinking that everyone there is named Helga. He laughs! These people are human! Ethan turns out to be an angel. Really. So nice and helpful. Tells me to call him back in the afternoon. well, duh, was going to anyway. Call back. Cable done. AND he's emailing me a copy of the letter. Ah-mazing! I told him that everytime I think of our NVC cable letter I'll think of him and sing "Magic" by B.o.B. in my head, but I think Ethan has the NVC magic.

QQ is the Chinese Skype

I would have told you to in a very Elaine type way told you to "Get out!" if you had told me that I was going ot be QQing with Collins yesterday. Life is fun because you just never know.

So, Doctor Li had told me how to get a QQ account so we could video chat with Collins. I signed up, got my log in ID of 1 billion something and "friended" him. Last night I was cooking and this noise comes out of my computer and it's Dr Li and he says Collins is in his lap and ready to video chat....uhhhh, well, didn't realize that I didn't have a camera so off to Wal-Mart.

Came back, installed and who knew, they were stilll there. He sat her down in this chair and there she was staring at us. Weird. I was laughing and claping my hands and I know she was a little freaked out. She ate her breakfast, played with a toy, smiled, laughed, waved. It was amazing. There she was. In real time. Halfway around the world. In the most run down orphanage ever, but so well loved. I mean this is unheard of. Maybe if a child is in foster care you can Skype with them, but not in an orphanage.

Dr Li showed us his office, we chatted about how he thought this would be great to do with all the families. How hw loved the videos we sent Collins of our family. I really doubt that Dr Li is a Christian, but he has a very tender heart for these children. God is sweet to allow us to have this experience!

Towards the end, he got her to talk a little. She even said mama. She has the softest, sweetest little voice which surprised me for some reason. We decided we would QQ again in a few days. Can't wait!

To Chat or Not to Chat?

There is all this talk all over the China chat groups about getting your NVC letter emailed to you. Rush, rush, rush. It can take days off your Article 5 submission. I've been calling NVC like every 3 hours to see if we had been cabled yet and then to so sweetly ask if they will email it to me. Come to find out, Lifeline needs the actual letter anyway before they can send it. Why? I should have learned my lesson not to get caught up in the "forum" madness!

Our NBC SIM# for NVC approval then GUZ#

This is common lingo for adoptive parents. It get a little ridiculous, but anyone adopting from China could read this and know exactly what I was talking about. Anyway, no Visa for us today. Amazing. Our NBC approval was supposed to be sent on 8/30 or 8/31, but instead went out 9/1. Do they not know that every day matters?! Could have made the difference in us getting our Visa to China Monday vs Thursday which bothers me. Oh well. Moving on.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

We have had a wave of new pictures come in of Collins. Our friends Sharon has gotten us some and then I found the doctors email address and started emailing him myself. I wasn't sure how he would like this, but he has been super nice and even sent us some more pictures today. They are so funny and random just like China. BTW, whatever format her sends them in I can't edit them so that's why some are sideways. Anyway, I love getting all these pictures and we are really so thankful for them because it is evident that her arm is worse than we thought.

From the video we got back in February, it seemed that really she had very little nerve damage and almost full use of her right arm. But these pictures show us something more. Nothing devistating at all, but just that it is less functional than we thought. You can tell in some of the pictures that it is underdeveloped and weak. She can use it for sure, but her right arm is just going to be a "helper" arm. Jerod said "Well, good. There's my lefty. That's where the money is." I thought that was great. So Jerod. Hopefully, with some therapy she can gain back some use of that arm. We'll see. But until then we just keep praying for that cute little girl on the motorcycle!

Waiting is the Devil

We got our I800 approval from Homeland Security on August 27th. Basically, that says that we have approval to adopt Collins. From there, they send our approval to the National Visa Center where they issue Collins her Visa to come to the US. This takes about a week. Then we wait for our Article 5 letter from China which I think just says that yes, Collins is still alive and adoptable....let's hope this is true. That takes about 2 weeks to get. Then you take that piece of paper to the Center for Chinese Adoption Affairs and they approve you for travel. That takes 3 weeks. Then you apply for an appointment at the Consulate in China. Usually you travel abotu 2 weeks after you get your travel approval. Soooooo, lets so some math. 1+2+3+2=8 weeks. Wow. Could we really be leaving in 8 weeks. That puts us at October 27th. Crud. I need to pack.

BFF

Here is Collins (middle) with her favorite little friend Shaylee who is heading home to Atlanta. Her family is in China now and was able to get us some pictures. We joke that we are just moving their playdates to The South!

(The man with them is the orphanage doctor.)

They Always Look the Same

I have never seen a picture of a child in a Chinese orphanage smiling. And even though I know that's the "norm," it still breaks my heart every time.

We got new pictures of Collins last night and while such a blessing to get them, they always make me sad. There is this very quiet, deep sadness in her face. I try and tell myself that maybe shes sad about the terrible boy haircut she has or the dindgy clothes or maybe she's never seen a camera before. But the loss she has experienced at just two years old shows in her eyes. The beautiful part though is that God is and will continue to redeem her tragic beginning. She has two parents that are already dedicated to her in every way, brothers and sisters that wait for her everyday, and a God that loves her more than she can imagine.