WE LEAVE TOMORROW!

Oh yes my friends! Tomorrow is the day. We have waited.. not always as patiently as we should...none the less, we've waited for this day to arrive. I woke up this morning to Wes' alarm as usual and was just so overwhelmed with emotions for what tomorrow is. I cried all morning. I'm an emotional wreck and all i can think is I better get myself together before I go get Reece!!  Wes even popped his eyes open and looked at me, "ONE MORE DAY"  with a smile on his face. Then of course my tears came back, along with tears from Wes. It's so hard to explain the excitement of it all into the right words. We know in our hearts we are fixing to change Reece's life forever. Teach him that he IS loved, he DOES matter, he DOES belong to a family, and OUR GOD LOVES HIM MORE THAN HE CAN EVEN WRAP HIS MIND AROUND. Our lives have changed in huge ways over this past year and I know bringing Reece in will change even more. So ready for God has planned for us!

I wanted to take a minute to say THANK YOU!!! To all of you who have prayed for us, came to our events, let me harass the mess out of facebook with our adoption, who gave to our cause without batting an eye, for the words of encouragement, the smiles, the people who allowed us to share with them how God moves, for the ones who let me talk their ears off about Reece cause I'm so stinkin excited,  thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Each and everyone of you have played such a special part in our lives and we are forever changed and forever grateful for you!!!

Continue praying for us these next couple weeks. Got cha day is coming really soon! Pray for Reece for his change. Also please pray for our kiddos at home. they have to wait even longer to meet their brother they've prayed so hard for!

WE'RE GOING TO CHINA!!

Since my last update we have received our Travel Approval AND our Consulate appointment for Reece. Oh yes we are headed to China my friend!! There were some hiccups in the road from TA to CA but God worked them out and we received our consulate appointment yesterday!! Oh glory day!!!  We leave on Thursday! Yeap you read it right! THURSDAY! I'm not believing it's here already. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that we are REALLY going to get our son! IN CHINA!!! It's been 11 months since I stepped foot into our agency to give them our application. I was so nervous that day! We've come so far. God has proven his goodness over and over again. He has completely changed my life in this whole process. I wouldn't change this experience for the world!  My emotions have been wild, I've had melt downs , I've worked till I'm just plain tired but I keep looking at what is at the end of this small chapter. Reece. In 9 days our lives will open up to a new chapter. May 27th, is our got cha day. The day we meet our Reece face to face. The day we've longed for. We fully expect melt down mode from him considering he's only 2 years old and no he's not going to understand right now. In all the confusion, I'm sure it will be one of the most precious moments of our lives. I  think back to the times I have birth to our 4 kiddos now, they came screaming too! It took time to comfort them, to hold them and love them and teach them, it's ok. I'm sure Reece will take quite a bit  more time for that but that's how  view it . Baby steps.Another happy moment for me is coming... we will still be in China June5th. However, it's a special day. It's Reece's birthday!! He will have his mama and daddy in time for his 3rd birthday. Can I say that there will be some partying going on in China on June 5th!! I'm sure I can locate a cake of some sort at the local Chinese Walmart, right? I have prayed so many times to be with Reece for his 3rd birthday. I was so heart broke during Thanksgiving and Christmas not having him here with us.  I'm thrilled!! Yea I know Reece has no clue what his birthday is but WE do!! I'll try my best to keep this blog updated as much as possible while we are in gone. If I can't, we have family here holding down our fort till we return and they can post for us if we can't. Please continue to pray for us and for Reece. He is about to face HUGE change. He's going to need lots of peace and comfort outside of Wes and I  that we know only God can provide.

SO CLOSE

We are currently waiting for our Travel Approval! OH my goodness!! I simply can't wait! It's all so exciting! We are just to the point of we are READY TO GO!!  We are so close!! Will update you as soon as we hear!  Please continue to be in prayer for our familyand for Reece. Lot's of change heading our way! Thank you all!!

EYES OPEN

I'm sorry it's been almost a month since I last posted. Life has been so hectic lately and my mind has been so consumed that I have a hard time trying to get anything done really. Here is where we stand on our adoption process. We are now waiting on what they call ARTICLE 5. This approval will take 2 weeks. So from April 29th on, we will be waiting for our TRAVEL APPROVAL! Yes I said it and you read it right! We are there! We have finally arrived to that point in our process where everything is  moving fast, we are trying to keep up, we are still fundraising and we know that two weeks is fixing to fly by like never before. I can not explain correctly the emotions that hit me every single day at this point. It's like I'm a loony bird who cries constantly. I'm an emotional wreck. God is showing me things that I would have never known had Wes and I not said YES to adoption. My eyes have been opened to his goodness, his grace, his abundant love. I've learned more in this past 10 months than I ever dreamed of. When God puts a plan in action for your life and you  decide.. you know what God, I'm on board. I don't know how it's going to happen but I trust you...... GOD MOVES. In this past month I've been stressed to the point of tears. I had that moment where we realize that we still had a lot of money to raise and our travel was moving up on us really fast. I was reminded from a great friend that God does have this. I needed her that day to lift me up and God knew it. He used her to remind me that God didn't call us to adoption and then abandon ship with us. As my mom stated, God didn't bring us this far to leave us standing in the road. They are both right. I know that. I  let the devil sneak in for a few moments on me but so thankful God put the right words towards me when I needed them.  I've spent more time praying and reading scripture and praying and reading scripture. Not long after that break down, we did have a fundraiser we raised $1000 from that day and not only that... our youth from church had been raising money for orphans and the money went to the families in our church that are adopting. My husband came home from church on a Wednesday night with $500 toward our adoption. God has humbled me, my mind, my actions, my words more in this past 10 months than I ever thought possible.  I still can't get past the fact that my God chose us. He seemed to think we were the perfect family for Reece. Even though we are not perfect. Things changed when I finally said.. God I'm yours. Use me, use my family. Forget what HEATHER wants to do..change me. Guess what... he did! My heart has changed 100% for adoption. I was always for it, don't get me wrong. I was in the group of "oh that's such a great thing to do" but never let God really open my heart to what these families go through, never knew the background to the kids until we are in it. My heart breaks daily for the orphans of the world. It has become a burden . My heart just aches and I cry so much knowing what is happening in these precious children's lives. Did you know that a child in China, if not adopted by age 14, they are kicked out.. on the streets. Can you imagine??? That's just one of many many heart breaking facts. These kids are abused, neglected, not fed properly, don't have the correct medical attention, don't know love in the way we do.. .and yet we sit comfortably in our homes everyday. Yes we  all struggle sometimes but you still manage to run get you a Starbucks when you think you need one, you still manage to run to Hobby Lobby and buy something cause there is a sale going on.  I say that cause I'm that person too.  I am guilty like everyone else. Wow at the opening of my eyes. If we are to love like Jesus, that also includes the orphans. If nothing else, pray for them. Jesus loves them just like he loves us. He's not limited to WHO he loves and we shouldn't be either.  God actually has a huge love for orphans and widows. They need to be taken care of and we need to be the hands and feet.  Wes and I still have a need of $8500 which is honestly our travel. We are so close!! If anyone would like to help in anyway, we would be so thankful.There is a donate button at the top of our page. If nothing else, we can really use your prayers right now. We need them, we are begging for them. Also pray for Reece. I've been praying so hard that God prepares his heart for the change that is fixing to take place. Praying for peace, praying for protection. Thank you all so much who have helped us. Our $30,000 has really turned into $34,000 . People have stepped up and have shown their hearts in so many ways and we are so so humbled by that.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part in our son's lives. The generosity of you guys have been overwhelming. I truly feel blessed to know such wonderful people! Even strangers that I don't know.. have stepped up to the plate. What an amazing thing to experience. God is good!

GOD IS MIGHTY

I've been  waiting and I've been dreaming really of my turn to say those three letters that we've been waiting for. Those three letters that let us know we are so close to our baby that in a blink it will be here. I've been stalking my own emails.. I've been checking my phone as if it's going to grow wings and leave the room, I've bee praying. I keep opening my bible and God keeps re-opening my eyes, building my faith  and continually changing me. This week has been the week of really knowing it's probably fixing to be here.. praying and telling God " I know you have this"  , "I know it's all in your timing and I'm trusting you",  "Lord God I know you are mighty and I know you have this figured out .. help me be patient", "Lord please protect Reece until we can get there". " Lord this patient thing is really hard! "  All these things.. I'm sure God was smiling and giggling at me knowing he knew today was our day.  So i stepped out today for a bit. Got home, did my ritual email stalking and decided to check my phone.. 2 missed calls from our agency.  I gasped when I realized what the number was. Oh joy!! Checked my voicemail and there was that voice we've come to love. Our SW telling me to call. She had a "question". I immediately thought back to the last time she pulled that one on me and it was good news. So of course my fingers couldn't dial  fast enough. Wouldn't you know it, she had JUST stepped out for  lunch. My response literally was NOOOOOOOO! I have to wait a hour?? OH man! Yes the sweet girl on the phone laughed at me. ha ha  She probably thought  was nuts!   So naturally I call Wes at work. Told him the story so he could wait that hour out with me in suspense. I was so anxious i was really about to burst into tears and I didn't even know yet!! Longest lunch break of my life! And really i didn't wait an hour but it seemed like forever! Phone rings again.. ohhh it's her!! And just as I was hoping for we get LOA!  Oh my goodness!!! Pure joy, excitement, the realization that we are going to get our son in 2-3 short months!  The realization that God has taken the time to help me build my faith,to teach me what I needed, to increase my walk with him, to know that he really does have this. To remind me to seek him first and always. Wow... God works in mighty ways and he's still working. I'm sure my faith will continue when it gets travel time. I've never been on a plane so  I'm sure i'll be praying as if I know its my last day on earth. ha ha But for today, God has truly blessed us and we are so thankful. Couldn't wait to share! 

Waiting...

Ok so I'm realizing very early in this wait for LOA that this is going to be TUFF! Wow!!  When i say that adoption is a roller coaster, i think that's a understatement. We are  so excited and anxious! My sweet friend Jennifer and her husband are adopting a little girl from Haiti and she got wonderful news about her baby girl this week and yeap she made me cry on the phone. So thankful God is letting us go through this journey together even though our Children are from different places. She too is starting to feel that roller coaster  I've been talking about. OOOHH man the emotions are wild!  You would never think that until your in the middle of it. 
 So I  made a video and posted for everyone to see I'll add the link on here. Yes i know there are some typos and yes i know it's not fantastic but i don't know what i'm doing and it took me HOURS to do it so typos will stay in place. ha ha  I want to thank you all once again for your ongoing support. I know that I've been posting like crazy on my facebook wall and some people must really be tired of it by now but for me it's worth it. This is my baby so I'm going to do what it takes.
 I did want to fill you in on a race that we have coming April 6, in Hueytown for all you that like close to us if you want to participate. I know there are a lot of runners out there. We are working on getting a site up and I'll post that link as soon as it's up. We will also include a craft fair in the same day so we have booths available if crafting is your thing.  Again, i will update as soon as i get all the info.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. Hopefully I'll get some crafts done for shows and get something accomplished in Reece's room. Courtney and Hannah are off to youth camp this weekend so I think Wes and I will sneak in a date which is VERY rare for us!  You know with 4 children it's tough to get dates with your man. ha ha  Love you all!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=picGX2udrc0

LID

Oh glory day!! Our sweet social worker called me yesterday afternoon and said we have a LOG IN DATE!! WoW!!!! It took just 8 short days!!! It got done before the Chinese New Year and I gotta say ... YIIIPPPPEEEEE!!! Excitement doesn't quite  describe my emotions.  It has now hit me  that I better get my butt in gear. I mean I thought I was already in gear and the reality of it being on us before we know it has hit and i feel overwhelmed slightly at thinking of everything that needs to be done before we travel. Now our SW told us it can take 90 days for our LOA which is our letter of approval from china however I've also heard it may go a lot quicker than that considering we are already matched. Someone commented that 55 was the average and a sweet lady that is about to travel said hers took 25 days!  25!!! Did you hear me?  We were LID on 2-6 which  means we are already 13 days into the wait!  From LOA we travel within 3 months! I could seriously burst into tears i'm so excited. I just keep fighting them back. lol  We are moving full force with our fund raisers. Once again we are hitting every single craft show that is available for us to hit. We DON'T have all our funds yet so that kind of adds to our stress. We've been amazed at the out pouring of our friends and our church members at what they have been willing to do for us. Even our family. My parents have give from the get go, and still continue to support us however they can. Wes' mom gave us a good bit of support too!  Wes' brother and wife gave us mattresses for his bed which was a huge blessing that we didn't have to buy those. My sister has tried to sell every thing I've made to all her co-workers and they've been wonderful. We are so blessed to have these people here for us. We can't wait to share that one moment in the airport with our family when they too can meet Reece face to face. Oh man, I'm going to be crying the whole time! If you feel like you'd want to donate for our adoption we have a link you can go to. It's tax deductible for you so that's a plus. Many many thanks to those who have been supporting us all along. We love you and we couldn't do this without you and without your prayers. God has been so awesome in this adventure of ours (he always is) and is teaching me so many things. Still teaching and humbling me in  many many ways. Glad to be on this road and glad I get to share it with others! Can't wait to give you the LOA news!!!! Looking forward to it!

http://adopttogether.org/williamsadopt/