Where have we gone?

We have a private Molly facebook page now that we use to update. Please feel free to "friend" me, shoot me a message telling me who you are and I'll add you to the group! Molly has had her surgery, is now walking 100% of the time and is fluent in english. Would love for you to follow so hop over to facebook and look for us.

The tricky Travel approval!

Many of you saw on face book that we received ANOTHER miracle of a quick TA! Last Friday I received an email saying that our TA was on the way from China. Boy were we excited! That is an understatement, really you can ask my children about the hollering in the car after we left the barber shop..That was at 9 days. Average is a week and half to 3 weeks for TA. The tricky part was that it wasn't at the agency yet and to get even trickier the agency is now closed for the remainder of the week until next Monday.. December 30th. We had been praying hard for TA to arrive at Lifeline today. From the time it arrives we request the first available Consulate Appointment, the last thing you do in Guanghzou before you come home, your whole trip is built around this date. The agency then felt like a Gotcha day of 1/13 was a strong possibility and still does although they'll never say anything is final, well, until it is.. It takes 1-2 days to get a confirmed CA so we were hoping the TA would come today and then although they would be closed they could communicate via email about the CA date and we could book tickets and be ready to go on 1/10!!! Well... sadly no TA came today.. Odds are it would've come tomorrow but they're closed.. TA comes via DHL delivery and those are being held until Monday. So... what do we do now.. well after I worked through the disappointment I felt a peace, a peace that passes all understanding.. You see, I really have NO reason to question God's goodness at this point. Nope.not.one.reason. God doesn't see dates on a calender. It doesn't matter to him that Lifeline is closed for the rest of the week and that our TA is sitting somewhere waiting on us. God is already working behind the scenes to secure a super fast CA appointment, to super naturally save a CA appt for us the week of 1/20 ( they'll be filling fast before Chinese New Year) and those tickets that could be sky high  booking a mere likely 7 days before we leave the country, nope, they will come under our budget of $7K. Honestly when I feel down and worried I look back on what God has done over the past 11 months. Our adoption start to Finnish with Molly in our arms on 1/13 will only be 11 1/2 months. Ya'll that is super fast for an International Adoption. I look back at what happened with our Article 5 and what he did there, I look at our fast TA and how God knew I was pleading with him for news prior to Christmas and he blessed us with that. I am claiming now that God is already getting everything in order for us to leave on 1/10, a super fast confirmed CA, a CA the week of 1/20 and our tickets to come in within our budget of $7K. Please join us this Christmas in praising him for all he has already done and will do to work this all out so we're holding our baby on 1/13. I CAN NOT believe we are nearly finished. At this point it's pack, buy tickets, get cash in order and go get her! We'd like to thank you all for your amazing support this year in helping us bring Molly home. We could not have done this without your prayers and help. Hopefully this time next week we'll be getting ready to have a confirmed CA and buy those plane tickets!!! God is able indeed!

The Christmas miracle!

We were blown away a week ago Thursday! We were working all week to get our Supplement 3 completed and to secure our new 800 approval to move forward with our article 5 on Monday. At 230 in the am Thursday an email came through saying our article 5 was ready to be picked up?! I thought for sure this was a mistake, more like a mass email that went out to several. After some emailing with our agency we were told it indeed was NOT a mistake and we were picked up! WOW!! The article 5 process is a two week process and we had just jumped forward 2 week and 2 days! Now we were in the Travel approval wait. Typical TA wait is 1.5-3 weeks although some in our agency had gotten TA in 7 days last week.. Once we get TA we will request our first available and then book tickets and hopefully head out soon! ( after Christmas for sure) We are really feeling hopeful that our TA will come this week and we would be able to get a 1/6 Gotcha day or more likely 1/13.. Would you please join us in praying for this TA to come tomorrow or Friday? It can come by phone anytime from 1030-530 our time, Alabama is an hour behind us and they work 9-430... I'm a cleaning, organizing crazy person right now. I am keeping my car spotless and you should see the bags for goodwill tomorrow. Do you think I can re paint my cabinets and my bedroom before we leave?! Nesting is in full.swing.. A lot of people have asked what exactly happened with the article 5? The truth is we don't know... Maybe they just held everything and when the new info came they just pushed it through quickly? Maybe they used the medical expedite and that helped or maybe and most likely this was a God thing and he loves Molly more then we ever could and wants her home asap also.. We are beyond thankful for the ability to catch up and please, please join us in praying this TA in over the next 2 days.. God IS able!!

Heres where we stand and PRAY

Once again we are back in the final stretch. Lord whiling for the last time this time. As you know, or if you don't know, please read the post before this, we were delayed. Hopefully, prayerfully, this delay will be over on Monday and we can get back in the article 5 process. Our supplement 3 is in the building and we just need the new 800 approval, new GUZ # and new PDF and we'll be back in business! The article 5 process normally takes 2 weeks and then we begin our Travel Approval wait. These are coming anywhere between 1-3 weeks, one came in today at 7 days!! This is great news. We also will submit a medical expedite letter for Molly and PRAY it works.. This "could" move us through the article 5 and TA process more quickly but there is no guarantee. Our agency feels we have a 50-50 chance of it working.. Once we get TA we will take the first available CA, consulate appointment and board a plane possibly in just a few days and be outa here! Things get tricky though.. real tricky.. because of a holiday called Chinese New Year .... The country literally shuts down for 14 days. Ya'll I'm going to be honest. If we don't get in before Chinese New Year you possibly will have to come and pick me up off of the floor- I do trust God's time is the right time, I do trust that God is in control. BUT, God's plan is not for Molly to continue to sit in the orphanage without us, his plan was not for her to orphaned in the first place! It's just not.. I know he's holding her in his hands and protecting her but we're done- This momma is ready to have her home. And with Chinese New Year upon us we need your prayers. We need you to pray specifically for;

-Article 5 drop off on 12/16 and pickup on 12/30

-we also need you to pray her medical expedite works

- and that we get a super fast TA

-Indeed that the Lord would hold her in his mighty hands and protect her until we can get there..

Dates could work like this;

Without the expedite-

1 week TA we leave on 1/10 get her on 1/13 and home on 1/24

2 week TA we leave on 1/17 get her on 1/20 and home on 1/31

3 week TA pushes us into CNY:( which means we wouldn't leave until mid to late February..

with the expedite it's any ones guess..

Please join with us as we pray these things. You all have been so, so supportive of us and we are so thankful! God has been faithful and I know he's working over time behind the scenes to get her home timely.. Bless you all in this advent season as we seek our Lord..

xo,

 Brittan

Final update!

These were words I was not expecting to read today! Sitting in the Drs office with one child there for a check up who also happened to have strep and another who started vomiting on the way to the Drs office I was once again feeling weary.. Although thankful all the shoes were falling off at once and that we weren't in China yet I was kinda ready for things to resume to normal.. All the sudden I see an email come by and it says Final update! I could tell there were pictures and my phone couldn't load them! Ahh!!! Finally the loaded and boy did my heart smile..

 Hello sweet girl.. Boy have I missed your darling face!! Your hair is growing longer and you look so good! Sadly, I can tell your back at the orphanage now which likely means you've left your precious foster momma.. I am so sorry you have to endure yet another change before we come! I promise you we are working as fast as we can and that I along with many, many others are praying so hard for your tender heart! All these changes now and to come.. You are so, so loved my sweet girl! The God of the universe is working around the clock to fix this paperwork issue and bring you home in his perfect timing.. Our hearts and arms long so badly for you though and we are pleading with him to do all he can! I know he is love, we're coming soon, I promise.. Hold on just ta little longer. Your FAMILY is coming!
 We love you so..
 xo momma...

 Friends please pray our medical letter will work to expedite the end of her adoption.. There are no guarantees.. She's teeny tiny but oh so beautiful!
 18.7 pounds 29 "( keep in mind measurements are not always accurate)
 Also please please pray for Molly's tender heart, what a lot of changes she's had especially now leaving her foster momma:(

"God has allowed this to touch your process"

After a rough 2 weeks, especially this last one with Thomas admitted to MUSC for several nights I was feeling pretty worn down. Really worn down actually:( Tired, emotionally exhausted from some other things going on in our life and then we got the call. Our agency just doesn't call to shoot the breeze. And when I answered the phone and knew it was Karla and Emily on a conference call I knew it wasn't good news. At this stage of the game I didn't really worry about paperwork but about Molly! Although the news wasn't good, wasn't good at all, at least it wasn't about another one of my babies being sick! Turns out that our article 5 process was flagged because the names didn't quit match up I have a hyphenated name on my passport and my licence but on everything else during the normal day to day living I just sign my usual name. Somehow we didn't realize it would be a huge deal and it turned out to be:( The bottom line is this "could" add 6 weeks. Which could be more with Chinese New Year. Which would not be early Jan late Dec but mid Feb!:( The morning had been emotionally rough , then a dr's appt for Thomas wasn't ideal ( still running a fever, no swimming for the rest of Nov at least, no school Monday if not better, this will be the 3rd week out etc..) then the call. As Karla prayed for us I just cried silent tears, streaming down my face, I'm so fragile right now, so worn down, so tired. Other times in the process we've not quit stayed on track losing a week of two, looking back I know now that God knew that Thomas would be so sick and we'd need to be here for him. I'm ok with that but 6 weeks and the thought that God knows something I don't know about the next weeks when we should be traveling honestly frightens me. We've believe whats going on with Thomas to be an attack on our family. We've stepped out in faith and proclaimed God's faithfulness through this whole process. God has been so faithful to us and things were going so well. After we hung up I called my officer and explained the situation. She was so kind and said once she got our supplement 3 she would do it right away and if I sent her an over nigh ted envelope she would over night it to our agency. We'll over night the supplement 3 to the lock box and then if she'll over night the new 800 approval we'll likely only lose 3 weeks not 6.. This weekend I will also get a medical expedite letter together for Molly. We had not needed this in the past and there is no guarantee that it will make a difference but we can try. The truth is that she is un repaired and needs to come home. If she is experiencing nerve damage, which is highly likely, then nerve damage is unrepairable. I'm looking for an MD to sign the letter for me which we'll send it to China to try to expedite the article 5 process and beyond. God whiling these 2 things will catch us back up where we need to be. I'm so thankful that God loves Molly so much and wants her to come home, I'm so thankful that he's on top of this even when I feel so weak. Thomas looks pretty good although he's pale and run a fever often right now. Stomach pain is minimal since we came home which is great. We're awaiting the 12  biopsies and other test results that will hopefully explain a little more. If it is HSP it can takes weeks to recover. Our Dr says it's a significant systemic illness and we just have to watch him, HSP or whatever it is. Please pray for us, pray for healing for Thomas, protection of the others and Tommy and I. And for the remainder of the process- that we could catch back up quickly and at this point have her home BEFORE Chinese New Year if not sooner. Throughout this whole process We have proclaimed God is able, I know he is..

Article 5 process

Big milestone completed last night as we recieved our GUZ # and our PDF from the NVC. Now all of our paper work goesto Guanzhou to begin the article 5 process. Everything should be dropped off on Monday 11/18/13 and picked up on 12/2/13. Once that happens we start our wait for TRAVEL APPROVAL! These are coming between 1 1/2 - 3 weeks right now on average. A three week TA wait would put us recieving it Christmas week. We then get in line for CA, consulate appointmnet and once we have that we book our flights and GO!
 We're trying to pack as much as we can,  and go ahead and buy Christmas presents so that the month of December can be spent focusing on the children and not stressing about all the last minute things we need to do to leave:) With West's birthday today, then my sister's wedding, Thanksgiving, and the celebration of our Lord all month in December things can and will go fast! We haven't seen Molly's sweet face since late July nor any new videos.. So so ready to have her home! We're coming sweet girl!!