Here we go...

Just a quick update before we hit the road...

We got Laura into see an orthopedic doctor today. Turns out she probably won't be on crutches 4-6 weeks. He said she can start walking on it again, as soon as the pain and swelling go down (maybe a week). This is great news! God has worked out all the final details and we are ready to go!

Please keep praying for us:
-That Laura will continue to heal quickly and not be too uncomfortable on the trip
-For our safety on the trip
-That Grace will be able to easily adjust to all the changes she is about to experience
-That we can be an encouragement to the people at Home of God's Love while we're there

Keep checking this blog! We'll continue to post from Taiwan, as soon as we get a chance.

-Seth

Get ready, Gracie...here we come!!

God is good. Time to celebrate (and pack)!!!

Seth checked his email at work on Thursday and found an email from Ted saying that we could now buy our airplane tickets. He put the email in with some gifts we had received from his fellow teachers and let me open it. He is such a sweetie.

Seth knew I was kinda depressed because I thought we would know something by that time and also because of something that had happened earlier in the week. Tuesday night, I missed a step or two and fell going out to get the mail. Next thing I know I was on the driveway with a painful foot and ankle. Just to be safe Seth and I went and got Xrays of that foot the next afternoon--turns out I had a minor fracture at the top of the foot. The doctor at Urgent Care said I should stay off that foot (and off of work) for 4-6 weeks. The crutches they gave me should make the Taiwan trip very interesting, to say the least! Especially since I have no coordination whatsoever normally.

Seth has been a caring and capable nurse these last several days. He says that taking care of me has been good practice for the baby. (I have been purposely testing his patience to make sure it is an accurate test. Ha) I am so thankful that Seth is out of school now. He is going to have to watch over his two girls this summer!

OK, back to the trip: Seth and I were able to buy our Taiwan tickets today, with the generous help of some of our friends. We leave on WEDNESDAY (Yippee!!), May 30th from Kansas City. We get to Taipei (nonstop flight from San Francisco) early morning June 1st. So we will be travelling towards our Gracie on our 8th wedding anniversary. I love how all these details are coming together.

We get back to San Francisco on June 7th, to spend a few days with our friends and relatives in California. And we fly back to Kansas City on Saturday, June 9th. Going to be a crazy, exhausting, joyful and very memorable next couple of weeks for us. I finally am able to let loose with a few shouts of joy. Too bad I can't break loose with a few jigs of the dance of joy that I usually celebrate with, might have to modify it and add the crutches in for variety. I am going to have to come up with something to express all this happiness!

Gotta go. More planning and rejoicing to do...

Laura

Trying to be patient...

but these pictures make that hard!

Here's the letter from Bev:

Dear Seth and Laura,
Grace was not wanting to hold still when I was
taking her picture! She was in a rocking chair and kept kicking to make it
rock. She has been chewing on her pacifier a lot lately so maybe she is
cutting teeth. She got her hair trimmed Sunday so it isn't in her eyes. On
the couch L-R: Jya-Ying, Wen-Ping, Kyler, Ava, Jya-Syin, Ian, Grace, Zane,
Hannah, Elisha and Yu-Fan. Sitting beside Ian makes Grace look really
small! She is eating a little better I think. She drank 720cc today
and that is about normal for her. She is so cute and sweet and fun to play
with!
God bless,
The Home

Any day we may get the call that lets us know that we can buy tickets. Laura is becoming harder and harder to restrain... if I'd let her she'd be flying over there tomorrow! We know that God's timing is perfect, as He has shown us through this whole process. But it's hard because it is SO close... Ah well, it will happen soon. And then we'll finally be with our BEAUTIFUL daughter.

-Seth

Mama to mama...

Today is Mother's Day here in the States. I don't know if Taiwan recognizes this holiday. I wonder how you are feeling today. Grace's adoption court hearing wasn't so long ago. Whenever I remembered that it was Mother's Day or family/friends wished me a happy Mother's Day I thought not of myself but of you. You will always be Gracie's birth mama. Being a mama hasn't sunk in for me; it's not a reality yet. I love Grace deeply already. I can't wait until I get to see her and hold her and hug her and do all the things that mothers do. Until then, it's kind of all unreal, seems like a dream. Thank you for unselfishly giving Gracie to me, to us, to love.

I saw your picture tonight for the first time. I hope you know how beautiful you are. You look happy in all the pictures, hope you are truly feeling some peace about the adoption. Grace is going to cherish those images of you. I know I do. It may be silly, but it makes me happy to have a face to picture when I am thinking about and praying for you. I wish I could fly over there right now and hug you and chat. I wish that we could be friends. As it is we have a common bond in that we both love and care for this precious little baby who has changed both of our worlds.

We got a little e-letter from Ted and Bev with the pictures saying:

Dear Mom and Dad, Happy Mother's Day! I have been eating a little better and I love to laugh and play. I really like playing with my feet now too. I think I put most of my energy into my hair and not into growing:)
Love, Grace.

Grace looks so happy and content in the pictures, don't you think? I don't worry about her because I know that Ted and Bev and the gang are watching over her. Seth and I wait on high alert for the phone call saying we can come to Taiwan. Might be any day now. I think it would be fun if Seth and I were in Taiwan for our anniversary (May 31st). I wonder if Taiwan is ready for the joy that is poised to explode around them (that would be me-Ha!); I have been holding it all in for the past six months and am ready to let it loose!

I was very emotional when I started this letter to you, birth mama. I have so much I wish I could tell you. I care about you, hope you know that somewhere in your heart. But now, after a few tears, I am being filled with peace. God is watching out for you and me, Seth and Gracie too. That knowledge puts my heart at ease. I have expressed some of what I was needing and wanting to say. I am thinking and praying for you...

Happy Mother's Day,
Gracie's other mommy

A call to Taiwan

I just got off the phone with Ted and Bev at the orphanage in Taiwan. We were curious as to whether it was close enough that we could buy tickets for our trip yet. Ted let us know that they were waiting to get the official court ruling papers back. Once they have those, they will call us and let us know when we can actually go over there (probably two weeks from when they get the papers). So... we're just waiting for that call. Lord, give us patience!

I also got to speak with Bev, who was holding little Gracie at the time. She tried to get Gracie to "talk" to me through the phone, but she wanted to be quiet. She said (again) that Gracie is a sweet, beautiful little girl, very observant of the world around her. She loves to swing and to be rocked. It's so warm they don't need socks over there right now, and her current favorite toy is her own toes! They think she weighs about 11 pounds.

Keep praying for Gracie's appetite. She is healthy, but is still not taking as much formula as she should. Also, be praying for her birthmother.

Well, we'll let you all know as soon as we here anything. Thank you for waiting and praying with us!

Court update!

When we got up this morning, this email from Ted was in my inbox:


Dear Seth & Laura,
“Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs 25:25

Things went well at court this afternoon. We don’t anticipate any problems except just having to wait on the paperwork and God’s timing. Your arrival date is getting closer and we’re sure the anticipation is great! We’ll keep you posted.

Right now Gracie’s birth mother and a social worker are spending the night with us before they return on the early morning train tomorrow at 5:59 A.M.

Gotta run! Time for family devotions with everyone.

In Christ’s Love,
Ted for Bev, Gracie and All in The Home of God's Love

Seth and I hope to have more specifics soon on when we might be able to go to Taiwan. Freeman (the hospital that I work at) is making a major change in starting computerized medication charting May 7th. Since I trained to be a helper for that we will probably wait until a week or two into the new program and then split for Taiwan if the paperwork situation is settled. So maybe around the 20th of this month? Depends on the paperwork. Grace will have just turned 6 months! We are so excited about going over there!! Yippee!

I was looking through the Lonely Planet Taiwan travel guide this morning (that I bought the weekend we found out about Grace) and thinking 2 things: I wish we had the time and resources to spend a month exploring fascinating Taiwan and getting to know its people; and, I am glad we will have some excellent guides to take us around and see the sights! We are planning on spending about 5-7 days in Taiwan (the majority at the Home of God's Love and maybe a few days with some missionaries we know in Taipei) and then a few days in California with our relatives and friends when we return to the States. I am specifically looking forward to seeing Gracie with Seth's grandparents. Visiting with them is important to me because it might be a couple of years before we get to see them again. Seth and I have been blessed with such awesome families...

I was busy last weekend! I bought a stroller/carseat deal (thanks, Mom Wolf!), a highchair and a whole bunch of small essentials for the nursery. My favorite purchase was a soft kiddie brush for all of Gracie's hair!! I think we have most of the items we need. My mom gave us a glider rocker. Mom and Grandma Pat came up yesterday and brought up a huge dresser that my aunt Tina had given us. Seth and I are going to spend this week setting up the nursery. I can't wait to put everything in its place!

Seth and I were praying together last night about Grace's courtdate. To be honest at times in this process I have tried not to think too much about what is going on at that stage in the game because thinking is painful. My friend and fellow adoptive mommy, Misty, always says "I consider this my morning sickness! God has a way of letting adoptive mothers experience the whole "pregnancy" thing, it is called paper work." (Misty and Tron Peterson adopted their beautiful Sarah from the Home of God's Love 10+ years ago. They are one of the major reasons we decided to adopt from Taiwan. The Petersons are now finalizing the adoption of Selah Grace from Korea. So pray for them also!!) Although I had been praying off and on during the last several weeks for everything to go smoothly at the courts, I hadn't been thinking about what exactly was happening at Grace's court hearing. Seth mentioned Grace's birth mom and it all hit me. Here I was being selfish, thinking only of us, and in Taiwan Grace's birth mom was going through an ordeal.

I have developed a deep respect for this young woman. She chose life. It makes me sad that I don't even know her name, someone who is entrusting Grace to us and changing our lives forever, and I can't even pray for her by name. Please help me lift Grace's birth mother up in your prayers, that the Prince of Peace will calm her heart and comfort her. I pray if she doesn't know this great God we serve that He will soften her heart and make himself known to her. I thank God that Grace's birth mom is coming in contact with his servants, Ted and Bev, and pray that God would continue to place people around her that would encourage her and, if she doesn't know the Truth, teach her. I long to meet her in person, give her a great big bear hug, get to know her and reassure her that we will love and take care of Grace. Being realistic, I know I probably won't get that chance but am reassured by the fact that God can comfort her and be by her side and whisper reassurances in her ear for me.

We are so thankful. So blessed. I can't wait to get my hands on Gracie but am trying to continue patiently waiting. Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement...

Laura (and Seth)