One Less = One More Daughter

We were incredibly blessed on the morning of the 4th of July to get an email saying we had been awarded a grant from One Less Ministries in the amount of $500!!! http://onelessministries.org/ Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We are trusting in God to help us come up with the last of the funds we need to go get Molly! Sounds like we could be on our way in August!

Jars for Change

We are kicking off our second fundraiser! We are calling it "Jars for Change". With your loose pocket change you can change Molly's life. Who doesn't have a little pocket change at the end of each day? For the month of July put your spare change in a glass mason jar or other container and at the end of July cash it and donate the money towards Molly's adoption!

If you want a sticker, please let me know and I will happily send you one. And when you are all done you can either send the money to us via PayPal using my email tanyabaer@yahoo.com or mail it to us and make your check payable to us or our agency, WACAP. The Baers, 16970 Laurelin Court, North Fort Myers, FL 33917

This is from the flyer we made up to go with the jars here locally:

We are excited to announce that we are adding one more child to the Baer family. This time, we are adopting a little girl from China. She was two on June 7th and shares Matson’s date of birth and Oliver’s congenital heart defect. Seemingly chosen by God for our family. Yes, we will have “identical twins” to keep us on our toes. Qing is her name now and we are keeping our tradition of using it as her middle name. She has some pretty complex medical needs that will require lifelong medical care, much of which is not available in China. In her province of China, 80% of children with her medical condition do not live till their fifth birthday. Here in the US she will live a long and full life. We received approval from China on June 20th to adopt. We expect to travel to China in August or September.
We made the decision to follow God’s call to change the life of one more child on our 13th wedding anniversary in January. We both knew God had a plan for us and that we had to follow. It has not been an easy journey but at every turn He has given us every indication to put more trust in Him and keep following! That being said, we have gone in to this adoption not entirely knowing how we were going to afford it. We have paid all of our adoption agency fees from our savings and have applied for a couple of grants to help fund our travel expenses. However, we may be tapping in to investments to pay them. We are seeking assistance from friends and family with help paying for the orphanage donation of $5,600 that is required by the People’s Republic of China to finalize her adoption. Many people in the adoption world call this “ransom” to free our children from the life of an orphan.
We continue to trust God that He will help us to fund the remaining portion of Molly’s adoption and free her from the life that she would face in China. We have created a fundraising project we are calling “Jars for Change”. Your pocket change each day can change Molly’s life! By placing your lose change in a glass jar you can help us pay the orphanage donation that will give her a family and a chance at life! Please consider participating in Molly’s adoption so there is one less orphan in this world! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

God's blessings!

Starfish Necklace Fundraiser

I helped design this necklace, the Starfish poem means much to me. I like to think think everyone can make a difference in the life of an orphan, by some means. It doesn't mean everyone has to adopt a child. Befriend a child in foster care, sponsor a child, be a guardian ad litem, support people adopting through prayer, etc. The list is long.

You can buy it here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/102576260/hand-stamped-necklace-charity-for-reeces

The Starfish Poem
As I walked along the seashore this young boy greeted me.
He was tossing a stranded starfish back into the deep blue sea.
I said, "Tell me why you bother. Why waste your time this way?
There's a million stranded starfish. Does it matter anyway?"
And he said, "It matters to this one. It deserves a chance to grow.
It matters to this one. I can't save them all, I know.
But it matters to this one, I'll return it to the sea.
It matters to this one, And it matters a lot to me."

-Poem adapted from the story "The Star Thrower" (or "starfish story") by Loren Eiseley (1907–1977), published in 1969 in The Unexpected Universe.

Introducing Molly Qing

We received our Letter Seeking Confirmation, better known as LOA, on Thursday! It was a huge surprise! We are now anticipating travel either late August or early September. Lots and lots to do! These are the photos we received in March, I think they are from November when her file was done by her orphanage so that she would be eligible for adoption. Not sure we will get anymore before we travel, highly doubt it! Can you see how tiny her little hands and feet are? We think she is about 20lbs. So, she is just a tiny little peanut. The little cloth shoes are precious. Wonder what she will come to us in???? Praying for all to go smoothly from here. Lots to do, money to come up with, travel to plan, childcare for the boys to figure out. God's got, right?

Moving slow but hoping we speed up!

This post is for Missi's birthday! Happy birthday Melissa! We have been moving at a snail's pace or so it seems. Our immigration application was submitted without our home study, very unusual back on April 23rd. Our home study was supposedly a few days behind. However, somehow it still hasn't arrived to us or our placement agency. I am hoping it gets here tomorrow along with our fingerprinting appointment for immigration. We will then walk in on Monday to the USCIS office here in Ft. Myers to get our fingerprinting done. As soon as they clear and our home study arrives to immigration (by Tuesday) we should get our approval. For China authentication of your dossier is a two step process, for Russia it is just one step. Once the secretary of state certifies each document (apostille for Russia) it is then sent to the appropriate Chinese consulate. Our birth certificates are all done. Mine had to go to Chicago and Don's to NYC. Crazy stuff! I wanted to share that I truly feel Molly is our God chosen daughter! Not sure if you are aware but we chose her name before we knew anything about her. The name is from the boys. Olly is from Oliver, who changed our hearts to love the orphans of the world. M for Matson who's adoption tax credit is paying it forward and bringing her home. She has Oliver's congenital heart defect (ASD) and Matson's date of birth. A weee bit heaven sent:) God is good! Matson has moved to Oliver's room and is on the bottom bunk! Tonight they were both sleeping at about 8:10! Fourth night and Matson has napped 3 days in his bed! We are on our way. The crib came down today and Brynn will take over Matson's former room on Saturday. Once she goes back to school in August we will tranform it in to Molly's room. Can't wait! Saturday morning Stephanie graduates from the University of South Florida!!! So proud of her! She is about to start looking for a real job and in July her lease is up so who knows where she will end up. NYC with her sister? Carolinas? Ft. Myers? I think Michelle would love to have her as would we! Brynn is doing awesome at school last final tomorrow and then she meets us with us in Tampa for graduation. She told me today "all A's this semester maybe"! Boy is that girl making her mama proud! She has only proven that the F's were from lack of effort, not that we didn't know. Oliver has kindergarten orientation on Monday night! And I am investigating part-time preschool/daycare for Matson in the fall. Molly is going to need some time with me and Matson needs some other kids to keep him busy! Eventually the two of them will each go a little so they can each have mama time:) Hope everyone is well! Life is busy!

Pre Approval of our Molly Qing

Excited to share that we heard today that the Chinese government has given us our preapproval to adopt Miss Molly Qing! Our last home study visit was this morning and our HS should be done next week and we will quickly apply for our I800A on a medical expedite! Working on getting the supporting letters for that. It is a whirlwind!

Can't wait for the okie dokie to share her pictures! Email me and I will send one to you. I can't post them on here. Sadly found out today that we have a "mark" on our names with the Florida abuse registery. Due to the fact that one of our previous foster kids investigation was opened while they were in our care. Not that we were investigated that she lived with us so our names and addresses are on a report somewhere! Always something.....

A Heaven Sent Gift?

The last week has really been a whirlwind for us. The Chinese government releases a shared list of the available special needs children in the middle of the night US time, once each month. The agencies hurriedly pick referrals off of it for their waiting families. They lock them for 72 hours and then they go back on the list. You have 72 hours to decide yes or no to a child. A strange process to me as Russian adoptive mom but somewhat makes sense. So, Tuesday morning I was expecting a call around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. I awoke around 3:00 and panicked, no call. I checked my phone for a missed call or email. Sure enough I had gotten an email but no match for us. UGH! Oh well, she isn't ready for us. The email did say later in the week we could get a referral as children were release back at the end of the 72 hours.

Thursday night it was 10:30 and Don was already in bed sleeping. I was getting up to let the dogs out before I went to bed when my phone rang! It said "Seattle, Washington" so I answered. It was our agency wondering if we would consider a little girl born June 2010 with an atrial septal defect and beta thalassemia major. I said sure, had previously reseached thalassemia and Oliver has an ASD. We only had Friday to get medicals evaluated and had to have an answer on Saturday and our letter of intent ready on Sunday. Ok, we can do that. So finally at almost 11:00 I get the email. I first look at the pictures, she is darling and standing independently, good sign. Looks like a feminine version of Matson with some Asian features. Start reading and nothing is alarming. She is doing fabulous in a foster home and loves to play, is talking in three word sentences, etc. Her medical conditions are not screaming. I am getting excited. Finally, I look at her date of birth and it the same day as Matson's! Oh my goodness! God is giving me his twin? Seems like a heaven sent sign that she is our peanut.

I decide to consult with our pediatrician because I knew the odds were not with us on hearing back from the international adoption clinic that does rough reviews for no charge. We will give a donation to them once our tax refund comes in but right now we need to reserve funds for the big chunk we will be paying when we are ready to submit our petition to immigration. (there is a huge hold up by the IRS on adoption tax credit refunds)

Well, our pediatrician called me and thoroughly scared me and I thought "I cannot do it". Essentially, children with thalassemia major used to pass away early in life due to having excess iron in their blood and it effected their liver, spleen and heart. They are given blood transfusions on a regular basis to keep their hemoglobin count up. Currently they are given chelation therapy to remove the excess iron and their organs aren't effected. There is no known life expectancy now for these kids as the therapy has progressed giving them longer life. There are potentials for new treatments down the road.

After conversing with two of my medical friends and a few fellow adoptive moms (some with Thal kids), we are back on track for her. Thank you to Pat, Amy, Donna and Shari for all your encourage and support! And to my new friends on China Adopt Talk who have been there and are loving kids with Thal! Our letter of intent is done and hopefully will go out in time. Now this week we will have her medicals evaluated more and prepare to bring her home. Amy so kindly introduced the Sparrow Fund and I hope to get them to help with the expense of the evaluation. Love meeting some new adoptive friends and hope to work with them in the future. Things just come together sometimes!

Wonder how we will answer the question "Twins?" to our children born on the same day halfway around the world from each other from two different birthmoms? God loves to give my husband things to think about incorporating in to this comedy routine! Please pray for this little girl and that she gets home fast!

P.S. We are sponsoring the little girl I fell in love with through International China Concern and will be able to receive regular updates and pictures and continue to help her even though she is still in China.