Forever Family Day...A Year Later

What a difference a year makes!! In the throes of adjustment, sleep deprivation, and PADS after Sophia came home last year, I never thought I would make it through another day, let alone a whole year!  But as so many of my dear friends encouraged me in those hours and days following Sophia's first "Forever Family" day, the outlook did get better and is totally different now.  I thank God for those dear friends who cheered me through those rough days when I wasn't sure what in the world we were thinking...you know who you are!!

Sophia on her first "Forever Family" day, one year ago.  Her foster mother felt as though she was "giving one of her children away as in marriage", thus the white dress.

So, it's time for a one year update.  We've been so busy, I didn't keep up too well with my monthly updates, but I'll try to recap what Sophia has accomplished recently.  She is a totally different little girl then the one we brought home a year ago.  There are still many areas in her life where growth is needed and expected, but she has certainly made a lot of progress in one year!

Mobility:  When Sophia came home, she wasn't walking.  She now runs everywhere, including on uneven surfaces, without blinking an eyelash.  I have to make sure I stand between her and freedom, because she will take off on me in parking lots and stores!  She loves life, and will often hop and skip with joy when she's happy or excited about something.  She does not use her sure step inserts in her shoes currently because she has outgrown them.  We are awaiting our next doctor's visit to see if she really still needs them.  The only physical issue we are really still dealing with is a little bit of spasticity in her right arm and hand.  She received one round of botox a few months ago which has helped loosen those muscles, and she has started occupational therapy at Hershey Medical Center to strengthen the muscles while they are loose.

Vision:  Sophia received glasses a couple of months after coming home.  She did really well with them for awhile, but in the last couple of months, she won't keep them on.  We are planning a follow up visit to see if her vision has changed or perhaps she has grown to the point where the glasses don't fit properly.  But she seems to be seeing fine without them!

Eating:  This was a HUGE issue when we came home, as Sophia was only drinking a thick, gooey substance that we made from rice powder and cereal from a bottle.  She quickly adjusted to milk and some solids, and with the help of a feeding clinic, she is now pretty much eating anything.  Just in the past month we have totally given up the bottle and are drinking from "big girl" cups!  That was a battle, but we survived it!!  We are so proud of Sophia in this area!

Communication:  This is our biggest area with Sophia right now, as she does not really talk.  However, she can communicate her desires with little problem!  From whining to crying to all out temper tantrums, developmentally Sophia is in the "terrible two's and three's".  However, it is encouraging to see her at this point, because it is a natural progression in her development.  She will pull you to what she wants and use a few words like "num-num" to indicate what she wants.  Her receptive language is much more developed; we know she understands a lot of what we say to her.  We are working with her speech teacher at school and in private therapy to develop pre-communication skills to prepare her for talking in the future, however that might look for her!

Overall Growth:  Sophia came home barely able to keep 2T clothes on her little body.  She has grown several inches and gained weight accordingly.  She is now in 4T clothes!  We totally missed using her 3T summer clothes, as she skipped those entirely!  She no longer looks like a toddler, but very much like a preschooler.  Her eye contact and interaction with others outside the family has improved so much as her confidence has increased along with her bonding and attachment.

So, as you can see, our little girl is growing up!  We are so grateful to God for the blessing He gave us in our daughter.  She has made a difference in our family and we love her so much.  We will forever be thankful to her foster parents and the investment they made in her early life...they laid the foundation on which we have been building the last year.  We look forward to seeing how Sophia grows and develops in the future.  God has a special plan for our Taiwanese princess, and we are so humbled and grateful to be able to be a part of it!

Sophia two weeks ago at the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh.  This outfit was handcrafted for us to be used a year ago when we brought Sophia home.  However, it didn't fit (too big!).  Now, it's perfect!!

We love you, Sophia Elizabeth Chia-Lin Fisher!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today we met our precious daughter, Sophia Elizabeth, for the very first time.  After three years of working on her adoption and waiting for God's timing, it was like a dream come true.  I've been reminiscing and rejoicing in how God has continued to work in Sophia's life and our lives over the past year.  If you care to reminisce, here are my posts from that day...

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Praising God for His faithfulness...

Sophia's Child Dedication

On the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, Dave and I had Sophia dedicated to the Lord by my dad, Rev. Jim Christian, at our church here in PA.  We believe that all of our children are a gift from the Lord and are on loan to us from Him.  We desire to raise each of our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and so we have them publicly dedicated to God in front of our church family in order to provide us with accountability and encouragement in our efforts.  It was such a blessing to have my parents there, and to be surrounded by our friends at Jonestown Bible Church who have been such a blessing to us on our journey to bring Sophia home.  Many thanks to Maryellen Corrado for taking some photos for us while we were up front.  Surprisingly, Sophia hammed it up and enjoyed her moment in the spotlight...we thought for sure she would pitch a royal fit in front of so many people!!  The pretty dress she is wearing was made for Sophia by a dear lady at my parents' home church in DE.  It's hard to see, but it is absolutely adorable. We are so blessed!

Children are a blessing from the Lord!!

It is Better!

What a difference a few weeks can make!  While the transition was extremely difficult, I'm happy to say that our little Sophia seems to be well adjusted in her new home and country.  Or should I say, we are all adjusted to her way of doing things?  Maybe it's best to say that we have done a lot of give and take!

Four weeks ago today Sophia was placed in our arms forever.  She said goodbye to a family she has known for the last two years, a city she lived in her entire life, and all the sights, smells, and tastes that went along with all of that.  To see her now, crawling around our house like a pro, eating foods she never had before, sleeping through most nights--all I can say is that God is amazing!

So many of my friends with adopted children kept telling me that "it will get better" and while I believed that in my head, it was so hard to get through to my heart during those first weeks.  I'm not unaware that we have seen a huge change in our daughter in a short amount of time compared to some people who adopt.  The sleep issue alone can take months or even years to resolve for some children, and Sophia was sleeping through the night in two weeks.  (God knew I couldn't handle much more than that!!!)  I'm so grateful for the encouragement and prayers that have sustained all of us, and I know that the prayers, in particular, have also helped Sophia adjust as well and as quickly as she has.  God is good!!

We took Sophia to church for the first time on Sunday, and she did so well.  We sat in the back to minimize any distraction she might cause, and she thoroughly enjoyed the music and singing.  When our pastor began to preach, I took her to the nursery where she was so happy to play and scoot around...no anxiety at all!  I thought maybe it reminded her of her little preschool she was attending...I was just amazed at how she just jumped right in and played.  Developmentally she is at the level of a 1 1/2 to 2 year old when it comes to playing, so she probably felt right at home among the toddlers in there.  It made me so happy to see her play!

Her favorite place to be is definitely home.  She feels comfortable scooting all over the house now, by herself, and keeps herself pretty well entertained.  Her brothers help in that department as well, running around like crazy people, making her laugh hysterically!  She will come and find me and "check in" for some holding time, but then is off and playing again.  So cute!  She also loves to go places in the van and ride in her stroller, so we try to get out of the house at least once a day when we can.  I hope that when we move later this month, she adjust to her new environment quickly, too.  Hopefully it won't set her back too much...it's not ideal, but it is what it is!

When I gaze into Sophia's beautiful, deep brown eyes, I can't help but thank the Lord for bringing this little girl into our lives.  As my husband loves to say, God doesn't call us to do the easy thing...He calls us to do the hard thing.  But following God's call is always worth the effort it takes.  I know there will be more difficult days ahead for our family...that's just the way life is.  But together we will weather the next storm, and be all the stronger because of it.  And, IT WILL GET BETTER!!

One happy little girl!

The Rest of the Story

If you notice the counter at the top of this blog, you will see that today marks the one year anniversary of when we were officially matched with Sophia.  In just a few short days (10, to be exact!) we will meet her for the very first time in person.  Wow!

If you are a newer follower of our journey, you may not know that God specifically brought Sophia to our attention twice in our quest to find our daughter in Taiwan.  We were "logged in", so to speak, with the orphanage our agency works with, but due to an increased interest in Taiwanese adoptions, the matching had slowed way down.  We were not looking for a baby, however, so our agency contact told us to keep checking the waiting children listing.  A few months earlier I had been checking around on other agencies' waiting children listings, and had requested information on a little girl listed with another agency.  The social worker attempted to get information for us, but couldn't find anything out from her contacts in Taiwan.  Meanwhile, we found another little girl on our agency's listing.  There was something about her pouty lips that looked familiar, but it never crossed my mind that I was looking at the same little girl that I had requested information on earlier.  The photo was different (she was older), the birthdates were different by a few days, and her name was spelled differently.

After we had been officially matched with Sophia, I met another adoptive mom who was adopting from Taiwan with our agency.  She was excited that we were adopting Sophia, as she had seen her photo as well, and was praying for a family for her.  She clued me in to another waiting children listing where Sophia was listed.  You guessed it...it was the same site where I had first seen Sophia and had requested her information!  What a way for God to confirm to us that Sophia was our daughter!

When we received Sophia's documents to review, we realized what had happened.  She had been with one foster family her first year and a half of life, but was switched about two years ago now.  The first family was in a different location that was probably supervised by a different orphanage.  So she was listed with an agency that used that orphanage.  Then, when she was moved to her current foster family, her file switched to Cathwel, our orphanage.  That's why the other agency social worker couldn't find any updated information on her.  We know that she was moved at just the right time for us to be able to find her with our agency because God willed it.  That's the kind of God we serve!

This is one of the first photos we saw of Sophia.  She is probably around two years old in this photo.

So now you know...the rest of the story!  

Two Weeks (minus one day!) and Counting...

Yesterday was two weeks and counting until we leave for Taiwan!  It was a busy and emotional day as I led my kindergarten in their graduation, including my own son, Benjamin.  My how time flies!  But another "to do before we leave" item is checked off my mental list, and that feels great!  My kindergarten children are now done with school for the year, so while the older kids finish up next week, I will dismantle my classroom and check yet another item off my list!

My parents were up for graduation yesterday, so we discussed the childcare plans with them for our trip. They will be watching three of our boys for a good portion of the time we are away, then have all four for a weekend, and then back to three for a couple of days before we return.  Our older boys' summer camps coincide with our trip, so they will be duly occupied.  If you think about it, though, pray for my parents as they are not used to the daily routine of caring for little ones anymore!

Dave is home, too, for the weekend, after a 2 1/2 week trip to Indiana.  We have been able to discuss some of our thoughts regarding our upcoming transition to five children, and he seems so much more calm about it than I do!  Basically, he's expecting the worst and will be pleasantly surprised otherwise.  I'm trying not to have any expectations--we make a good pair, I guess!

It's almost surreal to think that after three years of planning, waiting, preparing, and wondering, we are almost to the point of meeting our daughter.  God is good!  Soon I will be able to post her photos and introduce her to you...I can't wait for you to "meet" her!

Expecting a blessing...

Jehovah Jireh

Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides, has been our sustenance through the last three years as we have journeyed along our Silk Road to Sophia.  Using a huge garage sale and bake sale, Pampered Chef and other home parties, Christmas ornaments, t-shirts, poetry books, cookbooks, and many, many donations from families and friends, God has provided.  Oftentimes He provided at the last minute and the exact amount that we needed.  We have never had a huge surplus in our bank account just waiting for us to need it (as much as I would have like that at times!).  Instead, He asked us to trust Him each step of the way, and He stretched our faith time and again as we saw Him provide over and over again.

We are now down to less than three weeks before we travel, and we are shy just under $2000 to have our adoption paid in full, including travel.  Two thousand dollars may sound like a lot, but I'm not worried.  When we started this journey we had nothing, and God has supplied nearly $20,000--so $2000 is a drop in the bucket!  To anyone considering adoption but daunted by the cost--don't be.  When God calls you to do something, He equips you to do it--in all the ways that you need to be equipped!

I have found myself reminiscing a lot the closer we get to bringing Sophia home.  This adoption journey has been so much more than a journey to bring home a child.  It has been a journey of faith that has brought me closer to my Heavenly Father, who adopted me.  I am so thankful for the journey and what it has taught me.  While I may not need to rely on God for adoption finances after we bring our daughter home, I know I will need to rely on Him for grace, courage, and wisdom as we raise our daughter and her four brothers.

And so our journey continues...

Three Weeks and Counting...

Three weeks from tonight--almost to the minute that I am typing this--Dave and I will be checking in at Newark International for our flight to Taipei and Sophia.  Wow...I can't believe I am typing that!  The light at the end of the tunnel is near.  Tonight some dear friends of ours held a fundraising potluck dinner on our behalf with dishes from our adoption cookbook.  It was such sweet fellowship.  I love how adoption brings people together--in so many ways.  Through the donations received, we are now able to pay our airline tickets in full--isn't God good?

Please continue to pray for all of the logistics of our trip, and for Sophia's attachment and bonding to us when we meet.  Humanly speaking I can't even fathom the emotions she will be going through when she leaves all that is familiar to her in just a few short weeks.  Please pray that God will supernaturally work in her little heart and mind.

I hope to be blogging and posting photos as we travel, so stay tuned to this blog!  Thanks for being a part of our Silk Road Journey!

One week closer to holding Sophia in our arms...

5 Weeks & Counting!

I can't believe that after waiting for so long, we are down to five weeks left before we leave for Taiwan!  We have tickets in hand, and one of the two hotels that we need booked.  Please continue to pray for needed funds.  The tickets were more than I expected them to be, but I'm choosing not to fret (or at least I'm trying not to fret!) and to allow God to continue to provide in His time.

My sister wrote a beautiful blog post HERE about our upcoming trip.  The photo is from the city where Sophia is currently living.  I'm so excited to get there and see the beauty of the island!  We are traveling in summer, so it will be very hot and humid, and most likely rainy (think monsoon season!), but hopefully that won't deter us too much from enjoying the land of our daughter's birth.

There seems to be a lot of loose ends yet to tie up for our trip.  I'm enjoying finding just the right gifts for the foster family and others who will be helping us there.  I bought the cutest scrabble pendant necklace HERE for Sophia's foster sister who plays the piano.  I just love the little heart on the piano keys!  I'm trying to buy all homemade items or "Made in USA" items.  I also am having fun picking up fun little toys and activities for Sophia to entertain her while we are in Taiwan and on our almost 15 hour non-stop flight home.  (Please remember to pray for us on June 20!!!)  Of course I have to make sure everything fits into our luggage and we don't overpack and yada, yada, yada...yikes!  If I think about it too much, I start to have trouble breathing!  :)

Thanks for your continued prayers and interest in our journey.  It has almost been three years since we started on our journey to Sophia, and what a journey it has been.  But through it all we have been reminded of God's faithfulness and the goodwill of family and friends.  I can't wait to share with Sophia how much she was loved long before we ever met her!

Counting down the days...

June 9-20

We are headed to Taiwan!  Lord willing, we will leave Newark, NJ, on the evening of June 9, and will arrive in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 11, Taiwan time.  We will be in Taipei for two nights, then take the high speed train to Taichung where we will meet Sophia on June 13!  It will be a little over a year from the time we accepted her referral until we meet her face to face.  And what a year it has been!  We will stay in Taichung for three nights, then return to Taipei for our AIT (visa) appointment on Friday, June 17.  We will stay the weekend in Taipei, then leave to return to the States on Monday, June 20.  Whew!  Makes me tired just thinking about it!  And it's only six weeks away!!!!

We have not received official notice of our final decree, but we assume we have it.  We did receive December 2010 and January 2011 updates, and Sophia is making TONS of progress!  We are praying that God will supernaturally prepare her for the HUGE changes coming her way in just a few weeks.  Will you pray with us?  I can't even imagine what this will be like for her.  I keep thinking about what it would be like for Nathaniel, our youngest and the same age as Sophia, to be taken from his family and given to strangers.  It breaks my heart!  So I'm praying for supernatural intervention to take place...God is able!

We still lack several thousand dollars to be able to go to Taiwan fully funded, but some special friends have a fundraiser planned for May 19, and we continue to trust that God will provide.  No matter what, we will be getting our daughter!  Our agency has asked that we not post photos until we finalize in Taiwan, so you will have to wait a little longer to see any photos on here, but I promise to update as much as I'm able while we are in Taiwan.  Just take my word for it...she's beautiful!

Thanks for following along on this journey.  I never would have imagined that it would take almost three years to complete.  But God's plan is perfect, and we wouldn't have it any other way.  To God be the glory, great things He has done--and will do!

Closer and closer to bringing our baby girl home...

Tax Deductible Donation

Up until now, we have not had any way to offer a tax deductible receipt to anyone who wished to make a donation to our adoption fund.  However, for the next month or so, our church is taking up a special offering for our travel expenses--the final amount needed to bring Sophia home--and is willing to add any additional gifts that might come from people outside the church.  The church will then issue you a receipt.  If you would like more information on how to do this, please e-mail me at tfisher83@myexcel.com.  Thanks!

Trusting God to provide to bring Sophia home...

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is March 24 in Taiwan and is the date of our first court hearing.  Please pray that we have a fast judge who finds favor with our family and does not require any additional paperwork.  Pray that his first decree occurs in a few weeks or less--not a few months--as we really need to move to Indiana by the end of June, if possible, which means we would like to travel to Taiwan the end of May or beginning of June.  I know this is not out of the realm of possibility, as some of my blog friends have traveled in that time frame after their first court hearing, and it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility for our God!  I don't know if we will hear anything from Taiwan yet this week, but we know it is all in God's hands.  Thanks for your prayers!

Please also continue to pray for the finances that we need in order to travel to Taiwan.  God is supplying some much needed funds in various ways, for which we are grateful.  I know He will continue to provide beyond what we could ever ask or think, because that's the kind of God He is!

Soon I will be able to post photos of our beautiful girl...stay tuned!!!

Forever grateful for your thoughts and prayers on our journey...

Amazing!

This song from Third Day so eloquently, yet simply, states what I think of when I think about adoption.  In many ways, our adoption of children here on this earth is a picture of God's adoption of us as His children when we put our faith and trust in Him for eternal life.  The words of this song, along with the masterful visual presentation in the video, is a powerful demonstration of this truth.  These guys get what it's all about!  Thanks, Third Day!

(Note:  You will have to turn off the music player at the bottom of this blog page to hear the video!)

So thankful that I'm adopted into the family of God...are you?

Two Thousand Three Hundred Dollars...

...is all that stands between our dossier leaving our house and arriving in Taiwan.  Two thousand three hundred dollars.  It's not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but it's more than we have sitting un-earmarked in our bank account.  Could you please pray with us this week that God will show us His will regarding this last bit of money that we need?  We could use credit, but we committed at the beginning of our adoption process to not do that if at all possible.  We have decided to wait and pray until next Monday, November 1, before making any decisions.  Thanks!

If You Recognize This...You Are Probably An Adoptive Parent!

Our referral dossier came back yesterday with all of the proper certifications from Harrisburg...only two more stops before Taiwan!  However, we are short the money that we need to pay the orphanage fee, so please pray with us as we determine what God wants us to do regarding that.  It's exciting to finally be this close, and I can't wait to get this paperwork out of my hands!  Thanks for your prayers!

Praising and praying as we get closer to Sophia...

Finally!

The e-mail I have been waiting to read for over four months finally arrived today...our legal documents have arrived at our agency and will be on their way to our house tomorrow!  Praise God!  Last week was a rough week at our house, but through it all, God proved faithful, as always.  I received several e-mails from friends just telling me that God had laid us on their heart, and they were praying for us.  (Thank you...you know who you are!)  I know that God's timing is best, and I look forward to seeing His continued hand in our adoption process.
Please pray that we can get all of the authentications done promptly, and our referral dossier can get back to Taiwan ASAP!  Oh, and we are still in need of a few thousand dollars, but what's that to our Great God?!

Another step closer to bringing our daughter home...

Just Checking In...

Still no news on our legal documents and no new updates.  Only bright spot is making some new "bloggy" friends through this process.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers...it's so hard not knowing anything.

Still waiting...

Still Waiting...

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but there really hasn't been anything to post about.  We haven't had any updates or information on where our legal paperwork is since the beginning of June.  It's a bit disheartening, but we know the whole process is in God's capable hands.  Tonight Dave said he "has a feeling" we will hear something soon...I'm not sure how is "feelings" pan out normally, but I'll keep you posted!

Patiently waiting for God's perfect timing to bring Sophia home...

P.S.  Don't forget about our doily fundraiser...scroll down to the next post to find out more!

Please Pray...

...for a special envelope that was mailed today that we hope might help us raise some much needed funds to help bring Sophia home!

Every day is a day closer to Sophia!

Here's the deal...

Now that I have had time to process what the next steps are in our adoption of Sophia since being officially matched yesterday (yeah!), I will attempt to share them here in order to get them down in some semblance of fashion for myself and anyone else who is interested!

Today we started checking some items off of our suddenly very long to-do list.  Dave's passport needed to be renewed, so that was sent off today after filling out the form on-line, writing the $75 check and getting the passport photos ($10).  We also mailed the hard copy original of our adoption agreement to our agency.  They should receive it early next week and it will probably be mailed to Taiwan on Friday, the day they usually send out mail to Taiwan.  Once the orphanage in Taiwan receives the agreement, they will work on getting the legal papers together that we must sign, notarize, state seal, and TECO seal before returning them to Taiwan.  A friend who is a step ahead of us on this journey said it took about 3 weeks from the time the original adoption agreement was sent to Taiwan to receive their legal documents.  Meanwhile, we also must do some paperwork on our end to send back with the legal documents as part of what is called our "referral dossier".  This is our second such packet of paperwork.  Since we are nearing the renewal dates on some of our old paperwork, we actually need to update our home study (to the tune of $300) which includes updating medical paperwork (fees involved) and our financial statement.  We also need to be re-fingerprinted by the FBI (hopefully free) and renew our child abuse and criminal clearances in state (fees involved).  So, as you can see, we have probably close to $600-700 of fees just in order to get the documents ready to go back to Taiwan in order to move to the next step...the court process.  Additionally, we have an agency fee for our future post-placement reports that is due right now which is $900.  Thankfully, by God's grace, we have the money in hand to cover all of this, but it is eating into what we have saved for our orphanage fee which must be paid when our referral dossier is returned to Taiwan.  We did find out that what we owe the orphanage is $6200, which is on the low end of orphanage fees, for which we are grateful.  All told, we need to raise about $3000 more dollars right now to cover all of these fees, then we can work on travel expenses.  (Note:  We have updated our ticker and our Chip-in to reflect that we are still in need of $3000 for this phase...the Chip-in had to be adjusted in a weird way, but you can tell that we are still in need of $3000 to reach our goal.  I also changed our 100 Wishes page to reflect our goal better as well.  Donations can be made either through 100 Wishes or the Chip-in...it goes to the same account.)

Which takes me to the inevitable question...when do we travel?  Well, once our referral dossier is returned to Taiwan, we await a court date.  There may be more then one court hearing before we get a first decree.  When we get that, we will find out our travel dates.  The final court hearing is held while we are in Taiwan, but we do not attend.  It is at that hearing that we get our final decree, and then we file our paperwork in person in Taiwan at the American Institute in Taiwan-US Embassy in Taiwan (or AIT for short).  We will be able to pick up Sophia's IR3 Visa before returning home which, if I understand correctly, makes Sophia a U.S. citizen upon arrival in the U.S.  The timeline for all of that to happen is typically 6-8 months, including the referral time.  This means that, if all would proceed in a timely fashion, we might be traveling in early 2011.  But, as anyone familiar with international adoption knows, there are many roadblocks that may arise.  We will continue to pray for favor and expediency and that God would continue to provide for our needs as they arise.  We are beyond excited, but know that the road ahead is still an arduous and bumpy one.  However, at the end of our journey lies a beautiful little girl who is waiting for her forever family to come and take her home so she can start her own journey of growing and healing and learning.  Please continue to pray for us--we covet your prayers and thoughts so much!  Blessings!

Inching closer to our daughter every day...