Jailynn's Prayer

I have a wonderful friend that is having a fundraiser for our family and I want to invite you to look at her blog she made for Jailynn. I am deeply touched by her efforts to help and amazed at her kindness. She adopted her daughter last year and Jordyn remembered helping the Nannies take care of her. The red thread has woven an amazing and beautiful connection and friendship.

I hope that you will visit her blog:

http://jailynnsprayer.blogspot.com/

I am so happy to be doing this fundraiser for Jailynn. It just so happens that my daughter, Jordyn and Jailynn are all from the same orphanage. Jordyn would often help the Nannies with the little ones and one of those babies was Kira, my daughter. So it is with joy and hope that I return this favor of love and caring, to help Jailynn find her way to her waiting family and sister.
Ivy

LSC FINALLY!!

Finaly!!
Our LOA offically arrived on our doorstep today!Now they call it the LSC-Letter Seeking Confirmation. This is the letter that we send back to China that says YES!! We still want to adopt You Yu (Jailynn). Once the CCAA recieves the letter, they will send our TA (travel approval) in 3-4 weeks. We will then get our appointments made and get our travel dates and itenerary in 2 weeks. The goal is to travel before The Chinese New Year holiday so our potential travel date could be Febuary 19th!!! My stomach has butterflies and I have tears in my eyes to think that we will soon be in China and have precious Jailynn in our arms!
Now, I have to share with you a very intereseting thing that happened as I was reading over the LSC and the Letter of Rehabilitation and Nurturing to the CCAA. I notice at the end of the letter there is a TYPO that says Thank you for your KING consideration. I laughed at first and then I begin to wonder about the typo and had a revelation of sort:
I believe that the typo done by human hands was not a mere accident but I believe it to be a devine confermation to me from my Father God. I believe that it confirms that HE- The King, My King- is in control of this adoption and putting families together. God is the Author and Finisher, and He is in control of my life, He has confirmed our adoption of Jailynn from the beginning of time, He has woven the RED THREAD together that connects to one another long before we knew anything about it. He is in control of our adoption, the finances we need to complete it, and every detail. I try very hard to be in control of things and when every thing seems out of my control, well, I tend to panic. I have tried very hard since before Christmas to get a second job as a RN to save money for our travel and it seems every door has shut before me. I have been so frustrated wondering why I can't seem to get a second job in a profession that is in need of nurses. Well, maybe God has sonething to do with the closed doors. He wants me to trust Him with every fabric of my being and realize I am not the one in control of this. God is in control. My family and children need me at home, and I have to trust Him-The KING- to finish what He started in our family. He will provide the means to bring Jailynn home. I do not have the answer or solution. I just have to let go and let God. Wait on Him. Have Faith in Him.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By it the Elders obtained a good report, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, So that the things which are seen were not made of the things which do appear. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He Is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:1-3,6

Getting Closer to Bringing Jailynn Home

I write this post with a humble heart and hope for understanding of why I am writing this. We are almost at the end of our Journey to bring little Jailynn home and we find that we are still in need to raise the funds to complete her adoption. I want to share their unique story and I hope that anyone who reads this will understand.

Jordyn and Jailynn grew up together in the orphanage and became best friends and sisters. They were the oldest two children in the orphanage and had been there for a long time. Jordyn often looked after her little Mei Mei and played with her. She held her hand on the way to school. They loved each other dearly and understood each other. They had a special bond brought together by fate. Then, something happened that would change both of their lives forever. Jordyn had found a forever family and she would be adopted by her new family and live in America. Both girls were happy and sad at the same time. The new family sent a care package with lots of presents, and Jordyn gave the presents to her little Mei Mei to try and help her feel better. Jordyn also told her not to worry and that maybe her new family would adopt her too and bring her to America.

Meanwhile across the other side of the world, we prepared our home for Jordyn. During the long wait, I prayed for my new daughter that she would be healthy and well cared for until she could bring her home. An unexpected surprise came one day when I read my email. Another family had gone for a homeland visit with their two daughters and the youngest daughter was from the same orphanage. The family took pictures of Jordyn and Jailynn and wanted to share the pictures with Jordyn's new family. So we all gathered around the computer and they looked at the pictures together. Tim and I were in awe as we saw pictures of Jordyn sharing fruit with her little Mei Mei. . Tim and I looked at each other and asked “wouldn’t it be great if we could adopt both little girls and they could grow up together?” I treasured this thought and kept it hidden in my heart as a secret prayer. I knew it would be a miracle to keep them together because ofthe strict rules about adoption. So I kept my secret wish in my heart and prayed.
As the time drew closer for the two girls to part one another, they too kept a secret wish in their hearts, that one day the new family would come back for little Mei Mei and bring her home too. Finally, the time came and Jordyn met her family.As she learned to speak the new language better, she told me more about her Mei mei, how wuch she loved her and missed her. She told me how they played together and walked to school together. She also told her me that she told Jailynn that maybe we would adopt her too. Then, after 6 months of praying together for Jailynn, God made a way. A miracle happened and the Doors opened for Little Jailynn to be adopted. The rules were changed and a Database for all the older, waiting, and special needs Children was created to be seen by all the agencies and families that wanted to adopt. One day me and Jordyn her saw her picture in the adoption database. We then started the adoption process to bring Jailynn home. Now, the time is so close for the two girls to be reunited.
This is the true adoption story of Jordyn and Jailynn. We will travel sometime in February. We need help through prayer and we need to raise money to cover the travel expenses and orphanage donation fee. We are also raising money through working extra hours and overtime and hope to file our taxes soon to get our refund back before we travel. We have experienced some unexpected changes in that Joey and Kym have moved from South Dakota to Texas with their 3 babies and we are helping them get establised here. We also have had Jordyn's surgery and medical expenses this year and just paid off her adoption. We felt that we needed to step out in faith to adopt Jailynn because we believe that it is so important to keep the girls together. We knew that it would be difficult to adopt again so soon and believed that God would provide a way. I am reluctant to ask for help and post this but the time is drawing so close. It is hard to ask for help but I believe that God wil abundantly bless those that bless others and there is so much joy in giving. We will pay it forward one day. Will you open your heart up to these two girls and help us Bring Jailynn Home?

Christmas Present

Bottle of Tears

Across the blue planet.

To the other side of the world.

She sleeps in her 40 pound frame.

Dreaming of a magnificent ocean.

She stands beside it.With a bottle in her hand.

Inside are her tears.

She throws it into the waiting sea.

Every night the dream is the same.

Until,one night it floats under...A statue of hope,of liberty.

A hand reaches out embracing the bottle of tears,

comprehending, truly understanding...

Merry Christmas to my wonderful wife who comprehends and understands all the adopted children in waiting.
From: Tim Kerr

My Husband wrote this poem for me for Christmas and it touched my heart. I wanted to post it to share it and hopefully, the poem will open our eyes to the plight of the orphans. There are so many hurting children in the world. We can each do something to ease their suffering. Maybe something small like a sponsorship to help with food, clothing, and medical help...maybe something bigger like helping an adoptive family with the costs of the adoption, or something even bigger such as opening your heart and home to a child in need. Just a thought.

Because we can all do something.

Anna and Jordyn love to dance together and practice the dances for hours. This is their favorite dance.

Visiting with Family for the Holidays

Grandma Sharon Kerr

JonMarc Loves Christmas!

BFF

Cousin Sara, Anna, and Friend Sara

Look at all the pretty girls!

Merry Christmas From our Family to Yours! Anna, Amanda, Jordyn, Melanie, Noah, Tim, and JonMarc

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday and enjoys time with their family. I have been getting ready for Christmas. Shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Having a large family to buy for makes for alot of shopping!!! I have been doing very well by finding things on Ebay and other listings and saving ton's of money. We are on a tight budget this year and I am trying to save as much as possible. I am thinking of Jailynn more and more and wishing she could be with us this year. I am buying her Christmas presents and planning to keep the tree up until she comes home. That was also a request from Jordyn and Amanda. They are both so excited for her to come home.

Our tree is in a sad state though. Somehow the stand to the tree disappeared and the lights do not work. So we have a make shift stand which causes the tree to lean to the side no matter how hard we try to fix it. Also, Noah loves to rearrange the ornaments so the tree is not so beautiful this year. Oh well...at least we have a tree to decorate.

I am hoping to keep the focus on the Real reason for the season this year by displaying a nativity seen under our tree. I am still looking for one. We are also giving clothes and toys to a needy family from Tim's work. This really inspired my children and they gave up lot's of nice toys they do not play with and some they still love for the family. I want them to learn that giving feels so much better than just getting all the time.

Joey and Kym are home and staying with us temporarily. So we have four more people in our home which is hectic! They are working on getting jobs and Kym is planning to go to school starting in January. Having them here has been both challenging and rewarding but I know that it has been the right thing to do. We are having a positive influence on them and it will be special to spend Christmas with them here. Our family is growing in leaps and bounds with Joey and Kym and soon Jailynn. I am sure that they will have thier own place before we leave for China (that is the plan). Please pray for our family that we adjust to all the changes and that Joey and Kym find jobs and get into their own place soon.

Merry Christmas,

Melanie

New Update on Our Sweet Jailynn!!!!

Jailynn (red coat) and her friend Fung-Fung

Jailynn and Director Ding

Jailynn and her cake we sent her!

Pretty Jailynn!!!

What a wonderful and exciting email to get this morning. I woke up to find updated pictures and info on our sweet little Jailynn!! We sent her the cake on November 6th and requested photos of her. I am so happy that we got them. She looks healthy and adorable! I can't wait to hold her in my arms. Jordyn is so happy and excited to see her new pictures. We are still waiting for our LOA and then our travel approval. I think we will most likely travel in late January or early Febuary. Please pray that it will be soon and that God will continue to provide the money we need for the orphanage fee and travel expenses. We are trusting God that He will provide because we know these two sweet girls belong together. Here are the updates on Jailynn's stats:

We have obtained You Yu’s current measurements from the orphanage. (cm=centimeters, kg=kilograms)
Height: 112 cmWeight: 16.4 kg Head circumference: 48.5 cmChest circumference: 51 cmLength of foot: 18 cmNumber of teeth: 10 upper teeth, and 10 lower teeth

She is so tiny! She only weighs 36 lbs and she is 3ft 9in tall. We just absolutely can't wait to bring Jailynn home!

What I am Most Thankful For:

I am most thankful this Thanksgiving for my children, my family, my husband, my friends, playing with my children, having Noah with us, that we are all happy and healthy, that God has brought this family together and that we will have Jailynn home with us very soon! Happy Thanksgiving!

waiting...waiting

The news today is that we finally know that our LID is 10/7/2008. Our agency said that the wait time for the LOA has been around 90 days. That means we should have our LOA around the first week of January. Knowing this is great because I have felt like I was going crazy just waiting. Now, the realization is that the time may seem like forever waiting, but it will be here before I know it. Last night I had a dream that we had our travel approval and we were leaving for the airport, packed up and ready to go. Then, I lost my purse which had all our money in it and our passports. We had to turn around and go back to the resturaunt where we had just been. I interrupted everyones dinner and said "excuse me...but this is extremely immportant...i have to find my purse...we are leaving for China to adopt our daughter and if you are a CHristian pray that I find my purse." Then, I found my purse and a man gave me $100 for our trip. Next, I realized that I had not gotten our Visas or Jordyn's pasport or told our agency our travel plans and I was absolutely panicked. Well, lets just say that I woke happy that is was all a crazy dream and, I realize that I have alot of pent up anxiety for sure. Yes...i think my subconcious is working over tme to make sure I don't forget those little details. I am glad to know our LID. That is just an important date that gives some meaning that something is happening. Now, I'm thinking I need to really get busy saving money and fund raising. We still need the orphanage donation fee which is now $5,000.00 and our airfare money and travel expenses. I am just praying for God to meet our needs. So that is my update for now. I am so ready to bring little Jailynn home.

Jordyn and Amanda's Holloween costumes were so cute! Jordyn was Snow White and Amanda was a cat. They had fun trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with friends. Jordyn loved her Snow White dress so much that she wore it all weekend. I think she even wore it to church! I did manage to get her to take a bath and then she put it right back on. She was just beautiful. Amanda always loves to dress up as a cat. I think she has been a cat for at least 4 halloween holidays.

Kuddos to Dear Hubby!

I have to give kuddos and hugs to my Dear Hubby, Tim. Our washing machine broke about 2 weeks ago and I have had to laundry at my Mom's house on my days off work. I was glad to have her just a few houses down and do laundry at her house, but I needed to be able to do it at home. Tim and I considered buying a used washer or new, but did not wnat to have the extra expense. Tim started trouble shooting the washer and took it apart and to his suprise found a sock stuck in the motor or some important part. So he took the sock out (now we know the truth...it's the washer that eats all the missing socks!) and ordered a pump for the washer. As soon as the pump came he stayed up all night after coming home from work and fixed my washer! Yea!!! Now, I don't have an excuse not to do the laundry. Now my Hubby does not have the excuse that he cannot fix things when I need a handy man. He did a great job fixing my washing machine. I am so proud of my man. Awwwwe!

This is a recent picture of us at church. Jordyn loves going to church and loves her Bible class. Anna looks so pretty and she is such a lovely person. Anna has a strong relationship with God and I am so proud of her. She is a good influence on her friends and her little sisters and brother. Anna is very studious and has Bible studies with her friends. She lad 2 of her friends to know the Lord. I pray that she stays inocent and sweet.

Today we visited Dr. Dibs at Children's Hospital to have her review You Yu Jailynn's medical report from China. Dr. Dibs specializes in adoption medicine and has adopted a little girl from China herself. She was wonderful in explaining all the medical report to me and Tim. According to her review Jailynn's health lookd good and she is on target for her milestones and age appropriate development. There are a couple of concerns but we will not know anything for certain until we see her. I am glad we went because it just answered some unknown questions for me and makes everything seem more real. I am anxious to bring her home. Dr. Dibs was wonderful and I wish I had known about her for Jordyn. She is also going to write prescriptions for our trip to China. Well, that is all the news today.

Today was my Birthday. Overall it was a good day. Anna made me brownies and let me take a much needed nap today. She cleaned the kitchen for me and watched the kids. What a sweet daughter. That simple gesture made my day. My mother cooked supper for us the night before and made me a cheesecake. So much for my dieting this week!! My Dear Husband plans to take me out to dinner for a date. It will be nice to go out together alone. We have not been out on a date in a long time. My family is so sweet and my greatest gift.

My China Dolls...I Love this picture because it makes me think about what it will be like when we finally have Jailynn home with us. We will have two China Princesses running around! How much fun will that be?? The reality that we are going to China to bring Jailynn home is beginning to set in. At first it seemed unreal or like a dream and I was focused on the paper chase. Now, I am thinking more and more about meeting her, the reunion for both girls, and seeing them together. I am starting to feel the anticipation and excitement of bring her home. I am starting to get things together for her and get the room ready. She will share a room with Jordyn and Amanda. I am debating if I want to get bunk beds and a twin bed or have three twin beds in the room. Space is a little limited now that there will be three dressers as well. Hmmm....decisions...decisions. I bought another dresser this weekend for her clothes. I also happened upon the best garage sell ever and bought the cutest dresses and clothes for Jailynn. They are name brands from The Children's Place, Gymboree, and Baby Gap. Jordyn is so excited as the time is getting closer to bringing Jailynn home.

Yes...I admit it...my girls are spoiled! We ended up havinig not one but two birthday paries that week. My plan was to have the girls parties together to save money and time. A great idea as far as I was concerned. Not so for Amanda. She was happy at the chuckie cheese party but I learned later that she wanted her own party at the skating rink. I did not know this at the time so when I found out how she felt I decided to give her a special party at the skating rink. She was very happy and felt that she had the party she wanted. Amanda and Jordyn had a great time and they learned to skate. Jordyn had never been skating before so it was a new experience for her. She caught on quickly and Amanda was happy to skate with the support thing and play games.

This is a slide of Amanda's and Jordyn's birthday party at Chuckie Cheese. We had so much fun! Jordyn turned 9 yrs old and Amanda turned 10 year s old. Jordyn loved all her gifts espescialy her baby doll and panda bears. Amanda really loved her horse. She loves anything to do with horses. Andrea (my sister) was staying with us at the time for Hurricaine Ike. So she came to the birtday party with her two boys Elijah and Caleb. Nanna came with all her kids Micheal, Jeremy, Elizabeth, Cameron, and Justin. Everyone had a fun time playing games, eating cupcakes and pizza, and dancing with Chuckie.

We are finally DTC!!! (Dossier to China!) Hooray!

This means that our documents are on their way to China and we are closer to bringing Jailynn home. I am relived that we have made it over this hurdle. It has been a long time coming to get our paper work completed. Now, we wait for our Dossier to get logged in and for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance). After the LOA we will get our Travel Approval. This is the count down to China time. This process can take anywhere from 2.5-5 months depending on how quickly our Dossier is processed. I would love to bring Jailynn home by Christmas, but I am not sure if that will happen. It could be January or February before we travel. Next, we need to raise money to bring little Jailynn home. We have a portion of our travel money saved up but we still need at least 10,000 more to cove airfare, hotels, travel fees, and legal fees. The biggest expense is airfare. The children want to come with us again and it is very important that Jordyn travels with us. We are a close family so it would be very difficult and hard to leave them home for 2 weeks. Of course, the most important focus is to bring Jailynn home no matter what and that is my goal. I hope we can all go together and experience it together the way we did with Jordyn. It really bonded us all closer together, but we will have to wait and see. SO far my plans for fundraising involves working extra at a staffing agency and maybe have a bake sale in November. I am still looking for fundraising ideas. I can't wait to see Jailynn reunited with her forever sister Jordyn and her forever family.

We just got back from Austin and Houston. I am trying to get my Dossier all together. It is amazing how i forget the little things like...make copies and send with it, include the money orders needed, and oh...don't leave the original homestudy in the copy machine!!! Yes! I managed to do all those things. I made it to the UPS store and then had to leave to buy my money orders...I made copies but did not include them... and finally, I just had the gut feeling I should double check it and realized the homestudy was not in it! I panicked because I could not figure out what I could have possibly done with the most important document and then looked overat teh copy machine and noticed there was something left in it. My homestudy!!! I honestly do not know how to explain that type of craziness except that it feels like the hormones from pregnancy. When I was 9 months pregnant I had the pregnant brain fog and forgot to deposit my paycheck and locked my keys in my car too many times to count on the same day (no kidding).

Although I am happy that we got our Docs Certified at the SOS office, the bad news is that the Chinese Consulate was affected by Huricaine Ike and there is not any power available yet. So now we are waiting for the power to get back on. Hopefully, Monady the paower will be on. The storm was so destructive and devastating. We drove to Houston and saw so much devastation. The good news is that my sister's house is intact without any damage. That is a miracle because she lives righ on the Bay in SeaBrook. We took some pictures of what we saw first hand. I just hope and pray that Galvaston and Kema will be rebuilt quickly.

I am sending Jailynn a cake and note that we are working hard to come get her. I am very anxious to bring her home.

We Have our 171 Aproval!!

We just found out today that we have our 171 approval for Jailynn. It has taken a long time to finally get the approval. We waited about 2 months. Now we will complete our Dossier this week. Austin and Houston Here I come!! As soon as I get the 171 in the mail this week. I will drive to Austin and then Houston to get our paperwork Authenticated and Certified. Then, our Dossier will be complete and I will send it to our Agency next week! I am so happy to get this phase completed. I am so ready to bring Jailynn home and reunite her with her sister Jordyn! Then our family will be complete (for now) :)

Jordyn started the 2nd grade this year and she has the most wonderful teacher we could have asked for. Jordyn tries so hard and gets frustrated when she does not make a 100. She is still learning to read. She is so smart that I know she will be reading by Christmas. She already knows some words and can sound out the others. It will just take more time and practice.