Progress in Pictures

Every weekend we make a little progress, but it is always a little less than we hoped. This weekend, however, we actually have something to show for it!! Below is a picture of our playroom wall after we ripped the wall-board off weeks ago. 

This next picture shows Larry after drywall has been ripped off much of the other side. The plastic is kinda sorta protecting the stuff we are storing in the room on the other side.

Now we have a great big hole in the wall as we prepare to make double pocket doors to open into the laundry room.

I had fun helping a little. This tool is awesome for getting nails out!

This is progress. This is going to be a wall full of pocket doors, hidden behind drywall very soon!

Finally, the closet has been mudded for the last time. Now we just have to sand it and we can slap some primer on there!! We should have blue walls this week! GO BLUE!!

Beneath the surface

It has been 3 weeks since we were LID and awhile since my last blog post. I feel like there has been a lot accomplished in the way of home improvements, but we don't have a lot to show for it. In the past few weeks I have shared with you the crazy amount of time it took just to put up walls in our new bedroom.

First there was some serious demolition of what existed previously. Then we had to reframe with new wood. After that we had to insulate and patch holes to protect us from the elements. Finally the walls went up, and you would think our work was done.

 But I learned, the work was just beginning. 

It took a solid week to tape, mud and sand the walls. Then we finally got primer paint on the walls and I thought for sure I could paint my walls my favorite shade of blue and call it beautiful, but all the primer paint did was expose the imperfections in the taping, mudding and sanding.

I don't mean to sound cliche, but this whole process has me thinking about the process our daughter will be going through when we finally get to call her ours. I keep watching videos of gotcha days, and seeing posts of moms in my area who are in China now and really struggling. This bonding and attaching thing is not easy. These children have been traumatized, if for no other reason than the fact that they have lived the greater part of their little lives in an orphanage. Their little lives are plagued by fear, and only perfect love can drive out that fear. (1 John)

In a different way, and on different levels, we are all plagued by fear. We have all been traumatized by sin, been offered a cheap imitation of this thing called LOVE. We have all felt unsure of our identity, carried shame, felt totally and completely alone. And so, even though I am impatient to a fault and I despise hard work, I cannot wait to love on this little girl. To offer to her the greatest gift anyone can ever offer: the Gospel of God's Grace! I pray that as we tear down the walls she has put up around her heart, that we will, in God's perfect time, see his redemptive and beautiful work in her life; that as the walls come down, his love, through us, will flow in. I am ready to lay foundation, to do the work that nobody sees, with the faith that one day, I will see her flourish. I pray that I do not grow weary in doing good, in doing this good work that is all ...

Beneath the Surface

WATCH: "Beautiful Things" by Gungor

Adoption Progress

Well we are in one of the most exciting phases of the whole process, the Matching Phase! It is also often a difficult phase of waiting. Our agency tells us it could take 3-6 months to be matched, though I have never seen it take more than four. We have to keep trusting that God's timing is perfect and just go on about life as normal. It's difficult not watching a boiling pot, ya know? 

We did find out last week that our dossier is "in translation."This phase usually takes several months, I think, and must be complete before we could receive a letter of approval (LOA) for the child we have been matched with (whenever that happens).

House Progress

Since the last time I wrote, we have finished:

•  mudding and priming the walls of the "master suite" 
• We have painted a couple of doors, as well as all the trim in the family room.
• We have done some touch up painting in the family room and...
• received our new couch!
• Larry and Dad cleaned out the closet in the new room and..
• Put in the ceiling, lights and dry wall in that closet!

By this weekend we are hoping to:

• have the doors and walls painted
• Have the closet mudded and sanded so we can paint next week

Mark your Calendars for May 13-14th for our big adoption yard sale! 

We will be accepting donations and volunteers to help work!

It's all about that base, 'bout that base(ment)-                 No Trouble

Well things are getting real, ya'll. I thought the adoption process was tedious, but good grief! Who knew changing a playroom into a bedroom was going to take so much work! Just now I was so excited that we were about to put in a new pocket door at the base of our stairs. Granted, that took some prep work, which was done weeks ago. It involved taking off an existing door jam and trim and installing a pocket door frame. This is a big deal involving both demolition and re-framing. But I had no idea the work it was going to take to finish the project. 

Waiting for the door to go in.

Here is the prep that I have been working on the last two days to get this door done:

1. First, I painted one side of the door...3 times. 

2. Second, I painted the other side of the door...3 times.

3. This door happens to have a bajillion windows in it. Fortunately it came with awesome plastic protection over the glass so you can make a big mess and then just peel it off when you are done! AWESOME! But it wasn't that easy, because we had to use a razor blade on all 4 sides... of every window...on BOTH sides of the door...to tediously pull off said plastic covering. Larry helped with this part. He totally showed me up, by the way, peeling off like 3 plastic covers to my every one. Everything's a competition with him. Show off.;)

Here's what Larry did:

1. The door is too tall for the pocket door frame, so it had to be cut off at the bottom. 

2. Then he had to drill a hole for the handle, but the door was too thick. so he had to flip it and drill on the other side too. 

3. Then he had to install the locking mechanism...whoops, cracked it...

The "unfinished" door

"Shew! I am so glad that is over!! But the frame around the door looks very unfinished? Are we just putting some trim up on that?" I asked.

"Yes, but first we have to MOVE THIS OUTLET and DRY WALL this place here, and then boom, boom, boom, and we're done," says Larry.

There is a lot of "boom, boom, boom" in this construction zone, but nothing is ever as easy as it sounds. 

Houston, We are Sealed for Containment!

So one of the main reasons this room project is such a big project is because two of the walls are outside walls and they are super-cold cinder block. Being on the lower level, the room was cold already, but I did not want to have to wear a hat and gloves to bed in the winter, so we needed to drywall over these cinder block walls. 

Bye Bye Pooh Bear.

HOLY MOLY! Do you know what goes into drywalling!!! 

Love the "space" look

1. First they had to rip out framing around windows, floor and ceiling. 

2. Then they had to put up 2x2 boards, space perfected for sheets of drywall to be nailed to. 3. Then they had to staple on insulation and tape.

4. Then Larry cut drywall to fit over NEW electric outlets and windows

5. Finally there is taping and mudding and flanges and sanding, then...

6. REPEAT!!!

Dry wall is up and mudded

So overall it has been a very productive week and weekend and we are exhausted. Can't wait to see what we get done next week. 

The good part of all this construction is that it serves as a great distraction while we wait. Here's a little update on our adoption process:

1. This week China celebrated the Chinese New Year- Year of the Monkey! The government was closed down for the whole week. Hopefully we will hear something from China in the upcoming week!

2. We heard back from one of the grant organizations we applied to that we did NOT receive a grant from them. This organization was the one I least expected to get a grant from, so there you go.:)

3. We also heard from another organization with whom our file is currently in review. They emailed us with a few additional questions. This is one of two grant organizations about whom I was most hopeful. PLEASE PRAY we find favor with these grant organizations!!! We will hear back at the end of March.

4. The second weekend in March Larry and I will attended a mandatory parent training called Crossings. We are fortunate that this conference is taking place at a local church just one mile from our house!!

5. As Spring approaches, we must think about more fundraising opportunities! Be listening for another round of t-shirt sales, a huge yard sale and another "Adoption-ade Stand!"

We are so thankful for your continued prayers and how you continue to check in on our progress!!!

Happy Love Day to your house from ours!

LIDs and Doors and so much more!

Step 2: "Logged In Date"

Well I can't hardly believe it. We waited a little bit longer to get our dossier to China because of three government holiday closings (Christmas, New Year's and MLK day). We were thrilled last week when we were finally DTC, but we knew it typically took 3 weeks to get logged in (LID), and with Chinese New Year just a few days away, we were looking at more government closings slowing down our process.                   I was ready to settle in for a "long winter's nap" and check back in come March!

This morning I was enjoying a time of worship, prayer, Bible reading and journaling at one of my favorite places. My phone ringer had been turned off for about 40 minutes when I decided I wanted to look up the Hebrew meaning of something on my phone. And then I saw it. The thing I had read about on many adoption blogs before. It makes your heart skip a beat, but only during this very special time of the adoption process. It was a missed call from my social worker! Not just one missed call, but multiple...and she had emailed me! She had a file for us to review!!!

I quickly and quietly slipped out of the room and went outside into the cool sunny morning to return her call. As I spoke with her, my husband was calling (because she had called him too). We decided, based on the limited information we had about the child, to review her complete file. Before gathering up my things and heading to meet Larry to review the file, I had a woman pray with me that we would have wisdom to discern whether or not this little girl was to be our forever daughter.

In the End...

The general information given about this beautiful little girl was incorrect and after reviewing the file we learned she was much younger than we had been told. She was precious. But we knew she was not to be our daughter. When I talk to people about the fact that we will review files and may have to turn them down, well, they think there could be nothing worse. How do you say, "no" to a needy child? However, God in all his goodness gives us much peace and joy in the process. Families hoping to bring home a little girl age 0-2 often wait the longest. I am confident that this little beauty was matched with another family this very day!!!

Renovation Progress

Last week I discussed the mess that was occurring in my house as Larry and Dad ripped out carpet and put in floors, and ripped out walls to build new ones. This past weekend some drywall went up and three new doors have gone in.

Dad ripping out the double closets

The new hallway a week ago

      These pictures show the new hallway leading into our new master         bedroom, and also the new closet framed out in our new bedroom.

     I was so thankful to see our garage cleared out as we took 4 trashcans and multiple rolls of carpet to the street yesterday! We are looking forward to another productive weekend of house projects in just a few days! Bring on the trim and more drywall!