One Step Closer to Li Rose and Big Stuff Gets a Haircut

This has been a very exciting few weeks for our family.  We received our immigration approval last Friday afternoon.  Which caused Chrissy to race to Tallahassee that very same day to get it certified and she made it there three minutes before they closed.  We then had our approval authenticated by the Chinese embassy in Houston and sent to our adoption agency.  That was the final piece we needed to send our dossier to China.   So as of yesterday, we are officially dossier to China.  Now we are waiting for our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from the Chinese government saying we have been approved (again) to adopt Li Rose.  The average wait for this is 60 days but we have been seeing people on our list serve who have been waiting much longer than that.  We would really appreciate your prayers that our documents get translated quickly and our LOA comes quickly! 

Once we receive LOA, it is usually takes 60 more days to get the various immigration and visa details worked out and to receive travel authorization (TA) from China.  We can travel as soon as we are able once we receive our TA.  So the average wait time between now and traveling to Li Rose is about 4 months.  We are praying that this process goes faster for us and praying we are able to keep busy while we wait to bring our daughter home. 
 
So Josh is now 20 months and 1 day old, and the day finally came when it was decided that he needed a haircut.  So Josh and his playgroup buddy Leo went to see Jazz at the Thornbrook Village Hairline Salon. 

 

 (Here is a front view of Josh before his haircut)

 

(Here is a back view - don't you just love those curls!)

Leo went first and Josh got to watch to see how it is done.  Jazz did a great job of distracting the boys during their haircuts, so it was a pretty enjoyable experience.  

 

(Leo was quite the model subject, he even sat by himself for the whole haircut (that is his Grandpa in the background))

Then it was Josh's turn.  Mommy wasn't quite sure she was ready for this but it was time.,,and well sometimes pictures tell a better story than we could. 

 (Josh checking out the bib he borrowed from Leo)

 (Big stuff sitting by himself in the chair, playing with hair clips while Jazz works)

 (Big boy enjoying his basket of clips)

 (Big stuff needed Mommy to help finish off the hair cut)

 (Almost there)

 (Big stuff and Mommy after the deed was done...Mommy does like that new look)

 (Group shot!)

 (Josh and Leo...haircut buddies - it was hard to get them to focus :-)

(Daddy and his proud handsome boogie)

Another exciting event happened this week, well more exciting then telling you all about the nesting Mommy has been doing (that is a story for another day).   Josh got his first passport in the mail!!!  So it is official - we are very ready to go to China...Li Rose, here we come!

 

(All it needs now is a Chinese visa)

Fundraising Opportunities

As I mentioned in my post about a week ago we have started fundraising efforts to help us bring Li Rose home.  Now I am willing to bet most or all of you have never heard of someone fundraising for an adoption.  If you have, you are among the rare few who have.  I am going to attempt to briefly explain why we are fundraising and then tell you about some opportunities to participate.

I think a good place to start with all of this is to explain why we are adopting in the first place.  Even before we were married, both Philip and I had a desire to adopt a child or children - more than a desire really, more of a calling to live out our faith through adoption (James 1:27).  It is easy to ignore the fact that more than 147 million children have no parents to love and care for them. While we do desire to add another child to our family, our desire goes far beyond that.  We believe that God has adopted each of us into his family, and we want to mirror that by welcoming Li Rose into our family.

The average cost of an international adoption is $25,000 to $35,000. That is a quite a chunk of change!!  We have been saving and pairing down our budget to the bare necessities to offset the cost. But lets be honest, it is still a large undertaking and we are trusting that God will provide the rest of the money we need to bring Li Rose home.

We understand that not everyone is called to adopt.  For those who are not called to adopt directly, we are asking for you to instead support us as we venture on this journey to meet our daughter and bring her home.  There are a variety of ways you can support us through prayer, financial support, and family support once we return.  We would love to hear from you and how you might support us during this incredible journey!

Fundraising Opportunities:

The first fundraising opportunity we have been given is though the selling of necklaces made in Uganda from recycled paper. By purchasing these necklaces, you are helping a mother in Uganda provide a sustainable income for her family as well as helping us bring Li Rose home. You can find more information about the women in Uganda and see pictures of the necklaces here.

The necklaces are very beautiful and versatile. They are very long, so you can wrap them around your neck two or three times, and they are very colorful, so they go with almost any outfit.  Below is an example of one of the necklaces.  There are additional pictures available by clicking the link above.

Several dear friend of ours, are selling these necklaces for us.  One of them, Sarah, is pre-selling each necklace for $20 (plus shipping if you do not live in Gainesville). You can email her at sbradateanu at gmail.com or leave her a message through this event on facebook.   **These would make great Christmas gifts!  Just think, you could finish your shopping by the end of the summer!**


If you are interested in selling necklaces in your local area, please let us know!!


The second opportunity is through the purchase of coffee from Just Love Coffee Roasters.  There is a banner on the side of our blog or you can go here.  Just Love Coffee Roasters sells fair trade coffee from all over the world. Through roasting Fair Trade Specialty coffees, Just Love uses proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world.  We receive $5 from each bag of coffee you purchase. 

We can't tell you how much we appreciate each of you and the impact you have had and are having on our lives.  We are so thankful for you and look forward to continuing to share our journey to our daughter with you.  We long to have Li Rose in our arms - we pray that day will come quickly!

Baby girl has a name...

One of the first questions any new parents gets asked once they know the gender of their baby is...so whats his/her name going to be.  Adoption is no different, except people want you to know as soon as you see you little ones picture.  I think is some ways naming an adopted child is much harder because you struggle with wanting to honor the child's culture, their parents name for them - if the parent named them, you want them to fit into their new culture and not be teased, etc.  There are many things to carefully consider when naming your child.  So after months of thinking, reading, praying, seeking advice, and more praying, we have settled on a name.  Josh no longer has to call her just Baby Sissy.  We are proud to introduce our daughter...

Li Rose Rebecca Cobb!

We will be calling her Li Rose and couldn't be more thrilled with her name.  Since we spent so much time naming her, I wanted to give you the meaning of her name and the bible verses or images that go along with each name.

Li means "strength or beautiful" (pronounced Lee)

1 Peter 3:3-4 "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight." 

Rose means "rose" 

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (The message)  "Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life."

Rebecca means "to tie or bind"  We just love this image when we think of her becoming a part of our family.  She is being tied or bound to our family.

So now we are working on helping Josh to understand that his baby sissy is called Li Rose.  We want him to know who she is and hopefully be able to say her name by the time she comes home.  We long to have our little girl home with us more every day.  I can't wait to see Josh loving on and interacting with his sister - it is going to be amazing!

A photo update

Since it has been awhile since I have been able to update and I have been having trouble with blogger and IE9, I thought a picture update might be a good idea. :-) 

A few quick adoption updates.  We are currently waiting on immigration approval so that we can complete the last part of our dossier to send it to China.  We are hoping and praying that this comes in soon, so we can get one step closer to bringing our little girl home.  We can't wait to have her in our arms.  We also have some amazing friends who are working to help us with fund raising to help offset the cost of our adoption.  Be looking for more informational emails coming soon about ways you can help!