October 31, 2012 - Grayson update!!!

Hey Dad and Mom! I’m so excited to meet you! I’ve been really working on growing, because I want to impress you with my muscles. I now weigh 13.64 pounds, and am trying to get longer too!  Make sure you bring your rain coats when you come, because it has been raining almost as much as I droolJ! However, I don’t have any teeth to show you yet. I’ve been practicing my smile on the girls so that it will be ready for you when you get here! I have been staying busy with tummy time and hop n pop time. I also really like reading books, and looking at the picture book you sent me. See you in person soon! Safe Travels! Praying for you!

Love, Grayson

October 30, 2012 - PACK, PACK, PACK!

Counting down the days!!  I began packing Grayson's bag yesterday which was wayyyyy more fun than packing my bag will be :)  It was so much fun to pack his baby clothes and some adorable hats!  I even packed a Christmas hat just in case we are still in Taiwan during Christmas!.....I hope we are home by then, but either way, we will have our baby.
We also got our plane tickets in the mail which is the best feeling in the world!!

We truly are in a weird state right now just because its so real now.  I mean, we have been dreaming about this exact situation for years now and its very surreal that the time has come!  All kinds of mixed emotions this week: excitement: humbled: anxious: nervous (about flying!): scared: unknown: grateful: loved: fear:.....kind of makes me feel a little crazy :)

We will do our best to keep the blog updated throughout the next few months and keep everyone informed!!     and of course I will upload photos asap!!

October 25, 2012 -- Rice Krispies

I called Taiwan tonight to get some details on certain things we would need to pack when we travel to Taiwan soon.  I talked with Bev about the typical clothing, money, etc.  I asked if there was anything else I should know to which she replied, "oh!! bring a box of rice krispies when you come".  And bring 5 containers of Gerber baby prunes.  I busted out laughing and clarified that she did actually want me to bring rice krispies!  I guess I will need to put that on my "packing list" :)

On another note, I did facebook message some of my THOGL friends to which they assured me that it was "normal".  Some of the items they took to Taiwan were: Peanut Butter M&M's : flax seed: Little Debbie Snacks: Trail Mix.

This was just one of those little things that made me smile today :)
Counting down the days until we get to hold our son.

October 23, 2012 -- The Moment

The moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived!!!!!! We were notified this morning that we need to head to Taiwan very soon to meet our baby Grayson and have our first court date!  I cannot believe it's finally happening -- I would always read about other adoptions and was so envious and wished and prayed that would some day be us.
Well here we are finalizing plane tickets and counting down the days to hold our precious baby :)
We have been truly amazed at the love, support, and generosity our friends and family have showed us.  And the blessings keep flowing!

Praying for a safe flight and for the court date to go well.  Please also pray for the whole adoption to go smooth and quick!  We are really hoping to have him home by Christmas, but not sure if that's asking too much right now :)  But we do serve a mighty God that can move mountains and His timing will be perfect!

October 16, 2012 - Road Trip!!.....again.

Today was something I hope we never have to do again......
We took our final and last trip to Chicago to get the last of our adoption paperwork done!  The Taiwan government had declined our home study a few weeks ago because it was going to expire in November.  They asked us to update it.  So we updated it and it has been in Taiwan getting translated to Chinese.  We received it back last Thursday and took it to Indy to have it signed by the Secretary of State.  Our next step was to take it to the TECO office in Chicago.
So at 6:45am my mom, mother-in-law and I boarded a Megabus bound for Chicago.  After arriving in Chicago and walking 1.5 miles we reached our destination (TECO office).  They decided to do our paperwork in 3 hours (praise the Lord!)  We picked it up, found a Fedex, and had it shipped to Taiwan!  Then we had some girl shopping time and got back to our bus to come home.
It was a great trip and I am soooo happy it's done!  Now we will wait to hear when we will be traveling!  Hopefully it is soon :)
It has truly been amazing to have so many people praying for us and our journey!  I know there are people we have never met reading our story and writing to us - just to say they are praying for us.  What an encouragement that has been.  We are so grateful for our families who have used their time to help us or travel here and there as we run around getting things stamped and signed.  They have kept us going on some days.  And our friends, what can I say, our friends are awesome!  From the phone calls, texts, emails, fb messages, and good old hand written letters in the mail --- it has meant the world to us.

~We are getting so excited....and a little nervous for the next step, but we know that God has big plans for us.

Please specifically pray that our paperwork will get through the courts quickly and we will get to meet our son soon!

~With Love~
     Matt, Lindsay, & Grayson

October 12, 2012 - Moving Forward

We finally received our revised paperwork from Taiwan.  The Taiwan court had denied our home study because it was going to expire in November.  So we had to get it updated here in the U.S., then we emailed to Taiwan where they needed to translate it to Chinese.  The translation is complete now and we received it in the mail today! I rushed it to Indianapolis where it had to be signed by the Secretary of State.  We are headed back to Chicago sometime this week to take it to the TECO office (Taiwan economic and cultural office.).  After that we will send it back to Taiwan.  It will be re-submitted to the Taiwan courts and we will hopefully get a travel date soon after that!

Thank you to everyone who have kept us encouraged and are praying for us and Grayson!!! We are very much hoping to travel in November?  Please pray for a speedy court process as that could be a long wait before we hear something.

Thanks dear friends!
-Matt and Lindsay

October 8, 2012 - Plane Landing

I had a quick meeting after school with my amazing team members. When I came back into my room, I noticed something had changed. I had some airplanes above my desk. These planes "landed" there because my colleagues had so graciously donated some money to help us with the travel expenses of bringing Grayson home. Tears were forming when I walked in the room for the first time. I had no idea they were going to do all of that. Thank you to all who gave so generously. We can't thank you enough.
Matt

October 2, 2012 -- Set Back.........Sigh.

We heard this morning that all of our paperwork came back from the Taiwan courts....and of course there is a problem.  Our home study is due to expire in November so they have requested we get an updated home study.  Sounds like an easy task right?!  I had actually wondered if this would be a problem a month ago so we went ahead and updated our home study already -- which is good news!  So the next step is to send it to Taiwan, get it translated to Chinese, mail it back to us, we have to take it to the Secretary of State downtown and get it signed, then send it to Chicago to the TECO office for them to sign.  Then send it back to Taiwan.............whew.  Sound pretty easy :/

All this to say, we will not be traveling to meet our Grayson anytime soon.

~ Totally bummed.

October 1, 2012 - Monthly Pictures and Email

We just got our monthly picture and email from Grayson! We've been waiting all day for it and it finally came! It brought tears to our eyes to see him. We can't believe that he's already 3 months old. We can't wait to get over there and meet him. Here's his email to us. 

Hey Mom and Dad!

Happy Mid-Autumn Moon festival!  We had a bbq yesterday to celebrate, but unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to have any of the delicious food, due to lack of teeth. I did enjoy listening to the fireworks though! Wouldn’t you know it, I’m still growing! I now weigh 12.41 lbs and am 25.5 inches long. I talk all the time, and as long as I have someone’s attention then I’m happy! I love kisses and cuddles, and have the biggest cutest smile you have ever seen! …Or so I’ve been told :) ! I’m learning to play on my tummy and I still love to kick my legs all the time. I have been drinking more milk lately and I sleep pretty well at night now too, although not always in my bed. I hope you all are great!

Love you lots!

Grayson