Hannah Mei Yi *** Our Gift from God

Finally a glimmer of hope!

2011-10-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

We received news this week that 14 days had gone through the referral room this month, taking it through 7/28/06. It doesn't seem like much, but when you've spent years looking anywhere from 2-5 days a month, this is incredible.

We believe this month will be another low batch because there is a 1 week holiday in China..........they sure seem to have a lot of longer holidays there.

We are officially 35 LID days away from a referral! I hope to be receiving one by February, if not in Dec/Jan............who knows. Praying not to get my hopes up too high.

Since my last post 4 years ago, I think, alot has happened. In Fall 08 we decided to try embryo adoption to see if I could actually give birth to a child. It worked and we ended up with Isaiah Pax (peace)...........immediately after birth I told Gary I wanted to do it again IF he had any biological siblings left...........there were 3 embryos left and we took 2 (the most they'll do at a time)...........we ended up pregnant again with Sierra Faith..............they are both such blessings to us, just as I know our little child in China will be.

I will eventually close down this blog. It will be part of our child from China's journey and will be a great story, but we have decided NOT to name a daughter Hannah after all of this time -- and purchasing MANY things with Hannah on it---

We may still change to SN, but probably not since the line seems to be speeding up. We would like another girl, but also another boy...........and so my heart is a little apprehensive about not getting a boy right now. I know we are supposed to have both, we feel and believe that God has told us so (1 hopefully biological to us), but my fear sometimes gets the best of me and makes me want to change the China child to a boy just in case so I don't have to worry if we have another boy later or not..........

That said, if it weren't for our "Hannah Faith Mei Yi" we wouldn't have any of our other children...........I'd saved up $10,000 for the trip, at that time it was what we needed............if we didn't have that money, we couldn't have traveled to get Belle. We got money back from her adoption (IRS) -- resaving it for Hannah, and used that for Isaiah's adoption that Fall........then IRS gave us more back from Isabelle and we used that (instead of saving it for Hannah) for Sierra's adoption. Much of what the IRS had given us at this point was from taxes and a little from the adoption credit.........Well, this year they changed the refund amount a little (higher) and made it so we could get the remainder all at once instead of just continuing to get the credit.........so we got all of our adoption credit from Belle back and that is the money we now have to get "Hannah" (to be renamed) and it was actually more than our original $10,000 so God took what we gave Him in faith and multiplied it with both children and money.

We are growing close to heading for China and have raised all we need for the trip EXCEPT our plane tickets. Isabelle is going with us and we have her ticket money. We have frequent flyer miles for our tickets, but I am concerned that there will be a blackout date or the airlines will change something. It's United and they recently merged with Continental -- so they're changing their plans. We hope to raise another $5000.00 somehow for these tickets. When we went for Belle we didn't have plane money either and that's how we ended up with credit card bills.......fortunately this child will not need 3 trips like Belle did.......wwwwooosshhh.

We figure that if we raise the $ and don't end up needing it for the tickets, we'll use whatever is left to purchase the bed we still need to buy (a bunk bed for the small rooms we have!)........so it's not just going to us............

SIDENOTE for our own personal memories -- When we started this journey, I wanted 5 children. I think Gary and I had discussed it. But with the long wait we dropped it. I went to 4 children in my head and didn't think much of it. When we were pregnant with Sierra, Isabelle declared that she wanted 2 brothers and 2 sisters (not 4 kids total, but 5). When I told daddy, I laughed and said, well I did want 5 and he said, I thought that was just me.............so we are more convinced than ever that it is supposed to be 5 children. I don't know where #5 is coming from. If it's adoption, it will be in at least 5 years and we'll have to make more $..........for now I'm trying not to hope to hard that God will grant us a biological child as the 5th. We'd tried hard to make it our 1st and it would be God laughing at us granting it as the last child and with our ages (though I'm still younger than Sarah and Abraham)...........I've prayed many years that God would take this desire away and I thought maybe He had somewhat after Isaiah, only to have Gary make comments about a biological child that drove me right back to it. I can't love the children I have any more or less than a biological child. They are TOTALLY MINE no doubt about it........but there's a little tinge I get when I think about passing on my parents (deceased) genes and what a biological child of ours would look like as well............negative of that is that this child would also have my bad genes too.....:) guess I'll just have to teach him/her how to eat healthy and exercise from the start........:)

September is OFFICIALLY out of the Review Room!!!

2007-11-30T08:26:00.000-08:00

Well everyone,

As we continue to wait for Hannah there is a little good news. There are 2 rooms that we have to get through before we can bring Hannah home. The review room and the matching room.

The review room is where they look at our files and determine if we are able to adopt from China. As of today, we are finally out of that room. Our agency has told me that this doesn't mean we've fully cleared the room yet. It may take a few months to get any news about if we've "passed" inspection or not. However, this does mean that we didn't have any questions on our file. So, it looks good. Plus, because we were LID 9/1 and they've taken 2+ months to finish September, I really think we've probably officially passed the review.

The matching room is where they actually put your file together with a child. This is the room that is only on December of 05 still. So many people are requesting non-special needs girls that the line is extremely long. There are lots of children, but not all have been in the system for the required 8 months yet...........and some aren't available because of severe special needs...........and yet others don't even have their paperwork filed yet. So, we'll continue to wait.

We brought Isabelle home on 10/14 from Russia.........and we think we still have a 2-3 year wait for Hannah. If we still have a 2+ year wait next fall, I think we may do another interim adoption of a little boy. We'd like at least 2 boys, 2 girls......but I already have the 3rd girl named!!!!.......lol..........an older boy or a family of children would really be wonderful to me.

Have a WONDERFUL day!!!

Terri for the Casebier's

Latest Update

2007-10-09T02:42:00.000-07:00

Well everyone.............I'm not giving up yet. I'm sitting in the business center at the Reniassance hotel in Samara Russia waiting to check out and head back to Moscow tonight. We've officially became parents to Isabelle Hope Yulia today............Gary is at home in Texas making the final preparations and missing us dearly.

BUT, we are STILL waiting and hoping for Hannah!!!! The CCAA update (as of last week) has the review room finished with August 31st, 2006..................so, basically we are out of the review room since our LID is September 1, 2006. I should know for certain in a couple weeks though. Then it's off for the long wait in the matching room (as of today they are through 11/30/2005......yes, that's 2005). It doesn't look to speed up for at least a year (after the Olymipcs).

I've already been thinking about where I'll situate both girls in the house. We may have Isabelle now, but I haven't forgotten about Hannah. My dreams are not even partly complete without her and some brothers............I wonder what God has in store for us???? With this wait, more lessons in patience are obviously on the way.

Terri for the Casebier's

We're still coming for you Hannah!!!!

2007-06-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hannah,

I want you to know that I have not forgotten about you. I am still coming for you. My heart has been torn by the length of the time that China is taking to get me to you, but I also know that I've requested a child that is as young as possible, so knowing that China is about 2 years away from my log in date, I don't think you've been born yet. I am praying for your biological parents as I know that it will be a very difficult decision for them to give you to me. But it is a decision that I am very grateful for............you will bless our lives so much.

As I wait for you, I am getting a big sister for you to play, dance, and sing with.....to laugh and cry together. You will not always get along, but you will deeply love each other and carry the bond that only sisters can. I can't wait for you to meet Isabelle and I can't wait for her to meet you. I know that your friendship will start right from the beginning........

In the mean time, once we get her, she will be going through a lot of surgeries and becoming our first child.......learning all the in's and out's of having us for parents (even training us......lol).........so please know that you will both have special places in our hearts and we could never replace either of you.

Love,

Your Mommy...........:):):)

Introducing Isabelle Hope

2007-06-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone............as we neared the last few days before we had to return our domestic adoption contract on Thursday (6/7/07) we received a call yesterday (6/1/07) from our China adoption worker, Jaclyn. She called to tell us that, knowing we were open to a waiting child with special needs, there was a 10 month old girl in Russia that needed a family. Jaclyn said that she has cleft lip/cleft palate/cleft nose, but she wanted us to consider if she would fit in our family or not. Jaclyn emphasized that either way, it would not effect our chances to get Hannah from China. She also said that the costs were somewhat reduced and if we got all of our paperwork (dossier) together fast, we could bring her home by the end of the summer.................

We thought about it overnight.........I had some reservations, but Gary didn't. He felt that with the timing it was from God. Had Jaclyn called me the following Thursday I would have already turned in the contract and all of the money we saved for Hannah to the domestic adoption agency........non-refundable.

My reservations were based on
1. She's not a newborn -- though this is the case and my dreams are dying more, God could still send us a biological child if He so chose.
2. Fear of being able to raise enough money for Hannah after giving it up for Isabelle and then fixing Isabelle's cleft issues. God can and will handle that. (By the way, her fees were reduced and the cost -- except for travel -- was a little LESS than the domestic adoption)
3. Isabelle's cleft issues will be handled either by an organization called the Smile Train (for free), or by other doctors in the area from hospitals that help children regardless of ability to pay.

So, my reservations were fear based and totally unfounded..............so when I woke up this morning, we talked again and decided that she is to be our daughter. The 2nd adoption, but the 1st child..........and Hannah the 1st adoption, but the 2nd child.............

I will probably call her Hope because I like Hannah and Hope...........but Isabelle Hope means God's Promise Hope..................Hannah's is God is Gracious, Beautiful Grace

I will be opening a blog for her soon.........and this time I have PICTURES!!!!!!

Terri for the Casebier's

A New Day -- with prayer requests

2007-03-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.

I just wanted to share that Gary and I (though still waiting on Hannah -- probably another year or two, depending on the CCAA) have decided to start the adoption process for our 2nd child. We may get them about the same time, or we may get the "2nd" one about a year before Hannah. We want more than 1 child and know that we are not getting any younger, and that many adoptions are not allowed after a certain age.

We'd like to have our "2nd" child for a year before Hannah so that he/she has time with us by themself before Hannah comes. We haven't decided on a gender or age of this child. We also haven't totally decided on if this child will be domestic or international. We do want Hannah to have someone else that "looks" like her in the family. But, thankfully at the same time, I have Aunt Sadako, Ruth, Tonya, and Sherman for that as well. Please pray on our decision with us. We know that the child we receive will be the one that is to be ours, but we also need more direction from God as to where this child should come from.

At the same time, we also want to say that we're not fully convinced that God is NOT going to give us a biological child as well. Things on this front have also been hopeful, but we will not be fully relying on this either. It was always our intention to try and have at least one biological child, as well as adopt "several" other children. This "2nd" adoption may be our last, depending on finances and God's call/timing.

On the topic of financing, we have been very fortunate. We qualified for a grant from Shaohannah's Hope that will cover the orphanage donation. I changed school districts this year as well, so the money that I make from the pay increase has gone straight to Hannah's adoption. We have been able to cover the costs of her adoption almost fully at this time. We only have our plane costs left to be covered. I'm still hoping that we MAY get blessed with frequent flyer miles. I've found out that Hannah's ticket, alone, will cost at least $700 (one way). Our tickets, which we want them to be premium economy for the return trip with Hannah, will be about $8000. We don't know how much we'll be saving if we go regular economy on the trip there, but are going to find out as the trip gets closer.

Since we are doing the 2nd adoption, we will be starting to put money towards that instead of the plane tickets because it is such a long time away. We've already heard that our hotel costs will be rising before that (China hosts the Summer Olympics in 2008), so even though the rest of the money has been raised, there will probably be more needed before it's all over. Instead of me putting it aside continuously right now thinking I'm done and then have it go up anyway and frustrate me, I'd rather be using it towards the 2nd adoption until we get closer to Hannah's trip and can get an update on hotels, airfares, etc.

We're also praying that Gary gets a full-time teaching position for the Fall. We'd have to pay for his internship with the 1st paycheck, but then after that, we'd have his money to go towards paying some of our bills off and the 2nd adoption costs. I have NO CLUE how much he'd bring home, as a 1st year teacher, each month but I know that it'll be more than what we have now. We'll also be looking at more fundraising opportunities to help finance the 2nd one as well.

In any case, we'll be a family (not just a couple) soon. We look forward to play dates, hanging out with cousins, and going to the park with our children. I think they are going to love playing together and being a part of each others lives.

Have a wonderful day, we have a lot to pray about, but are having a great one ourselves.

Terri for The Casebier's

Lydia

2007-02-04T20:52:00.000-08:00

Hi again..............

We waited and waited, but the dr. never got back with us. Neither did the social worker that was supposed to update our home study and talk to us about the positives and negatives of adopting Lydia.

On Monday night she was still listed as waiting. On Tuesday night she was pending. So, she is not to be ours. It's ok because of the concern I had over her being fully deaf.

However, not having the contact from my social worker or dr. doesn't give me much confidence in them. Though I know they're very busy, the turn over in waiting children can happen within a few days. So every moment is precious.

Thank you for praying and thinking of us in our journey to Hannah........

Terri

What's Happening!!!!

2007-01-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post what's been going on the last week and a half.

We got permission to use a waiting child list to look for our child. There was a partially deaf 5 yr old girl on the list called Lydia. We have been considering her. However, we've found out that she's profoundly deaf (from a friend with a deaf child). We are still waiting on the dr. reports to be explained to us before we make a definite decision. That should happen early this week.

Please pray that this little girl finds her forever family, regardless of if it is us or not. Also please pray that we will make the right decision regarding her.

I, in particular, am torn. I would love to adopt a deaf child. However, when we first looked at her we thought she was partially hearing and had been learning to talk some as well. Knowing that she's fully deaf and only 5 adds a lot more than I am easily comfortable with. However, I don't want to pass by her only because of her deafness. I think that's a horrible thing. Also, I think that we wouldn't know until later on if we had our own and that child was deaf......I wouldn't "reject" her!!!! So, obviously I am struggling to make a decision of no on this girl sole based on the hearing.

Also, I also struggle with the fact that we have been thinking and planning for a younger child. I'd love an older child, but with the wait being at least 2 years for a non special needs child (nsn), that means if we got Lydia, we'd have to wait another 3 years (1 year is mandatory and welcome!!) to adopt a nsn child. I don't know if I'm willing to wait that long.

If we go nsn now, we'd have our dd in about 2 years and then have to wait a 3rd year to get our sn child, but we don't have to wait 2 years from application for a nsn child. The big killer of time though is the nsn processing time.

Well, I just wanted to update everyone.

Have a GREAT night!!!!

Terri

December 10, 2006

2006-12-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!!!

I know that my last post was depressing.........and the wait is still hard. But there is alot more to life than waiting around for news that seemingly takes forever! :):):)

We are in the 3rd month 2nd week of our HOPEFULLY 14 month wait for a referral or even better, a homecoming reception for Hannah. I am still hopeful that I will have her home for NEXT Christmas.......... It's really unreal for a person to wait for much longer than 9 months for a child! But, I know that this time will ensure that I have the right child at the right time in our lives!

I finally have figured out where I need to stand and what lights to turn on to make sure my digital camera has enough light for good pictures indoors..........so that means I will start posting my quilt squares/wishes.......and my cyber shower gifts........VERY soon!!!

I also am collecting for Hannah's quilt and another for Ann and would love more sqwishes from family and friends for either of the quilts. I may end up making a blog specifically for Ann's quilt with some more information about her to post and keep everyone updated!!!

Thank you everyone for all of your prayers.

Our current prayer needs are:

1. The CCAA will start to speed up referral times so that we WILL be able to
have her by NEXT Christmas.
2. Gary will get a full-time teaching position quickly!!!! Some districts won't
give the family medical leave act time off without being employed for a full
year! If this is the case and he doesn't get a job before Christmas, he may NOT
be able to go with me to get her before next Christmas!!! YUCK!!!!!!!!
3. Our health would continue to improve. I've lost a little more than 45 lbs. so
far and have a lot more to go!! Gary's lost about 20 lbs. We need to pick it up
with the weight lifting though, so we can carry our daughter all over the place!
4. Gary's family will come together to help deal with some issues within it, or
that Gary will be able to let it go.
5. That our dd's birth will be a smooth one. That her biological mom will be
healthy during this time and that she will be at peace with the adoption. I
pray that she will somehow know when her dd is no longer in the orphange and
that she is safe and healthy.
6. Pray for the birth parents salvation, as well as for Hannah's salvation. Pray
that she will ALWAYS know who Christ is and see Him represented well by us and
others.

Thank you for every prayer that is offered up.............and for everything else as well.

Terri

2006 Holiday Edition of Getting to Know Your Friends

2006-12-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

Leslie sent me this!!!

Recreate it on your blog or email so I can see!!! :):):)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps ALL the presents
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored sometimes, white at other times.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? NO.........maybe that'll change a little after Hannah comes
5. When do you put your decorations up? We've not done it the last couple of years because we'd been out of town..........and no children to make a "home," but we are doing it THIS week!!!! YEAH!!!!
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Stuffing
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Decorating the tree as a family, and sitting on top of the heating vent first thing in the morning (probably around 5:30) waiting for everyone else to get up!!!! :):):) 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? All I remember is that when I said that they were sants, my mom or dad asked me about the red suit and I said that it must be in their closet somewhere..........
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We have in the past, but we haven't decided what we'll do when our dd arrives.
10 How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? All kinds of different ornaments that I've collected since being out of my parents house.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love it!!! I wish we had more REAL snow here (TX)
12. Can you ice skate? Not well, but Yes. That is when I can find skates that fit alright over my large calves!!! :):):)
13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being around family. We hope to start a lot of new family traditions next year with Hannah.
14. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? For some reason it's lemon meriangue(sp) pie............or a non-frosted angel food confetti cake with strawberries on top.
15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? opening gifts while everyone else is sitting around and watching...........handing them out to different people one at a time..............with a fire in the fireplace and Christmas music in the background
16. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving and seeing them opened!!!! :):):)
17. What's your favorite Christmas Song? I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
18. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum, especially in hot chocolate!!!!

CCAA Update

2006-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone.

I found out today that the CCAA has only gotten about 14 days farther than last month with their completion of adoptions. They are up to September 8, 2005 from August 25th last month. It is disheartening because it really means that we may be waiting even longer than NEXT Christmas. There were SO MANY other ways we could have gone that would have been quicker or possibly easier. I don't really know how to feel about the wait time.

However, I do know that God has Hannah's timing in mind. She's not born yet and possibly won't even be next year. I hope we get her before I turn 40 (Dec. 08)!!! I'd also work on a domestic adoption (at the same time as the China adoption) because it'd mean we'd have at least 1 of our children next year, but our agency doesn't allow us to work on other adoptions while we are working with them......... :(

God's timing is perfect, even if we don't always see it that way. I pray that we are able to get Hannah quickly. It's bad enough that we've been waiting almost 5 years just for a biological pregnancy, while all of my relatives CONTINUE to get pregnant and Gary's neices and nephews are starting to have theirs. Another wait feels like an eternity and an unfair fate for us. How many friends and relatives do we have to watch with their children before we are able to have even 1 of our own? I feel like Hannah or Rebecca (in the OT), when they were being looked down upon because of their infertility. With adoption the mockers have an opportunity to say that I'm just rushing God or that I'm forcing a situation. With this wait, it just makes it SEEM all the more true. They continue to laugh, and I continue to cry out to God in prayer. Please pray for me.

Terri

We have a Log In Date with the CCAA!!!!

2006-11-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

We finally have received word of our log in date (LID) with the CCAA. Our Documents to China (DTC) date is 8/10/2006 and our LID is 9/1/2006.............earlier than I thought it'd be!!!!!

Praise GOD!!!!! I'm 2 months pregnant (paper pregnant that is!! :) :) !!!!!!!

We also received news that the CCAA is working on completing referrals for February 2006 (the LID is in February), while working on some all the way in April (the ones in February that aren't finished are waiting on answers to questions).

April is only 5 months before our LID!!!! We could be out of the review room within a few months!!!! Then off to the matching room (currently they're still finishing August 2005:( ).........the wait may be long, but we're in for the long ride!!! :) :) :)

Thanks everyone!!!!

Terri

Even before you were~~~~~~~~

2006-10-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hannah,

Even before we were married we thought of adopting you. Your daddy dearly wanted a little girl specifically from China. We talked alot about the different countries that we wanted to choose: Ukraine, Latin America, and China. We started with Ukraine so that you could have an older brother first, but God closed those doors and told us to continue on with China FIRST, regardless of not having a boy. He knew when you were going to be here, just how much you were going to need us, and how much I needed you! I've wanted you, my darling daughter, for such a long time.

This picture was taken at the time we were engaged and contemplating all of the wonderful things that God was going to do with us. Adopting you was a big part of that. I can't wait for you to be able to make our house a home with the love flowing out of every corner.

Love,

Your Mommy

Names???

2006-10-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

Well, this is going to be a long journey. I am in several adoption groups and there are many lovely people there.

This week there has been a great surge in people finding a name for their daughter/son. I know that in my last post I said that we'd found her name "Hannah Ruth Meilin," but I really like some of the other names out there. Also, the Meilin was supposed to be a way of incorporating China into her name, but I'd really rather have her birth name there instead (they are usually a Chinese blessing of some sort).

So, with that said, we will probably change her name.

Gary will probably be annoyed with this thought. We even bought a name plaque with Hannah on it in the last week......Hannah may win out. Ruth, you know why we picked that. Ruth (from the Bible) was a very big part of our courtship as well.

Some other names that I've seen (I like uncommon names) are:

Keilani Mae Fushao Heavenly child
Noelani Logan (then the Chinese Name) Beautiful girl from Heaven

Oh well! This may be a long wait, but I'm sure having fun in it. Maybe we'll have to have a 2nd child and name her Hannah. Who knows.

:) :) :)

Terri

We FINALLY have a name for our daughter!

2006-10-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Please see our title at the top of our blog to understand our choice of Hannah Ruth Meilin.

We are very excited about being able to bring her into our home. I am still working as a school counselor this year and Gary is still working on an alternative teaching certificate, but we also know that God's timing is perfect. He will make a way through all the ups and downs of this life.

At first I wasn't concerned with the timing and process, but it's been about 7 weeks now since my documents went to China (DTC) and I was originally told that I'd hear back within a month or so with what my log in date (LID) would be. Needless to say, the last few weeks have been a little more filled with angst about whether or not my documents somehow got lost in their data room. I've talked with SEVERAL other adopting parents that were DTC around my time and have still not heard anything. There are others after us that do have their LID's. I've come to believe that those of us that don't have ours yet are from smaller agencies. China holds those until they have a larger collection of them to return to the agency involved. So, it may be another month or two until we know. But we can also rest assured that our LID was sometime in late August or early September. Once we officially have it, we can track the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) dates on the web.

God has really been impressing upon me lately to not worry about having biological children at all, or even getting Hannah. All children are a gift from God, but they are all borrowed from God as well. We should all work more at enjoying them as a gift and pleasing God than worrying about having and pleasing them. I've felt that my calling was to be a stay at home mom for a while now. However, that seems to place too much emphasis on meeting mine and Hannah's needs and desires. What I should be thinking about is what God needs and desires from me right now. He may need and desire me to take care of Hannah (when she finally gets here -- hopefully sometime next fall), but when I think of her it's like taking my eyes off Him and all that He has for me right now.

100 Good Wishes (Blessings) Quilt

2006-09-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

100 Good Wishes Quilt
Can you Spare a Square ?
To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes (Blessings) Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a square patch of cloth with a wish for the baby. The main 8x8 patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other small part of the cloth goes into a creative memory notebook with the wish (blessings) for the child. The quilt contains the thoughts, prayers, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

Would you like to send us a square?? Here’s how: Find a good quality, 100% cotton piece of cloth that you like. Prewash the fabric in the washer, cold water. Cut it into a square, 8×8 inches. This is the square that goes into the quilt. Next, cut a 1×1 inch square and paste it to a card (can be an index card, piece of card stock, etc.). Beside the 1×1 square, write a wish…this can be as simple as a few words of good wishes, lines from a song, poem, bible verse, etc. Include your information…name, how you found us, and where you’re from. This way, we can have a record of which quilt square goes with what wish and how many places our wishes came from!

If you would like to contribute to Hannah’s quilt, please email us at gary_and_terri@hotmail.com

For more information on the 100 Wishes (Blessings) Quilts see http://www.originalquilts.com/100_good_wishes_quilts.htm

Today's Verse
We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
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10 Reasons Why Adoption is Better than Pregnancy

2006-09-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

10 Reasons Why Adoption is Better than Pregnancy

Don't fret if you are following the path of adoption after the road of infertility;
here are 10 reasons that adoption is better than pregnancy - feel free to comment on these or add more reasons!Here it goes.....

10. No morning sickness
9. No stretch marks
8. No one can give you a hard time for not breast feeding
7. No need to spend all that money on maternity clothes only to wear them for a few months
6. No weight gain (that is as long as you don't sit around eating chocolate & moping about the long wait - stay active!)
5. My daughter won't have my "Thornton Thunder Thighs," butt, or anything else that's a curse! (she might even have a chance at being "thin" ~~~~~~)
4. No need for a tummy tuck when it's over
3. You don't have to slow down..........it's actually better to stay busy and active. (we've really started LOSING weight)
2. Your shoes still fitand best of all...
1. You will still get the child God made for you!!

Update -- Hello again

2006-09-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

I just wanted everyone to know that we are in the waiting game for a LID (log in date) at the CCA (government adoption agency in China). Our papers were received on 8-14-2006, so we hope that the LID will be around 8-28-2006. We won't know for sure though until we have that letter in our hands (about a month). We can use this LID to track what is going on with our adoption on the CCA website (http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp). It can be found under the documents processing section in the lower right hand corner.

After the LID comes reviewing our application. This is an even longer wait, but that is what the website specifically talks about under the documents processing section. Currently they have finished reviewing all douments with a LID of 11/30/2005. Yes, that means it will probably be about 9 more months until we are in the matching room.

Once the review is finished we go to the matching room to finally be matched with our child. I have heard rumors that they match you based on a passport photo you submit (I certainly hope not!) or the likes you have written on your application. Who really knows?

After the matching room, they send us our referral and we decided whether or not to accept her.

Then it's placement time!!!! Yippee!!! This is finally where we get to go over and hold her for the first time. Yes, I'm excited................but patient in the wait because I have SOO much to do in the mean time.

Currently the CCA has finished placing all children up through 7/22/2005. That's a little more than a year (about 12 mo. 3 weeks) in front of our paperwork. So, we expect to probably get to meet her sometime next September or October unless things speed up.

We would like her to be as young as possible and have found others that have actually gotten to take them home at 8 months (we thought that she'd have to be that old at referral). I'm very exicted about that. With this in mind, I think that she'll probably be born around February or March. We are praying for her mom and dad right now as they are making these tough decisions and their health.

Her dates seem to fall very close to her aunt Christina (due in Jan. or Feb.), her cousin Jessica (due in Jan. or Feb.), and her other aunt Sherri (due in Jan. or Feb.). So, she could POTENTIALLY have 3 other children very close to her age to play with..................if we ever get to leave TX again to see people (lol).

That's it for now. I just wanted to keep you up to date. As I said before, I'm not stressed out about not having a LID yet or anything like some others I know. I know that I'll have one and it will hopefully be a time close to or before now. By the time I find out it won't matter when the date is at all. I'm just starting to keep posted with the CCA stuff, but I won't even watch it really close until sometime next summer.

Thanks,

Terri for the Casebier's

Prayer requests:

1. For her parents and their decisions/health

2. For the CCA in their placement of all these little children (there are many others, young and old, special needs, and non-special needs) into the correct homes.

3. For Gary and I to work hard on our marriage and parenting skills during the coming months to be as prepared as possible for our addition.

4. For Gary to find a job........as he still has not been placed in the school system for this year.

Documents

2006-08-14T17:12:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!!!

I just wanted you to know that I just logged on to the DHL tracker and found out that our documents were delivered today to the CCA (Consulate for Chinese Adoption I think). We should have a log in date in a couple days (but they'll probably take about a month to send us the date snail mail).

So now the wait continues, but with a little more incentive. We think that it will probably be about 1 year from the log in date (lid) until we receive a referral for our precious daughter.

As time goes on, I like the name Ruth more and more...........though I'm still not convinced that will be what we call her.

:) :) :)

Keep praying please.

1. That Gary will find a good job so that we can not only get out of debt (with both of us working) before she comes, but also save some money to put down on our next home (without a downpayment this home thing is way too expensive).

2. That I will be able to quit working at the end of 2007-2008 school year so that I can be a stay at home mom.

3. That Gary will continue to grow stronger as the spiritual head in our home.

4. That little Ruth's mom and dad are taking care of themselves and will be able to have a healthy baby......................and be healthy themselves for a long time to come.

5. That as this time goes by, we will just get more and more excited ----------- I gotta stay out of the baby stores :) :) :) ----------------but well tempered.

Thanks to everyone!

Love,

Terri

DTC TODAY!!!!

2006-08-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!!

I just thought you'd like to know that we are DTC as of Today (August 10, 2006). DTC doesn't mean due to conceive (like infertility chat), but it means that we have all of our documents on the way to China!!!! We are PAPER PREGNANT!!!

YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!!!!!!

We are tracking the documents through the DHL website and will let you know when the Chinese government has accpeted them. At that point they will log it into their system within about 10 days, but we won't get their letter with that date on it for about a month..................so HANG ON, it's just getting a little closer to the top of the roller coaster hill before we head on down the other side with the long wait for a referral (about a year).

We are still so excited and thankful for all of the friends and family we have.

Terri

Paperwork update

2006-07-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

We finally received the immigration form last week. We traveled to Austin on Saturday and got the necessary certifcations on all of our paperwork Monday morning. Then we overnighted it back to Houston.

Now it is being overnighted to the Houston consulate, where it MAY take up to 2 weeks for final processing.

Then it will be DHL'd to China (about a week).......then it will be put into the computer system within 10 days, but it may take a month to find out the actual day they put it into the computer system...................

THAT'S WONDERFUL!!!! When we find that date out, we will be able to track the dates that the government is working on from our own computer!!!!

I am VERY happy that this is working out so far. Once it gets to China, I know that I won't have to do anything but wait and check on their dates.

As it gets closer I will have to raise more money and redo some paperwork (it will probably expire before we get to bring her home). However, just the fact that it is in the last hands before we get to see our little daughter.........it's exciting just thinking about it.

We won't have to start redoing paperwork until February (fingerprinting) or April................so it gives me a chance to sit back and work on the money issue from our own paychecks as much as possible......

What a relief.....God's timing, once again, is good...........

Prayer requests:

1. The paperwork to make it to China.....and as quickly as possible

2. For us to raise enough money to bring her home

3. For us to easily get through the paperwork that has to be redone next year

4. For Gary to get a job soon......preferrably teaching at this point

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers......I look forward to sending you more information on Ruth as we have it ourselves, including our first picture of her (we don't expect that until around NEXT August).

We are glad to have you as family!!

Love,

Terri & Gary

Working on Getting Paperwork to China

2006-07-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

As most of you probably know, we have changed from Ukraine to China. Last September (right before we sent our money and paperwork over for translation) Ukriane closed it's border to U.S. adoptions of young children. They did this because many Americans were not turning in the follow-up paperwork required for the first 3 years. This keeps the government up to date with the children's health and welfare.

After wiating several months ( at that time our leader was saying that it should open up again within a couple months), in March we finally decided to switch over to China. We had planned to adopt 2 boys from Ukraine (possibly a 3rd if it was a sibling -- esp. a girl). We originally were going to adopt those 2 boys, then a little girl from China, and possibly our last girl from here in the U.S. -- but latina. As you probably know we have had several years of infertility and would love to have a biological child, but don't believe that at our age we should wait around for something that may never happen. We also don't want to have teens and be at retirement age (unless God gives us a surprise of course).

So, instead of getting the boys first, we are getting our little China doll first. She will also probably be the youngest child at the time of adoption (@ 8 months at referral and 12 months when we pick her up), so this will probably be better to help break us in. It's a blessing in disguise that we've had this opportunity. In March the paperwork change went really quick, and we've been waiting on a new I-171 document since then --- because it now had to say that we could adopt 1 child from China instead of 3 from Ukraine.

--------------------------
Now, for Today!

Well, this has been a trying week for me. We have already been waiting 4 months to receive an updated I-171 form from the immigration office in Dallas. It was only suppoed to take 2 months and we've had all of our other paperwork done for 3 months.

We were hoping initially to be able to send our paperwork off by May and then only have to wait about 6-8 months for a CHina referral. That would put us in time to use our current I-171 with the change to China.

However, this has not worked out that easily. The immigration change paperwork supposedly never made it to the adoption officer in Dallas, though we have a receipt saying that it got to their office on March 15. So, we were finally able to reach him yesterday (after trying mutiple times in the last 2 months and being told it was the state office, not the Dallas office we needed). He requested we fax him a copy of our receipt and the original document. He was fixing the problem/approving our request. This sounded good, but I believe it now has to go to another government office before it comes back to us. Who knows really how long that will take.

After this paperwork comes back all of my paperwork has to go through 2 more government offices before going to China. Because it was the summertime, I had planned on walking it through the offices myself to reduce the time and possibility of loss. However, if the I-171 doesn't get to me this week I probably won't be able to walk it through Houston and Austin......delaying delievery to China a minimum of another month --- i.e. arrival sometime in September.

That wouldn't be a huge deal IF China was still referring parents after about 6 months. However, another issue that has come up in the last 2 months is that China is now taking a year to process paperwork -- before we can even get a referral. They said this is because so many other countries have turned to China for their little girls.......they also have boys now too and abortions are probably still high.

All this means that means that we probably won't even get a referal until sometime in September 2007. PLEASE PRAY WITH US that this DOES NOT happen. In some ways it'll be nicer that way because I'll have a much harder time going back to work if I haven't even started the year yet.....BUT it will definitely be harder because Gary is going back to teaching this year and is still looking for a job --- alternative certification. If he doesn't get one this year ---- or changes at the end of the year ---- NO ONE will want to hire him for next year with a baby on the way.

We really need his job. I plan on working for the next 2 school years and then workinging part-time at the most. I want to be a stay at home mom ----- especially with Ruth being adopted and having a much higher risk of attachment disorder. We want to home school our children in everything EXCEPT English (we stink at grammar) and the extracurricular activities. In that way they can go to the church school for that time and still get the social skills needed. (We are or will be certified in all of the other main subjects)

We are very excited about the opportunity to be parents and hope that God's timing brings us peace. We know that He is in control........and working out everything for His good and perfect will.

Please pray that the paperwork will go through quickly to China. The wait won't be so bad after we can just get the paper there.

Prayer Requests
1. The I-171 paperwork gets to us quickly so that I can run it around Texas ---- or just that the paperwork gets to China before September.

2. That the paperwork process can once again be a peaceful thing for me (Terri) especially. Patience is always needed.....but I'm really scared how God is going to teach it to me......we've already had to be patient about having children.

3. That Gary will get a good job and not need to change districts at the end of the year.

4. That Gary will be successful in whatever he does......to help be a better leader for us.

5. Adoption financing........especially air-fare ------frequent flyer miles anyone? :)

6. That people will understand that infertility is an extremely stressful time........and that the adoption process can be just as hard because it's basically giving up on a dream to be a biological parent. Pray that they will not throw issues in our face (i.e. about not being biological, disease ?'s, ethnicity ?'s, etc.) and that they will be happy for us. Sometimes people push us without really thinking.

Thank you for all of your prayers ----- The rest of these pages I'm sure will be much more light hearted as we get going. We also plan on posting updates while we are in China. These will also include pictures (as we have some) of our little Ruth (no, not Baby Ruth........Gary lol).

Terri
for the Casebier's