Jack's Gotcha Trip

I decided to share all of our photos and videos with captions to tell the story of our journey.  I felt like all of these photos were too precious not to share them all, so I didn't want to limit this post to three or four pictures.  I am also doing this for Jack, so he can always come back and remember this.  I must warn you, there are over 700 photos and videos.  You will have to click on each one to get the whole story. And some of the stories are real gems.  Or you can just sit back and enjoy the pictures.  Without any further apologies, I present to you, Jack's Gotcha Trip.  

Click below  

Jackson Paul's Adoption

So What's Next?

On monday we received our Article 5 notice!!!!!!!!

Timeline straight from CCAI:

1.5-3 Weeks - CCCWA will issue Travel Approval (TA)

1-5 Business Days After TA - Once CCAI receives confirmation, we will have set travel dates.  Travel plans will be finalized with CCAI staff and local Chinese government offices.

10-21 Days After TA - Travel to China!  We will receive our day-to-day travel itinerary 5-7 days prior to actual departure.

Brandy - Best case: we leave around December 10 and get back around Christmas Eve. Worst case: we leave at the end of December and come back after the New Year. Still praying hard for an early travel date! Our nerves are seriously on edge now! So much to do to get ready to go. We got our travel agent on go for when we get our dates, so that is a start! My heart is pounding so fast right now just thinking about meeting Jack! It's happening people! 

To tide you over, here are some pictures of Jack's room!

Article 5 Countdown

Right now, we are anxiously awaiting our Article 5.  We even decided last night to get the suitcases down from the attic.  What is an article 5?  We're not really sure either, but when we get it, we should get a travel approval (TA) within 1.5 to 3 weeks.  We were told to expect the Article 5 in two weeks, and we are on day 12.  Jack coming home is truly reality now. We're getting his room finished up, got his clothes hanging in his closet ready to be worn and toys ready to be played with.  Last night, I assembled his stroller, car seat, and Ninja Turtles Big Wheel.  I was most nervous installing the decals on the Big Wheel.  I meticulously placed every one on there trying my best not to get any wrinkles in the stickers.  Jack's dad makes a living making decals.  If his Big Wheel isn't the coolest on the block, we have a problem.  I wanted so bad to "test drive" it for him, but it said on the bottom, "Kids Only".  How bad would it be if I broke one of his toys before he got to come home and see them?


We are pleading with everyone to please pray for a few specific things:

Please pray for Jack at this time. Pray that he is being prepared by his caregiver to meet his forever family. This is going to be hard on him. We are already so in love with him however he doesn't know us. How scary for a child. Pray for us to have patience with him. Because Lord knows all we want to do is hug and kiss him, however they may not be what he needs at first from us. Hopefully we can bond while we are in China and gain his trust. God is so good and He receives ALL the glory! No matter what! 

We checked pricing to travel at the beginning of December and the middle of December, the price difference is about $2500.00 to fly later in the month! God can make anything happen so send up a prayer that the paperwork goes through and the travel dates come back to where we leave at the beginning of the month! I truly believe that if we pray loud enough, often enough and all in one voice, God can make this happen! As a family in Christ and in His name we pray!!! 

While going through our own adoption we have met so many sweet families.  This past Saturday, Brandy got to help Jason and Haley Bush with their yard sale to help bring home their son, Max.  It's so awesome to be a part of this adoption community.  All of the adoptive parents we have met have been super awesome.

Below, is a video Brandy shared about the orphanages run by our adoption agency, CCAI.  These are the people helping us bring Jack home, and these orphanages look very similar to the ones he has been in.

Post by Paul Adoption.

October Update Roundup 2014

October Update Roundup

All posts by Brandy Paul

October 1

We are so excited! We just sent off our I-800 (Jack's immigration) to be approved! The excitement and nervousness of getting our son home is setting in quickly! It is now reality that we will be able to touch our sweet Jack SOON! Two years is a very long time to wait for a child however I know God is perfect in His timing. So I trust Him fully! THANK YOU all for your encouragement and prayers! I don't think that I will ever really be able to express to each one of you how much it has meant to us! 

October 3

Things are happening fast. Got an email telling us what to expect during the "travel part" of the wait. We are actually talking and preparing to travel! Can't believe we are so close to getting our son! Hopefully Jack's immigration (I-800) will go smoothly so it won't hold the timeline up any. If things go as they should we will be in China mid-late December. How about that for a Christmas gift!  

October 7

Post by Paul Adoption.

Perry's Results:
It was close! Rite under 33 min! The spaghetti and meatballs at Scotty's Pizza in St. Francisville last night had me in a bind through the whole race. I stayed in the woods for a combined time of at least 5min -cleansing my body- of what I thought was some awesome sketti sauce! Either way I ain't "got" to wash anyone's ride! "But who knows what's liable to happen!"I wanna Thank everyone for helping me raise a little money for my friends! Y'all are AWSOME!

October 10

Update on what has been going on since we receive our LOA. TONS of emails with paper work that needs to be sent off and check writing! Getting visas in order, Jack immigration done, travel info started and paying those who get all of this going! THIS IS STRESSFUL! Prolly the most stress from the start of this journey. For me. personally, not only the stress of getting all of this done in a timely manner but also becoming a Mother. Knowing that my life will change and I will be raising a little boy to become (hopefully) a God fearing man. Emotions are running high over here! LOL

On a side note; I need to brag on my husband for a moment because he has truly been wonderful. He is the one handling mailing and getting everything notarize. AND he has been beyond patient with my mood swings! T.J., if you don't him personally, is one of a kind and is such a Godly man. I am blessed beyond words. Jack is so lucky to have such a Daddy!

Thank you all, again and again, for everything! For the support, encouragement and prayers! There is no way of expressing what it all means to us! Hopefully when you see Jack in our arms finally you know what it truly meant. And how big our God really is! Love you all! 

October 23
We received an update on sweet Jack! Here are some fun facts about him: He likes to eat. A LOT! Jack is talkative. I told TJ that he will fit right in with this family for sure! He did receive our care packages! Yay!!  He is in good health, development is normal and can walk, run and jump! His height is right under 40", weight 39.6 lbs and shoe size 8.5/9 toddler! The perfect size for a 4 year old! This update has made this Mommy very happy! 

Oh and one little minor thing I forgot to mention in Jack's update: WE RECEIVED HIS IMMIGRATION APPROVAL TODAY TOO!!!!!

So many blessing! And this morning I thought today was going to be an EH day! 
Brandy

October 28

We are still just filling out paper work and paying the fees as they come at us. This weeks big project is to get Jack's paper work in order. It's about 30+ pages of reading, filing in the blanks and signing. At this point we are robots doing as we are told just to get him home! LOL

Going through this journey we have met several people on the same path. Just listening to them go through the same emotions and joys as we did reminds me just how amazing this has all been. It's funny to think about how a little over 2 years ago T.J and I sat down (after 2 years of praying) to fill out the very first form. I still remember T.J turning to me after church and saying "We have a child out there waiting on us. Let's get them home." So thankful everyday for God's grace and a husband who is my partner throughout it all!

Happy Birthday, Jack! and September Roundup

These are mostly Facebook updates from Brandy for the month of September, 2014.

September 1

We got new photos of Jack from a camp he went to!

See more photos here. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.757447694312975.1073741833.516369861754094&type=1&l=f1454d490c

September 10

Sending Jack his birthday package tomorrow! He will be 4 years on September 25! It's a bitter-sweet time for sure, glad that he is another year older however wishing he was home to celebrate with his family! Believe me , next year for his 5th birthday this Mommy is going to make sure little Jack has a wonderful party! LOL In the meantime I can only pray that he will receive this package and love all the goodies that his parents have sent him. Taking it one day at a time until we can give our son a hug! 

September 17

GREAT NEWS from our agency!!! Getting closer!! Below is the email telling us the update on our LOA! 

Great news – the CCCWA is now showing your dossier as “reviewed,” yay! Hopefully we’ll see some LOA news in the next few weeks here!

September 23

Here is an email I received just two days before his birthday.

Dear T.J.,

Thank you so much for the information. I have added it to your son's file on our end and will look forward to supplying all his early photos and files once he is finally at home with you. 

Your son has won the hearts of so many who have visited our care centers but maybe the person most taken by him is a policeman from Canada who has served the men's construction team for the last two years. I know he has been faithfully praying for the past three years that your son would come into a family of his own as have many others. Your little guy is a sweetie!

As you near travel, keep me updated. I will be happy to make sure one of our English speaking staff is in place to give you a tour of MBHOH during your visit.

Thanks again!  

The timing of this email was so awesome.  We were probably going to be very sad we couldn't celebrate Jack's birthday with him.  This email calmed my worries.  I now know that their are people who love and care for him.  I'm also very proud of our boy for being such a sweetie!

September 25

Happy birthday to Jack!! We cannot wait to get you home so we can just celebrate you! Bitter-sweet day for us. Wishing we could just hug him on his birthday.  However loving the fact that once he is home we will be able to kiss him whenever we want!! 

September 26

HUGE NEWS everyone! We received our soft LOA today!!!!!! What does this mean you ask? This means we should be going to get our sweet Jack in about 10 to 14 weeks if not sooner (hopefully not later)!!!! We have so much to do to get ready to leave and the paper work starts again!! Such a blessing and for it to come the day after his birthday! GOD IS GOOD! Please pray that we handle all the preparations in a timely manner and everything continue to go smoothly! Thanks!

Waiting On You

Some thoughts from Brandy

Still no update on when we can get our sweet little Jack. What they said about the waiting part being hard is true! We don't know exactly WHEN we can go get him. The only thing we can go by is the time line from former adopters. And this Momma does not do too well with things that are not in her control! Ask anybody that knows me! It can be scary at times! However everything has a teaching moment and God is def teaching me that I am NOT in control of anything that happens, HE IS!! However for a planner like me I spend a lot of time relying on God which, I think, is His plan anyway. God is probably preparing me for when Jack gets home and then everything will completely different!  Even tho I cannot truly compare my journey with ones that have children the way that does not need a blog, it's own Facebook page or fundraisers however I will tell you after 2 years of paper work, visits from social workers etc. I feel like I am ready to pop to meet my little guy! Let's put it this way for those of you that have had babies, what if I told you that you are going to have a little boy and give you pictures and videos of him. Tell you all his dislikes, likes, and all about his personality. But you can't touch him, can't feel him move inside you ,don't know that he is really safe, cared for and you don't know when you will meet him! Now that is true suffering right there! HA Don't worry I have heard labor is awful so the pain may even out. One is just a lot shorter than the other. To help this Mom and Dad get through this waiting time we are going on a "babymoon" this coming Saturday for 7 days! Last trip that will just be the two of us in the family! Weird thinking that there will soon be three in our little family (four if you count our fur baby, Butters) I will say that the nervousness kicks in at times. Which I think (hope) is normal for first time Mothers. If it's not, don't tell me. That will be just another thing to think about! HA Thank you all for praying for us, hanging there until we have a date to go to China and listening to me as I get this all out! We love you all!!

Brandy

Everything Is Awesome!

This latest blog update is going to be a roundup of some news already posted on Facebook, as well as some thoughts that I have had over the last few days.  There's so much good news packed into this update, it has been dubbed, "Everything Is Awesome".  Things are going great.  Paperwork is getting processed, preparations are being made, packages are being sent, and God is reminding us every day why He called us to do this.

The Village
Everyone knows the old adage of, "It takes a village to raise a child."  As we were packing our carport full of yard sale donations this week, I thought, "It takes a village to adopt a child as well."  When you really think about all the people who have been involved in the adoption, that really rings true.  I think Jack has an awesome village waiting when he gets home.  We thank everyone who has done anything to help us through this journey.  I keep looking to the future when we are able to send out Christmas cards and birthday invites!


Camp
Last weekend, I went to Waukaway Springs in Vossburg, MS with my church to a youth camp.  We had an awesome time hanging out, playing, and worshiping together.  We read about the first church in Acts.  They got rid of everything they had, lived together, ate together, shared together, and worshiped together.  That's what makes church camp so awesome.  It's so great to get away from "The World".  As I got to hang out with all of the kids, I kept thinking, "I can't wait to share these kinds of moments with Jack."  I look forward to raising Jack in the ways that the Bible teaches us to love God, and love each other.

Here is a fun little video I put together from the weekend:

Facebook Post Roundup

June 26

CCAI received our Dossier today! Woohoo! 

Here is the email we got from CCAI:

Hi T.J. & Brandy,

Congratulations! Your dossier has arrived at our office! 

Your dossier will now go through the following steps:
Check-in: Your dossier package is checked to ensure all necessary dossier items are present. If your package is missing any item(s), we will let you know. If all dossier items are present, we will begin the review of your dossier! Please do not be alarmed if your fees are not checked-in immediately; they are handed to the Accounting Department and are processed on a different timeline than the rest of your dossier.

Critical Review and Translation: Your dossier will be here for 9-11 business days if it is complete and problem-free. During the critical review process, your dossier is looked through another 3 full times for any mistakes or errors. This review includes a careful inspection of the document in terms of content and format, possible translation problems, and dates. A thorough check of the notarization, certification, and authentication pages are also made at this time just to make sure all is in perfect order. We will notify you once this step is complete.

**PLEASE NOTE: Precedence for review is given to complete dossiers so that we can get them off to China as soon as possible. Incomplete dossiers may be reviewed within this timeframe, however it cannot be guaranteed. The 9-11 business day timeline for critical review and translation begins once your dossier is completed.

Once your dossier is complete and the critical review is finished, a summary translation of your dossier is completed, making sure the most important information is easy to locate when your dossier is received by the China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) in China. This also helps decrease the chance this important information is mis-interpreted during the full translation of your dossier in China.

Binding: Your dossier is bound together in a very professional red folder, with photos being mounted and documents carefully lined up and ordered according to the CCCWA’s preference.

Mailing: Lastly, your dossier will be carefully packaged and sent to China via international express mail!

Remember, we are as anxious as you are to get your dossier to China and will keep you posted every step of the way!

June 30

My sweet Mom wanted to buy Jack a couple of outfits to send in his care package. It was so nice to be able to pick out some cute things for him to wear while he plays and some PJ's to sleep in. While I was trying not to be too picky about the first outfit he will receive from us (HA), it was so fun imagining him getting this care package and hoping he feels the love that we are sending with it. We should be able to have it all put together by the end of the week and send it off. This will be the first time he will know anything about us! How exciting! Also a very dear friend of mine bought him a book that records us telling him a story, even though he won't understand the words he will be able to hear our voices and let us read to him whenever he likes. He is so loved already!

-Brandy

July 1

All done with the care package except for Joanna Lynn Hughes family photo! I don't have one with all 7 of them. (They keep adding to their bunch  ) However I am getting that done today so I can send it off tomorrow! I cannot express how excited I am for Jack to get it. Wish I could see his little face when he opens it! This will be the first of what I am sure will be a lot that we send to him! LOL Starting to work on getting his room set up so we can send him a picture that. I pray that these packages will help prepare him some for when he comes home. And I hope that he knows how much he is loved already!

-Brandy

July 1

From CCAI:

Hi T.J. & Brandy!

My name is Laura and I assist the Dossier Department. This is a courtesy email to let you know that we have just finished checking in your dossier, and a response is not necessary. “Check in” ensures that our Dossier Team have all of the required documents needed to complete the critical review of your dossier. It currently appears that all of the required items have been received (hooray!), and therefore the Dossier Team will begin their critical review of the dossier immediately. Please allow 9-11 business days for completion of the review, and a response from the Dossier Team.

Thanks and have a great day!

July 3

While driving into work this morning I looked at the license plate on the SUV in front of me and read: JCKSMOM (I couldn't get a picture of it while driving 70 miles per hour) However it did make my heart speed up! It has been little things like this license plate through out this whole journey proving that God is right beside us telling us to keep going, He has got this! GOD IS GOOD!!!!! ALWAYS!!!!!!

-Brandy

Adoption is Hard

Note from Brandy:
June 25

Adoption is just hard! There I said it! When we first started this journey we were told that the Devil will do whatever he can and use whoever he can to take your joy and try to take the focus off the main reason we're on this journey in the first place. And it's not just the paper work either. It's the emotion of it all. The waiting, the not knowing, and the just trying to "prepare" yourself for this HUGE life change. And I will tell you this, the people in your life will either bring you up or bring you down. The key is relying on God! He has truly been by our side this entire time and even the days that I fail, He is still showing His undying faithfulness. Asking for prayers as I go full blow into this battle with Satan, I know it is already won by Christ, however pray for me for strength to react as I should in the Godly manner. Thank you and love you all.

Brandy

Packages

Another FB post from Brandy:

June 23
Got our Dossier back this morning!! Now we can send it to CCAI to be translated and then off to China!!! Getting so much closer to being able to hug our sweet Jack! I have heard from other adopted parents who have used CCAI that it takes about 2 weeks to translate the forms and about 6 weeks for China to "approve" the forms. After that there is more waiting. But this time it will be for our travel dates to go to China! Whoop whoop!!  That usually takes a few months. When I see Jack's sweet face my heart fills with joy and I thank God for His faithfulness and undying love. Also for you all that have supported us in some way! This journey has been crazy, good and not so good, def been emotional but all so worth it! Love you all!

Brandy

Care Package

We were also told by our agency that we can start sending care packages to Jack.  They have an information packet with labels for us to attach to a photo album to send to him. They have labels translated in Chinese like "Mom", "Grandmother", "Your Room", "Our Dog", and "Our House".  They also have labels for us to send a gift to his nanny and/or director of orphanage.  There's even Chinese labels for "We Love You!" and "Happy Birthday!".  They told us we could send stuff we could fit in a shoe box.  We can even send a disposable camera for Jack's nanny to take pictures of him and his friends for us!  One suggestion we got was if we send him a toy, to have that same toy here when he gets home.  A sweet friend of ours got us a story book, where we can record our voices reading the story.  My mom and dad said we should send him a Paul Companies shirt, haha.

A little story about God's provision

As you know, one our fund-raising methods has been yard sales.  Last week we went and picked up some items from a friend who is remodeling her house.  She needed to get rid of some things, and she knew about our yard sales so she called us.  She had a bunch of stuff, and as a coincidence, I happened to be pulling a U-Haul trailer the day we went to pick up her donations.  As it turns out, she owns a business where one of her services is organizing and de-cluttering.  The day after we picked up her items, she called to let us know she had MORE items.  She asked her customer, and they said it was okay for her to donate the clutter to us.  Today, we had this conversation:

Little things like this are our every-day miracles that we have seen throughout the adoption process.  I want to make more of a point to share more of these.

Picture This

First, a message from Brandy from her Facebook page:

Just received our PA (pre-approval) from China for our sweet little Jack!!! This is a HUGE step closer to bringing our son home! We get to send him care packages now, and I want to fill that package with everything! LOL T.j. Paul and I are so blessed and we are praising God! Now we are just waiting on our Dossier to get certified from Houston (Chinese Consulate) then we will be off to the next step! — feeling excited.

Okay, so we've been waiting to share this cute little face with the world for a few weeks now since we got his referral.  We had to wait for our pre-approval from China before we could do that.  A pre-approval is pretty much a formality, but our agency asks everyone to wait for that before we share any of his bio or pictures.  I actually had to delay a blog post called "Meet Jack".  You can go back and read that to learn more about his personality, but for now............

ENJOY!

These first pictures are from when he was a little younger.

Brandy just loves those lips!

Look at the flexibility in those toes!

Looking a little shy.

These next photos were taken just for us, only a few days before they sent his file to us for review.  He's three years old, and he turns four on September 25th.

This is the picture I have put on the lock screen on my iPhone.  If you've seen me the last few days, you've seen this picture because I'm showing it to err'body.

There is a video of him, and this shot is from when he had about four or five Chinese people speaking to him and trying to get him to do something.  It's okay, Jack, I would get confused if one person was giving me commands in Chinese.  Really, he looked more like he was just defiant like Butters does when you know she knows what we are saying, but it's just not something she wants to do right this second.  Lord, help us if we spoil this boy the way we spoil Butters.

This is another picture from the video.  There is an American girl to his left.  I think she was there from our agency.  You can see a tape measure, and it looks like he is sitting on a scale.  It looks like she was there measuring him and checking on him.  He's drawing circles with his left hand.  Future owner/manager of HP Graphics?

If the pictures just aren't enough, here are two videos they sent to us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFd2LMPET-g&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV8CbmsCmzU&feature=youtu.be

Withdrawals

Brandy and I are going through withdrawals this week for a couple of reasons.  First, we don't have any more paperwork to do right now.  We have been filling out forms and writing letters for this adoption non-stop since November of last year, and some even before then.  We finally finished our dossier last week, and knocked off a couple of "To-Do Lists" for our agency.  Now, there is nothing to do but wait, and it feels really weird.  We complained about how much paperwork we had to do before, and now we almost miss it.  It's like those dreams you have after graduation that you had homework that you forgot to do.  It's just been such a big part of our life.

Our second withdrawal this week has been from caffeine.  To try to stay healthy, we both gave ourselves a week-long challenge to drink nothing but water or milk.  Monday was ROUGH.  By the time I got home, I didn't feel like doing anything.  Brandy managed to prepare a delicious dinner.  I had hope that food would give me a burst of energy, but the only energy we got was from laughing at two episodes of America's Funniest Videos.  It NEVER fails, the video with the cute kid ALWAYS wins.  It's America's Funniest, not America's Cutest, people!  We were both in bed at 9 o'clock!

I checked with the courier who took our dossier to the Chinese Consulate in Houston.  She said it looked like everything was in order with our dossier, so that was a relief.  She said it would be ready Friday, and I assume that means we will get it back next week.  When we get it back, we will send it to our agency.  Then, they will translate it and send it to China.  Once China receives it, we will have our Log In Date (LID), which is a big deal in the adoption process.

I just want to express some gratitude.  To our readers, you may feel sick of reading our "thank you's", but I just don't think we can say it enough.  We got some big help over the last few weeks.  I'd love to stand on a rooftop and scream your names and praises.  We just want everyone to know that we REALLY appreciate all the emotional and financial support we have received in the last couple of weeks and throughout the whole process.  We still have shirts available.  If anyone wants a Paul Companies shirt, message us on our FB page https://www.facebook.com/pauladoption?ref_type=bookmark .

Babymoon

Our Dossier is no longer in our hands but on its way to be certified by the Chinese Consulate in Houston, TX.  Then, it comes back to us, then on to our agency, and finally it goes to China! But for now, we wait.  The ones that have been through adoption before understand how awesome this feels. It's like the biggest school project anyone has ever done.  It's been the hardest part of the adoption so far.  It feels like now we are waiting for our grade from the teacher, hoping we didn't miss anything or get anything wrong.  

We are still waiting for our pre-approval, so we can share pictures of our boy.  In the meantime, Brandy and I are discussing how we should spend our last few months as a family of three (if you count our dog, Butters).  We have been talking of taking a "babymoon" before we leave for China.  Obviously, we can't spend a bunch of money and fly across the world, but we want to do something that we can't do with a child.  So, if anyone has any suggestions, please share!

Frequently Frustrated

Sending out our Dossier today or tomorrow depending on the carrier!!! So excited that this MAJOR step is past us! I never knew that paperwork could be so stressful! All the emotions and feelings you go through with adoption is something I don't think we will ever forget however I KNOW that meeting my waiting child is going to be one of the best feelings. I am not the best at words so it is hard to describe all that goes through your mind. To describe the helplessness you feel when you are just waiting on someone else to approve something before you can even do the next step. The feeling of impatience when once again you have to redo a form because it has expired because you are still waiting on a form to get approved or isn't worded JUST right. To describe how frustrated you get because you still don't understand what they are asking for after reading the form for 100th times!! LOL (quite embarrassed by that one)  However the feeling you get just knowing that we will be meeting our child (God willing) by next year is priceless!

Brandy

Meet Jack

On Friday, May 23 I received a call at work from our adoption agency about a referral for a potential match for us.  It was a normal Friday like any other.  I was at work just doing my thing, when CCAI popped up on my cell phone.  The lady from the agency went on to tell me all about a child's sex, name, birthday, height, weight, physical development, personality, medical special need, favorite activities, physical abilities, mental development, and so on.  I was in shock because I didn't think we would get any referrals until all our dossier paperwork had been turned in.  Brandy had told me that we could be matched at any time, but neither of us was prepared for this so soon.  As she went on all about the child, I began to fall in love.  After she finished telling me everything, she asked if I was interested and if I wanted her to send an email with all of the info and pictures!  Absolutely!

The email only made me fall in love even more.  As I read all of the documents, I thought, "This feels like the perfect child for us."  We were told that we could take all of the info and consult a pediatrician, but they needed an answer within a week or so.  Brandy and I have been on such a whirlwind of emotions over the last week, but excitement tops them all.  God has been so good to us throughout this whole process.  He has taken all of our fears and anxieties, and shown us a picture of His love in the form of this little child.

For legal purposes at this time, we can't disclose too much information, so no photos that we can share just yet.

Meet Jack

Edited to show what we are allowed to show

Jackson "Jack" James Paul was born September 25, 2010 (estimated), was abandoned on September 28, 2010, outside the Zhengzhou City University.  That same day, he was brought to the Zhengzhou City Children’s Welfare Institute.

After entering the institute, Jack has continuously lived inside the institute.  Below is his most recent development report.

Motor development and adaptability: Jack's thumbs and forefingers are nimble and his fingers can accomplish some meticulous tasks.  His left and right hands can play with toys simultaneously and he can take toys out of the toy box; After he’s finished playing, he will put the toys in the toy box.  His motor movement is normal and the child can sit, crawl, stand steadily and walk freely.  The child can also go up and down stairs.  The child can grab a pen and draw lines and he can imitate drawing circles and straight lines.  He can flip through a book on his own.

Language and social abilities: The child adapts to strange environments very quickly and if he’s interested in something, he will reach out his hands to touch it.  He understands what the nannies say and he listens to what they say.  If the nannies don’t want him doing something, he won’t do it.  The child can use simple words to answer a few questions and he can say 3-5 word sentences.  He can also count from 1-10.  When he hears his given Chinese name called, he will turn his head to look for the origin of the sound.  He can distinguish between strangers and acquaintances and when he sees someone he’s familiar with, he smiles.  He’s not afraid of strangers and he likes to communicate with them.

Personality characteristics: Jack is a lively and active child.  His personality is very extroverted and he really likes to smile.  If someone plays with him, he will smile.  If he’s curious about something, he will go pick it up and research it.  He really likes to play with toys and he’s not picky about the toys he plays with.  He responds quite quickly and when he sees the TV or hears music he will become very happy.  He likes to play in places where there are lots of people and when he sees other little children, he becomes very happy.

Jack is an extremely active and cute child and we all really like him.  We hope that he can quickly find a loving home with a mother and father that will give him a happy childhood as well as a beautiful future.  We are confident that he will bring bundles of joy and good fortune to your home.

By now you must be asking a few questions.  

How long till you can go get him? Unfortunately, it will be eight to nine months before we can bring baby Jack home. There is still a lot of paperwork and rigmarole that must be gone through before we can travel to China. In the meantime, we can request updates and send care packages to him.

We are sorry we can't share more information and pictures of Jack, but this is all we can say for now. We should have authority to do that very soon, though. Brandy and I got all of the paperwork done to officially lock baby Jack for us last night. CCAI is going to translate it and let us know when we can share pictures soon. Maybe you guys can even see the videos of him!

May Yard Sale/Meeting of Grandmother and Chinese Granddaughter

Sorry that I am late posting this update about the yard sale: Yard sale was a huge success thanks to God, people that donated and people that came out to buy/support us. There is one of many stories I would like to share about the yard sale that was such a blessing to me and I KNOW God was part of because I so needed it. The last couple of weeks I have felt defeated and stressed due to getting the paper work finish and having to redo some of it. A Grandmother came with her 6 year old granddaughter that was adopted from China. I got to talk with them both and listen to their story. The Grandmother gave me words of encouragement and the little girl was so happy! I really feel like God sent them to our yard sale just so He could tell me to calm down (Haha) and everything was going to be fine. Because no matter how long it takes or emotions I feel, the end result will be the same. I one day will be able to hold my baby in my arms in God's time and God's time is always perfect!

Brandy

Shirt Sale for Baby Paul

We are getting closer with each prayer and paperwork that we check off the list!! However we are still needing your help! We are selling Paul Companies t-shirts to raise money for our adoption. Please help us by ordering a shirt or two. It would really help get our child home plus you will get an awesome looking shirt! Below are the details of how to order and pay. Thank you so much for your help and support!

The shirts will be available in dark colors, no red or white. They have a vintage distressed look to them with a Paul Companies logo. Shirts are $15.00. They can be ordered by sending a message to T.J. Paul on Facebook or by emailing tjpaul117@gmail.com You can also pre-paid for your shirt with Pay-Pal if you like. The sale will end on May 7, 2014. So get your orders in soon! 


Please leave a message with your name, contact info, quantity, size, and color (address if you need them to be shipped). Once they are ready, we will contact you so you can pick them up at Paul's Body Shop, or we can ship them to you. Thank you again for all you support! 

Home Study Update

We have received our Home Study and everything looks good. We now can send off for our Immigration Approval and Dossier. YAY! We also can start applying for some grants. Please pray with us as we get everything sent off and we send it off correctly. I am feeling a little overwhelmed because I want everything to be done. Also, lately, time as been on my mind. It is hard to explain but thinking that we are running behind "schedule" is driving me crazy. When we started this journey we knew that this was God's will for us and that the Devil would be doing his best to derail us. Using anything and everything. I feel like now that we are getting closer, he is pushing more and more on some issues. So I ask for my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for me to stay strong in Christ and trust in His timing. And for me to take it one day at a time and stay focus on our sweet baby coming home! Thank you all for everything! Love you!

Brandy

Spring Cleaning 2014

I just wanted to share a few updates by Brandy that were posted on our FB page https://www.facebook.com/pauladoption , but not here.

January 31st 

We had our soup supper fundraiser that we blogged about earlier.

http://pauladoption.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-cup-runneth-over-soup-supper.html

Brandy posted this about it:

We cannot express the joy we feel because of the amount of support that you all have shown us during this adoption. When we sat down to discuss our next fund raiser and decided to do the Soup Supper we had an amount that we would like to make (God willing) to make the hard work "worth it". God and you guys shown up BIG TIME! We almost doubled what our goal was for the Soup Supper!! God is awesome! And we give Him all the glory and want to thank you all that supported us through prayers, donating and/or stopping by on Friday! Each day God is showing us that this is what His will is for us!

T.J. and Brandy

February 1st

We had photos taken for our dossier.

You can see some of them here - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.663240687067010.1073741831.516369861754094&type=1

February 7th

We are turning in our last paperwork for the Home Study TONIGHT!!! Then we are done with this HUGE step! This is such a relief for us! We still have our Dossier to finish however that is a lot of repetitive info that we have already filled out for the Home Study and getting that info notarized by the state. So we should, hopefully, be able to finish that quickly. Also we now can start applying for grants. So please pray with us for God to open doors. We are def feeling the excitement of the next stage. Even though we still have a lot of waiting time ahead of us, we are getting our home and hearts ready for our little addition. Love you all and thank you again for being there for us through this journey!

T.J. and Brandy

February 18th

Asking you all to lift us up a little higher right now. Home Study has been approve (YAY) however our agency is wanting us to change some things that are very important to us about our child. We are getting in touch with our agency to dig a little deeper on why. However in the meantime we need our prayer warriors to get to praying that this will be an easy fix. We will update you all as soon as we know something! Thanks!

T.J. and Brandy

Talked to our agency and everything worked out! Thanks for the prayers! One step closer! 

T.J. and Brandy

March 17th

Sorry it has been a minute since we last updated however we have been crazy busy. We are done with our Home Study however when we received it last week we notice while reading it over that there were some information that were written wrong. This is upsetting news because what we have to do next (Dossier and Immigration approval) are needing this Home Study. When you adopt international ALL paper HAS to match up or China will kick it out. We called our social worker and she is rewriting it right away. Hopefully we should have it back in a week or two. On a brighter note we are done painting our child's room this past weekend. I know it might be early however we were painting other parts of the house so we decided to get that room done also. It's a pretty light grey color that will go with any color depending on the sex of our child. I walked in that room and saw the bare walls waiting for picture, drapes etc I couldn't help to think that one day it will be filled with toys, laughter and a very special child that God picked to be our baby! This journey has its up and downs however the day I get to hold my sweet child I know this will all be worth it! Love you all. Thank you again and again for all your support!

Brandy

March 20th

I have been trying to write Thank You notes to you all that have helped in some way and I am sure I have missed some! This is not because we are not thankful. Just the opposite, we are overwhelm with thankfulness and humbled by the kindness you each have shown us! I am still busy writing thank you notes, I just wanted you all to know that I know God is HUGE and thank Him everyday for softening each one of your hearts towards us! Thank you each for your prayers, donations, and encouragement! 

Brandy

March 22nd

Update on the Home Study that we had to send back because it was written wrong. We got the proof last night and everything looks correct. Now we are waiting on the copies to be mailed to us so we can send our Dossier and Immigration forms. After that it is a waiting game until we are match with our child.  We just hope and pray that everything goes smoothly! Taking it one day at a time and trusting in God's timing!