Journey to John Thomas

John and his sisters

2011-07-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

John dressed for Emilys first Communion

2011-07-24T06:28:00.001-07:00

Disney World

2011-02-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

We went to Disney World and John was all eyes.
We spent time with family and had a great time.

The Disney World Castle

2011-02-16T10:39:00.000-08:00

John and Aunt MiMi

2011-02-16T10:37:00.000-08:00

Disney World!

2011-02-16T10:35:00.001-08:00

2011-02-16T10:34:00.000-08:00

We spent Chinese New Year with our adoption
group at a Chinese Restaurant in town.
There were approx: 35 kids in all.

Chinese New Year 2011

2011-02-16T10:30:00.000-08:00

Snow Days

2011-01-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Summer Fun

2010-08-08T14:19:00.001-07:00

2010-07-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2010

2010-07-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today, our Caitlin
joined our family and it is her
Gotcha Day!
Emilys is in November.

July 6, 2010

2010-07-19T13:26:00.001-07:00

One year ago today we got John.
It is called Gotcha Day!
He is such a gift from God along
with our other two daughters that
God blessed us with.

June 18th, 2010

2010-06-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

The family went to a wedding in Georgia over the weekend
and Emily and Cailtin were flower girls.
We had a great time.

wedding

2010-06-24T07:59:00.001-07:00

2010-05-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

2010-05-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

May 2, 2010

2010-05-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

We had really bad weather here in West Tennessee over the
weekend, yet we were still able to hold Johns baptism.
I think it was the only church open in town on Sunday due
to the flooding.
Joe's brother John and sister Natalie are his godparents.
Our son Joey and his girlfriend were also in town for
the weekend.

2010-04-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

2010-04-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

2010-04-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

April 20, 2010

2010-04-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well John turned 3 in March and also celebrated his
first Easter with us.
He loved finding the easter eggs as long as his feet
did not get wet in the grass.
We took John to the zoo for the first time and he was
in awe of all of the animals.
He finished with his speech and school teacher and is
right where he is suppose to be for his age.
Both of the girls are playing soccer and loving it.
We cannot wait for the summer to go in the pool.
John loves the water as much as the girls.
He will be taking swim lessons this month.
I posted a few pictures of the three kids from the
last month.

Chinese New Year

2010-03-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

2010-03-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Florida

2010-03-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

We went to Florida and John got to meet
the rest of the family.
We had a great time.

2010-01-29T16:06:00.000-08:00

Let it Snow

2010-01-29T16:05:00.000-08:00

Today we have had alot of snow fall
here in Tennessee.
John was not as big on playing in the
snow as his sisters were.

2009-12-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

December 26, 2009

2009-12-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

Well John Thomas had a great Christmas
with his sisters.
He met Santa and would not have anything to
do with him until he realized that he was giving
out candycanes. He then quickly got on his lap
for the picture.
As for Christmas he was so excited about opening his presents
and playing with his new toys.
The girls are off for two weeks and have
been playing with their brother non stop.
He will miss them when they go back to school.

Surgery

2009-10-24T16:31:00.001-07:00

Johns surgery went well.
Both of the doctors were happy with
the results.
We wanted to thank all of you
that were there for us.
Especially all of the calls of support
that we received before and after
his surgery.

John after his surgery

2009-10-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

October 21, 2009- John before surgery

2009-10-24T16:26:00.001-07:00

My brother Joey and my cousins

2009-10-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

J.T. with his cousins and sisters

2009-10-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Uncle John, J.T. and Aunt Karina

2009-10-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Family

2009-10-11T14:36:00.001-07:00

2009-10-11T14:34:00.001-07:00

Dad turns 50!

2009-10-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

Joe turned fifty on Sept. 27th.
We celebrated with a big party
in Tampa with his family.
What a great time we all had.
J.T. was the hit of the party need
I say anymore.
We were so happy to see our older children,
Megan and Joey, along with our two
grandchildren Hallie and Sharlize.

2009-08-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

Baby Shower

2009-08-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks.
Some of my friends from school had a baby shower
for us and they were more then generous.
We received clothes, toys and books for J.T.
He loved everything!
We took J.T. to the surgeon at Vanderbilt Hospital and
he told us that J.T.'s repaired lip and palate look great.
He will not need surgery until he is three and five years old.
The two holes in the roof of his mouth are suppose to be
there and he will continue to have food coming out of them
until his next surgery.
Also his lip has extra skin where the surgery was done, the doctor
told us that he will use that extra skin when he performs his
next surgery.
So all in all we had a great doctors appt.
The doctor also told us that if he gets an ear infection, he will
have to have antibotics.
Well coming home from the doctors office, J.T. was running a high fever.
We took him to the clinic and he had a fever of 104.
They gave him motrin and antibotics for a double ear infection.
He is feeling great now.
The girls started school and our missing their little brother.
They cannot wait to get home from school and play with him.
The girls have been dressing up their little brother in all
kinds of outfits as you can see by the newest picture of the three
of them.

2009-08-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

August 6, 2009

2009-08-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well we finally found out today why j.t. has had bad diapers
since we got him, he has giardia. It is a parasite that is
easily treated with medication, which he started today.
The doctor said alot of children that come from other countries
and are residing in orphanages have this.
Of course this has not stopped him from eating and playing.
He plays hard with his dad and pop pop, but plays gently with
his mom, grandma and sisters.
He has been such a joy and all of our friends have enjoyed meeting
him.
He is always such a ham except when he gets around people he does
not know.
He seems to fit right into our family.
God knew what he was doing when he placed j.t. with us.

Having Fun!

2009-07-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Our Three China Angels

2009-07-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Gotcha Day!

2009-07-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Great Wall Photo

2009-07-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Great Wall Photo

2009-07-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

Forbidden City

2009-07-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

2009-07-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Home at Last

2009-07-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Well we made it home.
We had such a great time with our new son and our two daughters that went with us to China.
I was not able to post while in China so I will tell you a little about our trip.
We flew into Beijing and spent two days sightseeing.
We went to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.
While at the Great Wall the girls dressed up and had their picture taken.
Several people would get next to the girls and take their own photos while the
photographer was trying to take ours. Joe thinks that the tourists thought they
were a prop that you can take photos of.
We flew to Zhengzhou on July 5th and went to the notary office to get our son on July 6th. Joe and I were married on this day 13 years ago. What an anniversary gift!
The day we got him was great. He cried for 30 seconds when the director left and then he never looked back.
For the next couple of days he ate like a horse.
Looking at the photos you can see he was not starved at PHF. He was very well taken care of. We do not think he ever heard the word no.
As for the people in our group, well they were great. We spent alot of time with certain couples and learned more about J.T.'s cleft lip and palate.
After spending five nights in Zhengzhou we flew to Guanzhou.
Our flight was delayed due to the planes being used to transport soldiers to another part of China for the rioting that was taking place.
Our flight left at 12:40 a.m. and we finally arrived at the hotel at 4:00 a.m.
J.T. had a physical the next day and he received five shots and a t.b. test.
We shopped and spent time at the pool at the White Swan.
We returned home on July 18th and was so glad to get back home to our beds.
We are still not on a great sleeping pattern yet, but we are working on it.
I have posted some pictures of our trip.

Traveling Soon

2009-06-28T13:21:00.001-07:00

Well we will be on our way soon.
My in laws are staying at our house to watch the dog, cat, ducks and chickens.
We leave on June 30th for San Francisco.
Our plans are as follows:

July 1st fly to Beijing
July 2nd arrive Beijing
July 3rd and 4th we tour Beijing
July 5th we leave Beijing and fly to Zhengzhou
July 6th is Gotcha Day!
July 7th we complete paperwork
July 8th we complete more paperwork
July 9th tour
July 10th we fly to Guangzhou
July 11th we take J.T. for a physical
July 12th we tour or shop
July 13th we tour or shop
July 14th we tour or shop
July 15th is our Consulate Appointment
July 16th we take the oath at the U.S. Consulate
July 17th we fly to Japan and then to San Francisco
July 18th we fly home to Tennessee
Please keep us in your prayers for a safe and healthy trip.

Consulate Appointment

2009-06-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

We received word today that our consulate appointments have
been confirmed and we are free to make travel plans.
I have been on the phone all day with the travel agencies
and am trying to find a schedule that works with the kids.
Wish me luck!

Travel Approval is Here!

2009-06-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Today we received the call from our agency
advising us that China sent our paperwork
advising them that we can travel to China
to pick up our son!
Tentative dates are July 1st to the 17th.
We are waiting on our U.S. Consulate Appt.
Our agency told us we should here something
on Friday or Monday.
Just yesterday we sent J.T. a care package
and the girls and I are almost finished with
his quilt for his bed.

June 3, 2009

2009-06-03T18:45:00.001-07:00

My husband spoke to CCAI today and they
told him they do not know why ours and
other families paperwork is being held up at the
U.S. Embassy in China.
They advised him that they sent out an
email today to China requesting the hold up.
More to follow.

June 2, 2009

2009-06-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well still no news on our TA, but
we did receive a picture from another
family who adopted from PHF.
We sure did need a pick me up.
Our agency told us it could be another
couple of weeks before TA due to we
are a hague family, meaning we had to
complete a little more paperwork and
wait a little longer then families that
are not under the hague guidelines.
God has a funny sense of humor sometimes.

May 11, 2009

2009-05-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today we received our I800A provisional approval
from homeland security.
Our agency had also received a copy.
We sent them our DS230 form and they were sending
out our paperwork to Guanzhou.
Now we wait for China to give us travel approval.
CCAI told us it could take up to two weeks for China
to get back to them.
We sit and wait again.

May 2, 2009

2009-05-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

J.T. eating a McDonalds chicken nuggets and french fries.

2009-05-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

April 26, 2009

2009-04-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today we received an email from our adoption
agency advising us that they received our
L.O.A. !
we are so excited that we will soon be going to
China to get our son J.T.
the agency told us that we should expect to travel
within six to nine weeks.

Family Aprons

2009-04-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

The girls and I have been working on
making family aprons for those who
have adopted from China.
They have the english and mandrin name on them.
The girls love picking the different color
embroidery threads.

March 31, 2009

2009-03-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

We still have not received our LOA yet.
But we did receive several pictures
from a woman named Lisa who visited PHF.
J.T. is currently residing there.
I have posted a few pictures of him.

L.I.D.

2009-03-03T13:50:00.000-08:00

I checked our agencys website and our Log In Date
is 2/25/09. This means our dossier has been
logged in with China.
Another mile stone!

Childrens Embroidered Tote Bags and Aprons

2009-02-27T14:38:00.002-08:00

When we submitted our application to adopt a special needs child we did not think we would receive a referral for at least a year or two, but we received it within a month.
I have decided to open my own embroidery business to help finance our gift from GOD.
I am starting off with childrens tote bags and aprons with your childs name in english and chinese caligraphy. If you do not want the chinese caligraphy you can choose the name with the ladybug.
They are $10.00 each and $4.00 for shipping and handling.
If you are interested please email me at ecembroidery@bellsouth.net and i will email you the form for your order.
Thank you for helping us bring John Thomas home.

2009-02-27T14:38:00.001-08:00

February 21, 2009

2009-02-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we received an email from CCAI advising us that our
dossier had been delivered to the CCAA.
They advised that it should be logged in hopefully within
a week.
The other great news we received is my mother received an
email from Philip Hayden with an update on J.T.
They advised that he had his palate repaired in October and
so far he has had no problems.
They also sent five current pictures of him.
He looks great!

February 17, 2009

2009-02-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well good news!
On Friday Jaime in the Georgia office advised us that she received
the rest of our dossier paperwork and was sending it to the
Colorado office for translation.
Yesterday we received an email advising us that our dossier has been
translated and is on its way to China!
Now we sit and wait for a log in date from China.
The agency advised us that this could take several weeks.
They advised us that travel could be in the next 3 to 5 months.
In the meantime we went to Florida to visit the new grandaughter.
Her name is Sharlize. She is just as beautiful as her older sister.
We were able to see both of our families while in Florida.
We had such a great time, but we were glad to get back home.

Chinese New Year 2009

2009-01-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

We went to the Asian Garden Restaraunt for Chinese New Year with
several other families who have adopted from China.
The girls are pictured with their Aunt Karen.
Caitlin and her pop pop were pictured in the Jackson Sun newspaper also.

January 28, 2009

2009-01-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

We are sitting here watching the snow fall outside.
It is just beautiful!
On Monday we recieved our paperwork back from the U.S. Department of State
office in Washington D.C.
We made copies and sent it off to the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C.
Now we wait for it to come back.
We then will send it to our agency CCAI and it will then go to China
to be logged in.
We are getting closer to going to get our son.
Emily and Caitlin are so excited.
They are picking out clothes and toys for him.
They are also telling us what they think he likes and what he will like to do.
They keep us in stitches.

emilys class quilt

2009-01-18T12:07:00.001-08:00

we helped put this kindergarten class quilt together for the school auction.

January 15, 2009

2009-01-15T07:17:00.001-08:00

The girls are so excited about their brother in China.
We went to the Nashville, Tn. state office and had our I800A approval sealed and then sent it to Washington D.C. for authentication on January 9th.
We then spent the day in Nashville.
Emily and Caitlin are starting to get their brothers room ready.
They are putting his toys and clothes where they think they should go.
John Thomas is from Henan, Emily is from Hunan and Caitlin is from Zhejiang.
We are making a quilt for him right now.
The theme is Snoopy.
We also recieved four new pictures of John Thomas from my mother.
She is sponsoring him and they give her periodic updates on him.
More then what are adoption agency is able to obtain for us.
The nice thing is that we are able to see him grow even though he is not with us.

Our Journey to John Thomas

2009-01-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

January 5, 2009

We just started our blog about our journey to John Thomas who is in Henan China
at the Philip Hayden Foundation.
He is 22 months old now and has a cleft lip and cleft palate.
His lip has been repaired.
He will require surgery once he gets here in the states.
Today we recieved our I-800A approval via email.
We are so excited that we are one step closer to getting our son.