HE KNOWS US! Lots of updates!

 Someone lost his first teeth!  Mommies and daddies are suppose to be there for these "firsts".  Adoptive children's lives stem from many losses and we as adoptive families and communities will spend their entire lives trying to plug those holes and gaps with love.  Ultimately our responsibility is to point them to the one that will fill their heart with true healing, Jesus.  Only he can give them the grace, mercy and forgiveness to heal their wounded hearts.  We celebrate the pictures to see our little man in the months proceeding our formal adoption and we relish in the opportunity to be his family!  See you soon little man!

                                Reports said this guy is one happy little dude!

This is Jerry, one of the volunteers who traveled with Lifeline, and helped sponsor many of our shirts!  Looks like he made himself a new friend!

             

 Here's Aunt Katie, with our little man, and Jerry (volunteer) sporting our shirts at the orphanage!                                                      He's just a little guy!

What's it like the day you find out you've been chosen?  Someone has chosen you to be in their family!  For six years you have watched people come and go and now it's your turn.  If you look really closely, Katie is pointing to "Daddy" and if you can see the side of little man's face, he is smiling so hard with excitement!  A moment I will treasure knowing his heart is happy with joy!

This is the photo album we sent along for him to "introduce" his family to him.   He will get to know us through these pictures over the next few months while we await our snuggles and kisses.  We are so happy to have Katie to be our delivery person, but a little jealous too :)  Katie gets to love and meet our kids before us!  But oh so thankful for the hard work she does!

God has always provided but with that said..... adoption is very expensive and we are working on ways to raise the necessary funds.  We have sold about half our 100 t shirts and here are the kids making signs to advertise the shirts at the dirt bike races.  So neat to see the kids proclaim their faith and love of Jesus to their friends by wearing their shirts!  Will you consider supporting our adoption through a donation for a t shirt!  We have children and adult sizes still available. Grey or orange.  Email me at lkietzke@hotmail.com

                          Huahua sporting a T-shirt and a great spoke model for adoption!

 SISTERS ARE THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD!  THESE TWO ARE INSEPARABLE.

Brothers aren't two bad either, they tend to spoil me to pieces and give me just about anything I want.  Especially this one!

We had an adoption picnic with our local agency.  So refreshing seeing all these little faces of joy and love coming together to celebrate their families!  Thank you Lifelink!

  The kids and I were working hard to raise funds to bring their brother home!  The boys hauled the pumpkins down and neatly arranged them.  They only saved the largest one, only because we could not move it!) for our family and are selling the rest.  A lesson in self less love for others.

                       They had a great time in the process of setting up our pumpkin stand.

 Later that night though, Huahua landed in the ER with horrible stomach pain.  After many tests they concluded her intestines possibly twisted or telescoped on themselves.  Since her intestines are malrotated due to her heterotaxy syndrome. this was the likely culprit.  We will look into options for preventing this from happening again.

Within 8 hours she was feeling better but was admitted for observation due to the severity of the incidence and blood in her stool.    She keeps her doctors on their toes!

While I write this she is having her cardiac cathiterization done ( I have 3 free hours!) to help solve why her oxygen level drop during her periods of activity resulting in her bluish tint.  Will update when we have results and treatment plan!

 Yesterday, at the races Huahua and Jordan enjoyed grandma and grandpa time.  Huahua continually pulled Grandpa's necklace on and off for him!

Birthday BOYS!!!!  We celebrated Jackson and Feng Nianjie's birthday's yesterday at the races.  Jackson proudly held his brother's picture and helped him blow out his candle and eat his brownie!  Jackson can not wait till his little brother arrives and he can truly be a big brother to a little brother!

I think he is even giving the larger piece of brownie to Nian Jie, which for Jackson is huge!  Look he turns 9 and all the sudden learns that you really don't need the biggest piece to be happy!  Our parenting is finally getting somewhere :)

We are awaiting to hear about our grant applications before we announce our next fundraiser idea! Please be praying for our adoption process for things to run smoothly and how your family may walk along side of us.  We have had some glitches here and there with paperwork, but second time around I seem to take it in stride.  As I resent a piece of paper overnight to the courier in Chicago for authentication, I walked into the UPS store (Fitchburg), feeling a bit frustrated because I had screwed up the paperwork and caused a delay, "Oceans" was playing. And I said the the owner,  how refreshing it was to have this playing!

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

Adoption is a journey of complete trust in the Lord and we will go across the ocean to an orphanage atop a mountain in CQ, where he has called us to bring home our little man, who has waited way too long for a family to call him their own.  He is worthy, He is loved, He is our son!

Adoption 1 update and Adoption 2 update

Yesterday we officially re-adopted Huahua as a formality in the state of Wisconsin.  Yes the second day we were with her in China she was officially our daughter, so I know it felt very odd and like we were just jumping through the hoops.  It felt maybe we should explain we already traveled around the world to find her and had a major heart surgery, etc when the judge asked if we sure we were ready to take on this responsibility.  We just smiled and said yes "I DO." Our most pleasant time was with the other families in the hallway celebrating their 1st time around adoptions, despite also having their little ones for 7-8 months too!  It's just a different world you become accustom too and learn to abide by the rules when you have an adoptive child.  These precious children are ours forever from here on out!  For better or worse!  But we will are always held to the "extra" rules that tend to hang over your family structure.  We understand they are set in place to protect the welfare of the child, but at some point it will be nice just to breathe and be a family without paperwork!

Medically, Huahua is slipping in terms of her breathing/oxygen.  Her oxygen stats drop significantly when she is active and of this is concerning.   She is more labored and needs to stop and take breaks to catch her breath.  She also has more episodes of blue/purple fingers/lips.  She was evaluated again yesterday in the cardiac unit and she will be discussed tomorrow in conference with a team of providers, including her surgeon, cath doc and cardio doc, etc We will need to decide which direction will be best for her both in the short and long term in functioning. Please pray for discernment for Ryan and I, as we process this confusing medical information and decide what is best for her.  More to come on that....

Adoption process....  Things are moving along.
First pray about the process to go smoothly.  We have had really go movement with the paperwork and a excellent USCIS worker today even called me for something she needed...WOW!  And then said she would approve the 800a today!!!!  She was incredible!  Pray that things continue to move along.  Next step dossier authenticated and paperwork goes across the ocean!

Next week...Our son (whom we will name after this visit from Katie) will find out he has a family.  I don't know how that strikes you, but I swing from fear and panic to joy and excitement for him.  He's five, almost six, so this is so different from Huahua who would run around at the orphanage and say I am going to the USA!  Pray for him to feel happy and excited about us and having a family.  The idea of a family is foreign to him.  What is a family?  And we don't look like him.  Pray for him to remember Huahua! (Reminder they lived at the same orphanage!)  Pray for his heart to warm to the picture book that sweet aunt Katie is bringing to him next week,   Pray for  him to snuggle the pillow case with his siblings picture knowing they love him so much.
And Katie will be able to speak with the staff and see what he likes to be called.  I have found it important to keep this so simple, yet vital part of their identity consistent for these children.  Everything in an adoptive child's life is uprooted on gotcha day, and we will not just change his name to make it easier for us Americans to pronounce.   Our daughter was called Huahua, she likes Huahua and if she desires she can be called by Jessica someday, but until that day comes she will be Huahua. (It means little flower)

Financing adoption-  The average international adoption runs around $32,000-$36,000. Travel time really can swing a few thousand dollars (flights/hotel demand) in the wrong direction.  When the call comes that you have travel approval from China, waiting a few weeks till flights "may drop" isn't an option in my book when my child is awaiting for me on the other side of the world!   We are applying for a matching grant to help cover some of the cost of this adoption.  The grant may match the donations we raise. Please pray for the grant to come through.  We will update and we find out more.  We are also busy selling T-shirts if you are interested please let me know   @ lkietzke@hotmail.com

                                 
      Kid shirt's are $20           Adult shirts are $25               Deal of the week  3 shirts for $60

As we know, God is the ultimate provider and will see this through to the end!



Pray for our son and his academics this fall to receive some schooling....I believe until now he was label not likely to be adopted, physically disabled-- therefore not worthy of education.  Not in this household!  God redeems, loves and this young boy is now a son and going to have every chance at life we all deserve.

Pray for his physical needs, as we are really going into this with pure faith where he is with his orthopedic needs are concerned.  We know he has had 6 previous surgeries and will require additional intervention.  Pray for his needs not to progress and just remain stable until be comes home.

The three biggest have started school this week.  An adjustment for us all, especially Huahua, as she asks where they are all day along!  And when does she get to ride on the bus?  We will all start back at AWANA next week and Bible study where she will be involved in "her classes".

Her lastest fashion statement is wearing multiple layers of pants!  Like 9-10 pairs, she can puts them all on herself!  Not sure if this is regression behavior, but keeps her quite busy.  And lots of extra wash when we have accidents.  We limit to only 1-2 when leaving the house!  It is still summer and hot outside!

It's a good thing we have the paper, because we go one extreme to the other.  Los of pants or no pants!

Trying on more clothes!