December Updates!

We finally received our December updates of Jason Pin-Hao! We were so hoping to have them before Christmas. It is so nice to think that hopefully this time next year he will be celebrating Christmas with us!

It looks like these photos were taken on November 27th. He has grown so much! He is wearing the overalls and shoes that we sent to him. The little Thomas the Train toy that he briefly plays with in the video is also from us.

We got such a kick out of the part in the video when he suddenly gets a funny look on his face when he is trying to make his toy squeak! He seems to be doing really well and we are more anxious than ever to go to Taiwan to bring him home!

Hearing

After waiting for three months since our referral, the big day is finally upon us. Our Hearing is set to take place in Taiwan on December 23rd, and because they are 16 hours ahead of us, this means that it should happen the night of the 22nd here in the U.S.. I believe from what I've heard from my JOH friends that both the birth-mom and Jason Pin-Hao will be there in the court room. The birth-mom must state her desire for him to be adopted in front of the judge.

Having done that, the judge will usually take 1-3 months to make a "First Ruling" that the adoption is to proceed. The birth-mom has until 10 business days after this ruling to change her mind. After that the "Final Ruling" will hopefully come within 4-6 weeks.

We would appreciate it if those of you who pray might keep us in your prayers during this time. We want what is best for Jason Pin-Hao, and his birth-mom, and that ultimately God's will be done.

Give A Kid a Cardboard Box.......

Stephen is taking a hiatus from his beloved Legos and has created for himself a Time machine/Transmogrifier out of a cardboard box. He has always loved "Calvin and Hobbes," and has read our three-volume set of comic strips over and over again. He even has his favorite stuffed otter, "Sigmund" or "Siggy" (previously "Hobbes," but changed as to not to copy "THE Hobbes") along with him for the adventure.

Apparently a Transmogrifier is something that can turn one thing into another. In the comic strip Calvin changed himself and Hobbes into many different creatures. So, you can imagine that combining this gadget with a time traveling machine can provide hours of entertainment! Last night he went on three missions. The first mission was to get rid of his homework, the second to destroy his sister's science book (?), and the third was to visit Jason in Taiwan. Evidently only the third mission was successful. Maybe I'll ask him to take me along next time!

Updates are In!!!!

Yeah! Updates are finally in! As much as I love looking at the same pictures and videos of our sweet boy over and over again, I was longing for some new ones. I was so thrilled to see that Mrs. Chiu (his foster-mother) showed him playing with the toys we sent him! He is holding Mickey Mouse while looking at the musical storybook toy that was in his first care package. He isn’t wearing any of the things we sent him, but it might be too warm for them still since he is in shorts in the photo. I am not quite sure what he’s up to with his tongue in the video, maybe teething? He definitely looks older than his last update. I just want him to stay little for a few more months until we go and pick him up!

Also, I wanted to share that we will eventually be calling him “Jason,” with the middle name of “Pin-Hao”. I’m sure we will slowly transition from one name to the other. We actually kind of decided on the name last summer before his referral, but wanted to leave our options open in case it didn’t seem to fit. When I was ten years old I was a flower girl in my favorite older cousin’s wedding. The ring bearer that walked down the aisle with me was a little boy named Jason, and I’ve liked the name ever since. It’s funny that the name used to be so common that there is a baby name book called something like, “Beyond Jason and Jennifer,” but now you don’t hear it as often. Anyway, I think it also fits well with “Katherine,” and “Stephen.”

Now I must go blog surfing to check out everyone else's updates!!!

Kate Turns 15!

Our daughter Kate just had her 15th birthday party with ten girlfriends and, of course, her little brother. Her actual birthday is tomorrow and she has decided that she wants to take a couple of friends to "Top Gun," which is a Chinese restaurant that my friend from Taiwan told us about. We have been there a few times already and love how the waitresses come around with carts of dim-sum, filled buns, or noodles and you just point to what you want (unless you speak Mandarin and can actually tell them what you want). It's great because most of the people eating there are Asian. We can't wait to take Pin-Hao there when he comes home.

Good News and Not So Good News

We have been anticipating an email from Tien letting us know when our Hearing date would be. She finally emailed today and said that our court hearing is for December 23rd. I'll have to say that I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't sooner. She said that The birthmother will express her adoption decision to the judge at this hearing. At that point it will take about 1-3 months for the judge to issue a "First Ruling". This means that any time up to the first ruling, the birthmother may change her mind.

She also informed us that Pin-Hao has been recently diagnosed with a condition called G-6-P-D. I have only done a bit of research on it at this point, but it looks like it is a hereditary disease in which there are abnormally low levels of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. These G6PD protect red blood cells and without them Hemolytic anemia can occur. Children with this may have anemic like symptoms if they consume fava (or broad) beans. They also have to avoid certain antibiotics and pain killers.

Immigration Approval!!!

We finally received a notice in the mail today that we were cleared by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to adopt internationally. Brian had his fingerprints done twice for them, and neither were readable, so we had to get more documentation in order to obtain clearance. Fortunately, once we sent in the necessary paperwork, we received our approval within the week. Now we are just waiting to find out when our first Hearing will take place in Taiwan.