September 30, 2012 -- Final Touches!

So I am a crazy about pinterest and found out how to make these adorable onesie-tie outfits :)  So my amazing mom and I started making them today!  These are Grayson's "church clothes"!!

We have also been working on his room!  We are sooooo excited to be getting it all ready :) Counting down the days.....even though we don't have an exact date we will be bringing out baby home yet.  We know that God's timing will be perfect.

September 16, 2012 - Build-A-Bear

We ventured out to the Greenwood Park Mall today to visit the Build-A-Bear Workshop and make Grayson a bear to give him when we go over to Taiwan. We're going to keep him in our house and hope that the bear starts smelling like we do so that he can recognize our smell when we are not together and get used to us. A long time ago, Lindsay went to Build-A-Bear and got a recordable piece that could be inserted into the hand of the bear. We finally were able to make it back up to the mall to make the bear and put our message in the bear. We picked the standard teddy bear to use for Grayson's first teddy bear. It just seemed more like his personality than all the others. Not really sure how we could tell his personality by not actually meeting him, but nonetheless, this seemed like the right one. Once we picked out the bear, we had to go over to the "Stuffing Station." The lady put our recordable thing into the hand of the bear and then she started stuffing the bear. While she was stuffing the bear she asked who the bear was for. We got to tell her all about our journey to being matched with Grayson. She was really excited for us! Once it was all stuffed we had to put the hearts into it. We both put one inside the bear in case you were wondering why it would have two hearts. :) She was so nice as she asked us to put the hearts into the bear. She told us to warm up the heart by blowing on it.  At this time, we kind of looked at each other thinking that this is really odd, (if you were watching us, you would have been laughing hysterically by the way). We decided to follow her directions. So we rubbed the heart in our hands and started to blow on it. Then we had to rub it on our knees so the bear would run fast. Then rub it on our heads so it would be really smart. Next, we had to rub it on our hips so it would be a good dancer. There were a few others in there, but she went so fast that we don't even remember them. We were rubbing hearts all over our bodies. I'm sure it was quite comical to watch us. We then stuck the hearts in the bear and she sewed him up.

We moved on to picking out some clothes for him. We picked out some simple jean overalls. I think it was an nod to our midwestern roots. We thought it would look good on Grayson, too.

We then got to print out the birth certificate. We paid for him and off we went.

September 14, 2012 - Parents Night Out

Tonight, we hosted a Parent's Night Out at Elite Cheer and Dance to help raise a little money for our airplane costs that we will be incurring. We had around 45 kids come out for the event! We had some VERY, VERY generous parents this evening and we thank you very much for what you all of you have done for us with your donations. We appreciate your kindness and your giving.
Matt.

September 3, 2012 - Mission Accomplished!

The paperwork had made it to Taiwan!!! Now we wait............ ;)

September 2, 2012 - Heavenly Coincidence?

During the church service today, there were four baptisms. It was Lindsay's turn to take the baptism pictures. After the service, Lindsay was back in the prayer room waiting for the families to come in the room. While waiting there, a lady from the church approached Lindsay and asked her if she belonged to the Cooper family. She said yes and wondered why she asked that question. The lady continued to tell Lindsay that when she walked into the prayer room God put it on her heart to pray for the Cooper family. She went on to talk about how God was telling her it had something to do with children or something like that.  I imagine Lindsay's chin hit the floor about that moment. Lindsay began to tell her about us adopting. The lady replied, "Oh, how wonderful! I had no idea you were adopting! Yep. That must be what God is putting on my heart. I will be praying for you and your family."

God must have known that our hearts are getting anxious and a little nervous at this point.  It's exactly what we needed to hear that day. That God IS still in control even when we are fearful and we should find peace in knowing that He will never forsake us.  God is good - and He is able.

September 1, 2012 -- SAY CHEESE!

So we have been looking forward to September 1st since August 1st!  On the first of every month we get new pictures and a letter from Grayson!  We were so excited to open our email this morning and see the most adorable pictures of him!....and yes, we even cried a little :)  Below is the letter we recieved and the new pictures.

Hey Mom and Dad!

I may be small, but I’m growing! I now weigh 10.56 lbs and am 21 inches long. I still like to kick with my long legs, but have started to sleep better at night. I love to smile and am very ticklish sometimes! My cheeks are getting chubby, and I’m even starting to get a double chin! I am usually kind of slow at drinking my bottle, but sometimes when I am very hungry I drink it all really fast. I also really like my pacifier, and I need it to fall asleep. The weather has been really hot, but just started cooling down which makes everyone happy! I hope you are great!

Love, Grayson

August 31, 2012 - And They're Off!

Our final paperwork came back from the TECO office in Chicago today!! That is awesome news because this is our last big strain of paperwork.  I rushed them to the FedEx store to "overnight" ship them to Taiwan!! We will hopefully know something within a month and get our first travel date to meet Grayson and start the court procedures :)

On a different note: We are getting quite emotionally involved at this point and I find myself day-dreaming about the day we will get the call to come to Taiwan.  I am dreaming about the day we will walk off the plane with our family to greet us holding OUR CHILD!  As my mind wonders at different moments throughout the day, I find tears rolling down my face in the pure joy we have right now.  Even though we have not met Grayson yet, we can feel him in our hearts.  Usually as soon as I come back to reality  - I have to turn my mind off of him or else I will not stop crying happy tears!

We have been overwhelmed at the support of our family and friends and the are over-flowing with joy every time a friend says, "we prayed for Grayson tonight" or "we are so happy for you guys".  Just those little words of encouragement and kindness have gotten us through some of the hardest days.  Don't get me wrong - God has been leading us, but that does not mean its been an easy road to get where we are.  So THANK YOU dear friends and family that have uplifted us and continue to pray for Grayson and our families.  We are very blessed.

It's funny how we see things in a different light now.  Little comments people make or ask if we have children --- its opened up a whole new world we have just never experienced before.  It's weird how things can change so much in just a month.  Our entire world really.  We have been just soaking it in and enjoying every little part of it as we know someday we will look back and be able to tell Grayson how we chose him, but he was "chosen" for us too :)

August 28, 2012 ROADTRIP!!!

Today was a very stressful day to say the least!  We are down to all of the technical parts of paperwork (ya know- the kind you cannot mess up or sign in the wrong place).  Our final paperwork needed to be sent to Chicago to the TECO office (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office).  Yes, we could have mailed it, but I was so worried it would get lost in the mail or not end up in the right place.  So we decided to take a roadtrip there.  We planned to take a Megabus from Indy to Chicago.  So we got the tickets online and were all set.  My mom Leslie and good friend Courtney would be accompanying me on the trip which I will forever be grateful for them doing so!  We woke up early (and everyone knows I am not a morning person, right?!)  We paid to park downtown for the day and were at the "bus stop" about 6:35am.  Huge thanks to Courtney for knowing where we were going because I would not have found it otherwise.  So we waited, and waited, it turns 6:55 and we are waiting.  We ended up waiting for almost 2 hours on the bus, which never arrived to pick us up.  We searched for the bus companies telephone number on Courtney's Iphone (which was a life-saver) and finallly got work from another gentlemen waiting that the bus broke down early this morning and would not arrive to pick us up until 10:45am..............if they got it working again.  I was furious to say the least!  So we decided to make the drive to Chicago.  Now, anyone who knows me well - knows I have a huge fear and HATE driving in the city and freak out a lot.  However, God must have taken the wheel today, because we made it there safely and I didn't have a panic attack along the way. :) and a big thank you to Courtney once again for being the best navigator!

After parking we went walking to try and find our building.  We actually found it pretty easily......which, by the way -- have you ever notice how buildings in the city are never well labeled?  But we made it :)  After attempting to get on the elevators we were stopped by a security guard (which they were everywhere) and told we needed to check in at the front desk "security desk" and get a name tag.  So we did that and got neon orange name tags that said, "VISITOR - LINDSEY MILLER - TECO OFFICE - 57 FLOOR".  Yes, the guy spelled my name wrong after seeing my drivers license?!!! Top notch security, right?!   I have to add the part where my mom said, "awww, man. This orange name tag doesn't match my outfit".  Bahahahaha!  I was trying to keep a straight face until I looked at the security guard and he was laughing :)  I hope he knew she was kidding? :)
So we get up to the 57th floor - which the view was amazing! I turn in all the adoption paperwork and it was very awkward.  I must have been giving off a bad vibe or something because the lady was very rude and short with me.  I tried to talk her into processing the paperwork that day so I could take the papers home with me, but she finally said no because she "has to scan them into the computer and that will take a while".  Keep in mind she had 5 hours to do that!  So I politely said thank you and we sped walked out of there - she must have been having a bad day.
We spent the next few hours sight-seeing downtown which was fun to just relax and not always be rushing to do something next.   We stopped back by the TEXO office because my mom and Courtney thought I should just check and see if the papers happen to be done - which the Taiwan lady informed me, "NO - THEY NOT DONE! - THEY DONE TOMORROW AND I MAIL THEM TO YOU - OK? OK! BY -BY".  Although I was scared of this little Taiwan lady at the time, it has made me laugh quite a few times since yesturday. :)  We drove safely home and I should expect the papers Thursday morning which I am planning to pick up at the post office early in the morning and take them to FEDEX to overnight them to Taiwan!!!  We should hear in about a month when our first travel date is!!! :)
Thank you God for keeping us safe today and leading us to the right place!

~Lindsay

August 25, 2012 - More paperwork :)

So can we just give a HUGE shout out to the adoption agency, "Families Through International Adoptions" (FTIA)!!  They did our home-study almost a year ago and have been AMAZING to work with.  They have always returned my calls and emails the same day and are so nice and positive!  They have truly been a God-send for our adoption and are genuinely excited for us and are willing to help in any way they can --- and they have!  I had to request another home-study copy. (which is a huge amount of paperwork that has to have approvals and lots of work goes into the home-study packet).  We have to take with us to Taiwan when we travel.  So I requested another copy and she had it mailed out the same day to us!!  We got it today and even the Notaries are all correct on it!
This is just one of many things they have done in a "rush" for us over the past year and we are so thankful for God leading us to their agency!

August 23, 2012 - Getting Final paperwork approved!

Today Lindsay and Leslie took the final set of paperwork to the Government building in Indianapolis to be authenticated by the Secretary of State.  While looking through our paperwork we had notorized the lady quickly realized ALL of our notarized items were done incorrectly.  I about fainted right there in the office........until she quickly informed me that it happens all the time and we could walk downstairs to a Notary they had in the building and get them redone.  I was so relieved!  So we got the paperwork all straightened out and waited while they sorted through it and stamped it with the final golden seal :)

At one point I had thought about mailing in the paperwork so I wouldn't have to take a trip downtown.  God must have been looking out for us on that day!!!  They would have looked at our paperwork, declined it, and mailed it back.  Thank you God!

Of course the workers were curious what business we had with Taiwan so I got to tell them all about Grayson :)

*The next step will be to deliver the paperwork to the TECO office (Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office) which is in Chicago, IL.  ROADTRIP!!! :) They will make sure all of the Chinese documents are correct and match the English documents.  Once the paperwork is approved from them we will send it to Taiwan and they will let us know our first travel date!!!!!!

One step closer to bringing our baby home!! Getting so excited to meet him and give him lots of hugs and kisses!