Hey everyone, It has been a very long time since I have posted last. Life is very busy and the kids are growing crazy fast!

In His Time! Worth it ALL! Love the Hess'

Love this website. Have bought many unique things for presents and myself. They are having an awesome giveaway!!!


http://veryjane.com/Deal/2013/set-of-four-trendy-bracelet-bundle--3-color-optionshttp://veryjane.com/Deal/2013/set-of-four-trendy-bracelet-bundle--3-color-options

In His Time! Worth it ALL! Love the Hess'

Contentment

What does contentment mean?

Where is the "place of contentment"? As I look over my notes from our revival at church this past fall, place of contentment....not having what you want BUT wanting what you have!

I'm in a place of struggle for contentment. we are in the early process of listing our home for sell and looking online for possible homes to look at with a Realtor. And I will say it is hard to be "content". We have a list on "needs", "wants", "would be really nice to have", and a budget :) I'm finding that it is hard to find a balance between needs and wants and stick to the "budget". The world pulls at you so hard. In my notes from the revival, i wrote "don't play the 'I deserve card' with God". As I look at homes, i think we have lived in a 1,000sq ft home for 7 years now....i have "suffered" enough, I NEED, no I deserve this home. Why do I deserve this home or any home for that matter? What is a home anyway and what is the purpose for a home????? My prayer is that I would be CONTENT with a home that gives us a little more space to spread out and at least one more bathroom (4 girls and 1 bathroom will not work in future years :) My prayer is that I would be CONTENT on the house the the Lord already knows and has chosen for us! Looking at homes is stressful. Mark and I are not always on the same page. Our styles are slightly different :) But today I took comfort knowing that this struggle is no surprise to God. Comfort in knowing that God already has the house picked out. Comfort knowing that God knows when our house will sell, when we will find "the house" and when we will move.

GOD KNOWS!!! He is in control not I. What Great Joy and Peace!

Drew is walking, climbing and doing everything a 1 1/2 year old should and would be doing. It is AMAZING to see how much he has grown in the short 7 months that we have had him. We are learning sign language and doing good with it.



In His Time! Worth it ALL! Love the Hess'

adoption tax credits

Hey,
I just signed the petition "Make adoption costs fully refundable in the 2012 & 2013 Tax Years" and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name. Starting next year the tax credit will go down and in 2013 the tax credit will be nothing. An average adoption cost $25,000-35,000 this tax credit is a HUGE help to bring children home to loving families.
Our goal is to reach 10,000 signatures and we need more support. You can read more and sign the petition here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/make-adoption-costs-fully-refundable-in-the-2012-2013-tax-years
Thanks!
Suzanne

Happy New Year

On January 1st of 2011, our memory on the home computer decided to stop working....got fixed for $200 :(  On December 31, 2011 (not even one year) the same computer decided it would not be joining us in the new year :( So we had to make a choice, spend more money on a 3 year old computer or buy a new one. We decided to get a new one....and it is nice!! We are not tech people. Our TV is one that Mark's parents had 25+ years. We have rabbit ears to get TV channels and I have a "dumb" phone :) Our new computer is the all-in-one monitor computers. (not laptop people either) I feel like we have finally entered the 21st century :)

Update on Drew: He is off and walking!!!! Right before Christmas he decided that he can do it and boy is he everywhere now. Adie is teaching him well :( He has learned how to climb, play in toilets, pull hair, scream when toys are taken away from him, and take away toys. He is a fast learner :) He is doing great on the food issue. Wanting to eat ALL the time. We are finding that he wanting food when he is upset (takes after his mommy) Need to work on this....Drew is getting to be a big boy :) We have good days and still some not so good days with needing to be held. He really likes it when we are all in one room. Mahala is his "mini-mommy". She has been such a HUGE help!! Christmas break was a great time for Drew and Mark. Drew likes his daddy but would not prefer him. Even to the point of scream most of time while I'm gone. But during break, daddy and Drew had a lot of good alone time! I took Mahala and Olivia out for some girl time (movie, lunch and shopping) while daddy had some good alone time with the little ones. When we left I felt really bad because I know how much "work" those two can be, but when we got home Mark said it was the best day they have had in a long time. Thank you Lord!

I'm thankful for my life, children and husband. I was at walmart the other day (alone) doing my "big" grocery shopping. There was a mother with her 3 children, one of them had autism. After watching this mother try to shop and also "deal" with her son who was having an obviously bad day but with a smile on her face and never lost her "cool", I started to cry and thank the Lord for my problems. I complain about my world but am reminded often that I have it okay. I have a HOME (might be small) but it's a home, with heat (and air for those hot summers). I have running water and food to eat whenever i want to eat.  I have clothes...probably too many. We have good health. I have 4 beautiful children that those they might not be the best behaved children they are good, loving kids. God has blessed us with so many things. But at times I get wrapped up in the little things and forget that there are others that are dealing with health, they just lost their home, they don't know where their next meal will come from, and so forth.
I am Content!!!

In His Time! Worth it ALL! Love the Hess'

Our Story to Drew

Our Story to Drew by His Mommy

(**warning...LONG story**)

been wanting to write our story down for awhile now...finally got it done. This is more for Drew to know his story to our family but also for me....as i get older I'm forgetting dates :)

Mark and I always wanted to adopt. It was always on our hearts, but like most married couples we started  having biological children. Our first biological daughter was born in 2004, Mahala. We then had our second biological girl in August 2006, Olivia. Between girls we moved up to the west of Indianapolis and shortly after that I started to attend a mom's group at Hazelwood Baptist Church. On a Thursday in February 2007, the mom's group topic was "Adoption". At that meeting God was making it very clear that now is the time. I remember as the girls and I were driving home, I called Mark to let him know that NOW is the time...we need to adopt. That night I was on the internet trying to find the perfect agency and country. I had it all figured out. We were going to adopt from the Philippians, a baby boy, using Bethany Christian Services. I had the application all filled out, ready for Mark's signature. But Mark was not ready to sign on the dotted line. He wanted more information. Though annoyed I found an information meeting with Bethany on a Saturday for us to attend. Mark was so informed after the meeting...me on the other hand had a HUGE migraine. Everything I had worked out was not going to happen. We could not adopt from the Philippians because we could not get our "baby", as young as possible, boy. This was the first "bump" of many in the our journey to Drew.  The only "good" thing that came out of that meeting was we were able to find an agency that was respectable that worked with Vietnam.  

This time Mark knew the adoption process and we did not have to attend another information meeting before he signed the application for the Vietnam program with Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA). We signed our paperwork on Friday night and mailed it overnight on Saturday. On March 27, 2007, I received a phone call from FTIA saying that they were not accepting any more application into the Vietnam program as of Friday and that they are sorry but we would not be able to adopt from Vietnam. I hung up the phone and cried (bump #2). I remember Mahala (then 2 1/2) coming over to me asking me "mommy why are you crying?". About an hour later FTIA called back to say that after reviewing our paperwork and that if we are okay with a possible longer wait they will allow us to be a part of the Vietnam program. Of course, I said we will do anything!

On July 23, 2007 we were put on the boy waiting list for the Vietnam Program, we were #37. In March 2008, we were informed that we need to start our dossier. And within 2 months we had it ready and mailed off. On July 14, 2008 we received this email from FTIA, our agency,

"Hi Mark & Suzanne, We are aware of a child in Bac Lieu who has been cleared for international adoption. The child was born in May 2008. As such, we are going to submit a child request letter on your behalf to the IAD on Tuesday, July 14th.

Since the Sept 1 deadline for a referral is rapidly approaching, I wanted to take the opportunity to explain that there is a risk that you could not have your referral by Sept. 1. We are working with IAD and provincial officials and have explained the need for expedience but, as you know, there can sometimes be unforeseen delays in the referral process that is outside FTIA's control. I want to explain the risk so that you are aware of the situation. I will email when I have confirmation that your child request letter is submitted to the IAD"

We got MATCHED!! With a BABY boy. He was only 2 months old. We had 7 weeks to get our "official" referral before Vietnam closes to United States Citizens due to an agreement between the two countries that expires on September 1, 2008. I quickly asked how long does the "official" referral come after being matched. They said it takes anywhere from 6-8 weeks. We were right in the middle. It looked like God was working it all out! It was such an amazing feeling. But we knew that there was a chance we would not get that referral but I had faith. I made a little countdown calendar for "Ty". That is what I named him.

Our paperwork came down to one gentleman to sign before we could get our referral. He had two weeks to sign but we found out at the beginning of the first week he was out of the office but his assistant had everything ready for him to sign when he got back into the office the second week. So we waited and waited and waited. On Friday, August 29, 2008 we received a phone call from FTIA but not the phone call I was wanting. I later had to write the hardest blog and email....

"Family & Friends,First of all we would like to say thank you to all that prayed this past week and every one's support. We are sadden to say that we did not receive our referral. Unfortunately the Director of PDOJ was not able to sign our paperwork to then fax to the IAD. At this point we do still have Monday where the Director could sign and fax but at this time it seems a little far off.

We will be put back on the waiting list as we all wait for Vietnam and the US to sign a new agreement. This agreement could be several months or longer, there is no timeline at this point.

Please pray first of all for ALL the children left in the orphanages as these governments work out their disagreements. Also pray that if it is in God's will we will receive our referral by Sept 1st as there is still hope. God can do things that we think are in impossible if it is in His Will.

Thank you again for all your support and most importantly your prayers. Love to all, Mark and Suzanne"

That was the hardest day I have ever experienced in my life. I really thought God had it all worked out. Everything was falling into place. But now we either wait for Vietnam to open (which we would be #4 on the boy's list and who knows when they will reopen) or start all over with another country. We decided to take a little break from the adoption process to give our emotions a break (okay my emotions) and wait to see what will happen with Vietnam. Little did we know that God was protecting us. He was protecting us from a longer wait and harder wait if we would have received that referral. See there are STILL, 3 years later, 16 families waiting to get approval from Vietnam and the US that have "official" referrals to travel and get their children. Their children are from the same area as our "Ty" is from. See if we would have received that referral that Friday in August we would still be waiting to bring home our son. God knew! I did not see the whole package. I did question and to be honest I was mad at times. I just could not understand why God was keeping us from "Ty". We were willing...not too many families are willing. Why would God allow this little boy to "stay" in an orphanage? I still don't understand all my why's but I do know that God was protecting us on August 29, 2008! Every May I pray and think about "Ty". Wondering if he is celebrating his birthday with his forever family or in the orphanage. God knows where he is and I pray that God is protecting him.

We had our final biological daughter on October 1, 2009 and in February 2010 we felt the Lord calling us to reopen our adoption journey.

This time we decided to start all over...a fresh start.

New Country and New Agency.

Vietnam was still closed and to date still closed (rumor is they will open early 2012...we will see). We felt God calling us to China to the Special Needs program. We mailed our application on March 31, 2010 to Madison Adoption Associates. We spent the whole summer getting our homestudy and dossier completed. In October 2010 we mailed off our dossier to our agency and on November 18, 2010 we received noticed that we have been "logged in" with the CCAA (China Adoption Department). At this point we could be matched with our little guy any time!  

Around 9:30 pm on December 20, 2010 as Mark and I watched the finale of The Sing Off, we received an email from Diana Madison Bramble with Madison Adoption Associates titled "match?"

"found this little guy... Aside from being adorable, he is only 5 months old, and is from Xuzhou!!! Xuzhou is where we had our Nov 2009 camp. IT IS AWESOME and the Directors are AWESOME! We have a lot of MAA families that have been there and they will rave about it.Anyway, look at the file and let me know what you think. I have the Chinese file but I cannot download it at home.Praying it is a match!!!

Diana"

I opened up the email and saw this little face staring at me. As I stared back all I could think was this little guy saying "will you be my mommy? Please pick me!" I stared at his black eyes and bald head and feel in Love with my new son. It was Love At First Sight! We quickly read all his information and sent back an email saying "We LOVE him....what do we do now?!?!?!"

We sent his paperwork to Riley International Adoption Clinic to review and let us know if there was any red flags before "accepting" Shen Kaiyue. The Doctor called the afternoon of December 21, 2010 with the report on Shen Kaiyue. Overall he looked good. weight a little low but expected. The only thing she saw was that his iron blood count was low which says he might be anaemic. She told me the mild case of anaemia to the severe case. I called Mark to let him know. Which of course Mark wants more answers...but with him wanting more answers I took that as he was debating on if we can "accept" Drew. That through me into an emotional wreck for the next few hours. As he called the doctor to find out more, I cried harder then I have cried before on our bed praying to God that He would not take this boy away from me. Fear came over me and the thought of loosing him too was overwhelming. The song "Blessed be your name" came into my head as I cried my eyes out, the words "I will chose to say blessed be your name". The word "Chose" kept returning to my head. "My heart will say blessed be your name". In the good and bad I will chose to say to God "Blessed be your name". I don't understand why this is happening and why this journey is so hard but I'm going to chose to say blessed be Your name, Lord! and Thank your Lord for this!! Within 30 minutes of that song coming into my head and my heart changing from screaming to rejoicing, Mark called to say "call our agency and say we will ACCEPT Shen Kaiyue!!!!!"

The first week on the New Year we got Drew Kaiyue's Pre-Approval from China. Now we wait for our official approval the Letter of Approval (LOA). Typically it takes 4-6 weeks to get this letter.

But of course, this letter could not come with bumps too. We knew that if we did not receive our letter before the Chinese New Year Celebration, that the letter would be delayed a little bit but not thinking it would be much longer. At the first of March and still no letter, our agency contacted CCAA to find out what is wrong. They came back saying that something that should have been done to their online system was not done by our agency according to them. but it was done....so this sent a back and forth for over a month between our agency and China of this online system error. After someone in the CCAA department saying go ahead with our paperwork,they started to review our papers and now have a question...how frustrating!

After 98 very long days, on April 4, 2011 we received the phone call we have been waiting for!! Our letter of approval came today!!!!! I cried as Kerry Yeldell told me that they received our LOA

 and mailing it to me. That same we received a new pictures of Drew! What a Great day it was!

Now we wait on our Travel Approval (TA). This "should" come within a month but of course did it...NO :) We waited 5 weeks and on May 13, 2011 we got THE call...we received our Travel Approval!

A week before we are to leave for China, we received notice that the US Embassy in China does not have our immigration paperwork. So for two days I scrambled, calling any and every immigration number I have trying to figure out how to get our paperwork to China. Two days before we were to be on a plane to China, we got conformation that our immigration paperwork for Drew was at the US Embassy in China!!!

Mark and I boarded a plane on May 26, 2011 (my birthday) and few to the other side of the world to get our Son!!! On May 30, 2011 Drew Kaiyue Hess was placed in our arms! May 31, 2011 Drew Kaiyue Hess officially became our son. June 9, 2011 Drew Kaiyue became a United States Citizen!!

What a journey this has been. But I would not change a thing. God and God alone has placed Shen Kaiyue into our family and by His grace we are a forever family. I learned more about myself and about my God through this journey!

Worth it All!

In His Time! Worth it ALL! Love the Hess'

Choosing Joy

i have not posted in awhile because #1 not much time #2 not sure anyone really follows the blog now that we are home #3 feeling like every time i do post...well it is just my little sad story, people are probably tired of reading "woe is me" posts :( But i thought if there is anyone out there that does check up on us i thought i would let you know we are here. Surviving! Can I say this have been the easiest thing, NO! But I can say things are slowing getting better. It is not just the adoption, it is ALL of the crazy together. Mahala starting the attitude stage. Olivia is in dreamland 24/7...but right now she is the sweet one (don't tell the others). Adie...well what words can i can say. She is CRAZY, ACTIVE, 2 years old, and everything else. She is so cute (at times) and then makes me want to pull my hair out. She has decided that she knows how to pull off her diaper...after she goes #2 :( found her in her room with her diaper off trying to rub the #2 off by rubbing her bottom on the ground. I just froze as I stared at her. i wish i could say that was the end of that but no she is still finding ways to get #2 on places. This too shall Pass!!!!!!!!!!! Right??????????????

Drew is doing better.
                        Sleeping through the night = Check!
                        Eating solids = Check!
                        Walking = needs work
                        Stop screaming at the top of your lungs for no apparent reason = needs work
                       
We have not figured out why just yet, other then he has figured out that if i scream loud and long enough someone will hold me. Most of the time that is all he wants just to be held. Drew is no 11 pounds anymore :) He is getting to be a BIG boy...did not take long to fatten him up :)

It is very difficult to CHOOSE joy when chaos is happening around me. But i'm trying hard to find joy and to choose joy even when my blood pressure is saying the opposite it. Choosing Joy, Peace, Content, Self-Control, Patience, and Love is hard but it is what I want others to do for me. It is what God does daily for me. Despite the number of times i fail him, He still chooses to unconditionally love me.

Trip to the zoo on fall break! All 4 kids with 1 adult :)

Some will say that is why i'm going gray, nuts, insane, etc. But really they were good this time :)

Camo Little Brother PJ's :)

 Adie has found the love for dancing.

Who says girls can't play fight? Can you tell who is winning ? :) Best $1 purchase....foam swords :)

while they are fighting drew found a crayon and decided he was hungry :)

In His Time! Worth it ALL! Love the Hess'