Happy Birthday Ashlynn!

Thursday, March 21 was Ashlynn’s first birthday.  While we could not celebrate with her, the four of us had a special birthday party for her on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in China).  We ate dinner at the local Chinese restaurant.  This was a first for the Derek and Mason.  Despite the picky eaters they can be, they both willingly tried some new foods but were happy to find french fries and jello on the buffet.  It was a great opportunity to talk about how Ashlynn will feel when she first comes home and everything, not just the food, is new to her.  We then enjoyed some birthday cupcakes at home.  The boys opened our gift for Ashlynn.  Her first doll (and the first doll in our house)!  We can’t wait to give it to her in person.  We look forward to celebrating Ashlynn’s 2^nd birthday and many more together as a family.

We have more updates!  In early March, we received this sweet new video of Ashlynn.   

We just love the children’s song playing in the background.  The lyrics are a child telling his parents, "if you love me, please spend time with me, kiss me, hug me, and praise me more."

We continue to make progress in our process to bring Ashlynn home.  We received the I-800 approval mentioned to in our prior posts in late February.  Our Article 5 from the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China, which is the final step in our immigration approval, is expected this week.  We then wait for our travel approval from the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption in Beijing, China.  This is the last step before we can finalize our travel dates.  We are getting closer!  If everything goes as expected, we’ll travel to China and bring Ashlynn home in May. 

Each day we all get a little more excited about Ashlynn joining our family.  The preparations are well underway.  We have gotten her room and crib ready.  We’ll soon be filling her dresser drawers with cute little girl clothes handed down from her cousins.  If a snow storm doesn’t make us reschedule again, we’ll meet with doctors at the University of Minnesota in April to discuss the treatment plan for Ashlynn’s cleft lip and palate.  All the pieces of our puzzle are coming together.  What a summer it is going to be!