Crazy 2 months

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I have posted an update. Pretty abyssmal. How to catch up? I'll try with some pictures.




This is our first family picture in front of our new house taken at end of July.


Anna's so cute, Sam can't look at the camera!!
Swimming at Moody Gardens in Galveston before school started.

Pops playing with Anna during our Bollywood movie night event for new international students at our house. We had 51 folks over for dinner!

Here are some Chinese students during the Bollywood dinner.

Drumroll please for the biggest event of the past 2 months in our family:

Hurrican Ike!

A view from our porch during the late hours of the storm- note flying tree branches.

This is the side of our house before any clean up began. The whole city looked like this. We lost a part of a fence knocked down by a dead tree- but no real damage.

This is a transformer down in the street next to our house. It took them 6 days to move it. We are still without electricity and living with my parents in Katy. We are thankful for a cool place to stay since the weather is heating back up.

Damage on one side of our street- they chopped down the tree with an axe!

These folks are on the other side of our street- these 2 trees barely missed the house- just hit the porch. Another tree in the back damaged their garage apartment. God was truly merciful to the folks on our street- it was a great chance to meet our neighbors. We hope we will be back there soon.

Other updates, the boys started school, we started a busy semester of ministry and Anna started walking 2 weeks ago. We can barely keep up with her. I will try to update more often, but I am pretty busy with these 4. God is always good!

A new baby, a new ear, and a new house!

Time for bed
Greetings at the airport
Happy fourth of July baby!

This will be quick, since Anna and Sam are asleep (but I don't know for how long!) We moved to our new house on Saturday and now Anna has a nasty cold. Our family loves the new house and we are working hard at getting unpacked and settled. Here are a few pictures of the last couple of weeks. None at the new house yet. Sorry the pics are out of order. Just glad to let people know we are alive!

A post-op Daniel

Back Home

Anna and I have made it back to Houston! It is great to be back in my house. My parents are with us this weekend and my mom let me sleep through the night last night. It felt so good. Anna is still waking up around 3 or 4.



Where to begin. Anna and I had a smooth flight to Chicago. She slept for about 4 hours, me less than that. She was in the the baby bassinet under the movie screen on the plane and she would start kicking the screen in her sleep. I would wake up to calm her feet down and then try to go back to sleep. An uneventful flight, yeah!



It was cool going through immigration and getting the paperwork done to make her a US citizen. The officers were really kind to us and anna was a charmer.



Our greeting party was the best part. The boys were so ecstatic about meeting Anna. Lots of hugs, kisses, pictures, touches all on the floor of O'Hare airport. They were full of observations and questions. "she's so bald" "her mouth is so cute" "are these her toes?" "mommy, she just said uh" They fought over whe got to sit next to her at meals. I think Jonathan almost changed his mind as his plate at Boston market narrowly missed a disatrous crash to the floor. She is so fast and will crash anything to the floor that is in her reach.



Daniel' surgery went really well. Hopefully we won't have to do more. The surgeon seemed really pleased with his work, always a good sign. Daniel has been in pretty good spirits since his brothers arrived. We'll show him his ear when it has a bit of time to heal. He's been great about keeping on his bandage and not complaining.

We did lots of stuff in Chicago to keep us moving. We went to the zoo and the aquarium. Chris and Jonathan also made it to the Museum of Science and Industry. Jonathan and Sam went to the Field museum with Grandma and Grandpa while the rest of us went to the doctor. It was a very full day. Chicago will kill you with parking costs. I think there are literally no free places to park in all of downtown Chicago.

We have had a relatively low key day in Houston. We took Anna to meet Meemaw, her 91 year old great grandmother who has been anxiously awating her arrival. Anna was shy but did clap and smile when Meemaw made her baby noises. Babies love Meemaw.

Anna and I are going to take it easy tomorrow. We will go back to church next week when we have a little more sleep in our systems and our boys at home. She didn't much like being surrounded by our friendly neighbors last night. She's getting used to it but even laughter makes her jump. She collapses like a wet rag on my chest and looks around till she thinks it's safe to sit up again. We are so thankful that she has attached to us and sees us as her safety blankets. Speaking of blankets, she hates soft things. Throws stuffed animals away from her with a look of disgusted terror on her face. Something to work through, I guess.

Sorry no pictures but Daddy has both cameras in Michigan. Thanks so much for everyones prayers and encouraging comments. God has been tremendously gracious to us through this entire process. Only 5 more days until we can be at home together!

Visa in Guangzhou & Surgery in Chicago

Chris here. I feel like an invader in Monica's blog but I have the computer now.

Much has transpired since our last post. We got Anna's Chinese passport in Nanchang on Friday and flew to Guangzhou that afternoon. All week Monica had been looking forward to meeting the other families from our agency, America World. Meeting them brought smiles of recognition--even though these were blog-friends for Monica--and much laughter. One family from Nebraska adopted a second child from China (after having three biological children). The director of Levi's orphanage called him very, very naughty (feichang, feichang tiaopi). He likes scaring people by kicking off his prosthetic leg/foot. The other families adopting special needs children were a privilege to meet, such fun and grateful people.
On Saturday we had Anna's medical exam (top picture). The doctor said that everything looked great--her surgery was well done and she might not need another. To our great relief he confirmed that the large bruise-looking things on her bottom and back are Mongolian spots, common birthmarks for Asian children. Our pediatrician will have to document the spots: we have heard of families being reported to Child Protective Service because care-givers thought the spots were bruises from abuse (and that's what they look like). Monica also had the "paper party" on Saturday where she filled out all the forms for Anna's American visa.

Unfortunately, I had to leave Monica and Anna on Saturday afternoon. Leaving them was incredibly hard. This little girl has captivated a piece--a pretty big one, too--of my heart. I can make her shake her head back and forth, clap her hand (pai pai shou), and spit bubbles. Smiles and laughs come easy for this girl. What a difference 5 days together makes!
I left because I had to return to Houston to take Daniel up to Chicago for his ear surgery. We are not sitting at the Ronald McDonald House in Lincoln Park, near Children's Memorial Hospital. Daniel will have a reconstructive ear surgery tomorrow at noon by the top pediatric plastic surgeon (for ears) in the United States. Please pray for him. He is, rightfully, afraid of the surgery. But he was very brave at our pre-operation visit today.

Monica's friend Christina Miller and their adopted Chinese daughter, Rebekah, trained up from Hong Kong to spend three days with Monica in my absence. They are having loads of fun together; Anna has really taken to Rebekah. Anna got her visa yesterday (Monday in China) and there will be a swearing in ceremony today. Monica and Anna will fly to Chicago on Wednesday and my parents will drive up from Houston with Sam and Jonathan. We will then spend a few days in Chicago and a week in West Michigan with my extended family. After Daniel's last post-op doctor appointment, we will return to Houston on July 4. Monica will spend three days with us in Chicago and then return to Houston with Anna on June 27. Yes, this has been an exhilirating and exhausting two weeks for us. We appreciate your prayers.

Leaving Nanchang

We are packing up to leave our hotel soon. We fly to Guangzhou at 5:45 this evening. Tomorrow we will have Anna's medical exam, and I hope that we will meet some of the other America World families tonight. It's been nice to talk to other families here with new babies, but we look forward to meeting the families from our agency that we have gotten to know on-line. We have only eaten in the hotel for breakfast, Anna's favorite of the day. The girl loves congee, especially the kind with the thousand year eggs- weirdly grey color. and we have walked a lot around town to find places to eat. We had to walk out of one restaurant last night when we couldn't read anything (in Chinese) on the menu. We went somewhere else where we found a few things we knew. Yummy.

We have bought some porcelain things for Anna since her province is home to the most famous porcelain in all of China. Hopefully all the luggage police will be nice today!!

A Day of Firsts

A Day of Firsts


Now it is Thursday morning in Nanchang. Daddy is entertaining Anna in front of the mirror while I blog away. She slept from 9 until 6 so we are feeling well They even had my favorite fruit at breakfast- lychees, yum!

Yesterday was a day of firsts of many sorts. Her first ride in a stroller was scary for about 2 seconds but then she loved it. She wouldn't even lay back in the stroller, she pulled herself forward to soak in everything around her. The looks on the street are hard to figure out. We can't figure out if they are looks of admiration, curiosity or disdain. we just smile and move on.

Another first was her first trip to Pizza Hut. I taught her how to put a piece of crust in her mouth- her first finger food! She liked it alot. She picks up bits of food but has never put them in her mouth until the crust. Fun! Sam loved pizza crusts, too, when he was teething.

The most monumental first of the day had to be what happened on our bed yesterday around 4 oclock. If you have a weak stomach or hate reading about bodily functions, please move down to the cute pictures taken this morning. So, Anna was just sitting on our bed playing with a rattle when she looked at me. She made a face and I said "Great, I think she is pooping!" It quickly changed to "Aaaaah!! She's pooping everywhere!!!" We had been told she goes every other day and this had been 3 days (on stool softener no less). Her first poop as a Sneller was one for the record books. She was screaming , we were running around, trying to strip her down and get her into the tub (which she hates even when the world is calm). Once we got her cleaned up, we had to track down all the places in the hotel room which she hit. Then we called housekeeping for backup. They showed up prepared to change her bed and we said, no our bed. Down to the mattress pad. We enjoyed our evening out at Pizza Hut and came back to a clean room Gotta love 5 star hotels. Needless to say, we won't be loosening her up anymore and hopefully we'll be in a hotle next time too if it's nearly this bad. Thankfully we weren't on a airplane or in a taxi. Yikes.


Check out our cutie this morning.

She loves to clap, especially when we tell her to in chinese!

Thanks for your comments. We are off to Guangzhou tomorrow afternoon, but we should post before then.

Tian Wang Pagoda

Today is Wednesday. It finally stopped raining today so we went out with our guide to see the best sight in Nanchang. The Tien Wang Pavilion was first built in the 7th century and has been rebuilt 29 times. Anna took a short nap on Daddy's chest while we looked around and watched a show. It was nice to get out of the hotel and not be wet! Anna was given a piece of wrapped candy by a Chinese man and now it is her favorite toy. She is pretty easy to please!

We followed up the tour with lunch at Mcdonalds. The taxi driver wanted to take us to a KFC "Aren't they the same thing? I can't tell them apart!" We've enjoyed the Chinese food but McD's in China just tastes better than in the States.

Hopefully Anna will take a long nap like she did yesterday. She slept last night from 9 until 5:15 with out waking up. It felt great.Daddy is in love!

Anna's great half smile- love the expressive eyebrows. She is cutting her first 3 teeth- 2 on bottom one on top.
Anna and her new Mommy and Daddy- she's holding her candy!

Daddy's Girl!

This morning we spent doing paperwork and interviews. We promised several times to never abandon Anna and to take good care of her. She did a great job hanging out in offices and in our car, mostly in the Baby Bjorn on Daddy's chest. Anna has decided she likes her Daddy and thinks he is very funny, even when he plays rough with her. A good thing because our house is pretty rough. The best laughs came from making her dance.


She is a sweet, chill baby except when she is mad. So far, today has been great. She has been eating and taking her bottle. Guess I better learn how to make congee, especially the kind with the 1000 year eggs, the nasty grey green eggs.


On a deep note, the orphanage brought us the clothes she was wearing when she was found, pictures of the building where she was found, and my journal of questions filled with answers. The most touching we read last night was how thankful they were that we were going to love her and give her a great family and life. They were really worried about her that she might not survive her condition and surgery. We think she is doing well and are hopeful that she won't need anymore surgery, but we will have to wait and see. So far, she's eating well and acting sweet. She is very curious and observant. We are so grateful to be her parents and grateful to the orphanage for giving her the ability to be loved. Nice giggles while dancing with Daddy.

Asleep while at the notary office.
Mommy can get smiles too! Love the tongue!

WE GOT HER!!

Well, here she is!! We spent the morning trying to distract ourselves. Shopping, hair wash and hair cut for Chris, changing money, eating. After we waited around for a while, it was 3:00 and time to go! We crossed the crazy street frogger style and went to meet our girl.

Anna was not so happy to meet us. She was ok and then Chris got too close and she let loose. She calmed down for a while but when we got back, she had had enough of us. She was hungry, tired and had a bit of a stuffy nose. She finally fell asleep on my chest and slept for 30 minutes before waking up angry. After a leisurely bottle (over an hour) she was happy. She even gave Chris a little laugh. She seems shy but feisty. Here are some pics and we are off to bed (Anna is already out- no tears this time).


Anna and Mommy for first time together.
I don't like that butterfly before nap.
Caught a happy smile! These people might be ok after all.

Made it to Nanchang

Us at Yuyuan gardens in Shanghai
Ship in the fog on the Huangpu river


Well, we are in Nanchang. We had fun with some friends in Shanghai. They stuffed us with yummy Chinese food and took us to some touristy places we haven't been to in a while. It was drizzly all day but nothing like the downpour in Beijing.

We sat at the Starbucks in Pudong on the Huangpu River and watched boats go by. We got to ride on the ferry boat (a secret we didn't know about when we lived in China) for only 2 yuan. What a deal.

A note to our boys:

We have been on a boat, 4 airplanes and many taxis. We saw some big twin boys today that were fighting with each other and it made us miss you!! Hope you are having fun with Mimi and Pops (and being sweet too!) We will get baby Anna very soon. We love you!

Hope to post some amazing pics tonight!! Thanks for your comments, keep them coming. Our internet in nanchang is great so far but won't be as great when we switch to Guangzhou on Friday.

We are in China

Well, we made it to China.  It was a smooth flight and our luggage all made it.  So far so good.

We are staying with some good friends in Beijing and we'll head to Shanghai this evening. Last night as we were heading out to dinner, the largest thunderstorm we have ever seen in China, broke lose.  It was just like the craziest flashfloods in Houston.   That didn't keep us from the best Chinese food we've had in a long time.   We drove through intersections where the red lights weren't working.   In the states, everyone would stop and try to take turns, here, it was everyone plow into the intersection at the same time and see if you  can get through.  Chris walked  back with our friend and they waded through knee deep water.  Hopefully, we won't see anymore crazy nasty weather like that on our trip.

48 hours until we get Anna!! 

Packing up

Well, we are busy tying up stuff at home. We received the actual TA letter today from FedEx. We took one last mini vacation- our last as merely a family of 5! The boys went fishing for the first time. Quite an experience. When Chris threw the first fish back in the river, it floated. Yikes. The boys were wailing. Then we got some good time in throwing rocks and splashing in the Guadalupe.

We used our Sea World season passes (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!) to watch a few shows and eat some popcorn. We thankfully were not among the poor down-trodden sunburnt people who toughed out the whole day in the Texas summer sun. We just did the evening. Just right. Now the boys are with Mimi and Pops while we finish packing and other stuff. Being focused just seems easier without swordfights going on. What is Anna going to think about her brothers!!!

Chris and I will have access to comments to our blog while we are in China, hopefully. Please send comments and blogger will forward them to us.

Here is our itinerary:

Thurs June 12- Leave for Beijing and Shanghai to visit friends
Sunday june 15- Fly to Nanchang, Jiangxi Province's capital city
Monday June 16- GOTCHA DAY- Get Anna!!!!!!
Tues-Friday- Paperwork and sightseeing in Nanchang
Fri June 20- Fly to Guangzhou
Sat- Medical Exam
Sun- Paperwork party, Chris leaves to come home
Mon June 23- Consulate Appt
Tues June 24 Pick up Anna's visa, Daniel's surgery in Chicago- PRAY
Wed June 25- Fly from Guangzhou to BJ, BJ to Chicago- PRAY
Friday ish- Anna and mommy back to Houston
July 4ish- Rest of Snellers back to Houston

I think that is correct. Please pray on other days as well, those are just the 2 trickiest days on the schedule, at least from our planning mindset. Pray Daniel's surgery goes flawlessly and that he has a great attitude. Pray for me as I fly with Anna that everything goes smoothly. A praise already is that there are other families from our agency on the same flight so I have friendly back up!! Yeah!

Zai jian!!

Direct Back door Post

Had to put another picture of Anna up.  All the others are now under "older posts" and blog newbies don't know to go there so here she is again.  Mommy is on her way soon armed with fingernail clippers!!!!

Back door Post

Trying a back door post. may have to use this in China.

Picture of Anna's photogenic nanny.

PLANE TICKETS!

I think I am finally getting excited about our trip! We bought plane tickets today to China! We will both leave on June 12 for Beijing. We will do our own thing until we head to Anna's province, Jiangxi. On Monday the 16th, we will get our Anna.

The crazy part happens near the end of our trip. We will go to Guangzhou for the last week. She will have a medical exam and we will do paperwork. On the 22nd, Chris will leave to come back to Houston. He and Daniel will fly up to Chicago on the 23rd. Daniel's surgery is on the 24th. Pray they get to stay at the Ronald McDonald House. They won't know until the day they leave but that would be really nice for them to be able to stay there. Anna and I will leave China on the 25th (we have to hang around to make sure her visa is good to go.) We will go straight to Chicago from Beijing (direct flight- hallelujah!). Prayerfully, it will all go smoothly since I will be flying solo. I will hang out in Chicago for a few days and then come back to Houston with Anna by plane.

Whew. I'm tired just typing all that. After that, all we have to do is move 3 weeks later!

God's timing cracks us up sometimes. I'm so thankful that we will have Anna in our arms and can start loving on her before the crazy August invades our lives.

2 more weeks and then we'll be on our way!!

WE GOT IT, WE GOT IT!!

We received our Travel Approval today!! Happpy belated birthday, Anna!

Pray for the arrangements as we work out our travel dates around Daniel's surgery in Chicago. His surgeon can't flex on the date, so we might have to be creative in our China trip. Either June 7 or June 12th.

Yeah! Praise God!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNA!!

Today is Anna Elaine's 1st birthday. We are trying to stay happy around here. Getting the TA(travel approval) would be the perfect birthday present, come on God!!

I guess at least we know that it will be soon when we can hold her and kiss her and start sharing our love with her.

Speaking of sharing, I have been writing a journal for Anna chronicling this process for her. I imagine that when she is 9 or 10 she will enter her first "adoption identity crisis". I want her to be able to look back with me and see what we were thinking and how other people felt about her adoption. It's already shaping up to be a book of amazing tesitmony to the power of prayer.

There is a Chinese custom (so I've been told) of making a "100 wishes quilt" for a new baby. Many adoptive moms go nuts asking people to send fabric and wishes and put it together in a quilt for their new child. I don't do that. I don't even love quilts at all. They get dusty and dust makes me sneeze. SO, I'm asking for people to send Anna birthday wishes and I will add them to my journal for her. It can be a prayer or verse or whatever you feel like saying.

For non-bloggers, you can send it to me by clicking on the "comments" below this paragraph and typing something into the box that pops up. You don't have to be a blogger to do it, just choose anonymous but sign your name into the note.

Thanks so much!! We love you Anna! Sam cried the other night at bedtime because he "misses you so, so, so much!" Happy birthday, baby girl!

Earthquake Update

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Just wanted to say that Anna's orphanage is very far away from the damage area. We are assuming everything there is fine. We actually got an email from a friend in China who forwarded our care package, and he was notified that they received the package.

Continue to pray for the earthquake victims and their families. Latest predictions put the eventual toll at 50,000. May the church in China rise up and show mercy to those in need.

Keep praying for our travel approval to come soon! I want her home!

WE GOT THE RA!!!!!

Woo Hoo! We got the call today from America World that they received our RA! She can be ours for sure! I screamed when our coordinator told me and then apologized for screaming. She sweetly said it was ok, she loved that part of her job. Then I spontaneously started crying! Not a good idea when you are driving at 70 miles an hour on the tollway! Aaaah! The relief of knowing I can actually let myself love her, prepare for her wholeheartedly, and get excited about holding her. Anna, we will be coming soon! Hopefully the Travel Approval will come soon so we can go in early June. It would actually work out ok, since the boys are done with school after the 5th. Easier for grandparents to not have to juggle school schedules.

Thanks for everyones prayers! We will keep you updated!

New Pictures of Anna!!!

Well, our new friends from Kentucky went to pick up their daughter last week and they sent us some new pictures of Anna! Their daughter, Katelyn, is the busy baby in yellow in the videos from last month. We almost didn't recognize Anna, she is looking really good. (except for her fingernails! I'll be bringing my new bumble bee clippers!)



Here she is:

And a view from the side:

Please pray with us that we could get our RA this week. Then there would be a chance we could travel near the end of May. Love you, baby! Can't wait to hold you!

Here are the thoughts that Grandma Shirley Elaine shared with us at Anna's shower in Austin. I'm so glad we decided on Anna, it is such a rich name.

CHARACTERISTICS of ANNA the PROPHETESS
Luke 2:36-38

1. Fought the Odds – widowed and from a minor tribe and yet she was a
woman who became privileged and was special.
2. Made Something of the Situation - she didn’t let her circumstances
dictate her life but rose above it.
3. She Left the Past Behind – especially asking God to do this for Anna
Elaine and that she will never know a day that she wasn’t loved and
nurtured.
4. Persevered – even though well along in years she continued to serve God.
5. Devoted and Dedicated – never left the temple and served God day and
night. Her walk with God was rich and deep.
6. Evangelist – spoke about God to everyone.
7. Fled to God when Widowed – used her circumstances as an instrument to
deepen her walk with God and her service to Him.

These are character qualities that I am praying for our Anna Elaine. From, Grandma


Anna, we are praying we can come get you soon!

What are we waiting for?

I am going to try to explain why we are still waiting for Anna. We got our pre-approval (PA) from China on Feb 13, 2 months ago today. We were told that the next step, the official approval from China called the Referral Acceptance (RA) would take from 2-6 months from the pre-approval. So, now is the earliest we could even be optimistic about hearing anything. Our papers weren't in China yet when we received the PA so it might be towards the longer end of the window. We are praying it won't be long but we don't know. Keep praying, for the papers to go through smoothly and quickly and pray for us to wait patiently, leaning on the Lord for support.

Austin Shower- A Belated Report

So this is a really late report on the wonderful shower that my 2 sisters-in-law and mother-in-law hosted the last weekend of March. Receiving the video of Anna distracted my bloggin efforts for a while. Plus with Chris back in town now I have a bit more energy to work with.

It was so great to have friends a family at the shower all united by their support of us and our adoption. Shirley shared some thoughts about Anna in the Bible and what she hopes and prays Anna will learn from her Biblical namesake. We spent some precious time praying together (I abstained or else I would have melted into a puddle of tears). Jana lightened the mood a little but enough about that.

I loved all the girly frilly outfits! And a swimsuit with matching coverup! Boys would never go for that.

Jenny took some pictures since my (and my mother's and my sister's) cameras were all on the other side of the planet.

Here are some pictures.






Here's some of the loot. Fun stuff!

Below are the Sneller daughters-in-law and mothers, and Jana and Shirley- the original Snellers.




Thanks so much for a wonderful showering of blessings, prayers, and cute bloomers!! I can't wait to use this fun stuff.

More orphanage footage

Here is the second part of the footage.

Orphanage Visit

Here is the first part of the video of Anna and friends in the orphanage. She is the mostly bald one whose feet don't reach the floor. Yea!!

First Post

Chris leaves tomorrow for the trip of a lifetime- he gets to go to Israel!! We will test out the blog thing over the ocean to prepare for the trip to get Anna, hopefully before her birthday, May 22.

Sam just came out of his room crying because he forgot to take his favorite movie, Hercules, to sleep with him. He has to have the movie plus some sort of weapon, a plastic sword or water gun, in bed with him. Funny kid.

Here are some pictures of our laid back living room easter egg hunt.