Prayer Answered

Qinzhou SWI (orphanage)

Most orphans in China live in a SWI or Social Welfare Institution. We are very happy that Olivia is in foster care (thanks to a wonderful family who pays for her care each month!).

When the time draws close for the parents to travel to get their child many orphanages require the children to be taken from their foster home and sent to live the remaining days or even weeks in the orphanage for transitioning. I'm not sure why this is done. I imagine they are trying get the child used to being away from their foster mother. Yes, I know this thinking is detremental to the child. It's very traumatic.

I asked our agency to request that Olivia be left with her foster mother until I receive her. They said they would ask but doubted the request would be granted. I really felt strongly about this. Olivia has already had 2 disruptions and didn't need another one. It's going to be difficult enough as it is. I asked God to please allow her to stay with her foster family.

Today I received this email from our agency. It was the answer from the staff in China:
I talked with the orphanage and told them not to remove the child back to the orphanage. They promised that they will give the child to the adoptive parents directly from the foster family on the placement day. Please let the family rest their hearts.


I've heard that the director of the Qinzhou SWI is a kind man who really cares about the children. This just proves that it is true.

Letter To Olivia

Merry Christmas
Dear Precious Olivia,

The Christmas season is here and we are finally ready. We've decorated our home and our yard. We've put up the tree and hung the stockings. We've set out Dancing Santa and our Christmas dishes. Everything seems so perfect...but it's not. You are not here. Our holiday, while still joyous, is overshadowed by our thoughts of you in China...without us.

In everything, we think of what it will be like next year when you are with us. We imagine your squeals of delight at all of the holiday decorations. We wonder if you will cry when you see Santa for the first time. We think about what it will be like to have gifts of dolls, and jewelry and little pink things mixed in with all of the cars and balls and electronics! It's a dream that we cannot wait to come true.

I pray that God is preparing your little heart to leave the life you know and join us in ours. Until next year, when we will all celebrate together, we wish you a Merry Christmas, our sweet baby girl. We'll be a family soon!

This song says everything that is in our hearts right now

The LOA Receiving & Signing

My friend Michele was with me when the FedEx truck pulled up. I was so excited and I jumped up and yelled "You have to take a picture!". I ran outside and just blurted out "Can I take your picture?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said "You want a picture of FedEx"? Michele had to take over and tell me to tell him WHY I wanted a picture. I don't know what I said, I was shaking and crying, but he agreed. I thik he thought I was nuts! What a nice guy! I hope he doesn't ask for a route change.
The Signing. And yes, he checked YES!
My turn...I forgot to sign my full name and had to squeeze it in.
This is the actual LOA Or Letter of Acceptance. (I crossed out our names) It means that China as approved you to adopt the child and they want to know if you still want her!!

Original Post 12/14. Signed 12/11.

YAAAHHHHOOOOO!!!

Olivia, here we come!! We got our LOA today!!!!!!
AT 2:08 today, I was in Olivia's room putting together a toy shelf when the phone rang. It was Dana from AHH. I was NOT expecting LOA until at least the end of December so I thought she was calling just to ask some questions or something. I was just chatting away and she said "Are you ready to go to China"? I couldn't get anything out except "Oh....Oh....Oh....Oh..." Finally I said "Are you serious"???? I started bawling! I cried for 2 or 3 minutes before I could calm down enough for Dana to start talking again. Then, after every couple of sentences I sobbed again!

The LOA will be here in the morning and Blake will come home from work to sign it. I just can't believe it!! In the back of my mind I had nagging doubts that it was really going to happen. We waited so long for Georgiana and never got her. IT'S REAL PEOPLE!! WE'RE GETTING A DAUGHTER!!

I won't find out the projected travel time until tomorrow. I think it will be mid to late January. We are a whole month a head of when I thought we would get her!! Dana did say it would be before Chinese New Year which is Feb 7th.

I just have to say it again.....YAAAHHHHOOOOO!!!

original post 12/10/07

We're DTC!

Our Dossier
China Embassy Authentication
Our Dossier Folder. Dana at AHH was sweet enough to take these pictures before she mailed the dossier
This is the actual box that our dossier was mailed in
FINALLY!!!!!
It's such a huge relief to have it mailed. For those of you not adopting DTC stands for Dossier To China. That means that all of the paperwork, including our homestudy, that we've been working on over the summer and getting certified and authenticated is now on its way to China. Once it's there we wait for a LID (log in date). That usually takes about 2 weeks because the dossier has to be translated first.

We're one step closer to bringing our Qing Qing home! (pronounced ching ching)

orignial post 9/14/07

We Got An Update!!!

She's so beautiful! Still no hair though!

Her high forehead is characteristic of the Zhuang ethnic group which is prevalant in Guangxi. I think it symbolizes royalty. Okay...I just made that last part up but she's OUR princess!

We are so excited to see how our princess is changing. She looks so healthy and that's confirmed by her medical reports. It looks like she lives in a nice foster home too. I'm especially glad to see the TV & DVD player in the background! Now I can send her Dora movies!

This is some of the report we got:

She has learned many words like “it’s delicious” “ I want water” “Thank you, aunty” “Come here, grandma”, sometimes, if she was given the water, she will taste and say “it’s not sweet, I don’t want it”, she can feed herself, but can make a messy, if you ask her “what are you doing?” she can say “ I am feeding myself”, if she wants poop or peep she can say “BEBE”

She can put on the shoes by herself, she can walk well, can walk upstairs by herself, can recognize the clothe of the foster family member. She can hold a pen scribbling on paper; knows her body parts like nose, eyes, mouths, ears etc. But She is a little stingy, it’s hard for her to share her own stuff with others. Sometimes, if the foster mom holds other child, she is very jealous and pushes the other child away. She wants more affection, likes being held by the foster mom, she is very alert to the strangers, won’t let them touch her, and won’t greet them either. But after playing with her for a while, she will warm up and be close to you.

So to sum it all up we have a beautiful China doll who seems to be spoiled nicely by her aunty! :)

Hooray Hooray We've Got PA!!!!!!

Yep, we're doing the happy dance! Our agency called this morning to say we got our PA! That's Pre-Approval and means that based on the documents we've already sent the CCAA has pre-approved us to adopt Olivia. We send our dossier next (hopefully soon!!) and the CCAA will review it and then give the final approval (LOA).

We saw this ladybug on the ceiling on the 6th..my birthday. We saw another one yesterday, the 8th. Our PA is dated the 7th. Cool huh!?
Hooray!! I just had to say it again! Oh, and this will double as my Thankful Thursday post! :)

original post 8/9/07

Olivia's Finding Place

Olivia was found in the front lobby of the No. 1 People's Hospital in Qinzhou. She was 5 months old and only weighed 7 lbs. In my heart I believe that her birth parents tried to keep her as long as they could. Due to her special need and the fact that she was obvioulsly not thriving, I believe they made the best decision they could for her.

More Referral Pictures

These are the other photos of Olivia that we have received. She has really changed alot! She now has some hair! Yipee!!

A Princess Is Coming!!

We are so very pleased to announce the referral of our new daughter! To have another little girl is a dream that we had let die. We thought we'd have one when we became grandparents! God had other plans and we are so thankful.

Here's some information on our new princess:
Chinese name: Min Ming Qing
New Name: Olivia Ming Qing
Born: November, 2005
Finding Place: Lobby of People's Hospital #1 @ 5 months
Weight/Height (5 mo): 7.7 lbs, 19" ~so tiny~
Special Need: Private
Resides: foster care in Qinzhou City, Guangxi Province

She was very sick when taken to the orphanage. Soon she was taken to the hospital and given a colostomy. She was then put into foster care. By the second day she was a different child...laughing and happy. She learned to sit up by 9 months.

We spotted her on A Helping Hand's waiting child list on May 7th. Because of her special need we knew right away that she was to be our new daughter! The two pictures above are her referral photos. I believe she's about 10-11 months old in this picture.

Right now we are in the paperchase part of the adoption. We have sent in our LOI (letter of intent to adopt her...goes to China). We have had our fingerprints and are waiting for our homestudy to be complete. The time frame is 5-7 months from LID (when the dossier is logged in at the CCAA in China). So...if all goes well, we should be able to bring her home by February or March.


Here's the most recent picture we recieved of her. I think she's 18 months in this picture. She's so beautiful. She just takes our breath away!(click on her picture to see a better view)

New Stats:
Weight/Height: 20 lbs, 28"
SN status: Colostomy has been taken down
Teeth: 6
Favorite things: Taking walks, all kinds of toys, music

Original Post: July 8, 2007