Saving Levi and the Philip Hayden Foundation

Our Emma Grace lived at the Shepherd's Field Children's Village, part of the Philip Hayden Foundation. PHF was started by Tim and Pam Baker several years ago. You can read about their story at their website, www.chinaorphans.org. After seeing the orphanage where Emma lived the first 8 months of her life and knowing that she spent one month alone in the hospital for heart surgery... we knew that she was truly blessed to have been transferred to PHF at nine months old. It is certainly not your typical orphanage. The houses are decorated to look like actual homes. They have bedrooms, eating areas, and living rooms. They have a huge play area outside and absolutely beautiful grounds within a gated community. You can't help but fall in love with the place and the kids.

I first heard about the book, Saving Levi, from a volunteer at PHF. It took me awhile to get my hands on the book, but after reading it, it made me fall in love with the people of PHF even more. A quick rundown: a baby boy, about 6 weeks old, was found burned and abandoned in a field. One man (after many passed by...) took the baby to the Civil Affairs office. Tim Baker and John Bentley, who were doing orphan relief work in Langfang and starting an orphanage received a call about the baby and were asked to take him. They did, of course, because they turn no baby away. John's wife, Lisa, took charge of this baby's care and the book is about their fight to save Levi. It is an amazing journey of how God saved this little baby's life. What I found particularly touching is that every doctor they encountered told them not to waste their money, the baby was going to die. But, the Bakers and the Bentleys refused to give up and would spare no cost in saving this little guy. Those people started the PHF and it is that type of mentality that drives their care.

Speaking of PHF, they have stumbled upon financial hardship this past year. They are not able to take in any more orphans until they increase their sponsorships. They are searching for 500 more sponsors. For $35/month an orphan will be fed, clothed and provided around the clock care in a loving, Christian environment. We have toured the children's village, talked with the people, and spent the day with them. This place is amazing. They will send you a newsletter every month as well as updates about your child. I can think of no better way to spend $35 a month!

Ball Pit Bliss

Go here to see a cute video of my little ones. They were enjoying a Santa gift... the beloved ball pit. This is our 3rd one... each of our kids has had one, but it always pops from too much rough housing, go figure. Wonder how long this one will last!

I don't want people to think that I don't care enough about my older ones to blog about them. I actually keep a family blog where I update about our crazy family and all the fun happenings around here, but I keep it private. This blog is only used to update about our adoption experience with Emma Grace. If you would like access to our family blog, shoot me an email.

Looking forward to a new year!

The day after Christmas we went to visit Rick's family. Here is Emma Grace with her new doll stroller from Grandma and Grandpa.

On Christmas day we went to my parent's house. They got her a car and she was very proud of it!

Christmas morning- Emma Grace with her new baby doll

Emma and Timmy with baby Jesus- Christmas Eve at church

smooching under the tree with her little brother

The best gift EVER came on Christmas Eve- Emma Grace received her certificate of citizenship!

Emma Grace looked adorable in her Christmas dress. I took these pictures and then realized how it was not very smart of me to use a black drop when she was wearing black tights and has black hair. Oops! Oh, well.

Emma Grace had a wonderful first Christmas with her family. We were so thankful to have her home this year. She really didn't understand what was going on (neither did our other 1 year old) but she sure is enjoying some new toys now that it is all over with.

Emma is growing and changing so much. I was watching video of her from China and I couldn't believe how skinny her face and neck looked. She has gained over a pound since she has been home. This girl LOVES to eat. We thought we would have to smash up all the food and maybe even give her baby food due to her palate... but this girl can eat anything. I am amazed that she can gum up just about anything, even with a huge hole in the roof of her mouth. She WANTS to drink from a cup, but because of her open palate she is not able to suck. I give her a sippy cup without the stopper and she will drink from that... but she soaks herself. It is messy, so we normally only do it at dinner before she gets in the bath. She smiles so big when I hand her the cup. She also wants to walk. When we first got Emma, we went to stand her on our legs (while we were sitting) and she would buckle at the knees or her legs would fly out to the side. She didn't know how to keep her legs under her or how to put weight on them. By the end of our China trip, we could see a difference in her strength... she had pulled up to her feet twice and would let us support her and stand her on our lap. Now, this little firecracker pulls to a stand all day long, she cruises down the couch... and she will walk while holding on to our hands. That is a HUGE improvement! Her feet are incredibly weak, and her physical therapist feels that corrective shoes might be in her near future. Emma wants to walk so bad that she will get on her knees (butt off the ground) and walk that way. I am hoping and praying she walks by her 2nd birthday. We have 7 months and at the rate she is going, I know she will do it. When we first got home from China, she would watch Timmy climb the stairs and just sit at the bottom. Now, she can get to the top before he does! She is using signs and even saying some words. She will say "uh" for up and "mah" for more. She also says ma-ma. Once her palate is repaired, the speech will come along. Emma continues to be a champ at sleeping. She sleeps 12 hours every night in her own crib and in her own room. She will cry for a few minutes, then pop the thumb in and settle down. She has adjusted so wonderfully to our family that it feels like she has always been here. Monday will be a huge transition for her. She starts with the babysitter! This will be the first time that I have "dropped" her off with someone not familiar and left her for a significant amount of time. The lady watching her is AMAZING. She is loving and nurturing. It might take Emma a few days to realize that mommy always comes back, but once she does I think she will be really happy there!

We are looking forward to celebrating 2011 with our family of 6. We are so thankful that Emma is home and will be here to experience every day of the next year with a family.

Tutu Cute!

I just love seeing my little girl in a tutu. Whenever I see a tutu, I will always think of my Emma Grace and our labor of love to bring her home. Enjoy the pictures!

Finally Finished!!!!!

Click HERE to see Emma Grace's GOTCHA day video.

Her heart is GOOD!

Emma Grace was born with a VSD. It was repaired in China when she was 8 months old. When we first found out, we were a little upset.... but looking back that was probably her ticket to Philip Hayden, and for that we are thankful.

Today Emma had her appointment with the pediatric cardiologist to check the work that was done in China. They did an EKG and a heart ultrasound. Emma's heart was successfully repaired in China- the doctor said she looks great! He had a lot of great things to say about surgeries he has seen out of China, so that made us feel better. There was one small issue- her aortic valve was leaking slightly (um, I think that is what he said....) but this could happen with a normal heart when someone has a cold... and she did have a cold. SO- he will check her again in 6 months, but overall, she looks great! If she is all clear in 6 months, we just have to follow-up every 2-3 years. Other than that, she has no restrictions on her activity! We have been worried about the bone sticking out of her chest. Our pediatrician thought she might have been born like that, however the cardiologist feels that it is from the heart surgery done in China. He said that it is COMMON for a child to heal in that way and that it will possibly get better over time. But, it might not... regardless, he said that we need to let her grow and see what happens with it. In the future, there are things that can be done (not quite sure we would do anything....) but it was comforting to know that a chest can heal in that way and that it can get better over time. Great news today!

Meant to Be - Steven Curtis Chapman

Emma Grace, you were meant to be!

An Emma Grace Update...

Timmy and Emma before church

2 weeks out from surgery

I haven't updated in awhile. Things have been so busy around here! Emma is doing well. Her lip is healing nicely, although we had a few hiccups to deal with in the last few weeks. She had her surgery on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Everything was looking great and 2 days out from surgery she didn't need pain medicine anymore. Wednesday I went back to work and my mom watched her. At some point during the day, the stitches in Emma's nose popped out, so now we are back to a flat nostril. I wasn't that upset about it because the big issue is the lip... as long as that stayed together, I was fine. Then, Thursday night I was putting laundry away and Rick was on kid duty. I hear a thud and screams and I knew it was Emma. Rick immediately tells me that she hit her head, but her lip is fine. He brings her into the room and she has a mouth full of blood. My response (while yelling...) was "YES SHE DID HIT HER LIP!!!!" I was so upset. Just above her lip split open a little bit and was bleeding and the bottom of her lip (the part the rests on the bottom lip) was bleeding and appeared to be split. We called the doctor, which was stupid because he couldn't do anything. He told us to bring her in the next day, so we did just that. He looked at her on Friday and basically told us not to worry. He is doing her palate in March and he said that if he needed to clean it up a little then, he would. He also said that he almost always has to adjust the lip a year later, so that one way or another it would be fine. So, for now we let it heal. The docs comment to me, "Don't worry, we make faces look better here." HAHA! Now that the scab is gone it doesn't look as bad. It will not heal in that perfect line that was there before the accident, but I guess we can't complain. We have been putting vitamin E oil on it to help with the healing/scarring.

We had another scary incident happen with our little Emma, and it was before the lip accident. On Monday I noticed that she was wheezing while she was breathing. I didn't think anything of it, but I kept wondering if I should take her to the doctor to have them look at her. By late afternoon it got worse and by the time I put her in the bath that night, she was almost squeaking while breathing. When I took her clothes off I noticed that her chest was going up and down really hard and fast and I knew that wasn't normal- she was working way too hard to breathe. She has a repaired VSD (heart condition) and I was worried that it could be something with her heart. Rick got home from work and agreed that we needed to do something. I called our pediatrician and she could hear her breathing over the phone and told us to take her to Kosair (children's hospital). Rick took her and I stayed home with the other kids. They had to give her 2 breathing treatments and suck her lungs out and finally let her go home. They feel that it could be asthma, but said she is too young to diagnose asthma. We now have the breathing treatments at home if that ever happens again. Poor little girl- she had a rough week!!!

Emma Grace is adjusting so well with us. It feels like she has been here forever! The first few weeks she was beat up pretty badly by Timmy, who would smack her in the face and take her toys. Well, the joke is now on Timmy because she learns things fast. Now she is the one doing the smacking and taking the toys. She is so rotten. She takes things from him and then holds it in front of his face to tease him. When he reaches for it, she yanks it away before he can get it. It is her new favorite game.

Here are some things to mention about Emma:

*She can throw a ball harder than any toddler I have ever met... it is fast and hard, so look out if you are in her path. She will play fast pitch softball, I am certain of it.

*She will give her baby kisses

*She loves to eat food and drink her bottle.

*She can do "SO BIG" (raises her hands in the air) when we say "how big is Emma?"

*If we say "where is Emma?" she covers her eyes to play peek-a-boo

*She responds to her name Emma just about all the time

* She is so observant and picks up on things SO FAST!

*When she sees us in the morning or when we get home from work, she starts bouncing up and down and claps her hands

*She hates wearing bows in her hair

*She has 3 brothers that love her dearly!

*She pulls up on toys and the couch ALL THE TIME with very little effort (woohoo- big improvement in her one month home!)

*We have a firetruck toddler bed and she can actually climb into the bed! (this is how the lip boo-boo happened, she fell out of the bed after she climbed in it)

*She was evaluated this week and will begin physical and occupational therapy in the next few weeks. She will receive speech therapy after her palate is repaired in March.

We are completely in love with this little girl!

Eric Ludy - Depraved Indifference

Oh my goodness, this is powerful.... and so true.

Good-bye Cleft Lip!

Emma Grace had surgery yesterday on her lip. It went very well and we are home resting and recovering. We got to the hospital at 6:00 am and they had her back in surgery at about 7:45. The ENT put tubes in her ears first, which took about 10 minutes. He came out to talk to us and said that her ears were a mess. They were full of fluid and she had a chronic infection in both ears. He said that she had every right to be a cranky girl, but the funny thing is, she is NOT cranky at all! That makes me a little sad because she has lived with chronic pain for so long that she doesn't know any different. To her, that was normal. He said this is a problem that will not go away, so we need to stay on top of these ears! He put short term tubes in to get her through her surgeries (until the palate is repaired.) Once the palate is repaired, the fluid problem should get better and then we can decide whether or not to do long term tubes or another set of short term tubes. Short term fall out in about 8 months and the long term stay in for 1-2 years. However, when the long term falls out you have a greater risk of perforating the ear drum. YIKES.... hopefully the short term will do the trick.

Dr. Chariker was her plastic surgeon and we are so pleased with the work he did on her. It took him about an hour and a half. He lined up her lips perfectly and did not leave too much fatty tissue. He also straightened her nose (it went off the right) and made her left nostril (it was flat) match her right nostril. We are so impressed with the detail he took in lining up her face. I really believe that when this heals, you won't be able to tell she had a cleft lip. He said we will re-evaluate in one year to see if she needs a "clean-up" surgery. I guess he wants the wound to fully heal and her face to grow into it a little bit. We decided to push her palate surgery back until the end of March. We just can't handle that recovery process when we are both working full time. In March I am off for a week for spring break. Overall, Emma has handled the surgery well. She cried a lot (by a lot, I mean non-stop) in the hospital and I thought our chances for going home would be slim. But, I knew that she just hated the hospital and wanted to get out of there. We pleaded our case to the nurse and they let us go home! She slept 10 hours through the night and woke up happy. She had a bottle and ate breakfast- and I am sure she would NOT have been that comfortable in the hospital. I am ready for this wound to heal up- I am super paranoid that the stitches are going to come loose or something is going to happen. Every time she bumps her face I want to cry. The stress in thinking we are going to mess up this surgery is too much for me! She has to sleep with splints on her arm so she doesn't pick her face or suck her thumb. That has been the hardest part. We are supposed to keep them on during the day but I just can't do it. I let her play and crawl around and I just watch her. Our next biggest issue is Timmy the bulldozer. I am so afraid he is going to get hold of that lip and not let go. Here are some before and after pictures.

Surprisingly happy before surgery! She hates hospitals and doctors.

Before they took her back

Right when we got her after surgery. I am so thankful she has a mommy and a daddy to comfort her.

Here is the after picture. You can see that the top lip is lined up perfectly. This isn't the best picture of her nose, but you can see the stitches he put in her left side so that her nostril has the same dimple as the other one. I am excited to see what this will look like when it heals!

We really doubted ourselves about waiting on the surgery when we went to China to pick up Emma Grace. We saw a lot of repaired lips and they all looked pretty good. I thought maybe we were just being selfish. But, after seeing what an amazing job the doctor did and having this type of care we feel so good about our decision! The recovery hasn't been horrible, but it hasn't been fun either. To think of her going through that alone is so sad. I am thankful that we stuck with our gut instinct and waited... and I am thankful that the good people at PHF listened to us and respected our decision!

HOME AT LAST!

We are back- and alive and well!!!! I didn't post anything about our travel plans- I wanted to keep them as quiet as possible. But, now we are home and loving life with our new family of 6. You can read about our travels at this link:

http://www.journeytome.com/journal_view.cfm?journalid=3105

We did an entry for every day of our travels. It was quite an adventure. I would love to adopt again, and I think we will one day.... but I need some time to recover from the trip (and let my TWO babies grow up a little bit!)

I am attaching a picture of our Emma from the famous red couch. We love her and we feel that she is the perfect match for our family. We know that we have a difficult road ahead, but she is worth every bit of it. I will continue to use this blog to update about Emma and our post adoption story!

Emma had her first appointment with the plastic surgeon today. He wasn't at all surprised by the way Emma looked... just another standard surgery for him. They are actually going to repair her lip and nose (it is a little crooked) on the day after Thanksgiving. Next is her palate... and they are doing that on January 18. I wanted to wait and do the palate next summer, but he felt it was pretty important to do it now. He said she needs to learn how to start using her palate muscles, talking, etc. So, we will do what is best for her. We need to make an ENT appointment because she will probably need tubes and we will have to make a cardiologist appointment. Her heart was repaired in China, but her chest has a bone sticking out of it and we are a little concerned. Regardless, we love her just the way she is and we will do whatever we need to do to make sure she lives a healthy, happy life!

Not too much longer....

Travel Approval!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rick and I took the day off work to attend his grandmother's funeral today. She would have been 85 in November, so she had many wonderful days on this earth! The funeral was beautiful and of course many tears were shed. It was amazing to think about the family this woman has created... 6 children, 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. All of these people are here because of her and her husband. And the family will continue to grow. One of Rick's Aunts said to me, "It is funny how God works with his timing.... thank goodness you guys aren't in China and Colleen hasn't gone into labor yet..... we can only handle one thing at a time." Colleen is Rick's sister, and she is due on Tuesday. So, we said good-bye to Grandma today. Colleen went to the doctor after the funeral... her baby is coming on Tuesday. While we were at lunch after the funeral, I get the most wonderful phone call saying that we have our TA! So, we grieve the loss of a wonderful woman, we celebrate the life of baby girl Ginter coming into the family.... and then we celebrate Emma Grace coming home to her forever family. God really does have a plan. We are waiting on our flight information. I CAN'T WAIT to find out when I will have this little girl in my arms!!!!!!

Waiting for Travel Approval (TA)

We find ourselves at the most frustrating part of our journey- everything is complete and we are waiting for the much anticipated TA. Our coordinator confirmed that our Article 5 was picked up and delivered to the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) on Monday, September 6. TA takes about 3-4 weeks, but I have known several families that got it in 2 weeks, even one that got it in 10 days. We are crossing our fingers for a short wait for TA. There is a group of 5 families from our agency leaving on October 6. I am hoping that if we get TA next week or the week after, we can join this group. There are a lot of Chinese holidays coming up over the next few weeks and we don't want to be postponed because of them. Come on TA, we are ready to get on a plane!!!!!

Sweet Emma Grace....

I got a few more pictures of my girl (have I mentioned that I LOVE facebook?!?!?!) I have to say that I am one PROUD mama to see her sitting so nicely. Not too much longer now.... day 5 of waiting for travel approval. I have to say, I am ready to get on that plane!

Do you think she made her little friend cry? She looks mighty proud of herself about something.... She has no idea what is waiting for her with 3 brothers :)

A Plea for Help!!!!!!

This post is part of Linny's crazy love prayer challenge- uniting families all over the world to fast and pray for the orphan. You can visit her blog at www.aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com

Over the last 5 months I have fallen in love with not only my daughter waiting on me in Ch*na, but a magnificent place called the Philip Hayden Foundation, home of the Shepherd's Field Children's Village where my daughter is living. I am in awe at the care they give their children and the loving, nurturing environment they provide.

When I found out that my daughter had been moved to SFCV I was overwhelmed with joy. I had prayed that God would protect her and watch over her until we could get there and I have no doubt that her move to SFCV was an answered prayer!

The Philip Hayden Foundation is a Christian ran orphanage (foster village) in Ch*na. I have talked to several adoptive parents who have visited PHF and speak highly of the care their children received while living there. To get more information about this amazing place, visit www.chinaorphans.org. You can read about how they got started and if you feel led to do so, sponsor a child, a surgery, a nanny or a particular house.

The Philip Hayden Foundation is in need of help. Just recently, there were 7 nannies laid off. These nannies went to the Labor Bureau and now PHF has to pay each of them $10,000 for a total of $70,000. This happened late last week and they have until September 14 to come up with the money. Miracously, they have already raised $44,860. But, we must find a way to come up with the remaining money! If the money is not raised, this wonderful foster village could face some difficult decisions. There are hundreds of adoptive families praying that these funds will be raised in time. We are also praying that these 7 nannies will have a change of heart and give this money back to SFCV. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this money could go to the children. Please pray with us!

I know that God has a heart for the orphan. We need places like the Philip Hayden Foundation that will love the fatherless and teach them about Jesus until they can find their way to forever families. If you feel led to help this important cause, follow this link to make a one-time donation.

On September 8th, adoptive families are pulling together to pray and fast for the orphan. You can read more about this group effort by families who have a heart for the orphan if you go to Linny's blog called, A Place Called Simplicity at this link. If you choose to do this on Wednesday, won't you please also pray for Shepherd's Field Children's Village as well?

I am passionate about the work of the Philip Hayden Foundation and I will live the rest of my life advocating for them and the care they provide for the orphans of China.

Emma Grace

Someone sent me this picture of Emma via Facebook. I am not sure who this is in the picture, but I am thankful that Emma is getting some lovin'! I assume that this lady was on a mission trip to PHF. Emma will definitely be used to seeing Americans, so at least she won't be completely shocked when she meets me!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love PHF. They do amazing things with the children that live there. More on that to come....

Butterfly

Whenever we see a butterfly, we always think of our Emma Grace. I am not really sure how it started. I guess I read some adoption blogs and stories where people saw butterflies and they knew they had a child waiting for them. Well, when we started seeing butterflies more frequently, I said to my boys "this means that Emma Grace is coming soon!" Well, wouldn't you know we got our referral a few days later. It seems that we have always seen butterflies at important points through this adoption process. While swimming this summer, I actually had a butterfly land on my arm and just sit there. So, now we search out these butterflies and my older boys get SO EXCITED and start screaming "Emma Grace is coming, Emma Grace is coming!" Her room will have butterflies in it and when I see a shirt with a butterfly on it, I immediately think of her (and have to really hold myself back from buying it). Today, our family went to the fair and of course, our little butterfly followed us.

"The caterpillar thought its life was over.... until it became a butterfly."

A "sprinkle" for Emma Grace

Rick's sisters (Christa, Colleen and Julie) wanted to do a shower for Emma Grace. It was actually a "sprinkle" since this is our 4th kid and we have so much baby stuff already. Although it was called a sprinkle, we were certainly showered with many, many things for our girl. Let's just say she will be one well-dressed little girl! Here are some pictures from the big day.

This adorable blanket has her name on it. It is in her bed waiting for her!

A new backpack... this also has her name on it. It was full of "girl" themed books. (don't have too many girly things in this house!)

yippee for dresses!

Emma Grace, you are loved. This was all for you!

A butterfly cake for our girl

More days...

Make that 20 sick days! I certainly have enough to cover my leave now and I am so happy and thankful for the teachers in my school- they are the best!!!!!

Thankful hearts!

I get a little emotional when I think about all the people that have helped in one way or another with our adoption. There have been many!

We started out fundraising hair bows and tutus- working craft shows, selling online and the response was great! We made several thousand dollars to go towards our adoption. We were overwhelmed at the amount of people that supported our fundraising efforts.

Then, we applied for a grant from Lifesong for Orphans. Actually, we started out by applying for an interest free loan. We didn't feel comfortable asking people for donations to do the matching grant and we decided to take on the financial burden ourselves. BUT, Lifesong for Orphans approved us for the matching grant, so we thought about it and decided to give it a try. We were overwhelmed with the amount of people who donated on our behalf. Big and small donations were made, and we had $4,400 of donated money, and Lifesong matched $4,000 of that. So, we had $8,400 given to us for our adoption.

We had Dr. Staat review our daughter's medical file for us on a weekend when we thought we would not be able to find anyone. Not only did we find someone, we found one of the BEST International Adoption doctors in the area. And she was kind enough to not charge us the weekend fee. I emailed her at midnight on a Friday and I had a response from her first thing in the morning Saturday, what are the chances?

We have been in contact with various people at the Philip Hayden Foundation who have given us PRICELESS information about our daughter... we have been spoiled with so many pictures of our daughter and even the opportunity to give our opinion about her lip surgery. We asked them to hold off on her surgery... and they listened!

And today is yet another example of how this adoption has been a community effort. I decided to go back to work this year. There are many reasons why I decided to go back to work and I still feel like it was the best decision for our family for many different reasons. I was relieved that my principal was so supportive about my maternity leave (even though I have taken the last 3 years off!) I had every intention of taking my time unpaid and I went into this year fully expecting to do so. But last week I found out that if I take more than 5 consecutive days unpaid, I lose my year of teaching. So, I would lose this year of teaching AND I would be taking many days unpaid. I was so upset! So, I went to the teachers in my building and asked for help. I asked people if they could donate a sick day to me. I am not sure how many I will need (it depends on when we leave and the holidays) but it doesn't matter now! I know that I will have enough!!! The teachers I work with donated a total of 15 SICK DAYS so that I can go on my maternity leave and not be penalized my year of teaching! I am overwhelmed!!!!

Today was just more confirmation that GOD wants Emma Grace to come home. He has continued to provide for us and put people in our path at the right time. Emma Grace, you are loved.

NVC letter and Visas

Today we received the much anticipated NVC letter. Our papers will be presented to the Consulate on Thursday, August 19. So we should have our Article 5 on September 2.... and then it is the wait for travel approval.

On Saturday we received our travel visas. All of our responsibilities have been taken care of- everything is out of our control at this point.

It is crazy to think that in 2 months we could be on our way to China to bring home our daughter. I can't wait!

The rest of her pictures...and one of MinLi

More Pictures!

Sara sent us some more pictures of our Emma Grace! Rick and I are friends with her on Facebook now, so she takes pictures and uploads them to Facebook and we are able to see everything that way. How it made my heart happy to see one of her photo albums labeled "This is for Emma Grace's forever family" Woohoo! We are really blessed to have our Emma in such an amazing place. For those that don't know, Sara works at PHF and obviously has a HUGE heart for these children. She is always taking pictures and sending them to sponsor families or forever families. I really think she is our angel, connecting us to Emma when we are half a world away from each other!

Here is our precious little girl- she must be learning to sit now!!!! I am hoping to witness the first steps :) I asked our coordinator about travel and she seems to think that we will be more towards the end of October. There is a trade show in Guangzhou the last part of October (this is the final part of our trip), so we have to avoid GZ at that time. So, we will probably leave the last part of October and head to her province and then finish up in GZ the first week of November. Only time will tell!

Is it just me, or does she seem to be showing a little bit of attitude? I think she might be posing. And she is sitting!!!!

She is so sweet. I hope her hair stays short so I can use some headbands in her hair.

I think she is so beautiful! She must be learning to sit, because her nanny is holding on to her. I can't wait to get my hands on this girl!!!!

Emma's Birthday Pictures

Emma Grace turned one on July 26. We sent her a package but it did not make it to PHF in time :( Hopefully it has made it there by now and she is enjoying her new toys! We celebrated at our house by singing happy birthday and eating cake. We will certainly make up for this birthday on her second birthday. We are relieved that she is in a place that values her life and without a doubt celebrated the day she was born.

It is hard to not think about her birth parents on a day like her birthday. Although we are unaware of their circumstance, we know that sacrificing a child is never an easy decision. We will forever be thankful for them and for choosing LIFE for our Emma Grace.

So close, yet so far!

I talked to our coordinator today and she received the package I mailed to her over the weekend. This is called our DS230. She is going to mail this to the staff in Beijing on Thursday and it should be to them by Monday or Tuesday. Our papers can't be submitted until the NVC letter comes. Thankfully, when I get it, I can just scan and email it to our coordinator, who will then forward it on to the staff in Beijing. Isn't technology wonderful? It saves so much time! Assuming we get our NVC letter by NEXT Wed. (which we should...) then our papers will be presented to the Consulate on Thursday, August 19.

Exactly 2 weeks later, our Article 5 will be ready. Our signed Letter of Acceptance and our Article 5 will then be submitted to the CCAA. Within 3 weeks after that, we should have travel approval.... and we should be leaving on a plane 2 weeks after that. SOOOOO.... I know you all can do math, but we are guessing that we will be leaving about 7 weeks from August 19, which would put us in the first full week of October. I can't believe that it is so close... but I feel like it is still so far. I know these next few weeks are going to fly by.

I800 approval!

Today we got our I800 approval, which is the petition to classify an adoptee as an immediate relative. Now we are waiting on our NVC (National Visa Center) letter which will come in just a few days. Once we get that, we will have our papers ready to mail to China (should be next week). Then we sit and wait for travel approval.....

Liu Min Li

This adorable little boy has quite a connection to our Emma Grace. They are both from Fuzhou City in the Fujian Province. He is a few months older than her. They lived together in the orphanage and were both taken to the same hospital for heart surgery. They were both discharged to the Philip Hayden Foundation where they have lived together ever since. So, they have basically lived together their entire lives. I have been thinking about this little boy a lot and every time a new list of children comes out, I check for his file. I haven't been able to find him, so I finally asked PHF about him. They said his orphanage is just now processing his paper work, so hopefully he will be going on the list later this year or early next year. We are praying that MinLi finds his forever family, and that we are able to stay connected with him and his family. Our children have a special connection.

Birthday Outfit

We sent this outfit to Emma Grace to wear on her first birthday, July 26, 2010. We are hoping for a picture (or 2) of her in this outfit. It would be priceless! We also sent a few toys for her to open that she can leave at the orphanage for her friends. I hope they celebrate at PHF.... because her birthday is a very special day, the day our red thread started to form!

I800 application mailed...

This is for the timeline adoption junkies (I know you are out there, I search everyone's blogs for timelines, too!). We mailed our application for the I800 on Friday, July 16. Let's see how long this approval takes! Once this approval comes, we send off our DS-230 package and await travel approval. Getting closer!!!!

A great article....

This is a great article! I cried through part of it because I thought about Emma having heart surgery all alone and recovering without pain medicine, but I guess that is the reality. But, it is very informative and I would encourage everyone to read it. Read through all the comments at the bottom. Go here to read it.

LOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we got our Letter of Acceptance. It was exactly 3 weeks after our homestudy update was sent to China, so they are moving quite quickly at the CCAA. We are overjoyed, as this was supposed to be a huge chunk of our wait. (estimated at 3-4 months, although the average has been running 39 days). Now, we fill out yet another form (the I800) and wait 3-4 weeks for that approval. We can also go ahead and apply for our visas. Best guess for travel is 10-12 weeks. I can't believe that in just a few short months there will be another little face around our kitchen table.... another little hand to hold down the street.... and most importantly, one less child without a family. Keep praying for our girl and for this journey. We are coming to the end, but really.... it is just the beginning!

I800A Approval!

Our I800A approval came today. In the big picture, this isn't much to cheer about because we were supposed to already have it :) But, since we switched to a special needs adoption we had to get a new one. You know how it is waiting on papers to pass through government! We were surprised to get this in just 3 weeks. Now, we are just waiting on our LOA (letter of acceptance) and when we get this, we would anticipate travel 10-12 weeks later. We are hoping and praying for this LOA very soon! The average wait is 39 days and we are at day 20.... could be any day now!!!!!

Updated Pictures- again!

I got more pictures of my girl tonight. We got 6 in all and I am posting 3 on here. The other 3 look like she just woke up- very funny. Her hair was a mess and her eyes look so sleepy! So.... how did I get these pictures? I found the name of a lady who works at PHF and her email happened to be on Facebook. So, I emailed her and told her who I was and asked a bunch of questions about our daughter. She got back to me right away and answered them all. She confirmed that she is rolling over now but can't sit just yet. She also confirmed that she is a happy baby and smiles all the time. That is what a mama likes to hear! Then I emailed her back and asked for some pictures- and she sent 6 of them. I am so very thankful Emma Grace is in a place where communication is not stopped by a language barrier! I also want to mention that I emailed Dr. Moody last week and asked him about her immunizations. The last part of our trip is in Guangzhou, and all the children leaving for the US have to have a medical exam and they can not enter the States until they are current on immunizations by US standards. Well, many times these children end up getting 7 or 8 shots at a time- I even saw one child that got 11, and he had a heart condition. That is not right! These children end up getting fevers and very sick, and of course we don't want that to happen to our Emma! I emailed Dr. Moody my concerns and he said they will do their best to get her immunized with what is available. Small blessings like this are wonderful!

This picture was taken on June 23. This was before I requested pictures, so that means they are taking pictures of her on their own. I am hoping we get a copy of all the pictures they take!

I love this picture (check out the belt- stylin'). It is from June 29. She is smiling, which I love, and I see one tooth sticking out!

Photo from June 29, and mommy is very happy to see her on her belly and holding up that head. I can't wait to get her home!