Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Just Some Previously Unpublished Photos from our Trip
















Just a few random shots i liked as I began to sort our photos today. Eventually I will put together a montage to post here along with some music to try to capture the whole journey in a short slide show. As I have time...
These are some fun ones--Lilly eating a hot dog that was bigger than her (her first meal as an American citizen in the Atlanta airport); Jared and Anna goofing off outside the souvenir shops in Guangzhou (reminded me of the alley in Turkey); some of us standing under the Starbucks sign in Guangzhou (we actually had really good coffee at most of the hotels, but a true Starbucks mocha is always welcomed!); a beautiful shot of Lilly's face that my new friend, Jenny, one of the adoptive moms in our travel group e-mailed me today (best shot we have of her, by far!), and our family of 5 on the red couch (this one might have been posted already, but hey, you can take another look).
Praying for another good night tonight! She went down pretty easily, and it's time for me to get to bed too.
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3 comments:

Traci Brunner said...

That closeup of Lilly is beautiful! And the picture of Anna & Jared is just too funny. I keep reading and waiting for the time you say, Lilly went to sleep easily & slept till morning :) It will happen!

March 31, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Unknown said...

Love that pic. YOu know that there is something about that little girl that will always touch my heart!


and to you Miss Anna, I say

FA DOOSH!!

March 31, 2009 at 10:22 PM
the mudder said...

LOVE the close up of Lily!!
What a beautiful child!!
Sandra D.

April 2, 2009 at 4:39 PM

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Why Adoption? Why China?

I'm sure that many of you, when you learned that Tom and I were pursuing adoption of a little girl from China, wondered "why?!" We may have taken some of you by surprise, and we thought it might be nice to share some of our thinking about this journey we are undertaking.

Adoption is something that, even from the earliest years of our marriage, we talked about as "maybe someday." The idea of adoption is appealing to us for many reasons. As Christians, we are adopted by God as his children through faith in Jesus. Adoption allows us to provide a child with the needed love, warmth, and financial resources we have been blessed with as a family. Finally, adoption allows us to add to our family at a time when our biological children are old enough to be more self-sufficient, and we are in a position financially to be able to welcome a child into our family in this way. What we hope to gain is an additional family member to love and learn from, and an opportunity to share the joy and love of our family.

We recognize that an adoption will bring unique parenting challenges to our family--especially since we are considering a child with special needs--and it is likely to put unique stresses on our family in a variety of ways. We are grateful for Tom's medical knowledge and for the great medical coverage we get through Tom's Air Force career, and we look forward to providing a forever family for a child whose medical needs might make it more difficult for another family to take on.

Finally, why China? My love for China, the Chinese language, and the Chinese people made China the natural choice. It was never really even a consideration whether to go with a domestic adoption or international; China was simply the natural choice that we immediately pursued, especially since there are so many children in China that need a forever family.

Chinese Word of the Day

The Time in China

When Love Takes You In

Our Adoption Timeline

  • Travel Dates--11-26 March
  • Swearing In Ceremony at Consulate--25 March (Lilly's 3rd Birthday!)
  • Consulate Appointment (CA)--24 March
  • Travel Approval (TA)--19 February 2009
  • Received Letter of Approval (LOA)--22 January 2009
  • Received Pre-Approval (PA)--25 November
  • Submitted Letter of Intent (LOI) to adopt An Xiao Xue, soon to be named Lillian Joy Xiao Xue, 1 November (logged in at CCAA 21 November)
  • Referral Call from CCAI asking us to consider An Xiao Xue's profile--31 October
  • Dossier Log-in-Date (LID) 3 July 2008
  • Dossier to China (DTC)--June 27 2008
  • Dossier Submitted to CCAI--June 2008
  • Fingerprinted at USCIS Jacksonville--April 2008
  • Application Approval ("We're Pregnant!") January 2008
  • Submitted Adoption Application and 3 References--December 2007
  • Requested Application from Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI) --November 2007
  • Decided to Investigate Agencies--October 2007