Tuesday, June 30, 2009

You Know Lilly is Making Progress When...

...you have to start spelling words you don't want Lilly to hear. Her receptive English language skills are making leaps and bounds!

...you start comparing Lilly's behavior to the older two's behavior at that age rather than wondering "why does she act like that?" She behaves so much more like a normal 3-year-old now--which has its own joys and challenges--rather than like a child whose world was turned upside down.

...you no longer have to lie down by her bedside for every single nap and nighttime sleep in order for her to finally drift off. She will happily talk or sing herself to sleep more and more frequently.

...you have arrived at your destination in the car and realize that Lilly has not demanded to "xia qu" (get out of her carseat) once!

...she asks baba to stay in her room to read stories at night with mama, rather than insisting that he leave. She even accepted him being the one to lie nearby one evening this week.


I know there are many more I am just not thinking of. What a difference 3 months at home can make! Just wanted to share.
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3 comments:

Jaime said...

Sounds like Lilly is quite the big girl now. It is amazing how quickly things change. Kids are so resilient.

June 30, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Nili said...

Loving the progress! Time is going by so fast...Enjoy the summer!
XO
Nili

July 2, 2009 at 12:25 AM
Traci Brunner said...

Thank you for sharing, Amy! I'll bet there was a time you never thought this day would come..:)
I am so happy for you all at the progress Lilly has made in such a very short time.

July 16, 2009 at 2:24 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