Hope for Hannah

First time ever I saw your Face

2009-06-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

One year ago we were sitting in a hotel room in Peoria,IL, getting ready for my cousins weekend wedding. As I checked my email, I saw that a new COP list had been released from Bethany. We requested the files of 3 precious little girls. Now for all previous COP lists, we went over their profiles with a fine tooth comb and had all the docs at the Pediatricians office I work in review their medical history until we were absolutely sure their COP was something we could handle. Now, here we sat in a hotel room with no one to ask any questions of, but unlike all the other times; I KNEW we were suppose to ask for this one little girl. Then on June 24th, we got the call. She was ours and life has never been the same. She definately lights up our lives.

In Just A Few Short Weeks

2009-04-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! In just a few weeks, it will mark our Six month mile stone. The last six months have been an amazing journey with the addition of a daughter to our family. Six months ago I was so ,worried that Noah and Caleb were not going to adjust to having a sister in their lives, because they were not sure themselves. Today, my greatest joy is watching the three of them together. Hannah adores her brothers and if it's possible, I think they love her even more. Since coming home, we have seen cardiology, ENT, cranial facial, dental and speech specialist and have had two surgeries. The first surgery was fairly minor with ear tubes put in and some dental work done. The second surgery was a revision on her palate. This too should have been pretty straight forward, but it actually landed us in the ICU for 24 hours (boy are we are so glad that is over). This week Hannah will begin speech therapy.

Despite the whirlwind of doctors, Hannah has adjusted amazingly well. She completely understands everything we say and she is saying new words everyday. She is such a people person and loves everyone. She loves to give hugs and kisses. It is evident that this kid was loved in China. We will be forever greatful to her foster family and we feel so blessed that she is now a part of our family.

Sunday, January 4th

2009-01-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Wow!! The past 3 weeks sure have been busy, but lots of fun. I started back to work (part time) the week before Christmas. I had a really hard time leaving home that first day, but I actually think it was good for both Hannah and myself. Hannah has had fun spending a few days a week with Grandma and I enjoy a few days of adult conversations. I hope to stay part time for a few more months.

As you can imagine, Christmas was wonderful. After almost 3 years of waiting, I could hardly believe that Hannah was actually Home for Christmas this year. It was so much fun to watch Christmas thru her eyes.

Surgery Update!!!

2008-12-12T18:10:00.000-08:00

Hannah had her surgery yesterday for her ear tubes and dental work. I am so surprised that she has not had any complications from her little teeth. They were in such bad shape. She had to have 4 caps, 6 fillings and 2 pulled. It was a long day, as she had a hard time waking up from the anesthesia and also had trouble keeping anything down, but after 8 long hours, we finally got to come home. Today, she is doing wonderfully. Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers, they were definately heard. Hopefully, we are done with any surgeries, now; for awhile. She is a little trooper and is so cooperative with all of the doctors, but we are ready to be done for awhile.
We will return to speech in January for a follow up. Hopefully, the ear tubes will help drain all that fluid and she will begin hearing better and thus, start talking. She understands everything we say, but is happy to just grunt to get what she wants. I think much of this is due to two big brothers who hate to hear her cry. She has finally begun saying dada and even added mamaw (grandma)to her list of words in the past few days. She also has "Noah "down pretty well. She loves to stand up stairs and yell down to him in his room to get him come running, and he does. She has both boys wrapped around her fingers pretty tightly. It is so fun to watch.

Again, thank you for all your prayers. They were a blessing, especially yesterday.

Thankful,Thankful, Thankful

2008-11-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

Looking more like a true Georgia redneck all the time.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Cousin Kaytlyn's 6th birthday party at build-a-bear

My first visit to Chuck E Cheese

Getting ready to go to Noah and Caleb's sport banquet. I'm a little wildcat.

We are more in awe everyday that God has blessed us with these 3 beautiful children. It becomes more and more evident that Hannah was made just for our family. My favorite thing to do these days is to sit back and watch Noah and Caleb play with Hannah. I was so worried when we first came home that they were not going to accept having her here, but I was wrong. They love her so much and are so good with her. She loves them, too. I also love to watch her experiencing her firsts. The boys and I put up the Christmas tree last Wed while she was taking her nap. When she woke up and saw the tree, lights and decorations, the look of amazement on her face will never be erased from my memory. I cannot say the same about Santa, though. She didn't cry but was also not placing him on her list of new friends. She has also had her first visit to Chuck E Cheese and build-a-bear. Chuck E Cheese was a definate favorite and build-a-bear was good until she had to put the heart inside the bear (she wanted to keep the heart for herself). She definately has an opinion about things.

We also have seen about 6 doctors , had our follow up with Bethany, celebrated 3 birthday's, Thanksgiving and met our aunt Angie from Nashville and Aunt Sandy and Uncle Jim from Illinois, along with many, many family and friends here in Georgia. We still can't wait to meet Granny and Gramps in Illinois. We are hoping they will have snow for us at Christmas. All of our doctors appointments have gone very well. We do have to have tubes put in our ears on Dec 9th. We have have some fluid in our ears (due to our cleft palate) and this is affecting how we hear and how many words we say. We will also have to have some teeth pulled in Jan. (also due to our cleft palate), but otherwise good reports. We don't have to see the cardiologist for 4 years and the cranial/facial doctor was very impressed with how well her lip and palate were repaired in China. I will forever be greatful for the love and care she received in China.

I know it is easy to feel blessed when things are going well, but I can't help but shout from the mountain tops this Thanksgiving. GOD TRUELY IS GOOD AND HE DEFINATELY HAS A PLAN FOR OUR LIVES. Wait and see what he has in store for you!!!

All of our love,

Brian, Tonya, Noah, Caleb and Hannah

We are doing Great!!

2008-11-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

eating ( my favorite thing)

playing

wearing daddy's hat and shoes ( I found them myself)

getting ready to go to church for the first time ( I wave to everyone, including the camera)

i'm a star

my 2nd birthday

me and Caleb

We have been home for a little over a week, now. We are so glad to be here. Hannah is doing so great. It amazes me how adaptable these little ones are. She is understanding many english words and follows our directions very well. She still is not saying very many words, I don't know if it is a language thing or a cleft palate thing. She babbles and sings all the time, but I don't know if she is speaking Chinese or just babbling. We go to the cleft palate dr. on Nov 19th, so maybe we will get a better idea of when she will talk, then. She has started to develop her own sign language so that we know what she wants. Caleb has adjusted very well to having her here, Noah has been a little slower to get there. Hannah loves them both, so it is a little hard for Noah not to love her back. I have seen big changes in him everyday. Mom and dad are also adjusting to life with a toddler, again. Maybe I just don't remember, but it seems like I get alot more tired more quickly this go around. Even so, we are absolutely in love with her. Here are a few pictures from home.

Friday, Oct 31

2008-10-30T23:59:00.001-07:00

Our whole group

Lina, Hanna Jo and Hannah Hope

All 9 kids

At the Us consulate- going to take our oath of adoption

Hannah Hope

Happy Holloween! In 16 ours we leave to come home and after 28 hours of travel, we will arrive in Atlanta at 10:30 PM. We cannot wait to see you Noah and Caleb. The past few days have gone really fast. It has been wonderful being with the other families again. We are going to miss all of them. Hopefully we will be able to stay in touch and watch all the kids grow. They are all beautiful children.

Yesterday, we went to the US consulate and took our oath of adoption. This was very emotional for all the moms. Hannah is now ours forever and she can legally enter the US with us tomorrow on her 2nd birthday. Happy Birthday Hannah!! It is amazing how perfect she is for us. I never dreamed we would be bringing home a 2 year old, but God's plan was perfect for us. Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord. As I watch this crazy world of ours, I do know thatGod is always in control. He will reveal Himself at the perfect time, even if it doesn't feel like He is there at all during the journey. Again, I want to thank all of our family and friends for following our journey here in China. I cannot stress enough how much I have valued your emails and comments. From the start of this adoption in April 2006, you all have been a huge strength of support for us. We love you all. Noah and Caleb I cannot wait for you to meet her. Noah- she is like you in so many ways, the similarities are amazing. Yet, Caleb- she is a sweet snuggler like you. She is a perfect blend of our first two miracles.

Today, all of the families met for the tradional red couch photo. As you can see most families choose to dress their children in the traditional Chines dress. They all looked so cute.

Enjoy and we will see you very soon.

Brian, Tonya and Hannah

Tuesday, Oct 28

2008-10-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight is our last night in Shanxi Province. One day closer to home!!!Today we visited the Shanxi museum. It was actually very interesting and the Chinese have invested alot of money into this building. It was beautiful and very informative.
Since we have blown 2 fuses in our electrical converter and are now relying on the motels to have an adapter, this may be our last post until we are home. Hopefully, the hotel tomorrow will be able to also loan us an adapter. I would love to be able to post pictures of all the kids together. I can't wait to meet them all. We have no pictures today ( the museum would not allow pictures) and now that we are back Sleeping Beauty is asleep.
Please pray for us tomorrow morning as we board our first plane with Hannah. I hope she does okay with it all and that mama and baba do too. Tomorrow's flight is only 2 1/2 hours, so it should be a good test for Saturday's flight. I think for our last adventure tonight, we are going to try to find the Walmart. We are not sure that it really exist here, but we are going to try.
All of our love
Brian, Tonya and Hannah

Monday, Oct 27

2008-10-27T03:33:00.001-07:00

Riding the baby rollar coaster

Watching the pigeons at the park

Just being cute

One of the rollar coasters at the park

Driving the car

Only 5 more days!!!!

Today we visited a Chinese amusement park. They had many rides that would be similiar to rides we have at home. Noah and Claeb- it made us miss you all the more, because we knew you would have liked it. We didn't ride any rides( well one with Hannah), because each ride cost money and also because our quide Helen is always eager to hurry up and be done. She is very nice, but you can tell she has been to these places way to often. We get a kick out of her. Tomorrow we are headed to the Shanxi museum and then we leave on Wed morning. We are so excited that it is almost time to come home.

Without any one to help us with ordering food, Brian and I have had pizza or spaghetti every meal, except for our one meal at McDonalds. Even then, depending on how well our waitress understands English, it is always a surprise what we will get on our spaghetti and pizza. Tonight was a real surprise. Noah and Caleb- we are going to Longhorns when we get home.

Hannah is still doing really well. I do think she is tired of being stuck in this hotel room. We have heard that our next hotel has a big playroom, plus we will be with all the other families and their kids. That should make the last 3 does go by quicker.

Can't wait to see all of you!! All of our love, Brian, Tonya and Hannah

Sunday, Oct 26

2008-10-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

Meeting Ronald for the first time

French fries are pretty good

Look at that load!

We just happened upon these Chinese dancers

I want to be like Mama!

Only six more days until we are home!!!! Today was a free day and we did make it to McDonalds. Hannah wasn't so sure of it at first, but quickly decided it was pretty good stuff. Other than McDonald's , it was a pretty quiet day. There is not a lot to do here in Shanxi Province. Unlike Beijing, we have not been able to find any open air markets to shop in with authentic Chinese gifts. The markets here tend to have more of a Western want to be theme. Tomorrow, our guide is taking us to a park. Hopefully, it will be a park where Hannah can actually get down and play. She has alot of energy to run off.

Mamma and Baba think our little girl is really smart. She tries to imitate everything we do and is beginning to understand several English words. She is even answers to Hannah, better than YiLin. So we are solely calling her Hannah. I am quessing that her foster family called her something else, because she did not respond to YiLin at all. I wish that we would have been able to talk to her foster family to ask them these questions. The nanny from the orphanage did not know much about her at all.

Noah and Caleb we miss you like crazy and can't wait to to give you hugs and kisses. Mom, dad, Tammy and Cindy thank you so much for taking care of our little boys ( ok our big boys). We love you all. And to all my girls at work---you guys are great!!!

Saturday, Oct 25

2008-10-25T02:46:00.000-07:00

Playing with blocks

Trying to get dressed

Look how cute I am

Putting shoes on

Baba teaching me to play soccer

Coloring

Baba napping

Hannah napping, too

Double Pagoda Temple

With mama and Helen ( our guide)

This morning we visited the Double Pagoda Temple. We have seen so many temple's , I can no longet tell you the difference between them. They are all beautiful and very detailed. How they ever got them built 400 years ago will remain a mystery to me.

Hannah has been coughing the past two days with lots of green gunck, so we decided to just hang out in our room. We went ahead and started her antibiotics to make sure it doesn't turn into anything more. She slept for about 2 1/2 hours after getting back to the room and then woke up ready to go. She can be a sweet snuggle girl but she is also a rough and tumble girl. Today, she kept wanting to do backwards summersaults off of the footstool. Julie- I don't know if dancing is in her future , I think acrobatics is going to be her forte. She is fearless. She does like to be girly too, though. She already is use to having bows in and if one falls out; she wants it right back in ( I think she just wants to make mama happy).

We didn't make it to McDonalds today, but tomorrow is a free day, again. So we will try again then . We plan on staying up late tonight so that we can call and see how Caleb did at his meet, then sleeping in late tomorrow morning. It is beginning to get lonely here without any other families. We keep reading their blogs and they are having lots of fun together. Just a few more days and we will be with them again. I am also ready to have my blow dryer and straightening iron work, again. The pony tail look is getting a little old. We miss you all and can't wait to be home. Hannah is going to have so much fun meeting all of you. She is a little social butterfly.

Love to you all!!

Friday, Oct 24

2008-10-24T05:25:00.001-07:00

Hannah is a such a little blessing. She is doing so well, it is like she has always been ours. Yesterday afternoon, the orphanage director walked in handed Hannah to our guide and she turned and handed her to us. Hannah never cried once. She has snuggled and smiled from the very first minute. Last evening we came back to the hotel where she played and played and had a bath. At 7Pm she fell asleep( so we knew we would be up in the middle of the night). At midnight she did wake, ate a banana and went back to sleep until 6 am. This morning we went to finish the paperwork to get her passport and to make her a Coil. Once we were done, it was time for a nap (for all of us). At 130, the maid came and wanted to clean our room. We woke Hannah up and this is one thing that does not make her happy. We won't do that again. However, a little temptation with food and she was happy again. This kid loves to eat!. We then went for a walk around town and found a little park. We were the center of attraction, so we didn't stay too long. No one is ever mean, it just gets tiresome having everyone watching you. We feel like we should be performing at times. We did find a McDonalds, so I think after our tour tomorrow morning, we might have some Micky D for lunch. Again tonight, Hannah has played and played. She is silly and a little wild. She will love playing with you Noah and Caleb. She has taken to both mommy and daddy. She likes to be silly with daddy, but wants mommy to hold and carry her; perfect don't you think? We also found out that her cleft palate has also been through the first stage of repair. She shouldn't need any more surgeries for some time. They did a really good job, as far as I can tell.

This journey to Hannah sure has been a journey with God. There were so many times that I just wanted to give up and wondered why God wasn't answering our request for a daughter sooner, but now here she is. She is such a sweet gift and worth the wait. He has taken care of all the details. You don't know what a gift it is that she is adjusting so well. I know things may still change once we are home, but for right now; this happy child is making this trip much easier.

My prayer request tonight is for Noah and Caleb. Caleb made the state team for cross country and will be traveling Friday night to southern Ga with the team on the school bus. Noah is traveling with some friends of ours to go watch Caleb and their daughter Mallory. Please pray that their travels are safe. Caleb, we will be cheering you on. We love you! Noah, thank you for being a good big brother and supporting Caleb. We love you, too! We are praying for you everyday.

Thank you to all of you for following our journey everyday. I love reading your comments and emails. They keep me feeling close to home. Love to all of you!!

Gotcha Day!!!!

2008-10-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Shanxi Province at about 10 am. At 2:30 we left to go me our baby girl. She is doing wonderful. No crying, just all smiles. We are off to finalize paperwork, so I will write more later. Just wanted to share a couple picture.

Tuesday, Oct 21

2008-10-21T02:19:00.000-07:00

Only 2 more days until we meet Hannah!! 4 families left today to meet their children and tomorrow the other 3 will leave. Brian and I will be the all alone tomorrow. Our guide (Joy) will stay here with us, though. I am sad that we have to wait longer, however; as busy as they have kept us, it will be very nice to have a nice quiet day alone. That way, we can be well rested and ready to meet our daughter on Thursday afternoon. Then on the 29Th all of the families will meet up again. It will be so exciting to see all of the kids.

Today was probably my favorite site seeing day. We visited the Summer Palace and it was just a beautiful place. Pictures will never do it justice. It is hard to believe that all of these palaces were created for just 1 ruler. The Forbidden City was his main home, but he lived in the Summer Palace during the hot months of the year. The lake kept the area cooler. I definitely could have lived there. The first picture is us in front of the palace. There is also pictures of the phoenix and dragon, a shot from the palace looking down on the rest of the Summer Palace garden and a picture showing how the ceilings are painted. The detail on these buildings is amazing.

Since tomorrow is just a quiet day, I will not post tomorrow. The next time I write, we will have our daughter. Can you believe that this day has finally arrived? There were time I never thought that we would make it this far. I sure have learned to trust in God's timing for our lives during this journey. I know all the days ahead may not be easy, but I do know that God has blessed us. First with two beautiful boys, who are the light of our lives and now a daughter to complete our family. I cannot wait to introduce her to you.

All of our love,

Brian and Tonya

Monday, Oct 20

2008-10-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

Congress Hall at Tiananmen Square

Entrance to the Forbidden City

Split pants

Only 3 more days to Hannah. At this point, we are really ready to meet her. It has been nice to see Beijing, but we are done site seeing. Today we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and took a tour of Hutong (an old China city). All together we walked for 4 hours. Between not eating much and walking all day long, we have found a great weight lose system. I could give you a great history lesson on all that we saw today, but I won't. I will just just share a few photos with you.

We are finally sleeping a little better (we made it to 6am this morning), and once again are very ready for bed tonight. Four of our families are leaving tomarrow to go get their children, then 3 more leave on Wed. Since we have all day Wed by ourselves, we think we are going to treat ourselves to the spa. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. We can't belive we still have 12 days to go home before coming home, we are already very home sick. We love you all!!

PICTURES

2008-10-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

The Bird's Nest

Our Hotel
The Great Wall
At the Cloisonne Factory
Working on the pottery
Still not finished

More of the Wall

Brian on the Wall

Sunday, Oct 19

2008-10-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

Ni Hao!! (Hello) from China! Only 4 more days until we meet our little girl. In the mean time, they sure have been keeping us busy. Saturday we met 6 of the 8 families we are traveling with, 2 of them chose not to tour Beijing. They all are really neat families and we all have made fast friends. Usually when adopting from China, you expect to adopt a girl. However, our group only has 3 girls out of the 6 and all three of them will be named Hannah. We have several families who are becoming first time parents and several who adding to their families. One of the families has 3 grown and married children and 3 grandchildren. They adopted a Chinese girl 3 years ago and are here to take home a little boy this time. After our orientation, we had several hours just to walk around the city. Beijing is huge with millions of people living here. It is crowded everywhere you go. On the streets there are no rules. Cars and bikes travel the same roads, with just about equal numbers of each and pedestians do not have the right of way. On one block you have beautiful high rise buildings and on the next block, very poor apartment buildings standing one right after the other. There are very few single family homes. During our exploration, we found a pizza hut and had lunch there. It tasted very similair to home. It was nice to find this pizza hut, because the smells on the street will nauseate you and make the chinese restaraunts very unappealing. In the evening we all came together again and attended an acrobatic show. The show was unbelievable. The performers appeared to be teenagers and young adults. They say these kids have been trained since they were 2-3 years old. I believe it because the tricks they performed were beyond belief. After returning to the hotel, Brian and I ventured out to find a McDonalds. As see, we have been very adventurous with our meals. At this point we were exhausted and could not wait to get into bed. Our bed is less than comfortable, it is so hard it is like laying on a board, but we are so tired we sleep very well until 3-4 am; then we are wide awake. Most of the families are finding this true as well. As soon as we get use to this time change, it will be time to come home and we will be all messed up again.

Today, we met in the lobby to travel to the Great Wall. We took many, many pictures here. It was very beautiful , but it was hard to believe we were really there. This is something you only see in the history books. Today being Sunday, it was very crowded and got a little scarry at times, being pushed around in the crowds. In the city the Chinese are use to seeing Americans, but at the great wall, many of these people are from the country. Needless to say, we were also an attraction. At one time, this Chinese woman came up to me and grabbed my arm. I was a litlle alarmed at first , but all she wanted was to take a picture with me. She put her arm thru my arm and smiled really big. The woman in our group experienced another first at the Great Wall. We needed to use the restroom and soon discovered they were not Americanized toilets. Yes, we had to try out the squatty potties. Let me tell you, this was an experience. We did know if we needed to face forwards or backwards and were a little nervous that our clothing was situated correctly, but we all came out a okay! After the Great Wall, we were off to the Cloisonne Factory. Again, another unbelieveable place. This is a government owed factory that makes pottery out of copper. There are 32 steps that each piece goes thru to become a finished product. These are very expensive pieces that are made for Royalty and not sold to the public. The do have a store for foreign tourist (pieces that have small blemishes). The woman could have shopped all day and I think the men enjoyed it too. Next we were off to visit the Olympic village. We did not get out of our bus, but took pictures. It's just kinda neat to say we've been there. Finally, we came back to our hotel and ventured out around the corner to an open air market. I di dnot take my camera here, but sure wish I would have. There was a booth for everything imaginable here. We did find some very neat and unique items, but the best part was bartering for a price. Brian really got into this part of the shopping. Finally we are back in our room(doing a little laundry in the sink) and preparing for bed and another full day tomarrow. We are enjoying our journey very much, but miss our boys alot. I can honestly say that is the hardest part of this trip. We love you Noah and Caleb!!

We ARE IN CHINA

2008-10-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! Where have the past 30 hours gone? We left home at 4am on Thursday and it is now 930pm in Beijing and we have had no sleep! We are ready for bed!! In fact, Brian is asleep.

The trip here went very well, just very long. I still can't even believe we are here. Looking outside our Days Inn Hotel, it feels like being in downtown Atlanta (except you can't read the bill boards). Tomarrow we will have our orientation and then begin exploring Beijing. I can't wait to share this wonderful and crazy journey with all of you!!

Love to you all and goodnight!

Please Pray

2008-10-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it........ two weeks from today we will be boarding a plane for China. We are two weeks from having our baby girl in our arms, but tonight, two weeks is not soon enough.

We received a phone call tonight telling us that Hannah had been in an accident. She had some industrial glue spilled on her arm. Then, in a panic, they tried to pill it off. They had to take her to the hospital and don't have any more information for us. Please, please pray that they are giving her antibiotics and that she will not develope an infection in her little arm. I am so scared right now and just wish I could hold her in my arms and help her not to hurt.

Tonya

We Have our Travel Announcement!!!!

2008-09-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day!!! Around 5PM today, we received the call that we finally have our travel dates. We are expected in China on 10/17, Gotcha Day will be a few days later (10/22?), final paper work on 10/31 and travel home on 11/01, which is her 2nd birthday. We are so excited.

I have to tell you that I had a very bad weekend. I was just so over the waiting and was mad at God, Brian and anyone else who crossed my path those few days. I was just no fun to be around. Finally on Sunday evening, I started to calm down and actually began to hear God speak. He reminded me of our verse Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. He has had a plan all along and I have to learn to not just believe that only in the good days, but also during the difficult days. I started to have a peace come over me and have been in a much better mood since then. Today, when we got the call, I was thrilled to be hearing those travel dates; but was more excited to realize that God does hear our smallest request. Since our referral, my prayer was to have her home for her birthday. Well, God answered but all the while reminding us that He is in control, because we arrive home "ON" her birthday. I cannot wait to get off that plane and have her big brothers, grandparents, family and friends wish her a welcome home and a happy birthday. What a joyous day that will be. God is good!!!

Love to you all!!!

Waiting ( not so ) Patiently

2008-08-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

It has been 3 weeks now since we received our LOA. Now we continue our study in patience and wait on our TA ( travel announcement). We have heard that some families with LOA's around our same time are beginning to receive their TA's. We are still very hopefull that we will travel the beginning of Oct. We all are ready to have her home.

2008-08-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

The last week has been very exciting. First, on July 29, we found out that we got our LOA. What exactly is a LOA? I still am not sure what the significance of the LOA is; however, it is a letter that comes from China. The letter states that we do in fact want to adopt Dang Yi Lin. We sign the letter and return it to China. It only took us 35 days to get our LOA. We have heard that some have had to wait 75 or more days for their LOA. After the LOA comes the travel invitation. We have been told that that could come as quickly as 2 weeks. We pray this is true. We never know what kind of impact the Olympics will have on all of this paper work. We are very hopefull that we will get to travel in early Oct.

The second exciting event, was getting new pictures of Hannah. The pictures let us know that she did receieve our care package. They cut her little pig tails off, but we still think she is adorable. In fact, she looks like a baby now. I get more amd more anxious to hold her everytime I see a new picture.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Tonya

1 Month

2008-07-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today has been one month since we found out that Hannah was ours. In many ways, I can't believe that it has already been a month, but I also think, "it's only been a month?". China sent our agency an update today. No new pictures, but they did verify that she is still in foster care and doing very well. She is no longer on a bottle and knows how to eat with a spoon on her own. We have heard many reports from other adoptive families, that their 2 year old children were still only taking a bottle. So, developmentally it sounds like her foster family is taking very good care of her and that she is right on target for her age.

It is getting harder and harder to wait for her. Hopefully we will have some travel information coming very soon. Thank you again for all of your prayers .

Tonya

Care Package

2008-07-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

We haven't receieved any new news this week, but we did send a care package to her. It will probably be several weeks before it reaches her, but we hope that once it does reach her, we will get some new pictures. The package had some little outfits, a bear and photo album for Hannah; as well as some USA treats for her caregivers. We are anxious for her to see our pictures and hopefully become familiar with her mommy, daddy and big brothers.

Big Girl

2008-07-13T15:44:00.001-07:00

This week we received an update on our little butterfly. She is now 20 months old ,weighs24lbs and is 30 in tall. She looks like such a big girl. I think I have compared her to every 1 1/2 year old that walked into the office this week. She really is a tiny little thing.
Since we thought we were getting a baby, we had a closet full of little baby clothes. So,mom and I had a good time shopping for her yesterday. We just can't wait to have her home.

Hannah's Room

2008-07-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a few pictures of Hannah's room. Sarah (my sister-in-law) paited the mural. She did a beautiful job.

Here is our Little Butterfly!!

2008-07-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

Pictures

2008-07-05T17:41:00.000-07:00

Last night, Brian, the boys and myself came home from a fun filled July 4th. I decided to check my e-mail one last time and found a wonderful surprise. We had updated pictures of our baby girl. Thru several friends who have adopted, we were directed to yahoo groups specific to where Hannah is. These yahoo groups were then able to direct me to a group in China that helps supply medical care to special needs children. Hannah is one of their babies!They sent us 13 pictures. We are so excited.

June 26,2008 It's Official!

2008-06-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today we met with our social worker to officially say we want to adopt Dang Yilin. UGH!!!, more paperwork! They believe we may get to travel as soon as early Oct. We sure would like to have her home before her 2nd birthday. I can't wait to hold her in my arms. Noah and Caleb called from camp to check on lonely mom and dad at home, and were thrilled to find out they have a baby sister. In Noah's words, "That's awesome!". It's been a long wait for them too.

June 24,2008 It's A Girl!!

2008-06-29T17:45:00.000-07:00

At approximately 1pm today, we receieved the call we have been waiting 27 months for. WE HAVE A MATCH!! Dang Yilin DOB 11/01/2006 is ours. She is a June COP with a repaired CHD and an unrepaired cleft lip/palate . Mommy and daddy think she is beautiful. Big brothers are at church camp. We can't wait to tell them.