False Alarrm

I am not really sure what to say right now - my heart is very heavy. As most of you know, we have been anxiously waiting to hear news on our special needs referral. I received a call yesterday from our agency regarding a little girl. I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw their number on my caller I.D. They carefully set my expectations at the onset of the call. The child they were calling about had special needs that were outside of what we had listed on our special needs checklist. After listening to all of the information and spending some time talking as a family, we realized that this was not the right child for us. It broke my heart to say no.

Please pray that God brings our little girl to us very soon.

Thanks!

Got You Celebration

Guess who she has wrapped around her little finger????

Our "Got You" celebration, as Tessa calls it was wonderful. She got dressed up in one of her prettiest dresses and went to dinner with her momma and daddy. She charmed everyone in the room while we waited for our table at Olive Garden.

I asked her what a Gotcha Day meant, she said that was when she "got me". And boy did she have that one right. I was smitten with that beautiful little face from the moment I first laid eyes on her.

After dinner we ventured to Toys R Us for a little shopping. Tessa chose a new baby doll that came with its own doctor kit. She said that this would help her practice for when she is a doctor some day. Wow - I had better get busy with that college fund NOW!!!

She also helped to pick out some Lego's for her brothers. Even tough it was her celebration, she wanted to share with them. Taylor settled for money :)

Till later...

Gotcha Day and DTC

Wow - what mother could ask for more??? March 13, 2006 I was blessed to meet my daughter Tessa in Nanning, Guangxi China. The picture above was taken just hours after she was placed in our arms. Poor baby had cried herself to sleep. To look back now and realize how far we have come is amazing. It is hard to remember my life without her. I love you baby!!!!

My other excitement is that we will be Dossier To China within the next few days. After 8 months of paperchasing, we have finally reached this milestone. I cannot even describe the relief I feel right now. Just one more step closer to our baby.

Till later...

Let's Talk About the Fundraiser

I want to take a moment to talk about our fundraiser. Yes, I would love your support. And in case you were wondering, you can visit our fundraising site by clicking on the logo. You could also help us out by posting the link on your blog. We are really hoping this will be a strong fund raising effort for our adoption.

But more than talking about the mechanics of the fundraiser, I want to talk about the blessings. Ya' see, we are just this ordinary family from the Midwest. We aren't famous people - just children of God who have been blessed with a house full of kids - and loving every minute of it. But the amazing part about this fund raiser has been the people that God has allowed to bless our family. Here's some examples - my husband called one of our local radio stations and told them about the raffle - within a day we had received a call from Ruth's Chris steakhouse with a donation. Here's the real cool part, they don't even know us, but were led to give. WOW !! Another example - I sent an email to the contemporary Christian group, Casting Crowns. Within just a few days, we received an email from them, offering to help. O.K. and one more - I sent a message to Kurt Warner's foundation - the same day I got a call from them offering to help. Did I mention that these people do not even know us - but they have chosen to come along side of us in this effort. Each donation we have received has a story just like this. People who care enough to see a little girl come home. I feel so humbled that God is allowing me to be a part of this. He has an amazing plan - I just can't wait to see it all unfold.

Till later...

Lifeline for a Lifetime

The title of this post was borrowed from a fellow adoptive parent (thanks Jerry). What does it mean? Well, it means that after a lot of prayer we have decided to pursue our adoption with Lifeline Children's Service. They were the agency that we had the privilege to work with for Tessa' adoption. The staff at Lifeline are like an extension of our family. We thank God for their commitment to the families and children that they help to unite.

As a status update, our documents are being authenticated this week by the Chinese consulate and then our dossier will be off to China. We hope to be matched when the next list of waiting children is released by the CCAA. As I am learning every day - this process is totally out of my control and God has a plan.

Till later...

New Pictures

I realized that I had not posted new pictures of my beautiful family in quite some time. We needed some updated photos for the adoption dossier, so without further delay - here they are...