Baby Sissy Is Napping!

On the other side of the planet, my dear sweet daughter is taking a nap. How amazing is it that we have the privilege of knowing what she is doing!

This morning she went to the park and walked hand in hand with a very special person. Words cannot express how touched we are with this kindness.

Sleep tight sweet Piper. I hope that I dream of you tonight...

Thankful Thursday

I thought that I could make it a day without a post, but I simply cannot. Today was a slow and sad day for us as it marked the 11 month anniversary of the day that my mom died. As a way to relax and to give myself a break to reflect, I headed to our local spa which was a longtime favorite of my mom's. I left work early to have extra time in the calming room, something my mom and I used to love to do. I settled in, but it just wasn't as relaxing as I thought. So instead, I flipped through a magazine and looked at pictures of Baby Sissy. I am fortunate that I do not have to wonder what my mom would have thought of Baby Sissy -- I know that she would have completely loved her! So, on this day, these are just a peek at the reasons why I am thankful.....The photo above and below were taken into chemo treatments, but when she was still feeling somewhat ok (not so much above, but better below)...

This was after her last MRI that gave us the terrible news that chemo was no longer working...

And for a little pick me up from my sad photo journey, check out the cutie on the left...

His Amazing Grace

In just 24 short hours, the following has happened:

1) I have received countless emails from wonderful people congratulating us on our new daughter and with tips about toddler adoption and strabismus;

2) I have received an email of a woman who has met our daughter and will be emailing with her thoughts and hopefully pictures - can you believe this;

3) I have received 3 new pictures of BS from a sister of one of her friends at PHH - one of which may be the youngest picture I have of her - I will be enternally grateful for the time that Emily took to share these special photos with me; and

4) I have been linked to a blog of a young lady at PHH who was there last year whom I just emailed to see if she had any information; and

5) I have fallen more in love with a picture of a little girl on the other side of the world who, in all reality, is a complete stranger.

Some may think the above items are just good luck. I think it is something more...

Thank you.

This is one of the photos that Emily sent me. Baby Sissy, whose name will hopefully soon be finalized, is in the pink. Isn't she dreamy?

The Newest Love of Our Lives --Baby Sissy!

This is Baby Sissy. Can you believe how beautiful she is? We are completely in love....and are thrilled to yell from the rooftops that we received PA this afternoon for Baby Sissy a.k.a Fu Qiu Han.

This is Baby Sissy getting her hair cut at the Philip Hayden House. When we received our referral, we found out that Baby Sissy was at the Philip Hayden House. We found pictures of her on their website and in the newsletters. She was known as "Jasmine" there if anyone has been there in the past year. We were thrilled. (I told myself I would ration the pictures, but I can't stand it so most of them are in this post).

Then, PHH emailed us that the orphanage had taken her back. It was heartbreaking for us. Fortunately, the heartbreak was short lived because on Friday we found out that she is actually in Eagles Wings III for the past 6 weeks! Once again, we are overjoyed. I can certainly attest that my hundreds of prayers were listened to.

Fu Qiu Han is a little older than we expected and has a "need" that was not one on our list, but she is more perfect in more ways than we could have ever imagined. Thank goodness that a number and a checklist was not strictly followed or we would never have found her.

Our little one turned 2 in July and we are hoping and praying to have her home for Christmas. I really would love Thanksgiving - ok, if I am being honest Halloween, but I hate to be too greedy :)

Each day we fall more and more in love with this little one. We want to be the best prepared for her and her needs for joining our family so if anyone has any recommendations we would love to hear them.

Also for anyone that may have information on her condition, she has strabismus in her left eye. This is a fancy word for the fact that she has a crossed eye. Cosmetic correction is a possibility, but vision correction may be more difficult to achieve 100%. We certainly want to do whatever we can for her, but to be honest, we think she is perfect as-is!

I Am In Labor.....

Ladies... the time has come.

I am working on a very special post right now.

I cannot wait to share it with you!