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!

Secrets....

I have never been good at keeping secrets. Can everyone say a little prayer for China to speed up because I am getting antsy?

Bows for Baby Sissy

My wonderful Secret Pal led me to an incredible bow lady. Well...I visited and I conquered! Turns out the bow lady was having a sample sale and the prices were irresistible. I wanted to keep it under $20 with shipping so take a what I got. I love them all, but I really think that the giraffe one is my favorite. It reminds me of Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom - two of the Minnie Mr's (and his Nanni's) favorite places on earth. I am really crossing my fingers and trying to save my pennies to go to Hong Kong Disney when we go get Baby Sissy!

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Baby Sissy Gets International Mail!

The Little Mrs. sent Baby Sissy the most wonderful fabric for her quilt. I love love love love it! Take a good look at the fabric. Do you see all of the beutiful kids that all look different? There is even a little Asian beauty! I absolutely love it and cannot imagine a more perfect fabric. Who would have thought that The Little Mrs. would have been able to find such a wonderful fabric in tiny Tumbarumba. In fact, Miss Lisa said that it was the only girl themed fabric in the entire store in their town - a store that sounds wonderful and reminds me of the town that Mike and I used to live in only better!

My boys look exhaused and tired - in fact the big boy hasn't slept in about 30 hours - but they both wanted to pose for The Little Mrs.

Thank you so much Emma and Lisa (and Ethan and Mat) for the wonderful fabric, amazingly beautiful wish card, and for your friendship. We miss you and think about you guys every day. In fact, I have to post the last picture as a sweet walk down memory lane. I know I have posted it before, but it is one of my favorites!

Ok, and a few more because I just can't help myself!

Secret Pal, You Spoil Me!

My Secret Pal is the best. I mean really the best! Last week I received a surprise package from her filled with things I adore! I had just been admiring bibs of this style and really wanted to get one, but was on my spending prohibition so I withheld. Then, the next day one arrived and it had ladybugs on it! I love the hair bows and immediately visited the site to do some damage. The picture frame is adorable and going in my office and the book is up to Baby Sissy's room for the shelf. Thanks so much. I know that Baby Sissy will love the presents as much as I do.