We are in China!!!

**let me start by saying that there are probably numerous typos in this post, but just being able to get this out there while in China was a miracle so please bear with me on this one! I will try to correct once back in the states :) **

August 29th (Friday)
We made it! We have been in China a full 24 hours now. We still won't get to meet Lily for a couple of days, but we have been having a lot of fun sightseeing here in Beijing. We spent the morning at the Great Wall. It was really incredible hard to describe! We also met three other families that are traveling with us and also adopting through our agency. We have connected very easily with them and they really make the traveling a lot of fun.

I have taken a ton of pictures and will post a few in this blog post. I am just hoping that this all works. The Internet and especially blogging and Facebook is quite tricky here in China!

September 5th (Friday) 
Okay - so I wrote that and then lost internet connection and never got back to my blog - ha! Well, here we are in China on day 9 of what will be a 15 day long stay in China so we are just over the half way mark. We are now in Guangzhou which is a southern province of China. It's like the Florida of China and is just as hot and humid. We will stay here for the next 6 days. I am thankful to be able to stay in one place for a few days. All the packing and unpacking and running everywhere with all the babies has been hard on our group at times.

So many amazing things that happened in the last 8 to 9 days I'd like to recap for you. Please bear with me when I try to remember all of the things that have happened:

We got up Friday morning and visit the Great Wall as I spoke about above. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that we got to do it! On the same day we also visited the jade factory and got a tour and education on how jade is refined and made into various objects and jewelry. We then
did some shopping there which I loved! On Saturday, August 30 we visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden city and then we went to cloisonné factory and the silk factory for an education and some more shopping. On both days we had great family-style traditional Chinese dining with our group which was a ton of fun.

On Sunday, August 31 we got up early and headed for the airport. We flew to Nanjing..... This is the capital city of Jiangsu province which is where we would be meeting our children the next day.
After arriving in checking into our hotel our guide took us across the street to an authentic Chinese vegetable market.
It was crazy! Here we are and a very upper middle-class area ....beautiful hotel beautiful shopping mall, nice cars, etc..... across the street and in a back alley type setting is a vegetable market that has everything from veggies to live frogs, snakes, eels, chickens - you name it! We saw some crazy stuff and I am so glad we got to see that, but once is enough ;)
Later that evening sleep decided to shop in the mall that connected to our hotel and we had dinner in the mall at Papa John's. I don't care for Papa John's in the states but it was actually really good in
China and was like a taste of home.

On Monday it was Gotcha Day! Lily's orphanage is located in Xuzhou city which is also in this province and is why we had to fly to Nanjing to start with.  We were supposed to meet the kids at the adoption center, but there was a change of plans and the orphanage director decided to bring the children directly to us on Monday morning at our hotel. We were all so excited about that news. Not only did it mean that we didn't have to go to such a crowded and public place to meet the kids and
that we can stay in the comfort of our hotel but also that we would get them several hours earlier - yay!!

About an hour before the kids were supposed to arrive our small group began gathering in the lobby. We watched anxiously for the car to pull out that will be carrying our children. When the car did pull up it all seem to happen so quickly. I had barely realized that it was our babies being carried in before we were being handed "NaNa".  She cried pretty hard for the first five minutes after I got
her but she eventually calmed down nicely. She was very quite reserved and clearly sad for the rest of
the day, but we miraculously got some smiles and laughs just before bedtime that same day!
It was an emotional day full of ups and downs and mixed with a lot of questions for me and Derek. We knew Lily some medical struggles. We were fairly unprepared for exactly what that would look like. It's very difficult to see a child not be able to do very basic things that she should be doing at her age and not know exactly the cause. We were unsure at that point what she wasn't doing because of fear, because she didn't know how or because she was too weak to do so. Regardless we knew we would do whatever it takes to help her and just felt incredibly blessed to finally have her in our arms. We were definitely in love!

On Tuesday we all went down to the adoption center and completed all of our paperwork for the adoptions. It was a very exciting morning! At this point I was still the only one who could hold Lily, but she was now giving her dad and brother many many smiles and laughs with very little effort from them :)

We are learning more about Lily every day and she is amazing! I first have to say that she is filled with more joy than any child I have ever seen in my life. She laughs and smiles at everything and never complains about anything (other than being held by a stranger or left alone - both very understandable!). It is so encouraging to see her sweet spirit regardless of what she has been through in her short little life.

On Wednesday, September 3 we traveled by fast train to Xuzhou province to visit the babies finding
 spots and spend the night at the Gloria resort. The next morning we would be visiting their orphanage. The fast train was pretty neat. It was about an hour and a half ride from Nanjing to Xuzhou. Lily was so good on the train ride and really loved watching out the
 window at the scenery. Once we arrived in Xuzhou it was a crazy hectic drive to the Children's Hospital where Lily had been found just about a year earlier. Our guide was able to actually lead us inside the hospital and to the
exact stairwell well where Lily had been found.
The Children's Hospital was nothing like you would ever see in the United States. It was a very sad place. Lily's entire demeanor changed once we walked inside and when we went to the stairwell she definitely seemed to know where she was. It was very sad moment for us, but also seem to be therapeutic as she was ending one chapter of her life and starting the next with her family - US!!!
The next morning (Thursday, Sept. 4th) we went to visit her orphanage and get a tour. That was a very hard trip. We definitely wanted to see her nannies and to see were she had lived for the last year of her life but we also knew that this would possibly be very difficult for her to go back to. I had a lot of questions in my mind before going there. I was unsure if Lily would be excited to be back there and see her friends at nannies or if she would be sad and want to stay with us. Upon arriving at the orphanage they sent us to a reception room where they had set up snacks and waters for us where we were to sit and relax before tour. It was there that I got the answer to my question. Derek had been unable to hold Lily at all until that point without her crying. In that room she willingly went to him and let him hold her. I think she was telling us that she chose us. Just writing now makes me very emotional. Just the impact that that moment had was amazing.
We saw many things that day at the orphanage that I will never forget. I am just so happy that Lily was coming home with us and that that was another part of her life that was over and behind her.
Later that afternoon we headed to the train station again to ride back to Nanjing. Once back to our hotel we would get a quick rest to get up very early the next morning and catch a flight to Guangzhou for our medical appointments that needed to take place before the National "Mid-Fall Harvest"
holiday that starts Saturday, Sept. 6th.
Again even after the very stressful day Lily was an angel! She even showed us a more playful and excepting part of her as she began to play games with Tanner like hi5, clapping when he did
something silly and even waving to us :)

On Friday morning we all got up at about 5 AM and everybody dressed got our bags packed and got out the door to board our flight to Gaungzhou. As soon as we arrived we boarded a bus and drove straight to the medical center. Once there they drew blood for Lily's TB test.... We won't get the results for a few days so please pray for a negative result!
After the blood test she went to 3 other rooms for additional exams. One ENT doctor, a general doctor for her overall exam and a nurses station for vitals and height, weight and head circumference. She was crying, trembling and in a cold sweat throughout most of her examinations. It breaks our hearts to see her that way and I wish I knew what had happened to her to make her so afraid of nurses and doctors. She had had the same general reaction when we toured the hospital room inside her orphanage. :(

After leaving the medical center we traveled to our hotel, Victory Hotel, on Shaiman Island in Gaungzhou. It is a historic European designed hotel built in 1895. The building is beautiful and the island has many shops, parks and restaurants including the "famous" Lucy's in the adoption world which serves many western and American style dishes. After settling in and freshening up we decided to take a little walk around. We were starving and headed to Lucy's to eat. Derek and I ordered the steak, pork chop and lamb chop platter to share and it was amazing! Tanner had the sirloin steak. Lily had rice and chicken congee. We all shared onion rings, French fries and veggies. We left completely stuffed!

We also stopped in a Christian shop on the island that sells many crafts and adoption related items where all the proceeds are used to help support local orphans and orphanages. It was a great shop and I picked out many wonderful gifts for both my girls and other family members :)

The rest of this week we will spend our last few days here in China and they will be filled with sightseeing and visa appointments, etc. while we prepare our kids to leave their home country. I am so excited and ready to go home, but the real loss that will also mean for Liliana is not lost on me. Though she may not realize yet, she will be starting all over again in just a few short days.

Over the last five days we have seen so many things change with Lily. She will now stand on her own and sit and play with toys and crawl over to what she wants to play with. She still makes almost know sounds other than to cry or laugh. Sometimes though when she is falling asleep she will mumble and make noises. She could be saying something, but with our very limited Mandarin it's hard to know.
Regardless of what physical struggles she may be having due to her circumstances or possible health challenges right now we know that she is just going to keep getting stronger. She is smart, sweet and full of joy! We are so thankful for the amazing little person that she is and can't wait to see how she continues to grow and blossom right before all of our eyes. She truly is a miracle and we are so blessed to call her our daughter :)

I will try to update my blog as I can while I am here. It is easier for me to remember things as they happen but so hard to get the time and a decent internet connection to update!
I will make sure that once I am back in the states I do an updated travel packing and tips blog for other families that are checking out this blog and may be traveling to China soon to get their son or daughter.

Thank you all for continuing to follow our story and for the many prayers and words of encouragement.
Love,
Jessy (and family)

Leaving on a jet plane....AND more photos!

I have to start out this post with some of the beautiful pictures we just received of Lily at the end of last week! (they are letting her hair grow out after having kept it nearly shaved for months! :)

I just can't believe we are almost there and will soon be holding this precious little girl - we will be a family!

Well, it has come to this....my last post before I head out to board a plane that will take us half way around the world to meet our daughter in China.  And it's now less than 24 hrs away!!  It is surreal to say the least. This journey has certainly had it's ups and downs and major life changes all throughout the process and now we are just hours away from the ultimate end goal of this process...traveling to China and bringing home our little girl. When we leave here tomorrow morning things will never be the same in this house again.

I have spent much of the last week preparing to leave, of course, and also preparing my kids for school. We have been so incredibly busy that I don't think I have had a lot of time to think about being away from the 3 youngest kiddos for more than 2 weeks. I have only ever left them for a long weekend and by the end of that I was so ready to get back home to them!  I know it will give us the much needed time to bond with Lily and just spend getting to know her and letting her get to know us.  I am sure we will make great use of FaceTime and Skype while we are in China! 

This past Friday we also received our TA (invitation to travel from China) hard copy that we will take with us to China to get our girl. It was a cool moment for us....

In addition to receiving our TA, packing for the trip, preparing the house and the 3 kiddos we will leave behind, we have also spent much time in prayer as we prepare our hearts for this final part of the journey to Liliana.  For us it is the critical part of this journey without a doubt. This was God's calling on our lives and without constant seeking of His guidance through this process we could easily get off track and make this entire process harder than it needs to be - for all of us!
That is why this Sunday at our church meant so much to us - our pastor called us up in front of the congregation during service so that the church could pray over us and Lily for the journey ahead.  It was such an emotional morning in general and I definitely had a little bit of sadness as I knew this was the last Sunday I would worship with this family for a few weeks. Feeling their love and prayers so strongly was the PERFECT send off and food for my spirit!

Well, I guess that about wraps it up.  My head is swimming with so many thoughts and my heart with so many emotions right now that is is super hard to concentrate on anything.

Please keep us in your prayers and check back here over the next 2 weeks as I hope to continue updating this blog while we are away.

Our count down is about to be complete!!!

Love,
Derek and Jessica

Travel dates, updated pics and packing for Lily!

As many already know we received our travel dates last week!  We leave for China on August 27, 2014...I can hardly even believe it is really almost time to meet our daughter :)

This last week has really been a whirlwind of activity around here as you might imagine.  We have been doing lots of planning and preparing to leave behind 3 of our kiddos for 2 weeks. As well as, preparing the cat care, the dog care and preparing for school to start the day before we leave...Whew!
It has been exciting to pack up Lily's suitcase - which is by the way the ONLY one I have yet to even start packing.  Just to put the clothing in there that she will be wearing with us in about 2 weeks is so fun.  I am sure that I have over packed, but it is so difficult to know what to take since I am not 100% sure what size she is. I have packed 12 month sizes to a size 2t. Hopefully something in there will fit! I plan to give the orphanage whatever clothes won't work for her when we go to visit there a couple of days after getting her. I am both excited and sad about seeing the place she called home this past year of her young life.

For other traveling families' references I have taken pictures and will list them below of what I packed for the trip to China to get our toddler. I have been compiling lists on Pinterest and other sources to make sure I am covering everything that I will need.

 I packed 2 pairs of close toed shoes for Lily. One is a a slip one style soft sole shoe and the other pair is a standard pair of Stride Rite gym shoes. I also packed a plastic bib that easily wipes off, some stacking cups for playing with in the bathtub and in the hotel room, a book to read that I had personalized with Lily's name and a 2nd copy of the photo album I made and sent to her at the orphanage. I also brought 2 little stuffed animals - a pink poodle that looks like our dog and a panda bear that the boys got for her. And 2 dolls - one is a cute little doll she was given at the adoption shower and the other is a doll I purchased 3 years ago. That doll's name is "Ling" and she speaks several Mandarin Chinese/English phrases - she is just so cute. It is apparently now a collector's item since it is no longer made and cost at least 3 times what I paid for it...man, I am glad I bought Ling way back in the beginning! :) Also pictured here is a ladybug sippy cup, some Honest Company "Healing Balm" and a t-shirt I had made for her with a ladybug and her name embroidered on the front.  

In this picture I have some diapers for her (I am taking about a dozen and will buy more there if I need them), about half a dozen pull-ups, a small backpack that I had her name embroidered on and a water purifier/filter for use in our hotel rooms, etc.  I didn't actually mean to put the medication in the picture. I will talk about those in another post!

Clothing: I packed 5 sundresses with matching "bloomers", 2 rompers, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt/shirt/cardigan outfit, 1 additional cardi to match the other outfits, 3 footed zip up sleepers and about 10 flower headbands. I also threw a pair of sandals in that match most of her outfits in case I end up being able to put her in those. 

I also packed other things later on that are not pictured and they are:

-Swim diapers

- 2 bathing suits

- baby wipes

- a blanket

- goldfish crackers

- toddler "puffs"

- raisins

 And finally for the flight home and her first step onto American soil I am bringing a couple of patriotic outfits! I have them in two different sizes since I wasn't sure what would work best for her. :)

I will be sure to document all the other things that I am taking on this trip in later posts (like when I finally get around to packing the other bags!).  I found these types of lists and blogs such a help to me in preparing to travel to get Lily and I really want to help others, as well.

Okay, and finally I received today from our guide, Zhou, new pics of Lily from this weekend!  She isn't smiling, but I know we will change that soon! :)

It's lunch time....Lily is sitting closest to the camera. 

Lily and another little friend playing. 

We found out that we are traveling with 3 other families total. 1 family will be breaking off from the group when we head out to get our babies as their child is in another province and another orphanage. The rest of us all have babied waiting for us at Lily's orphanage so we will be traveling together the entire 2 weeks. One of them will even be on our flight leaving from Chicago and flying into Beijing so we will truly be with them our entire trip :) 

(Gabby kissing the picture of her baby sister!)

Well, the countdown is definitely on and we are 8 days away from leaving to get our baby girl!

Love,

Jess

We have our TA!!!

We have been waiting almost 5 loooooong weeks now for our TA (travel approval) so we can finally go get our daughter. I feel like I have been dying a very slow death over these last few weeks (seriously!). In a move of desperation I decided to call my agency and speak with my rep so I could just get it off my chest more less. As soon as she got on the phone I basically started crying to her that I didn't know how much longer I could do this (Of course I can do this as long as I need to, but she "gets" it!!) and that I just needed her to talk me off the ledge so to speak.
After I got done whining to her she calmly said that she was actually getting ready to call me and tell me that she had some news: "We got word that your TA has been approved"! I could hardly believe my ears!

My agencies on staff Chinese director had actually made a call the night before to the CCCWA (China's children's welfare authority) to inquire about our TA.  Knowing we were coming up on the longest wait time they really ever see they feared maybe something could have gone wrong and wanted to be sure they had record of our file. Apparently they had actually approved our TA already but for whatever reason the paperwork had not yet been mailed out to our agency (really?! UGH!!!).  They told Zhou that it would be mailed this week (please let that mean tomorrow!!!).

So we don't actually have a TA physically in our possession, but we are approved and we WILL be moving forward very very soon :)

Next steps? Well, once we have the physical TA our agency will call the US Embassy in China and set up Lily's visa appointment so that she can come home with us to the US. Since after the adoption is complete in China she will no longer have Chinese citizenship and she will be an American citizen she will have to also get her visa in order to get back to her new home with us in America.
We don't have any way of knowing what appointments they have available or when they will be able to get us in, but our agency says they will be asking for the next available appointment.  As soon as we get that information (we are praying that will be by early next week) we will know exactly when we are leaving for China and begin booking our trip!

Please continue to pray with us that Liliana stays well and we are able to get to her quickly.  My heart just breaks to think about each night she continues to spend there without her mom and dad. This past Saturday, August 2nd, marked the first full year that she has spent in the orphanage. How amazing and merciful to know it will be her first and last - I wish there was some way to help her understand she has a home and family and they will be coming for her within weeks!

This journey has been incredibly difficult and taxing in many physical, mental, emotional and monetary ways. Of course, it is worth every single thing we "endure" to get to Lily and we will soon see the full fruits of this. Whatever God has called us to do He will bless. I pray that I can continue to lean into him and not keep trying to take back control of this process. It makes it so much easier and better in the end - hard thing to do for a "type A" personality that just needs to make sure everything works out the way it's supposed to - ha!

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS."For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  ~Matthew 29-30

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts." ~Isaiah 55:8-9

Both of the above scriptures were from our sermon at Rivertree Church this past Sunday. They couldn't have been more timely for us and we really felt like God was speaking directly to us. Praise the Lord for His living word!!!

With love, 
Jessica (and family) 

Two little girls....sisters

Still waiting on our TA.....I can hardly believe I am even typing that. It hurts to the core to watch each day slip away and feel no closer to getting to our daughter. It has felt like nearly every turn since getting her referral has taken longer than expected and often hits snags that even surprise our agency.  I don't understand why this is happening, but I do trust that God is in control  I am trying so hard to remind myself constantly of this. As each day passes it does get harder and harder. I just want to get to my little girl so badly and patience has never been a virtue of mine.....perhaps God wants me to work on that?!

In addition to the TA from China we have been waiting on our update finger print receipt to arrive and our visas for travel. We were so excited to receive our visas via FedEx on Wednesday!  With all the craziness going on with the State Department issuing visas we were unsure if it would hold up the issuance of ours for any reason.  Our friends were in China picking up their two little boys when this break down happened and they had been stranded unable to come back home for several extra days. Praise God they did make it back safely with their boys and to their 4 other waiting little ones :)

I am praying that my next entry will be one to tell you that we have a TA and announcing our departure date, God willing!

I do have a short story that I really do want to share with you all though and to have it written down for the future.
The story starts back in the year 2000. We were fairly new to our church (then called the Milford Vineyard - now Rivertree). Derek and I had been married about 4 years and had recently lost his father, Gene. That loss had prompted us to try to get started on a family of our own, but months were going by and I was still not getting pregnant.  We had gone up front of our church for prayer and our pastor (Steve Caperton) prayed for us and for our ability to start a family. He told us that while he was praying over us God gave him a distinct scene of two little girls playing together. They were toddler aged girls. Of course, Derek and I were excited and thought that he might have even been seeing twins in our near future!
About a month or two later we did become pregnant and in Oct. 2001 we had our first - a healthy baby BOY! We were thrilled, but had not forgotten about the vision the Lord had given to Pastor Steve. A couple of years later we had another boy and then 3 years after that we were pregnant again. On my third pregnancy during the first time they listened to the baby's heartbeat they thought they perhaps they were hearing two! They made me an appointment to go to another location later that day to get an ultrasound and see if there were indeed two babies. My mind raced and I recalled how 9 years earlier Pastor Steve had been given a vision of two little girls playing.  I thought this must be it and I am now pregnant with our twin girls!  I wasn't sure how I felt about that since I was already nervous about adding just a 3rd child and I kept thinking how difficult it would be to carry twins - even my single pregnancies had not been easy on me.
Well, the ultrasound showed one baby - no twins. Months later we would find out that this baby was also a boy. After the birth of this baby it was apparent that I would not be bearing any more children biologically and I did often think about the vision that Pastor Steve had shared with us that day many years before. I tried to make sense of the vision or word he got for us so many times. I thought he must have misinterpreted or maybe God was telling me that I wold have girls for grandchildren way down the road. That is the thing though you just can't try to make sense of what God is doing in your life. Our brains just can't begin to imagine the path he has laid out before us and it rarely "makes sense".  God goes beyond all that we could orchestrate or imagine on our own....thank goodness!

Fast forward to 2011 and Derek and I begin the process to adopt a little girl from China. We had only ever thought of adopting one child so this being a way that we would ever see two little girls in our family never crossed our minds.  During that process we are interrupted (a Divine intervention I would say! :) and were blessed with our first daughter, Gabrielle Elaina born in February of 2012.

Now nearly 2 and a half years later we will be bringing our second little girl home in just weeks and she is nearly the same age as our first girl!  Why did our pastor see 2 little girls (toddlers) that day when God gave him a vision for us?  How could any of us possibly have understood that 14 years later that vision would become a reality?  We couldn't have! There is no way that our human mind could have dreamed up such a perfect path. I dreamed of it one way and God new better. He had a plan for two little girls that were yet not even a twinkle in their birth mother's eyes so many years ago. He knew the plan he had for their lives. A plan to prosper them and not to harm them, a plan to give them a hope and a future - says Jeremiah 29 verse 11. In his infinite wisdom and love for all of us he weaves our lives' stories together and if we are able to listen to His voice and follow the path he has laid before us it will be exactly what it was meant to be. Of course this isn't what I ever dreamed it would be 14 years ago when Pastor Steve prayed for us. I think of how many things had to fall just so into place and how easily we could have turned away from what God had for us and for our little girls. I praise God everyday that he helped me to stay out of the way of myself when I needed to. That in many instances I didn't listen so he worked things out (many that were very painful) so that in the end we could let go of what we thought we wanted and embrace the ultimate gift that he had waiting for us that we could have never imagined! I wouldn't have wanted it to end up any other way - even if there was no way myself 14 years ago would have known that! All the joy, blessings, success, pain, disappointment, losses, letting go and rebuilding that took place in our lives over the last 14 years prepared us for exactly where we are today. And to be the parents of 5 amazing children; 3 brothers and 2 sisters and that my friends is worth much more than anything we ever may have felt like we were "giving" up or losing along the way. When we allow him to work God has a way of doing that :)

Thank you for reading and your continued prayers for our family and of course our little Liliana!

Love. 

Jessy 

Loss, Love and New Life (with updated pics)

Every time I sit down to write in my blog I think that there will never be more to report about than there is this time, but each time I am proven wrong!  I always think my plate can't get any fuller....I am always wrong!  What I know for sure is that while there are set backs and accomplishments, tragedies and blessings, God is the author of life and He always has a plan that is more full and bigger than I am ever able to imagine or dream up.

Before I go any further I want to share some pictures that I just received. My agency sent them to me even though they are not of Liliana specifically she is in the background. They were taking pictures of these beautiful baby girls to send to their newly matched adoptive families and they noticed Lily was in the background and wanted to send me some updated pics.  I can't get over how skinny her little legs are, though - Gabby's are at least 3 times that size and they are the same age! I just want to get her home and plumped up :)

 Lily is in the background here in the over sized white shirt looking right at the camera (the only child who seems to be interested in whatever is going on with those babies!! haha :)  I can see that she doesn't miss a thing and seems very quietly aware of what is going on around her.  Love her so much :)

In this one she is almost smiling at whoever is standing up and getting the babies attention for the pictures. I love that she is alert and seems to enjoy attention...such a wonderful thing to see in any orphaned child :) On another note - how precious are these babies??!!  I could just scoop them all up! So happy for them and their families that will be together soon  :)

So after having said all that,  It makes me excited to wake up each day just knowing that I am not in control (thank the Lord!) and that God will have amazing things in store for my life every day if I will follow where He tells me to go.

One example of that is the path he recently directed us down for childcare that we had been looking to fill.  While I know that we are meant to have ALL these children I also know that I need a little help in with their care in order to stay sane and be the best mother I can be - at least while the girls are so young. :)  We really explored hiring a more full time nanny to really be more of a "mother's helper" so that i could be involved with the boy's school still and take Liliana to any doctor's appointments, surgeries, etc. related to her heart or otherwise after she comes home. As we continued to explore the options and what might be right for us I was contacted out of the blue about hiring a Chinese Au Pair. We had considered this option years ago, but have since become much more financially conservative with our spending and thought that might not be something we wanted to put the money out for. 

After exploring the costs when compared to an American nanny we realized it really wasn't that much difference so that seemed like it could be an option then. The biggest difference lied in the fact that this girl would be living with us for 1-2 years. To be honest we really didn't have an extra bedroom so we thought that might not really work, but we didn't rule it out completely and instead continued to pray about it. If there is one thing I know for sure it is that even when we can not even imagine a way God can still make a way if it is His will.  for a couple of weeks we talked about it as a family, prayed about it and continued to look into all the pros and cons of an Au Pair.  

The most exciting part to us of course is the fact that we LOVED the idea that our Chinese speaking two year old would possibly be able to transition into our English world much easier if we had another Chinese speaking person in our home. Derek and I are also learning Mandarin and take classes weekly, but we are certainly not fluent. We know  just enough to get in trouble so what a better way to continue learning the language than to live with a native speaking Chinese person?!  And we are very adamant about keeping Lily's Chinese culture and heritage a part of her life and integrating it into our family, as well as, making sure she can continue to learn and speak Chinese as well as English. How could we better see to it that all of those things are done? We couldn't think of a better way. But we still had the problem of already having fit 6 people in 5 bedrooms and that was soon to be 7 people in 5 bedrooms...how could be add yet another person - an adult even - that would need there own bedroom?  It just wasn't here!

Ah, but God......one evening as we were putting the two youngest boys to bed (Max and Parker) Parker said, "Mom, I would really like it if Max moved back into a room with me again." Max overheard his brother saying this and came running in from his room and said, "yeah, mom, we have talked about it and I don't really need my own room. We are always together playing anyway and Parker has plenty of room in his closet for my clothes." Since we moved into our home last year the boys have had their own rooms but prior to that they had been sharing since Parker was about 2 years old. They had a bunk bed and they had always wanted to be together. Often since moving into this home Max would spend many nights sleeping in Parker's room or Parker would sleep in Max's.  Still I couldn't believe what I was hearing...they really wanted to share a room again?!  This would mean that we would have a "spare" bedroom again!  Even when we don't see a way........

So to make a very long story short; the boys moved into a room together and in the same afternoon I assembled a "spare room" that could be used for an Au Pair.  We then began to get pretty serious about looking into that service and began to email and interview (through Skype) Chinese college students and grads that were part of the Au Pair program and waiting to be matched with a family.  We decided as we started that we would give the process a chance but if the perfect scenario didn't present itself then we would go back to the drawing board. 

It was so surreal - still is!  How could we be thinking of adding 2 Chinese girls to our family now?!  After a couple of weeks of interviews and messages back and forth we knew we had found the right girl. All of the girls we spoke to were super sweet and all seemed like they would be great, but this girl was The One!  I immediately felt a "soul connection" with her. She would later tell us that she felt that same thing. She said she had been praying for the right family and had almost given up hope - even asking God why he had her waiting so long. She felt like maybe she had misunderstood what she was supposed to be doing and maybe this wasn't the right path for her life. That, she said, was the day before she got the email from us and then spoke to us that very evening through Skype.  Even when we did not know that we were going to hire an Au Pair God was preparing her for our family and our family for her :)  

Her English name is Morgan and she is a 22 year old sophomore in college studying as an English major. 

We will meet with her when we go to China to pick up Lily in August (even though we have already offered her the position and she is working on her VISA, paperwork, etc.). She is going to take the 6 hour bullet train ride to the province we will be just so she can meet us face to face and meet Lily.  After that she will go to more training in New York City in the beginning of September and move in with our family by mid-September.  Just a few weeks after we get home with Lily!  

We just feel so blessed to have been given this blessing of yet another Chinese daughter (she says she is excited to be a big sister - JieJie - to our children :) Even if she only lives with us for a year or two I know that we will make a connection with this beautiful girl that will last all of our families lives. As a family these are the things that we hold the most dear - relationships!  

I know that we may have to give up some "things" with the adoption of Liliana, but what we will gain is so infinitely more important and powerful. The same will hold true now for adding Morgan (our Au Pair) to the family, but I know that God has big blessings for both her and our family in store from this relationship and I am just so excited about it.  If God has called us to it He will walk us through it :)

I want to wrap up by switching gears a little and with a very deep sadness in my heart.....this world lost a very beautiful soul this past week, Crystal Kelley Young. She was my age (we went to school together) and her death came as a sudden shock to her loved ones. She passed away in her sleep.

My heart breaks for her family and for the loss of one of the best, kindest and sweetest people I have ever known.  She has been one of the biggest supporters of my family over the last 3 years when we first started the adoption process for China through our adoption of Gabby and most recently upon finding out about Lily. We have had so many touching and heartwarming conversations and I am heartbroken to know that I will not be able to speak with her when we bring Lily home. I do rejoice, though, knowing that she is no doubt in Heaven celebrating with the angels now as I know she loved the Lord with all her heart. 

God bless you, Crystal, and keep you until we meet again! 

Be blessed, 

Jessica 

Moments, Milestones and Memories!

This past week was full of great moments, milestones and memories!  Our Article 5 in China was picked up on July 2nd and now we wait for our travel approval. We had really hoped that last week would be the week we would get that, but it wasn't to be. I am praying that God was saving that incredible news for this week because how can you have so much good stuff in one week?!

So last week started with Derek and I going to the Federal Building downtown and the USCIS office to get our fingerprints updated.

 Derek filling out his paperwork.

Since they expire on August 10th we needed to be sure that we had them updated for when we do leave for China. That went flawlessly and we are anticipating getting our receipt back (the paperwork we need to take with us) quickly.

Montana (Tanner - our oldest son) got his passport in the mail so that was also very exciting!

We had an amazing week of VBS at Rivertree Church and I just kept thinking that next year's VBS I will have a beautiful China doll running around with her sister - double trouble!  :)

We had also started our interviews with Au Pairs from China. After much praying and searching for what childcare route we should go once Lily comes home we felt that God very clearly spoke this program into our hearts so we began to explore it.
With having the 2 two year old girls at home I knew I was going to need help to get through all the medical exams, doctor appts and numerous other things that may come up after bringing Liliana home. We felt the best way to handle it was to have a nanny or really just a "mother's helper" that could be there when I needed someone. Right now we enjoy our precious Mariah every week, but she will be going back to school about the same time we are coming home with Lily. (we had considered trying to clone her, though!)

After speaking with many incredible Chinese girls we have certainly felt we connected with one specifically. We continue to explore all the ins and outs and are asking God for continued clarity on the situation, but we hope to have an answer to if we will have TWO new girls in our family or not very soon.

And to save the best for last was Lily's Adoption Shower! My sweet girlfriends (a group of 5 or 6  or more of them!) hosted a party to celebrate Lily and her upcoming arrival to our family - her family this past Saturday at our church.  It was so incredibly beautiful. I was moved to tears (still am just thinking about it) as I walked in and saw the decorations and transformation that the room had made at these talented ladies hands - and 3 of them that were part of the active planning,
decorating and putting together of this party had brand new babies!! Man do I feel loved and know that my sweet little girl is completely accepted and loved by my incredible network of family and friends.  :)

It was so wonderful just to spend the afternoon thinking about, talking about and celebrating our precious little girl. I prayed that God would just wrap her in warmth in the moment and allow her to feel all of the love that was in that room for her wherever she was at that time.

We also took up a donation to be given to the orphanage that is currently caring for Liliana and I was amazed that there was more than $600 given to bless those precious children! I can hardly wait to pass that along to them.

I have included many pictures from the event below. I hope you enjoy and stay tuned for the announcement of our travel dates - we are believing to know those this week!!!

 Look at how incredibly beautiful and sweet these decorations are!  These ladies are incredibly talented aren't they?! :)

Look at all those babies! Ranging from 4 days old to 6 months old :)

Look at this table of incredible food - the cupcake tower were made my dear dear friend, Anna Limbird. She is a dessert genius! The basket on the very end had fortune cookies that had been dipped in white and milk chocolate with sprinkles and tied up in twos :) Inside instead of "fortunes" were scriptures.  Jennifer is another dear friend that has made yummy confection making her career...her talent shows here for sure with the fortune cookies! :)

My beautiful Chinese friend Liyuan (Grace) and her mother-in-law and my dear friend Elaine

My precious sister-in-laws Sarah (w/ my sweet brand new niece, Emily) and Ashlee and, of course, my baby girl Gabby!

 My girlfriend, Christie, made this donation box for the shower. Instead of gifts we asked that if guests wanted to give anything it be in the form of a donation (no matter how small) to Lily's orphanage. There are many other children that will remain behind and we want to provide whatever we can for them until they find their families :)

 My sweet mother-in-law :)

Our middle son, Maxwell, wanted to join the shower so he came along with me. He wore his "favorite shirt" (as he says!) and brought along the canvas print of his newest baby sister for the shower - love this kid!!! 

Thank you to everyone who made this shower such a special day for me, Lily and all the children that will be effected because of your love and generosity! We are all the hands and feet :)

Much love, 

Jessica & family