Be Home

what I'm loving right now

:: brothers sleeping together in matching pajamas

:: spontaneous piano playing before breakfast

:: hand-crafted swings

:: the garden blooming

:: in red

:: in purple

:: in yellow

:: a completely self-made lunch for his siblings

:: our daughter being integrated into the family tree

we have a daughter

Chinese Name: Ma An An
Birthdate: November 5, 2005
Province: Beijing
Height: 33 in
Weight: 21 lbs
*at 39 months

She's here!!!

We have been waiting so long...but today is the day to announce the homecoming of our little girl. I started this blog because I wanted to document our journey through adoption. Since then it has become a place to journal about all of our lives in many different ways. How very appropriate that now when the time has come to welcome our daughter the thoughts that have come before only serve to complete the picture.

We received our Pre-Approval this morning, which is China saying, "Yes, you may proceed". And now we await our Seeking Confirmation Letter (SCL). Which only means that they will have to review our dossier (paperwork) and then we will be officially declared her family. After that, once we have Travel Approval (TA) we can go scoop her up in our arms! We are hoping to leave late summer or early fall.

Ma An An is her Chinese name. Ma is her surname, like our last names. Every baby girl who entered the Children's Welfare Institute of Beijing City in 2006 was given this surname. An An (ahn-ahn) means peace. We will somehow incorporate this into her chosen name. But we haven't chosen a name yet! We will keep you posted!

The boys are so excited. As I knew they would be. She is only 10 months younger than George! I love it! But she is so very tiny, barely the stature of a two year old. Ma An An is a waiting child with a delay in language development. God has uniquely set her in a family who talks a lot! And she will have a beautiful advantage being home with all of us, all the time! Basically, she will get 3 personal tutors and a teacher 24 hrs. a day! Oh, and we can't forget what a great daddy every girl needs...yeah, she's got that too.

Speaking of great daddy's, did you see here birthdate? For those of you who don't know or didn't catch it, she was given the birthday of my dad. Isn't God miraculous! Wow!

Thank-you for everyone's love, support, and excitement leading up to this day.
   
    "God sets the lonely in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell" Psalms 68:6

one tooth, two tooth

Here is toothless Joe on Thursday. Ninth tooth to give way to its adult counterpart in this household and yes, Andrew has missed it once again! Who's the mom!

But wait with a good elbow nudge from the older brother we can get that other tooth just dangling there out on Monday. And guess what? Daddy was home! Oh, we gotta take a picture of that!

My funny little Peter actually had to lie down after losing that first one. He felt a little queasy. It made me chuckle a bit knowing that I've found the son that is inclined to my sensibilities. Poor kid.