Introducing Hope Elizabeth!!

We are so excited to announce we will soon be bringing Hope Elizabeth home. When we saw her Chinese name it was the same as Sophie's, (Jiaqian which means beautiful.) God has truly blessed our family and we are so thankful for this child. She is almost 9 months old and from Yangxi ,Guangdong province. Her birthday is Nov 28th only 3 days from Grace's, so they can have birthdays together. She is such a cutie and we think she looks like Hadyn!! Grace is now praying for both Sophie and Hope and she can't wait to be a big sister. We are waiting to receive our approval and then we will be traveling to China. We all continue to pray for Sophie and that God will heal her.

News!!!

We just received a new referral. She is a beautiful, 9 month old little girl from Yangxi, Guangdong. Her special need is an extra digit on her left hand. While we've been waiting for this news, I've been busy trying to find out what's best for Sophie. Is she in the best place to receive the best care? We contacted Love Without Boundaries to find out about their Heartbridge Program and we spoke with Ken at Heart and Hands International who funded Sophie's cleft repair surgery as well as supports the orphanage. They both told us that Sophie is already in the #1 orphanage in all of China with a physicial on the site and a great nanny to baby ratio. They also have plans to build a state of the art facility incorporating a medical and rehabilitation center. We are so thankful that God has made Sophie a part of our lives -- we will be able to send her care packages and get updates on her progress as she grows. We hope to have the opportunity to meet her as well as the orphanage director during our trip so that we can establish a relationship with them and provide for her into the future. More info soon on the newest little one!!!

Really Sad News

We just received the saddest news. We will not be able to bring little Sophie home. We had requested an update on her and found out that some tests were run on her in May. The results showed at 11 mos she only had cognitive scores of a 3 month old and some of her skills were at the 1 month level. She had a CT scan done and it showed that part of her brain is missing. This is a congenital defect that probably occurred the same time as the cleft lip and palate in utero. We are devastated by this news, but know that God has brought this child into our lives for a reason. We are praying for God's comfort and wisdom. We are committed to get Sophie the help and care that she needs. If we would of had this information about the extent of her special needs and brain injury she would still be on the list, but now we have the opportunity to make sure she is taken care of and given the therapy, care and love that she will need. Our adoption agency has been so wonderful through this time of grieving and will give us another baby. We will now have 2 beautiful children one in China and one we will be bringing home.We plan to visit Sophie when we go to China and hold her which is going to break my heart. This has been so hard, but God has the perfect plan and we know he has given Sophie to us and she is a gift. We rest in Christ's amazing grace. But he said to me "my grace is sufficient for you.for my power is made perfect in weakness" Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness,in insults,in hardships,in persecutions,in difficulties. For when I am weak,then I am strong. 2 Cor 12:9-10

New Videos

Heart and Hands finished the videos and Ken posted them on Youtube. Sophie is in some of the video after the surgery and back at the orphanage. She is slowly catching up developmentally and we are praying that she will thrive once we get her home. I can't believe in 5 weeks we will be in China loving and holding our daughter. We just requested an update and hope to hear something in the next few days. We are now busy making travel plans and are so excited to all be traveling this time.

Heart and Hands Video 2

Heart and Hands video

WE RECEIVED LOA TODAY!!!

We received an e-mail from Heritage, our adoption agency and they informed us that our LOA arrived today. That means in about 6 weeks from now we will be holding our sweet baby girl. We are all so excited and can't believe this wait is almost over!!! I just requested an update for Sophie to get an idea on what sizes to bring and it's been over 2 months since the surgery so maybe we'll get another picture. Ken has been so wonderful at keeping us updated. We have been praying for Sophie these past 7 months and Gracie keeps asking if Jesus has healed her owie yet. She knows when she gets an owie that Jesus heals it. Grace is excited to be a big sister and when people ask her how old she is she tells them 2 and then says Sophie one. We may need to work on the sharing thing, Gracie likes her stuff. I've been telling her everything belongs to God, but she thinks He's pretty easy to share with. The boys really aren't into 2 year old girls toys, so she has had most toys all to herself. We will all be going to China this time and I really think the boys will be a tremendous help.