Planes, Planes, and more Planes

So, we live very very close to the airport. Every time a plane flies over the house, I keep wishing we were on it. I feel like I'm being a little teased, you know so close yet so far away. Cleaning the house has definitely helped not to mention my precious little Aidan helped mop the floors, do laundry, take out the trash, and clean the bathroom. He's really a great helper and growing up so fast. Isabella is gonna have a wonderful Big Brother.

More Pics of Bella Grace

Now I've got you caught up

So, here we are got all of the paperwork done, got all the okay's we needed, been vaccinated, started packing, and had a beautiful "Bella" Shower. Now, we wait. We wait for China to give us our Travel Approval. I'm so so ready to go to China and see the beauty of where our daughter is from, but most of all hold our precious little gift from God and never let go. I pray that we can be with her for her birthday, which is on November 20.

Here We Go

After getting our referral we had to hustle up. So, we sent in our Letter of Intent to China, seeking Pre-Approval. May 7, 2009 we went to Charlotte to get fingerprinted and then shot off to Raleigh to get all of our dossier documents State Certified. It is tough to hand over your whole adoption lifes paperwork to someone else, my heart sank. Once they Authenticate everything the papers go to the agency and then off to China, woo hoo. In the meantime we got our Pre-Approval from China May 27, 2009, one hurdle down and many more to come. We got our actual Log in Date, which means China has your dossier, on July 20, 2009. Now it is out of our immediate hands. The dossier goes through a translation process and then approval process. Our paper work was actually translated and sent to review August 6, 2009, almost there. Yay!!!! We got our LOA, Letter of Approval from China September 30, 2009. Now the mad rush to fill out more paperwork, but compared to the dossier it was a piece of cake.

Our Sweet Little Girl

Her Chinese name is Fu Yi Huang, she was born November 20, 2007 and left at the front gate of the orphanage November 23, 2007. You may be thinking how could someone do that?? But, keep in mind their culture is very very different in beliefs not to mention they may have not had the ability to help her with her special needs. I look at it as her mother and father loved her so much that they placed her somewhere safe, where she would found and cared for. To think of what they went through giving their sweet little girl up, my heart goes out to them. To Fu Yi Huang's parents, we will love her and take care of her forever. Their Fu Yi Huang our Isabella Grace aka Bella Grace.

Answered Prayer

The month of April was kinda slow just finishing all our paperwork. Going into May, a sweet hidden surprise is yet to come. Going through this process has its highs and lows. It just so happened that I was on a low that very week and on May 3, 2009 Sunday morning at Church, little did we know but our lives were about to change. The pastor preached on how we get in the way of God's will and that he wants the best for us and if we'll step aside he'll answer prayers. Pastor said to write on paper what you feel like you're getting in the way of, well my heart sank. I knew I had been worrying about what little girl we'd get, to the point that it consumed me. That Sunday I gave it to God, I prayed for him to pick out the little girl he wants for our family. I tell you what, God answers fast. That very next day Monday May 4, 2009, normal everyday Monday. So I thought. The phone rings, it's our adoption agency. I thought yikes we forgot to do something. I picked up the phone said hello and the next words I hear, "I think we've found your little girl." I knew right then and there that God had chosen us a daughter, not only that but our little one was found November 23, 2007. To some people just a date, to us it was one of the due dates for our miscarriages. We got all her health information and consulted with doctors before we saw her picture and made a definite decision. Well, really the decision had already been made. How exciting it is to see your daughter's face for the first time ever. Love at first sight.

Let the March Madness begin

So, after getting approval/acceptance from our agency...the madness begins. We start with getting our lab work and physicals done, not bad just one more step to getting closer to our little girl. Then, we start with all of our homestudy appointments. I must say I really enjoyed these appointments not only did it get us one step closer but it was a great way to get educated on adoption, not to mention our social worker is a delight. We actually finished the whole process of the homestudy in one month, record set time. The faster the better for me.