Update on EmmaLin

It has been a while since I have posted anything on EmmaLin so here we go.  Since my last post a lot has gone on and it is starting to seem like she has always been with us.  Its only been a couple of months, I know.  She is pretty much warmed up to all of us now, however I still think Lisa is her favorite for the time being.  I am sure Lisa would think it is me sometimes too.  Funny though she still gets a little jealous when Lisa hugs or kisses on the boys.  She will pout till it is her turn, then she is happy again.  She is adjusting very well having only been here a couple of months.  She is going to a preschool at a church right across the street from us.  She loves it.  I think it is mostly because of where she came from and being in a group setting helped her a lot.  She can already count to 10 and is learning other things well.  We are still working on sign language with her.  Basically when we need to tell her something or need a sign for something, we go look it up and all learn it together.  She is very smart but I think is still being held back by her lack of hearing.  We have already made a trip to Shands in Gainesville, FL. to see what our options are.  What we got from that trip is that she is not a candidate for reconstructive surgery to her ears.  There are nerves and components that are in there that are not fully formed or are not in the normal places and if they were to go in there they might damage the hearing more or other facial nerves.  Since she already has a facial paralysis and do not want to damage her hearing nerve any more, we decided not to go that route.  Our next option is a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) or something of the like.  What that is is a screw that would be put in her skull and then a removable hearing aid attached to it to vibrate the skull and in turn sending sound to her hearing nerves.  The doctor said something is about to come out very soon that might be an alternative to this device and that we should wait to see what it is.  So for the time being, we are going to see about getting her a headband hearing aid which would hold a hearing aid to the side of her skull.  This can be worn and removed much like the BAHA.  This can be gotten from a doctor here in Tallahassee which is nice.  I think this will help her out tremendously with her learning the English language and just being respond in speech and requests that we make of her.  Our next steps along this line is to see about whether we try and get her some ears.  These can probably be grown by her or we might look into prosthetics.  The thing about the prosthetics is that they can incorporate the BAHA into the prosthetic ears and it would serve two purposes.  This appointment will be in about a week back over at Shands.  That is about it on the Dr's part on her.  One funny thing about her we have witnessed her doing lately is getting up in the middle of the night and roaming the house.  Sometimes we will hear something and go find her in the office chair doing something or we will find her asleep in the chair in the living room.  Not sure yet what is going on there but we have to keep an ear out for noises in the night because it is probably her.  She is a fascinating child and we love her greatly.  Hopefully around Thanksgiving some of you will finally get to meet her for the first time.  That is about all I have for now.  I will try and keep updates on here when we hear more about our DR's visits.

Friends from China

We just had a wonderful visit with two of my coworkers and their daughters.  They brought us gifts for EmmaLin once again.  They are way too generous.  It was very interesting to listen to them talk to her in her native language, much like she was spoken to by her caregivers the short time that we were together.  EmmaLin could understand them and respond a little.  Everything hinges on the fact of whether she can hear you or not.  When spoken loud to, she mostly will respond.  Hopefully the ENT doctors will be able to tell us something this week when we go to meet with them.  Oh how we want her to hear more clearly, but if that is not what is meant for her, we will take a different path.  We have already started signing with her and that helps the barrier in communication for now.  That, she can always hear.  I took some pictures while my coworkers were here and then a video at the end after they had left.  Her in her dress and plastic clop, clop dress shoes.  Oh and don't forget the shopping bag, sister has to sport all of the accessories while out shopping.  Too funny.  Here's the pictures.

Playing with Dolls

Oh how she loves to work on both her dolls hair.  She has such finger dexterity that it amazes us sometimes what her finished product looks like.  Here is a sample.

First Week Back

Hello Friends and Family,
Wow what a first week back.  Travel in China was a good experience but there is nothing like being back in your own home and in your own bed.  Smiles from everyone in our household.  Living out of a suitcase and in different hotels is no way to live.  Now that we are back we can settle into somewhat of a routine, something that she can count on.  She is able to sleep in her own room and in her own bed.  She will seldom cry in the middle of the night.  After a quick visit from mom and a reassuring that everything is ok, she goes back to sleep.  For the most part she sleeps through the night.

For those that were not around to witness our arrival, we were greeted by many friends and family.  It was good to get back to see familiar faces and be able to communicate in our own language.  We were exhausted.  For those of you that have traveled soo far away from your own time zone know how jet lag is.  This is the first time for us to actually have that much of an affect.  It took almost a full week to get back into normal sleeping habits.  When we arrived at our home we showed her the picture in our album and she was happy to see it.  Then it was off to exploring her new home.  When it came to her bedroom I wanted to video it so that all could see her reaction to her new surroundings.  We also had a picture in her album of her room.  She was soo happy to see all that was hers.  She loved it all.  She especially likes princess type stuff.  Frilly dresses and there were some plastic dress up shoes that she loves to wear around the house.  You always know when she is coming because of the shoes clop, clop, clopping on the hardwood floors.  Things are starting to settle now and she is warming up to all of us.  For the longest time it was just Lisa and the three guys had to scramble for some time she would let us have with her.  Now all of us are starting to equal out.  She still loves mom the most and we are happy with that.  I did not realize how hard it was to have to keep up with all of the hair bows, rubber bands and clips just for her hair.  They are everywhere.  Her favorite dolls have their fair share too.  Crazy I tell you, crazy.  If you asked me what kind of girl she is, I would tell you that she is the girliest of girls.  She loves everything frilly.  We love our little princess.

Tomorrow will be our first pediatricians visit.  Hopefully we will get a good start on finding out how we can help her hear better.  This will be crucial as to her being able to pick up English quickly.  We are not rushing things, but the sooner the better.  We are still awaiting a SSN for her to get her on our insurance.  Hopefully this will come soon.  Thank you all for your kind words and comments on the blog and of all of all of the pictures.  We have slowed down on the communication here but I will try to keep it updated because I realize that not everyone on here lives in Tallahassee and can see her progress.  Things are going just as expected. 

We had our first trip out on the water on Saturday and it was good.  She wasn't too sure about being out in it alone but did sit on Baba's belly in the water.  Soon she will be swimming like a fish.  Here are some pictures we took while out.

For those that followed our blog all the way to the end and see how God's hand was at work as we traveled back to the states and Tallahassee you will know we met an amazing family along the way.  She posted in her blog about us today.  You can see it here.

Travel Home

Amazing how the Journey ends.  It all began Thursday night at 5pm Tallahassee time.  That is when we woke up to Travel to the airport to get on our flight from Shanghai to Detroit.  Everything was going as scheduled.  The flight, even though extremely long, went very well.  When we arrived in Detroit at 1pm, they were having quite of a storm.  Little did we know that right after we arrived that no flights were arriving or leaving the airport because of rain and lightning.  Delay after delay was starting to wreak havoc on our flight plans.  After I saw that we were not going to make our connecting flight in Atlanta at 2:40pm  I headed to the counter to see if there was another flight that we could get on.  There just happened to be one more flight that left Atlanta at 8:48pm.  We booked that one as we waited to see when we were going to get to leave.  We boarded the flight at about 6:40pm and the flight did not leave till 7:20pm.  It was going to be close but we thought there was a good chance that we could make it.  Still after getting to Atlanta the getting to the gate seemed to drag on and delay more and more.  We finally got off the plane at about 9:10pm.  Our only hope was that if that flight was delayed that we were supposed to get on.  Once we found the TV’s with the flights on them, ours had already left on time.  There were no more options.  All that Delta could do was to get us a discounted room at a Holiday Inn Express.  That was still going to be $140 for 2 rooms.  We headed out to find a taxi and with talking to the attendant there she said it was about a 30 to 40 minute drive.  We stood there confused as to why they would put us in a hotel that far away from the airport.  I so wanted to rent a car and drive home.  Lisa said none of us are in any shape to be driving with no sleep.  As we tried to find out what to do, a lady that lives in Atlanta steps up seeing how we were so confused on what to do, where are you trying to go?  We told her the name of the hotel and she wondered why they would do that to us as well.  Wanting to help we talk with her for a minute or so and out of no where she says, why don’t you come stay at my house tonight.  She said, I have to take a cab anyway that work is paying for.  Lisa and I were a little taken back by it all and kinda looked at each other like, what should we do.  God had his hands all over our plans.  We still do not know why were not supposed to fly back to Tallahassee last night but it just wasn’t mean to be.  She has a large home and has 10 children of her own.  Two that were hers and the other children were adopted.  She told us how active her church was with adoption. Most of her children are grown now and there were some empty beds.  She was even so kind as to give up her room us and EmmaLin since her husband was out of town.  How gracious can someone be.  As I sit and blog on the bedroom floor of a total strangers house, I realize how wonderful gods plans for us are.  He had it all under control as we ran around trying to make it all work.  We have gotten a few hours sleep but could not sleep very long cause our bodies clock think it is in the middle of the day still.  She will take us back to the airport for a 11:20am flight and we will finally be able to make it home.  Thank you Lord for watching over us.

Last night in Guangzhou

Rain, rain go away. It has been raining for 2 days. It even rained out the dinner river cruise we were supposed to take last night. Today we finally asked if we could swim in the rain just to get out of the room for a while. Cabin fever. I guess it is good that we did not have any plans today because Drew has been in bed all day. He must have gotten what Devin had. It has lasted longer than Devins though. Pray that he will feel better tomorrow. Today at 4pm we finished up all of the paperwork we are to do here. It is all finished. Hallelujah. Now just to get her home. We fly back to Shanghai tomorrow. After a night at the hotel there we start the grueling 15 hour flight back to Detroit. Once we set down on US soil there she will be an official US citizen. Then 2 short flights after that we will be back in Tallahassee. We cannot wait for that moment. Don’t know how much more we will be blogging about the trip. Time and internet access will be against us from now on. Pray for our safe travels back to the US. We will see everyone soon.

Blog from Lisa

Hi everyone. This is Lisa - Chris has handed over the reins to me for today. It’s 11:30 am here and we just got back to the room from our visit to the US Consulate for our Visa appointment and oath-taking ceremony. The process was long but painless. We did our oath as a group of 12 families. They asked the parents to stand and raise our right hands. I looked down at EmmaLin and she had stood up and raised her left hand. She stood there the entire time. It was so sweet and she had no clue what she was doing but we did. I must admit there are tears in my eyes again now as I realize this day has been the culmination of a very long process. The application they had in our packet we had completed several months ago. We are coming into the home stretch and are very excited and exhausted and ready to bring EmmaLin home.

Today is Drew’s birthday. He’s 14. However I keep telling him that since we are 12 hours ahead here and he wasn’t born until 9:30 pm, he won’t be 14 officially until tomorrow morning at 9:30. He’s not buying it so we’re celebrating today. Our third cake should be delivered this afternoon from our friend, Lin’s sister. We had such a nice dinner with them last night and they were SO gracious and generous. We would still have cake when we fly out on Thursday afternoon if we ate it for every meal between now and then. But our kids can’t say their birthdays didn’t end with the traditional sugar-induced coma…for three days straight.

I know Chris has extended our most sincere gratitude to all of you for your support and for your prayers. We feel them every day. I can’t wait to land on US soil, enjoy some good Italian or Mexican food and see all of your faces – not in that order of course. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all more than I can express.

~Lisa

Birthday Dinner

Dinner with my coworkers sister. All I can say is WOW. To start out they brought in some what looked like grapes but they had to be peeled and have a large seed in the center. Tastes kinda like a grape. They said the Chinese translation was Dragon’s eye. Then we went over to the table and they bring out soooooo much food. I cannot believe how much is brought out every time we have a traditional Chinese meal. They are always so kind and generous and happy to anything for you. I cannot say enough how special they have made us feel here in Guangzhou. We also were able to celebrate EmmaLin’s birthday during dinner. We all sang to her and then she blew out her candles. Lin, when you read this post, just know how thankful we are for arranging this celebration for us. She loved all of the food and ate a large slice of cake. What a most enjoyable evening.

Pool Time

Today was a good day. The DR. said the TB was good and the rest of the group took a safari trip. So we took the subway with another couple back to the hotel. It really is great to share stories with different families. It helps to see and experience with them, how some things are the same and some different. Today we broke a milestone with the pool. The first hotel she would not even get close to the edge. Now she is in and playing around like she has always been in them. It is just hard with all of the potty breaks though. Lisa is still up in the room with Devin as he is recovering from a stomach bug. I guess it is better that she is wanting to get out to go to the bathroom though. All that will change when we go to the ocean. So many new things to learn and teach. We are to meet my coworkers sister tonight at 5 for dinner and cake. I hope Devin feels good enough to enjoy it. Pray for his healing.

EmmaLin's Birthday !!

Yesterday was a pretty good day for us. We got up for our buffet breakfast and then decided to go explore a little bit about the area. So we rented a stroller from the hotel and took a taxi down to what they call Shamian Island. It is basically an area of town that is surrounded by like a man made moat. There were some interesting shops there and some interesting characters as you will see in the pictures. I think they were down there for a photo shoot. One store we walked by a nice lady asked us about our family. Her English was quite well. We struck up a conversation about why we were there and about our 3 children. We talked about EmmaLin’s adoption and where she was from. When we got to the part where we told her that she was deaf, she said ohh you have a big heart. We browsed her small store to look at her things and she asked if we knew God. We said yes and she said that she had been a Christian for about 6 years. She showed us her metal bracelet that said "Through God, all things are possible". She said most Chinese people are Buddhist. We asked about her husband and he does not believe in anything. It was sad to hear that but you could tell the happiness she had just from her expressions and reading about Job in the bible. We were able to get a stamp from her store where Emmalin’s name is hand carved into. It was an extremely hot day and humid. So we headed back to the hotel for some time at the pool and EmmaLin’s nap.

Today we head back to the Dr to have EmmaLin’s TB shot checked. And oh, by the way, today is EmmaLin’s birthday!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMALIN!!!!! She is 5 today. A coworker back at home has family here in Guangzhou and they are bringing EmmaLin a birthday cake and taking us to dinner tonight. They are so kind and generous. Then for tomorrow they will bring Drew a birthday cake. He is turning 14. Hard to believe. Well EmmaLin is stirring so I better go for now. 

P.S.  A staff member just delivered a cake to the room for EmmaLin and Drew.  Tonight we get one from my coworkers family for EmmaLin and then we get one tomorrow for Drew.  We will be caked out.

First full day in Guangzhou

First full day in Guangzhou. This morning we had a great buffet breakfast as we have had just about every morning since we left. The spread is quite huge. There is always something for everyones tastes. After that were to take a bus to the Consulate for doctors visits and Visa photos. As we were boarding the bus, yes she cried once again as you will see in the video. We can only assume that she thinks we are taking her back to the orphanage. Lisa held her and she quit after about 5 minutes on the bus. If she only knew or we could communicate to her that she is never going back. As we arrived at the Consulate we and our 13 other familys that spoke ENGLISH(had to put that in there) were all taken up to a floor full of people adopting children. You would not believe how busy we were being moved from one room to the next. Two nurses tried to use that ear thingy until they got there and went, Oh. Kinda funny, telling Lisa, you aint gonna use that on my daughter. You could tell that she had done this many times before and did everything that is requested of her. Then came the last room which I had been worried about this whole trip. TB test. I could not believe it, not even a whimper. God was looking out for my feelings for her at that time. I did not want her to think we are going to keep taking her around to be poked and prodded. Then as we returned the guide asked the group if they wanted for us to have a meal as a group and everyone agreed that would be a good idea. So after her nap this afternoon, we will all get ready to go have a meal together and get to hear some other folks adoption stories. That is all I have for now. I think I will go now and watch my daughter rest. J

In Guangzhou

We are now in Guangzhou. The flight was a little delayed by an hour but other than that it was an uneventful trip. She seems to fly well and after takeoff was basically uninterested about what was going on outside the window. One thing that Lisa found out is that EmmaLin can braid. There was a little toy bag that was given to us by our last guide before we left that had a little tassel at the end. Lisa was amazed when she saw her start to braid it. She is so smart. You will see it in the pictures and video.

This hotel is even nicer than the last hotel we stayed in. A little less space but very nice. Also the rooms connect in this hotel where they did not in the last. Makes us feel a little better about the boys being next door. We walked around a little before bed last night just to see what was there. Lots of shops and things right in the hotel building. Lisa blurted a YEAH when we stumbled upon a Starbucks in one of those shops. Also there is a McDonalds right at the entrance to the hotel which is where we ended up for a McFlurry. EmmaLin has a little crib in this hotel and was actually quite excited to get into it when it came bed time. There are several things we will have to do while we are here so having us Skype with family might be sketchy. We do have internet access but are not sure if we are going to have to pay after the first day. Lisa signed up with Marriot hotel something that gave us free WiFi but are not sure how long it will last. Well that is all we have for now. Love you all and thank you for your prayers.

Pictures and Videos

Just in case you missed this from an earlier post.  It was too hard to try and put pictures in the blog, so I am just uploading them to my photobucket account.  Much easier that way.

http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/starnesclan/Journey%20of%20EmmaLin/

We have just gotten back from a long walking trip to Walmart.  We are starting to get her some clothes, coloring books, crayons, backpack and pillow.  She is fun to shop for.  For the most part she will tell you if she likes something or not.  All is well.  Mom and baby are down for an afternoon nap and here I am doing what I do, blogn'.  Our sleep is starting to get more on track.  Last night we slept close to what we would sleep in the US, 9:30 or 10 till about 7 or 8.  Just as we will be getting used to the time it will start all over again when we get back to the states.  Last night was the first night we did not wake up at 4am for the day. 

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou.  This will be EmmaLins first take at flying.  Should be a short flight as an introduction to prepare her for the 15hour one that is in her not to distant future.  Hopefully we will have as good a internet connection as we have here when we get there.  We'll see.  That is all I have for now.

Visit to the Orphanage

Yesterday we were granted permission to visit the orphanage and so after making one quick stop at the Civil Affairs Office we started our 2 ½ hour trip. When we got close to the orphanage EmmaLin started recognizing things and started to get upset. She whimpered for a couple of minutes and Lisa comforted her and got her to calm down. As we arrived it was the time when they are to be down napping so we took a short walk about a block away for some lunch. Again we were served in the traditional Chinese way with all of their foods. We again were taken back at how much food they brought out to the table. We tried lots of things, much of which were just ok. But being in her town we wanted to experience her culture. The director of the orphanage and about 3 staff were there to eat with us. After we had just about all that we could stuff down, there was still some time to kill, so we went to the local market to pick up a few things.

Now it was time for the children to be getting up from their nap. So we went back to the orphanage and got to see most of what she would experience on a normal day. While we were there she held close to one of us all of the time. A couple of rooms she would whimper and cry and others she would be ok with. Her bedroom where all of the beds were was one at which she cried. I am sure she did not want to be left there. We reassured her that she was leaving with us and she was able to calm down. She was able to say goodbye to her teachers and all of her classmates. I think this was good for her. The whole time we were there she had a look about her that was very uneasy. As soon as she saw us all load up into the van to leave, she had the biggest grin on her face and sooo happy. Things are starting to come around for her and slowly she is starting to accept us. Some are more than others, but in time she will know that we all love her the same and she will never have to leave.

That is about all I have for today. Check the picture link, I just uploaded some videos of her laughing and giggling.

She is here

Well it is 4:45am on Tuesday morning. As I write this my wife and new daughter lay snuggled up in bed. Before I got up as my wife and I held hands over the top of her pillow, I thought how lucky can we be as a family are to have her in our life now. I think of all of the people that have got us to where we are now and it baffles me. So much time and energy has gone into this one single event. I guess that is why I am up at 4:45 to tell all of you how thankful we are to each and every one that has brought us to this time.

She has slept very well last night. We were granted our visit to the orphanage by the director. So we are to go to the Civil Affairs Office once again this morning, then travel 2 ½ hours to the orphanage. There is another family that I met on a Yahoo group that is to travel with their new son to visit as well. We had already had communication before we left for China with them and were so hoping to get to see them here. It will be a great time to actually see where she has spent the first 5 years of her life. What a joy it will be to fill in the rest. I don’t know if I will actually blog again before we travel to Guangzhou on Friday or not. We will see how much happens between now and then, but definitely keep looking in the album for pictures as I will be uploading those as often as I can. That is it for now, and just keep praying that everything goes as well as it already has. Love you all, Family and Friends…….

P.S. Lisa just woke up and saw me typing as was wondering what I was doing. Blogging of course. She called me over and said that EmmaLin woke up in the middle of the night and sat up. She started crying for about a minute. Lisa held and comforted her and she fell back asleep. How scary and strange this must be for her.

Chris

Gotcha Day

Today was Gotcha Day!!!!!!!  Holy cow, what a whirlwind of a time.  It was a very rocky start as we totally expected.  Better to be prepared than not in our situation.  She definately had some separation anxiety as she was given from her caretakers to our arms.  She cried half of the time we were there which was a very short period.  She cried while getting into the van, till Devin showed her the iPod and she stopped immediately and has not cried since.  We walked to the mall and as we were walking she saw a poster on the wall of Burger King with Burger, fries and soda.  She pointed to the Pepsi and did a drinking motion with her hand.  Peer pressure got the best of us and well we got her a burger and fries from Burger King.  What better time than the present to break her into american cuisine.  She woofed down the whole burger.  This was after eating a half of small bucket of Oreos at the Civil Affairs office.  Not a picky eater at all.  She now has had her bath and is about ready to put her head down for bed.  All of us are. 

It is starting to be harder to keep up with actually putting pictures in the blog.  So here is what I am going to do.  I will put a link in this post to her photobucket album and I will just continue to add pictures to it periodically as I get back from an outing.  So check the album often as I will keep it updated. 

http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u97/starnesclan/Journey%20of%20EmmaLin/

In Shanghai

We have finally made it to China.  I was not sure how we were going to make it when we were halfway through the 15 hour flight from Detroit.  I cannot tell how my tail feels right now since this is family friendly.  We were greeted in Shanghai by my coworkers friends that live here.  What a welcomed sight.  Only 1 of the 3 men knew English and it was fairly good.  They brought two cars just for all of us and our luggage.  Lisa and Devin rode in the car with the English speaking guy and another guy and Drew and I rode in the other car.  He knew very little English but what he could say was very clear.   It was funny, halfway through our 45 minute drive we were listening to a CD and he said I have something for you, and started playing Michael Jackson(Bad).  Yes I recognize that one.  He laughed and said "USA, Lady Gaga".  It is funny the words they come up with to say to you.  After the drive, they took us to a Chinese restaurant.  Not the kind that is in America, this was authentic cuisine.  They had a round table full of food by the time everything was brought out.  Fish with the head still on, dumplings, soups, pastas, most all of which you would not find in an American Chinese restaurant.  The meal was at least an hour if not more.  It seemed like when the dishes were finished they would bring more of something else.  The table stayed full of food.  After a while they realized we must be exhausted and kindly escorted us to our hotel and made sure everything was ok before they left.

This morning we are to travel to Nanjing, the capital of Wuxi city, on a high speed bullet train.  Only an hour and a half long.  This is where we will get EmmaLin tomorrow.  We can hardly wait.  Now we are off to breakfast before our train ride.

Travel Eve

Well folks ITS TIME.  Here we are the night before trying to frantically get everything together and hope that we remember it all.  Time has flown by as we prepared all week for this time in our journey.  I am laying out a simple outline of where we will be, so that you can pray specifically for us while over in China.  Just remember once we get over there the schedule will be 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Jul 14 Saturday - Fly into Shanghai
Jul 15 Sunday - Travel to Nanjing
Jul 16 Monday - Gotcha Day.  We get EmmaLin
Jul 17-19 Stay in Nanjing
July 20 Friday - Travel to Guangzhou
July 21-25 in Guangzhou
July 26 Thursday - Travel back to Shanghai
July 27 Friday - arrive back in Tallahassee 6:45pm

Rest/Relax before Travel

We are enjoying a little rest and relaxation at the beach before the chaos begins.  It has been a much needed break from work and the day to day goings on of our lives.  All week, even though fun and restful, she has never left my mind.  Every electronic device we have has her picture as the background.  I hope we don't scare her with the love that is coming her way.   Everywhere we turn we have a constant reminder of what is to come.  We love her so much and we cannot even get our arms around her.

Here we are, one week from leaving for China.  Can hardly believe it is already time.  This last week is going to fly by now that it is finally here.  I am just trying to get this blog ready for when we travel so that it is already setup.  Not sure yet where we will have internet access, but will try to keep this up to date as possible while we are there.  Thank you all for your time, prayers and finances that have gone into bringing our sweet EmmaLin home.

-Chris

Here we begin

Well as most of you know, we are adopting.  Let me go back to how it all started.  One of my cousins that we only get to see every other year because they live in California, introduced his new daughter to our family at Thanksgiving one year.  She had a special need and we felt a tug on our heartstrings.  As we drove home that year, we began our first of many conversations that we would have about adoption.  It shocked us both that we would even consider adopting, but the pull was definitely there.  That conversation died rather soon after we got home and we went on about our lives with our two boys.

A couple of years later, that same cousin introduced his second adopted daughter from China to our family and we again drove home talking about what our lives would be like if we were to adopt. But again as before, that conversation died and life resumed as normal. Thanksgiving 2010 was the year we met their third child. I had a great conversation with Rodney about what it was like to adopt and about their experiences.  There was no doubt the desire was still there and growing rapidly. Things that he shared helped me to understand that the adoption in his mind was about far more than simply incorporating a new child into their family...it was about saving her life.  This began the conversation that Lisa and I had on our way home from Thanksgiving that year that never died. We began to envision a new child in our home and realized that we truly wanted to move forward, but how?  Bear in mind, we had our hearts set that we were not going to have anymore children.  But God somehow kept this fire and desire alive and was stoking it.  Money seemed to be our biggest obstacle, but we felt that if God could plant this desire in our hearts we should not say no for such a trivial reason. 

We began talking with friends that had adopted from China and listened to their passion as they told their story.  They could literally talk for hours on this single subject.  It was quite inspiring, thinking to myself, maybe we can actually make this happen.  We started participating in some webinars hosted by the agency we ultimately chose, and we continued to be encouraged that the path we were on was the right one for us.  In March 2011, we sat the boys down for a heart to heart.  As we told them that they were going to have a sister, there was great emotion from all of us.  I was deeply touched by my youngest son Devin who cried tears of joy.  Our oldest son Drew just gleamed with the thought of it all.  After telling our sons it was time to start sharing our news with family members.  Each time, there were tears of joy.  Wow, I thought, God is really going to make this happen.

In April 2011, is when we started the paperwork that would set this whole process in motion.  We chose to use Holt International as our adoption agency.  As we started our dossier, I could not believe all of the hoops to jump through and forms to be filled out.  It was literally mind boggling.  If it was not for Lisa, I don't think I could have kept up with it all.  We both had to sit down and list all of the special needs we were willing to accept.  Talk about an extremely difficult task...how hard it is to say what you are willing to accept or not.  Then started our home study which was difficult.  That asked some hard personal questions that seemed a bit much, but after all that was complete I could see why they needed this type of information.

After several months of waiting and trying to figure out how the whole process works, I happen to get a monthly email from Holt about what is going on.  I would get these every so often which would cause me to check on their website for new children that they had received that might match our criteria.  I actually came across two children that seemed to meet everything that we had agreed to.  So Lisa contacted Holt just to inquire why these two seemed to meet our criteria and yet we had not heard anything.  They emailed us back and stated that is was merely an oversight on their part and in fact did match up with our paperwork.  We asked for the information on both children and ended up picking EmmaLin to adopt into our family.  We were sooo excited.  Now, more paperwork, ugghhh. 

We had very little information and pictures of her.  As weeks passed, I found that I would tear up from time to time just thinking about her over there and could not get my hands on her.  I found a Yahoo Group on the internet that was made up of parents that had adopted from the orphanage where she was being cared for.  I joined and soon after got inquiries about EmmaLin in case they might have some pictures of her from when they were there picking up their child.  Low and behold there was a family that had adopted last year that did in fact have some pictures of her.  I was ecstatic on my find.  Not too long after this another email from the group told of a way to possibly get more pictures of your child.  If you put in her chinese name in the chinese characters you might find more pictures and blogs about her.  This time I was extremely lucky to download 50+ pictures of her off of the internet because of a college class that was visiting the orphanage and writing blogs on their findings.  They seemed to visit her on a regular basis and was able to see two videos of them taking her out of the orphanage and having a birthday party for her as she was turning 4.  Oh how extremely hard this is getting to not be able to go get her now.  I just have to take it a day at a time. 

Timing and money played integral roles in whether our boys would be able to join us on our trip to pick her up.  As things stand now, we will be traveling in July while they are out of school and through the support of friends and family, especially Lisa's parents, our boys are able to make the trip to China with us.  Oh how we want time to fly.

-Chris