My Dad...

***UPDATE***  My Dad came home last night on 2/6/14.  We are so thankful for this!  There will be a visiting nurse helping him for the next few weeks.  Thanks for the prayers!!!!

Some of you may know, my Dad had an aneurism this past week.  Within a short time of learning this, Maddie & I quickly drove up to CT to see him.  We are beyond blessed that he is fine.  Just a few hours ago he was moved out of the ICU.  Praise.The.Lord!  Seriously!

After talking to the actual surgeon today, we learned that there were TWO aneurisms!!! TWO!!!!  What are the chances?!?!  One small one in his belly, the other on the artery of his spleen.  The surgeon informed us today that if he had been minutes later, he would not have made it.  I SHUDDER at this thought.

My Dad and I have always been very close, I know that I am incredibly lucky to say this.  Even during my teen years, we were close.  He is an AMAZING Grandfather to Maddie & he is eagerly awaiting our next child.  He is almost as excited as we are!  ;-)

I love this photo of Dad, Neil & Maddie.  I am beyond blessed that my family is close. We are most certainly NOT perfect in any way.  But, we are close & always there for each other.  I think this captures the adoration my Dad has for Maddie (even in the middle of doing farm chores). 

 

Today, Dad was talking about His story and how God works things all together for good.  He then talks about Madelyn's birth story & how God brought her to us.  Her story is special and we truly feel we were meant to be her parents.

 

Now...we wait for our next child, I cant wait to hear the rest of his or her story.  It will be special no doubt.  I know that the process has already gone slower than we anticipated, but it's all part of God's plan.  His ways, not ours are best. 

 

Please keep my father in your prayers.  Thank you!  :-)

 

 

Questions & Answers...

Hi All!
 
I have had several questions regarding our adoption & thought I'd do a Q&A on the blog.    :-)


What Gender?
Several people have assumed we are adopting a little girl.  We honestly don't know.  We are open to either gender.  In the back of our minds, we are expecting a boy.  A girl would be a total surprise!  Right now, there are LOTS of boys in China that are waiting for their forever family.  God is going to give us the Child He has chosen for us.  We can't wait to see who He has picked out for us.  :-)

What Age?
We are open to 4 and under.  We would prefer to keep Maddie as our oldest child.  She is looking forward to being a big sister!  Even if it means she is only 1 month older than him or her.  :-)  Maddie turns 4 on Feb 25th this year. 

Special Needs?
Yes.  Our child will have some sort of a minor special need.  We are open to a variety of needs.

Do you have to accept the first child you get a referral on?
No.  Once we receive a child's file, we will spend 3 days praying about it. During that time, we will be showing our doctor his or her file.  If we feel this is our child, we will be elated & then move onto the next step!  :-)

Why China?
I think most of you know that I went to China this past year to help bring my cousins son home.  It was LITERALLY LIFE CHANGING for me!  I have been to several orphanages during the years.  But I never entered one AS A MOTHER.  I was always single & would day dream of adopting, but knew this wasn't meant to be until I was married.

I walked into my cousins orphanage & felt almost as if it was a physical reaction.  There were SO MANY CHILDREN.   One adorable little boy just ran up to me.  I near melted.  They were so happy!  They amazed me.  There were hundreds of kids in just this orphanage alone.  There is an orphanage in every town with lots of children.  They don't have forever families.  My heart ached.  I was overwhelmed.  I knew that we were to adopt.  I just KNEW in my core being. 

I came home & talked to my hubby right away.  I think he thought it "was a phase", that I'd stop talking about this.  ha ha.  Nope. Not a chance.  I KNEW.  Eventually, I stopped nagging him & started praying like crazy!  I had several friends praying hard that Mike would be open to the idea. Only about 1 month later, he told me he felt pulled to adopt from China too!  It was our first miracle on this journey.  :-)

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Thanks for following along on our adoption journey!  Please keep us in your prayers. 

Taking Steps...

Hello & Welcome!!  We are so sooo excited about our new adventure.  God has blessed us with this amazing opportunity to adopt from China!  We could not be more thrilled as we are taking steps along towards meeting our child.

At lunch today, I asked Maddie to pray.  After praying for our meal she then added:

..."and please help our China Baby to come home soon...and please help our China Baby to be loved...and please help our China baby to find someone to help bring them home to us soon..."

I couldn't have said it better myself (except for the end part).  We will be bringing our child home safe & sound.  We are prayerfully HOPING for this fall, but time will tell.  So far, things have been moving slowly.

We were initially moving right along, getting ALL.THE.DOCUMENTS needed for the home study together.  I was amazed at our speed.  Then, for one reason or another, I feel like we hit a wall.  We were supposed to have our home study "completed by Thanksgiving" and here we are, January 7th.  We are close...but rather frustrated.  It was small glitches here & there...important emails sitting in a spam/junk folder for 2 weeks!!!  But...I keep reminding myself...GOD is in this.  He has ALREADY CHOSEN our child for us.  Isn't that remarkable???  He knows exactly who "Rettew Number 2" is!  Gender, Age, Personality...etc. We are soo excited to find out who he or she is!  And perhaps....Maddie might have to say "China sibling" instead of china baby.  We said we are comfortable with age 4 and under.  We very well may have another 3 year old running around the house!  :-)  oh, Glory!!!  Tons of fun!!!

Thanks for following along & if you will...please pray for us in this journey!