7 months in our arms

I was looking back at old posts and noticed I didn't get to post a seven month update. Each time I think maybe, just maybe, I am getting more used to juggling it all something quickly reminds me that I am not. Some days I remember sitting on the couch after working watching Oprah and Young and the Restless on my VCR (yes, remember those days) without an enormous to do list. I tell ya, I may like to have just one day like that, but most parts of my enormous list are much more rewarding. 

One of the small, not a priority, items on my to do list was to catch up on downloading pictures. Well, I finally got to download some pictures (most from Christmas). Looking back at all these photos is so fun...Chloe grows and changes so much each month. 

This was taken at our neighborhood Christmas parade. Boy how her hair has grown...it's almost one length now and this dress...no longer fits:(

Here they are spreading reindeer food...so huge that she is participating!

What a silly girl! Loved the big boxes on Christmas.

While the boys played with each toy.

Here is another photo which says tons about Chloe's growth. She is actually sleeping at PapaEm's house:) So the boys and I had movie night! 

And here she was one week out post palate repair carefully being fed a bottle. Now she is fully healed and beginning to say all kinds of new words. 

Gosh, what a difference another month makes. Completely packed list for mama equals lots of growth and fun times for our family of five! Worth it all!!

Happy Chinese New Year

I couldn't think of a more appropriate way to celebrate this special occasion than a welcome party at the airport. Little Lucy Juliano and my friend Alison made it home after a long adventure in China. Seeing her come out of the gate brings back so many memories! This will be such a sweet time making up for lost time with her other four children and hubby and to get to love on Lucy as a family. But oh how I remember those first weeks back....some of the toughest I have ever experienced. Exhaustion isn't an adequate word to describe how completely utterly lethargic you are and then have to be a mom for a new baby and the rest of your family. Let's continue to pray for the Juliano's as they transition to a family of SEVEN!

I will let her share most of the pictures I took tonight but here are a few! Hopefully I will have a few more tomorrow with the girls in their Chinese dresses. We plan to join them tomorrow night to celebrate the CNY in the comfort of a home and without the rest of the airport staring. Our girls first CNY home:)

David, Alison's parents and the kids waiting for mama

Crazy girl not happy to be strapped in and not taking over the airport

Lucy isn't too sure about her new friend Chloe (isn't she a doll:) 

Chloe loves Mrs. Alison and Lucy still isn't to sure about her

Welcome home Alison!! Xoxoxo

Small world BIG God

I have been planning to write this post for months, but haven't. This blog, for us, is not so anyone  reads it can know every detail of our lives. It's for us...a way to document our journey so that we can always look back and see how BIG our God is. And if along the way someone is touched by our journey its a bonus! 

We already know that God parted the Red Sea and moved mountains for our Chloe, but He also provided in some other ways too always making His presence known. Two years ago we were just beginning our adoption journey and I was lonely...I had been praying for an "adoption" friend. God answered those prayers by providing me with several great friends. One of those was, a now very dear friend, Alison.

I believe I have told the story of how we "met" here on my blog before. This isn't the story of how we met, but another crazy way God has revealed Himself to us on this journey. I adore Alison and her hubby David (David is actually the guy that Nick met with the night before he finally said yes to adoption). Alison and David have four beautiful children, one of whom is also adopted from China. I think it is probably safe to say they weren't looking to add to their already busy family when we met. They loved and encouraged us, but weren't thinking of another adoption at the time. Well, God had another plans for them and over the course of the last year revealed His plan in burning bush types of ways....this is the point of this story:) 

Back in September we hadn't been home from China for long. I had never left Chloe with anyone except Nick or my mom. Well, it was Gavin's kindergarten open house and I really wanted Nick and I to be able to attend. Alison watched Chloe for me that evening. During this time, their dossier had only been in China a short time. I don't think any of us thought they would be getting referral call so soon. Would you believe that night while she was keeping Chloe the phone rang...the number every adoptive family using CCAI longs to see-Dever, CO. Alison texts me from the open house-they have a file to review. And here's where it gets pretty cool...the little girl who is Chloe's age is from her orphanage!!!!!! Seriously, do y'all know how huge China is?!!! Do you also know that very few children are adopted from their city which is 7 hours round trip by van from a major city? Do you also know I was reluctant to leave Chloe with her?  I mean, really, I don't think we could have ever imagined it...the chance of us, good friends and neighbors, having girls, the same age, adopted within six months of each other, from the same remote area of China. And Alison getting this call during the only hour I had left Chloe since I first held her. Seriously, if I didn't have an ounce of faith there is really no other way to explain this-God! He keeps showing up...for us...for Alison...for our girls! So this time next week Alison will be stepping foot into the same Civil Affairs Office we were in almost seven months ago...two days later she will take the same van ride to our girls town and see the exact same sights we just saw. And two weeks later she will be landing at the very same airport bringing home another Nanyang beauty. My heart is full for them...and for us. Our new daughters who met on the other side of the world before we knew they existed and will be reunited and live within 2 miles of each other on this side of the world. It just doesn't get any better. Yes, it's a small world, but my word, we have a BIG God! 

Alison leaves Wednesday and will be traveling alone to China to get her Lucy. Please join me in praying for her travels, Lucy's heart, and for her family who will miss her at home. 

http://woainiiloveyou.com

Happy New Year/Six Month Gotchaversary

As I reflect on 2013 I can hardly believe all that we've accomplished. It has been one of the busiest years I can ever remember. A year of great adventures and dreams coming true, but it's also been insanely stressful, not leaving much time for reflection. This verse (one of my all time faves) sums up our year quite nicely.

Psalm 40:5 Many, O Lord, are the wonders you have done, the things you have planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. 

His deeds certainly are too many to declare...with each date on our timeline He began to reveal His plan for our year. Many of the points below were filled with heartache and frustration...I had lots of questions, but through and through He continued to provide in crazy miraculous ways...like funding our entire adoption and allowing for us to bless others who also have a heart for adoption. You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. Psalm 77:14.

 Here's a look back at 2013...

Dec. 31,2012-First referral:(

Feb. 5, 2013-Second referral:( Still waiting for our daughter

March 13, 2013-FOUND OUR DAUGHTER

March 17, 2013-Sent LOI to CCAI

March 22, 2013- Pre-Approval

April 1, 2013-Letter of Acceptance (LOA)

April 4, 2013-Ethan eye surgery

April 10, 2013-Katie eye surgery

April 22, 2013-I-800 Provisional Approval

April 25, 2013-PDF from NVC

April 30, 2013-Article 5 drop off

May 13, 2013-Emergency Consulate Closure...Article 5 pick up delayed by a week

May 21, 2013-Article 5 pick up

May 22, 2013-wait for Travel Approval BEGINS

June 17, 2013-Travel Approval

June 26, 2013-Depart for China

July 1, 2013-Gotcha Day

July 13, 2013-Back from China/11th wedding anniversary 

And the rest is a blur filled w probably 15 trips back and forth to Tampa and St Pete, 3 rounds of blood work, visits to pediatrician, x-rays, orthopedic specialist, pediatric ophthalmologist, orthodontist, 5 surgeries, evaluations, speech therapy, kindergarten for Gavin...if you would have told me I could have accomplished this while also working I would have laughed, but His word told me otherwise...

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16

As I write I am watching my kids play together...Chloe sporting the Mr Potato Head glasses saying her new favorite word, "hiiiii" while Ethan drives his boat around on his toy truck. Gavin creating jellyfish out of water bottles and trash bags close by:) Each one unique and perfectly planned for us. We are blessed...beyond measure. Six months ago today we laid eyes on our daughter...it was the highlight of 2013...and the climax of the journey God laid before us. Yes, many were the things He had planned for us, but great the wonders....NONE can compare! 

Christmas

Joy is having all you've ever wanted before you open a single gift.

What a joyous day we had! It wasn't the gifts, but the givers, who made the day so wonderful! Chloe, Gavin, and Nick slept in late (7:30 am). We finally had to wake Chloe and daddy up! The boys were thrilled that Santa had come. Chloe just wanted her breakfast. We spent hours that morning exchanging gifts and enjoying watching the boys give out presents and open some too. Ethan didn't care if they were his...he loved opening this year. In fact, I never got to my own stocking so Ethan opened it all for me this morning. Chloe didn't care much about any of the great toys she got, but loved being in the mix and playing with the boxes. Honestly, this Christmas was hard...there wasn't much sitting and relaxing or drinking egg nog (yuck...wine is more like it) by the fire. It been a crazy, stressful whirlwind of six months with China, adoption, busy child number three, surgeries, and constant supervision. I am tired! Really tired! But as I reflect back on this past year (and even years past) I am constantly reminded that this is right where I am supposed to be. Two years ago all I wanted for Christmas was for Nick to say yes to adoption. I LONGED for that Christmas Day and was hugely and tearfully disappointed when a yes never came (atleast not that Christmas). Last Christmas, I longed to know our daughter as we waited anxiously for a referral phone call. This Christmas, our precious daughter celebrated with us in the same place I ached for her. There really will never be a better gift of watching my three children love Jesus, love others, and love Christmas. I may be tired, but I sure am happy! 

Palate Day

Tomorrow is a big day. Chloe's palate will be repaired. From what I understand, this will be a more major surgery than the lip, gum, and nose. Basically, Chloe has a hole in the roof of her mouth from the front of her mouth through the gum(which is now repaired) all the way back to the soft palate.

 The palate is big for feeding and speech. So far she has managed to feed herself quite well with an open hole to her nasal cavity, but speech hasn't (and can't) come along much without the repair. I am not looking forward to putting our baby though any more surgeries, but feeling very good about having these behind us for awhile. It will be an intense month with 100 percent supervision (anything in the mouth could ruin the repair) and a liquid/soft diet (which she will despise), but we will go into the new year with out surgeries looming over us. I will post throughout the day tomorrow, but our immediate prayer needs are that she would stay well through tomorrow, for travel to St Pete today, the boys who will be spending time with Em,  and for Chloe as she won't be able to eat or drink and we have a fairly late surgery call tomorrow. 

As always, thanks for loving us...Chloe is my hero! I still often  just look at her and admire her strength and resilience! 

Adoption Announcement

Almost five months after her arrival I finally sent out adoption announcements. I adore them and when you compare to our Christmas card which also went out in the mailing it seems unbelievable that its the same little girl. She has grown and changed so much. We are frantically preparing for her last surgery of the year on the 16th...I have to have Christmas done before we leave:( It made me very happy to get our cards out in the mail and off my list. Now off to prepare for my staff Christmas brunch at my house...oh the things I get myself into:)

Happy Friday!