FINALLY!! Here is the update on Emma

Sounds like she is a little spoiled already!!!

Early Life and Schedule

Guo Si Qi, Female, Born on January 24, 2006.

Si Qi is an active and outgoing little girl. Sometimes she has a
small temper and can be stubborn. If we give in to her demands, she will
quiet down. She already has established a relationship with her foster
family members. She likes to play with the family. She can hold onto the
fence to help her stand, and can hold a pen correctly. She can also build
lego with four to five pieces. She knows where her nose, eyes, and ears is.
She likes to call mother, grandmother, etc. She likes to read and will turn
pages one at a time. When she is holding onto something, she will not give
it away. If you take the object away from her, she will cry. She likes to
listen to the songs, "Jasmine", and "Only Mom is the Best in the World".
When she hears the music, she will start to move her hands and feet in an
effort to dance. She likes to play hide and seek. She wears corrective
shoes and she has to wear it at night; when she sleeps, she wakes up more
often when she is wearing the corrective shoes. She enjoys chewing on her
pillowcase when she goes to sleep. From the day, Si Qi came to the
institute, she has already established a good routine.
She has breakfast at 6:30, and lunch at 3:00. She drinks milk at
10:30, and at 6:30. At 6:30 she has rice porridge and soup. In between
meals she has fruits and snacks, and juice. She is not a picky eater. She
gets up at 6:30 in the morning and takes a 3 hour nap during the day. She
can go to bed by herself at 8:30. She likes to play with little and new
toys. Everyday she has one or two bowel movements and urinates 10-12 times
a day. She is used to diapers. Now that the weather is hot, she takes
three bathes a day, but likes to sit in a chair while bathing.


Maybe new pics will come tomorrow along with weight and height!!

Update!!

Well, we received a call from Elena at Living Hope this morning that she had received a faxed update for our sweet little Emma!! She said as soon as it was translated she would send it to me. Of course, being the impatient mom I am, I emailed her this afternoon to see if we could expect it today - usually the updates are pretty short - and, of course it will be tomorrow!!

She actually said had she known that there wouldn't be anyone in the office today to do the translation, she would have waited until tomorrow. She did say that one of the people who does this would be in at 9:00 tomorrow morning, and she would have it done first thing.

So...stay tuned for the update - and maybe new pics tomorrow!! (New pictures weren't sent, but she did email about them again).

Sunday School fellowship

We hosted a Sunday School fellowship at our house Saturday afternoon. It was great fun! We had about 20 or so for a cook out and swimming in the pool. The weather was great, and everyone really enjoyed being together.

We hope to do a couple more over the summer, one in July, and again in August.

Below are a few pictures we took during the day...

17 months today!

Our baby girl is 17 months old today!! We are praying that we get to go to China to get her before her 18 month birthday!! We are praying that our LOA comes this week, and TA quickly after that!! The people who received TA this past week only waited 2 weeks and 2 days from returning their LOA to China!!

Emma, we love you and can't wait to hold you!!

New Pictures and update?

Living Hope sent an email yesterday requesting updated pictures and information on our little one!! The last time we asked for updates from the orphanage, we received them the day after they were done!! That was March 21, so hopefully, Grace-Hope.org will have already received their newest info on Emma and we will have it tomorrow!! Hopefully, we will at least have it before we go to the beach next Friday. We would like to look for some fall clothes for her at the outlet malls, so it would be nice to know what size we need to look for!!!

Can't wait to see how you have grown and changed, Emma!!

Today is our 15 month LID anniversary!

That means that it has now been 15 months since our paperwork was logged in at the CCAA. The good thing about that at this point, is that we are through review, which should mean the rest of our process to get Emma home should move more quickly!! YIPEE!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, we sent Emma's care package. I am attaching a picture of everything we crammed into the box - it was bulging when I took it to be mailed!! We sent a soft little Asian doll, another doll that says "I love you," a sleeper, a soft yellow capri outfit with hairbows, a couple of soft books, teething biscuits, a Sassy cell phone, a Dora mini see 'n say, a sippy cup, and the Sassy Who Loves Baby Album with pics of Bobby, me, and Josh, since we are the ones she will meet in China. We also included a picture of her room, her bed, her toys, and one of our cocker spaniels, Sandman. We also included a disposable camera, and asked that they take pictures and bring the camera to us on adoption day. We added a few gifts for her foster mom from Bath and Body, some Jelly Bellys, a letter to the orphanage director asking for the package to be delivered to her foster family, and a letter to her foster mother with a list of questions we hope that she will answer for us as well.

Living Hope posted their new list of waiting children...

And Emma is on it! This one is the picture of her that looks like she is praying, and she is probably only about 4 months old in it. Too cute for words!! Speaking of words, the best one shows above her picture...!!!!ADOPTED!!!!





The description of her on the website reads:

Description: Siqi is a healthy and happy girl. She is a very active girl who enjoys adults talking to her. Siqi loves to play games and is very quick to respond. She always has a smile on her face. She understands adult facial expressions and can express “no”.

Great news!!

I spoke to Living Hope today, and got the OK to send little Emma Grace a care package!! We can include pictures of us for her foster mom to show her - we have a SASSY photo album that says "who loves baby" that she will be able to hold, chew, etc, and it won't hurt the pictures! This will give her a month or two to "get to know us" through the pictures before we go get her! Also, we will include pictures of her room and toys. We will send her an Asian baby doll, a few other small toys to play with, a couple of outfits, some gerber teething cookies, and some gifts for her foster mom.

This is just great! She will know she has a mama, baba, and big brother who is coming soon!! We will get the package together over the weekend, and post pictures before we put it in the mail on Monday.

Email confirmation today!!!

We received an email from Living Hope today that our LOI had been received in China!! One more letter to go, then praying for a really FAST TA!!

Emma, we're coming to get you, baby girl!!

Where is Emma?

Emma is in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China. She is in foster care in Nanning, the capital.

The information below is from the Nanning Travel Guide, and gives you an idea of what the area is like where our baby girl is waiting for us.

Location: locates between 10745' - 10851' east longitude and 2212' - 2332' north latitude, and in the Lingnan Mountain Range

Neighboring Areas: Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Guangdong provinces

Physical Features: surrounded by mountains with average elevation of 80-100m

Population: 2.79 million
Urban Population: 1.28 million
Area: 10,029 sq km

Nationalities: Han, Zhuang, Miao, Yao, Dong, Mulao and Maonan

History: a history of over 1,600 years; used to be called Yongzhou (Tang dynasty), Yongning prefecture (Song dynasty), Yongzhou headquarters (Yuan dynasty), Nanning prefecture (Ming and Qing dynasties)

Climatic Features: situated in sub-tropical monsoon area; enough sunlight and rainfall

Average Temperature: 21.7C

Rivers: Yongjiang River

Products: lichee, pineapple, mango, wampee

Local Highlights: Dragon Boats Race

All things come in God's time...

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; Walk in it." - Isiah 30:21


It is not always easy to follow God and His will in your life. When He first put adoption on our hearts, I didn't even know if I would have a job in a few years, because I had recently been put on the "run-off" team. This meant that once all that work was gone, I too would be - along with a number of others. We didn't have the funds needed, and didn't know where they would come from either. Guess who supplied!! We said OK, Lord, and right away, Bobby's motorcycle sold that he had been trying to sell for months. That gave us the money needed for our home study, and first agency fees. Then, all along the way, as additional monies were needed, miraculously, it was there!! We began in the traditional or non-special needs program, but God had something different for us. Even before our paperwork was mailed off to China, we had begun to look at the SN lists from different agencies. That search started in December of 2005, then in November, 2006, November 28 to be exact, God led us to the list where we found little Emma Grace. Immediately, we knew she was to be our daughter. She was referred to us on December 21, 2006 by the agency, however, many times, China did their best to say "NO"

Finally, on June 4, Emma's file arrived at our agency, and now she will be ours!!! Bobby says "God is bigger than China!" - AMEN!!

And We're Off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our LOI is off to China today, so now we can begin to count down to the next thing we get, LOA - Letter of Acceptance, I believe is what that stands for. Just one more time, China will want us to sign saying "Yes, we want to adopt Guo SiQi" - whatever it takes, sweetheart, mommie and daddy are coming to get you!!

The Countdown starts tomorrow!!

Living Hope called yesterday, and said all was the same in the referral packet except the LOI had a date of 5/31/2007. They said they thought it best if we sign the new one so no questions, no problems this time around. And, of course we would rather wait two extra days for all to be accurate than cause a lot of delay once it all goes to China again.

We received it today, signed, had it notorized, and it is now back in the hands of FEDEX for morning delivery. We have been assured by LH that tomorrow will be the day it is mailed, so we can again begin the countdown!!!

IT CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We received a wonderful call from Living Hope today!! Emma's file did come with their new WC list, and our LOI will be sent for her once again!! They think we should be traveling by the first of August - maybe sooner, to bring home this most precious little one!!! Praise the Lord for this miracle!!

We are so happy! Words just cannot express the feelings we have for this little one that is half a world away.

Here comes the bride...

Really, it's Lily! Isn't she just gorgeous!!! She is the four year old daughter of dear friends, Russ and Deb Bishop. She was in her first dance recital Saturday, and we got to see her perform. She did a great job!!

Afterwards, we went over to their house for princess cake to celebrate Lily's great performance - tap dance to "going to the chapel."

See the great pics we got of the two girls, Lily and Lucy, and, of course, mom and dad too!!

And again, good news!!

We also got confirmation today from two other families whose agency received files they had requested as well!! Their requests were mailed on April 21, so about a week before ours. Maybe we'll hear good things next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep praying, Anne!

More good news today!!

A cyber-friend who was also trying to have a little boy's file transferred from one agency to another, received word today that the file came!!! That gives us new hope that SiQi's file too, will be sent to our agency, and we will be able to adopt her!!

There is one other cyber-friend who I have emailed to see if they had any word on their daughter's file today - exciting!!

Praise the Lord for the family for the little boy!!

Good News for SiQi !!!!

This week, we have been in touch with Love Without Boundaries about SiQi, and how long it is taking to get anywhere with our adoption. We want to be sure that her health is not worsened due to the length of this wait.

LWB is an organization that works with doctors and hospitals to provide care and needed surgeries for orphans in China. We forwarded the information we have including the MRI to them, and now, all SiQi's medical info is in the hands of Dr. Bao at the Shanghai Children's Hospital being reviewed! Praise the Lord that there is something we can do for her, even at this point, from here!

LWB will be back in touch with us with Dr. Bao's opinion soon!!

Still no word on where her file is, or when it might arrive at Living Hope, but, the folks there are sending a follow-up email today, and will make a call on Monday as well to determine if CCAA is willing to send them her file. - Please pray for this to happen, and to happen quickly!! This little one needs a mommie and a daddy!!