While we wait...

Emma is 14 months old today!!!!!!!!!!

Our baby girl is 14 months old today. How sad we are that we cannot be there with her on this day! From the pictures we received this week, though, it is evident that she is happy and being well taken care of, and for that, we are thankful!

We pray the upcoming week brings good news from CCAA, that our paperwork is on it's way back to us, so that it can be submitted through the agency that has Emma's file. Once this happens, we can begin the count again and pray for a very speedy response on traveling to get our little angel!

Two anniversaries today!!

Today is our one year LID anniversary, but more importantly, today is 3 months since we received the news that this precious little one would be ours! Come on CCAA, let us come get her!!! We received word today from wonderful Grace, that our updated info came back today, and has both the US and China authentications, and is ready to go to China just as soon as our dossier comes back. Please pray that happens this week. This little one needs her family!

Even the puppy is just waiting on Emma to come home!!

We had some good news today!

I am on another email group for Hepu kids, since that is where Emma is from. (Hepu Children's Welfare Institute) From a post to that group, a lady sent me an email, then after a response back to her, she sent me the attached!!! Again, God has so amazed us! Here is this woman from Australia, who contacted me and we have now determined that she is our daughter's sponsor in Foster Care!! Read her email to us. Also, her email says that Emma is happy and well taken care of, so that is a true blessing!!

This picture is the baby room at the Hepu CWI where Emma was first taken to before she was put in foster care.

Here is the email from Emma's sponsor:

Hi Regina,

If your beautiful daughter has been receiving treatment for club feet, then my daughter and I are actually sponsoring her ourselves. Amazing!
As with all our fostered children, she looks very happy and well cared for by her extremely experienced foster family. Unfortunately, that is all I am able to tell you at this point, due to the strict confidentiality policies that CCAA has with Grace & Hope, which provides the foster care.

I may be able to get you a disk with the photos and progress reports when you are in China, if you can let me know when you get your TA and are heading off. The Grace & Hope folk are generally very happy to hand over this material post-adoption, or I can provide you with some earlier reports at least when you get home again.

This is so exciting! I know all the children by their sponsor names and it is lovely when I hear of a new family coming for one of them. We have had quite a few babies adopted in the last 3 or 4 months, but I always feel really good when one of our special children finds their forever family. I hope your TA doesn't take too much longer.

Many families whose children are fostered have gone on to sponsor a foster child themselves. If this appeals to your family, you can set it up online via http://www.grace-hope.org/ and click on Our Community then Hepu CWI (note there is also the SWI, but the CWI is smaller, with pro rata more children with special needs.)

I'm assuming you live in the United States - you aren't in California by any chance? My daughter and I are flying to Disneyland at the end of the month with her best friend and her parents . We are meeting up at Disneyland with the family of the child who was the reason I helped start the foster care program. The little girl Xiao Hong (now Hope) will soon be three and lives in Colorado with her family. I haven't seen her for almost two years (and she was a very sad little girl at that point) but she is absolutely beautiful and full of smiles now.

Best wishes,

We feel like we've climbed The Great Wall already!!

We had our fingerprints re-done last Thursday, and also found out we had to write a letter to the CCAA requesting our dossier back. They would not send it just with the agency requesting. We went on to the beach from Charlotte where we were fingerprinted for a much needed break. It was on our way down that we found out about the letter. Fortunately, (from God, we know) a cyber-friend had sent me a sample letter about two weeks earlier that her agency had them use for this very same thing. As soon as we got to the beach, we found an internet cafe, pulled up the letter, typed in our info, and went directly to the post office and mailed it. We received word today that our letter and cover from the agency are on their way via FedEx to CCAA. Pray we receive our dossier back in record time!!

On another note, the updated documents we had to send for state seals last week were received at the new agency and were sent via carrier to be US and Chinese authenticated today!! Praise the Lord, and, they hope to have them back by the end of the week, or early next. If our dossier is returned quickly, all will be ready to go back to China within 1-2 weeks!!

Emma, we will see you soon, baby girl!!

All this room needs is Emma!!!

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Working in Emma's room again...

Since we have to wait some more, we decided to change the windows in Emma's room. We got new trim for her windows, and have one done so far. We still need to hang up the curtain, and we have big old butterflies to put on the curtains too. We'll post new pics when it's done, but here is what the old and new trim looks like...

Old:

New: Still have to put the curtain back up, but notice the centers of the squares, the flowers match Emma's bedding...