Wednesday, September 29, 2010

3 months to the day....

Going into this adoption we had hoped from the very beginning to adopt two children. Biologically related or not. We soon found out that China did not allow for two children to be adopted at the same time. After researching other countries we still felt that we were to move forward with China but maybe we would adopt another one at a later time.

I noticed this little gal’s picture on our agency’s waiting child program maybe a week or two after we were matched with Mason. I’m not sure what caught my eye with her file. Maybe it was that she was the age we put in for (4-8 yrs old), maybe it was the fact that she had a heart condition or maybe it was just the fact that I wanted to see what her sweatshirt had on it. Trivial, but it’s true. She had on this little sweatshirt and I wanted to see what cartoon characters were on it. They were Powerpuff Girls. I look at the waiting children at least 1-2 times a week. Well ok, maybe almost everyday. I found myself always looking to see if my Powerpuff Girl had the tag 'My family has found me'.

Come late August and I’m checking in on the status of Powerpuff and she had a tag. But it wasn’t the tag. It was the tag, 'My file will be returned'. I really have no idea what this means. I’ve heard several different things about what happens to a returned file. People speculate but no one really knows. All I knew was that my heart tugged for her. And it tugged hard for her.

In the last year since I started researching Chinese adoptions I had come across a few blogs of families that had adopted more than one child at a time that were not biologically related. Dan told me to call our agency. I put it off. I for whatever reason was embarrassed to call them. I think there was also some fear of being told no. But I got in touch with one of the families from a blog where they brought home more than one child. She was very encouraging and told me just to call our agency. So yes, I called our agency after some stranger told me I should. Lucky for me Dan doesn’t hold a grudge tooo long. But my waiting paid off. Really, it did. China changed their policy September 1st. If a child is noted as Special Focus, he or she can be adopted simultaneously with another child. Guess who was noted as Special Focus? My Powerpuff Girl.

I’m gonna speed this story up a bit. We went ahead and put in our letter of intent realizing that it could still not happen. The policy was fairly new so who knew what was going to happen. We prayed and then submitted Powerpuff girl and the whole situation to God. We were both so truly at peace with whatever the outcome would be. It was one of the very few times I can truly say I turned it ALL over to God.

So back to the title, 3 months to the day. We got pre-approved for Mason on 6/28. Our faithful Father in Heaven answered our prayers and we were pre-approved on 9/28 for our little Powerpuff Girl. I'm still in a state of shock. Two. We are going to go to China and will come home with TWO! Just as we had hoped and just as God had promised.

And without further ado……

Reagan Joy Qingqing
Chinese Name: Qing Qing (meaning clear blue)
Date of birth: 3/3/06
She is originally from Henan, the same province as Mason, but is currently at the incredibly amazing New Day Foster Home in Beijing.





The picture that started it all. Thank you Powerpuff Girls.

To read a bit more about our little gal, check out New Day's blog:
http://newdayfosterhome.blogspot.com/search/label/Raegan

I can't wait to meet you Reagan Joy!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Introducing Our Son...




Mason Gui Charles







Chinese Name:
Wang Gui
Wang (surname)
Gui (meaning precious or valuable)
Date of Birth: 8-16-02
Orphanage: Shangqiu City Liangyuan District Social Welfare Institute
Henan Province
Weight: 55 pounds
Height: 47 inches


After just four days of sending in our letter of intent to the CCAA we have been pre-approved to be the lucky parents of this precious boy. I/we fell in love with with the close up picture of him but when I opened the second one of him holding the cabbage I laughed out loud and knew he would fit right in with our quirky silly family. We have a son waiting for us. Son. I like the sound of that.
Mason Gui, it's only been a day but my heart is bursting with love for you.