Linzhi Rose

Hello friends, I've been MIA for a bit...Lots of stuff happening here. I'm writing this evening about our Linzhi Rose or sweetly known as "Lu Belle." Last Wednesday, we went for our appointment at Shriners Hospital in Chicago to get the ball rolling for Linzhi's first tendon release surgery on her left arm. It's always amazes me how God works things out. In my little fretting moments, I was thinking "what if Linzhi has surgery the week before we leave for China?" or "Will we have to reschedule her surgery because of China?" I knew the timing was going to be close but of course, God knows best. So the reason I'm sharing all this is because of the way Shriners system works. Linzhi's amazing Dr. L is booked out two months for surgery so our "original" appt. to get on the list was set for April 2nd. Now, if he's booked out two months that would mean surgery would happen mid-June if everything went as planned. I'm *guessing* we may travel July/August???? So thinking how close it would be, I was on bended knees asking God to give me supernatural wisdom and obedience so I could relax and remember HE has this all worked out, we just have to wait to see how He works it out. I do, I really do trust Him, I don't want to let Him down. I also know through experience that He does test His flock to see how far you will hang on to Him through Joyful times and not so joyful times. I was fearful of leaving my sweet baby, fresh out of surgery to travel across the world from her as she recuperates from a painful surgery. But of course, God revealed a different plan. Two weeks ago I had a message from Shriners scheduling asking us to come in on March 17th instead of April 2nd! WHAT?!?!? Almost three weeks earlier!!! We were thrilled beyond belief! So Lu Belle is on the wait list, we are waiting for surgery scheduling to call us so we can get on the calendar for mid-MAY!!! So unless God sends us our LOA super fast we should be able to have Linzhi recuperated and out of hard casting before we leave to get our Madelyn. Sometimes I think God looks down on me and shakes His head thinking, "My Amy, when will you relax?" =)

Please help to bring Drew and Jaxon home!!!!

My sweet bloggy friend Mandy and her husband Matt were in the process of bring their little guy Drew home when God put it on their hearts to bring another son home. Their new son Jaxon is at the end of the line for finding a forever home. He will turn 14 very soon which means he will "age out" and not be eligible for adoption. WE CANNOT LET THAT HAPPEN! Mandy and Matt are working every effort to raise additional funds to travel to China VERY SOON. Will you help??? If you can give ANYTHING it will help change the lives of these sweet treasures. Click the picture of sweet Drew and it will direct you to her site. God bless and Thank you!!!

My very proud Chinese-American girl!!!

My sweet little girl LOVES to say the Pledge of Allegiance so I just had to get it on video to share. Linzhi has come such a long way with the English Language. We are proud of her!! Enjoy a little bit of my sweetie!!!

The count down begins...

We are LID!!!!!!! I am sooooo excited to finally be posting this! Our official date is 3-11-10!

PRAYING for a speedy LOA! We only waited 45 days for LOA with Miss Linz....I sure would love that sweet favor again!!! (just sending the big guy a hint...)

WHOO HOOO!!!!!

Just what this mama needed!

I am falling in love with her more and more everyday. I am not living in la-la land, I know there will be many hiccups adopting an older child BUT after the major drama we went through for 5 1/2 months getting our approval there is NO way I am going to doubt for one minute this child is not meant to be ours. I can already picture her here with us!! My hubby and I, lovingly refer to our girls as "fuzz heads" because of their hair in the morning. I just can't wait to have three "fuzz heads" here in my arms. GOD IS AWESOME!!!!! I needed this little glimpse of my daughter, I needed to see her with the flowers, Mulan doll and Hello Kitty back pack (filled w/goodies) her FOREVER family sent her. I sent the flowers through Adele Check her out, she is a God send to our family!

I'm sure we're LID by now, we're just waiting for the date of log in so technically, I'm counting down to LOA. I will let you know when we get our actual LID. A gal I met that shares the same timeline with me told me she was told July (ish) for travel. YAY!! Enjoy the pictures of our Madelyn.

Wishing...

It's not easy to wait. I wish our Madelyn was here. I'm composing this post and in the backyard I can hear the girls giggling with their daddy. I think of her all the time, CJ too. Right now, she's probably fast asleep and hopefully will wake up to her special delivery of flowers and fruit from her forever family afar. A delivery means PICTURES!!!! I LOVE getting the digitals back and the current measurements. We always note how big she's getting before our eyes. March 3rd will mark one year since we placed eyes on our eldest daughter. ONE YEAR! Boy, time flies and this time of waiting for LID, LOA, TA...will go fast too. I guess it's just one of those days... Sigh.

Happy Valentine's Day and the winner is....

I haven't posted many pictures lately because I misplaced my Canon PowerShot, well I happily found it, so I'm now back in business altho, I still can't find the battery charge and now the battery light is flashing, I guess I could pull out CJ's big Canon Rebel (big to me and yes, it takes better quality pics), but I prefer my little blue PowerShot. Anywho, below are some pictures of the girls and me making homemade valentine's. This is the first year the girls were able to bring some to school so we decided to go all out. I'm not super crafty but my little girlies love to do crafts so I frequent Hobby Lobby often. Thank God for pre-packaged crafts with a sample!!! :)

Hopefully soon, I'll have some new pictures of Madelyn. We sent her a flower bouquet and a fruit basket plus, I paid extra for some digital photos of our girl. It's such a relief to finally be DTC! I'm praying we are back from China before June, I know, I know it's a looooong shot but I would really like to keep Linzhi's surgery from being rescheduled. I know all the little details I fuss about are already taken care of so I'll just pray for wisdom and patience because I know Madelyn will come home AND Linzhi will be able to have her surgery at the right time. You know the story "God giggles when WE make HIS plans" (or something like that???) One thing I am so happy about is NOT traveling to China in the winter months. We did for Linzhi and it was hard at times because she hated the hotel room but it was too cold to take her outside for fresh air because of the cold. Guangzhou was even a little chilly when we were there so this time I am looking forward to warmer weather for sure. Last night I jokingly commented to CJ..."I think I'm going to start some preliminary packing for China...His response "OK". LOL...I think he's excited too!

Below are some pics of us making our Valentine's PLUS, a picture of my 200th post giveaway prize. BLESSINGS!
The winner of this pretty little plaque is.... Barbie @ Leaving Footprints!!! I just love Barbie! I've followed both of her adoption journeys and I gotta tell you, she has inspired me!!!! Congratulations!

Yes, Linzhi is still in her PJ's (she's off on Thursdays) and Yes, she's being a stinker and refuses to look at her daddy for a picture.

Daddy and Rachel with some of the finished Valentine's (and no the pictures aren't in order).

More completed Valentine's from Miss Rachel.

Rachel with another finished and Mama with her "sample"

Working hard on all the details.

Mama wrangling Linzhi in to sit still so she can make her Valentine's too.

Happy Crafters!

HAPPY VALENTINE"S DAY!!!!!