Red Couch Photo Day

These are a couple of photos from "red couch photo day". It is a tradition for adoptive families to take a photo on the red couch at the white swan hotel. Our group photos were not very good and Amelia was in a terrible mood that day. She didn't like the traditional Chinese outift. No worries, I will retire this outfit after we get home!

We leave on Saturday night U.S time so please pray for safe travel for our family. Thanks so much for writing on our blog. It really helps us to know that people are praying for us.

Another update

Sorry the updates have been so delayed. We have been very busy and Internet connection is very slow. Amelia would never allow us to get on the computer during her waking hours!!!!
Please send prayers for our little sweetie. She has visited the Doctor several times since we got her. They kept trying to say she had a cold, but I knew from the day we got her something was wrong with her breathing. Yesterday she had what appeared to be an acute asthma attack. Fortunately we were able to get her to the doctor in time to get a breathing treatment. She has another scheduled for today and hopefully they will do another before we leave.

She is in otherwise good health and believe me she has been checked many times. Her clinic visit had her weighing in at a whopping 15.8 pounds and 27.5 inches. She is free of any infectious disease that we know of. We think she had a bad cold before we got her that led to this bronchitis. Most likely she had underlying asthma. We will get that checked as soon as we get home!!!!!!!


The weather in Guangzhou is amazing. It is subtropical and if you could drink the water, and my family was close by, I could live here. This is the first place we have been that you could leave the hotel without a group and it be considered safe. We are so anxious to get home!!!!

Amelia has made several gains physically since we got her. She has already gained weight. She could eat 24/7! She can stand easier, she holds her head up better, she doesn't use her head as her second hand as much when trying to stand. We are so blessed. This child is a great match for our family. Thanks for the prayers.

Our little sweetie!

Here are a few pictures to get things started. We aren't the best photographers but we are getting a lot of practice. She seems to be trying to bond with both of us. Brian gets the cold shoulder every now and then but when she is in the mood, she really likes to play with both of us. She prefers I feed her, she fights sleep like nothing I have ever seen, they said she likes bathing but changing her clothes or diaper or bathing is like trying to give a cat a bath!!!!
I can't say for certain how much she weighs. She is as we thought, 12 months in size if it shrinks and 9 months if it doesn't. I have been obsessed with how much she will weigh (It is a job related thing). A bottle is the way to get her in better spirits. When she smiles, she really cheeses and she has about 3 teeth in the front!!!!
The experience is sureal! Having somebody need me for everything is so very different. We are just trying to let her go at her own pace (except for the bath!)
She really is protective of her hand. She is able to do much more than I expected. She can't walk and her balance is not great, but she can stand by pulling herself up and has made a few gains in the past 16 hours!

Thanks for the prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Beijing

So for nothing exciting to report. We obviously made it to Beijing. Tomorrow we head to Zhengzhou and Monday we get Amelia!!!!! This trip has been quite an experience so far. We are traveling with some great people! There is such a large age difference and needs difference in the children we are all adopting.
For me the plane travel was a big hurdle. I am not going to say I jumped it because I still have 4 flights left!
We have been very careful with what we eat, but that hasn't seemed to be effective.... I am in awe of my surroundings. Brian is great with foreign travel. Not much else to say. We are just waiting for Monday!!!! Thanks for the prayers. We need them, and at times I can feel them!!!!

A little update...

We haven't heard anything about when we are traveling yet. We did get some updated information today. We were pretty excited to get anything. They didn't send any new pictures but we will take what we can get. New measurments are 17.2 pounds 27 3/4 inches, 3 TEETH! and it just said "healthy". Tomorrow is her 1st birthday. While we would love to be able to celebrate that with her, we will make all that up to her once we get home. For now we are comforted to know that she is doing well.
Her official Name is Amelia Eleanor Li Yun

Thanks!

Thanks to my Mom and Dad for giving up their weekend to help us get Amelia's room together. I had no idea how much work I had to do! Who knew hanging wall letters was so difficult? We are very pleased with how her room turned out and really appreciated the help. It felt so good to be able to celebrate.

Introducing Pu Min Chen (Amelia)

We are so very grateful to announce the referral of our daughter Pu Min Chen (Amelia Eleanor) she will have a chinese name too, but we haven't decided on that yet.
She was born on Nov. 12 2008 in the Henan Province of China. We have no idea when we will get to bring her home. We are hopeful it will be soon!

We don't have words to express our Joy. We recieved PA today. It has been really hard not to post this for the past 28 days! We are so blessed and cannot wait to complete our family.

Emotional Roller Coater

The past few weeks have been a little rough to say the least. I think that about sums it up.

Another little anniversary.....

I had a really hard time choosing a picture for this post. I finally decided on something that looked calming because that is what I really need at this time.
Today marks three years of starting the adoption process for us. We never imagined that three years into this, we would still be at the beginning.

As usual I type a long, revealing entry and then delete it. If I told my true emotions, I would have to admit them to myself. At this time, I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me from many different directions. I will leave it at that.

Trying to stay positive....

The past couple of weeks have been a little rough. The adoption process is much more difficult than I ever imagined.

Working in a rehabilitation hospital, I have the good fortune to be reminded of how blessed I truly am on a daily basis. I think this helps me forget about the "little things". Having reasonably good health, and a supportive family are two of the most important things in life. I have those, and I am blessed.

I could go on and on about how difficult it is to wait, but I am reflecting on some of the things I have seen at work just today and can instead say, how difficult it would be not to have something so wonderful to wait for.

I often think I am sad or worried about the adoption. I am often reminded of what it really means to have no hope. I am so grateful to be full of hope.

I saw this on another blog I follow and had to borrow it (Thanks Ashley!)
This has been floating around blogland, and I just had to add it to my blog. If this wait wasn't so heartbreaking, I'd be laughing.

* You know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways
* You've been expecting a baby for over 3 years
* You understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world
*You've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S
*You know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes
*Your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4)
*You never know how many days next month will have
*You know that babies come in batches
*You've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime
*You automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl(most of the time)
*You own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big).
*You look twice when you see a lady bug
*You know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months
*Your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years
*You know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather
*You've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed. Trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles
*When you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals

And finally...You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Okay they say no news is good news but that isn't always true. We have recently come to the conclusion that every month that passes, we don't really get any closer. Every time we talk to the adoption agency, the adoption news gets a little less promising. We are still hopeful that we will get a referral. We are not optimistic that it will be anytime soon. We are very discouraged, but we will get through it.

On a positive note, we found out Brian's brother will return from Afghanistan in early March. We can't wait until he gets back home with his family.

Best wishes to all.

Melody

Happy New Year

Here's to a happy and healthy 2009 for all of our friends and family.