ONE YEAR!!!!

One year! One year since I saw my baby girl for the very first time. One year since I held her in my arms. One year since I discovered my baby was going to take a lot of love and patience before she would even tolerate me. One year later and we are still completely smitten with love for our little Adalynn.

One year since our amazing China trip. One year since we met our travel buddies and formed lifetime friendships with them. One year since our amazing-better than anticipated adventure.

What a difference a year makes. Adalynn has blended in PERFECTLY with our family. All of us absolutely adore her, and can't imagine our family without her. It feels good to be together, to have everyone in one country, one home, one family. It was a strange feeling before she came home. Knowing that our daughter was born, that she was somewhere in the world being cared for by someone, but not us. When we adopted Eli the process was quick..not without bumps..but it was fast. From the time we sent in our paperwork until we traveled home with Eli was only 7 months. With Adalynn we originally entered back into the Ethiopia program, eventually switching to China, and then waiting. The process of finding our daughter was really 24 months. Two years, of our family in limbo waiting for the 4th piece to the puzzle. Now we feel pretty complete.

Daddy or ("Nana" as she calls him) is still her favorite. But, I am a close second, and I enjoy every minute of being with her. Alydia thinks that Adalynn is the best sister she could have hoped for, Landon adores her, and Eli is very tender with Addie. We love everything about this girl. Her personality, her spunkiness, her laugh, the funny things she says, the way she dances, the way she cuddles. We even love that she is absolutely a "Daddy's Girl."

If I think too long about the 19 months of her life we missed it really makes me sad. I think back to the moment she was abandoned, just hours old, I think about who wrapped her in the blanket. Did they kiss her on the forehead? Who choose the perfect place? The safest place, in front of a hospital, to leave her to be FOUND. Yes, our Adalynn was abandoned, but I BELIEVE with my whole heart she was never forgotten. Not forgotten by her birth parents, not forgotten by her foster parents, not forgotten by the ONE who created her. Weeks after she she was found, the orphanage placed an ad in the newspaper with her picture. While she was unclaimed, she was never unwanted. She was wanted, prayed for and chosen by us. How grateful I am to the cleft lip and palate that made it possible for her to be our daughter. How blessed we are to have the privilege to raise her.

If you have missed out on our blog or adoption story, feel free to read back through our China posts, and the "Worth It" post about the rocky start Adalynn had with me. It's been amazing and absolutely positively worth every moment!

 Oh What a difference a year makes!!!

 My First moment with my little Adalynn.

This was on the first night. She stopped crying the moment her daddy took her. And still hasn't changed. Look at the above picture, she is still a little possessive.


 

Happy Birthday Adalynn!!!!!

Happy Birthday Adalynn,
Look who is 2 and loving the attention! What a blessing it is to celebrate this day with our precious girl. April 24, 2011. The day our baby was born. April 25th, 2011 the day she was left to be found. Oh my heart!

I can't believe that it has been only 5 months that we have had the privilege of parenting this perfect daughter for our family.

I can't help but, wonder if her birth mother thinks of this day. I can't imagine the heart wrenching decision she had to make, one that so many other women in China, have to make. I wonder if she was shocked by her daughter's physical appearance, I wonder if she was scared, and saw it as a curse. I wonder if she wanted to keep her baby, but, could not stand the stigma it would bring. I wonder if she wanted a girl but NEEDED a boy. I wonder if offered only one opportunity to have a child, if she needed that child to be perfect. I wonder if she considered the risk to herself if she was caught leaving her baby. I wonder if under the same circumstances I would have done the same thing, and if I would have had the courage to follow through. Oh how grateful I am to be on this side of the story.

But, most of all I am so grateful, to have THIS daughter as my own. I am so grateful to her birth mother for her brave decision. In China, there are over 13 million abortions every year, and that is only what is recorded. Cleft lip and Palate can be identified on an ultrasound, so how grateful I am that Adalynn's birthmom either did not have an ultrasound, or CHOSE to give life to her baby despite her birth defect. Praise God, who loves Adalynn and her birth mom, who offers a hope and a future for all, even in China.

She must have known she could not have much time with her baby, as a cleft baby cannot nurse. She had to be quick, she needed a plan. I wonder what she thought as she wrapped her baby, my sweet daughter, in a red floral blanket. I have to think the gesture was out of love, as the red cloth in Buddhist tradition means, "go well and good luck." She took great risk to leave her baby in a very public place right outside of a hospital on the side walk. I wonder if she came in the night. I wonder how long my sweet girl was alone. I wonder if her birth mom waited to see someone find her. I wonder if she counted the seconds, the minutes. After a child is abandoned, China issues an add in the paper looking for someone to claim the child before they can place the child for adoption. I wonder if her birth mom, waited and saw the announcement in the paper, I wonder if, as I have a copy of that announcement, she has a copy too.

I look back at what we were doing on April 24 2011. That day I emailed Matt, telling him that I thought we should transfer out of the very unstable Ethiopia adoption program and go China special needs. His exact words, were "No, I want to go back to Ethiopia, NOT China, and whatever we do I don't want a baby!" Oh the irony of it all. Especially, that he absolutely adores her, as we all do. We also absolutely love having a "baby" in the house! I find myself really sad that she is turning 2. I want to push pause, she is growing up too fast. I feel like I have missed so much of her little life, oh how I long to have had held and loved my "baby" when she was indeed a "baby."

One thing is for sure, even with her strange favoritism for daddy, I love this little girl. The same that I would have loved her if I carried her for 9 months and gave birth to her. She is my daughter. Adoption is not always "love at first sight" often love comes much later. But, I loved this girl from the time I saw her across the room as we entered, I loved her in the whirlwind "gotcha day" of rejection, followed by much, much more rejection.

 Here she is rocking out on her new Barbie Microphone!

 I love that when she smiles really big, her eyes disappear!

 Nightly tradition, cookies, and ilk with daddy! Tonight it is mini smores cups, something a little special for the birthday girl!

 Posing in one of her new night gowns from grandma! This is the only pose, where she wasn't exposing her diaper!

Adalynn loved opening her gifts! She was so excited about this dress from Aunt Terri that she insited on wearing it Monday morning, refusing the clothes I had out for her and she went to get this! 

Adalynn playing on the ipad..and yes, she can totally operate it, while Matt works on his laptop.

 Adalynn can now sing Happy Birthday along with us. Which is adorable cute with her limited ability to form words. She enjoyed her birthday just as much as any other 2 year old would.

Last year on her 1st birthday she was in the hospital having her cleft lip repaired in China. We are grateful that she we got to celebrate her 2 birthday this week! Next Thursday May, 2nd she has surgery at Riley Hospital to repair her palate. She will need more surgeries, but, this should be the last for a while! We are anxious to have her palate repaired but, are not looking forward to this surgery at all.

China Medical Exam!

The last round of appointments were in Guangzhou China, about a 3 hour flight from Lanzhou. Guangzhou is in Southern China, and the climate is similar to Florida, so we were really glad to get there, and ditch all of our eskimo gear! Guangzhou is a big city, and much more diverse, than Lanzhou.
Our hotel was fabulous! Our accommodations in Gansu province were rough. But, not the case at the Guangzhou Marriott! We had a beautiful room, and for the 1st time in our trip, a shower where the water actually got hot, and a toilet that didn't have a gross smell. The breakfast buffet was amazing, and in the hotel many of the staff spoke English.

Being in Guangzhou felt like a vacation complete with lots of adventure! I will share those adventures later, and let me tell you THERE ARE STORIES!

On our first full day in Guangzhou, we had to go for Adalynn's embassy medical exam. Everyone adopting from any province in China ends up here. I bet there were 100 kids being adopted, most staying in our hotel. Some of this busy day seems like a blur now, I couldn't tell you what the building looked like on the outside, but, it was pretty impressive inside. The part that really gets me, is just how emotional this day was for everyone. To look around at all of these families who were adopting, and all of these precious children. Some were babies, some were older kids. Some had mild needs and some with very severe needs. We saw kids with Downs Syndrome, kids missing appendages, a couple kids that were missing their ears, many with unrepaired cleft lip, which admittedly can be a little shocking if you haven't seen it before. There was one little girl who had her feet strapped to some sort of board. There was a little girl about 8 who had one leg and foot that was only about 6" from her hip the other leg was normal but, when she would walk she would have to squat down and walk in an almost seated position to accommodate both legs, but, when she would stand she would be regular height as she would stand on her "normal" leg, I can't help but, think what American orthopedics can offer her, and the wonderful improvements to her life and mobility that will take place with her new family.

You can imagine with 100 kids, and families to match, just how loud and hectic it was. Many of the families were not American, so we heard many languages in the noise. Mandarin, French, German, Spanish, English, and at the same time in the same space. There were parents trying to calm there new children, and some families devastated to learn that the needs of their child were much more significant than they had planned. Babies and toddlers who were screaming, (none louder than mine though:) Older kids who just looked terrified. There were parents of all ethnicities, all different backgrounds. And everyone was here to make a home and family for an orphaned child. To say..LIFE MATTERS, wanted, unwanted, planned, unplanned, healthy and with "defects", here, there, anywhere, LIFE has worth and a purpose, and every child deserves the unconditional love of a family.

"I will not leave you as orphans..I will come to you." John 14:18
This medical appointment for me was probably the clearest and purist time I have seen this verse demonstrated. It was the perfect illustration, of God's redeeming love and the way He adopts each and everyone of us, "defects and all."

 For your viewing enjoyment, our Adalynn and her dislike of everything, and everyone other than her daddy!

 At the appointments, they took her weight and height, we saw a ENT doctor a general doctor and a surgeon for the kids who had done or needed surgery. I am pretty sure this was just a formality to make sure the kids didn't have any communicable diseases before there Visas were issued, as the appoitments were not very thorough. The doctors and nurses spoke little to no English. Matt had tried to ask about a strange rash that Adalynn had, but, I told him to give up, we would deal with it when we got home. She was OURS rash and all!

 Teri playing "Peek" with little Samuel. In Mandarin "BOO" means NO. So Peek-a boo, just becomes Peak!:)

 3 boys getting their new sister! Wow! Little Jasmine is in for an adventure!

 More confirmation! If you want to know the significance that Mickey Mouse is to our family, you can read back to my blog post entitled, "Mickey Mouse Confirmation."

 Bless Shari! I am sure she is trying to communicate the word, "behave" to little Hannah, and Hannah is probably replying in Mandarin "Beeyet" which means "I don't want to" one of her favorite phrases, that had the rest of our group laughing all of the time..not so funny for poor Shari!

 Yes, this picture is on her visa! I will have to post the close up version later, it is hillarious, and so typical of those 1st weeks with Adalynn!

 Finally, over..for this day!

Thank You!

It has come to my attention that I have not publicly acknowledged how thankful and grateful I have been for all of the care and concern for our family both while we were China and when we returned home. I meant to say it more, but, then I got busy, I got tired, I got LAZY! Please forgive me!

Thank you. It took a village to bring this little girl home while leaving our 3 other children behind. You know who you are!  Thank you for bringing my kids home from school, for taking them to Bible quizzing, for bringing a meal, for dropping off freezer meals. Thank you for providing the extra care and concern the kids required. Thank you for the prayers and the encouragement throughout this journey. Thank you to the great babysitters we had stay at our house. Thank you to whoever cleaned my oven!!! You remain an anonymous angel from heaven! Thank you for following my crazy schedules and my crazy lists. Thank you to Matt's partner and co-workers that held it all together at work and made it possible for him to be gone so long!

Thanks to Terri and Cindy for the excellent care they provided while we were in China. Yes, while we were on a 2 week vacation THEY held it all together...and for my brood that is no small task. They had the hard job. We are so grateful that they sacrificed their time and energy to invest in our family. They have jobs and families and yet, pushed it all aside to take on this huge task! We are thankful that they were able and willing to accommodate changing cricumstances when things did not go as planned. Thankful that they took off work and made arrangements for everything to run smoothly. Thanks that we felt so comfortable in China and our worries were little since we knew they had it all under control. They deserve praise and recognition.

Thanks to Brooke for posting to my blog after I got "shut down" in China for the "Jesus Reigns" post. Thanks to Brooke for planning a great homecoming. Thanks for getting so many together to make posters. Thanks to all of the people from our Sunday School for writing encouragement on those banners. We will treasure them!

Thanks for the many tasks and many ways that you all encouraged and supported our family! 

Thank you to all who came to our Homecoming at the airport. We were weary, we were tired, and you blessed us! We felt loved and encouraged!

We are so thankful for each and every one of you!