Unexpected Gift

Lucy Love,

Good Morning Love Bug!

Friday morning we woke up to the most precious videos of you that we were not expecting. This was the best unsolicited surprise gift from God that we have received this far in your adoption. We couldn't believe our eyes as we watched you dance and spin and clap an attempt to "sing" along to the music.

In your file, it says that you are growing up "happily and happily" in the orphanage. These videos are clearly evidence of that!

Just can't help but share these screen shots from the videos with all our friends and family so they can see your beautiful face!

On top of that we also got word Friday that we are not far from DTC.. Our Dossier is with the Chinese Consulate in Texas awaiting the final step of authentication before it can go to China! I've been praying for March 1st..so we will see!!

Isn't it Ironic?

Soooo... if you read the post below from last night.. 

I typed this:

"We are waiting so patiently for that biometric approval from Homeland Security. 
Wouldn't it be ironic if it came tomorrow?"

You see, it would be ironic because we started our first Home Study exactly 1 year ago TODAY~~

on Valentine's Day.

And guess what??

It did.

I love it when dates and times line up...

I just KNEW it would come today.

And it did.

Not that God needs to show off.

But He does it just to show~ 

He LOVES Adoption.

And Lucy.

And Us.

And YOU.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'll say it again...

How Great the Love the Father has lavished

on us that we should be called Children of God.

1 John 3:1

All for Love..

Lucy Love,
The table is set for Valentines Day breakfast in the morning..
The grandmas have sent some treats too.
Daddy and I layed out the "Love Big" t shirts from Created for care for the other kids.
You are getting a wild Olive T shirt with matching headband.
I am gonna be drinking coffee from the mug your "aunt Tracie" gave me with the mom/ baby panda.
There are lanterns hanging from the chandelier in your honor.
And your picture is there.
And a little white napkin embroidered with a ladybug just happened to fall out of the linen closet tonight when I was dragging out the decorations.
So we layed it out in front of your picture just for you.
We are not with you yet.
But you are with us and we love you big time.
1 year ago today we had our first Home Study meeting...
That day we were dreaming if you.
Now we see your face.
We are waiting so patiently for that biometric approval from Homeland Security.
Wouldn't it be ironic if it came tomorrow?

" How great the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called Children of God". 1 John 3:1

Chinese New Year

Lucy Love,

We have a new holiday over here.. and we are celebrating it all because of you.
Even though you are far away, you are constantly on our hearts and minds.  Often Daddy and I will hear one of your siblings say "when Lucy comes home, such and such" or "she will do this", "we will do that with her", "she will sit here", " I will share my toys with Woo-cy"

This past week we have been celebrating Chinese New Year with some of our China peeps..

Last Saturday, we drove down with your bothers to Peachtree City, (Zoe was at a friend's birthday party)  to celebrate with some others from our agency.  They put together a night of food, fun, and celebration.  There was a wonderful Chinese meal, a photographer, games and a dragon parade for the kids..

They even took our picture :) We wore some red for China :)

This is our social worker, below~ Bekah Benke.. We were so glad to see her because we miss seeing her now that we are done with our Home Study.  She is our favorite social worker..  LOVE HER~

got to meet her husband and two of her cute sons.. She is a great momma and I can tell she finds humor in things too.. She must, because Henry said a couple of the darndest things and we still passed our home study.  Next time I see her I hope it is at the airport!!

Let's see here are a couple more favorites.. This is Jessica Walker.. 

She is also adopting from China through Lifeline right now.  We met on the Facebook page for Lifeline China families and I finally got to meet her at Created for Care a couple of weekends ago.

She has a son, Jian Jian waiting in China..

So here we are.. two mommas waiting.. 

and not we did not color coordinate on purpose but I think we look pretty cute ;)

Last but not least, here is my friend Andrea, the one that I have mentioned before.. She matched the China families with their children.. what an awesome job.. and she is so good at it.  She facilitated our LOI and gave me the news that we had Preliminary Approval to adopt you.  She cares so much for each momma and it is evident. 

Here she is pictured with most of her family, including little Emma Lael, whom she brought home a few years ago.  What a cutie.. Loved meeting husband Kent and daughter Natalie.. precious family..

Oh and I almost forgot! Our China in country director's daughter wrote the kids' names in Chinese characters and wrote the English translation of how you pronounce their names in Mandarin.

Here are the names for all of our four children.. WOW!! :)

So, that was last weekend.. Then yesterday, we celebrated with our North Metro China families.  

I cannot even begin to tell you what a sweet time this was.  We gathered at Rob and Denise Mc Dowell's house.. he and his wife Denise have two beautiful girls from China.

We had some Chinese food and lots of amazing TEA selections.  There were chinese decorations and the other little girls who are already home from China, dressed in the traditional outfits.  

The women had such a wonderful time visiting inside and drinking hot tea while some of the littles played. The big kids ran around outside while the dads traipsed through the woods and did man stuff.  

At the end, the kids did sparklers and we took pictures. 

My friend Rebecca took this cool picture of our family.. and I am holding out a picture of you so that one day you can see that we celebrated Chinese new year before you came home. 

I mean look at these PRECIOUS China adoptive mommas that the Lord has blessed me with in this season.  All of them new friends that I feel I could have known for much longer.  Part of that Red Thread.  Beautiful women with beautiful hearts.

And here are all the children of those mommas.. 8 out of the 15 pictured here are adopted.  

And really that number is 10 because the picture frames represent two more!! You, Lucy Love, and one more Radicchi who has yet to have been discovered.  But Jesus holds you two in the palm of His hand.

Crazy Babies doing silly.  Love it.  Finn is not amused. 

Until Next year.... 

We're Waiting here for You!!

A taste of Heaven

Lucy Love,

Today your daddy and I came one step closer to holding you. Call me cheesy, but I believe that The Lord gave little winks along the way to confirm that He is with us and for us and for YOU becoming a part of our family.

This morning we had planned to walk in for Biometric Fingerprinting. This will get us the last slip of paper our agency needs in order to authenticate our Dossier and get those documents to China. Daddy asked his men's group to pray and I texted a few adoption Mommas to please pray the security guard would let us in early today as our appointment is not until Friday. Our neighbor, Cynthia, took carpool so that we could get a head start and away we went.

When we arrived at USCIS on collier road, I remembered we couldn't take anything in but out docs and ID. So I slipped a small picture of you into the inner pocket of my coat. The security guard was a super nice guy with a big smile of gleaming white teeth. He let us right in and even joked with us!
After checking in we sat down to wait. Since we didn't have phones to distract us, we took out your picture and just marveled at you. Then they called our numbers. Sparing you all the details, we were in an out in 20 minutes. Daddy did love taking to the Asian man that took his prints. His name was Vo and he was from Vietnam. He asked how many kids did we have already? Sean said 3..and it's a busy life. Vo laughed in agreement and replied ..happy life!

Since we got done so quickly we decided to have breakfast at flying biscuit on Northside. These adoption tasks have provided multiple opportunities for your dad and I to come away and spend a little time together that we otherwise would not have had. This breakfast was a happy time. I sat down and looked at my menu and it read, "A taste of heaven". Lucy, today has felt like a taste of heaven because we have sensed the Lords presence going before and behind us each step of the way.

Next your daddy wanted to take my picture at the restaurant, so he did..and when he showed me my picture there
Was a field of sunflowers painted in the background. My sister, your aunt Bekah, died at age 21 about 5 years ago. Her favorite flowers were sunflowers. She was winking a us. Another taste of heaven.

Then we decided that since we were still so much earlier getting done than wed imagined, that we would run over to CHOA and visit a friend of ours whose little girl Mallory is in the hospital with respiratory distress. There just happened to be a cute toy store there in the parking lot with Flying biscuit so we ducked into the shop and bought Mallory a princess sticker book. While in the store we met a mother who told us that she had adopted her son and he is your same age. So we told her about you.

When we drove into the parking lot at children's, it dawned on me that this is where you will (hopefully) have your cochlear implant surgeries one day!
They have a garden, multiple play rooms, a library, an little wagons where parents can give their kids a ride. I imagined us coming there with you.

When we arrived at the room, My friend Mindy was so excited to see us. She had secretly hoped this morning that someone would come visit her. Not only that, but Mindy was also going to call her mother shortly to ask her to bring - guess what- some stickers!! Had we not gotten through fingerprinting early, we would not have had this opportunity to spread the love. To have breakfast, to be by the toy store, etc etc

Today had been another day for me to see how living and active The Lord is in all the silly little details of our lives.

I am amazed at how even though you are on the other side of the world snug in your bed sleeping right now, you are still touching lives. And above all else, because of you and our preparing for you to come home we are slowing down just a tad and being blessed in more ways than we can count.

I have more to say, but I'm on my way to pick up your (twin) brother Finn from school.
Love,
Mama

Her name and a care package!

 Lu XueChun

I don't know when this picture was taken, but it had to be sometime 

in Lucy's "2's".. as she is 3 now and this picture was one of the first ones taken for her file which was created sometime this past April/May:

Her chinese name is explained in her file:

On admission the staff in this institute named her Lu Xuechun.

Lu is the abbreviated name for Hefei

which is also the uniform surname

for children admitted by this

institute.

Xue means that she is glittering and translucent,

as well as beauty, like a snowflake;

Chun means she is innocence.

When Sean and I first started talking about names for our future daughter last February, we had a couple of conversations about the name, "Love".. we really wanted to incorporate that somehow.

We totally forgot that his grandmother's maiden name is "Love"

After we sent our LOI to adopt "Steffie" on Lifeline's waiting child list, we began talking and praying about her name.  We tossed around several names, but we really liked "Lucille" and "Lucy"

Lucille means "daughter of light"

Our family is also fond of the Chronicles of Narnia..

In "The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe," Lucy is the one who walks through the wardrobe into a new and different world from her own.  She was innocent.. and when she walked into Narnia, it was snowing.  We felt this name reflected her Chinese name, "Glittering, Like a Snowflake, Innocent"

It all sort of fell into place for us and she became:

Lucille Love Kirkland

"Lucy"

Right now as I write this post it is 1am here and around 2pm in Hefei City where Lucy lives.

From what I understand, her care package is supposed to be delivered today.  Long Story Short, the lady who does the shopping and translating had a baby so our package got held up for a couple of weeks.  But on Friday, she sent me an email with choices for the doll and blanket and I got to choose which items she would receive.  Here is a picture of the items and letter telling the nannies that we are Lu XueChun's family and asking if they could please try to let her know...

I am not sure if Lucy has ever received a personal gift before.. something that was chosen specifically and uniquely for her.  I get the feeling that she lives at the orphanage and not in a foster family, but I am not totally sure yet.  So I am imagining that right now she is experiencing that for the first time.

Presents!! The knowledge and hopefully the understanding that someone out there knows who she is and is thinking about her.. I love the happy little doll!.. And a pillow with our crazy picture on it.. I hope she isn't totally confused by that..I mean we look nothing like her or anyone she sees on a daily basis, so I can imagine that if I were her I might be a little scared of us...praying that isn't the case..

  I wish I could be there to see her receive this and see her reaction and try to tell her.. I am your momma!! But for now, I only have my imagination.. and what matters to me is the knowledge that she is the Lord's.  From the day she was born, He has been carrying her in his arms and surrounding her with armies of angels. Long before I even knew she existed, He has loved her and provided people to care for her, and protected her. 

And that is what He continues to do - for Lucy, and for all of us.  

So while the sense of feeling out of control in this situation is new to me, it is not new to him.  It makes me realize how many times I am trusting in my own abilities to care for, to provide for, to protect my children here, how often I think I am in control of a situation, when really the Lord is in control.  

I may not be there right now to see her receiving this, but He is. And He is more than enough.  

That's all I need to know. 

Time is on our side.. yes it is..

Lucy Love,
I have been struggling a little bit today with knowing that it is going to be 8-9 months at this point until we can travel to China to pick you up little one!  Now that there is a face to our daughter it CHANGES EVERYTHING.  But I have also been encouraged to hear SO MANY who have walked this road before, tell us that God's Timing is always perfect in each adoption.  I had been thinking through all of this when I logged checked my email to see that yet another mom from the Hefei group had gone on and offered encouragement of this nature at the exact moment I was fretting over the 9 months we will wait.. Here is what I found in my inbox from someone who does not even know me.. ( am omitting her personal info)

• Laura, I also want to tell you that my hearing-impaired daughter was three and a half when we were matched, four when I met her for the first time. It is a WONDERFUL age to adopt!!! Naturally she was very scared when we met for the first time, but she adapted so beautifully to life in our family! I also have two other daughters from China......Adopting a ten-year-old was easy at first, difficult later on. Adopting an infant was difficult at first (until she slept through the night, LOL!) and easy later. The four-year-old was easy all the way through!
• The wonderful thing about four is that they are young enough to be very adaptable and open to loving their new and forever family. Three is harder - they are almost TOO little to understand what is really happening. A four-year-old has so much more ability to understand and accept the change in their life. I felt as you did, Laura, during that eternally long nine months I waited for my daughter..Now I wouldn't have changed a thing!

  13 he

You are 3 right now and will be close to 4 when we bring you home.  Our estimated wait is 9 months.  I am not expecting that our story will be exactly like hers, but my was this encouragement to me.  Our story does not look the same as anyone else's.  It is our story and the unique timing of it all, although it does not look perfect, is what led us to our perfect match.. YOU! And God is still working out the timeline, but I want to be able to show you one day the series of events that led us to you... Praying that these 9 months will be short for you, that God will restore the time where you did not have this crazy family to hug and kiss and love on you, and that you will bond and attach to your parents and siblings in your time.. That we will have realistic expectations and be patient with you while you figure it all out.. That God in His perfect timing will prepare each of us for your arrival.  We will wait as long as it takes... You are worth it.

March 2011 - Talked with Lisa Kelly (China Adoption Coordinator at Lifeline Adoption Agency)
Jan 2012 - Decided to start the adoption process.. Started with the intention to adopt from UGANDA..
 (you can read our post by clicking here)
Jan 8 2012 - Filled out our First HS application
Jan 11, 2012 - Sean got Fingerprints for FBI
Jan 15-20, 2012 - Painted the Adoption Canvas
Jan 20, 2012 - Laura got Fingerprints for FBI
Jan 20, 2012 - Dr. Form for the Kids completed
Feb 10, 2012- Shared with Friends and Family that we're adopting
Feb 14, 2012, - First meeting with Social Worker from initial HS..
Feb 22, 2012 - GBI Fingerprints taken
Feb 28, 2012 - Requested Copies of Birth and Marriage Certificates
April 11, 2012 - Decided to Switch to China for Adoption, spoke with Lisa Kelly again, she remembered me!
April 17, 2012 - Filled out Official Application with Lifeline
April 20, 2012 - Official Acceptance from Lifeline
May 10, 2012 - First phone interview with social worker, Bekah
May 10/16,  2012.. The window of time the other girls from Lucy's age group were adopted and the Moms visited and took these photos that included Lucy :)
May 30, 2012 - Lucy on the other side of the world, has her physical for adoption file (2 1/2 years old)
June 4, 2012 - First HS visit with Bekah - went so well - we loved her!!
June - August.. - Things got busy, and we grew weary of the paperwork :)
August 12, 2012 - Georgia China travel meeting, Peachtree City - We met Andrea, Amy, and Lily and heard from Karla Thrasher all the details about Traveling to China
August - October 2012 - Lots of visits to Lifeline China's waiting children lists ;)
September 26, 2012 - Second Dr. Form completed for Kids
October 17, 2012 - First Glimpse of Lucy
October 19, 2012 - Discovered that a friend of ours is adopting a little girl from the SAME ORPHANAGE as Lucy - can't wait to share more about this. :)
October 22, 2012 - Stayed up Late into the night gathering and filling out all the LOI documents
October 24, 2012 - All LOI docs in to Andrea, waiting on one clearance before we can send LOI
October 24, 2012- We name our daughter! Lucille Love Kirkland (will share meaning in a sep post)
November 1, 2012 - Lifeline is clear to send our LOI - First day of Orphan Awareness Month
November 1, 2102 - Laura gets blood work for Medical Docs.
November 2, 2012- Sean and I go out for Asian dinner to celebrate and afterwards to Starbucks to knock out our Autobiographies while the kids STN with Grandmother!
Novermber 3, 2012 - Sean and I spend the morning finishing our Autobiographies and head to get Re-fingerprinted for GBI a second time.
November 4, 2012 - Orphan Sunday - We pass out rice and beans at Church, I wear a red necklace because I am carrying Lucy in my heart and praying we will get PA soon..
November 6, 2012 - Get a call first thing in the morning.. WE GOT PA to adopt Lu XueChun "Lucy"
Might I add that this was election day, but the election was about the last thing on my mind ;)
November 7, 2012- We shout to the world that she is ours!!
November 12, 2012 - Order a care package to be sent to Lucy - doll, blanket, candy, pillow with our picture on it.
November 14, 2012 - Individual interviews HS meeting with Bekah Benke
To be continued....

Daddy Getting GBI Fingerprints made 11/3