One Year Ago Today!

It was June 5, 2007, one year ago today that I received " the call." It was Meg our social worker from CAWLI, who left a message to call her back at the office. I started to panic, why would she be calling, is there news?? I called her back, shaking and barely able to speak when she told me " I was just calling to update your file, do you want to keep your name on the special needs/ waiting child list?" I immediately lost all hope, this was just a routine call. I told her to keep our name on the list, we didn't want to change anything, our name had been on the list for a year, we had made the decision a long time ago that we were open to a child that was considered "special needs" and that was the way we felt. The conversation went on and on, again Meg stating " You know you are getting close to a refferal, it could take you longer to bring home a special needs child, are you sure this is what you want to do?" With no hesitation I said "Keep our name where it is." After all that being said, Meg said " well if that is your decision, I have a little girl to tell you about!"
I almost dropped the phone, I couldn't believe it! Meg started to tell me about this 18 month old baby girl, from Nanfeng China. I tried my hardest to listen, control myself, but I couldn't. I was a mess crying, shaking oh my I was a mess! Lu Dan Peng was her name, she had VSD, received surgery and was currently living with a foster Mom. I was then asked "would you like to review her file?" The answer was yes, and that is how this all began.
I can honestly say that day was one of the most emotional days of my life, for some reason I knew it was her, my daughter I had been waiting for! I called Joe barely able to breath, he had no idea what was going on, when I finally spit it out he was shocked! He wanted me to tell him what I knew, which wasn't much at the time but I told him what I could remeber. He then told me I am on my way home, we'll look at everything and then said " Call the agency back tell them we want her." He must have known too, we hadn't seen her picture, had not yet looked at any medical records, it was just right, for some reason everything felt right!

How Sweet Life Is!

I have been away for so long. It seems like life gets crazy and time goes bye so quickly! Everyone is great, the boys are busy as can be and Maggie has transitioned into her new family perfectly. Tomorrow it will be one year, that we got the call from our agency! How amazing this last year has been! I will post tomorrow to recap how our day went one year ago, we are blessed our kids are great!

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Maggie turned two on December 16th!! I am so happy our beautiful girl is here and we could celebrate her birthday together as a family! She had a great time celebrating, her entire family spoiled her, and everything was perfect! She is such a gift, we are so lucky!!!

Maggie Playing with her Birthday presents with big Brothers Patrick and Harrison!

Smile, Pleaseeeee

Do I have to really even have to say anything for this post! I am playing catch up for our blog, and had to include our attempts for the family Christmas card. Let me tell you it wasn't easy, but we eventually managed to get one picture that wasn't half bad!! They are really too funny, of course I wasn't thinking that then, haha

Maggie's first Snow!!

Here is Maggie, checking out snow for the first time! How cute is she! We are pretty certain she has never seen snow before, living in southern China. She didn't seem to mind the snowflakes, and even tried to catch a few!

Photos From Our Trip

Here are some photos from our trip! I also have added some photos of our family the first few weeks home!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Home From China!!!

I have soooo neglected my blog! Let me tell you life is busy with four little ones running around, but I am going to start to get back on track. We have been home from China 8 weeks, and Maggie is adjusting so well. Maggie now speaks 15-20 English words, she eats everything in sight, loves her brothers and to be honest with you, it seems like she has always been with us. She is smart, curious, and seems to be very happy. Her two older brothers Joseph and Harrison are so good with her, they really love her!! Patrick now on the other hand is having a little bit of a hard time, getting use to his new baby sister! He is getting better, I figure time will make things better, we are all still adjusting. China was eye opening, our trip was much more difficult than I ever imagined. Maggie was completely traumatized, and it took her four days to warm up to us. She was so sad and dispondent, I had incredible guilt taking her away from her foster mom. She was very attached to her and she clearly greived her loss. I missed the boys so much, it was one of the hardest experiences of my life. Everything we went through was worth it all, to have our beautiful girl! Everyday I look at her I still can't believe she is ours, God is good, we are so lucky!