Month In Review.....

Life has been a whirlwind since we received our referral.  We are in a constant state of planning, planning, and more planning!  Here are a few "Highlights" of the past months.....

 

Here she is...our beautiful baby girl. 

 

One Less.....Caroline Aubrey Ying Conerly

 

I find myself constantly wondering how Caroline is...Is she being held when she cries?  Is she hungry?  Is she loved by her nannies?  Is she rocked to sleep?  Does she have friends she plays with?  Does she ever hear lullabies?  Does she have a stuffed animal to hold and love on?  Does she have any "girly" clothes?  Does she have clean sheets?  Does she have clean clothes?  Do they put sweet lotion on her when they bathe her?  etc., etc., etc.  And......does she have any idea how much love she is about to be surrounded with once she has her new mommy and daddy? We're coming soon, sweet girl!!

 

 

Enjoyed a much needed girls' night out in Tampa with some of my best friends.  We saw the documentary "Stuck"~ It's an eye-opening account of the long term effects children have after being institutionalized.  Here we are with the producer of the film. 

 

Bo and Alan....our pastor at First Baptist Church of Wauchula. Alan has been supportive of our adoption since day one, and he wanted to come over and pray for us and her once we received news of our referral.  He and his family are such a blessing.  We've always loved the name "Caroline."  The Permenters also have a daughter with the same name, so it holds even more special meaning to us!

 

 

Here is Bo slightly overwhelmed during our shopping spree at Target.  It was definitely a different feeling this time while shopping for a baby.....while she isn't growing in my belly, she is growing in my heart!!

 

We celebrated Caroline's 1st birthday on March 23rd! It broke my heart that she was in an orphanage on her first birthday, but I know this will be her only birthday away from her forever family.  

 

We can't wait to have her in our annual Easter picture next year! Brin and Savy pray for their baby sister every night before bed.  They pray that Caroline is warm, and is being loved.  They are going to be such good helpers for Mommy and Daddy!

 

I went out to Will's grave and spent some time there Easter weekend.  Thanks to all of you who help keep his memory alive.  We live everyday knowing that because of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice, we will see our baby boy again.  You will never be forgotten, Will! 



Love at First Sight!

When we first started on this path of adoption, we had decided we would adopt a healthy child.  The wait for a healthy child can be 5-7 years.  We soon decided to switch to special needs (we're not getting any younger, and that seemed like an eternity!!).  The wait is a lot shorter, and it just felt right.  The "Special Needs" shared list is released once a month.  I compare it to a pregnancy test....you hope this is the month for a positive result.  If it's negative, you start praying for the next month, and the next, and the next. I had a really good feeling the day it was released this month (Monday, Feb 25th).  I'm not one who believes in luck, but ladybug sightings mean good luck in the Chinese adoption community.  One of  my students found a ladybug while playing on the playground on Monday, and she brought it to me.  I just knew this had to be a sign from God saying, "Trust me!"  Every quiet time I did this week had to do with praying and waiting.  The following scriptures are what I held on to: "The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect." James 5:16; and "Keep asking, and it will be given to you.  Keep searching, and you will find.  Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9. I also knew my family and friends, who have been our prayer warriors from the start, were praying once again for us.   I just knew this was going to be the month! So, when our agency emailed us late Monday night saying that the site was very "glitchy" and wasn't able to make a match, needless to say I was once again devastated.

With that being said, our family has some very exciting news to share! We have been waiting for two years and two months to be able to say this.....We have a referral for a baby girl from China!! We received the email late Thursday night, but I didn't see the email until very early Friday morning.  We fell in love with her immediately!! We felt immediate peace while reading and reviewing her file, and looking at her precious pictures.  We woke Brin and Savy up to show them a photo of their new baby sister.  She is only 11 months old now, and she'll be turning one March 23rd.  I can't stop smiling!  I am absolutely thrilled that the Lord has chosen us to be her mommy and daddy, and has picked us to handle any special needs she may have.  

We've submitted a letter of intent to our agency to pursue this little girl.  Once we have Pre-Approval from China, we'll be able to share her name and photo.  God is so good!

Our Blog Debut

I am so excited about our blog! Becky at The Cutest Blog on the Block has helped for the past month designing....tweaking.....adding......deleting......tweaking......until we came up with this! Our blog is the fastest and easiest way to get the word out about our adoption process!  Stay tuned for more updates.

Meeting Hannah Ruth

We realized very soon after we decided to adopt from China that we are drawn to adoption stories, and we love talking to and reading about other couples who have traveled down this path. We have a good friend at church who was attending her class reunion, and one of her classmates was also coming in for the weekend to attend the reunion.  Their baby-sitter fell through for their weekend getaway, and we're so glad! We had a nice visit with the Culps, and their daughter, Hannah Ruth.  Lori and her husband were a wealth of information for our inquisitive minds, and they were so encouraging.  Hannah Ruth spent time watching Savy's softball game, and playing with Brin.  Hannah Ruth loves taking dance lessons, but she LOVED watching Savy's softball game.  She taught Brin and Savy how to say a few words in Chinese, and they showed her how they could say "Happy New Year" in Chinese (they both learned this in their kindergarten class).

Drum Roll Please!

Kelly and I are so excited to announce that we have sold a little over 100 Show Hope shirts! We feel so much support from our families and friends, and feel extremely blessed!! Let's keep those orders coming!

We had the opportunity a couple weeks ago to speak to a women's Bible study group at our church.  Their group is reading the book "When Women Say Yes to God." We were honored to share our stories with this group of women (Girlfriendz for God), and we know they'll be praying for our journey every step of the way.  We are so happy that we said "Yes to God!"

Telling Brin and Savy About Their Sister

When Bo and I decided that we were really going through with the adoption, we wanted to take the kids out to dinner to tell them about our decision.  I wanted everything perfect! I had borrowed the book "Choosing To See" from a friend, and had already given the book back to her. I wanted to buy the book, so that we would be able to tell the kids about the book, and also to show them photos of little girls who would look very similar to their sister, Caroline.  We headed up to Lakeland, and thought for sure that Target would have the book.  After searching down the book aisles for several minutes, I left feeling discouraged.  I am one who looks for signs when making a decision, and this wasn't a good sign.  However, when leaving Target, an asian family was walking in! I could almost hear the Lord saying "Ye of little faith...." We then went to Lakeside Village....thinking that Books-A-Million would carry the book.  I looked for the book for atleast 20 minutes, and had a sales clerk looking for me as well. After looking in their computer system, she finally found the book for me.  We then took the kids to Chili's for dinner to tell them all about the new Conerly adventure.  They were very excited, and loved looking at photos of the adorable Chapman girls. 

The next day, we went to visit my family in Avon Park.  Savy wrote a sweet note to them to tell them about her new sister.  The note read "My mommy is having a Chinese baby, and her name is Caroline." I laughed when I saw the note, and immediately explained what the note meant. :)

The "A" Word

Adoption is something I've thought about now for some time...."thought" being the key word here.  I always thought it was wonderful for those families who were called by the Lord to adopt, but it just wasn't for us. 

I have always wanted three children, so when I was pregnant with Will, I had the idea that my perfect family would be complete.  I always wanted my son to be the oldest, a daughter to be my second (so that she could be the "princess" of the family), and another son to be the youngest.  Will was born on September 26th, and went into the arms of Jesus on August 29th, 2008.  Will's body had several needs and he endured much during his short time on this Earth, but he taught us so much during that short time.  One important lesson was that we can't plan our lives.  We can't plan this picture perfect family with a picture perfect ending.  When everything is perfect in our lives, then where is there room for God? We learn and grow through life's ups and downs.  He also taught us to smile during the hard times.  Will had a feeding tube, a trache, and open heart surgery; yet through it all, he always seemed to have a smile for his family, his many visitors, doctors and nurses.

Will has been with Jesus for a little over 2 1/2 years, and the question "Are you going to have another child" has come up a lot.  After testing by a genetesist, we found that Will's disorder was genetic.  We've prayed about whether or not we should have another child, but have come to the realization that we're getting older, and the thought of a pregnancy, nursing, lack of sleep, etc. sounds exhausting.  For quite some time now, I've heard the word "adoption" here and there, but kept pushing it aside.  Well, I've learned very quickly that when the Lord is calling you to be obedient, it is very hard to ignore him.  We hear the word adoption in movies, television, magazing covers and articles, radio programs, at church, etc.  I had also heard of close friends adopting on facebook, and close friends here in Wauchula had also mentioned that they were praying about adoption.  We even had a "Ladies Night" at our church recently, and our guest speaker, the one and only Sandi Patty, had shared her story about how they adopted their son, "Sam."  The "A" word has been everywhere, and it's been very hard to ignore! I'm so happy that we listened to Him, and have stepped out in faith in the journey of Adoption!!