Olivia [Bing Bing]Yang Mann

Well, the final day has come-paperwork has been signed, sealed and delievered!!!  How adorable is this precious little gift from God?  She was all dressed up for her big day.  Hope everyone enjoys these beautiful pictures. 

Pictures...Finally!!!! :-)

Here are a few pictures Julie sent our way!!!  I'm not sure what i'm doing so I hope this all turns out ok:-)

We had been back at the hotel for a couple of hours - just getting to know Olivia.  Her precious nanny at the orphanage - had her hair in a single ponytail on top of her head with a bow we had sent in a care package.  It was starting to bother her, so I took it out, and my baby had some crazy hair!! :)...  We all got tickled and then she got tickled and Danny captured this shot!   I will treasure it forever!!!  She has the most precious personality and demeanor.  She is a true gift!

 

 

                                            Julie and Danny at LAX...I think :-)  Before...                                         

                                          ...After!!!  May the memories begin!!!!  This is their 1st picture

                                                                     together at a family!

 

GOTCHA Day has arrived...Olivia, Danny and Julie are ALL together...

Greetings to everyone!  This is Natalie again, posting on their behalf!!!  I received a few text messages from Julie this morning at 4:57 am, the messages were as followed: "We have her!!! It's been a big day for her-she was scared at first...asleep now...finally :-).  She is beyond beautiful, she has smiled a lot, fussed a good bit, too...she's perfect!!!  All she does is make sounds...she eats real Chinese food and I don't know how to make real Chinese food!" :-)  Apparently Olivia loves the name "Bing-Bing" she'll smile to it!!!

Julie is so disappointed that she can't share pictures...I guess this is a great way to keep us in suspense!!!

Congrats to the new mommy and daddy!!!  We love you Danny, Julie and Olivia!! May God continue to bless you all in this new journey!

Update from China

On behalf of Julie and Danny, I am updating their blog...they unfortunately are not able to access the blog.
This was the message Julie sent me earlier:

"We get Olivia, tomorrow [Monday at 10:30 am-China time], but officially recognized as her parents by China on Tuesday, March 29th!!! We will be official once all the paperwork, etc has been completed.  We are most likely going to her orphanage Thursday.  We are SOOO disappointed that we can't access the blog or post or forward pictures.  We fly back to Guangzhou on Friday evening and then remain there until we come back to the U.S!!!"

Let's continue to pray for Julie, Danny and Olivia in midst of this new chapter in their life.  If I get any other updates, I will certainly post them!!!

Sincerely,
Natalie!

Getting Ready for Friday! :)

The packing has begun!!  We have a LONG way to go, but we are officially in the process.
Thankfully my mom is here and helping me A TON!!  Today, we went and grabbed some last minute items and packed Olivia's suitcase.  I feel like I got something accomplished :)...  I can't believe all you have to take for a 14 month old!  My mom said all the bows and shoes were unnecessary, but I totally disagree.  Every girl has to have her bows and shoes to complete an outfit :). 
Now my mom is making a meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and baby lima beans - a southern girls dream dinner from mom.
P.S. Most of you know that Starbucks is my thing (and my entire mom's family as well) - well, tonight my mom found a "coffee-cup" teething ring!!!!!  Can you even believe that?!?!  My mom said it was necessary to start her off right.

Olivia's bag - ready to go!

We were having WAY too much fun!

Her self proclaimed last "grand-dog" hug now that she is about to have 2 granddaughters (my sister Angela is due in July with a little girl too, little Madeline!!!)

Baby on the Way from China :)

We can't believe we get to hold our precious little Olivia THIS week!!!  Yes, this week! :)  We just found out that our "GOT"cha time is 10am, Monday, March 28th :)...  So, that is 9pm CST here in the U.S.  We will finally get to meet the little girl that has captured our hearts forever.  We wonder so many things - what she will look like, what she will act like, who she will cling to first (her mommy hopefully).  We are so curious to know who she is.  We have been praying daily that God will somehow help her know who we are and that we have been waiting JUST FOR HER!!  I want her to know that she has a mommy who will kiss her boo boo's and a daddy who will play tea party with her.  We want her to know that she is LOVED!

It's also definitely starting to look like there is an Olivia on the way!!

Yes, Hunter is excited too!!  He just goes up and sits in Olivia's room :)

Olivia's Shower

As promised, here are just some of the photographs from the wonderful baby tea last Sunday in Alabama.  Thank you so much for coming and expressing your sweet love for our little Olivia!  We already love her so much and we know that you do as well!  I know people say that she is lucky, but we are the lucky ones!!!  God has blessed us with this precious little girl - and in just 1 week from today - we will be at LAX awaiting our flight to China :)...

There were fortune cookies that read "A little girl named Olivia will be arriving soon" (I'm paraphrasing).  They were really cute!!

A painting by Olivia's GiGi

Chinese Newspaper Article

We just got this via email! 
In China, before a child can be classified as an orphan, they must publish a child in the local newspaper where they were found.  If no one claims the baby, then they can officially be put up for adoption.Thanks to another adoptive mom (thank you Angela W.) - we were put in touch with someone who could find the newspaper article Olivia was published in!!  So, we don't know what it says yet, or what specifics it gives, but this is our baby when she was just days old!! :)



I assume she's the sweet baby with the white bonnet

We are coming sweet angel!!  Mommy and daddy cannot wait to hold you and love on you!  You are our precious little miracle and we know you were created just for us!!  We are so proud to be your mommy and daddy and can't wait to tell you all about how God placed us all together!  You are beautiful beyond measure and loved by so many already!  I pray God is preparing you for us right now!!  What a sweet day March 28th will be to us - when we are with you forever!  You have already captured our hearts - now you will fill our everyday with unexplicable joy!!!

New Pictures of Olivia!!

We got home last night from Alabama to the greatest surprise EVER!!!  We had new pictures of our little one :)...  This absolutely made our night.  She looks breath takingly beautiful and we just can't wait to get our hands on her.  I'm going to kiss those little cheeks until my lips fall off :)...


Also, we had just a wonderful baby tea in Alabama!!  Thank you SO much to everyone for coming and showing your love for Olivia!  I hope to have pictures of the tea up by the end of the week.

I mean seriously - how precious is our baby?!?!  I know I'm the mommy, but still... :)

My favorite!!

I think this is a really sweet one of Olivia and one of her nanny's

This will be Danny and I in just 2 short weeks!! :)

This is the first one we saw when we got home and we got so worried about all of her scratches.  Turns out - this was taken when she was 4 months old.  You can tell that she has been taken great care of at the orphanage.  We are so grateful to them for the care and love they have shown to her while we couldn't.

Her Furniture Has Arrived!!

It's finally here and it is beautiful!!!! It is beginning to feel SO real!  And yes, one of the young men who was setting up our furniture turns to me and says, "So, when are you due?"  After Danny and the other guy laughed for a moment awkwardly (as I'm clearly not expecting - or maybe it's not so clear), Danny told the young man that we were adopting.  I laughed jokingly how I was going to get to tell people someone asked when I was due, to which the young man replied, "Well, not everyone gets that big."  So, needless to say, I have skipped dinner tonight!! :)

Here are the pictures of the room so far.  We still need some wall decor!

The letters at the base of the crib are going to go over her crib

"The Masterpiece"

When her chair arrives - it will go on the left side of the table

This is the sweetest gown that my friend from work got Olivia :)...  Thanks Brandy!!!

Olivia's sleep sheep from The Brooks!!  Thank you!! (My sister's in-laws)

Travel Plans Confirmed!!!

We finally have our travel plans confirmed!!! :)  It's less than 3 weeks away!!!  We can't believe it!

Friday, 3/25 - Depart Memphis 1:46pm - Arrive LAX 3:57pm
Friday, 3/25 - Depart LAX 11:30pm - Arrive Guangzhou, China 6am on Sunday, 3/27
Sunday, 3/27 (China time) - Depart Guangzhou 10:10am - Arrive Changsha 11:25am
MONDAY, MARCH 28TH - OUR FOREVER FAMILY DAY!!  (This will be Sunday night in the U.S.)
Friday, 4/1 - Depart Changsha 5:30pm- Arrive Guangzhou 6:45pm
Thursday, 4/7 - Depart Guangzhou 9pm - Arrive LAX 6:50pm
Friday, 4/8 - Depart LAX 8am - Arrive Home to Memphis, TN - 1:41pm!!!!

What a whirlwind!!!  We will leave a family of two and return a family of three! :)

Our Journey - Busy, Busy, Busy

Oh my goodness!!!  How busy life becomes when the day is real and COMING SOON!  We are still trying to finalize our travel plans and should have them complete by today!  Today we are working hard to gather and organize our travel documents and adoption paperwork that we have to take.  Just a few more weekends of our family of two!!!

We will celebrate 8 years together March 15th!!  I can hardly believe it's been that long!  It feels like the perfect time for Olivia to join our family.  We feel so blessed to be the earthly parents of this little girl.  God has poured out His blessing by allowing us to raise this precious little angel.  She is our miracle! 

Please keep Olivia in your prayers as her life is about to be turned completely upside down.  Not only will her nights become her days and her days her nights, she'll leave the only home she's known, leave her country and her people, but she will also begin a worldwind of hospital and doctors appointments.  She will only have 2 nights in her new bed before being wisked off to UAB for her medical assesments and treatments.  I know it will be a crazy time, but it makes this momma feel SO much better to know she will be assessed quickly so the appropriate action can be taken. 

This is our journey, and I pray that you will go prayerfully with us.  In one month from today - we will have Olivia in our arms and the joy we will have in our hearts will be immeasurable (and probably the look on our faces too since we have no idea what to do with her next :) )!!

Let's take a look at her journey so far!!