The Treasure is worth the work

WOW!  Have we forgotten how much goes into the adoption process.  I don't say this to discourage anyone from doing it b/c it is much like childbirth - once you get the treasure - you forget everything else before :).

We are almost finished with our home study and hope to have it complete by the end of next week.  My I-800a (which allows us the approval to get our biometric fingerprints) and has already been mailed to our agency awaiting the finalization of the home study.  We then hope to expedite based on Zou, Chun Lei's medical condition.

We are visiting with family in Alabama and having a great time with cousins.  Can't wait to have my 3 girls home.  God has given some sweet whispers along the way confirming our path - for that I am grateful.  I have prayed for his confirming whispers b/c I know what we are doing is scary.  We are afraid in the flesh but know who holds tomorrow!  He loves her even more than we already do and we take comfort in that knowledge.

We have not officially decided on her American name but we are in the deciding days.

One more sweet picture :)

God's Precious Gifts - We are being blessed again

Okay - so it's official!  I am worst blogger EVER!  Why doesn't anyone ever tell you how busy life is with children?  Working or stay at home - doesn't matter!  I've done both now and I can tell you - life is BUSY! 

I think I recently posted that Danny, the girls and I are back in Hernando, MS.  We are happy.  Life is good!  Life is perfect!  My mom lives with us which is such a blessing, we have a church family that feels like REAL family in Longview Point Baptist Church.  2 girls, a 17 year old dog, house full of toys - life is good...  Life is comfortable.  I think God has such a sense of humor sometimes :)

Right in the midst of our comfort - God has changed things up.  Danny and I both desired to adopt Olivia in the beginning of our marriage.  Granted we waited 8 years to do it, but we always knew we wanted to.   After we adopted Olivia, we wanted to wait to until after her heart surgery so we could fully devote ourselves to her.  Not long after her surgery - we found out Miss Evelyn Elle was on the way the coming August.  What a joy she has been to our family.  What a joy to watch sisters bond.

Our church does an annual Global Impact Conference (we came to the one in 2013 which is what prompted our move back to Hernando) and during the 2014 conference, God began to work on me big time.  He was no doubt preparing my heart for another adoption.  Danny and I discussed it, but we just didn't have a direction. He had not brought us a child to adopt and we didn't know where to start (the adoption process isn't for the faint of heart.  Can I get an Amen from my adoption brothers and sisters??).  So, we decided to wait.  Just to wait on God.  So, we waited....  And waited...  And waited...  It began to feel like a distant memory (you know - over that lifetime month or two) that God had put upon my hearts.  And then, there she was.  There she was in perfectness yet brokenness.  As we began to look further into her and her file - the world said NO!  No!  The news was awful and devastating.  Doctors, cardiologists, were surprised she was even alive.  But she is!  God has sustained her.  She is sick -sick indeed.  She has complex and complicated CHD - worse than Olivia b/c she is almost 3 and has never had a heart catch, much less a surgery that she desperately needed in infancy.  As a result - she has developed severe pulmonary hypertension.  This, the doctors say, most likely makes her inoperable.  It most likely is not reversible.  We are scared.  We are, however, holding onto hope in Him who has sustained her thus far.  There is no doubt that He has led us to her!  She is ours - even though humanly I know it seems crazy.  Please pray for us on this journey.  We have NO IDEA what to expect.  We are trying to expedite anything and everything to get her home and into our medical care system.  We hold onto hope that something, anything can be done - though it may be only giving her a family to walk into the arms of Jesus.  Either way - she is worth it.  Our God is worth it. We feel honored to be called.  We feel blessed He has chosen to entrust her to us. 

Nothing is for sure - we have not received pre-approval yet so nothing is a guarantee.  All the more need for prayer - prayer for God's will to be done.  This sweet baby needs a mommy and daddy (and 2 adoring sisters) - and I pray and believe that we are that family.  We know many of you may not understand - quite frankly, we don't either.  However, all we need to know is that God is calling.  At this point - no approvals have been given so we pray the US and China both agree that she is ours.

I will post more in the coming days.  I'm sure we will have more prayer requests and needs arise.  Right now - we just pray and I am working around the clock on adoption paperwork.:)

Olivia and Elle are wonderful.  Olivia is only disappointed it's not a boy, b/c as she says "I've never had a boy before" :) 

BTW - aren't those cheeks the most edible things you've ever seen :)

Much Love and More to Come,
Danny and Julie

It's only been a couple of years :)

So, I have a new computer and thought I would attempt to begin to update this blog as I obviously haven't in quite some time.  The only issues are -I was unable to log in for like EVER b/c our email addresses had changed and I had NO IDEA what the password was!!  Anyway - finally got logged in but I also have no pictures on my new laptop and honestly not quite sure how to add any to it right now :).

Quite a bit has changed since I last posted around Olivia's heart surgery.   About 2 months after Olivia's surgery - we learned we would be expecting another bundle of joy!! This one would come by birth.  So, in August of 2013 - we welcomed Olivia's little sister, Evelyn Elle Mann, into the world.  She was healthy and we were thankful.  We traveled back to Memphis to visit my precious grandmother who would soon go to be the Lord.  She got to see Olivia again - oh what a sight to see - and she got to meet Miss Elle.  We have pictures and video I will treasure forever.  We also got to reunite with our friends and church family in Hernando, MS while visiting.  They were having their annual Global Impact Conference and we suddenly felt the Lord drawing us back home.  Only, not to Birmingham, where we are both from, but to Hernando, MS :).  We decided I would leave my career, yes the one I worked hours upon hours to achieve and the one we moved like 4 times for.  The same career that took us first to Florida, then to Memphis, and then to Philly.  God was truly leading me to stay at home with my girls despite all I was leaving behind.  It was SO very hard, yet the easiest decision I've ever made :).  It's hard to explain but i'm sure you get the picture. 

In January 2014, we loaded up and made the 15 hour journey back to Hernando, MS where we are now settled.  Olivia is in 4k pre-school 3 1/2 days a week :).  She loves school and LOVES animals!!!  She takes gymnastics and is healthy as an ox :).  We follow up with cardiology every 6 months and we are thankful that our cardiologist trained at CHOP!!  How awesome is that?!?!

Elle is 15 months old and such a big girl!  She will most likely outgrow Olivia by next year!  She is such a sweetie and we are totally in love with our little sister ;).  Olivia is her favorite person (Olivia is already getting the big sis annoyed thing) and she is a total daddy's girl :(  However, Olivia is 100% mommies girl :)

I will updating and hopefully learning to get some updated pictures on here. 

Danny and I are also praying through our decision to adopt again - so please join us in that prayer.  We want to let him lead and not just pray once we've acted. 

Much love!

Julie