2015 Should Be Exciting at the Mann House

As we drive home to MS from our visit in Alabama - I am reflecting on God's goodness.  Life is certainly not always easy - sometimes it is just plain hard.  But our God is bigger than our current situation and His plans are so much higher than ours.  I am writing this as much for myself as anyone else :).  Danny and I are so incredibly excited for Mann girl #3 to join our family (name still in debate) but we are also so incredibly scared! 

BTW  - So far the names options are as follows:
Sophie Lei
Ana Lei (Olivia has picked this one and yes it is pronounced "Ana" like the little sister on frozen) -  gee, wonder where she came up with this name :)

Danny's middle name is Lee and Lei is already part of our sweet girl's Chinese name so we want that to be her middle name for sure.

Since our hearts have been stirred to adopt this sweet girl - we have worried about it all!  Worried how we will manage with 3 children versus 2.  Worried how we will get her the medical attention she needs while meeting the emotional needs of her AND our other 2 precious angels.  Where will we have her treated?  Traveling to CHOP will get crazy expensive so not sure that is an option, while we must consider them because of their incredible cardiac standing in the nation.  Many think we are crazy and maybe we are.  If we allow ourselves to think to hard about what is happening - we are overcome with fear.  So, we try to just rest in His goodness and the knowledge that He has put this path before us and He will be faithful to see us through.  He is a God of details and I am oh so thankful for that.

Our newest daughter's advocacy name is "Ella" and we think about her ALL THE TIME!  We pray for her every single night and pray God is preparing her for us.  Olivia was much younger when we adopted her so I am nervous how much our sweet girl will grieve given she will have just turned 3 when we finally get to wrap our arms around her sweet body.

We are prayerfully considering how to fundraise for a portion of this adoption.  Now that I am staying at home - we want to ensure I am home with her to get her through her medical milestones like Danny was with Olivia.  We have applied with Lifesong For Orphans and are waiting to see if we are approved for tax deductible donations.  More to come on that if we are!!  We know many don't understand what we are doing and not all are called to go, but many may be called to help others go and that is our prayer with this adoption.  We know He has called us to go so we are praying He has called some to give :)

We covet your prayers during this time.  We should have a complete homestudy this coming week and then we wait for our biometric fingerprint appts with the USCIS.  We are working for every step to be expedited because she needs to be HOME!!

Here are some photos from our trip to Alabama :)

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

Here are a few photos from a recent family photo shoot in March 2013.

Olivia and her cousin Maddie!

Here are a few photos from Olivia's 2 yr Gotcha Day party!  Gotcha Day - 3/28/2011

Here are a couple of pictures from Easter 2013

Yes, we are alive

Cant believe we haven't posted since October.  So much to write and so much to update you on.  Will post more and pics soon!  Just wanted to say we are alive :).  Also, we've had a surprise!!!  Olivia will be a big sister in August!  I am 18 weeks pregnant and growing just like Bing Bing :).  We are excited to grow our family and for Olivia to have a little brother or sister. 

Olivia is such a big girl and is doing beautifully since her surgery.  She is beautiful, smart, witty and her mommy's dream come true!  She has also learned to stand her own :)...

More to come!

Love,
Julie, Danny, and Olivia

Doing Well at Home

Believe it or not, our sweet girl came home from the hospital on post-op day 6!  Yes, you read that correctly - on Day 6 after her Fontan - she came home!!!  The best part - she has done well!  We are so thankful!

On Wednesday, post-op day 6, the doctors were on the bubble for sure.  Olivia had a pleural effusion and it hds increased since her chest tube had come out the day before.  She was on a lot of diuretics (still on lots of those) and they usually don't send patients home on so many.  They debated and debated and finally agreed to let us go.  BUT, we had to agree to come back the VERY NEXT morning for an appointment to be sure it was no worse.  They told us not to even unpack b/c we might be re-admitted immediately.  We were just thankful for a night in our own bed and for our girl to have a little normal.  Mommy was up and scared to death all night!!!  I even took a video in the dead of night of her breathing just so the doctors could listen to it the next day.  They had told us to keep an eye on it and boy I did!!  Her chest xray the following day showed to be a little worse, but clinically she was still presenting okay and not symptomatic.  They said she would be fine to take home, but we had to come back the next Tuesday for another chest xray.  Thankfully my mom was still in town to help out.  We kept Olivia in a bubble!  They said she could go outside and breath fresh air, but no hanging out with lots of children.  We went back the following Tuesday and she did great.  Her chest xray was a little better and they decreased one dose of her diuretics - even though we are still on all 3 of them.  She was and is still presenting okay and the effusion is not appearing to bother her.  We just have to keep her well until it completely goes away.  We have another appointment next week.

Emotionally, Olivia is doing better.  They told us she would suffer from post-traumatic stress and we definitely see it.  Because she can't express verbally everything she is going through, she is acting out a bit.  She wants mommy almost 100% of time.  Don't get me wrong - she still loves her daddy - she just wants to be touching mommy at all times :).  That means even at 2, 3, 4, and 5 am! :):):).

We are now in the midst of Hurricane Sandy!!!  So, at least there is no temptation to get our girl out :).

Julie