Brielle's 1st Birthday (Sept. 29th)

It was very exciting to receive Brielle's match before her 1st birthday, especially since her birthday was just 2 days later! We were able to celebrate our referral and her birthday at the same time. It seemed so surreal! At the time, we couldn't post about it on the blog yet so here are pictures from September 29th. (The pics are horrible because that was when I was without a camera and had to use my phone.) Brynna picked out the cookie cake. We sang "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed some yummy Chinese food. I asked the lady at the Chinese restaurant how to pronounce Xin Meng. I told Alex we are really in for it when we go to China because I couldn't understand her broken English so there is no way I will understand people in China! ;) The girls wore their Big Sister shirts to school that day too. They say "jie jie" on them which is "big sister" in Chinese. You might notice Braylee's lunchable. ;) Silly kid. She likes Chinese but decided she wasn't in the mood that night...more for the rest of us!! And yes, Brynna is wearing a tutu. :)I seriously have some amazing friends! Mandy made Brielle a special cake that says "Happy Birthday" in Chinese...or at least that's what she told me and I believed her! :) Behind the cake is Brielle's 1st birthday gift! My friend Abby made it. It's so cute! I love the thought and time put into these gifts. I know these girls and so many of my other friends already love Brielle too. (I wish these pictures were better...the color is just not good, ugh.) One day she will know we were praying for her and celebrating her life on her special day!! So thankful for another September Sweetie in our lives!!

Third Day's Merry Christmas

Wow, have any of you heard Third Day's song "Merry Christmas" on their Christmas Offerings album? I love it, especially since I just hung up Brielle's stocking yesterday. It made me sad that Brielle will not be home with her forever family for Christmas, but it also makes me excited to share the wonder of it all with her next year.

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
Where the forgotten are
But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow
But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
And we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
And prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep,
I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart, and I'll you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas

Listen to it HERE.

God is Great!

Last night at church, we had a fellowship dinner for Thanksgiving. Alex shared a short devotional and spoke about how when we are fully grateful for the things God has given us, we feel a sense of contentment. We accept the wonderful blessings He has given us and avoid wondering what life would be like with bigger/better things, a different job/home, etc. I admit there are days when I am less than content, but at this holiday season, I am feeling a sense of contentment. While I wish my little girl was home with us, I do know her name and her face. My family is healthy and striving. My home is warm and cozy. My friends are super cool. :) Jesus loves me. Sometimes we find ourselves wondering how to thank Him or maybe I should say forgetting to thank Him.

My mom gave me a devotional a couple of months ago. Today's devotion included a prayer of thankfulness...a little prayer that covers the things that we should be thankful for on a daily basis but so often take for granted. From Ellen Miller's book:

Father, I praise you for who you are: the Almighty God.

Father, I praise you for all you do: the Holy Creator.

Father, I know that all gifts are provided by you; forgive me when I become proud or haughty or self-reliant. I know I can do nothing without you.

Father, I thank you for everything I have in my life:

My relationships- thank you for giving me people to love and people to love me.

My home- thank you for providing me safe shelter.

My work- thank you for providing me with a place to contribute my talents.

My food- thank you for a full belly.

My clothes- thank you for a full closet.

My health- thank you for this breath.

You have provided for all of my needs; forgive me when I test you and worry about tomorrow. In the name of my Saviour, Christ Jesus, Amen.


I hope you all have a wonderful week celebrating Thanksgiving with your families and friends!

Rest of October

I have been so busy sharing news about Brielle that I am just now posting about the rest of our October fun!

Braylee played "Project Runway" with her American Girl doll and some packing wrap.

Braylee showed off her front flip.

We spent an afternoon at Lark Ranch with some of my family. Sometimes you just take what you can get!
Look, Mom! I'm the Statue of Liberty!
We had a couple of play dates with our little cousins.
Alex and his mom went to Game 7 of the World Series!
We carved pumpkins.

We dressed up for lots of trick-or-treating. I found Braylee's Dorothy costume at a yard sale, which then meant Brynna could be Glinda the Good Witch. Brynna didn't even know who she was, but offer her a pink dress and a crown and she will agree to just about anything! :)

We rode our golf carts around the neighborhood with Abby, Jenn, Megan and their kiddos. Just when we were finishing up, Sydney & Addison stopped by too!
I love this picture of Braylee and Hadlee. It makes me excited to see Braylee with Brielle. She will eat her up! I think Hadlee and Brielle will be best buddies too...almost the same age gap that my cousin Tomi and I are. We had the best time growing up together!

A "Joyous Dream" Come True!

We call our new little girl Xin Meng a lot, especially in the beginning but still even now that we have decided on the name Brielle. Her middle name was a little harder to decide. (I'm still nervous about announcing it but I don't think it will change.) Her Chinese name is possibly pronounced Foo Sheen Mung...but we say it "sin-mang." :) I have found that e's can be pronounced as "ay" or like a short "u" and we decided "mang" sounds prettier. ;) We won't know for sure how they say it until we actually meet her. Most of China speaks a form of Mandarin with their own local dialects, but some of the southern areas speak Cantonese which would definitely affect how her name is pronounced. One night, I spent some time memorizing the Chinese characters in her name and looked them up online. It's a little harder than it might seem because there are lots of different characters for the same "pinyin" (non-character) form of the words. I was able to look up the pinyin words and then match them to the characters on her Chinese medical files, but even then, there are several definitions of the characters based on what other characters are matched with them. 欣- xin: meaning joyous or happy 梦- meng: meaning dream From the best of my abilities, we have found her name means "joyous dream" or "happy dream." I love it!! It is such a sweet name. Back to her American name...I had two middle names I was interested in and thought we could add XinMeng as an extra middle name. Alex was pretty set on only one middle name so we thought about how to incorporate her Chinese name. One day in the car, Braylee said, "We could use AnnMeng so it starts with an A and has Meng." The very next day, I was sitting with Alex and asked "What are we going to name our baby?!" With little hesitation, he said, "What about AnnaMeng?" I asked him if he had been talking to Braylee. Nope...both of them just had the same idea. :) Of course Braylee feels honored that we are using the name she chose. Never in a hundred years would I have guessed that I would have a baby with the middle name AnnaMeng...but that's one more thing that makes her so special.

New Pictures and Update!

We are so thankful we can request updates every 6 weeks (many times agencies can only get updates every 3 months) since Brielle was on our agency's orphanage-specific list. I had been told they would send an update request at the end of October but I didn't know how long it would take. I was delighted to open my email this morning to a small update and 5 new pictures!! The pictures were taken just 3 days ago! They may just be the closest thing I get to "1 year portraits" of our little princess! Her hair is growing and she is on the move! :) She looks like a happy girl and that laugh sure makes this momma's heart feel happy! Her update says she is around 19 pounds and 28.5 inches...not sure if that's dressed or undressed. She now has 4 teeth on top and 2 on bottom.

This is what they said about our little girl:

Fu Xin Meng’s main food are formula and rice congee, sometimes she will eat some noodles, eggs and fruits. She has good appetite, and she can drink 220ml of formula per time. Now she can walk by holding her hand. She start to babble something like “baba” or “dada”. She is an active and happy girl who likes to laugh. She likes people taking her outside, she likes staying at busy area and playing with other children.

She seems to be a lively, spunky little girl... a lot like her sisters! I can't wait for our next update!!


**If you look in the right upper corner of the middle picture, you can see her orphanage in the background.

More about our little sweetie...

The night we were matched, we received a file with information on our little girl. Did I mention her medical exam was done on my birthday? :) She was almost 6 months old and weighed 6kg (about 13 lbs) and measured 62cm (about 24.5in). It was reported she didn't have any teeth but her July picture shows 2 cute bottom teeth so we can guess those arrived sometime between the end of March and mid-July.

The following information is at 6 months of age:

-moderate sleeper, wakes at 7am, takes 2 naps and goes to bed at 8:30pm
-outgoing and active
-likes lively places and listening to music (good to know with 2 noisy sisters at home!)
-afraid of strangers (not good for us...hope she is overcoming some of her stranger anxiety!)
-favorite activities are being carried by an adult and going outdoors

She had an echocardiogram done when she was almost 8 months old. This diagnosed her VSD with minor back flow of the pulmonary valve.


She is cared for at the Fuzhou SWI (social welfare institute or orphanage) in Fuzhou, Jiangxi.
These are the four pictures we have of our daughter. I am guessing the first two were taken when she was around 3 months old. The Chinese often dress their children warmly and I see lots of pictures of babies all bundled up like Xin Meng. :)
You can also see another cultural difference with the split pants she is wearing. :) It is part of their potty-training process but even little babies wear them.


I knew Brynna would love this princess castle picture! It's the one she wanted to show all of her friends. Isn't she cute?!


We also loved showing these to Brynna. Brynna LOVES pulling her pants up high! haha. We said Brielle must like her pants pulled up past her belly button too! :) I know it's the little things but I couldn't help but notice that someone put down a bag for her to sit on to keep her bottom dry/clean...or at least that's what I imagine? Based on the date on the picture (if it's accurate and I think it would be since the files are usually prepared about 2 months before the children are listed), this photo was taken when she was 9.5 months old. I love her button nose and fuzzy hair...and those eyes are so beautiful. It's amazing the amount of love and protection the Lord has given me for this little one I haven't met yet, but the moment I saw this picture, she was my daughter.

The day she was born...

Over the last year, I often wondered what my little one was doing right then. Not knowing how old she was always made me curious...was she celebrating her birthday? Was she learning to crawl? Did she have a sweet nanny to love on her? I had hoped I would remember what I was doing the day she was born.

Thanks to a good memory and finding this picture (only one I took that day) I remember what we did that day! I had taken the girls to their well-check exams. Copies of those exam papers were included in our home study. :)

We ate dinner at the new Los Bravos in Jasper and then stopped to pick out a few pumpkins on the way home. Then we went to Awana at church.

This year, I took the girls for their well-checks a few days after Xin Meng's 1st birthday. We ate dinner at Los Bravos and then stopped to pick out a pumpkin for Xin Meng. It was fun to reminisce about what we were doing on the day she was born. We even shared some fried ice cream. :)

Finding our Daughter

September 27th-

It was late afternoon and I was preparing to get dinner in the oven when I heard my phone buzz that I had a new yahoo message. Had I not known the new shared list came out that morning, I wouldn't have bothered to check it....I am so glad I did! When I opened the message (from RainbowKids) for "Destiny", the first thing I saw was her birthday. Then I quickly glanced at her picture and in the milli-seconds it was taking my brain to process these, I was thinking "Please let her be a heart baby." (All along we have felt God calling us to adopt a baby with special needs, but specifically one with a heart condition.) When I read her diagnosis, I immediately called the adoption agency she was listed with...I just KNEW she was the one! I know I was out of breath from excitement and sweating...the same way I felt when I saw my positive pregnancy tests with the girls! :) The lady on the phone was very sweet...I didn't even know where this agency was located when I called...and told me I needed to fill out the online application and would be the first to get her file but that they allow 2 families to review at a time. I was filling out the application while I called Alex to tell him all about her. He reminded me not to get too excited...just in case it didn't work out. I did have to pause and ask God to prepare me if this was not His will but I truly felt she was my daughter the instant I saw her...a different feeling than I had felt with the other files we reviewed. As soon as I completed the application, I called back and begged them to lock her file for us. I couldn't stand the thought of losing her! Technically they weren't able to "lock" her file since we were not logged in with them, but after assuring them that I KNEW my agency would transfer us and that her condition was a non-issue to us, she agreed to hold her file for 24 hours-- meaning no other families could access it during that time. We needed to send a signed paper from a physician saying we had had her file reviewed and have our agency send a letter allowing us to transfer.

Love at first sight...

Alex was at work when I had first inquired about our little girl. When I told him her birthdate, he said he had a feeling we would get another September birthday. :) After I had called them back and they'd agreed to hold her file, I called him again and he said, "I'm coming home." I met him at the door. He took one look at her picture and fell in love too. We decided to go ahead and tell the girls. (They had been playing with their new Barbie house this entire time in the living room...completely oblivious of the phone calls mommy had been making!) Oh-- it was priceless! Braylee was so giddy and told us later she was so excited she couldn't speak! haha! They were smiling and clapping and wanted to print off her pictures to show their friends.


I didn't think I would be able to sleep that night due to all of the excitement. I spent hours on the phone and computer sharing our news with family and friends. I stared at her picture until after midnight...but when I finally put my head on that pillow, I was out. I know it's because for the first time in almost a year, I knew exactly who my daughter was and where she was waiting for us!! What a precious gift!!

The next morning, I spoke with the cardiologist at Riley,** had him sign the form & fax it back to us, and faxed our agency/fee agreements to the new agency. Both our old placing agency and our home study agency were notified and the transfer was started. I was a nervous wreck that somehow something was going to fall through and we would lose her! I felt a huge sense of relief when the new agency called later that morning and said "Congratulations!" Everything had fallen into place and she really was ours!

I knew that I was not the first to respond to the posting that day (I'm guessing the others weren't LID or emailed instead of calling immediately) and later learned that many people inquired about her file. I believe in a Sovereign God who chose this little girl to be in our family. There is no other reason as to why we were chosen to have her file...truly a humbling experience!

**The cardiologist at Riley was so kind! He is an adoptive father of two Chinese girls. I had emailed her file and echo report the evening of our match. When he called me personally the next morning, he said, "Well, first, she is indeed very cute!" :) Then after explaining her VSD and prognosis, he gave me his pager number and said to let him know if we have any questions before we leave or while in China. We were given his name by our first agency and are very thankful for that connection.

Sidenote: I think there might have been some confusion in my earlier post about changing lanes. We had become open to the idea of switching agencies but we hadn't actually switched. If we had, we would have missed this opportunity...yet if we hadn't considered it, we wouldn't have already discussed the process with our agency. Just another way God was preparing this specific little girl to be our daughter!

PA!! {Introducing...}

We are so excited to finally share about our little sweet pea! Can you believe she is a September Sweetie!??! We think she is absolutely adorable!

Let me fill you in briefly but I have lots more to share soon. Her name is Fu Xin Meng. The Chinese put the surname first, so her first name is Xin Meng. (Her name is pronounced Foo Sheen Mung.)

Her special need is a ventricular septal defect (VSD) which is a hole between the two bottom chambers of the heart. It may or may not require surgery. We are in awe of how perfect she is!

She is waiting for us in Jiangxi (gee-ong-she) province, which is in the southeastern part of China. She is in the Fuzhou (foo-joe) Social Welfare Institute...which is a fancy name for an orphanage.

We found out today that we received PA yesterday! It was pretty cool to see our names and Xin Meng's name on the same piece of paper. This starts our official wait for LOA (Letter of Acceptance). This next wait can vary considerably. It may be 45 days or it may be 145 days. Of course we are praying it's on the shorter end! Once we have LOA, we will have a much better idea of when we will travel but right now, we are hoping to travel by the end of April. To help pay for the adoption, we are using the money we had set back for a 10 yr anniversary trip to Italy. Funny how we were planning for a trip...but God knew it was to China instead! :) What an amazing anniversary trip it will be!!

Stay tuned for more info and pictures!! (BTW, her American name is pronounced "Bree-elle Anna-mung.")