Even before you were~~~~~~~~

Hannah,

Even before we were married we thought of adopting you. Your daddy dearly wanted a little girl specifically from China. We talked alot about the different countries that we wanted to choose: Ukraine, Latin America, and China. We started with Ukraine so that you could have an older brother first, but God closed those doors and told us to continue on with China FIRST, regardless of not having a boy. He knew when you were going to be here, just how much you were going to need us, and how much I needed you! I've wanted you, my darling daughter, for such a long time.

This picture was taken at the time we were engaged and contemplating all of the wonderful things that God was going to do with us. Adopting you was a big part of that. I can't wait for you to be able to make our house a home with the love flowing out of every corner.

Love,

Your Mommy

Names???

Well, this is going to be a long journey. I am in several adoption groups and there are many lovely people there.

This week there has been a great surge in people finding a name for their daughter/son. I know that in my last post I said that we'd found her name "Hannah Ruth Meilin," but I really like some of the other names out there. Also, the Meilin was supposed to be a way of incorporating China into her name, but I'd really rather have her birth name there instead (they are usually a Chinese blessing of some sort).

So, with that said, we will probably change her name.

Gary will probably be annoyed with this thought. We even bought a name plaque with Hannah on it in the last week......Hannah may win out. Ruth, you know why we picked that. Ruth (from the Bible) was a very big part of our courtship as well.

Some other names that I've seen (I like uncommon names) are:

Keilani Mae Fushao Heavenly child
Noelani Logan (then the Chinese Name) Beautiful girl from Heaven

Oh well! This may be a long wait, but I'm sure having fun in it. Maybe we'll have to have a 2nd child and name her Hannah. Who knows.

:) :) :)

Terri

We FINALLY have a name for our daughter!

Please see our title at the top of our blog to understand our choice of Hannah Ruth Meilin.

We are very excited about being able to bring her into our home. I am still working as a school counselor this year and Gary is still working on an alternative teaching certificate, but we also know that God's timing is perfect. He will make a way through all the ups and downs of this life.

At first I wasn't concerned with the timing and process, but it's been about 7 weeks now since my documents went to China (DTC) and I was originally told that I'd hear back within a month or so with what my log in date (LID) would be. Needless to say, the last few weeks have been a little more filled with angst about whether or not my documents somehow got lost in their data room. I've talked with SEVERAL other adopting parents that were DTC around my time and have still not heard anything. There are others after us that do have their LID's. I've come to believe that those of us that don't have ours yet are from smaller agencies. China holds those until they have a larger collection of them to return to the agency involved. So, it may be another month or two until we know. But we can also rest assured that our LID was sometime in late August or early September. Once we officially have it, we can track the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) dates on the web.

God has really been impressing upon me lately to not worry about having biological children at all, or even getting Hannah. All children are a gift from God, but they are all borrowed from God as well. We should all work more at enjoying them as a gift and pleasing God than worrying about having and pleasing them. I've felt that my calling was to be a stay at home mom for a while now. However, that seems to place too much emphasis on meeting mine and Hannah's needs and desires. What I should be thinking about is what God needs and desires from me right now. He may need and desire me to take care of Hannah (when she finally gets here -- hopefully sometime next fall), but when I think of her it's like taking my eyes off Him and all that He has for me right now.