Powers, Party of Five

On Saturday, August 20, Hank and I got the shock of a lifetime...we discovered we are expecting our third child on April 22, 2012!  From that very second, we knew that the baby I am carrying was our third child.  We never desired to change directions or deviate from the path we were on to our Emalyn! 

I'll back up a little and give you the full story.  That Saturday was two days before my 30th birthday and I had already received the best gift when we found out we were DTC and would soon be matched with our daughter.  (If it's possible to receive two best gifts, this was definitely my year.)

That day Hank and I had joked about getting pregnant during this process and the idea got into my head.  I started trying to count days and was reminded of two quick bouts with nausea the week before.  With margaritas on the menu for my birthday dinner that night, I decided I should take a quick test, just to settle my mind.  Much to my surprise it was positive...immediately!  When I showed it to Hank, he sat down on the floor, speechless.  Soon after, we both looked at each other and burst into laughter.  Of course, this is how God would write our story!

The next day, I began starting to gather information.  For those of you who know me well, you know I am a doer and a controller, so had to start figuring out time lines, bedrooms, etc.  I emailed our agency and requested a meeting, called my doctor and insisted they squeeze me in on Monday and thus began the planning. 

On Monday my doctor settled my nerves by confirming that I could travel to China through 32 weeks (the end of February), assuming this pregnancy is as "vanilla" (his word) as my pregnancy with Adair. 

On Tuesday, I met with our social workers.  We knew there was a possibility that they would want us to put the adoption on hold just given the potential close arrival of Emalyn and our newborn into our home.  They brought up some valid points for us to think through, asked us to pray over our decision for the next week and let them know where we stood on Sunday.  At that point, they, along with the Director of International Adoption (who was out of town for the week and needed to be a part of the decision), would make a decision.  We knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we wanted to proceed and we believed with all of our hearts that that was God's command for us, but we took time to pray and seek Him over that week.  It was SO hard to wait, but God used that week to confirm our decision.

That Sunday night, August 28, we sent a long email to our social workers and expressed our desire to proceed, our belief that God was commanding us to proceed and practical reasons why we could make it work.  The very next day, Amy called and let me know we could proceed.  We were thrilled with the news and then she followed up with more good news...we were logged in and the shared list was coming out that very night.  She was careful to manage our expectations that we would be low on the list having just gotten logged in, so we may not get a referral, but there was a chance our daughter could be on that list.

The next morning, she called and the first words out of her mouth were, "are you sitting down?".  I knew immediately she had a file for us.  Within in five minutes of hanging up the phone, Hank and I saw the face of our second child...our sweet Emalyn.

We have experienced God in so many amazing ways throughout this process.  It has been so hard to keep this pregnancy a secret, because this baby's story is so interwoven with Emalyn's story.  We believe with all of our hearts that God has an amazing plan for our family and we are thankful that He is revealing it little by little. 

We covet your prayers as we prepare for our family to expand from three to five in a short 3-4 months time span.  Please pray that LOA comes quickly and we are able to travel as soon as possible.  Not only are we anxious to bring our Emalyn home, but we would love to have as much time as possible with her before the baby comes.  In addition to that, it is my heart's desire to be able to travel to China, to her homeland, to love on her from the very second she's in our arms.  To have to wait at home for Hank to bring her back to me, just might "do me in" emotionally.  I do know that God has a plan, though.  I know that He ordained this and it will play out just as He has plans and I can rest in that.

A Care Package for Emalyn

We have had so much fun gathering items to send to Emalyn, her nannies and friends at the orphanage.  It was hard to narrow down all that we would have liked to send to items that were practical and would fit in a 12" x 12" x 6" box.  This has been a good distraction from the waiting and waiting and waiting for LOA.  Even though it has barely been 30 days, I am so anxious to move past this large "yield sign" on the road to bringing Emalyn home.

After alot of debate and indecisiveness, here is what we decided to send.  People say that the Chinese people love American cosmetics, etc. because they are so expensive in China, so for the nannies we sent lip gloss and mini candles from Bath and Body Works.  For Emalyn's nanny, we sent shower gel, lotion, body spray, lip gloss and a loofa also from Bath and Body Works.  For the all of the children, we sent a noise maker/musical instrument to chew on, play with, and shake.  We also included two disposable cameras that we hope the nannies will use to snap pictures of Emalyn for us over the next few months.

For Emalyn, we sent a special tiger lovie that was selected especially for her by her big sister (with a little coaxing from me).  Emalyn was born in 2010 which was the year of the tiger.

We also sent a special board book that we made for Emalyn.  Each page has a picture of someone in our family and that person's name/title in English and Pinyin.  My hope is that her nanny will read her the book and point out each person in her forever family so that our faces will be familiar when she's finally in our arms.

Here is an inside view of our board book.  This page says 'big sister'.

Of course, our package wouldn't be complete without a little "decorating" by Adair. 

On our way to the post office.

To China from America, with love.  We hope this package reaches our little girl soon and that she can feel our love through each item we placed in the box.

Introducing Our Daughter

Finally, after a long week of waiting to share our joy and details about our daughter with you, we finally received pre approval today!  Here she is, the newest member of our family...we proudly introduce Emalyn Mae Qing.

 Our first unofficial family picture

Emalyn with her big sister

 Let's see, where do I start?  As I mentioned before we were DTC on August 17 and were just waiting to get logged in, which was the last step before receiving a referral.  It can take up to four weeks to get logged in, so in my mind we were awaiting a referral from the September shared list (that comes out once a month at the end of the month).  Our social worker, Amy, called late on Monday afternoon, August 30, to deliver the good news that we were logged in and officially waiting on a referral.  She then informed me that the August shared list was due to be released that night (now, like any other adoption obsessed mom, I already knew this was the prediction from the Rumor Queen website and my coffee group, but it was nice to have it confirmed by someone who should know).  She was quick to manage my expectations by saying the list could be short, it could have fewer young babies on it, etc. and we may not get a referral since we were among the last ones logged in prior to the release of the list. 

Based on this information, I tried not to get my hopes up, but kept my phone close by just in case she called.  At 9 am on Tuesday morning, the phone rang.  As soon as I looked and saw it was Amy I got butterflies in my stomach.  Her first words were "are you sitting down?".  She proceeded to tell me a little bit about a sweet little girl and then asked if we wanted to see her file.  "Yes, of course we do!" was my quick response.  A few minutes later Hank and I opened an email that revealed this precious little face.



Included with the pictures was a short medical file and a few details about the personality and habits of our daughter.  We reviewed the file as best we could, forwarded it to a friend who is an ENT, and to the International Adoption Clinic.  We had such a peace from the first glance that she was the one.  I had prayed for clarity and peace was good enough for me.  God has provided so much more than we could have ever asked for or imagined throughout this process.  He is in control and has shown us that over and over again.  He is faithful always and we are so excited to welcome this adorable bundle of joy into our family.

After praying over her, talking to the necessary medical people, and family members, we accepted her referral the same day we received it.

Emalyn is 15 months old and has a first degree cleft lip.  She is tiny for her age, but seems very healthy.  Her cleft lip seems to be mostly cosmetic and doesn't seem to interfere with her eating or babbling.  Her file says she is well liked and fairly on target for her age, developmentally.  Qing is part of her Chinese name and it means "celebrate".  Which we will do for the rest of her life! 

Emalyn was abandoned and that will always be a part of her story, but that will never be all of her story.  I don't want to share too many details about her finding place and story, but it was obvious by the way she was left that someone loved her dearly and didn't choose to give her up.  To me as her mommy, that is very comforting.  I am thankful that I will be able to look her in the eyes when she is old enough to ask questions and tell her with full confidence that her Chinese mother loved her and only gave her up because she had no other choice. 

From what I have gathered during my online searches, she is in a pretty good orphanage (if there is such a thing).  The ratio of caregivers to babies is 1 to 6, which is unusually small.  They receive alot of groups on mission trips into the orphanage to rock, love on and care for the babies, help the nannies and build furniture.  There are two married couples who reside and work at the orphanage, so she has been around men.  This is a blessing, because alot of orphans have never seen a man much less spent time with one. 

It is surreal not knowing every detail of her life and growth and needs and likes/dislikes.  Everyday I try to imagine what she is doing, if she is eating well, sleeping well, well loved, played with...it is hard not knowing much for sure.  Please pray with us that God would prepare her heart to meet us and that He would prepare our hearts, too.  A friend who has an adopted sister told me that her mom always prayed that someone would cry when they took their daughter from her orphanage.  I love that, because it says that someone loved her enough to shed tears because they wanted what was best for her, a forever family, but they would miss her.  I want that to be my prayer for Emalyn.  I pray that someone with her now loves her enough to cry when she meets her forever family.

We are so thankful to be at this point so quickly and we pray that the next steps move along as quickly as the ones before them.  We can't wait to hold our daughter in our arms...to love her up close instead of a world away.