Happy 2nd Birthday Abby Grace

Well today has been a very emotional day. I've smiled, I've celebrated and I've cried. Two years ago today a beautiful baby girl was born in Gan Su Province China to a very special woman. Four months later that woman made a very difficult and heart breaking decision to place her baby girl on the steps of the Ping Liang SWI. I cannot imagine the pain she must have felt that day but I know that deep in her heart she knew she was doing the best thing for her daughter. That sweet baby girl once known as Liang Wan Jian is now Abbigail Grace Liang Mitchell, our little Jian Jian as she is called in her orphanage. My heart breaks as I think of the pain her birthmother must be feeling today as she thinks back and remembers the birth of her daughter. I just pray that the Lord lays his healing hand on her and gives her peace with her decision. I thank her with all of my heart for taking care of her and nurturing her the best she could until she could no longer. I can only hope that she knows how much we already love this little blessing even though we have yet to meet her face to face. We know Abby Grace in our hearts and look forward to celebrating her third birthday with her next year.

PA!!!

Well today I got an exciting message from Amy our FC:

Dear Sean & Jennifer,
The CCAA has processed the Pre-Approval (PA) for your family’s request to adopt Liang Wan Jian. The PA is issued once the information from the electronic acceptance has been reviewed and approved. Once the CCAA has fully reviewed your Dossier and application to adopt a specific child, they will issue the Referral Acceptance (RA). As a reminder, this step is currently taking anywhere from 2-5 months from the date of your electronic acceptance. There is no guaranteed timeframe from the CCAA on when your RA will arrive.

I have printed the PA from the CCAA’s website and have attached it to this email. Be sure to print one off for your records. Please let me know if you have any trouble printing the PA.

Please contact me if you have any questions and congratulations on this step!

Blessings,
Amy Pearson

Asia Family Coordinator

Isn't that cool. Now the next thing we have to wait for is our RA. That is the final approval from China for us to adopt Liang Wan Jian aka Abbigail Grace Liang Mitchell. One more small step towards ringing our daughter home. Oh...The Teagues got there PA for Hudson as well, we are still hoping and praying to be able to travel together in Feb or March.

Check out my Slide Show!

October Update

Well it has been quite a month. We finally know who Abby Grace is and we know where she is. Praise God!! We started this journey last year after taking a huge step of Faith that the Lord would see us through and provide for our every need. So far he has done just that. He has chosen the perfect child for us. He has provided financially for us up to this point. We are so grateful to Him for all he has done.

We have been compiling squares for a quilt for Abby Grace Liang. So far we have 76. We need a total of 100. We have a few more coming from friends and family and hopefully we'll make it to 100 and have her quilt done before we get home. So if you want to contribute let me know and I'll send you the info.

I was reading on the CL/CP chat group today some very disturbing info. It brought tears to my eyes. Some of the members stated that when children have their surgery done in China they are not provided with enough pain medication and they actually suffer long term effects. I cannot imagine Abby suffering in pain. I cannot imagine that surgery being done with the children receiving pain medication for several days after. I am so glad that we requested her surgery not be done in China. I would much rather be there with her to make sure she is as comfortable as possible.

On a positive note...we have a LOI date of this week and now all we are waiting for is China to say ok, she's yours. Still hoping and praying for that to happen soon so we can travel in Feb or March. V and I are ready to get shopping for bunk beds and bedding for "the girls" room. Oh what fun!! White beds and some very colorful bedding.

LOI !!!!!

Well our paperwork requesting to adopt Liang Wan Jian is on the way to China. Amy e-mailed me today and said she had submitted our approval electronically and I guess the real stuff will be on it's way later this week. One step closer to bringing our sweet Abby Grace home.

We still have a long road ahead of us. It is anywhere from 2-5 months from out LOI to our RA. (For all of you non-adoptive readers that is referral acceptance, when China says sure you can adopt this child.) Praying we will be on the short end of that wait. Once we receive our RA it will move rather quickly. Our agency will secure consulate appointments, make travel arrangements and help us get our Visas ready for travel to China. Whew...I can't wait for that time to come. Still hoping and praying for February or March travel. Faith and God have guided us through this entire process thus far and I know he will pick the perfect time for us to travel. It is just so hard to be a planner and not be able to be in control of all of this.

I'll end with a quote I've had plastered on the refrigerator and on my computer screen at work,

"Every minute you're waiting, God is working." -Oswald Chambers

Meet Abby Grace

Abbigail Grace Liang Mitchell

20 months old

Ping Liang SWI, Gan Su Province, PRC

Here she is, Miss Abbigail Grace Liang Mitchell. This was a picture provided to us in her most recent update 10/12/07. This is what she looks like right now. I can't believe it! We finally have a beautiful face to put with our daughter we have been praying for for so long. We think she is absolutely beautiful.

Her update stated that the doctors did not perform her CL/CP surgery in August as had been planned. After talking with our Pediatrician she said that was for the best. Therefore we requested that they not perform it in China. We will take care of it when we get home. Speaking of getting home. We are praying that we will travel in February or March to China. February would be great since V already has a week off from school for winter break, so she would only miss one week. March would be ok too, but you know me, the sooner the better. Her update also stated that she has 17 teeth and weighs a whopping 22.9 pounds. I guess all of those egg noodles she has been eating are catching up with her. I can hardly wait to finally hold our sweet little girl, come on China get her paperwork done ASAP and give us travel dates soon. I sure don't want to join the 100 day club. That is the club of people who have been waiting for 100+ days to get there approval from China. Our family coordinator is guessing anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how many other dossiers are being reviewed at the time ours comes to that point.

I have become cyber friends with a family whose son is also in Abby's SWI. they are almost the same age and he too had a CL/CP. he recently had surgery and looks great. We joke that they are playing together and having a great time, unaware of the connections they have given us. we are praying to be able to travel together. They have daughters around V's age which would make the trip for her a little more fun. I cannot wait to see Abby and Hudson playing together!

Please continue to pray for Abby Grace and for her care givers. Pray for the CCAA, that they quickly process our paperwork. Pray for us as we continue to wait. Pray for all of the orphans in the world. Pray for others to come forward and start the wonderful process of adoption. It is such an amazing journey.

Abby Grace Liang Mitchell!!!!!!

The call we have been waiting so long for finally came. At 3:10 on Tuesday 10/9/07 we became the proud expectant parents of a beautiful 22 month old. We will be able to post her photos and more information about her on our site next week after we complete our LOI (letter of Intent) letting China know that we will be pursuing her adoption. She is absolutely beautiful!!! We praise and thank our Lord and Savior for this wonderful gift he has blessed us with.

August and September 2007

Well as you can tell by my delay in posting not a whole lot happened on the adoption front in August and September, but on the home front a lot did happen. We had heard and hoped that a new batch of SN referrals would arrive in mid September, but that did not happen. In fact they did not arrive until last week. You heard it right...last week. So Victoria did not get a sister for her birthday in September like she had hoped. We did finally sell our house which had been on the market since last December. So, now here we sit renting my childhood home from my parents sitting on pins and needles waiting to find out if our Abby Grace is in this latest batch. Waiting, I am beginning to hate that word. It is so hard for those not in the adoption community to understand just how hard and tiring waiting can be. I compare it to being a child on Christmas morning at the top of the stairs. You can see the presents under the tree but you have to wait for your parents to wake up before you can go downstairs and tear them open. We know that one day we will have our Abby Grace but the waiting is just getting so hard. Our agency sent an e-mail out earlier this week that said they would start making calls today, but so far we haven't heard anything. I checked my e-mail at work and kept my cell phone handy but nothing. I just felt that this was our time. Maybe it is, maybe we'll get a call today, I doubt it since it is a Friday afternoon and it's almost 5 o'clock. But maybe, just maybe that call will come.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray for the SN team as they match the children, pray for us as we continue to wait. Pray for Abby no matter where she is, for her safety and security, for someone to comfort her in her times of need.

July Update

The month of July has flown by! We took a vacation to Canada for a few days to visit my sister and her family. The travel was long but the weather was great. We left balmy 95+ SC days and had wonderful 80-85 degree days in Toronto. We did some a little sightseeing at the Toronto Zoo and had a lot of fun just spending time relaxing and shopping.

On the adoption front... Abby was not in this most recent batch of SN referrals but a great friend of mine, Angie Hendren (see her link) found her daughter in this batch. Her family was DTC and LID with us so I was so excited when she finally shared her great news with me. It is wonderful to know that another little China pearl will soon be finding her forever family. She is looking forward to travel this fall and if you follow her BLOG you can take the journey with her. In talking with the SN team she was told that another batch of referrals is expected to arrive sometime in September. Victoria would be thrilled to finally get her baby sister for her birthday. Wouldn't that be a fantastic 9th birthday present?

Please continue to pray for Abby and for her birthmother. Pray fro her mother as she grieves her loss and pray that if Abby is in foster care that her foster parents are loving and nurturing her, treating her as if she were their own. And please continue to pray for us, for the finances to complete the adoption once we receive our referral and for patience while we continue to wait for our referral.

Oh...I met two wonderful women, in my neighborhood, who are also in the process of adopting from China. Isn't God amazing, we all live within 1 mile of each other and we are all feeling led by the Lord to seek out our daughters in China. I'll add a link to Michelle's website so if you get a chance check it out. She is expecting her referral sometime in September!!

The Wallace's got the call

Praise and glory to our Lord and Savior!!! Some new friends of ours from SC got the call yesterday @2:38. They will soon be welcoming KateLin Wallace into their family. She will be turning 2 in July. Hope, KateLin's mom, and I have been corresponding for a few months, providing support for one another. She has been waiting on the list since October 2006 and has waited through 3 SN batches before finally getting matched with her daughter. I will add her web-site the the links for anyone who wants to follow her journey. The password for her blog is: partyoffive, as KateLin will make the Wallace family a family of 5.

Update for June

There is not a whole lot to update everyone on. Our agency received a batch of referrals last week but no phone call yet. I don't think our Abby Grace is in this group but it would be a welcomed gift from the Lord if she is. I cannot wait to finally get that call one day and be able to share our news with everyone. In the meantime I am growing my hair our for Locks of Love until that referral comes. Nothing like long hair in SC with the 95+ days we are having. But ponytales and becoming the norm for me. V was going to grow her hair out as well but decided to get it cut while visiting my sister in Toronto. It is really cute, no ponytales for her.

School is finally out, so the kids are home except for a few weeks when they chose to go to YMCA day camp. Owen is loving being home. When we drive on the streets near his school he says, "Momma, no school today." He has been spending a lot of time with me on the computer working on his letters and sounds on starfall.com. He loves to do the "letter "D" for daddy" because it has dinosaurs on it.

I took V and her best friend Emma to Georgia last weekend to see my dear friend Allison. Another friend of ours, Alice, and I surprised her for a late birthday gift. We had a great time hanging out and the girls occupied her 4 year old Lauren. We sure miss having them for next door neighbors. She was a great support while going through the paperchase.

So not much to share at the moment. Please continue to pray for us, pray for the Lord to watch over our sweet girl and for our finances as we wait to complete our adoption of Abby Grace.

Patience

Well our agency received a batch of 23 SN referrals a week ago and our Abby was not in this batch. This was the 2nd batch of referrals since we joined the SN program. When the first batch came through in February I carried my phone everywhere, checked messages at least 10 times a day and checked my e-mail every hour. But we didn't get a call. I was so upset but then Sean reminded me that we are working with God's time not ours. If it had been our time we would have received a referral as soon as we were logged in. But God's timing is different, he felt that February wasn't our time and is working very hard at teaching me patience. We must realize that he has already chosen the perfect child for us and when it is time we will get the call. Then last week when we got the e-mail that new referrals had come I prepared myself for not receiving a call. In fact I left my phone in the car while at work and only checked my e-mail on my break. For some reason I was very at peace this time. Knowing that in my mind this was not our time. Don't get me wrong, I checked on my break to see if we had any messages but not every hour like in February. So now the wait continues. Praying continues and in his time we will meet our Abby Grace.

International Adoption

We are the Mitchell family and we a currently in the waiting stage of our international adoption from China. We are praying to get a referral for a special needs girl 0-2 and then travel to China sometime in 2007 to bring our Abby Grace home.

We will be updating our blog periodically throughout our wait but the real fun will begin when we get the call from our agency AWAA telling us they have our daughter.

DTC 12/15/06

LID 1/15/07

referral??????