Proud to announce Mia!!

Our adoption story…..

Way back in the fall of 2008 we decided that we wanted to adopt a baby from China. We only had Riley at the time and were having trouble with pregnancies. We decided after much prayer that this was God’s plan. We had our home study with our social worker. The first visit we were so nervous and we were supposed to meet her right after I picked up Riley from daycare. On the way home he threw up all over himself and in the car. I rushed to the bathtub to get him washed before she got there. It was an eventful day. Our homestudy was complete on Nov 4, 2008- the day Wyatt would be born the very next year. We then spent MANY hours getting all of the paperwork together that had to be signed by the state, the US and finally China. We received our log in date (LID) on April 20, 2009 AND we were pregnant with our sweet Wyatt. We announced that we were going to have a baby and adopt a baby from China. We hoped that she would not come very quickly because I could not handle 2 babies J … we just didn’t realize the wait would be over 4 years later! In the meantime, we kept checking to see when we would finally get her--- the wait continued to get longer and longer… those getting their babies from China right now have waited over 6 years. We knew we were very ready for her so we decided to look into the “waiting child” program. This is what they call the children who have some kind of special need. We looked through the checklist and consulted our pediatrician and others who had adopted through this route. We felt like we were very capable of taking in a little girl who had been born with a cleft lip and palate or one with a minor heart disease. Once we completed our Medical Checklist we were told that we would wait 6-12 months for a match. I started to get anxious at the 6 month mark then really anxious at the 10 month mark and super anxious at the 11 month mark. I called or emailed weekly for a few weeks only to be told the wait could still be 12 months. Well they were right! Just 3 days short of waiting ONE YEAR, we were called. I always kept my phone with me thinking they would call early morning. After about noon each day I would give up and hope that I would get the call the next day. On Tuesday, May 7, 2013 I had emailed the agency- not even sure why, and facebooked a girl that I met on a blog who is also adopting to tell her we were never going to be called J! That afternoon I picked up Riley from school and he had gotten on BLUE- the best color possible and this was only the 2^nd time all year he had gotten on blue. I was so proud. As I looked at his agenda we were talking about going to the playground for his great day and he could pick his dinner, which by the way was McDonald’s. I am pretty sure I have never taken him to McDonald’s before so he was shocked when I said yes. (He has been to McDonald’s before by the way J ). As we were talking about our plans for the afternoon, the phone rang and it said Denver, CO and I knew it was our agency. I don’t remember much of the conversation but was so excited to see our little girl that we have waited so long for. Before I looked at her I called Craig and told him the good news. He was on a bus with the baseball team at the time. Thank goodness for email on my phone so that I didn’t have to wait a minute longer!! I quickly checked my email and saw the most precious little girl. She melted my heart. She has the sweetest little smile. When I showed her to Riley, he said “mama, her lip doesn’t look bad, it looks just like mine.” We had talked with him a little bit about how her lip might look different than his but we would fix it. Her cleft lip was repaired in China when she was about 6 months old and she will have the cleft palate repair after we return home with her. We have decided to name her Mia SuRou probably (Su was part of her Chinese name meaning respectful). Her full Chinese name is Zhou Su Rou. (Zhou means boat J ) She was probably born on Feb. 16, 2012, although they don’t know for sure. I spent the next day completing more paperwork to let them know that we wanted her. The very next day we got an update on her and she looks so healthy. We even got a video of her walking everywhere. I was sad to see they had shaved her head but that is pretty common over there and I know it will grow. 

                                                      they love seeing little Mia!

the day we found out - the boys with their happy meals :)

 

Today (May 16, 2013) we received our pre approval from China which allows us to share her information. So now we can share with everyone and we couldn’t be happier!! Pray that the next step (letter of approval) will come quickly!! This step can take 10 or 100 days!!