Introducing Marisa!

Our sweet daughter!  We love her already!!

China Referral!!!

I will always remember today as a miracle day because today we found out that we have a daughter!  She was born Feb. 4, 2010, so she's almost eight months old.  (We are absolutely delighted!)  At the end of July she weighed 13.2 lbs. and measured 23. 8 inches long.  Our daughter is in the Jiangxi province.  We do not have a picture yet...waiting till tomorrow. But we hear she has a lot of hair.  It doesn't matter what they would have said about her, I'd be thrilled.  No matter what she looks like, she is already beautiful to us.  We haven't decided on her middle name yet.  Her first name will be Marisa, with one "s".  We hope to travel in December to go get her.  Just depends on how soon we get all the necessary approvals from government offices.  Please pray!

Our apologies that so many family members will be finding out this information via our blog rather than a personal call.  We got the referral call this afternoon right before Mike had to leave for work.  I need to get off the phone and computer and spend some time with Kieran.  I asked him how he feels about having a baby sister, he enthusiastically said: "Grrrrreat!"

To all our family and friends, we love you!  Thank you for your support and prayers for Marisa.

A proud daddy and a happy big brother snuggling before daddy leaves for work

While we wait...

A perfect day for blowing bubbles.

No news from China.  We're doing our best to keep busy while we wait for our referral call.  Mike went camping with his brothers.  My mom & sister came to visit us while the guys were camping.  It's been a fun and eventful couple of weeks since my last blog entry.  We've been to the zoo, went shopping, went to the park and the library, and taken walks when the weather was nice.  Meanwhile, we continue to pray for our daughter and trust God with her care.  

  

No news

Nada.  Nothing from China this week.  We'll see what next week brings, but we're also preparing our minds for the possibility of no referral until October.  The good news is, we're going to get a referral soon... just not sure when.

While we wait

Nothing new to report about our China adoption.  Hopefully next week we'll begin to hear some news about when referrals are due to arrive.

Meanwhile, we are doing our best to keep busy.  I've climbed out of my funk, thankfully!  I'm sure prayers of friends and family have helped me immensely.   I'm doing a lot of mental processing right now, trying to wrap my brain around the concept of a daughter about to be added to our family.  Soon, we're going to have two children.  Wow! The days I have with just Kieran are getting fewer.  I'm treasuring the time and being able to give him my full attention.  I'm also realizing that life is easy right now with just one kid, and I'm grateful for this season of simplicity.  Funny, a month ago I didn't think having one child was easy.  Perspective changes things!  I'm also so excited to find out about our daughter.  We are imagining our daily routine with her in it.  It's bittersweet as I also realize that she's waiting for us, and needing the love that only a family can give her.  Memories of our trip to get Kieran are also rushing to the forefront of my mind.  In a few months, we are going to pack our bags and head out on a new journey to bring home our second child.  There's a lot to think about, and pray about.  I am very grateful to have God to lean on right now!

Enough with the deep thoughts, here's something fun.  Today Kieran and I made Kool-Aid playdough.  If you'd like the recipe, hop on over to my Mom Thoughts blog for all the details, and more cute pics of Kieran.

Kieran & Mommy having fun with the Kool-Aid playdough we made.