A Baby Girl

So what an incredible day to celebrate... Our daughters day. (: That's DAUGHTERS PLURAL actually!! We received some very big news today on Mae's Gotcha Day... We got Pre-approval from China for our other daughter. Yes, we are for sure bringing home a son, Ian, and a daughter!! (I could put a million exclamation points here.)
So, I know you want to see her...

This little darling is our baby girl.

Her Chinese name is Ming and we have chosen to name her Jovie Ming. As you could guess, Jovie means "joyful" and Ming means "bright, brilliant". Jovie just turned one year old on January 3, so she is 9 months younger than our sweet Ian. She is from Zhengzhou, the same place Mae was! She started out in Mae's orphanage until she was 7 1/2 months old but has been moved to an incredible place that fosters children. Jovie Ming has a serious heart defect and needs a surgery as soon as possible. Her diagnosis is double outlet right ventricle, large VSD and pulmonary atresia. Her surgery can not be done in China, so Cody and I will do everything we can to expedite our adoption paperwork so that she can come home and get her surgery.
We love her so much already and on this monumental day that we received our first love, I am reminded just how magnificent our Healer and Savior is. Our Father has every detail planned for our journey and has the power to heal our children completely. I have a new, fierce motherly fire inside me to get our children home... And God knows that. As you walk this journey, I can not tell you how many people will tell you of God's perfect timing. Yes, it is true. But thank goodness I can plead with him to stand in my place and keep my children safe in China. My peace comes in knowing that He is there, when I am not. With every adoption I draw so much closer to Him. I am more than aware of how little I am in control of. These children are His children and however much I think I love them, He loves them so much more. Thank you Abba.
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Mae's Gotcha day

Today is a very, very special day; two years ago today Mae was placed in our arms. We celebrate this day that Cody and I are abundantly and forever blessed. I remember so clearly longing for her and it is all too real again for us, as we wait to know Mae's brother and sister now. When we finally got her in our arms, I don't know how we even managed the amount of emotions that we felt. I had never experienced that kind of love. I'm over the moon in love with Cody, but there is a whole other love and awe you get as a parent. God has done a remarkable thing, as I look at the evolution of my heart I'm amazed that at one time I might have gone without ever having the rich blessings of being a mother.









Our girl has grown so much since this first day. I realized in February that she had finally spent as long with us as her time in China. We've experienced so much together in these two years.


Today Mae's school had their Easter party and Mae got to hunt Easter eggs. Her clever teachers made it a little extra hard by putting their names on the eggs, so Mae was just finding the eggs with her name! All the kiddos did so great!





Cody got to come to her school too to see her! Mae was so very happy to have us both there! I loved that we could be there.

Video of Ian

This little video is of our precious son! There just aren't words to tell you how very incredible it is to see him in action. These 2 minutes are such a gift. I'm over the moon in love!

Thanks to our agency, CCAI, for sending us this video of our beloved boy!! I will probably watch it a million times before we are there with him.

worth watching

8 Adoption Facts That Will Surprise You

This video is slightly longer than a minute but very impactful.

Last Chance

We will place our last order for the tees on March 15th. 

If you want to have one, please order now. We truly love these shirts; they feel great on. We've had several people who have ordered tell us that they are their new favorite shirt. So they are not only swell, but they also help bring home our little ones from China. Our first sales of tees alone have already raised over $1000 for our adoption. Ya'll, that is awesome!!!

So, we are asking for your help.

1) Buy a tee or multiple tees and wear them proudly. 

2) Please spread the word. This helps more than you think and means the world to us. Please share on your Facebook, Twitter and blogs *you can grab our button to put on the sidebar of your blog. And maybe you aren't real media savvy... there's always the old fashioned word of mouth. (Almost everyone that shared the first time, inspired others that had never met us to buy a tee to support us. Ya'll don't even know the impact that has had.)

3) Pray. Pray. Pray. We are still waiting to find our daughter. Please pray for our family as we search for her and for our hearts during this waiting time. Please pray for God's direction and wisdom. Every day we see the faces of little girls that could be ours; this whole process is so very emotional. Pray for our sweet Ian, for his protection, and strength for what is ahead for him. 

Order here.