LOA - MAY 4th

Boy am I behind on blogging. I need to step it up because I am missing so many milestones in our adoption of our newest most beautiful miracle. And I really need to change my blog layout. How long ago was Christmas?

Ok...so our LOA (Letter Of Approval) from China was received on May 4th. It only took 34 days to receive it which shocked us to say the least. We waited an excruciating 92 days for Halainah's LOA. We are so excited and was shocked to hear that because of this we should be traveling in August instead of September.

We are currently waiting for our I-800 Approval. Which took a lot of extra work to get to this point. A new Home Study had to be done so that it included the age and specific special need our daughter has. Once we received our new Home Study we had to file a I-797 Supplement 3 to reflect the changes as well. Then we filed our I-800. It was certainly a different process than it was for Halainah and a lot of extra paperwork.

On March 28th, 2 1/2 years after Halainah initially saw her Cardiologist, he gave her a clean bill of health. All the tests he performed proved that Halainah's heart was healed and her small hole in her heart (PFO - Patent Foramen Ovale) had closed on it's own. She was released from his care and was now termed "100% healthy" instead of "special needs."

2 hours after we returned from her appointment we received the phone call that we had been praying for. We were matched with a beautiful little girl whose special need happened to be PFO, the same heart condition as Halainah. It was a sign straight from our Lord above. He found our daughter and brought her to us. He healed Halainah and certainly chose our daughter knowing that we could fully handle her special need. It truly is amazing and no words can truly describe it.

Halainah is very excited to be a big sister. She asks about her sister often and carries a picture of her in her little purse. She tells us that she will share her Mommy and her Daddy and her Grandma and Opa with her sister. Sometimes she says she will share her toys but she makes it clear that she will not share her Tinkerbelle bed with her sister..."my sister can have my crib."

We cannot wait to make the trip to the other side of the world once again to witness our next miracle. The one thing that I am not looking forward to is the heat. We hear it is going to be very hot in China in August.

Here are some updated pictures of our daughter. She is getting so big without us and I just want to hold her and love her forever.

ON CLOUD 9

God is AMAZING. Our journey to our second daughter is BEYOND amazing.

She was meant to be our daughter and we were meant to be her parents...there is no doubt about that.

I am so entirely blessed to introduce you to our daughter:

Chang Hui Xue
Born on 9-14-2009
Changchun City, Jilin Province China

So many details to share with all of you soon.

SEPTEMBER 2011

HALAINAH GRACE - A TRUE MIRACLE FROM GOD

Tony and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Halainah's heart was healed the minute we accepted her referral from China. God calmed our fears and he was in charge of her miraculous life.

When we arrived home from China back in January of 2009 we took Halainah to a very trusted Pediatric Cardiologist. He gave us great news that her heart condition was very minor, but could not give us a clear bill of health because she was too small. He wanted to give her more time to grow and he also thought that she would never sit still long enough for an Echo cardiogram (ultrasound of her heart). So he sent us home and advised us to return 2 years later.

March 24th 2011 has now become a very signifant day for our family. Halainah has been diagnosed as "100% healthy with a beautiful heart" by her trusted and well liked Cardiologist. Halainah has been healed by our Lord and Savior. We are eternally grateful.

Our Cardiologist also commented on Halainah's spirit. "She's such a beautiful little girl, so full of energy and life."

She truly is our miracle from God. We love her more than anything in this world and she loves us. She will kiss our hands, forehead, lips and cheeks all day long. She tells us she loves us a bazillion times a day. She truly is heaven on earth.

Last Sunday in church, an older woman approached us after mass was over and stated, "For the rest of my life, I will never forget your daughter kissing your hands and telling you how much she loves you." She told us it touched her deeply.

Thank you Lord for holding Halainah in the palm of your hand!!

A VALENTINE FROM GOD

"For God so loVed the world
that He gAve
His one and onLy Son
That who Ever
Believes iN Him
Shall noT
PerIsh but have
EterNal
LifE"

John 3:16

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY

Happy Chinese New Year - The Year Of The Rabbit

If you were born in 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, or 2011 - you were born under the sign of the rabbit.

I was born under the sign of the rabbit and it's said that like the rabbit, you are one of the cuddliest and sweetest creatures in the Chinese Zodiac.

Ok so I don't know about that because the cuddliest and sweetest little goofy goober I know is my beautiful Halainah Grace Qinyang.

Just because I thought it would be neat to see...here is my greatest gift from God through all the years we have been blessed with her.

2009

2010

2011

Our family is going through some very difficult times right now.
Please pray for us!
(It has nothing to do with a referral)

AND WE ARE BACK

We are back from our much needed break. Sorry for the lack of blogging. We stepped away for a while to enjoy our very blessed Christmas.

It truly was a joyous year this year as Christmas day was spent with some very special people in our lives. And we loved spending the day with them. Thank you all for making our holiday special and for making it a Christmas that Halainah will never forget.

Santa was very good to Halainah this year. Although she did not receive a sister for Christmas, she did receive a bike, a scooter, a robot, a camera, games for her IXL and a giant dollhouse which were all among her favorites.

The wait for Halainah's Mei Mei is getting harder and harder as the months pass. We truly thought that we would have been matched by now. We know it is all in God's plan and timing, it's just hard to accept that timing sometimes.

Please keep us in your prayers as the next list will be released this coming week and we are down on our knees, praying that this is the time...God's time to bring our daughter to us.

I hope to update more frequently as I have missed recording so much of our precious miracle's everyday life happenings. Like, Halainah is so loving. She gives us a million kisses a day telling us how much she loves us. She says, "I'm so happy Mama. You happy Mama?" She is so silly...the silliest little girl I know. She loves to sing, "You're a goofy goober yeah!! I'm a goofy goober yeah!" She LOVES her grandma and will tell us a bazillion times a day, "I miss Grandma, I love Grandma." When Grandma goes home, it usually results in a major breakdown. She has the memory of an Elephant. You only have to tell her something once and she will remember it. And if she places something somewhere she will always remember where it is. So if we loose anything in the house, we go to Halainah to find it. She plays a mean game of Memory.

I have also been doing a terrible job of taking pictures. I used to have my camera in my hand at all times and have missed so many terrific Kodac moments. So for now, I have a few pics that I have been able to capture that I will add.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and that 2011 will be the most glorious year for all.

I for one am hoping my next post will have some very exciting news. We hope...we pray...we trust in his plan.

And I have been dreaming of China!!

"Santa" surprised us all with a new bike for Halainah. Thank you Opa!

Halainah at church bringing her gift so that another little 3 year old girl has a special Christmas too.
Looking cute playing in her playroom which is now called, "my room" by my little princess.

So beautiful, she takes my breathe away.

Halainah loves her cousin Tyler so so so much. She talks about him almost everyday.

Her cousin Tyler and cousins Sultana and Sasha gave Halainah this beautiful designer jacket for Christmas. She loves it and will tell anyone who listens that Ty Ty gave it to her.
We have been buried in tons and tons of snow this winter. Spring cannot come soon enough.Playing in the snow with Daddy.
Halainah did not like her giant dollhouse at first. I think it was overwhelming. She told me to call Ho Ho (Santa) and tell him to come take it back. Now she loves it.
Halainah's pink Christmas tree, although she is standing in front of it.

Talk to you all soon...don't forget to pray that this month is "THE" month.