LOA...Almost there!

We have big news this week!

On Wednesday we received a call from our adoption agency letting us know that they had received our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) 

from China!

 

And today, Federal Express delivered our LOA into our hands.

Actually, it was delivered into Tim’s hands.

 

Our LOA means that we have official permission from China

to adopt Maxwell.

 

It took 86 days to receive our LOA for Maxwell.

Compared with the short 38 day wait for Logan’s LOA last year,

this is definitely a huge step in this long journey to our newest little guy and he is so worth it…

We can now file our I800, which is our final paperwork with our government.

Yes, this journey is full of initials and numbers.

Here’s an easier way of looking at it…

  You can also follow along on Maxwell's Timeline

It's still hard to believe that soon we will be

holding Maxwell in our arms!

Meet Maxwell

We are absolutely overjoyed to be able to share this 

incredible news with everyone!

We would like you to meet

Maxwell Alan...

 Our new son!

As our adoption journey continues, 

we are amazed at how the Lord continues 

to work in our lives;

on our hearts,

strengthening our faith,

and drawing us ever nearer to Him.

We have learned how sadness and joy can walk hand in hand.

We have experienced the pain of losing a daughter

and once again, 

we share in the happiness of adopting a new son.  

So here's how our journey to Maxwell began.

 Maxwell's story is interwoven with Lia's;

so one can't be told without including the other...

We were matched with our precious girl in December.

So excited about our new daughter,

so happy to share our joy.

Lia's medical condition was the same as Logan's.

We knew the drill.

We had the doctors in place,

and we were ready to bring our sweet daughter home.

 Because we were reusing our dossier,

we anticipated bringing Lia home sometime this summer.

In March, we received a call from our agency;

our daughter was now in the arms of our Loving Father.

She had died from complications of her medical condition.

Devasted.

My heart was completely broken,

but my faith was not.

As my Heavenly Father held my daughter in his loving arms,

He held me too.

"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

Blessed be the name of the LORD." 

We never held our child in our arms,

but we continue to hold her in our heart.
 She was and always will be our daughter.

 Throughout this time of sorrow,

 our adoption agency was amazing.

They were a blessing,

and an encouragement.

We agreed to stay on our agency's family list.

But after much prayer, we decided not to request any new files.

We would wait on the Lord.

We didn't wait long before His will for us was made known.

We received a call from our agency.

They had the file of a little boy who was almost two.

Would we be interested in reviewing it.

Yes.

As we opened up the file and looked at the pictures of this little boy with the adorable colic in his hair, how could we say no. 

 How could we deny this beautiful child the gift of a family.

Our family.

We said yes.

He already had our hearts.

There was no other answer we could give.

We could never replace our daughter.

She is in my thoughts, daily.

In our hearts, always.

The calling to adopt is far greater than our desire to have a child.

It's God's desire for each of his children to have a family.

What a privilege to be Maxwell's family.

We invite you to follow us on our newest journey...

our journey to Maxwell.
  

Almost a Year.

Almost a year.

A year ago our family was preparing for the trip of a lifetime.

A journey that would change us in so many ways.  
One that would not only expand our family with the addition of our precious son, but one that would also significantly expand our awareness of the cause of the orphan.

August 12th will be Logan's one year "Gotcha Day" anniversary.

I will never forget the details of that glorious day and how it felt to hold our son for the first time.  It was also a bittersweet moment, as Logan began the transition from the only home he'd ever known to join a family he'd never known.

We walked by faith during those early days with Logan, and the One who set us on the path to adoption still leads us as we continue the journey.

If you haven't seen Logan's adoption video yet, here's a quick look back, including a peek at his Gotcha Day:

It's amazing how much has changed in just one year.
This little boy has accomplished so much in such a short time:

Our child who came to us so thin, so malnourished;
is now round and plump as every toddler should be...

A little boy who could barely walk through the grass,
can now ride a tricycle--fast!

A child who was terrified to have his hair cut,
has now cut his own hair more than once;
always the bangs, always to the scalp...

Our son who was so frightened to go to the doctor,
now knows his way around the Cleveland Clinic and approaches
each appointment, test and therapy like a champ...

A year ago, our little boy couldn't speak a word of English;
now he talks constantly and has still retained quite a bit of his Mandarin.

(Yes, he's wearing pigtails...it was a phase.)



Our family has been blessed by this sweet child.

As we close in on our first year as a family of seven, 
we are filled with gratitude and thankfulness
to the One who brought this family together.

 

Five Months Home.

Five months home.

Our love for this boy is overflowing.

As our journey continues we sometimes encounter 
uneven paths and rugged terrain;
but the Lord is faithful to order our steps
and He helps us with our footing each step of the way.

We enjoy many smooth walkways as well,
where we can just stroll along with little effort.
And we are thankful.

In celebration of Logan's first five months home,
we want to share with you a look back at our journey...

Home.

Home.

How wonderful it is to be home.

It was a privilege to be able to visit another country, experience its beautiful culture and meet so many wonderful people.  But coming home is like being wrapped in a warm comforter on a cold winter’s night;

there's nothing else like it.

And now, being home almost two weeks with our new son, we are all adjusting and transitioning into our new normal, and this normal feels great.

So much has happened since we arrived home, and I want to share some of the highlights and fill everyone in on how things are going.

We arrived home late in the evening on August 24.  Lani had Ella and Ross waiting for us at our house, they had decorated with a welcome home banner, streamers and balloons.  I cannot put into words how I felt when Ross and Ella came running out of the house to meet us, I had missed them so much and my heart was singing as I smothered them with hugs and kisses.  It wasn’t long before they were running to the other side of the van to greet Logan who was still in his car seat.  Logan recognized them from the pictures we had shown him and from our time Skyping together.  They all took to each other right away and are so close now that you'd think they’ve been together for much, much longer.

 

Logan is doing incredibly well.  It’s so much fun sharing all his new experiences with him.  I’ve taken for granted the simple pleasures in life that, to Logan, are amazing discoveries to be explored and enjoyed.

It was adorable to watch him walk through grass for the first time as he used large, exaggerated steps to make his way across the yard.  He was a bit frightened with his first encounter with bubbles, but he soon realized the fun of chasing and popping the bubbles as they floated by…

He’s conquered the backyard slide…

And enjoyed his first ride on a carousel…

 

Our only challenge comes at naptime and bedtime.  We were told by the orphanage that Logan slept in a crib.  We began his new bedtime routine his first night with us and when we went to put him in the crib in the hotel room, a look of terror came over his face and he began screaming and crying.  We quickly understood that, for some reason, bed time was traumatic for him.  There have been a couple days this week when naptime and bedtime have not brought about such a frightening reaction by Logan and we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel for him.  Slowly we’re seeing him become calmer as we prepare him for sleep and we’re praying that soon he’ll be able to enjoy the routine of snuggling up to read books, rocking, lullabies and the comfort of a warm bed.

He is enjoying his siblings and he loves having a big brother as much as Ross loves having a little brother…

 

All the kids are smitten with him and I so enjoy seeing them having fun together…

He celebrated his third birthday this week…

 

And we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with him.

He has already learned some English words and he has taught us quite a bit of Mandarin.  But it’s remarkable how the love of a family can break through the language barrier…

It’s been only two weeks, but it seems like he’s always been with us.  The journey to Logan was filled with endless amounts of paperwork, anticipation and excitement.  And now this journey with Logan is filled with endless amounts of joy and thanksgiving…