Christmas Caroling, Birthday Wishes and Mei Li WALKS! :)

AG and her good friend. . . ready for a night of caroling!

Mama and Mei Li come along to help support!!

Singing songs of Christmas. . .

One of the beautiful homes made a great backdrop for our group photo!

Another Gigi group shot. . .

Hot cocoa after a night of caroling puts a smile on Mei Li's sweet face! ;)

AG helps Mei Li try her hand at ping pong. :)

Our 1980's wall mirror serves as a great artist's pallet! The girls LOVE drawing on it with dry erase markers!

It's present time!!!

My birthday girl :)

Mei Li is having a BLAST at Big Sis's birthday party!

The prettiest ornaments don't hang on trees ;)

Time to blow out the candles and make a wish

Look who followed me upstairs to put Mei Li to bed!! Mei Li loved the attention. . . Guess who didn't want to go to sleep!? ;)

Getting ready for Wii Dance party!

OH YES. . . and we built foam Santa's workshops, gingerbread houses and a sleigh!

AG has some of the sweetest friends!! :)

Getting their "dance" on!

Love this shot! Dance queen! :)

Break dancin'

The worm!!

AG just hangin' around :)

Daddy surprised the girls with "Hot Nows" from Krispy Kreme for breakfast. . . served with hot cocoa :)

Closing out a swell birthday party with a tasty doughnut breakfast! :)

We have had quite an eventful week at the White house!! Anna Grace turned 9 years old this week!!! I can't believe my little AG is NOT little any more. This is her last year in single digits. :( We had a birthday party to throw together and I had a LOT to get prepared before having anyone come over to my house!! Especially, since AG requested a small sleep over. Oh my!! Since coming home from China, I have spent my time and energy taking care of Mei Li, running back and forth to Dr. appts and surgeries and check-ups, and homeschooling Anna Grace. Lots of "house-keeping" details happen "when I can get to them", but that is not often enough ;). There is only one of me, and I do all I can to address the "most important" things first. Haha!!! So, last Saturday, I spent the day trimming the bushes in the front of our house!! You can actually "SEE" the house now!! ;) And, as the week has progressed, I've gotten carpets steam-cleaned and other house-beautifying details addessed. Whew!!! Just in time for the sleepover on Friday night. I told AG it HAD to be small, this year. No more than 5 girls. Mama needed a manageable group. And, I told her to carefully choose 5 girls who will enjoy one-another's company for an entire night!! Tricky business!! ;) These girls will have to get along well for 12-15 hours. AG has lots of wonderful friends in different places. . . the theatre, from school, from horseback riding. She wasn't able to invite everyone she wanted to. So, she picked a few that knew each other well for our "pilot group". Did I mention this was our "first" sleepover??

Drum roll. . . . It went so well, that we will do more. AG had a blast and the girls had a wonderful time! Next time, we'll pull in folks we weren't able to this first go-round. Now that mama knows what she's doing ;)

In other important news. . . and I'll leave you with this. . . Mei Li got her cast removed on Wednesday and the 5" pin removed from her heel. She got her nighttime brace to wear and we are still awaiting her smaller daytime brace which we will get this coming Wednesday. The daytime brace will protect her foot and keep it positioned properly while she walks. But, an amazing moment happened yesterday. I took her brace off and asked her if she could stand. She stood right up, put her weight equally on both feet and grinned a mile across!! Then, before I could grab hold of her or instruct her on the finer points of taking her first steps. . . .she was off like a bullet!! She took off walking and she hasn't stopped since! I caught some of these first steps on video and you can see it in my video feed at the top right.

I was invited to come perform my original song, "Snowflake Lullaby" (that I wrote for Anna Grace and recorded on my album, "Dancin' on the Wind") at Local Color Cafe's Christmas Show last night. Geoff, AG and Mei Li came out to support mom. It went great! Even though their CD player wouldn't work with my accompaniment track, and I ended up doing the entire song acapella!!! Haha!!! (that's called "rollin' with it!!! ;) Everyone seemed to enjoy the song, and I have been invited to come back to perform an entire show in March!! What an honor! This was Mei Li's first music venue, and her first time to see mama perform. She was PERFECT!! She enjoyed the music all night, and was thrilled when mama got up to sing. And, during the intermission, she got up out of her seat and went from table to table greeting the guests and telling them her name is "Mei Li"!! Truth be told. . . Mei Li was a highlight of the night! She walked everywhere. . .she made friends with every person she met. . . and she wouldn't let mama or dad pick her up. So proud to be walking. . . and correctly. . . for the first time!!!

AG did her best to hold her head up during the show, but she was suffering from a bad case of "stayed up all night last night" itis. Haha!!! She had a ball at her birthday sleepover, but it left her hurting the next night when mama had to perform.

I hope you enjoy the pics and Mei Li's video!! Thanks for following along our journey!! And, I hope each of you is having a wonderful Christmas season!! I know that we surely are. Little miracles every day. . . and reminders about the true meaning of this wonderful season. :)

Thanksgiving Memories

Mommy's sweet angel AG

Mommy's sweet angel Mei Li :)

Traveling home. . . got her bag, her doll and her chocolate. She's ready to roll!!

Yaya's 2 best girls. . . who are "not" ready to leave to travel back home! ;)

AG and Mei Li live it up in Uncle Ken and Aunt Beth's hot tub! Mei Li may not be able to put her whole body in, but it doesn't stop her from fully enjoying taking it as far as she can!! :)

Mei Li loving on her Yaya! :)

Aunt Beth and Mei Li "cheesing" for the camera ;)

Mei Li is not sure what to thing about this big "dog" ;) Her first experience meeting a cow!

But Uncle Ken is keeping her safe!

That's my girl!! On second thought, why not??? She reached right out and petted it right on its fuzzy top knot!! ;)

Totally enamored with her Uncle Ken, she delights in showing him a twig she found on the ground! I love to see her light up over the little things most of us walk by without a second thought.

Family photo. . . and AG and Mei Li stealing the show . . . with the beautiful Smokey Mountains in the background. Such a beautiful place!!

Feels good taking a family photo with the four of us!

Ice cream dreams!!

Sweet angel with almond eyes. . . How we adore you!

She is "ham and cheese" all the way!! ;)

Big sis got Mei Li a balloon at the restaurant. . . because that's what "big sisters" do!!

Yaya, Aunt Beth, Geoff and AG. . . 3 generations of Whites :)

It's hard to believe all that transpired in the month of November!! I've already blogged on Mei Li's casting and her surgery on her foot. . . as well as the visit with the neurosurgeon. So, I won't rehash all of those details. And, that lead us right up to Thanksgiving, where we traveled to Asheville, NC to visit Geoff's family. They were able to come down for a short weekend at the time of Mei Li's surgery, but thankfully, we were able to spend several days over Thanksgiving up in the mountains with them for us to have more quality time to spend. It was 4 days packed with great food and wonderful company. And, I do believe that Mei Li succeeded on a grand scale in wrapping each one of the family members securely around her tiny finger!! As Yaya so eloquently put it, "It would be impossible to "not" love Mei Li. She is sunshine on a cloudy day!" And, I don't think there are better words to describe her!

And, AG had a blast. She got to spend the night with Aunt Beth and Uncle Ken. And, she had some great one-on-one time with her Yaya (and AG cherishes every moment with her!)

Mei Li has only one more week to go with her cast. Then, OFF it comes! After that, she will be able to walk with a brace on her leg. Hoping she will have good strength in that leg once the cast comes off so she will be able to walk on it. It has been 9 weeks of casting that hasn't allowed her to walk. She will have to rebuild her muscle tone in that leg, for sure.

For now, I am trying very hard to keep her big toe from getting banged-up any worse. She doesn't have any feeling in that foot and she knocks the mess out of that toe when she crawls. She has even lost her toenail. I am cleaning it daily, putting antibiotic ointment on it and wrapping her like a mummy with gauze and paper tape. . . then applying two thick socks over the top. Can't wait for that cast to come off!

We just learned today that Mei Li's MRI of her spine will be be on Dec. 19th. We are eager to get that done and know the results. . . and then figure out the game plan from there.

I hope each of you had a beautiful Thanksgiving as well. We are cherishing every moment with our two girls. . . and we catch our breath over the thought of the incredible gift Mei Li is to our family. And, AG is such a wonderful big sister. . . it is a joy to watch her falling deeper in love every day with this person who was a dream in her heart for so long. Wow. . . never in a million years. . . we are most definitely counting our blessings!

Consult with the Neurosurgeon

Today was an important "next step" for addressing Mei Li's medical needs. We met with Dr. Blount (a wonderful and highly respected neurosurgeon) at Children's South. It was just a consult, and he spent a great deal of time talking with me about Mei Li's meningocele, what it "is", how it affects her (now and down the road), and how he proposes moving forward. It was an educational session. And, from today's visit we know that Mei Li will next need 2 tests to establish baselines. . . an MRI (which we already knew about) and one that will test the functionality of her bladder. I forget the name of that test. Once we have these tests, Dr. Blount will move forward with surgery. . . most likely after the new year.

What was explained in today's visit is that a meningocele is in the spina bifida family, although it is more minor. It is a fatty tumor that affects the spinal neural tube. The tumor, itself, is not harmful in any way to Mei Li. It is "fat" like what we have when we consume too many calories. Although Mei Li's has nothing to do with caloric intake. It is the result of a defect of the closing of the neural tube that happened before birth. And, the body's response was to make this little fat pocket. What is concerning about it is the fibrous tissue that binds the tumor together. He described it working kind of like the plastic mesh that is around a turkey that you buy at the store. This "mesh", however is throughout the fatty tumor and serves to bind the tumor to the spinal chord. As Mei Li grows, slowly but surely, the spinal neural chord moves upward in the torso and the "mesh-like fibers" pull on the spinal chord and very probably will cause "tethering" of the spine. This could cause paralysis and incontinence.

As of now, Mei Li is able to walk and use her legs (although she shows no signs of feeling in her left foot). She is also completely continent and totally potty-trained. She is happy and bright and full of life and vigor. (Just take a look at the most recent videos I took of her playing with her new kitchen set to see this vigor in full-force ;) Dr. Blount tells me he wants to "keep" her that way. If we leave the tumor "as it is", and "hope" for the best, there is a "high" probability that she will experience significant neurological issues in the long-run as her body grows. He told us that "if" she had been left in China and had not received medical treatment, she would have "more than likely" grown into an adult who would have been paralyzed below the waist; and incontinence and loss of bowel control would have been a very probable outcome in her teen and adult years.

However, doing surgery also has its risks--(although only 15% compared to 65% or higher if we leave the meningocele alone). The surgery could also cause neurological issues. That is a risk we will have to take if we hope to keep this tumor from negatively affecting Mei Li down the road as she continues to grow.

Dr. Blount's plan is to carefully disconnect the fatty tumor and unwrap it from the spinal chord. Once it is disconnected, it will not pull on the spinal chord and cause tethering as she grows. His two main objectives for this surgery will be to "disconnect" the tumor from the spinal chord and keep spinal fluid from leaking. Whether he takes the fatty tumor out, leaves it where it is, or removes part of it will be something he decides after he reviews her MRI and knows more about what will be most beneficial for Mei Li. He said that sometimes the fatty tumor actually "helps" keep spinal fluid from leaking. He will have to make that call as he knows more about the tumor and how and where it is attached.

So, up next is an MRI. The nurse will call me to let me know when it is scheduled. And, a test will be set up to measure the functionality of Mei Li's bladder and establish a baseline for her. Both of these tests will require sedation (whether partial or complete). Then, we will meet with Dr. Blount again to discuss his plan for surgery.

Please continue to keep our Mei Li in your prayers. And, if you would, please pray for Dr. Blount and his staff as he makes decisions regarding our sweet girl. We know we are in excellent hands with him. And, though there are risks both ways, it isn't even a thought in our minds to leave that tumor as it is. We already know she has no feeling in her left foot, and she has begun complaining of pain at the site of the tumor. With the high likelihood of severe neurological problems down the road in store for our Mei Li if we do "nothing", we would rather take a smaller risk by choosing to have the surgery.

This one is a biggee. . . and it is never a small matter when you have to do surgery on the spine. But, Geoff and I also know that the same God who suspended the universe in space knows every single cell in Mei Li's body. And, there are no surprises to Him. And, I place Mei Li and the entire medical staff in the palm of His hand as we walk the road to helping our little girl. We greatly appreciate your prayers as well.

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all! Thanks for following along! And, I'll update again as soon as we learn more.

Hidden Treasure

Our sweet and priceless treasure. . . Mei Li :)

I have no idea who really reads our blog unless they post comments, but my hope is that through telling our story we not only use our blog as a way to update our friends and family of our personal journey. . . But, that it also serves as a place for other adoptive families (or soon to be :) to find encouragement, helpful information and inspiration.

People come to adopt from different places. . . for many, infertility is a part of their journey, desperation, heartbreak, loss, a calling. . . For us, we struggled with disappointment with not getting pregnant again after our first daughter. But, I can honestly say that we were not desperate. Disappointed is a better word to describe where we were 4 years ago. But, I was ready to pursue my music, and we were "about" ready to take the next step in our personal and professional lives. . . and just were thankful for the wonderful child God had already given us. For us, adoption was not "our only hope" to fill a void in our family and hearts with a child. It was not about us doing something to meet "our" need. It was our response to God's call on our family. Although, many people come to adopt a child from different "emotional and personal" places. . . and one "place" is not better than another as long as homeless children and loving families are brought together. . . our story is one of submitting to God, hearing His voice, and responding in faith. And, now that our Mei Li is here. . . we find that our family is "greatly blessed" by her being one of us. We are all the better for her presence in our lives and family. We say our "thanks" every single day for her. And, we can not imagine our family without her! And, that's just the truth! :)

Many people believe that the only people who adopt are the wealthy. And, I can attest that that assumption is not true. We are a very middle class family that clips coupons and cuts corners to get the bills paid each month. But, adoption, (unfortunately), is a costly process. It is . . . and that is the frustrating truth. My hope is that "the cost" of the adoption process will be brought down to make adoption more accessible to loving families in the future. People with more resources may find the adoption process easier, in that the financial burden of it is not an issue. But, many people of varying financial means find ways to make it happen. And, I say that to encourage those who may think adoption is impossible due to its cost. It frustrates me when uninformed people ask "how much did your child cost?" Although, I understand that they mean no harm and are "really" asking how much the process costs. But, the process. . . and every person involved in the process of bringing a child together with his/her family has to be paid for the job they do. So, what does it cost?? A ballpark figure for the cost of an international adoption starts around 20-25K. It goes up from there depending on the country and how many international trips you are required to make to complete the adoption process. To put that figure in terms most of us can really wrap our brains around. . . it is about the same financial investment as when you purchase a new car. NOT to say that "a car" and a living, breathing child are anywhere near the same in value. And, the beauty of investing in the life of a child. . . is that "many" lives are forever changed (including yours :), and a "child" never depreciates in value! :)

So, how does an average person afford the process of adoption? I strongly encourage adoptive families to apply for grants, do creative fundraisers, yard sales, trim their budgets to cut out"extras" and put that money into an adoption fund. There are always ways to help meet the financial burden. And, we honestly should have done "more" of that looking back. Besides these, there are always loans. But, I recommend working hard to raise the funds and apply for grants before you go into debt. Not only will you have the cost of the adoption process, but if you adopt a child with medical special needs, there will be medical co-pays and bills that will be a reality once you get home. So, do not be ashamed to apply for grants or do fundraisers on the front-end. These can serve to greatly ease the financial burden that will fall on the family once you're home with your precious child and the bills start coming in and surgeries are on the calendar. These options that are "available" with some sweat and hard work make "adoption" a reachable possibility for many more loving and deserving families. . . and the lives of many more children will be changed forever as a result. And, that is WORTH IT!! :)

Today, I was having my quiet time and reading scripture. I came upon Matthew 13: 44-45, the parable of "Hidden Treasure and the Pearl". It says, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Again, the kindgom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. Wen he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."

What a "treasure" we now have in our Mei Li. She is more valuable to us than gold or jewels. And, the sacrifices that we had to make to bring her to us were absolutely worth it. . . and we are all "the better" because of her. And, all who meet our Mei Li would, undoubtedly, agree.

Taking it "one day at a time". . . all in stride. :)

Mei Li's surgery on her little ankle was last Friday. And, as usual, she has amazed us with her resilience and "roll-with-the-punches" spirit. She hardly complained at all after her surgery. We kept expecting the pain meds to wear off and the pain to hit! It just never happened. The day of surgery, we were sent home at lunch time. She was very groggy and nauseous. She couldn't keep down anything she tried to eat. And, we stuck to liquids only. It all came back up. She slept most of the afternoon, and at bedtime she slept all night long. By the time Saturday morning rolled around, she was back to about 85% normal spirit and the twinkle in her eyes was back!! She did complain very mildly of pain in her leg. This child rarely complains of any kind of pain, so I take it seriously when she tells me something hurts---and I KNEW she should be hurting after that surgery. I was prepared to deal with the problem of "lots of pain". But, it turned out, the problem lay with "how little" she complained of pain. And, every time I tried to get her to wiggle her toes, she couldn't do it. And, every time I would tickle her toes or pinch them. . . or even hold an ice cube on them. . . she had no idea I was doing anything to her unless she saw me do it. So. . . our Mei Li has no feeling in her little foot. And. . . she has begun to touch her lower back where the fatty tumor is and say, "Ow!!" She has never complained of it hurting her before. But, for the last 3 days, she has told me that it hurts. . . not her leg. I'm just not sure what to make of it. I am definitely concerned. I took her back in to the orthopedic surgeon for a recheck. He took her cast off and examined her. The surgical site looks great, the blood flow is perfectly fine, her foot is warm. . . He suggested that it "might" be the meningocele on her back causing neuropathy in her foot. We don't see the neurosurgeon until Monday, and I am very eager to have his assessment of our little Mei Li.

In the meantime, we are enjoying every minute with both of our girls. My mother said it best. "Mei Li has a way of making herself "at home" wherever she is. And, she has a way of making everyone around her smile". She is truly a ray of sunshine. And, that is true even with all the doctor appointments, specialist appointments, castings and surgery. She takes everything in stride, rolls with it, adjusts herself to each new hurdle that comes along. . . and keeps going!!! With a smile and a giggle, I might add. Such a victorious spirit! If it is true that angels walk this earth, and sometimes humans are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend to one, then I am convinced Mei Li has wings hidden somewhere. She teaches all of us something new every day.

I am trying to learn from Mei Li's approach to life, and take everything "in stride". One step at a time. God has a big plan for Mei Li's life. Or, He wouldn't have gone to such lengths to connect her to a family an entire world away. And, although I want to be sure we do "everything in our power" to provide her with the medical care she needs to make her body healthy and whole, I am trying not to panic when things don't go just right. When a new obstacle pops up in our path, just like our Mei Li works around and overcome every obstacle that she encounters, we will take a minute, assess our options. . . and make a new game plan. Regardless of whether the feeling returns to her foot or not. . . Mei Li's life and health has changed "for the better" now that she has the love of her forever family, her new home in America and a team of doctors and specialists tending to her medical needs.

Please continue to lift her up in your prayers. And, thank you for following!

More Steps to Success!

Mei Li taking a wagon ride to the car after her surgery. That green popsicle was like a security blanket. She didn't care to eat much of it, but wanted to "hold" it. :)

Sleeping peacefully in her own bed after her surgery and wearing her Bravery Bracelet that her Mama B gave her.

Friday, 11-11-2011, was a big day for our Mei Li. Dr. Khorey operated on her Achilles Tendon and removed old scar tissue from her little ankle. Her little foot popped perfectly into place, and is now casted for 4 weeks while it heals. Then, our Mei Li will be in day and night braces for about 1 month. After that. . . our little girl should be able to walk "normally"!!!!

Mei Li did beautifully the day of the surgery. She was NOT happy being at the hospital, and the nurses and docs that entered her room wearing scrubs before the procedure were not warmly welcomed by her. She has had experiences in hospitals in China earlier in her life, and something tells me they were not ones that left good impressions. . . especially given our Mei Li's good nature and propensity for loving everyone she meets. She clearly does "not" love people wearing hospital fatigues. . . with one exception. . . her Daddy!! :) They gave her Versed to relax her and make her "not care". But, when it was time for the nurse to wheel her down the hall to surgery, Versed or no Versed. . . she was crying for Mama. I wanted to be with her so badly. You see, our Mei Li was abandoned in a children's hospital waiting room in Shanghai. We went to her "finding spot" while we were in China. It was not a nice hospital like the ones we have here. It made me very sad to think she was left there. . . But, I admire her birth mother for having the courage and the wisdom to take her to a place where she would surely be found and have an opportunity to get her medical needs met. I applaud her for taking the chance of getting caught in an effort to give her daughter a "chance" for hope and a future. I wish her birth mother could know that she is in America, is deeply loved by her forever family and is having her medical needs taken care of. I'm sure she must go to bed at night wondering if her baby girl she left in that cold, gray waiting room ever found a family? Ever received medical attention for her little turned-in foot? Or, for the fatty tumor on her spine? Is she happy? Is she healthy? Is she loved by someone? Does she have a good future ahead of her? I wish Mei Li's birth mom could know that the answer to each one of those questions is an emphatic "YES"!! There is no way for her to ever know that on this earth, since there are no records of birth parents for children abandoned. So, I will pray that Mei Li's birth mom will know in her heart and have a peace that only the Holy Spirit can provide to give her the assurance that she did the "right thing" for her baby girl 4 years ago in that Shanghai hospital.

In the meantime, we have one big surgery down!! And, Dr. Khorey seemed very pleased with how it went. Mei Li still does not have feeling in her toes at this point, but they gave her a nerve block in her ankle for her surgery. So, we believe that is why she is not showing signs of "feeling" yet. In the next day, she should be able to wiggle her toes and "feel" again.

On the 21st, we have an appointment with the neurosurgeon to assess the meningocele on her lower back. I have a suspicion that there will be another surgery and hospital stay required for that. I dread her having to experience another hospital visit, but I am so thankful we live in a place where Mei Li can get primo medical care and have her needs met by such amazing doctors. She is a resilient little girl, and she'll make it through.

And, coming out on the other side of the surgeries. . . Mei Li's life will be forever changed!! And, as for her future?. . . the sky is the limit!!

What I'm Thankful For. . .

I've been thinking much, lately, about all I have to be "thankful" for. The Lord has carried our family through the most amazing journey of our lives, and it continues to grow better every day. Now, I'm not saying that it is never "tough". . . but, I am saying that it is always "Great" and absolutely "worth it"!! Our family and our hearts have been richly blessed by our Mei Li----and I am thankful for the family that we now are because she is with us. But, there is more to it. And, I want to share. :)

I am thankful for disappointment. There were many years of disappointment in our adoption journey. There were SO many delays along the way. There were changed courses. We started our paperwork in fall of 2007 with our hearts set on China (healthy child adoption). After learning how "incredibly long" the wait would be (4-5 years), we changed to Taiwan. Taiwan seemed to promise a much shorter wait, a younger child, foster care situation (better. . . ). So, we had our social worker write up all of our homestudy material in winter of 2008 for Taiwan (last second. . . instead of China). By the time all "t's" were crossed and our homestudy was approved through all the government offices, it was September 2008. And, we finally went on the waitlist in Taiwan. We sat on that waitlist for 2 grueling years. The program turned out to "not" be what we had hoped. It fizzled, the agency handling that program dropped the ball and there was no communication. . . and we sat in a adoption desert wasteland of silence for 2 years. There were many times, I wondered if I had mis-heard God's voice during that period. But, I knew I had not. I HAD HEARD His call on our family so clearly. . . and it had been confirmed. So why this dead-end?

It was during this 2 years that I began recording my album, "Dancin' on the Wind" of jazz standards. And, it was during these 2 years that God showed me that I was a song writer. My jazz album wasn't completed before there were 4 original songs that God had given me over the course of the recording journey. The Lord knows how much music means to me. It is my passion and my love--and during this adoption desert--He gave me the desires of my heart, in a BIG way--with music. I would never have had the time or opportunity to discover I was a song writer and embrace my music in the way that unfolded if our adoption had moved faster. As a result of that 2 year adoption barren wasteland, "Dancin' on the Wind" was born, and the Lord gave me my lifelong heart's desire in the way of music. I am forever thankful that He loves me enough to give me a gift that I didn't even know to ask for.

Two days before the "birth" of my album on September 14, 2010, we had a meeting with our social worker, at her suggestion, to talk with her about China Special Needs adoption. She felt badly that our journey was taking so long. . . and all of our homestudy and medicals were expiring and were going to have to be redone. So, she asked us to pray about it and come in to learn about the SN program in China. We met with her on the 14th of September. Before we left her office, we already had our hearts open to SN adoption (something that we had shied away from early on in the process). . . and right before we walked out the door to pray "some more" about whether to change to China SN, she brought out Mei Li's file to show us an example of what a medical file looked like on a China SN adoption. She told us that she was not pushing this particular child on us. . . she knew we were thinking of adopting a younger child. But, that she "was" available if we were interested. We saw her face and Geoff and I both caught our breath at the same moment. We knew we were looking at the face of our daughter. There was Mei Li, and we "knew" it!

September 16th 2010 became an incredible day for me personally, and for our family. Two days after our meeting with Karla, and after seeing the face of that sweet angel, Sun Xianmei, in the medical file, and "the very same day of the birth of my album", we received a call from Dr. Jennifer Chambers from UAB's International Adoption Clinic to review Mei Li's medical. Her overall assessment. . . GO GET THIS BABY GIRL!!!!! So, two hours before the "birth" of my album, we experienced the "birth" of our daughter as well. I will tell you that when I arrived to Moonlight on the Mountain that evening to hold my album release, there was a sweetness in the air unlike any I had ever experienced before. But, amazingly, it is a sweetness I now experience regularly. . . The birth of two beautiful blessings in our lives. . . all at the same time!

So, for those of you experiencing difficult times in your adoption journey. Delays, derailments, broken hearts, frustrations. . . We" TOO" experienced all of those things, but the end result was something so perfect and timed "JUST SO". And, looking back, God's hand was in control of every step. If anything had gone differently, we would not have been matched with "this" little angel we call our daughter. And, the thought of that is something I can't consider for even one second! God was preparing us for our Mei Li (who was not eligible for adoption when we began our journey). He was preparing our hearts to take a leap of faith and go the route of a SN adoption (and we needed some work on us, first, to bring our hearts in agreement there). He was planning to complete a beautiful work in me through music. And, the timing of the birth of the album and the birth of our daughter "into our lives" happening on the very same day CAN NOT BE a coincidence. Just further evidence that the Lord was in charge of it all. :)

September 19, 2011 is a day our family will never forget. It is the day Mei Li was placed in our arms for the first time!! After beginning our adoption paperwork in September of 2007, it took us 4 years to arrive to this amazing day. I still sit here pinching myself, hoping that I will never awake from this beautiful dream. Mei Li has blessed our lives in such a rich way. I thank God every day that He did not give in to my pleas and cries and complaints during the 4 years we waited for our daughter. If He had listened to me, we would have missed out on one of the the greatest blessings we have ever known. . . the honor of becoming a family to our little Mei Li.