Oh, What a Gift From Above!!! :)

What a treasure to find this photo of our "happy" and lovely Mei Li!!

Get a load of that SMILE!!!!

Love that face!!!!

That face. . . . :)

Lunch must be a little "tough to take" today ;)

I know, I know. . . I've been terrible about updating over the last months. Even longer. . . But, that's truly because for SO LONG there was absolutely nothing to report. So, we busied ourselves with other things. It's a good thing to keep your life moving forward and yourself growing while you wait in this process. Otherwise, it's really easy to dwell too much on things completely outside of your control. Enough to drive one bonkers ;)

BUT, Ta-Dah!!!!! Our Mei Li is not long from coming home!!!! We have gone through all the hoops and peaks and valleys of a derailed Taiwan adoption AND the last 6 months, we have spent having our homestudy updated, fingerprints re-done, new Immigration approval on the proper China form. . . and HERE WE ARE!!!! :) Our dossier is being authenticated as I write this, and will be sent immediately, if not sooner, to China!!!!! WOOHOOOO!!! :D LONG time comin', ya'll!!!!

We've been told it'll be approximately 4-5 months from now until we travel to bring her home. Fingers are tightly crossed that it will happen sooner. But, I've learned during this process to always err on the side of "later rather than sooner" ;)

Even more exciting. . . I just found an amazing Yahoo group of families who have adopted or are adopting from the same Shanghai orphanage in which Mei Li lives!!! And, after going through the photos in their database, I found about 5 pictures of our beautiful girl!!! In every one, she is happy and in several, she is absolutely "beaming"!!! Her smile is like the sun, no kidding. I am so grateful that our Mei Li is a happy girl, filled with joy. And, as far as orphanages go. . . we could not have hoped for a better, more happy place than the one she lives in!

I feel like that unexpected "finding" of our daughter through the wonderful Shanghai adoption Yahoo group. . . was just a gift from above. God knows how much we want to see her and hug her. . . and how we have longed to know that she is "okay" in our absence. What a treasure!!! My heart felt like it would explode last night!! I could not go to sleep!! And, I think I dreamed about Mei Li when I finally went to sleep. What a confirming gift from above that was. . . and COMPLETELY unexpected!!! :)

And, I sent one of my CDs to the orphanage nannies in hopes that they would play my music for her. I let them know that "Songbird" was recorded in honor of Mei Li. It is "her song". I hope they are playing it for her and the other children. I would love for her to know my voice. . . and even more, that she would know that one song on that CD is "for her" from her "mama". :)

I WILL do better about updating from now on! I promise! We now have something to blog about :)