Three years ago today God blessed our family with our very own Princess. As a little girl growing up I always saw myself with a family, and that family always had a little girl. God would first give me two boys. I love them deeply but still always wanted that little girl. This desire was always there. I had finally put that nagging feeling to rest. The boys were nearly grown.
In 2005 we lost our neice in a car accident, and this changed my husbands heart on the matter. One day standing in the front room, he said, "lets adopt". Well if you know us and how our marriage works, that was it, there was no taking it back, and I had tons of info for him within days. I did all the research, which kinda floored him, but he knew to expect it.
At this point in our lives we were in the process of TRYING to see our home and build the home that we would retire in (which meant we were building the perfect size home for TWO and it was too late to change that now) We wernt having much luck at selling our home, so I was told not to do anything, we werent discussing it until we were moved in to the new house. OK then, we moved in and on the second night here (thats IN right) I said to him as he was getting in the shower, I have everything done, I just need your signature. To say he wasnt pleased would be an understantement. See we were then paying TWO mortage payments.
Fast Forward, February 11, 2007 were were logged in with CCAI. The others familied logged in at the same time are STILL waiting for a referral. In July we submitted our Medical Checklist for the special needs program. On Friday, November 30, 2007 I logged on email to see chatter about a little girl. Her special need was she was born with congential cataracts, her file had her listed as basically blind, she should see some shadows, etc but would never be mainstream. I logged on to see her, and as they say, I fell in love. I called and left messages with CCAI before they were opened and by the time I got through to them, they had a list of people wanting to see her file. I was told I would be put on a waiting list.
This is the first picture that I saw of my little Lu Xin Ming or Mingming as she was called.
Talk about a long weekend, I only mentioned her file to a few people, and I wondered if I had the right to ask my family to take on a child with such problems. On Monday morning, I got a phone call from Pam at CCAI asking if I wanted to see her file, my heart nearly came out of my chest. They emailed it and sent the hard package overnight. When we saw what it said about her vision, it did scare me, and I know it scared my husband. He knew my dreams of the things I wanted to do with a little girl, and she was older than the toddler we had requested. He also knew that we could only do this once. I admire so many of my friends who have returned two, three and some even more to adopt a child. The more we discussed it, the more scared I got, what if we didnt bring her home, all I think was what if someone else gets her and doesnt love her like I do or take care of her, my heart literally hurt just thinking about it. Paul would tell me to call his sister, to talk about it with her.
We only had till Wednesday to make up our minds. My dear sweet husband, bless his heart, drives me insane, he has to S L O W L Y think things through. I was a mess on that Wednesay, I was due to call them with an answer and we hadnt come to a decision yet. He called me five minutes after I was suppose to call them, and the rest as they say, is history.
My husband with a heart of steel at times, has become I man I always knew he would. This little girl truly holds the key to his heart in her tiny little hand. I was a mess that morning we went to pick her up. I was in tears before I arrived, and they flowed for the longest time that day.
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| this was our family's first climps at Grace. |
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| In her Daddys Arms |
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| One Year Home |
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| Two Years Home |
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| Taken last month |
I asked her the other day, if it felt like she has been home for three years, and my baby girl said it seems like forever :) When she speaks of her time in China, she refers to that as before she was born. She was born at 3. (She was almost four when we Got Her).
People say how lucky she is, but I, along with her daddy, and every other adoptive family out there, knows that is not the case, We are the Lucky Ones. God Chose Us To be Her Parents, we are truly blessed.
Happy 3rd Gotcha Day Grace.
We love you to the moon, back to Moncks Corner, all the way to Heaven and back to China.
