Happy Birthday Ma!

Ma,

I love you!  Thank you for playing tractors, cars, and ball with me.  Thank you for walking me down to the lake to feed the fish, ducks, and turtles.  I have so much fun when I am with you.  I had the best time at Callaway Gardens on your birthday.   Thank you for taking me to see the butterflies and ride the choo-choo train.  You even let me ride it twice because I loved it so much.  You are the best, Ma.  Happy Birthday!

                                                                                             Love,

                                                                                                    Brett

A butterfly lands on Brett

Waving goodbye to the butterfly

Waving hello to the fish

Feeding the fish with Ma and Uncle Rob

Brett loved to find a butterfly and then "match" it on the guide map - he got it right every time!

Riding on the choo-choo

One happy boy!

HERE SHE IS!!!!

Now I know I am biased, but isn't she beautiful?  I just can't wait to be on the other end of that smile!

Here is a little bit more information on our girl:

Name- Hua La Yu  

(We have not decided if we are going to name her Katherine (Kate) Mei or Katherine(Kate) LaYu

Birthday- September 14, 2007

Location- Beijing

We are over the moon!  Now we can send her care packages as well!  I have already made a run to Target!

So now that you all know her birthday- you can start praying with me that we will have her in our arms by September 14th.  I know that she will only be two and won't really know it is her birthday- but I will certainly know.  And I just don't think my heart could take it if she was alone on her birthday.  

(Ok- I just previewed the post and started crying.  It just looked so good to finally see our daughters face on our blog- we have waited so long.)

Beach

We had a wonderful time at the beach.  We went to Hilton Head this year and really enjoyed it.  The weather was perfect and Brett was in heaven.  He loved the beach.  He loved the run in the water and then run back towards me as the waves came in.  He also loved digging holes and building sand castles.  I think he and Daddy could have dug holes all day.  We also rode bikes one day- all of us- including Georgia!  Brett loved the bike at first and then wanted "up".  That boy doesn't like to sit still for long.  They had an awesome playground that we went to every day.  My favorite part, however, was walking to the bakery in the morning for amazing cinnamon rolls.  Yum!  All I could think about while we were there is, "Next time we come to the beach Kate will be with us!"  I can't wait!  I have already bought her a white dress for pictures next year!

Where's the picture of Kate????

I have been asked this question a lot - so I thought I would answer the question to this on the blog instead of answering everyone's emails.  Trust me- I am so ready to post her picture- but we have to wait until Pre-Approval before I can post it.  My agency said it would take one to two weeks to get Pre-Approval- it has been two weeks today- so hopefully you will be seeing her face soon.  

So, What's next?

Good question! We have filled out the paperwork needed for our Letter of Intent (or LOI) and it is on it's way to China. We now wait to get a pre-approval (PA), then a Letter of Acceptance (LOA), and finally our travel approval (TA). All of that takes anywhere from 3 to 6 months. I really, really, really, really hope that we are on the 3 month end- NOT the 6 month end. It has only been one week since we accepted Kate's referral and it already feels like a month. I must look at her picture 1,000 times a day. Brett understands very little but he asks about her all the time. I still can't tell you too many details, but I will tell you that she is only 8 months younger than Brett! Praying hard that they are going to love eachother and enjoy having a sibling so close in age to grow up with.

We are at the beach right now and loving every minute of it. Brett LOVES the beach- really, really loves it. The first thing he asks us every morning is when are we going to the beach. He told me, "Yeah- beach- I happy". Man I love that cute little guy!

I am working on the blog list right now so it will go private in the next few days.

I can't wait until I can post Kate's picture!

Thanks for being so excited with us.

WE HAVE A DAUGHTER!!!! (and Brett has a Mei-Mei!!!!)

After over 3 years of waiting, we finally have our referral for our precious Kate.  We are still in total shock, and are beyond excited.  "How did this happen?" ,you ask,  "I thought you had several more years to wait!"  Well, we did- and then God sent us a HUGE surprise.  

Several months ago our adoption agency went to China to look for children to include in their "Hope Project".  When they returned we got an email saying that they met over 50 children who they were going to put on a list for us to look at if we were interested in adopting any of them.  They said that the orphanage they went to was the nicest orphanage they had ever been in.  That the nannies genuinely loved the children and that there was a much higher nanny to babies ratio than normal.  On Thursday, April 30th the list was up and I sat and cried as I looked at all of their faces.  We asked for additional information on three little girls but really did not expect to hear back on any of them because there were 100's of people looking at the list.  On Saturday morning, May 9th I came down stairs and Brian told me to check my email.  I said, "OK" and proceeded to fix breakfast.  He said, "No, I mean NOW!"  When I opened my email and saw that we had an email from our agency I started shaking all over.  We had been chosen to review the file of the most beautiful little girl!  She had a congenital heart disease but had a surgery in March to correct the problem.  The next few days were a blur as I contacted 5 different doctors with her medical information.  All five doctors gave us two thumbs up- we couldn't believe it.  They all said it would be highly unlikely for her to have any long term effects from her heart condition.  After a ton of prayer Brian and I had a peace that this little girl was indeed our Kate!  It is still so unbelievable.  We went from thinking we had another 3 years to wait until we got our referral, to finding out that our sweet little girl was already alive and waiting for us to come get her.  We will travel to get her in 3 to 6 months (praying for 3- not 6).  So by Thanksgiving, we will have her home!  

In order to share any pictures or information about her, we have to make our blog private.  If you would like to continue reading about our journey to Kate- and see her adorable picture- please send me an email to amybethskinner@gmail.com and put "blog invite" in the subject. The blog will go private in the next few weeks.  Also, make sure to leave messages on the blog- I will print them for her to read one day.

Thank you for continuing to encourage us as we have walked this long journey.  Only a few more steps now and she will be in our arms!!!!!!!  

Strawberries!!