A Brand New Day!

We have had an amazing day today! We got up early (we usually wake up by 4 am anyways), and went to Green Mountain. It is a mountain park like setting. It was so beautiful. I can not express how gorgeous China is! The weather was very hot and humid today. It rained off and on but didn't matter because it was so warm.

Mariah had a fabulous day and is starting to open up alot, especially to Chad. She is still very hesitant to let him touch her, but they shared ice cream for dessert and she played with him all day. What a relief! She is so funny and laughs all the time. She knows how to write her ABC's which amazes me that they taught her so much about America. She even wrote 1 through 18 today on a piece of paper. She is totally ready for Kindergarten! She sings so many songs and is a such a performer. We are so blessed and she truly is going to fit in so perfectly with our family.

Tomorrow we get to visit a village about an hour away and see what the "Old China" is really like. No hustle and bustle! It should be lots of fun. We were told that Mariah was most likely from a village and not the city. She has physical characteristic known to villagers.

Well, I can't believe we have been gone for a week already. 7 more days and we will be on US soil! I will miss China though, for I have come to find that the Chinese people are kind, considerate and gracious. I will always have a spot in my heart for China and the culture.

Oh, we went back to the people's park today and saw a Chinese Man practicing with a Samurai Sword. It was so cool!

Stay tuned! More tomorrow! Oh, don't forget to leave a comment! I love reading them! We miss everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nanning Guangxi

Having Fun in China!

Today was not as good of a day for Mariah as yesterday. We had to wake up early and be in the lobby because it was Walmart day. I can not believe how excited I was about Walmart day! It seems that each time we go to the lobby and wait for the tour bus, something triggers in Mariah's mind about the day we met her and I instantly felt her hand in mine turn to a limp noodle. She was all tears and I don't know if she thinks we are taking her back, or wishes we would, but it would bring a grown man to his knees. It actually did!!! She was very quiet all day and really didn't communicate at all with me and most of all Chad. She gets very timid around him at times, which we were expecting, but today just seemed very hard for her. I think she woke up realizing this is forever and she needs to come to terms on her time. It is such a hard process that I can't even imagine going through at 5 years old. She is a brave little girl, that is all I can say. Oh, and did I mention she is very smart??? ha ha!! Only about a million times. But I can't help it, she is amazing. Today she wrote all her ABC's in English, and showed us some Chinese writing. She is so delicate with all her strokes and makes them perfect.

Back to the Walmart trip. It was very different to our Walmarts, and very huge. We were absolutely lost and there was so much stuff that we could not find alot of what we needed. But we let Mariah pick two outfits out, pink of course! Then we stocked up on Chinese DVD's and CD's. She watched a Barbie movie tonight and loved it. It is nice because she can understand it. We also got some interesting snacks for Ryan and Marissa to take to school for their classes. Both classes have been following our trip to China, which makes us feel very special. I miss the kids so much!

We also went to the People's Park about 8 blocks from our hotel. It is the most amazing park I have ever walked through. It is huge and beautiful with thousands of trees and flowers, birds, a lake. That is the place that we took the pictures of us on the rides yesterday. Today we just walked the park. We saw monkeys too! It was fun, but we did not get many smiles out of Mariah.

Well, we are hoping for a brighter day tomorrow for our little girl. It is all so unpredictable right now and until we get back home and into a routine, I don't truly think we will get to see her personality shine. All in good time!

I hope all is well with everyone back home. We miss you all and can't wait to be home in just one week! Wow is it going fast!

Love from China!
Mary

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Daddy's little girl!

Our Forever Princess!

What a difference a day makes, and when prayers are answered. We have ourselves a happy, funny, goofy, singing, dancing, hugging, kissing, saying I love you daughter! It is truly a miracle, but Mariah went to sleep last night after what I can only imagine was the worse day of her life. She woke up a completely different person. She woke up Mariah Hecky.

We had to go back to the Civil Affair Office to finalize our adoption this morning. So we started our morning with a bubble bath, and of course the crown! When we got to the Civil Affairs Office to my dismay, Mariah had to see her caregiver once again, and we had to physically tell the Officials that yes, we indeed wanted to adopt her. (As if???) Once again, Mariah was completely devastated and I was so heartbroken, because she had woke up so happy. I thought we had lost her again, but by the time we got back to the hotel again, the tears had stopped and it was a complete transformation. It is a miracle, that is all I can say. A complete miracle!

Words can not describe how much we are in love with this little girl, and I can not even control the tears when I think of what our lives would be without her. We are truly privilege to have her as our daughter. She is the smartest 5 year old I have ever ever encountered. And she is mine!!!!!!! We get to watch her grow up, we get to watch her laugh every day, smile every day and we could not feel more blessed this very second. Thank you God!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you God!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have posted some videos and pictures and there is no doubt that you to will fall in love!

We are in love!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Gotcha Day!

Mariah is ours forever and ever! I just had the most happy and the most saddest day of my life! I witnessed a little girl's dream of having a forever family to love her come true, and I also witnessed the devastation and total heartbreak as she watched the only family she has ever know since the day she was found at Bus Station #7, say goodbye and walk away forever. I am emotionally and physically exhausted! Chad as well. The moment began as we waited for the officials to bring all the children in (there were 5 being adopted today). As soon as Miao Zhan (Mariah) walked in with her caregivers she gave me a hug and with the biggest surprise and the absolute sweetest voice you could ever hear, she sang Twinkle Twinkle little star in Chinese, then once finished, she began to sing it in English. The entire song she had memorized in both languages. Tears were streaming. We hugged and kissed and "talked" the best we could with help of the translators. She was so happy to finally meet us. Then the moment came where her caregivers needed to leave and that is when our daughter's heart was torn in two. I have never in my life witnessed such emotional pain. Tears upon tears streamed and streamed. I will never forget what agony she felt. The were all she knew and she loves them all. So Chad and I tried to calm her and she just kept saying a Chinese phrase over and over and over. After about 10 minutes, our guide happened to hear her and said she needed to go potty. Poor thing! She just needed to pee! Once that was over with, she quit crying. But as we left the Civil Affairs building I watched as she looked up at the giant building just waiting for them to come back and get her. I lost it. She is in complete mourning. Once we got back to our hotel room she was great! She was so excited to see all the toys and stuff I brought. I had the pleasure of a manicure with finger nail polish and half of my toes polished. I got a makeover with lots of lipstick and we were totally making progress. We had to go down to the lobby for some paperwork, and once down there, she was completely overwhelmed and just started bawling and these tears did not stop for 2 hours. We just sat in our room, I held her and she just cried and cried. We had to order a transformer for our room so our computer would work, so when the lady brought it to us, she could hear Mariah crying and talking in Chinese. She left, but a few seconds later, she knocked on the door and when Chad opened it she leaned in and said "She is telling you she is hungry!" OK, so we are the worst parents ever!!!!!!! I am definitely going to have to work on my Chinese! We immediately ordered room service, chicken congee and she gulped it right up! Then I busted out the play dough and we played that for a while. Then she got up and took her shoes off, as if to say, well I guess I am not going home, I might as well stay. I decided to get her PJ's on and I let her pick them out, and when I packed I also packed a ballet leotard in case she wanted to dance. Well, she quickly chose the ballet outfit to where and that is how she fell asleep, wearing ballet clothes and a princess crown. And she is still asleep!

Please pray for our little princess. She is grieving a huge loss, her entire past life. We knew this would happen, but nothing can prepare you for the devastation a child feels when their entire world is gone. She does not understand. I know tomorrow brings better, and we are open for what may come! We love this little girl so much. She is so smart. She knows how to write most of the English ABC's. Her drawings are unreal for a 5 year old It was so "funny" but she took out a maker, and some paper and drew the cutest little Asian person, but in the end she put a frown on her face. It broke my heart. I took the marker and changed it to a smile.

Thank you for your prayers and I will keep you posted.

Love,
Mary

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Crazy Day in Beijing!

Today started early with an orientation with our adoption agency. It was a meeting to let us know what was going to happen and when. Lots of information and we got 4 new pictures of Mariah! She gets sweeter and sweeter every time we see her!

Then it was off to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was an amazing tour! We had so much fun learning about Chinese Culture and history. I am sad that we are leaving Beijing, but so excited that we get Mariah tomorrow!!! YEAH!!!

After we got back from our tour, we met our group and went to, PIZZA HUT! It was so yummy!!!! After 3 days of Chinese food, it was nice to eat a piece of home! Our group is so great and we just had so much fun! We walked the Night Market and that is in a world of it's own. People were selling sea horses, squid, pork balls, fried kidneys, you name it they had it!!! It smelled so bad!!!

Well, sorry to make this short, but I have to pack. We have to be down in the lobby at 5:30 am. So hopefully I can put my excitement behind and get some sleep!!!

MARIAH HERE WE COME!!!

Love,
Mary

PS: I miss you Ryan, Marissa and Mya! Daddy says he loves you!

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Our Day In Beijing!

We have had an amazing first day in Beijing. We left this morning at 8:30 and got back to the hotel at 5:30. We traveled to the Great Wall of China which is absolutely stunning! We climbed up quite far, but I am horribly afraid of heights, and there were so many people I was starting to panic. It was unforgettable though! The people here are so amazing and very kind to us. I had two ladies ask me to take their pictures with them at the Great Wall. I am not sure if it my blonde hair, or they know I am a foreigner. The one lady held my hand in the picture! It was fun! Then we got to take a tour of the "real life" living in China. Hutong Lane is a residential area surrounded by buildings and to say the least, I will thank God for our home every single day of my life. We actually got to go inside a house which is literally a one room flat. It was very small, and usually would live a family of 3. A lady who lives in the home paints bottles from the inside, and are beautiful. I got Mariah one, and she painted her Chinese name on the inside. It is gorgeous! We also got to ride in a rickshaw too, which is a bike with two seats and a driver. That was great! Poor guy!! We also got to go and see ladies making vases from copper. It takes one month to complete one. The craftmanship is exquisite!

We are really having the time of our lives. It is such a blessing that Chad and I can share this time together. It has been a long time coming! We have NEVER experience anything like this together and the best is yet to come! ON TUESDAY!!! We have a great group here and have gotten to meet lots of new friends! They all have been so much fun!!!! Tomorrow we get to go the Tinnamen Square and The Forbidden City! Busy busy busy! I am exhausted! We are going to go get dinner and they call it a night!

We miss everyone and will post more tomorrow!!!!!

Love,
Mary

We are in China!!!!

Ni Hao!!!!! We have made it to China! After almost 20 hours of traveling we have finally stepped on Chinese ground. The flights were pretty uneventful. Actually, I must have to say it was fabulous. Chad and I saved our points to buy our tickets and we actually had enough to fly First Class to China! It was like a dream. We feel like we are on our Honeymoon we never got to take! First off when we arrived in Newark for our connecting flight, we were shown to the Continental Presidential Club! Oh, that was awesome! We literally had our own private room where we hung out and read books and talked until our international flight boarded. We were literally in row 1 of the entire plane. ROW 1!!!! It was awesome. We were treated like royalty! We ate more food on our flight then we did all of last week. We had Veal!!! On a plane!!! Cheesecake, ice cream, fresh fruit! Non stop beverages. I had a few Mimosa's!!!! They literally would wake you up to feed you more! We even turned down some snacks cause we were so full!!! It was definitely a moment we will cherish! It was a blast!

Then we arrived in Beijing, which is just an amazing city! Hustle and Bustle!!! We had our guide Thomas waiting as we got our luggage and we boarded in a mini van with another family who our adopting a 2 year old girl. They have a little boy now, who is traveling with them! He is so cute! Anyways, Chad was in awe just looking at the buildings, the traffic. Most of you would not know, but the "lucky" few who have traveled with Chad in the past know he is a City Scape Fanatic! He looked like a kid in the candy store! He just keeps staring out our window at the hotel and taking it all in! I am so happy we could share this together. It has been so special already, I can't imagine us having the memory of seeing Mariah. I swear he is going to cry!

Our hotel is gorgeous! We are on the 12th floor! YIKES!! But we have a great view of the city and all the crazy traffic and people. You just have to be here to believe the things we see as people drive and pedestrians try to walk. It is organized chaos!

I got to meet my friend Angela. She is the lady who helped me send Mariah's packages! She has been such a wonderful support to me these past 8 months and I was so blessed to finally meet her face to face and give her a hug! She drove an hour to our hotel so we could meet. She is so sweet! Such a wonderful warrior for the Lord and the passion she has for the orphans in China! I will cherish our meeting!


OK, I miss the kids so much! I started crying at the airport in Cleveland. Ryan sent us a text that he loves us and I just started to cry! They have all given up so much to make this happen! Then I started crying on our flight to China, knowing it will be 2 weeks before I see them is heart wrenching! If I even think about it for a moment, I just start crying. But then I think about after 2 more days, I will get to hold our daughter Mariah and it will make this trip all worth it and more! So I just wanted to say thank you so much especially to my mom and dad! Thank you for watching our kids so we can do this! I know when we first announced that we were adopting again over a year ago, they both were the first to say, how can we help! I don't think they realized that they would be helping out for 2 weeks!!! ha ha!! But when other's questioned our reasons, they both have been so happy and helpful from the start! And to Ryan and Marissa and little Mya Min, we love you so much, if hugs could reach across the world, I would squeeze you right now!

I will post some pictures tomorrow and information on our tour. We will be gone most of the day!

Thank you all for your prayers!!!

Mary and Chad

We leave in one day!!!!

Excitement, anticipation, fear, happiness, love, you name it, we are feeling it! And we only have one more day until we are on our way. I figured I'd better send a quick message since tomorrow will probably be total chaos with all last minute events! We will leave our house about 4 a.m. on Friday and be on a plane by 7:30! Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for my family, especially my 3 children Ryan, Marissa and Mya. I don't think they quite realize that they won't see us for 2 weeks. It might not seem that long, but when a family is used to their routine and something changes it abruptly, there are bound to be unhappiness and tears. That is my biggest fear. We get to experience it all, they get to wait still, for two more weeks! They have been just as big prayer warriors as anybody, and I feel they might be at their end of "Come on already" too! I can't even describe that I miss them already, but I do!

I will miss all of you!!! I think back this past year, deciding to adopt again, all the appointments, the awesome friends and family that helped us, the Chili Cook off, the Yard Sale, The Sub Sale. Each and every one of you will always have a part in our family. You helped us complete it! Can you believe now looking back, "Where did this year go?"

Hopefully once we all get settled, I can get back to what I like doing most. Spending every waking second with my family and friends! Helping when ever needed and having special visits. I feel like I have been a little secluded in my own misery, so to speak and it is a tremendous feeling to finally see our happy ending!

Well, I will try to update my blog daily, and please, please, please leave us a comment! I need your words of encouragement. I am not a great traveler and I tend to miss home the second I get to my destination. Even if it a weekend get away! There is no place like home and even though I am going to try to cherish every moment in China, I know my heart will ache for my home!

We love you all!!!! God Bless!!!

Love,
Mary

10 days to go! But who's counting?

I can't believe that we leave in 10 days! It doesn't seem possible. We are so excited that words can not even explain. Our flights are booked, our trip is planned and in exactly 2 weeks, we will finally lay eyes on our little girl. I can finally give her a hug and never never never let her go. Wow, we have missed out on so much already, and that can drive a person crazy thinking about time gone by. Her future is in our hands and we intend to love her and cherish her every second of her life. Her dreams are now our dreams and we feel so blessed, so overjoyed that we have the honor of taking her into our family. Thank you God!!!!! If I could hug God right this second I would. A big old giant God Hug!!!! Thank you God for all that you have given me. An amazing husband, the love of my life! An awesome son, so caring and selfless! The sweetest daughter ever, so tenderhearted and would do anything for anybody. The biggest miracle that we could have ever asked for, our Mya Min who adds overflowing joy to every second of every day. And now Mariah, who even though we have never met, has already a special place in our family, just waiting to start our forever memories. Life is good!

Travel Plans and dates!

I can't even believe that I am finally writing that our tickets are booked!!! I honestly don't think I have ever been more excited in my whole life. Of course, each of my children were special in the way they came into our family. But the anticipation and waiting for this to happen and the fact that Chad and I get to experience it together is surreal! I had Angela from ladybugsnlove send a letter and a dress to Mariah. She will get it Monday or Tuesday. I just wanted Mariah to know that we were coming, her family was finally coming! Hopefully I will get a few pictures this week too!

So here is our plans:

We leave Friday March 20th at 7:30 am from Cleveland
We arrive in Newark for our connecting flight and arrive in Beijing Saturday (time difference) at 2:00 p.m.

Saturday March 21st we will probably just try to adjust to the time change.

Sunday March 22nd Great Wall Tour

Monday March 23rd we meet with other Holt families and attend a seminar.

Tuesday March 24th we leave early in the morning for Nanning, where we will finally be united with Mariah Zhan Hecky. (AMAZING!)

Wednesday 25th, Thursday 26th, Friday 27th, Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th we will remain in Nanning

Monday March 30th we leave Nanning and go to Guangzhou

Tuesday March 31st Guangzhou

Wednesday April 1st (MYA's Gotcha Day 2 years ago) U.S. Consulate Visa Appointment

Thursday April 2nd Visa Issued
Take Late Train to Hong Kong

Friday April 3rd Leave for Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We leave Hong Kong at 10:25 a.m. and return in Cleveland at 5:52 p.m.!!!!!

The way the the Lord worked His timing is just so incredible to me. This is the same exact week that I traveled to get Mya two years ago!!!! Sadly, I won't be with Mya to celebrate her 2nd Gotcha Anniversary, but there will be plenty of celebrating when we get home!

We are going to China!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Travel Approval!!

"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:40 (One of my best friends read this verse when I called her to tell her our good news)

I was hoping to get the good news today, but after 1 o'clock went by, and I received an email from our agency that they had not seen it come through, my heart accepted the fact that maybe it would come tomorrow. I went about my afternoon. Well, about 3:30, I was talking to my sister on the phone and just started checking my email when I saw a message from Holt. I really wasn't paying attention because I was talking to my sister, but I was reading the message to myself and it didn't hit me until I read "We have your TA". I started screaming and crying. My kids came running, my sister was trying to find out what was wrong. "We got it! We got it! Mariah is coming home!" The Son of Man, our Lord came at an hour when I did not expect Him! Thank you Lord.

And at the grace of our Father's hand, it is perfect timing, of course. We will be going March 20th, and be home April 3. The amazing part of that is Ryan and Marissa start spring break April 3! So two weeks of all my kids together, my family together, celebrating the most special of Holiday, the day our King arose again! Wow! Easter is so significant in every day life, that sometimes we take for granted. Its a new life for Mariah, a new life for our family and we will have two weeks to bond and snuggle and laugh all together! What a great homecoming that will be! Praise God! Thank you!!!

Please pray for an safe trip for my husband and I. It is never easy leaving your kids, sometimes for even a dinner out. But 14 days is going to be so hard on us, on the kids, on my parents(ha ha). Pray for Mariah who is about to leave everything she has ever known, her caregivers, her foster family, her friends, her country. We will bring her here where the people are different, the smells are different, the tastes are different, the weather is different, sounds are different. What a long journey she will have, but she will be so cherished that we are hoping the transition will go smoothly. Keep her in your daily thoughts!

Well, stay tuned....... There will be plenty more to come!!!!

Thanks for all your love and support!

Our little butterfly!

I decided to take a moment and reflect on the past 8 months when we saw for the first time our little waiting angel. None can fathom that she waited on this list for months, a few inquiries for interested families but the stigma of adopting a older child weighing heavy on their ultimate decision. The decision that would change our lives forever! Almost 8 months to the day, she became our forever daughter in our hearts! Even though the journey has been long and trying, one thing is for sure, there has never been one regret! And as we anticpate travel (PlEASE GOD) I started to think of Mariah as a butterfly. A beautiful butterfly!

You see, when I think of a butterfly, I think of a caterpillar traveling long distances, miles to find the perfect spot to make it's cacoon. Then it wraps itself up tightly, into a small enclosure changing inside and out while the earth awaits to see it break out and fly away brilliantly marked and spreading its wings! Mariah is my little butterfly in her cacoon, waiting, growing, changing with the whole world at her wings! Waiting for her mom and dad to hold her and help her fly to the unknowns, her new family, her new world, her new life. Our precious butterfly, Mariah! Spread your wings and fly!

Our little butterfly!

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Be Careful what you pray for!

I don't look at the calendar these days. I can't bear too! It is not fun to wish the month away, because you do have 3 other children and its like wishing their time goes by too! It is such a unexplainable emotion, but I will try the best to do so. Anyways, I do believe that through this whole year of adopting, this month it has really gotten to me! Although I actually left my house and had a wonderful much needed lunch with my wonderful friend Lena on Friday! But it has been weeks of getting in bed and a small voice in my head saying "Oh good, another day down." Sad sad feeling it is. So I started to pray for distractions. Something to keep me occupied, my mind off of well, the time. My distractions have been as such. We had the holidays, which truly saved me. We were so busy with family and friends. Oh and then there were the illnesses that plagued us all. That got me through November and December. But January has drug on and on and on.

So that left me praying for distractions! I couldn't anticipate what the Lord would do, good or bad but I knew my prayers would be answered. Well, I got distraction number one on Thursday afternoon. I will need to back up a few months ago when we visited Shriner's Hospital in Cincinnati to see if they would be willing to do a little reconstructive surgery on little Mya Min's ears. Both of her ears have a slight deformity that we decided would be best to take care of at age two then wait till she was older. Of course our insurance turned it down, deeming it cosmetic, but Shriner's which is a total volunteer hospital stepped up to the plate and offered their time and skill. When we went for the consultation we were told earliest would be June of '09. That would be ideal for us anyways knowing the months ahead would be taken up with bringing home Mariah. Well, I received a phone call that Mya needs to check into Shriner's on Sunday February 1st and will be there for 3 days. WHAT??? Take a deep breath! Distraction #1! How can I possibly fit being away from the comforts of my self inflicted self pity for 3 days? OK, that is 3 days that I will be completely distracted by caring for precious Mya and thinking of nothing else!

Distraction #2 came last night when I got a call from my sister (you know when your laying in bed and the phone rings and your heart pounds because you just feel that something is wrong) saying that Marissa (she was staying for a sleepover) had gotten bit by their dog (it was 11:30 pm) and she wanted her mommy! I flew there to find a pretty deep scratch across her lip and top of her lip. I completely panicked! All the visions of my beauty on her prom day, on her wedding day trying to cover up this slash mark. It is funny what crosses your mind in dire situations. Wedding day? She is 8! I knew that I needed to take her and have it looked at, so off to Akron Children's Hospital at Midnight where she received the most wonderful care! The first doctor explained that they usually do not close dog bites because of the bacteria and the way it looked, was the way it would scar. I said a silent prayer! Then an older doctor came in and looked at her and said "Well, if she was a son, most parents would say "battle wound", it comes with the territory but this is your daughter and I don't want to mess up her super model career." He explained that if left untouched the gash would definitely scar at the current state, but if we did use stitches the odds of infection were slim, and we could minimize the scarring greatly. So stitches it was! We finally got home around 3 am and Marissa woke up with a lip the size of a golf ball. But considering what could have been, my little prayer was answered. It was so nice to turn my complete undivided attention to my little girl Marissa. Nothing entered my mind for those hours except her and holding her little hand telling her how beautiful she was!

So I humbly walk away from my "distractions" realizing what God was whispering in my ear this whole time of my sulking episodes. "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10. He is God, He knows what He is doing! So finally out of my own selfishness I am at peace! Finally Lord I am giving it to you! It is like a weight lifted off my shoulders and for once in over 12 months of the adoption roller coaster I am at peace. I feel so at peace with my true distractions, my impatience and anticipation. And I give it to you Lord! Thank you for opening my eyes!

Distraction #3 comes on February 14th. Ryan is having his 13th Birthday party at our house with 15, 7th graders. He turns 13 on February 26th, but we were running the risk of being in China, so we are having the party a little early. I still can't believe he is 13. My little baby boy. Only if time could be still............. (Do you see my state of mind?)

Anyways, my prayer now is for no more distractions!

The Lord, Life's Lessons and Love!

Last night as I was going to bed it hit me! In about 6 weeks I am going to have 4 kids! 4 KIDS! Who would have thought over twenty years ago, two kids themselves, one in the marching band, the other a cheerleader, no path planned, just in love would three years later get married and enjoy Sixteen years of countless blessings which included giving birth to two amazing children and then have the privilege of being hand selected from our Creator to care for two of His children. What an honor!

But as I went to bed last night I thought about Ryan and Marissa. I actually went into Marissa's bed and snuggled up and we slept in a big bear hug. Here are these two great kids that have opened their hearts once again to a new sibling, with so much excitement and love to give, knowing full well that there goes more of mommy's time, more of "Wait a minute", more of "I can't right now"! But they want to give so much to Mya and Mariah, it just some how comes natural. Love, that's the only way to explain it. It really hit me when I walked into our bedroom last night and laying in our giant king bed was my husband sound asleep nestled beside him was a little black haired sleeping beauty tucked in his arms where only two years prior a little Blonde sleeping beauty would have laid. Of course there are many of nights where I am literally hanging off the edge of the bed because both sleeping beauties are sprawled about our bed. But for some reason last night really tugged at my heart that Ryan and Marissa would so willingly give up their time, their "bed space" their mommy and daddy time, knowing full well that what is gained is far better! They have such big hearts and I thank the Lord every day! They are already talking about a little brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have carried two children in my womb and I have almost completed the adoption process twice, and I sit here asking myself which one was far more emotional. They each have there moments, first you try and try (actually years) to become pregnant, there is that moment when you find out your pregnant and there is an instant joy and then a second later, fear sets in. You do everything in your power to not stretch too far, not use chemicals, not sweep (OK, maybe that is a myth, but it sure was nice to have my husband sweep for 9 months!) don't eat that, don't drink that. Oh, and lets talk a little about labor. I don't know how woman give birth with no meds! I salute you, because it is horrifying. Hours of pain that is unexplainable, indescribable. Oh, wait after 20 hours of labor now a csection. Great! Then there are the sleepless newborn nights, the colic, the poop, the endless loads of laundry. But in the scheme of things, deep down you know that you are going to have a baby that has been monitored for 9 months that will instantly come out and you will bond and love the child and they will love you. Its only natural right?

Adoption on the other hand is a hurry and wait tug of war. The paperwork is endless. There is the social worker appointments, the physical appointments, the fingerprint appointments. Drive here, notarize this, authenticate this, fedex this. And the $$$, lets not even go there. Then one fine day you see her!, not by mistake or chance, but God's will and you look at that one list of many out there with thousands of waiting children. You see the beautiful pictures of your child who has been living across the world for years and you fall instantly in love. But wait, don't get too excited, there are two other families that have fallen in love with her too! You must wait until a committee says yes, they have chosen you to be the parents. That wait took 6 weeks. Longest six weeks of my life, but I don't know how I would have handled it had the outcome been different. I think about those other families all the time and wonder if they had found their child. Back to the paperchase! You at this point have compiled a giant stack of personal, medical and other forms that make no sense, you have made 300 copies and one day 2 months later you finally get to send your papers to another country where they then determine if you can parent this child. That wait last 3 months. Then that call comes where you are "approved" to parent your child. But don't jump on a plane quite yet, now you need to wait until they tell you to come. That wait will last another month.

And then there are the unknowns. Will she like us. Will she hate us. Will she be so devastated by grief that she never lets us into her special place in her heart? Is there any underlying illness left undiscovered that when we get her home and become a family, it sneaks its dirty little head out and she becomes ill. What if she is nothing like her files described, the full of life, ready smiled funny little girl that we have been picturing for months. How will we communicated, she speaks Cantonese? What if she grows to hate us, to spite us? It is endless and can drive a person nuts if they sat and dwelled on it. Everyone who has adopted knows about every one of these feelings and experiences. And before you know it, a year of your life has past.

So whether or not you give birth or adopt, they each have there stressful, scary, unpredictable moments and when the moment finally arrives of holding your child, all the fears disappear and the past year of being pregnant or chasing papers seems to be a distant memory. One is physical pain through labor the other is emotional pain through the wait. So I am voting they are equal in the pains of emotions, unknowns and they both are equal in love, joy and happiness. Because in the end it all comes down to building a family and sharing your life with a child and teaching them about the Lord, life's lessons and love. What else can be better?

We have our LOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of you won't understand what this means, but those who have adopted from China are doing the Hallalujeuah Dance!!!! We got the call that we have been waiting since June 3, 2008 the day we saw Mariah on the waiting child list. LOA means that China has officially said that she is ours, they have gone through our paperwork and have sent a Letter of Approval saying we can come get her. Now we just wait for our Travel Approval which can be a week to 4 weeks and that is when we find out the date we are allowed to go to China. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!! I am in the clouds right now with joy and we are just steps from having our little girl home!!!! It just finally seems real now and I am more excited than ever if that is even possible.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they can not fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV

New Pictures of Mariah!

We could not have gotten a better Christmas Present. Well, maybe a travel assignment, but pictures are the next best thing. We sent a care package to Mariah's orphanage a few weeks ago and we just received 13 pictures of our little angel. She seems so happy and loved it makes us feel so blessed that she is being taken care of so well! We sent here an outfit with tinkerbelle on it, she is wearing it in the pictures. Marissa made her a photo frame that we put Ryan, Marissa and Mya in and Marissa also made her a crown. The pictures are much better in real life, for I have to crop the other people out.

We also sent some items for the orphanage which included crafts and the caretakers sent the most heart warming pictures of the excited children doing the crafts. I of course could not post all the children, but take my word for it, it was so amazing to see how happy the simple things make a group of children. They were so grateful! I cried to see such joy!

Oh, how my heart longs for our little girl. I truly think of nothing else! I open my eyes, I see her. I close my eyes, there she is again. I fall asleep, we meet there too! I wish God's timing would hurry up and get here!!!! But until then, my heart grows more in love with a smiling, sweet, precious little girl that was destined by faith to be my little girl!

Merry Christmas to all and I will post as soon as we have a travel date which grows closer every day!

The best Christmas present ever!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Two Years Ago Today!!!!

Our family is celebrating today! It has been 2 years that we saw Min-Hsuan Chen AKA Mya Min Hecky's pictures! We knew that they were coming by Fed Ex and we waited literally all day by the door on a Saturday until the Fed Ex man delivered the package. Our lives were literally changed that day. My husband lost his heart to another girl, once again and we were madly in love with a 4 month old baby that had the darkest eyes and crazy black hair that stood straight to the sky! We stared at her picture for hours and that was the day that we finally realized blood or biology has zero effect on family, children and siblings. Love is all you need. As I watched my husband hold her picture to his heart and fall asleep I knew that I was so blessed to have given birth to two amazing children, but I was triple blessed by the honor that God had chosen us, Chad and Mary to parent this little angel with the sweet smile! Wow! Thank you Lord! This was the moment that God finally made sense of our journeys and paths in life, good and bad, bliss and troubles! We are just extremely blessed!

Now as far as Mya, she is wonderful! She is hilarious, strong willed, amazingly intelligent (She just turned two and knows all her colors and shapes!) She has the most wonderful personality, is faster than a speeding bullet and can climb and I mean climb anything! She is tiring in a wonderful but tiring way! My day goes fast and by time it is night night I am exhausted, but the second I hear her say "Mom" in the morning I can't wait to get up the stairs to grab her and hug her! Chad and Mya have the most awesome bond. She makes him melt like butter and she knows how to spread it too! Ryan and Marissa love her so much and they both just opened their hearts the second they say her, two years ago today and the love is still growing!

We love you Mya!!!!!! Thank you God for your blessings and thank you for our beautiful daughter Mya Min Hecky!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIAH!!!!!

I just wanted to wish our beautiful daughter Mariah a Happy 5th Birthday!!! The last Birthday she will ever have to spend without her family. I hope she knows we are thinking of her and celebrating the day she was born!!!!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Mariah!
Happy Birthday to you!
(and many more!)

We love you!

We are having a cake tonight and I got her a gift that I will put away until we are together!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

New Pictures of Mariah!

Today at church we sang the song "Whole World in His Hands" by Tim Hughes (I think)? It truly made me think that we all see the world so big, this big Earth we live on. I feel so far away from our little girl. Thousands and Thousands of miles away, but when you truly think how enormous, giant, even gargantuan (is that a word?) that God is, and how everything is in His hands, it makes the world smaller, and Mariah doesn't seem that far away! It's not miles that keep us apart, its time, and its in His time. He has the whole world in his hands. So I prayed about this during service and I am no longer going to think how far apart we are, I am going to pray for the moment that I finally get to hold her when we finally become a forever family. It truly brought peace to my heart.

Well, then when we got home I checked my email and to my surprise was 10 pictures of our beautiful girl, smiling as usual, just as in love with us, as we are her! She had gotten the package that we sent her. She is wearing the dresses we sent and holding the Build A Bear that we made. She is so precious, I don't have words to even explain! Thank you God for answering my prayers!

All in His Timing!!!

All I can say is Praise God!!!!! Our Dossier (aka: Giant stack of adoption papers) is finally out of my hands and on its way to our agency. So it will be headed for China in exactly one week!!!! And I say "finally" because we had to send our paperwork to Washington DC to be authenticated and there was one paper that the Chinese Embassy was not accepting because it had the word "Taiwan" which we were adopting from the beginning. You see Taiwan is really People's Republic of China and so they were not willing to authenticate it until the Taiwan was removed. So it took 3 changes before we finally got it right which took a trip to USCIS Federal Building in Cleveland and 3 trips to Columbus in 10 days, and today we got the call from our amazing courier service (I love you Tenisha) that the document was finally authenticated and off it went!!!! It really backed our paperwork up about 3 weeks!!!! I have never felt so distracted and out of control in my whole life. But in the end God's timing proves true when I know that the delays were for a reason and now we are one giant step closer to holding our little girl.

It is amazing how you can miss and love someone so much even someone that you have never have gotten to touch her hair, wipe a tear, or steal a sweet kiss. Someone who has captured your heart with just one picture. And with each new picture you see you love her millions times more. The one who cried when she found out she had a family. Like her dreams came true. If only she knew she is our dream come true. Our little Mariah. Soon little one, soon!!!!!!

What more can a mother ask for?

I don't post often about my son Ryan. Since we are so focused on the adoption process, I tend to use this blog for that reason. I had to share what my son wrote for a "Bio Poem" at school the other day. You see, this is the first year that we put Ryan into the public school. He has been at a smaller Christian School since Kindergarten and he really felt led to spread his wings this year and wanted to start Middle School in 7th grade! We were hesitant, but with a paper like this, we know where his heart is and we could not be prouder to have him as a son! He is the best big brother, watches Mya when ever needed, without complaining. Never hesitates to change a poo-poo diaper and recently learned how to make Mac N Cheese! But this Poem touched my heart and I will remember it forever. So even though he is now attending the Public School, he is not afraid to say what he believes:

RYAN
FUN, MUSICAL,FAITHFUL
SON OF CHAD AND MARY
LOVER OF GUITAR, FAMILY AND GOD
WHO FEELS LOVED, ENCOURAGED, AND LOVED BY
GOD
WHO NEEDS JESUS, FAMILY AND FRIENDS
WHO GIVES ENCOURAGEMENT, HAPPINESS AND A
SMILE
WHO FEARS GOD, SPIDERS, AND BEING ALONE
WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE GERMANY,
THE EIFFEL TOWER, AND AUSTRALIA
RESIDENT OF HARTVILLE, OHIO
HECKY

He could not understand why I was crying after I read this. They were tears of joy!

Raffle Extended!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we have extended the raffle for another month. There are a few people that I have not been able to get with to get their money for the tickets they sold to people. And quite a few people that still wanted to get tickets and they just ran out of time. So we will do it for one more month and that will be it! I am going to do another chip in and it will give the closing date!

We are also doing a Lasagna Dinner sale, so if anyone is interested in purchasing a lasagna let me know! YUMMY!!!!!!

Colorful Blessings!!!!!!

Well, today was the day that I had not been looking forward too since the beginning of our China Adoption. State Certification!!! I left the house at 8:00 with my lovely friend Lena (thanks for going), and we drove to Columbus to have each one of our documents State Certified so they could be sent to Washington! It was a little over 2 hours to get there. We get down town and was not sure where the State Building was located. We knew the address, so we decided to park and walk. After walking about 4 city blocks we found our destination and waited for the process to be over. We then found out where the nearest FEDEX was located, so I could just send them to our courier in Washington. So we walked about 10 city blocks. Did I mention it was 92 degrees!!!! So we found FEDEX, was in there about 45 minutes and then journeyed back to the parking garage. Well, we couldn't find it!!! After walking aimlessly for about an hour asking everyone we could find if the knew where the StateHouse Parking Deck and no one seemed to know what we were talking about! So finally we found it and away we went! We did enjoy a wonderful lunch and a little shopping, but it was a very long day!!!!!! Driving back seemed even longer!!!!

So I get home and check my email and to my surprise I get an email from Angela, the lady in China who had sent Mariah her carepackage. She writes: I am so excited to hear from your daughter. She sent you a picture! What a wonderful job she has done! You must be very proud of her! On the picture is says "To Daddy and Mommy" August 11, 2008. Wu, Miao Zhan. (her chinese name)

My heart just skipped a beat! She had colored us a picture and sent it to Angela to give to us!!!!!! I can't even believe how much we love this little girl!!!!! And it is now obvious that she loves us!!!!! She is so talented for a 4 year old!!!!! It is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen!!!!!!!

So even though this day was spent doing the "tedious" tasks of paperwork I was so blessed to see this love letter from our daughter!!! Thank you God!!!!! I needed that!

Mariah honey, thank you so much!!! We love you more than words can say!!!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

We are so blessed! Updates on Mariah!

We had the biggest surprise sent to us today! 11 pictures of our precious daughter and the most beautiful letter written from her orphanage. In our last post I wrote about a lady in China who sends care packages and letters to the children from their adoptive families. Well, our package that we purchased included a cake delivered to her orphanage, two cameras and a photo album! We also sent a doll and some treats for the caregivers and Mariah's foster family. I honestly thought it would be weeks before we got anything back as far as a response especially since the Olympics were happening. To my surprise, Kelly from http://www.ladybugsnlove.com/ called me today and said, "Did you get the pictures emailed to you?" I said, no!?! "Well, there are a whole bunch of pictures and a letter, but the file is so large it probably would not go through." So she mailed them one by one until I got them all! Another afternoon sitting smiling and crying. It is such a strange emotion!!! Happiness that we have the most beautiful daughter, and a tad of sadness that she is thousands of miles away!



I will share the pictures of her by herself with the cake that Angela had arranged for the orphanage. There are several pictures of her with the other children, but I won't publish those!

I do have to say that the orphanage, caregivers and the other children are just gorgeous! There is love in that place and it shines! Which I know alot of you are aware that is not always the case! The letter that was sent was also just beautifully written and you can feel the love these ladies share for our little girl!



I will tell you excerpts, but it was so touching and priceless! I just feel so overwhelmed and blessed! Mya was so lucky to be at St. Lucy's Center in Taiwan with the most caring wonderful women to care for her until we were able to get her! And that was our biggest prayer for Mariah, and there is no doubt that she is loved, hugged daily and cherished! Not to mention everything since the second we saw her until now that has been God's hand guiding every detail into its place! First off, we did not have to do the new I800 form which went into effect April 1, 2008 for the Hague rules, which are new laws put in place to protect children worldwide. Well, this form is taking families months to get approved and some have even lost their referrals. We were grandfathered in with our Taiwan form, so lots of blessings there! Then we find a wonderful homestudy agency because we had to redo our entire homestudy to reflect China's rules and not Taiwan. The ladies there were absolutely the best and we had our homestudy completed and in hand in record time! Also, not many people know, but Chad and I were married in Niagara Falls Canada, so what this meant was I had to order a new marriage certificate, then come to find out we have to have it authenticated in Ottawa, Canada! When I called the embassy in Canada they said it could take 4-6 weeks for authenticating! Then we called a friend of Ryan's who their family lives in Toronto and asked if they happened to know anyone in Ottawa? Just so happens he had a friend and I was able to overnight our certificate to Tony (thanks Tony), he walked it into the building, had it authenticated, turned around and overnighted it back to me. I had it done in 3 days! Just everything has fallen exactly where needed and we just feel so humble and blessed! We also have found the best adoption agency with Holt Intl.! They are excellent and I will recommend them to everyone!



OK, so here are parts of the precious letter: Enjoy!

Dear Miao's daddy and mommy,

We have received the care package on August 8, 2008 (It's the Olympic Opening Day). Miao was so happy that she jumped up. Her eyes were teary when she was opening the care package.........Do you know, she misses you very much. She has been waiting to hearing from you, and now she finally got a care package from you.............Today, the foster mom told me Miao has been very well behaved......and she is reading English in real earnest.........Thank you very much. Please set your heart at rest, we will do our best to educate your daughter when she is here. She will grow healthily..........We just got her cake this afternoon. We wish her future life will be as sweet as this cake. Thank you for everything! Wish you the best!

Wow!!! Can you even believe what an amazing letter that will be cherished forever??? She is reading in English??? She is missing us? People she has never even met? She loves us already!!
And we love her!!!! There caregivers seem amazing and so loving. It is truly a miracle. Everything from the second we saw her has been fate, completely meant to be, all in His Hands!

Amazing Raffle!!!!

Well, since paperwork and summer with 3 children has now consumed my life and the yard sales have been put on hold indefinitely, I have decided to raffle off possessions that truly have minimal meaning to me when compared to a little girl waiting for her family 10,000 miles away! It is such an amazing feeling when put into perspective what really matters in life, and although 5 years ago, this set that was given to me by my amazing husband was such a thoughtful gift, we are in such a different place right now that material objects tend to pull at your guilt strings! And when I realize that what sits in my jewelry box could pay for our adoption, yes the memories of the day that my husband gave me the gifts will last forever, but the best memory I will have is how it then helped bring our daughter home! I guess you could call it a long term investment!!!!

So here is your chance to win a beautiful sapphire jewelry set that I sadly only wore the day he gave it to me! It was all purchased a Jared's (Yes, he went to Jared's) for over $1000!!! There is a beautiful sapphire ring with diamonds on each side, a gorgeous bracelet with blue sapphires and diamonds, dangle earrings that have diamonds going down and then a teardrop shape sapphire and the pendant is the same as the earrings! Sapphires have always been my favorite, since that is our daughter's birthstone! Finally something for the mom's!!!!!!!!!!!! Or save it for a gift!!!!!!!!! But for $5 ticket it could be the deal of the century!!! Buy as many $5 tickets to increase your chances!!!! So if you contribute $15 dollars for example that gives you 3 tickets!!!! I will be having the kids draw the lucky winner on August 28th!!! I will post pictures!!! You can email me at CHecky6504@aol.com if you have any questions! I will run the drawing for one month and then have the kids draw the name!!!! GOOD LUCK!!!! And pass on the word!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Introducing Mariah Zhan Hecky!

I got the approval from our agency to post pictures for our family and friends to see the little girl who has captured our hearts! We also had the most amazing update today and I want to share with you what we learned! (Grab a tissue) I read on a yahoo group about a woman who lives in China who used to be a country coordinator for an adoption agency, but no longer works for the agency. However she does stay in touch with adoption and provides a service to families who are adopting children in China. A family has options to write a letter to their child, send a toy, send a photo album. It is such a wonderful thing! So I stayed up late last night and ordered the package and the items that we wanted to send Mariah. We were also allowed to ask 10 questions for the orphanage to answer. Well, was I surprised when I opened an email 10 hours later with updated photos and a response from our questions, the most precious response! Here is what is read:

Our first question: Has she been in good health for the past 6 months? Answer: Yes, she has been in good health except she had chicken pox in March. (Poor thing, I wish I was there!)

2.) Is she happy about meeting her new mommy and daddy?

When she heard she is going to have new mommy and daddy she was so excited that she jumped up. She tells everyone about it. She comes to me and asks me when her new daddy and mommy will be able to come pick her up. I tell her just be patient and wait. Your new daddy and mommy is coming as soon as they can. You be a good girl, listen to foster daddy and mommy. Help them do some work that you can. Wu Miao Zhan is truly obedient and she can help foster daddy and mommy do some homework now, such as wash dish, take care of little sister, etc.
(Wasn't that just precious?)

3.)Does she know she is going to have a new mommy and daddy?
Yes

4.)What is her favorite color?

She likes skirts with beautiful flowers on it. She likes bright color.

5.)Is she afraid of anything?

She is afraid of flocky worms and moth (miller). (I'd be afraid of something called flocky worms too!)

6.)What is her favorite food?

Her favorite food is fruit and sweet drinks.

7.)What is her favorite fun thing to do?
Her favorite thing is helping foster mom work and feed little sister, etc. She likes to play with preschool classmates and she also likes to play house with big brother and little sister. Play games with toy dishware.

8.)Will she be excited to have a brother and two sisters?
She is very excited. She likes places have a lot of people. She likes to be busy, doesnt like to be alone.

9.)What is her favorite toy?
Dishware and musical toys.

10.)Does she have special friends?
Her closest two friends were adopted internationally this summer.

She weighs 35 lbs and is 40 inches tall!

Thank you so much Angela for such a quick response! I was completely caught by surprise and it was truly a special moment! And Kelly for organizing the service and all that you do! For those interested go to http://www.ladybugsnlove.com/

We are so excited about our little girl! She is everything that we had hoped and prayed for. She sounds exactly like a little Marissa. I just want to hug her, kiss her and tell her that we are her's forever!

We are gathering the rest of our paperwork and I am hoping to complete the dossier in record speed. Our social worker visits are this week and once that is done, we are pretty much complete. There is alot of State Verifications and Authenticating to do, but now that I am understanding the process more, I should be able to get it done rather quickly.

So my friends and family I just want to take this moment to thank you all for caring and sharing our journey thus far! God is so good to us and we thank Him daily for his gift of love in our lives! I know I have been so busy that I havent been able to keep in touch with most of you. (Carol, I am here and still so looking forward to our cup of coffee!) (Lena, you are always on my mind and I hope we can get together very soon!) I feel like I have been so preoccupied with all the document gathering, I forget sometimes to call the people on my heart. (Not to mention 3 kids home for the summer) But please rest assure that I think of you all often and thank God for you every day! So please be patient with me, until I get some of my sanity back in order!!! Let's just put it this way, Chad and my anniversary is in one week and we haven't even talked about it! 16 years! I can't believe it! I am getting the best present ever!!!!!

A Look back in time!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We have a daughter!!!!!!

I am still in shock to share our news, but oh so happy!!!! I have not been able to share what has been happening in our adoption world until now! About 6 weeks ago, I came across a website of Holt International and happened to see they had a waiting child list. I had never even seen their website before and till this day am still just amazed as to what would have made me click on the site. Well of course God had his hand in my actions, and it is just another walk of faith for our family and a testimony to all to see that God does live in our lives and walking with him in control just makes every day even more amazing then the last! So I click on the waiting child list and the very first child description that I read is a 4 year old little girl. There was no picture, just her story, a story of a little girl who can count to 50, who is helpful with caregivers, and has a ready smile. I read that paragraph over and over and I could just feel my heart telling me, this is your little girl. There was only one minor detail that I was a little nervous to mention to Chad, she is in CHINA!!!!!! not Taiwan where are hearts have been leading us, where we sat patiently waiting for the call. I decided to try to get more information about her, so I filled out an application required to get her file. When Chad got home from work I read him the paragraph about the little girl and I was quite surprised that he was feeling what I was feeling. We need to find out more about this little girl who can skip and jump, and write some numbers. Did I mention she is in CHINA?? A few days later we get an email with all her medical history known and two pictures of a Chinese Pixie with the brightest smile and sparkling eyes! We were in love! But very confused. I have never prayed so hard in my 34 years of life, just praying for guidance, direction and clarity as to what we should do. We knew in our hearts that if she was meant to be our little one, God would make that happen. And today He has moved mountains and without hesitation, with happy hearts we accepted her referral.

It has been amazing to see how Ryan and Marissa both played a huge part with their faith and seeing how they both prayed for a little girl they had never met. It has been especially precious because Marissa came up to me yesterday and said "Mommy, I prayed to God that He would let her be my sister" and knowing that she can go to her Father to ask what is in her heart is priceless. I know she will remember that prayer forever and seeing how the Lord answered her hearts desire. Almost like she feels "responsible" for us being able to adopt her new sister. I know she knows the Lord, but I don't think she has ever "relied" on the Him, and now I know she has realized that He does answer our prayers. Priceless!!!!

So now with smiles on our faces we have to completely start the paper process once again. Completely new Homestudy, all new forms, everything!!!!! UUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! But in the end when we hold her hand in ours and bring her home, all that "Paper Labor" will be a distant memory and our family will be complete. (Well for now) (ONLY JOKING!!!)

Sadly we can not share pictures or her personal information with everyone until we are officially approved for her adoption. But I can tell you her birthday is October 15, 2003 and she speaks Cantonese. She is very tidy and neat and loves to perform singing and dancing. She gets along very well with younger and older children too! I will post any updates that I get!!!

We just want to say thanks to all of our family and friends who have supported and prayed for us! We feel so blessed to know so many amazing people!

SUMMER FUN!!!!!

I just wanted to share some pictures of our 4th of July celebration which included a birthday cake for our almost 2 year old!!!! 12 days early, but since we were all together, it just made perfect sense! It was actually very informal and last minute planned, but just perfect for a two year old! We ended the night with going to see the ultimate firework display in downtown Akron, which Mya fell asleep half way through. We were the closest we have ever been to fireworks, so close debris was falling on us and getting in our eyes! Wow!!! Was is worth it!!! It was a great time to spend with my family!!!!!!

I am hoping to have some amazing adoption news very soon!!!! So check back often!!!!!! Can you believe we have been on this journey for 6 months!!!!! Wow, time flies!

Our faith grows stronger!

Can the words Rummage Sale and God's perfect timing even go together in a sentence? Well, I am here to tell you it does! As many of you adopting parents struggle with the thought of adoption costs, we too were becoming frantic of the thought of financing our adoption. We have done fundraisers and have had great success. I had one of my friends suggest a rummage sale, with items donated and what a perfect time of year, SPRING CLEANING! I know some adopting folks that had done this and have done amazing! So Rummage Sale it was! I emailed some people, my wonderful friends emailed their friends, and their friends emailed their friends and before I knew it we were no longer able to walk through our garage! It is so amazing to see how many people want to share with us, to give to us and who love our daughter and want her home too! Your trash is our treasure! That was our motto!!!

But my real testimony comes with Praise and Glory for a relationship that was formed between strangers and only God could have crossed our paths and we will forever be thankful. I will not go into detail, because I am struggling writing this post. I actually opened my Bible to this verse:
Matthew 6 which reads: "Be careful not to do your "acts of righteousness" before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

And I know this couple firmly believes in these words and I will do my best to honor that! I just needed to share our thanks! So, I get an email from a nice lady who says that she had gotten an email about the Rummage Sale and she had some items to donate. We emailed a few times back and forth and it became clear that we had alot of similar beliefs and she shared alot of wisdom. We decided we would love to meet in person over coffee sometime and I could just feel that God had a plan for us to meet. The weekend came where I was doing "pick-up the treasures", and I get a call from my new friend about an item that her husband wanted to give my family, an item that we can sell. I call my husband and we decide that we need to go meet this couple in person. It just so "happened' that we could get a babysitter too! (God's timing) So we could go to their house without kids. I know there are lots of mom's out there that appreciate this point!!! I was really excited about finally meeting my penpal and her husband. If anyone knows my husband you will know that he is a very conservative shy kind of guy who doesn't open up to alot of people. (keep that in mind) So within minutes of our visit, it is clear that we have made a lifelong friendship! We (even Chad) felt comfortable right from the start! You could literally feel the Lord's presence. Let's just say we stayed for almost 5 hours and the wisdom that Chad and I walked away with and knowing what type of marriage and Christlike people we wanted to have and become was truly one of the biggest blessings we have ever received! Perfect strangers willing to open their home and their hearts is priceless! As far as the gift that was given, even though we were humbled and at first did not feel right accepting. It was God who had spoke to her husband's heart to share with our family and after that was discussed, we accepted with a grateful heart. Once the gift is sold, it will have paid for half of our adoption!!!!!!!!!! So my friends, pray without ceasing, for He is there and in control. He cares and will not harm. He is involved in everything, even a Rummage Sale! For if we would not have decided to have the rummage sale, we would have never had the meeting I shared and that moment will live in our hearts forever. We just can't wait till God gives us the calling to give and the means to share and change a life.

Oh, and as far as the Rummage Sale, it was a HUGE success! We had so much fun and it was so busy!! We met so many people! But it could not have been done with out the support of all who gave their items. Thank you all! We feel so blessed to know you and we could not have gotten through this journey without you all! So, God's perfect timing and Rummage Sale does fit together!

Adoption not for the weak!

Well, I had hoped that I would have some amazing news this month to share, but no such luck! I have to remind myself, His timing, not mine. But its hard sometimes to be patient and know that God is in control and there are so many waiting families that have waited so much longer than we have. The adoption world has changed so much just in the past two years since we began our journey to adopt Mya. Taiwan has changed so much just in the past few months with families not qualifying any longer, and there was a moment where we thought we would not "fit" the program either. They have changed the size of family qualification and if we would have wanted a healthy baby girl, it probably would be impossible since we have 3 kids already. But since we are asking for an older child, all is good!!! But I know families through adoption yahoo groups that have been turned away after waiting, hoping and paying lots of $$$$. It is sad and very frustrating!

But we are very close to being matched and for some reason, I just have this "intuition", this feeling, about June. I think its going to be our month!!!! OK, call me crazy or wishful thinking!!!

We do have another dilemma and I need all your help on this one!!! It's our new daughter's name. You see a few months ago, we agreed on the name Delanie. Which I absolutely love! I should said me and the kids agreed on the name Delanie, but Chad wasn't thrilled with it, but he agreed. When we were talking names we each came up with our favorites and Chad's pick was "Mariah", and there is a history with this name. We have two daughters named Marissa and Mya. There is not a day that goes by that I or Chad or really anybody that is around my girls that call them by name, accidentally combined their names and say Mariah. Trust me, I do it all day long!! Not to mention that it has all parts of our names in it: It has Mar, for Mary, it has Mari, for Marissa, it sounds like Mya, it has Ri, for Ryan and it even has a little "h" on the end for C"h"ad! So my husband says to me the other day, "Mary I don't really like the name Delanie". I know he doesn't want to hurt my feelings and knows how much I like the name, but I know how excited he gets when he says the name Mariah and the little "coincidences" behind all of our names. I know it sound corny, but I don't know what to do? So I need your help. I need you to vote on it!!!! Should there be a family of six named: Chad, Mary, Ryan, Marissa, Mariah & Mya or Chad, Mary, Ryan, Marissa, Delanie & Mya????? There is a voting poll at the top of the blog that you can vote on our daughter's name! Or, if you know of an adorable name that you just love, leave it in the comments!!!

All quiet on the adoption front!

Hello to all! Nothing new to report as far as a referral! We are patiently waiting, enjoying the nice weather! I do know that we are very close to being matched, but that could be tomorrow or 6 months from now! So for now, we wait, be thankful that is is finally spring and know that our daughter is across the world, just as anxious and waiting for her family!

The kids are all doing fabulous! Ryan never puts his guitar down, Marissa can't stop doing back handsprings, and Mya has officially entered the terrible two's!!! A few months early, but hey? who is counting?????

Keep checking, and I will keep posting. Maybe next time, there will be super news!!! Take care, and many Blessings!!!!!!!!!

You are so beautiful to me

Mya Min, you are so beautiful and everything we could have hoped for in a daughter! We love you, forever and always!

A YEAR TO REMEMBER!

Well, it is so hard to believe that exactly one year ago today, I was within hours of holding Mya for the very first time. First of all, I made the trip of a lifetime. Twenty Six hours and 10,000 miles away from everyone that I loved, and just a train ride away from one of the most unforgettable moments of my entire life! The moment that would literally change my family's life and path forever. It seems so surreal now, the moment we first made eye contact, the moment she first smiled and reached her hands out to me. Not a tear shed, (except mine), just a little angel placed in my arms and heart forever. She knew I was her mommy, instantly, and from that first glance she became our forever daughter, our little Mya Min!

Things that we have learned about Mya Min!

A YEAR IN THE LIFE...........

1.) Mya loves music, and she loves to dance! She can hear the softess little beat and her little bottom goes shaking!!!!!

2.) Mya loves animals!!! Her first word was dog, (actually she says dogdog)! We can't pass a farm without her jumping and squeal ling over the sight of a cow, or a horse!

3.) Mya loves books!!!! Every second of every day if there is a book, she is looking at it, and wanting you to read to her! She loves the pictures and never gets tired of looking at them!

4.) Mya loves her Ry Ry! Mya and Ryan have this very special bond that he feels so protective over her, and Mya trusts him with everything. They laugh and play and she has learned so much by his guidance. I am so blessed and proud to have a son that has unconditionally taken this little girl that he didn't even know a year ago, and has given her a space in his heart! A space only a sister can hold!

5.) Mya and Marissa are BFF's (Best Friends Forever)! I was so worried not knowing how Marissa, who had been the queen for 6 years of her life, would accept and build a sisterhood, a lifetime bond with a child who holds no resemblance, no biology. Well, I have witnessed a miracle of love that will forever be, and Marissa and Mya may not have the same color hair, or the same shaped eyes, but most importantly they have love, and that love is evident every second they spend. Trust me, it is not always a breeze, there are little fights, pulling hair, and everything else that comes with siblings, but that is what family is about, and Marissa and Mya are sisters, in every way!

6.) Mya loves her Daddy! When I came to Chad a few years ago, and expressed my hearts desire to adopt, he was hesitant. We had Ryan, we had Marissa. He was so scared that he would not bond with a child and would ultimately let her down. He was so afraid that he would feel differently towards her than he did Ryan and Marissa. But he was supportive and knew that there was a little baby that needed a mommy and a daddy, and we needed her too! Well, from the second Chad saw Mya it was an instant daddy's girl moment! I still remember the look on his face when I gave birth to both Ryan and Marissa. It was that look. That smile that says, Hi little baby, I am your daddy and I will love you forever! And Mya's face that said Hi daddy, I am your baby girl! There is not a day that goes by that the second Chad walks in the door they run to eachother like they have been separated for a lifetime. It is amazing to see! The way they play together, like only daddy's and daughter's play! The funny things they do, that make you tear up with happiness! I could not have known the impact that Mya would play on Chad's heart and how much it has changed him! I am so blessed and thank God everyday for such a wonderful man to call my husband!

7.) Mya loves her Mommy!!! It still amazes me that a year ago, I had never touched her, never dried her tears, never sang her a song. But how blessed I am that she calls me mommy, that she runs to me when she needs comfort, she hugs me and knows that I will always be there for her now and forever! She is my daughter! What an honor, what a gift! I am the luckiest woman on earth!!!

8.) WE LOVE MYA!!!! Mya brings us joy every single day! She is silly and goofy and smart and talented and....and.........!!! God has chosen the perfect child to be in our family and He blesses us each day that we get to know her more and more!

The only thing that aches at my heart is this is the day that her Grandmother went to the orphange to say goodbye, one year ago. Please pray for Mya's birthfamily, for I could see the love in her Grandmother's eyes with the pictures that I have with them two together, and I know she is thinking of Mya today and wondering how she is and if she is being loved!

Also, thank you all for being there for my family! We are so blessed to know such amazing people! I still can't believe that "hopefully" soon we will know who our new daughter will be and we can bring her home to live with the family that already loves her!!!

They Chose Me- an Adoption video that will make you cry.

We have been approached before by people wondering why, why adoption. People we don't know, people we do know, people with no faith, and even Christians. I hope this answers their confusion! This is BEAUTIFUL and tells it like it is! IT WILL MAKE YOU CRY!

MYA IS FINALLY MYA!!!!

YEAH! We went to court today and we officially can call Mya, well, Mya!!!! It was so cool to sit in court and have a judge confirm what we have known all along. Mya is our daughter! The kids got to sit in the Judge's chair and hit the hammer on the, I don't know what it is called???? But the dinger thing! (OK, so I am not up on Judge Judy!) It really was a special day! Plus tomorrow Ryan turns 12, so we went to dinner and had two big celebrations!!!!! I will remember this day forever!!!!

Also, I wanted to tell everyone about the success we had at the Chili Cook-Off over the weekend. We raised over $1300 dollars! We are able to send in our form for our fingerprinting and FBI background, and our dossier fee! YEAH! God is so good! We have the most amazing friends and family! I cried all the way home! It was alot of fun too! We got to see people we havent seen in years, and hopefully touched a person who might have adoption on their heart!

My next big "fundraiser" is going to be creating Themed Easter Baskets for people! I had so much fun creating the baskets for the Chili Day, well, I am just inspired!!!! So if you want a nice basket to give for Easter, just let me know!!!!