Ready For Some Big News? It's a GIRL!

I have been waiting to share our amazing news for what feels like ages...in reality it has only been 17 days. It's a story that has been months in the making, but somehow it has still been such a surprise to us. Where to begin?

How about with the best part?

We are thrilled to announce that God has blessed us with a daughter!

She is 7 months old, waiting for us in China, and we will be calling her Hannah.

We are already so in love with our little sweetie!

I know I'm kind of biased, but seriously, aren't those eyes amazing?

I have thought and thought about how to make this story shorter, but I think it's just going to be a long one :)

Our journey began back in January I guess. You may or may not have noticed that our transition to two children was not exactly the easiest. I think it will go down as one of the hardest times of my life. But the thing is, we made it to the other side. We survived, we became a family, and I can't imagine my life without my little Nathan :)

There was a time during his transition that I really wondered if we would ever adopt again. I just couldn't imagine being able to handle any more children. Like, ever. I had always thought we'd have a big family but I thought maybe we were at our max :)

As things gradually got better, though, I found myself wondering. Maybe we could have another one. Down the road, of course! Brad and I started having discussions about it and he flat out told me that I was not to bring it up until Nathan had been home a year (that would be in June of this year). Okay, then! I trusted his judgment and left it at that.

Until...

One day I read a blog. They're dangerous things, those blogs. For years I have been following along several blogs of people adopting from China. It had always been a thought in the back of my mind that one day we would adopt from China. When I clicked on this blog back on January 26th, a little guy's picture was posted, and she was sharing that he needed a family. Just a click away was a photolisting of so many precious children waiting for families.

One little 6-year-old boy caught my eye. He reminded me so much of Nathan, I couldn't get over it. My heart was so broken for all of the children waiting for families. Why not us? I thought. Sure, we are tired. Yes, we've had to pay for 2 international adoptions in the last 3 years. Okay, so our house is kind of...cozy. But hadn't God met every need along the way? Hadn't He provided for us financially even when we had no idea where in the world we would get the money to complete these adoptions? The answer was such a resounding YES! I knew that if He called us to it again, He would provide in every way.

So late one night, I tentatively brought it up to Brad. I thought for sure he would be mad that I was even bringing it up again. That man...he continues to surprise me. Not only was he not mad, but he was willing to look into it more. Within a few days we were seriously talking about adopting again. Woah.

We inquired about the little boy, but a family had already committed to his adoption (we were so happy to hear this!). In a way I felt a sense of relief. Phew, off the hook! But the feeling of urgency in my heart just would not let up. We could be a family for a child. I wrestled with God about it, not knowing why I felt so led to look at photolistings night after night after night. I didn't want to....but I just had to.

We ended up inquiring about 5 or 6 children altogether, at several different agencies. Every time we found that someone else was already looking at the file. We continued to pray and talk, wondering what God wanted us to do. The last file we asked about was with Nathan's agency. We let them know that down the road we might like to start another adoption and we were open to adopting from China.

By the middle of February, I felt like maybe God was just saying "wait". I felt a sense of relief in a way. I was really okay with waiting!

On Monday, February 27th, right before dinner, I said to Brad, "I think we just need to wait. I feel like I've been pushing too hard. Maybe we should just work on trying to sell the house and after we move we could adopt again." He said he had come to the same conclusion, and that was that.

Except that it wasn't.

At dinner Brad asked me something about the weather so I grabbed my Ipod to quickly check it. I noticed I had a new email so clicked to see who it was from. My heart just about jumped into my throat as I saw that it was from Nathan's adoption agency with the subject:

New China SN Baby (SN means special needs)

Of course I couldn't wait another minute to open that one up! I opened it, and inside found a message about a new file they had received of a little girl born in July 2011 in China. They said she had the same ear condition as Nathan; did we want to take a look?

Take a deep breath, Rachel. :)

I looked up at Brad, read him the email, and I believe he rolled his eyes and said something along the lines of, "Oh brother!". He said it with a smile, though, and in my heart I knew it meant, "Oh brother we are adopting another child RIGHT NOW!"

Over the next few days we reviewed her file, saw our pediatrician, talked with the audiologist, prayed, and I wrestled with God over the long list of "concerns" I had. A girl??!?!?! I have no idea what to do with a girl! We will need a mini van....our house is too small...I'm so tired...we have to go to China?!?!...how will the boys adjust...

And on and on it went.

But I knew what God was asking. Would we be her family? Would we trust Him?

We decided that the answer to both of those questions would be YES! He had brought her to us, and with His help she would become part of our family!

We are so thrilled, although honestly a little overwhelmed, to be "in the waiting" again. I think this is the closest thing to a "surprise pregnancy" that I can imagine! It has been a real shock. We are so blessed and cannot wait to hold her in our arms.

Which, by the way, will hopefully be sometimes between December of this year and March of next year :)

We submitted our request to adopt her, filled out the first stages of the MOUNTAINS of paperwork we have to do (seriously, way more than Korea I think) and today received word that we have PA (Pre-approval) to adopt Hannah! We were told this would take 1-2 weeks. It took 2 days. Holy smokes people, here we go!

So that's our story. If you've stuck with me this far, you deserve a medal! Or a cookie! We look forward to this new adventure of becoming

A FAMILY OF FIVE!

AAAHHHHHH!