Introduction to Our Sons

We have two sons that we are very proud of. Brandon, 27, is just starting his last year of law school. He is doing so well and looking forward to getting out into the world. He is trying to decide what type of law he wants to practice and who he wants to help using his degree. He is a very fine young man who has a large heart. He has talked about going into the Peace Corps and helping folks, but hasn't decided anything as of yet. Each week he tells us something else that he comes across. He is very excited about the opportunities before him. Please pray that God will guide him to place he wants him to be.

Jonathan is soon to be 16. He has a new set of wheels and is just doing GREAT! For those of you who don't know Jonathan, he is animated, full of life and a teenager. He loves acting and the theater. He just finished his performance as Dennis in the summer musical "All Shook Up". I may be a little partial, but he was AWESOME. He stole the show. He just started a new school, Baton Rouge Magnet High School. He has already been asked to join the traveling choir. I understand that this is quite a honor. He is loving his new school. He is also getting ready to audition for Competition Team with Center Stage. This will enable him to travel and he will perform competiting with other students before Broadway judges who also instruct him on what he needs to work on. Watch out because one day you just might see him on Broadway!

Because the boys are extremely busy, I don't have recent pictures to post. But I will as soon as I can tie them down. They are very excited about the upcoming arrival of their little sister, Abby.

100 Good Wishes Quilt

Here is my first stab at making a quilt! For those of you who don't know, it is an old Chinese tradition to make a "100 Good Wishes Quilt". There are a group of ladies who are also waiting on children from China and we all exchanged a square of fabric with our best wishes on a separate card for their child. Also on the card was a swatch of the fabric so that you could match the wish with the square on the quilt. Abby did not have quite 100 squares, but I used pieces of fabric from the fabric in her room so that I could also use it as a comforter when she grows out of her crib.

In the center of the quilt, I put those fabrics from her room and my Mom put her monogram on one square and her Chinese name on another.

Ladies, see if you can find your square that you sent. I do have to apologize. I did get a few squares in right after I finished. But I am using those and making another quilt for a lady who was not in our group, but is also waiting.

Enjoy!

Abby's Room

Her room is done in Dress Up. When we started this process we were told that we might get a 3 year old so I didn't want to do the room too much baby. Her room is done in pink toile and pink & green gingham. It is also decorated by many items supplied by Danielle Steinberg, her Mom's Secret Pal, who is another special lady waiting for her little girl.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Travel Package Arrived

On Monday, August 20, 2007, we received our Letter Seeking Confirmation which is the last step when adopting a Waiting Child. By August 22, 2007, the paperwork was back on its way to China. Now we wait for Travel Dates.

We received our Travel Package today and are going over all the details of what we need to do. It is overwhelming.

Abigail Elizabeth LiNa Stevens

On July 11, 2007, we received updated pictures of Abby. Her Chinese name is Long Li Na. Long means "descendent of China and stands for the dragon", Li means "beautiful", and Na means "gracious". Abby in these pictures is 17 months old, weighs 17 lbs. and is 29 inches tall. She can take a few steps by herself if someone holds her hand. The only word she is saying is "Momma". You know that breaks my heart. I can't wait to hold her and get her to smile and laugh.

Our Waiting Child

On June 20, 2007, at 10:00 CST the Waiting Children's List was published. I had trouble openeing it up on my computer and drove to my Mom's house to get on her computer. Mark fell in love with this little girl with big eyes. All we knew was she was C60711. We had the weekend to review her situation which was very minor. On Friday, June 22, 2007, we were able to file an application to see if we would qualify and be chosen as her parents. That was a LONG weekend.

And again we waited.

On Tuesday, June 26, 2007, the calls began to be made. My cell phone rang at about 1:00 p.m. and I just looked at it. I recognized the number and I knew this was the call. I finally realized I needed to answer the phone to find out anything. Ann Tollferson from Children's Hope International was on the other end of the line and told us that we were chosen to be the first family to review her file. Her question was "Did we want to look at it?" The answer was yes! I called Mark and told him that we got her! We received all the information that afternoon and I began doing reasearch and meeting with Doctors. Mark was in Canada at the time. I began e-mailing him information and by Thursday, we told CHI that we wanted her. We received these pictures.

Isn't she precious??? She is 12 months old in these pictures.

Our Journey to get Abby

Our journey began in August, 2005 unbeknownst to us. We attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert in New Orleans. Steven Curtis Chapman has adopted 3 girls from China and was promoting adoptions through an agency he started called Shannoah's Hope. His plea touched Mark and my heart although a month went by and we didn't say anything to each other. One day Mark asked me about adopting and the rest is history.

In October, 2005 we began the process of meeting with Catholic Community Services and exploring our options. After meeting several couples and the children that they adopted from Russia and China, we decided to adopt from China. We had decided that we wanted a little girl since we already have 2 boys. We then decided on an agency and the journey began.

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it was difficult to ascertain certified copies of birth certificates and other documents that we needed. With the help of family and friends, we were able to complete our paperwork and by February 5, 2006 sent our paperwork to the St. Louis office and they were off to China. CCAA is China's government agency which handles adoptions. They logged our paperwork in on March 17, 2006. We were initially told that our wait would be 6 months.

Due to problems going on with other programs, the requests to China grew and grew and so did the wait. Our wait went from 6 months, to 9 months, to 18 months almost overnight. There were many nights of prayers asking for guidance for the good Lord.

The process begins when you enter the Review Room where the CCAA reviews your documentation and agrees that you meet their requirements to adopt a child from China. We got out of the Review Room in March, 2007 (almost 12 months to the day). Then our next wait was in the Matching Room (Department 2). This is where they match you to a child.

So we wait!