Referral Acceptance on its way!

Our agency sent our referral acceptance documents to China today! We are now awaiting our Travel Approval so that we can get our Visas and make all of our travel arrangements. We should know something in the next 10 days as to when we will travel. Hurry up and wait....again! It is all becoming real. I have done some shopping....it seems we have a tiny one on our hands so we needed some little clothes. I love this part! We now have blankets, diapers, jammies, bottles etc. as we prepare for our travels.

Many of you may have heard about the formula recall in China. The reported cases seem to be in northwest China.....our orphanage is in southeast China so we are hopeful it is not the formula Madelyn is being fed. We are praying for good health while she awaits our arrival. Please say a special prayer for her. It has been a difficult day wondering if my baby could possibly be struggling and there is absolutely nothing I can do to help her. Matt and I both realized how much we have already come to love this child that we have not even met yet. She is our girl! Megan has completely embraced the idea of her baby sister. She wanted to make her own post to the blog tonight as she anticipates this new addition to our family. It is going to be good to be in China and finally complete this family of ours. We are so blessed.We continue to covet your prayers and would love to hear from you.

Love to all,
~L

some thoughts from Big Sister.....

It is going to be a great time in China. We hope we can get Madelyn sooner than soon. We wish she was here already. We are so excited that we got her picture and that we are getting her very soon.
Love,
Megan :-) This smiley face is because we are excited to get Madelyn

Healthy Girl!

We received our referral packet this afternoon. We have a very healthy baby girl who was 15.4 lb. and 24 inches long on July 10, 2008 (8 months). All reports show happy and healthy and they tell us she is both a deep sleeper and a very active baby. How could she be more perfect?!

We had hoped to travel asap but it looks as though there is a Trade Show in Guangzhou from Oct 15 - 30 and all hotels etc will be booked solid during that time. We will have to wait until November to finally have that precious baby in our arms. After 32 months, what's another 2 weeks??? Now we start the final paperwork, getting packing lists together, obtaining Visas, making travel arrangements etc. Oh, and there's the signing and returning of one special document....."yes, we will love, care for and adopt into our family, Jiang Cheng Ci - Madelyn Grace Searfoss!"

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we enter the next phase of this journey. Our minds and hearts are racing and, at times, it is difficult to sort out all the feelings and emotions. One thing we know.....we are to be a family of 4 and we are so blessed with our precious daughters, Megan and Madelyn. God is SO good!

~L

Caught in the whirlwind.....

Good morning. I finally got some sleep last night and think my feet are actually touching the floor this morning! Thank you all for your kind words of congratulations and support. It still seems like a dream. Can't wait to pinch those cheeks!!! I had a strange experience at the grocery store yesterday. My cart just gravitated toward the baby aisle. I have not been down that aisle in a while! This time I didn't have to wonder about what size diapers we will need - SIZE 3! I didn't question bottle or sippy cup - BOTTLE, for now. What a fabulous feeling!

Megan is both excited and apprehensive......she is going to be the best big sister! She is anxious to assist with all the day to day activities and will be such a huge help. I cannot wait to see the two of them together. Megan has anticipated this for 1/2 of her little life! My girls....that sounds so wonderful :-)

We will receive our FedEx package today with the original photos, medical report, height and weight as well as information on what she enjoys and what she is doing. They did tell me she likes to laugh and that she is fond of music and playing with toys. She's our girl! The whole process still amazes me. Megan could not have been more perfect for our family. I still marvel at how they could find our baby a whole world away. Here we go again.......more later......love to all.....

~L

It's a GIRL!!!

Well......It has been a day. I have been pacing all day not sure whether to wet my pants or get something else to eat (bad choice!!!) We received news early that referrals may come today or tomorrow. After contacting our agency, I learned that the packages from China usually arrive between noon and 1pm CST and today they thought they might run late due to the holiday yesterday. Well, it was 9am EST! What am I to do for 4 plus hours??? Matt called several times to "check in" and every time the phone rang, my heart skipped a beat.

At 2:54pm EST we got THE CALL! We have baby girl! Her Chinese name is Jiangcheng Ci and she was born on October 29, 2007 (10 months old!) She is currently in the Guangdong Province at the Jiangcheng District Welfare Institute soon to reside in BIG CANOE, GA!!!

We could not be more thrilled and cannot wait to get there! We expect to receive a package with the original photos and other acceptance documents on Thursday and travel plans should follow. We will continue to keep you updated as things develop.

Thank you all for your prayers, patience, love and support throughout these 32 long months! It has been a journey and we have only just begun. God is faithful and once again he has blessed us beyond measure. Thanks be to God!

~L

We are getting close!

Rumor has it that we may get referrals this week. We are confident that Madelyn is in the next group. The question is whether we get the call this week or next.

We will keep you posted!