We got our LOA!!!!!!!!

We got our LOA today! That is our Letter of Accpetance from China that basically means that she is ours! China has "officially" matched Norah to our family! We should be traveling in 4-7 weeks! Keep looking for more info here! Buckle your seatbelts..... we are off!!!!!!!!

More pictures....

I joined a yahoo group of a family that adopted their daughter from Nanchang SWI, the same place that Norah is. They have tons and tons of pictures from the SWI. I was browsing through the pictures of the babies and guess who I found. Yep. Amazing isn't it?? I was just praying the other day that when Norah gets older she would have peace about her younger years and not having a ton of baby pictures to look back on. And this week, I found six more baby pictures of her. These pictures are from August 2007 so Norah would be about 6 1/2 months old here. What a tiny little peanut!!! Holly, my friend that has the yahoo group, said that they babies are very well taken care of and loved! She also said that it is a FINE orphanage. They hug on them and kiss on them. If you notice in that one picture of her taking a bottle, the nanny is holding her little hand. This does so much good for my heart! I will also attach her finding ad so you can see the resemblance! God has been so good to us! Thank you Holly!!!

Just wanted to show you guys JUST how beautiful my daughter is.

ALMOST DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss her. Isn't it funny that I have never met her, but I miss her? Is that even possible. It seems that I know so much about her, like right now she is waking up from her nap. She will probably have a snack and then play some. I just need to get here and hold her and hug her. We are finishing up her room this week. It will be nice to have HER room in the house. If I miss her I can go in there and hang out and know that soon she will be sleeping in her crib. I have so much to do yet I want her home so badly. I know that she is being well taken care of. I hope that she got her care package and I hope that her nannies are taking some pictures for us. Come on LOA! I need my baby!!!!!!

Norah's Room...

The progress so far.... Much more to go!!!

Finding Ad

We got Norah's finding ad yesterday in the mail! I am so happy to have a little tiny glimpse into her life and to know where she was found :) God is so good!!!

Six....

I can't believe that my baby will be six tomorrow :( The time sure has flown by and what a ride it has been! It is amazing how one little life can change YOUR life forever. I can't imagine what I ever did with my time before him. I am sure it must have been boring. He is such a blessing to everyone that he meets and he is incredibly witty and smart! He is amazing. My dream come true! Happy birthday sugarbear!

This Little Piggy.....

Aren't these the sweetest little baby feet you have ever seen???

I mean REALLY!

Thanks Secret Pal :)

I got my secret pal gift from our "ya-ya" group today! We had all originally been part of the August 2007 LID group. We all talked to much together over the months that we started the "ya-ya" group. I love these girls and they have been sanity to me when I have needed it the most! I love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Pictures!!!

We got an update!!!

We got an update from Denise today! The SWI sent three pictures of Norah and also some more info on her and her medical development!

Here goes...

As of April 21st:
Age: 1 yr 3 mo
Weight: 7 kg (15.4 lbs)
Head: 44.5 cm
Chest: 42 cm
Height: 71 cm (2 ft 3 inches)
Feet: 11 cm (SIZE 3)
SHE HAS 7 TEETH!!!

She had an Echo done on April 15 and it shows that the hole in her heart has closed on its own and she has normal heart function with no sign of disease!!!!!

Medical/Developmental Update:
She has had no treatment for her hip. Her Left leg is 4 cm (1.6 inches) shorter than the right. She cannot stand or walk due to her hip. She has not had any physical therapy at this time.
She can make the sound of "baba" (daddy) and also "amu" which most likely is what she calls the aunties at the orphanage.

So there ya go! We have gotten alot of information on her! We are truly blessed beyond words! I cannot wait to hold her and make everything okay for her.

we are coming soon angel.....

**I will post pics as soon as I get home tomorrow morning!!!***** You won't want to miss this :)

Wow!

Thursday we got Norah's x-ray in the mail from the agency with a note that reads:

"Hi Shannon and Penny, sometimes we get little miracles- your daughter's hard copy of an x-ray arrived here in the office. Hope it helps!"

Wow! It is the cutest x-ray I think I have ever seen... really. I will be able to take this to work tonight and have one of the pediatric orthopedic surgeons look at it and maybe give us an idea what we are up against.

We feel so blessed :)

First Care Package!!!

Here is Norah's first care package that I will mail out tomorrow! I am so excited about this! It just makes my heart feel so good to know that she will have that blanket and her baby :) We actually slept with that blanket for about four days so that it would have our smell on it :) I sprayed it with the "girly-girl" smell that Elias loves so much (Victoria's Secret Amber Romance) and then fluffed it up in the dryer for a few. We also sent her nannies some chocolate with a label on it in Chinese that says "for your nannies". We sent smarties and soft mints (from nana) for her and her friends and then a label that says "for your friends". And of course cheerios... can't forget those! A disposable camera with her picture on it so her caretakers can take some pictures for us, and an album with her picture, our family picture and then a picture of her GeGe (older brother). The label on the front of her picture says "We love you!". And that we do.
There is also a note in there in Chinese and English that lets the orphanage know that we are her soon to be family and that we will be there to pick her up as soon as we can. It asks that they please begin preparing her for leaving and for our arrival. :) It also asks that they give her a hug and please take care of her until we can get there.
I can't wait. I really can't.

Spring Pictures....

Elias had his spring pics done a few weeks ago! What a cute kid I have! And do you notice the cowboy boots? They have been a staple in his wardrobe since he was 2. And he does not discriminate against seasons either. This kid can rock a pair of cowboy boots, let me tell you!

Norah is probably napping right now. I just love the fact that I pretty much know her daily schedule and I can look at the clock and think about what she is doing. I just can't wait to hold that little girl in my arms.

TP I

We got travel packet 1 today! It basically just gives us a heads up on what to expect for travel and all that good stuff! One more step to our baby girl!

Dirty "Bike" Heaven

My neighbor Ryan was outside today tuning up his truck. Elias was outside riding his bike and decided to stroll on over and talk to Ryan. So they began talking and because Elias is a "man's man" he was in his element with all of the oil and dirty. Ryan put some air in Elias' tires and gave it a tune up. BIG points for Ryan! Elias could not get the smile off of his face! So Ryan tuned it up and then brought out his dirt bike helmet for Elias to wear. Yet more points! Ryan went into the backyard to try and find his racing gloves and shoulder pads for Elias to try on and he comes out on his dirt bike! The look on Elias's face was priceless! So they lined up in the middle of the road, which by the way we live on a cul-de-sac and it was NOT busy, and they raced to the end of the cul-de-sac and back. The nice guy that Ryan is, he let Elias win. Elias said, "Mom, I have to tell you. This is the BEST day of my life! The very best day! I can't believe that I beat a motor bike!" He was so pleased with himself!

Now you will note in these following pics a silver necklace around his neck. This was a Goodwill special. It has a gold encrusted rim (yes for a tire) as the pendent. You could not tell this kid ANYTHING to get him down today! He was on top of the world!


















AND THE WINNER IS.....

My handsome little boy...

Just wanted to share. I think he is insanely handsome and charming. He is so precious to me and such a blessing to our family and to those who know him.