Chinese New Year pics

My babes...Happy Chinese New Year!!!



Waiting Treasures and our NEW advocacy blog...

You all know my heart for the orphan and my passion for advocating...well...all these beautiful babes below are waiting for their forever families....could it be you...could you be who they are dreaming of???

Click on the pictures and you'll be directed to our NEW advocacy blog :) www.lovingthefatherless.blogspot.com

The time has come...

The time has come for all of my bloggy friends that were praying for precious Dalton to swing by their blog...give them some bloggy lovin', and check out their puzzle fundraiser!! You don't want to miss being a part of this.

So many of you became very attached to this sweet one...so many of you invested hours of prayer and advocacy for him...NOW you can FOREVER be a part of his journey home by purchasing a puzzle piece or 2 :) Just think...once Dalton is home, he will look at the puzzle...he will see the beautiful pictures on the front but then mama & baba will turn it over and he will see name after name on the back...he will ask his mama, "who's names are those?" And mama will be able to tell him about every single person who prayed for him...who advocated for him....who LOVED HIM long before he ever came home!!

Sweet, beautiful Dalton...you are LOVED by many!!! You have touched sooo many lives! Did you know that because of you, other children from your orphanage now have forever families coming to get them too!! All because of those names on the back of your puzzles, you were prayed for and will be loved forever. We love you sweet one and can't wait to see you in your family's arms!!!

Okay guys...I better stop now or I won't be able to see my screen through my tears...this boy has my heart! Hop on over...we are talking only $5 a piece to forever change sweet Dalton's life...And I'm talking changing it on soooo many different levels...please help this baby boy home!!

(Dalton & Solomon)

Beautiful brotherhood...a brotherhood perfectly created by our Lord!

Beautiful Meadow...

UPDATE: WE HAVE A COMMITTED FAMILY!!!! To God be all the glory!!! Please pray for this precious family...pray that all the details are worked out quickly as they begin the paperchase to this beautiful treasure!!

I just have to share with you one of the most beautiful little girls waiting in China. She is 1 and desperately needs her family. Sweet Meadow is being cared for by an amazing foster family...a family that I have been blessed to chat with several times via email. They are american & are caring for 2 sweet treasures.

Here is what they have shared with me:
DOB: Nov. 26 2009
Meadow has had no serious illness'. She has no heart conditions or thyroid issues. She is a very happy, healthy, well-adjusted child. She has been fostered by an American family since shortly after her birth (so only spoken to in English). She cannot sit up or crawl yet. She can hold her own bottle, hold herself up in a 'push up' position, do an 'army crawl', roll around, and LOVES to babble. She plays well independently and also enjoys being with others. She is entranced with lights and loves to rock, sway and bounce to music. She has such a sweet and joyful spirit. She's a good eater. She has no teeth and is eating pureed food. Lots of fruits and vegetables, chicken, beef, eggs, pasta, etc. She drinks soy formula. She's had trouble with frequent spit up, but I found that the soy formula has helped, as well as making her food/drink thicker with rice cereal. We love this little girl, and it's our hearts desire to see her placed in a Godly, loving family. She will be a blessing to anyone who brings her into their home. She has greatly enriched our lives!

Meadow has Downs Syndrome. She is not on the shared list, yet. From the foster family: The orphanage gave us permission to advocate for her (as well as the other Downs kids at the orphanage). She will be put on the adoption list with a committed adoptive family.

The orphanage staff loves this little girl very much and desperately wants her to have a forever family.

WILL YOU PLEASE HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD about Meadow? For anyone wanting more information, please have them email me at wearechinabound@gmail.com

1 Year ago today...

we received an email...an email that forever changed our lives...

...an email with a picture of a beautiful little boy...a little boy that was meant for us to help advocate for...but the second I saw his precious face...I KNEW...I JUST KNEW HE WAS MEANT TO BE OUR SON...then daddy saw his sweet face and he KNEW...he knew he was ours...

Sweet, sweet boy...it's been a year since the Lord placed you in our hearts...hard to believe you've been home for 4 months now!! We love you so much!

**I was asked a fabulous question since posting my original post. I was asked, "How did I KNOW he was ours?" Often time people will say 'I just knew' and I never understood it but now, now I do :) Hmmmm, where to start....Dh & I knew we wanted to adopt again but we were hit extremely hard with the sinking economy. We weren't sure how we could afford to adopt anytime soon. Oddly enough, we had just spent the weekend talking about adopting again & realizing we just couldn't afford it. We committed to praying about it but knew we'd have to wait a while. That Monday, I felt a very heavy burden to pray for dh's work (he's self employed)...I even prayed boldly that if the Lord wanted us to adopt sooner than later that he would greatly bless his dh's business that week (he had no idea I was praying this :). Hubby instant messaged me that day & said keep praying...the meeting is going amazing!! You see, he was a meeting about to land a good size account and I HAD NO IDEA!!! As he was instant messaging, I told him what I had been praying that day and he laughed...THEN...I clicked over to my email and there was an email from our agency. They know how much I love to advocate for kiddos so they were asking me to help find a family for this little boy. As I opened the email, my breath was literally taken away...I couldn't speak...I was overwhelmed with emotions & couldn't stop shaking...my heart...my God told me loud and clear....this is YOUR son...I called hubby & he couldn't wait to get home and see him (so not like daddy...he's a planner, a practical one..remember, we had just determined that WE couldn't afford it...as our Lord giggled ;). As soon as dh saw his sweet face, he said "When do we start the paperwork?" Seeing my hubby's heart was HUGE confirmation to me on so many levels. Now...I will say that I have looked at thousands of beautiful waiting children...I've helped advocate for many, but NEVER have I been so taken at first site.

Soooo, in the shortest way possible...that's how I knew ;)

80 degrees...

Yes folks...I'm talking about our good 'ole Southern California weather...it's January and my kids are playing in the sprinklers!!! Another 'first' for our boy :)

And since we are breaking all of the January rules...how about building gingerbread houses AFTER Christmas :)  Hey...they were only $1.99 at Micheal's and she bought it with her own money...LOL!

 So what crazy, out-of-the-ordinary things are you doing in January??

Solomonbeads.com

Woohooo....new items have been added!  Just so blessed by God's continual provision for our sweet Solomon. Can't wait to post pics. of our Pure Religion BAG!!!!  They will be here any day!!!!

Think VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Solomonbeads.com

A family in need...

I'm sure most of you have heard about precious Davids & the urgent need for a family since his first family backed out...leaving his without a forever family 2 weeks before he ages out!! Beautiful news...HE HAS A FOREVER FAMILY!

Will you please stop by this blog and keep up to date on how you can pray for his new family. The Lord is going to have to MOVE the mountains to allow all of this to happen so quickly!!  Spread the word...surround this family and sweet boy in prayer.

Urgent Prayer Request!!

I just received an email from sweet friends that are in Cincinnati right now for testing with their 4yr. old son "S". He has the same medical needs as Solomon...they came home with him just as we were leaving for China.

We are calling all prayer warriors...they have just discovered that their precious son actually only has 1 kidney and that kidney is "in the last stages before complete renal failure. There is a number we are following-30. This is where he is now. Renal failure and dialysis start at 30. Healthy people are between 90-120. Of course I asked about transplants and the answer is no. He is not healing enough to get one, and his body will soon reject. If his numbers can be maintained perhaps in a few years..."

This beautiful families loves the Lord and is pleading with our God to heal their sweet babe.

I would be lying if I said this news didn't upset me...in fact, it made me ill & worry for their sweet "S" and our precious Solomon. We knew this could be a possibility for Solomon...we've seen this with several other kiddos with this same birth defect. We have prayed and hoped for the best diagnosis for Solomon but he is completely in the Lord's hands. But my mama's heart is worried...plain & simply worried...worried for our son and worried for our friends son. But don't let my worry fool you ;P In my worry, I do COMPLETELY TRUST my God...the Creator of all things...the Creator of my baby boy!

There are several complications that come with this special medical need...tethered spinal cord, kidney issues, etc. All needs that we have prayed the Lord would protect Solomon from. The testing we will go through in the Cincinnati in early February will help answer a lot of questions.

Would you please join us in praying for God's complete healing for "S" and guidance for his family...for peace as they wait to see all that the Lord has planned for their son?? Thank you so much!!!!

Can it be....

Is it even possible to be more amazed after my post yesterday?????

Okay...so I should be schooling the kiddos right now but I can't...I can't stop singing praises to my Lord...I just got off the phone with the insurance dept. regarding our trip to Cincy for Solomon. I wanted to figure out how much we would need while we were there so we could pray very specifically. But our God is amazing....we will not need ANYTHING while we are there. They will first bill our insurance and then bill us once we are home. So, we will have most likely have some steep bills BUT I won't need those funds to be able to get Solomon the care he needs. The bills will come later.

Ahhhh, all of the beautiful pieces the Lord has bought together...
~His promise to provide every penny for our adoption costs
...we knew it would be a long journey of total faith...we knew He would provide what we needed exactly when we needed it...not ahead of time and nothing extra...we knew He would be providing all the way up until we boarded the plane and He did....we were literally receiving funds while we were flying to China...our money for the plane tickets came in 24 hours before we were suppose to board the plane

~His promise to provide insurance for our son with 'pre-exisiting' conditions
...our travel to bring him home was delayed and we were so sad BUT THAT DELAY allowed us to land home on Sept. 17th...on Sept. 23rd the new policies re: pre-exsisting conditions in children changed and our baby boy was approved for health insurance...health insurance that made Cincinnati IN-NETWORK!!! Health insurance that we could afford!

~His promise to provide for our travel and medical expenses
...He provided enough frequent flyer miles through a friend that our tickets didn't cost us anything!! He's allowing our insurance to be billed first for Solomon's 2 week trip at Cincinnati hospital...no money needed up front!!
...He continues to allow our beads to be sold as a way to provide for those extra costs

Please be encouraged...if God has called you to bring your child home, He will provide...REST and TRUST in His perfect plan....rest & trust the He will provide in HIS way and in HIS timing. Allow yourself to be molded & shaped for His glory. It might be a little painful & scary but what better hands could you be in??