We have a REFERRAL!!!!!!!!

We are soooooo excited to share that on Sunday (what a super surprise), August 17th we received a referral for a little girl with a repaired cleft lip and palate who is 15 months old. She is in Nanching, Jiangxi Province of China. That is just one province away from Bekah's!!!
Many more steps have to be complete before we get our Travel Approval (TA), so as each of these slowly trickle in I will be sure to update the blog.
I cannot wait to be able to post her picture for everyone to share, but we are not allowed to do this until we get official word from China that we are a good family for her!!! UGH!!! All the waiting.
I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing God is. We are on almost the EXACT same time frame as we were with Bekah. Down to the day of referral and sending in our acceptance, down to the same special need (minus the cleft lip)!!!!! JUST AMAZING how God has such a perfect plan and such a perfect child for each of our families!
I try not to think about her being in an orphanage for too much longer without us, but God will take care of her! She is actually in a "Half the Sky" orphanage which is a true blessing. They take very good care of the children and they provide tools necessary to keep them on target developmentally. My only concern is that they did not state she was crawling yet at the 11 month report, but we are hoping it was just an oversight. A lot of the time children in orphanages though are a little more behind on gross motor skills due to the fact they just don't get that constant one on one time with a foster family. Bekah was in a foster family and it definitely showed. But, one of my good friends assured me that this should be a great orphanage and her daughter came from one, and she was just wonderful when we went as a group to get our kiddos! So, we shall see. No matter what, we could not be happier for the Lord sending us this beautiful gift and I just want to shout from the mountaintop that she is ours, so once we get our PA (pre approval) you will hear me shouting. Until then, praying that God keeps her safe, healthy, happy and loved!!!!! Come on PA!!!! Then hopefully pictures and updated info on her soon!!!!
In His Mighty Grip,
Dawn
(ps. thanks shelley for letting me steal that!!)

Photo shoot spawned by tea party!

This is the one I had to "bribe" her for... ;) read below

Getting a little tired of having all sorts of clothes on, note underneath jacket...

Um, yes, this one is too big but she loved it... size 5, uh not yet!!

Cute without jacket though, not too too bad!

We spilled at the tea party. She always has to clean up!!! I love that, but we shall see how long it lasts!

The doll who started the whole "photo shoot!" This doll plays a crazy Chinese song. But, Beks loves it! It is kind of catchy actually!
\

Someone finally knows where the M&Ms are... sneaky girl...

but so funny!!!

At the birthday playdate with our neighbors! Fun Fun!

AND a birthday play date today!!!
We had such a fun full day today... we went to our neighbors birthday party and then took nana and grandpa to the airport, then had a tea party. Now, Bekah got her doll from China and I asked her if she wanted to wear her dress that we got her that is similar and she said "YES, I am so excited!!!" I was cracking up. She is not big on dress up, so I just went with it. So, after that, we ended up taking all her outfits out for when she is a bigger girl, that we got in China and she tried some of those on. We had so much fun. Although, I had to bribe her for the last picture in the blue, with 2 M&Ms to let mommy get this last shot. Daddy picked this cloak out and I wanted him to get to see her in it. That is just when he came home... he loved it!!! So, they are off to get Chipotle, so while I have a minute I figured I would get a couple pictures up.

Enjoy and I hope everyone has a blessed and wonderful weekend. ~ Dawn

LID!!!!!!! and more pictures...

These little sprinkler mats are adorable... we had a slight malfunction with this one :-(

What a cute little pool . Who doesn't like to drive a boat!!!

Someone loves playing the piano I found out!!!! We may need one soon...

Well, we are sooooooooo excited to announce we received our Log In Date (LID) which means we are officially on the waiting list to receive a referral. It could really come at any time, but only the Lord truly knows when. I have a dream of getting our referral while we are on our vacation in Sept. when we will be with all our chatty sisters and my cousin. That would be so wonderful to share with them there. The joy that overwhelms you is so hard to describe when you first see that child's face and you know it is your child! God is so GOOD!!!!!

We had a play date with our little friend Ava. Bekah just loves "babies" and she is going to be a great big sister!!! I have added some pictures of our time at their house. We had a blast. I just love play dates! Hope everyone is doing well and many blessings to you all. Love, Dawn