UPDATED PICTURES!!!!!

Here are new pictures of our daughter EllyeKate! They were taken on Valentine's Day!!! Isn't she gorgeous!!!!!! She is 14 months old!

Introducing Eleanor Kathleen!

It is with great joy and Thanksgiving that we announce the referral of our daughter Jiang Cheng Ying!! She was born on Jan. 10, 2006! We are currently waiting on our TA!! I cant wait to get my hands on her!!!!!!!

Our first night with Olivia was super! We gave her a bath and mommy got in the tub and played with her! She loved it!! We called home to tell her big brother and sister that we had our new addition! It was 6:30 pm in China...but only5:30 in the am in Indiana!!!! LOLOL I was soooo excited I could not contain myself! I am sure they really appreciated my call so early!! We also wanted to wish our son Zach a good day and let him know that we would be with him in spirit as he walked across the podium at his graduation ceremony! How bittersweet for us! The rest of the evening we spent just trying to get to know our precious girl! She was very tiny for 11 months old. She was so happy and smiled all the time! She did not like any food, but loved her bottle!! She would not allow us to put anything in her mouth...no cheerios, no fruit puffs, no juice...only her bottie!! We found that she absolutely loved the tv! The orphanage told us she loved music..and boy did she. Her little head was on a swivel! She needed so much stimulation. She had very little in the orphanage. We went to breakfast where we enjoyed the most awesome buffet I have ever encountered in my life! Then it was off to the Civil Affairs Office again to meet in front of the notary to make everything official in the eyes of the Chinese!! Livvy slept thru most of it! Then we went back to the hotel and took Livvy to the Mattel Swan room that is full of nothing but toys ,toys, and more toys!! We put Olivia down on the floor and it was obvious that she had never seen many toys during her 11 months in the orphanage. It was as if she was afraid of the toys. It was slow going, but by the time we left the toy room, she was playing and enjoying herself! The rest of our day was spent shopping on the Island and going to bed early! Another big day tomorrow!

She is officially ours!!!!

After a wonderful first night with Olivia we went back to the Civil Affairs Office the next morning where we made our adoption final with the Chinese government. As you can see by the picture...Olivia was less than thrilled! She slept thru it!

First full day with Olivia!!

I must say that June 6, 2004 had to be one of the most memorable days in my life. Next to my wedding day, and the birth of my other two children, the day was just absolutely a day I will never forget! We were very blessed with a baby who never cried once! When the nanny handed her to me her little arms and legs were just flying everywhere! She was smiling and laughing! She looked at her daddy and I as if she were saying "What took you so long?" She took right to both of us. As a matter of fact...and I know this sounds awful, but I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot that Craig was waiting very patiently to hold his baby girl! I turned around and it was like " Oh, would you like to hold your daughter?" She took to Craig right away! She was laughing and touching his face and looking at him as if to say " My daddy is sooooo silly!!" Everything was such a blur after that! We handed the director our envelope of money and gifts and they were out the door!! It was finally time for us to go back to the hotel and look our girl over!!
Once we got back to the hotel we were able to check our girl over. She was dressed in a yellow onsie with a pair of white and light blue pants. She was also barefoot. The orphanage was 3.5 hours away so the babies were a bit dirty from crawling around on the bus floor!

Introduction!!

Hi everyone! My name is Kim and I live in Indiana! I am married and have a wonderful husband Craig and 2 biological children Zach, Kayleigh and one adopted daughter from China,Olivia. We are awaiting our 2nd daughter from China.... EllyeKate . We have been married for almost 23 years. Craig is an electrical engineer and I am a nurse with a minor in education. Although I do not work as a nurse, I am a stay at home mom.
Zach is 20 and is a student at a private university in Indiana. He is studying to be a pastor. He loves the Lord and plans to be a youth pastor. He has a job as a youth pastor in a town about 20 miles from where we live.
Kayleigh is 18 and just graduated midterm from high school. She plans to attend the same university Zach attends or possibly Ball State or Indiana State. She plans to study psychology.
Olivia is our little China girl. We waited a long time for her; 15 years!!! We received our referral for Olivia in April of 2004. It was Good Friday! And what a good Friday it was for our family. God blessed us with one of the most beautiful babies from China!! She was 9 months old and from Guangdong Province. She is from Yangjiang City..a town of about 6.5 million people! Small town!! LOL We received Olivia on June 6, 2004. What a bittersweet day that was for Craig and I. We did not get to attend Zach's high school graduation because we were in China. Zach graduated hours after we received Olivia in China. One leaving the nest..and one joining!!
Our trip to Olivia was a fairy tale! Our agency, Families Thru International Adoption is the BEST!!!! We left on June 2, 2004 and arrived in Beijing the next day! While in Beijing we were so blessed to tour the Forbidden City, The GREAT Wall, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, and the famous Beijing Acrobats! In 2004 the preparations for the 2008 Olympics had already started.
China is a beautiful country. I am so proud to say that my daughter is from this beautiful country! The people are warm and friendly. The culture is rich in history and tradition! As soon as I can figure out how to post pictures I will be posting pics of our first trip.
Right now we are currently waiting on our 2nd jewel from China. We had originally thought we would wait for about 3 years after being home with Olivia to persue another adoption, but GOD spoke to our hearts! We started our paperwork after having been home for one year. And boy am I glad we did. We were logged into the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) in March of 2006. And here we are almost a year later and NO baby!!!!! As soon as we started the process...China slowed down their referrals! Go figure!! Right now we know for sure that we will have to be refingerprinted and have to refile our I600A. We will also have to have a homestudy update and be refingerprinted on a local and state level!! More MONEY!!!!! Anything for my precious EllyeKate!! Watever it takes!!!!