August 30, 2010

RANDOM POST, WEEKEND RECAP & OUR EVERYDAY LIFE...

I have decided that I am going to have more structure & more of a routine in our lives since school has started that one of my goals is to keep up with the blog!!! I am hoping to eventually have our family blog made into a scrapbook for the kids someday!! Life can be so busy & we can forget what we may of done last week so this way I will always have our memories that we cherish with our kids. Plus I am wanting to keep everyone updated on our timeline for travel & any adoption updates but unfortunately no news to post so far this week!!! Still waiting for our government to give their approval once again, more paperwork & this time there has been so much more & it is actually our government NOT China!!! Imagine that!!! Anyway still praying & crossing every finger & every toe that we will receive our Travel Approval in Oct. & can travel early Nov but you never know with China you just go whenever they give you permission! One thing I have learned with the process of adoption is alot of "PATIENCE" & everything is out of our hands & we are on God's time not our time!!! And for all those people that say "OH ADOPTION IS EASIER THAN PREGNANCY".....WHATEVER!!!!

So on to our busy lives that is helping the time go faster to bring our daughter home!! Dalen has started football again & had his first real game this past Sat. He is playing on the 5th & 6th grade red OV team & they won!!! They were so excited because Dalen was a little scared going into this game because we were playing Bloomington & they have some really big boys on their team. On the way to the game I was trying to give him the pep talk & reminded him of his favorite movie "Facing the Giants", you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it & then I told him to pray HARD before going out on the field!!! Funny thing is mom is giving him the pep talk & I was the one praying in the stands that none of those really BIG boys would hurt my son!!! SO let FOOTBALL season began & keep praying none of the boys will be rushed to the ER!!! I forgot my camera so I added a photo of him with his buddies from last year! He has the same number, same color, same coaches & a lot of the same boys on his team!!! GO OV RED!!!


Ok, then after the game my husband & I had "DATE NIGHT"!!! I know how exciting!!! We never get much time just him & I. I have such an amazing, hard working, soooo understanding, loving & I think VERY handsome husband & I feel like we get lost into our everyday life that we don't have much time for just him & I to be together. And once we get home from China there will not be much time for "DATE NIGHT's" so right now we are trying to do as much together & fun family nights before our family goes through maybe one of the hardest transitions of our lives!!! SO, onto the night!! We actually met some of his customers for dinner & then we went & stayed at the "Canterbury Hotel" downtown Indy!!! Got up Sunday morning & went out for breakfast!!! We LOVE our kids don't get me wrong but how often do you have a nice quiet dinner & breakfast without kids wanting something or complaining about not eating at McDonalds!!! Then it was back to REALITY but so nice why it lasted!!!


OK, Monday again now the CRAZY schedules start!! Annalei has been taking gymnastics for a couple of years but for anyone that knows our daughter she has not been the most "Independent Girl" of the bunch!!! Mommy has actually had to coach at the gym just for her to stay in her class, we saw so much potential in her but her fears have gotten the best of her. BUT with a lot of patience & encouragement she has started facing her fears & has been going into her own class for the past 3 months and really has started trusting the other coaches!!! YEAH, & now she has been moved up to "BLAST OFF", which is a Pre-Team, who would of ever thought!!! I am still a little hesitant when it comes to meets if she will even go out there in front of all those people but we will face that when the time comes!!! Hopefully her little outgoing friend Lucy will help her!!! Tonight will be her first time in this class so we shall see how it goes!!!



So, now with school, pre-school, homework, football, gymnastics & trying to wait patiently to travel to China & preparing to bring our daughter home, I feel like all the other crazy families in the world that I NEVER understood how they juggle every day life without loosing their minds!!! I am learning it can be done & we always get through each day!!!! Hoping Meilynn adapts to a CRAZY family!!!













I am leaving you with a really cool Steven Curtis Chapman song!!! He really has the LOVE for all the orphans around the world & he keeps trying to help each one find their "Forever Family"!!! You will need to go down & turn off the music that is playing on the blog.

August 24, 2010

CHECK IT OUT.....

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! WE GOT NEW PICTURES & UPDATES & SHE ANSWERED OUR QUESTIONS WE ASKED HER!!!!! YEAH!!!!
Ok, let's back up... After we received our LOA our agency said that they were going to request an update on her & mentioned if we want to ask her any questions we can send them & hope the orphanage will ask her. WELL, I sent our questions to them last Wed. right before we flew out to Maryland to visit one of the families we traveled with to China the first time for a nice relaxing get away. But that is whole other post with pictures for another day!!! So, I sent them & then they had to send them to China to be translated & then send them off to the orphanage. WELL after laying by the pool on Friday I come in & check my phone & there it is an email from our agency that said "Meilynn Update"!!! I was so excited & screaming & then tears just started to flow. This is just another reassurance from the man above that things are going to be OK & she seems to fit perfectly into our family!!!

It does make it harder to sit here & try to wait patiently the next 2 months before we travel. There are so many things going through my head I have to stop myself from being so selfish & stop & think about her & what is REALLY going through her little mind. We are about to take her from everything she has always known & she has already been moved back to the orphanage after living with the same foster family for 3 or 4 years & a place she may have loved & become so attached to & now another move & another care taker all because of us. I know everyone is thinking but why wouldn't she want to come here & live a better life???? She knows no different & material things mean nothing to her, hopefully clean clothes on her back & a warm bed will warm her heart & then she might not think we are that bad of people!!! We will have HUGE adjustments but I know it will be worth it for her in the end!!!

Here are the new pic's & the answered questions!!! AND yes, to everyone that has asked or are wondering, we are going to let her hair grow!!!







3.The Dow family is adopting Long Fu Mei, DOB 7/25/2001, Welfare Institute of Xinluo District of Longyan City in Fujian Province. Can we ask the following?
a. What is her current height, weight & foot size?
Height: 49.25 inches
Weight: 59.4 pounds
Head circumference: 20.49 inches
Chest circumference: 22.46 inches
Foot length: 7.09 inches
b. Has she been living with the same foster family since leaving the orphanage?
Yes. Now she is living in the orphanage.
c. Does she have any foster brothers or sister & what age?
She has a foster sister, 4 years old.
d. Does she speak Mandarin or Cantonese?
Mandarin
e. Can she speak any English?
No, she can’t.
f. Is she still attending school if so what grade is she in?
In Grade Two.
g. Will she be happy to have an English name?
She will be very happy to have an English name.
h. What is her favorite food?
Shrimp, MCD hamburger
i. What is her favorite color?
Pink
j. What is her favorite toy?
Controller airplane, bike
k. Does she like to play with dolls?
Yes.
l. What things upset her & make her sad?
She is afraid of alone in the night.
m. What things make her happy?
Swimming and play games with others.
n. Is she scared of anything?
Snake
o. Does she prefer to wear pants or dresses?
Dresses
p. Does she like animals?
She loves rabbit.
q. What is her daily schedule?
7:00 get up; 7:30 breakfast; 12:00 lunch; 17:00 supper; 19:00 bath; 21:30 go to bed
r. Who are her best friends & are they being adopted to?
Long Fu Dong and Long Fu Jun are her best friends. They want to have family and be adopted too.
s. What is 1 question she would like to ask us?
How many people in the family? Are there any small animals there?
t. Does she know she is being adopted by a foreign family?
Yes.
u. Does she want to be adopted?
Very happy.

Tears are still flowing just by hearing she knows she is being adopted & she is very happy!!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!

August 18, 2010

INTRODUCING......

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Our Precious daughter "Meilynn Emery Dow"!!!!

It all began back in January when we saw her precious face & after months of paperwork & patiently waiting, China has now given us permission for "Long Fu Mei" to become a "Dow"!!! We got the call last Wednesday Aug. 11th & received our Letter of Acceptance on Friday Aug. 13th. We feel so blessed that God chose her as our daughter & we look so forward to see what plan he has in store for her new life here in America!

We did send her a birthday cake & a stuffed panda bear for her 9th birthday on July 25th but we had to send it anonymously since we had not yet received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance. With much surprise WE received a HUGE gift the orphanage director sent us 6 new pictures of her celebrating her Birthday!!! As you can see she looks a little confused & not real sure what is going on. Who knows if she has ever had a birthday party or even celebrated birthdays before this one. Soon enough she will be celebrating many new first here with her "Forever Family"!!!


Now we try to sit patiently waiting for our Travel Approval which should come in a couple months!! Hopefully will be traveling by the first of November but still a chance the end of October (crossing fingers & praying hard that will be God's will)!!! We will keep everyone updated & we also will be posting while we are in China (website address coming soon)!!


SO sit back, relax & watch as you see our amazing journey unfold!!