Wonderful News!!!!!!!!

Great news has finally arrived for one of my closet friends, Andrea, who is a single woman adopting from China. She finally received her referral for her daughter, Phoebe, who is in the Jiangxi Province of China. Her birthday is December 27, 2009 (ahh, another December birthday!) and she was found two days later, taken to TongGu County orphanage and then placed in foster care.. She is only 6 ½ months old! She is so incredibly beautiful and her name, Phoebe Liat-Yin Zavod, is perfect for this little peanut who only weighed 13.2 pounds when she was 5 months old. I can’t tell you how elated we are for Andrea and how much we are looking forward to loving on Phoebe.

Andrea has waited over 4 ½ years for her little girl. Being single has scared her on more than one occasion with China constantly changing their rules and guidelines and Andrea was concerned that she was becoming too old! Thank God, Andrea was grandfathered in and was able to keep her LID of 4/29/06. It’s crazy to think that she was less than 4 months from our LID of 1/6/06 and she was waited over 2 years longer to receive her referral. And the age thing, I think it’s better for a child to have an older parent and know what it feels like to be loved and feel affection than to be stuck in an orphanage where she would otherwise not have this kind of attention or feelings. And hey, kids make you feel younger! Just ask my back! LOL.

For some reason, God has made us wait for our little girls and we constantly wonder why and questioned God on more than a dozen occasions. I still remember a pastor, who we met along the way and who has since adopted 2 children from China, has said to me that we have to think of our lives as a this million-piece puzzle where everything has to fit into place before you meet your daughter. I truly believe that part of that puzzle is the friendship that has developed in those 4 ½ years of wait between Andrea, me and my family. I met Andrea through an adoption Yahoo group and when I noticed that she only lived in the next town over from me, I invited her for dinner. We met and had great conversation! Me and my outgoing and social-butterfly self, invited Andrea again to my home, but this time to meet more of my friends at a scrapbooking evening and she graciously accepted my invitation. From that point forward, we started hanging out and have become the best of friends. She has become a part of our family in such a short amount of time. Honestly, it feels like I’ve known Andrea forever. My kids adore her and she has even babysat for us on numerous occasions. We love her so much that my husband is accompanying her to China to bring home Phoebe. I believe our family has given her more of the confidence she needs in becoming a mom. I don’t think she needed much help, because seriously, she missed her calling by not becoming a teacher. She is incredible with kids and they respond so favorably to her. I have truly enjoyed watching Andrea blossom into this more confident woman who is ready (still a little nervous, but hey, who isn’t nervous about becoming a first-time mother) to take on the role of being Phoebe’s mommy. I know I can’t wait to get my arms around her and to smooch those adorable lips! We love you already Phoebe and Rachel is dying to be your “big sister.” Mommy and Uncle Dave will be coming with open arms very soon.

Please keep Andrea, Phoebe and Dave in your prayers as they continue processing all that needs to be done to head to China. Please pray for transition, bonding, travel, etc. You can follow Andrea’s journey at www.meisnowwe.blogspot.com.