With our incredibly warm temperatures, the girls have been enjoying our special treehouse.
After dinner Saturday night, I enjoyed sitting in our treehouse listening to all the birds and spring peepers, while Josie swept the floors. The camera came along on our treehouse adventure too.
In case you missed last year's treehouse reveal, a full tour can be found here.
Such a cozy dwelling. Thank you, Chris. I think we might even need to celebrate the early arrival of spring with an early treehouse picnic!
Today, we celebrate our 4 years of becoming a family of four.
March 16th is officially Josie's adoption anniversary!!
A big sister at last!
For most of my blogging friends, you would assume that Josie's always been with us, but that wasn't always the case.
I've been thinking it's time to share our story again....
In February of 2006 (after several failed attempts at working with fertility specialists) we decided to pursue international adoption with China. 1 year passes and we had been logged in with our agency and the CCAA and I was tired of waiting for my daughter. The disappointment of not being matched with waiting special needs children with our agency nearly puts me over the edge (I was not a happy person at home...the migranes and the stress are nearly unbearable). So, I decided to take matters in my own hands.
On July 31, 2007, I found our Josie on a waiting child list with a different agency than the one we were currently involved with. I was determined (obsessed) to find my daughter.
Without Chris even knowing, I contacted this new agency and asked to see Josie’s medical files. The social worker agreed that they would work with us, but there was a family currently interested in this child.
We were second in line.
If the family decided against her, we would have the opportunity to put our letter of intention in motion. I said a few prayers and started researching her heart condition.
Just look at her referral picture. I knew she was our daughter the moment I laid eyes on her.
I just needed to convince my husband that this little girl was worth the risk. If we pursued her, we’d be starting over. That meant, pulling our files with our current agency, resubmitting them with our new agency, getting a new login date, paying new fees (in essence starting completely over).
Orphanage picture
I had knots in my stomach worrying about the whole thing falling apart, but I was ready to take the risk.
Josie is in the blue coat
It didn’t take Chris long to agree that she was worth it. We contacted our local Children’s Hospital to have her medical files reviewed. Her condition (Tetralogy of Fallot) was treatable, but she definitely needed heart surgery as soon as possible.
She had surgery 3 weeks after we came home from China
In addition to a heart condition, she also had an extra thumb on her right hand.
We then contacted Chris’s medical insurance to make sure her treatments would be covered. Good news. Her medical needs would be covered. Now, we just needed the green-light from this new adoption agency that she was really available.
It was longest five days of my life.
Finally, we were told that the other family was not going to pursue her. This family has since become very close friends to our family and we spent some wonderful time together in the summer of 2010 (see pic below). God works in mysterious and wonderful ways.
We were told she was our daughter, if we were interested. Are you kidding? YES! Close her file to anyone else!!! From that point on, we had our work cut out for us.
Josie is on the far right
We needed to write a letter to our current agency asking them to release our dossier from the CCAA so that it could be resubmitted with our new agency. We also needed to update our dossier with all kinds of paperwork that would soon be expiring. Chris spent the last month of his summer break running errands, meeting with our new social worker to update our homestudy and driving to our capital office across the state to get the new paperwork sealed.
Josie's bath at the orphanage
I won’t bore you with the paperwork timeline, but it took seven months from start to finish to have Josie in our arms after switching adoption agencies.
Sightseeing in Nanchang China
Gotcha Night March 16, 2008. Notice how Josie is cautiously looking at Chris.
The entire time we were in China, I was the only one who could hold her. Tengwang Pavilion, Nanchang China
We knew while in China, Josie was going to require medical attention as soon as we were home. The simplest of activities (even eating or bending over) caused her to pant and become short of breath. Her lips and toes would often turn blue. Sleeping was less than a pleasant experience…picture constant spinning around in MY BED (cosleeping was a matter of survival) and crying out all night long. Chris often referred to her as our little clock. At nearly 22 months old, she wore 9 month clothes.
Despite our medical concerns with Josie,
she bonded with her sister immediately.
Emma playing with Josie in Nanchang, China
As you know from previous blog posts, both Josie's heart and hand surgeries were successful.
She will need additional heart surgery in her future, but she is a happy healthy little girl who loves life to the fullest.
I think we all believe she really does have superhero powers!
I'll leave you with a very short video that Josie asked me to take of her singing.
Happy 4 years, Josie!
Just in case you're interested, here's the video of Josie meeting us for the first time in China.
First. Thank you for all the well wishes regarding my upcoming foot surgery. It did help to put it in writing and feel all your support. I really don't want a pity party. I just want to fast forward into May!!
Tomorrow, we celebrate our 4 year Josie Adoption Anniversary!
A special post will go live first thing Friday morning. Josie has even asked me to videotape her singing a "song" for her special day. I can't believe it's been 4 years already!!
Last August I was sporting this lovely walking cast, knowing it was a temporary fix and foot surgery would be needed in the future.
I originally scheduled it for December, but when my mother in law died, it was easy excuse to postpone the procedure. My surgery has been rescheduled for March 30th (over the K-12 spring break) so that my husband can help me during the worst part of the recovery. Six weeks of crutches doesn't sound appealing and I'm finding myself want to postpone it again.
After March 30th, my blog posts are going to slow down (my craft room is downstairs in my house... which is why I seem to be working on Easter goodies earlier than normal this year). Despite my lack of new blogging material after surgery, I'll definitely be actively looking at your own blogs!!
I wasn't going to say anything until it got closer, but my husband said if I put it in writing, I might be less inclined to call and cancel my surgery. Perhaps he's right.
In 2008, we went to the Jiangxi Province to adopt a little girl who needed open-heart surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot and hand surgery to remove an extra thumb. I'm always happy to share our experience with a SN adoption with others.
When I'm home from work, I love to sneak in a weekly craft project or a trip to my favorite antique/thrift stores. Come craft with me!
After dinner Saturday night, I enjoyed sitting in our treehouse listening to all the birds and spring peepers, while Josie swept the floors. The camera came along on our treehouse adventure too.
Such a cozy dwelling.
March 16th is officially Josie's
A big sister at last!
I've been thinking it's time to share our story again....
I just needed to convince my husband that this little girl was worth the risk. If we pursued her, we’d be starting over. That meant, pulling our files with our current agency, resubmitting them with our new agency, getting a new login date, paying new fees (in essence starting completely over).
Orphanage picture
Josie is in the blue coat
In addition to a heart condition, she also had an extra thumb on her right hand.
We then contacted Chris’s medical insurance to make sure her treatments would be covered. Good news. Her medical needs would be covered. Now, we just needed the green-light from this new adoption agency that she was really available.
Finally, we were told that the other family was not going to pursue her. This family has since become very close friends to our family and we spent some wonderful time together in the summer of 2010 (see pic below). God works in mysterious and wonderful ways. 
We were told she was our daughter, if we were interested. Are you kidding? YES! Close her file to anyone else!!! From that point on, we had our work cut out for us.
Josie is on the far right
Josie's bath at the orphanage
Sightseeing in Nanchang China
She will need additional heart surgery in her future, but she is a happy healthy little girl who loves life to the fullest. 
I'll leave you with a very short video
A special post will go live first thing Friday morning. Josie has even asked me to videotape her singing a "song" for her special day. I can't believe it's been 4 years already!!
I originally scheduled it for December, but when my mother in law died, it was easy excuse to postpone the procedure. My surgery has been rescheduled for March 30th (over the K-12 spring break) so that my husband can help me during the worst part of the recovery. Six weeks of crutches doesn't sound appealing and I'm finding myself want to postpone it again.
After March 30th, my blog posts are going to slow down (my craft room is downstairs in my house... which is why I seem to be working on Easter goodies earlier than normal this year). Despite my lack of new blogging material after surgery, I'll definitely be actively looking at your own blogs!!
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