We Tried Them On and They Fit...

Naming our children is something we have a lot of fun with. We were searching for names that met the following qualifications:

~Good meanings
~Good sound to them
~Flow together
~Uncommon but not "weird"
~We all have to like them (not love, that turned out to be impossible with this family of 5)
~Sounds good on a baby as well as a big boy

We then "try them on." We would refer to the babies using the names and after a couple weeks see if we still like them...and finally we found the ones that indeed we do!

An Ping (the one that just recently had surgery) is Trigg Cody, and An Ning, (the little guy that had lip surgery) is Ivor Jude.

Trigg means "an honest man." Cody is in honor of Clay's good friend that passed away the same day we got approval to adopt the twins. Ivor means "archer warrior" which that he is...and Jude means "Praise God," something we do everyday for these little guys.

I am including the new photos we recently received of Ivor Jude.



Blessings,
Misty

Maria's Big House of Hope gave us hope...

Years ago I bought this book, simply because it looked adorable. We ended up loving it and reading it time and time again. A ladybug named Dot finds a curious bundle who turns out to be an orphaned, Chinese, baby girl named Shaoey. She follows this little baby through her journey as an orphan, all the way into the arms of her new adoring adoptive family. It is simply darling.

It is written by Steven Curtis Chapman who is a well known Christian Music Artist. He is "famous" in the adoption community, gaining popularity for all he has done for orphans, including founding Maria's Big House of Hope. Maria's Big House of Hope opened it's doors on July 23, 2009, which just so happens to be my husbands birthday and it also happens to be the place where our little man just received surgery, as well as top notch care...



The center is not named after the Chapman's daughter in the book, it is named after the Chinese daughter they brought home who later died in a tragic accident, Maria.

There is a button along the right for Show Hope...where this all is tied in to. It's amazing to me to think of our sweet little baby there...healing and growing, waiting...

I just cannot begin to express how grateful I am for this place, for this family, and for the work God is doing through them.

Misty

Surgery Went Well! Praise GOD!

We just got an update...oh a precious update. We sooooooooo appreciate all you prayer warriors. They tell us the surgery went well. They also let us know that babies that have surgeries have one Nanny with them steady (how comforting). They even included pre-op and post-op pictures. Oh my, is he ever precious! Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying for him. Sigh.....






Hugs,

Misty

Milestone Monday and need for prayer...

This journey is somethin' else, I tell ya. I was just goin' along today, making a quilt for one of the twins, wasn't sure which one it was for, and I got a call from the social worker, Judy. I was expecting this call, I had recently requested to find out the surgery date for An Ping, so we could be praying. Judy explains to me that China has just sent her information indicating the surgery would happen within hours, and he has been running a fever the last few days, but is not at this moment. Needless to say, I felt a little panicked. I wanted more time to prepare and to KNOW there was no fever anymore. Then I remembered, God knew all along when the surgery was, HE IS IN CONTROL, time to pray, not worry and I guess this quilt, should be for him, since I made it on the day of his surgery.

His surgery is on his intestines, and I suspect by the time you are reading this, it is over. He still needs your prayers...please pray that he will heal quickly, that he will not get an infection, that the surgery was a success, that he will not be afraid and alone all the way on the other side of the world...

Shortly after this news, Clay headed to the mailbox to see if the immigration approval had make it to us yet and sure enough! The long awaited form was finally in our hands, a HUGE call for celebration! God's timing is amazing, He continues to encourage us in all the right times.

Along with the news of the surgery, they sent us these photo's, is he ever growing!?!

Thank you all for your prayers, support, love, and concern.

Be blessed,

Misty