Love Without Boundaries Video

I thought I would post this video from Love Without Boundaries. It is a wonderful charity that works in many regions all over China. They have created a video that helps encourage people to consider bringing a special needs (SN) child into their lives. They explain in a beautiful way how many of the SN are very manageable and/or easily correctable.

For example, our daughter has a small cleft palate in the back of her mouth, that will be very easy to fix through surgery. After her surgery, and perhaps speech therapy, she will live a totally healthy and normal life. Last week, I met a woman in Tallahassee who adopted a SN baby from China with a "heart defect." When she brought the child to a heart specialist here in the states, he said the hole in her heart was so tiny, that surgery wasn't necessary and her own heart would heal itself. So that woman thought she was bringing home a SN child, and actually came home with a healthy one.

Towards the end of the video, they show websites that can be of use to a pre-adoptive parent (PAP) in their research to determine if SN is the way for them to complete their family. At about 9:41 in the video they show the Rainbowkids.com website, which is a website that lists SN children from all over the world, and the adoption agencies that are working to find them homes. It was from that list that we found Lu Chen Jie/Genevieve. In fact, her information was posted with the picture of her below in the pink dress.

Enjoy the video. If you are looking for a charity to support, this is a wonderful one that does so much good for so many children. Check out their website, and be amazed.

Trying to Decide on a Name.

Hello!

I have had a few people ask me about our daughter's name and if we have also selected an American one. My brother wants me to put my explanation on the blog (so hear you go Keith).

Her Chinese name is Lu Chen Jie, mostly Chen Jie. Lu designates where she is from, LuAn city. Chen Jie means White Star, or Pure Star.

I have a personal belief that names are very powerful and important. I gave alot of thought to naming my sons, and have thus come up with certain "rules" regarding the naming of my children.

1. Both Alexander and Nathaniel have 9 letters in their names. I want 9 letters for hers.

2. A & N's middle names are family names, George and August.

3. She will have Rose has her American middle = family name.

4. The meanings of names are important to me....

Alexander means "leader of men." Nathaniel means "gift from God."

OK. So...

We have come up with two names:

The first one was Gabrielle, ie, Gabby. With the hopes it would inspire her to "talk more" as she is going to need surgery on her mouth and speech therapy.

Gabrielle means "God is my strength." Pretty good. It's a bit trendy, though.

The second one is Genevieve. This one we are leaning the most towards. We thought of Genevieve b/c it sounds like Chen Jie. If her nickname in China is Chen = Gen or more likely JieJie. Gigi is apparently a common nickname for Genevieve. I have always liked Evie, another nickname for Genevieve.

Genevieve means "woman of the people."

St. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris. Dave proposed to me in Paris.

If you ask Nathan what his sister's name is, he'll say Genevieve.

Genevieve Rose Chen Jie

Chen Jie will be 5 by the time she comes home. We will, of course, use her Chinese name at first, and ask her if she wants an American name. Based on my research, and reading of adoption blogs, I have only come across one boy in this age range, who didn't want to give up his Chinese name. All the other children I have read about seem to want a name to help them fit in not only with their family, but to fit in with other people around them. I do believe, too, that China wants to know the name we select ahead of time, as a part of the endless paperwork that we have to provide, before we meet the child face-to-face to ask her.

So, that's the name story. Feel free to share your opinions.

Please Sign our Guestbook!

Received our PA or IA today!

Hello

Good news on the adoption front. We received our Pre-Approval (PA) today, August 18th! Our agency called it an IA, so apparently China has changed its acronyms again, but so what, they mean the same thing. We are pre-approved to adopt our little girl!

Our application, LOI or Nurture Plan (name changing again) and family photo went to China on August 13th. Which means we got a response in less than a week! I think that has to be a record. Let's hope it is reflective of all the responses from China.

We now have to complete our homestudy and dossier. China has asked for it to be completed by November 18th. If we need an extension, they usually will grant one. Let's hope we don't. After our dossier is in China, it is 2-4 months for official approval, then 2-4 months after that for TA or travel approval.

Wow. It is so exciting for us, and potentially so terrifying for her. We can now contact her and send care packages and our photos so her orphanage (or CWI), can prepare her for the adoption. Her birthday is at the end of October, so we are also permitted to send her gifts and a birthday cake from her Mommy and Daddy (Mama & Baba).

Please keep praying for our family, but especially for her. I'll keep you all updated!

Now that I can post her pictures..... isn't she cute?

Beautiful Poem

The Waiting Child 
by Debbie Bodie

---

I saw you meet your child today You kissed your baby joyfully And as you walked away with her I played pretend you'd chosen me. I'm happy for the baby, yet Inside I'm aching miserably I want to plead as you go by, "Does no-one want a child of three?" I saw you meet your child today In love with her before you met And as I watched you take her out I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year! I knew I'd seen your face before! But you came for a second babe. Does no-one want a child of four? I saw you meet your child today But this time there was something new A nurse came in and took MY hand And then she gave my hand to you. Can this be true? I'm almost six! And there are infants here you see? But then you kissed me and I knew The child you chose this time was me.

---

Copyright 1997 DEBBIE BODIE

I realized tonight that I don't have any pictures yet of my husband Dave on the blog. So I will attach some pictures of him being the good daddy that he is. Here's one where he is with Alex and Nathan in a teacup at Magic Kingdom in DisneyWorld.

Here is one where he is holding Nathan at Christmas

time.

This is one with Alex on an airplane heading to

Pittsburgh to visit family.

Looking at these pictures is a happy reminder

of what a wonderful father he is, and I can't wait to see

him hold his new daughter.

What fun that will be! And he'll finally have a child with

dark hair like he has!

We Did It! We officially started our adoption! (OK, again..but this time for sure!)

... and here are her legs! Actually, they were probably her legs when she was three years old. The medical report I have seen is from 2008 when she was three, and her photos also look like a 3 y.o. She's 4 now, turning 5 at the end of October. She is about 6 months younger than the boys. We were always looking for a 3 or 4 year old, and I guess she technically is, but she will be 5 by the time we bring her home.

We are so excited! We have to begin our homestudy, and the agency has her on hold for us as we get the paperwork together. The first things we have to do is fill out an application for China, write a Letter of Intent (LOI) and send a family picture. From these items, China will determine if we are acceptable, and then they send us a Pre-Approval (PA). Once we get the PA, then I will be able to post her actual photo for y'all to see.

After we get our PA I will also be able to talk about her special need (SN). It's not one that we are worried about, and in most ways she's a perfectly healthy little girl, who just needs a family to love her. That's gonna be us.... ! We have also selected a name for her (we think) and I will share that then as well.

Since my older posts listed some other agencies we were thinking about during this whole "researching adoption" process. Here is the one we ARE

using, for sure this time...

AAC adoption and family network, located in Colorado. They have their own list given to them by the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs), that is separate from the shared list that I have mentioned in a previous post. That's where I found my girl. Pray for us that everything works out and she is the one meant for our family.

Some major new beginnings are going on around here, maybe that means we have some good energy flowing............ ................... ................. ................

Just to throw in a spiritual nudge here... if you notice, the acronym for our adoption agency is AAC. If you go to my very first post, where I discuss the first adoption agency that we considered, their acronym is also AAC. If you are reading my blog, because you are interested in adoption and have already begun your research or processing, then you know that most agencies have individual acronyms which they do not share with other agencies. Is it a coincidence that of ALL the adoption agencies in America that I choose two with the same acronym? Or were my angels whispering in my ear the whole time about where I should go to find my daughter, and I misheard/misread the signals, until now? You decide...

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)