John:14:18

I will not leave you as orphans. I will come for you...John 14:18
This is a sweet reminiscence of our adoption journey to our son.

Friday, January 24, 2014

I800 Approval

Step by step were moving along... I800 approval today!!!
That means the us has decide that Shane, Chu and I aren't criminals or terrorist and Chu can have a visa.  Yay for not being criminals!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

100 Wish Quilt

It's a Chinese tradition to give a quilt block and a good wish (for baby)  to the mother of a new baby. The mom sews all the blocks together to make a quilt. The quilt should have 100 blocks. 
I'm hoping to do this for Chu. It's really important to keep his chinese traditions alive. It's also important to us sense we won't have very many pictures and links to his past.  

So excited to get Chu's first block for his quilt. Sue Smith sent a 8x8 block so I can cut it down to the desired size. But here's the genius part. She glued a piece of the material to her note. So they Chu can know which block she sent. 
Genius! Thank you so much Sue! We sure hope to meet your family someday in person!!

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Sending a Package to Chu

We sent a package through Ann with Red Thread to our boy. Along with a translated letter, a picture album and a few other items. I hope we get pictures back soon!! Haven't had any since September!!! Momma's not patient.

I wrote a letter to our Chu. It was suprisingly difficult. What do you say to a 2 year old? Really, they won't understand it. But I felt like it was important for his future for him to know that we didn't just come swoop him up. That we had been waiting and planning for him. That we love him. 


This is what I wrote and Ann translated it to Mandarin for me.
Dear Chu,

We want you to know how excited we are to have you join our family! We think you are just precious and can’t wait to see your beautiful face in person. 
We want to tell you a bit about us. Babba is tall and uses his hands to make beautiful art. Momma loves to garden.  Your new big brother, Questen,  is excited to finally have a brother. Two older sisters, Violet and Lillian,  who love to dance and can’t wait to hug you.  You also, have a little sister, Lydia Rose,  who is two just like you. 
We have a little dog, Ruffles and a couple of cats. We hope you will learn to love them. 
We are so thankful that you have nannies that smile at you and love you. (Thank you so much Nannies!)
We hope to come get you at the end of March. We can’t wait to learn your personality! We can’t wait to give you loves and see your darling shy smile!

Love Always, 
Momma and Babba
(Lacy and Shane Atwood) 

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Adding a boy into a very girly room.

This is my first step in adding Chu into Lydia's room. 
My Sweet friend Heather Adams makes dolls to fund her adoption of her own China doll. 
I had her make these dolls for Chu's and Lydia's room.
They turned out wonderfully!!!


Friday, January 10, 2014

Little boys!

Little boys know how to have an adventure. Little boys make the best sound affects. Little boys love stories read to them. Little boys give the best bear hugs! Little boys can wear bow ties. Little boys have the coolest hats. Little boys like to play dress up too. Little boys like cookies. Little boys are our little buddies!

Little boys are Daddy's best helper!

Little boys love their mommy's!

Little boys need adopted.

Being a little boy in some countries is considered a special need. 

Please keep your heart open to both boys and girls! You never know what God's plans are! 

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Ben's Story

Everyday I am amazed at the families around me in the adoption world. I could tell you countless stories of families who have stepped out, relying only on their faith in God, to bring home a child or children. Sometimes, the children can have some really scary medical diagnoses.
This is my Friends Brooke's story about bringing home a darling boy with what could be a scary diagnoses.


Ben's story: We committed to him in may, 2013, he was about 10 pounds and 14 months old. His records indicated he had a potential heart condition, and he had abdominal surgery shortly after birth. We asked in Sept if he could roll over, made eye contact, reached , played with toys, had a favorite lovie, liked to be held, could sit up. No, was the answer to all the questions except rolling over, that was a recent change. At that point he weighted about 11 pounds, the size of a 3 month old. Maybe. Did we want our doctor to review the update? Nope, he is our son. Sometime between Mar and May the orphanage started feeding him more. Instead of 2 oz 4 times a day, they were now giving him 4 oz 4 times a day. That amount is still only 1/2 of what he needed to grow. He received nothing but formula until we got him when he was almost 19 mos old. If the reports are to be believed, he gained 1/2 pound between Mar and May, but lost that 1/2 pound by Sept. He was 11 pounds when we got him, and wore size 3-6 mos clothes at 19 mos old.
Today we have had him for 12 weeks. We started doubling his feedings while in China , giving him 34-38 oz a day of formula, plus we started feeding him pureed food.

By the time we had him at his medical appointment in China, he had gained a pound. He was more alert and playful . He had pneumonia when we got him, and was teething. In 12 weeks he has gained 6 pounds is wearing size 6-9 mos, some things bigger even. and the best news is he has a healthy heart!!!
 The one above is the day they Got him. He is in his orphanage clothes. October 2013
and the one below is later that day.

 Up above is Little Ben home 10 weeks.
The picture below is Ben right now. January 2014.

Thanks, Brook for letting me share your story. I think your a rockstar mom with an amazing little boy who will be and inspiration to us all!!!

Monday, January 6, 2014

We have our hard copy LOA!!! And yes we accept!!

Friday, January 3, 2014

We are so excited to announce that we have soft LOA for a little squishy cheeked boy!!! Our Chu!
LOA stands for Letter of Acceptance. That means we are accepted in China's program. We are matched with Chu. They are sending us a final letter that we will check accept on.
Yay little buddy, we are coming!!! 

What was that Crazy Noise???

If you heard a loud screech... it was me! We have soft LOA!!! (Soft meaning China has issued it but Its coming in the mail.) So what is LOA? Basically China has completely approved us to adopt this cute squishy cheeked little boy!!! He is ours!!! This is huge!!! So, now what??? Well... a few more steps... but... Great news..it looks like we will be traveling the end of March!!! Yay! Mommy and Babba (daddy) might just have our boy before his Birthday in April! We're coming baby!
Did I mention that Last year on this day was THE DAY that I dreamed about the same little boy I had been dreaming about. But this time... This time... We were in a court room. 
Heavenly Father's timing is perfect!

Where's Waldo...Where's Chu?

I'm not allowed to put pictures of Chu on my public blog until after Gotcha day. But he is in this picture. 
This picture shows children that have families. So happy he is included!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Face book Adoption Groups are a Blessing!

Clear back in Early March. I joined my first FB adoption group. I was totally in the wrong group. Haha... But they welcomed me anyways! 
Those ladies changed the way I thought about adoption! Because of them my heart was where it needed to be to except our son! I went from wanting a lid infant (home under 15 months is what I had told my case worker) to excepting what ever God had in store for me. I think god laughs at our plans! When we sent in PA for our boy his file was abeautiful mess. He had three different birth years. From two years to four. So it was a huge leap of faith to send in PA for a 13 pound 4 year old!
One of the ladies that influenced me was the darling, sweet, saucy, southern Kelley Clayton Berry here is her post on finding her Regis! P.S. I have a huge crush on her Regis!!!http://mylifesongkb.blogspot.com/2012/11/its-boy.html