In Love

Can anything else bring tears to my eyes so quickly?? I can not wait to get my hands on her. We got an update today and this picture put my fears to rest..I shouldn't have said fears. It just made me heart melt a little
LynnMarie, you are one loved little chick. Atlanta is waiting for you!!!

what we are up to

Lists,money orders, Visas, copies, organizing, cleaning, organizing, making more lists,, writing thank you cards, emotional breakdowns, these are the things that I have been doing. Thank goodness my Michael is the calm one!

Whats next? WE have our travel conference call next week. We are meeting with our pediatrician next week as well so he will know about LynnMarie and we get ready for specialists when I get back!

Her room- will be getting painted and new carpet. You would think that waiting for a baby for 7 years would make you totally know what you want and motivate you, but no, it just confuses me.

We have wonderful friends who have promised to help with paperwork, question answering and packing. This will help a ton!!

But there is more to this adoption than just going to China (can we say that again, WE ARE GOING TO CHINA)

Life as we know it will change when we get home. The house will be different, schedules will change and there will be much less blogging time.
But back to blogging, many of you have been there done that and have been so helpful in the post below. I know other friends who read this are learning as well!

Did any of you adopt a child with club foot by any chance??

What are some of the things that you bought in China?? What would you buy if you went again or what would you not buy again??

Questions and questions that need answers

This shall be the first of many posts looking for your honest and humble answers from those who have been there and done that.

Lets first say that I have no clue as to what I am doing. I can tell you that we we in fact have a crib, a car seat, stroller and 2 boxes of diapers.

This is real. We are totally going to China and bringing back the daughter we have dreamed about and prayed for for sooooo long. That in itself is a whole other post.

So, here is the beginning of my long and somewhat silly list of questions.

1) what do you do on the plane 17 hours???

2) what do you take in your carry on?

3) VISA's- when do I learn about that? I have seen people recommending certain sites but havent heard anything

4)Should you take food into China?

5)If you had the opportunity to wire the orphanage fee to China, would you?

6) what was on your list of things to do before China???

7) What do you wish you had taken to China?

8) What kinds of things did you give the nannies as gifts?

Thats enough to get you started. See, my mind is crazy and its 2:15 am at work. But today, our LOA arrives and we are sooooo excited..YIPPPEEEEE!!!

Lists

Time to get busy. No matter where you have adopted from, you had to make a list of things to do before the adoption, during travel and afterwards..

So, its time to ask for help. What was on your list?? I don't want to miss anything so add as much as you can, even the simple things..I need lists!

Time to get crazy busy!!

Go

(and thanks a lot)

"New" old pictures

LOA

Guess who is going to China in the next 2 months?? That would be us! We got LOA today!!! We may have LynnMarie in our arms before her 1st birthday
(LOA is the finally approval from China)

Special Needs

Well, most of you know that Miss LynnMarie is from the Waiting Child Program, meaning she has some special needs. There are some friends and family who read this and I don't get to talk to them very often so I wanted to make sure you know whats going on. I won't be too detailed as I want to protect her and her caregivers so if you want to know more specifics, send me an email to be on her prayer team email list over at lovinglynnmarie@hotmail.com

LynnMarie has 2 special needs. She has clubbed feet and a joint problem with her hands. She can't stretch her fingers out completely. Where she is, they have done a fantastic job with her hands and feet and its obvious that she is loved.

When we get home, she will need some therapies and will need to see some doctors. So, we are sooooo excited about this opportunity. LynnMarie may in fact have other issues that we don't know about and will not know about until she gets home. But no matter what, this little girl is loved by so many and I can not wait to pour that love over her. I can't to help her learn and grow and to get her the best treatment as possible. We are researching medical facilities, treatments and learning from others how to share her with others.

We know that things will be difficult at times. But we are excited. This is just going to be an awesome blessing. I really can not wait to get this sweet girl home. There is a lot more to special needs than just her physical issues. We have to teach her that she is loved by so many and make her feel accepted. We have so much to learn so if you have any suggestions, advice, books we must read, please share them with us. You guys rock!
We are excited to bring our daughter LynnMarie home and share her with our family and friends. I want her to know God's love. I want her to feel God's love. We are blessed to have a wonderful support system here. We can not wait to go to China!!!!
Keep praying. Pray for those children who are still in China. Pray for those with special needs and their caregivers who are loving on them.

LynnMarie ChunAi

we are home.

I promise to have pics up tomorrow but since I can not find my camera cable thing, this will have to do.

Michael and I got back from a long weekend of celebrating our birthdays and LynnMarie.

Wednesday morning we packed up and headed to Orlando to spend some time with his mom ,his brother and his family. We had a lovely dinner and birthday cake. Thursday we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom. Since we both have the same birthday and Disney is giving everyone free admission to a park on their bday, we seriously saved some money and really had a good time. It was really fun but also exciting to know that the next time, we get on that tram, there will be a stroller with us..HeeHee! My mom also reminded us of our next Disney Cruise..

Anyway, Saturday afternoon, friends and family gathered to shower us with gifts. What a wonderful time put together by my mom and sister. We got to share our adoption story, answer questions about LynnMarie, and just get loved on. We received lots of advice from friends that meant so much to us and I hope to post some of the advice one day here.

Sunday, we loaded up the car (and boy it was loaded) and headed back. We did stop off at an outlet mall and found a Carters and OshKosh store. We found lots of 1.99 and 3.99 racks with a 20% discount on top of that. So a good time was had by all.

We ended the day at Michael's Aunt and Uncles house where they presented us an old blanket that Michael's mom made for her nephew and they wanted to pass it on.
My last surprise was on Sunday morning when I got a phone call from Miss Verna who I had not seen in over 7 years. She was my very first charge nurse at my first nursing job. Her advice was to not spoil our child. I told her not to worry, she would be a very stable, non spoiled child. HAHA!! TOO LATE!
That made it a very special weekend.
I am sorry I don't have pics but what a great way to start our preparations.

So what did we get (this is for you Mandy), we got our stroller, carseat, diapers, clothes, bibs, toys, bathstuff.YIPPEEE

Just a reminder that if you want to be on LynnMarie's prayer email list, email us at lovinglynnmarie@hotmail.com

last weeks date night

Last week, Michael and I were invited on a date night with our friends Tammy and Tony! They are experienced parental units and are also waiting on their sweet little girl from China. It was wonderful to get to know them a bit better and share their "Joy" with them! Thhanks for a wonderful evening friends!

What now???

Ok, so we know who LynnMarie is and where she, what now? I HAVE NO CLUE!!!

Seriously, I am so confused and overwhelmed with every emotion to mankind, I do not even know where to start. I love it!!!! Some of you who have been reading our blog have commented on my honesty. Be prepared for some seriously honesty in posts to come!!

LynnMarie has a story and its a beautiful one. Man, this girl turned our lives around the night before Thanksgiving. Really my thinking has like totally changed, its crazy. The Christopher's really are going to CHINA. More importantly, we are bringing LynnMarie home!

These past few weeks have been more wonderful than I could ever imagine. I hope to one day share with you how God has been all over this. I am not kidding. Every day, I learn something new. God has opened a door or given us a little surprise every single day. Its beyond amazing. Never underestimate what God can do all over the world. As big as this world is, God has shown us some really intimate moments. One day I hope to share, I can not put all of this into words.

GOd is so BIG and wonderful and amazingly cool and has been so gracious to us. Finding LynnMarie is so beyond what I ever dreamed.

So right now, we sit and wait. Just kidding. There is no sitting. We are waiting for our LOA (letter of approval) and then we wait for our TA. We really do not know when these things are going to get here, but we will be waiting for a few months I guess.

OK, thank goodness for friends. Mom, Dad, we do have people who love us here.

Seriously, people are offering car seats and offering to help paint the room and clean our house and showers we are just loving on it. It feels good. I did not not expect as much advice and help and literally walking with us on the journey. People helping with paperwork and other things has really helped.

God's hand has been so obvious in orchestrating events. LynnMarie has already touched lives and there are so many people who love her, that it makes my heart smile.

I will be totally honest. I am beyond scared. I really have no idea what we are doing. I knew this was going to happen, but not this fast. Now, I am reading books, researching doctors, treatment options, window shopping, dreaming, praying and then praying some more, worrying which then leads to more praying and I am so out of my element. I would not change it for the world.

We do know that her room will be yellow! Yeah one decision has been made!!!!

FYI, if you want to be on her prayer email list and learn how you can specifically pray for her and us, email me at lovinglynnmarie@hotmail.com.

New Pictures (source unknown)

more thoughts

SO life is here is going to get crazy. This blog is about to get crazy. Apparently this is all real and it just totally hit me. So here we are with amazing pics and video of this precious little girl who is about to get some serious love. She has no idea. So now we are talking showers, nursery, getting care packages ready, painting, organizing and apparently a trip to China. Needless to say we are overwhelmed but wouldn't change it for the world.

Praying for a speedy LOA

If you are interested in being a part of LynnMarie's prayer and update email list send an email over to lovingLynnMarie@hotmail.com

A Wonderful Surprise

There was a wonderful surprise and thanks to all who viewed the video and commented, but I feel more comfortable taking them down.

Sorry, but we have plenty of pics!!!