Three Years Ago Today, It All Began........

Our social worker Karen and Myah

On this date 3 years ago, we signed our paperwork with Adoption Associates, and began the amazing journey to our precious daughter. At that moment, we were full of so much hope and excitement for the first time in a long time. Once we had decided to move forward with an international adoption, we did everything in our power to move as quickly as possible. The night that we asked Dayton if he would like a little Chinese sister , Mark and I had been watching House Hunters on HGTV with Susan Wang ( a Chinese lady), at that point, I told Mark that I could not wait any longer, it was time to include Dayton in our decision making. We were so excited, we were almost fighting over who would ask him first! He was so thrilled, his eyes were filled with a new sparkle. What a gift a sister would be! He was in love with little Miss Whitney and the thought of having his own "Whitney" was enough to seal the deal in his mind!
I remember the day we filled out our application like it was yesterday, I remember the silly little details, like how perfect I thought our social worker Karen's handwriting was and how organized she seemed. As we sat in her office I was staring at all of the beautiful souvenirs that she had picked up during her trips to China, the gorgeous pictures on her walls, this all seemed so foreign to me at the time, but so intriguing, I wanted to see these beautiful places, purchase those beautiful gifts, but most of all, send her a Christmas card with our little girl's face on it too. Mark was so cute, asking so many questions, I am sure that Karen thought that this guy must never run out of them. We received a huge handbook that day and I swear I read everything from front to back several times. When we left the office, I never dreamed that words like immigration, 171-H, dossier, consulate, and Li Wen Ting would ever be part of my vocabulary.
This morning, as I play with my little China doll, I am reminded of all of the special people who were so instrumental in making the dream of our daughter a reality. It really did take a village! When we had Dayton, it was just Mark and I, when we adopted Myah, there was a whole list of people that had a hand in bringing her home to us. Someday Myah will learn about all of her special "Fairy God People". She is our daughter to raise as our own, but a day doesn't pass where we don't praise God for his hand in all of this, he planted the seed in my mind, put the right people in all the right places, protected Myah until we could bring her home, and most of all, guides us daily in raising our precious children.