Update

We received an update and found out that Liu Xia had surgery in September to repair the heart condition she was born with. We are so thankful that she is doing well after surgery, but it's so sad that she had to go through such a major surgery without a family by her side.

Many people have asked about the birthday party in the pictures of Liu Xia. It was another little girl in the orphanage's birthday party. Her adoptive mom sent the cake and party supplies to the orphanage so they could celebrate her daughter's birthday while they waited to travel to bring her home. We are so grateful for all of the adorable pictures the little girl's mom sent us. She also sent us videos of Liu Xia from the party. Every picture and video and glimpse into our little girl's life is such a treasure! Thanks, Amy!

Happy Day

The boys were so excited to hear the news of their baby sister. Here are some pictures of them celebrating. They decided to blow up balloons, make signs, and march around the house in celebration. They are both going to be such good big brothers to Liu Xia!

Introducing Liú Xiá

On April 21, 2010 we got the call we have been waiting for! We have been matched with a precious little girl! Her Chinese name is Liú Xiá, and she is living in the Jiaojiang District SWI (Social Welfare Institute), which is an orphanage in Taizhou, Zheijiang, China. When we got the referral call, I kept running outside to see if I could find Jason since he was on a bike ride with the boys. After I got off the phone, I jumped in the car and started driving around to find him. I couldn't wait five more minutes to tell him the news! I found him at the park with the boys, and he was looking at me like what are you doing here? I told him that we had gotten the call, and we quickly rushed home to look at her sweet face together. Here is a slideshow of pictures and videos of her.

I can't wait to see a smile. (Although I love her pouty lips). I am ready to jump on a plane and bring her home, but we have 5-7 months before we'll be able to do that.

Adoption Tax Credit Extended

What a huge relief! It was announced today that the Adoption Tax Credit has been extended until December 2011. We are praising God for this, as it'll be a huge help in covering some of the expenses we'll have. I'm still hoping the adoption will happen this year, but if not, we can rest assured knowing that we'll still be eligible to get the credit in 2011.

Prayer for Mei Mei

This morning Elijah was having his Bible time, and the activity was to write a prayer. Here is part of what he wrote.

In case you're having trouble reading it, it says "I love you God. Please help me to get my baby sister home soon." I thought it was really sweet.

Not this time

The shared list came out finally on Tuesday, and many Holt families were matched with children, which is really good. Of course we're hoping it will be our turn soon as well, but we are trusting in God's perfect timing.

Nothing new

We are getting lots of questions about the progress of the adoption. I don't know how many people are checking this site, but I thought I'd give a quick update. We are still anxiously waiting to be matched. When I talked to our agency last week, they seemed hopeful that it would be in the next few months. Since we are requesting a girl 0-24 months it takes longer because so many other people are also looking for a girl in the same age range. A new list of children is overdue to be released (it's been 42 days since the last one), but it has not yet and we don't know when it will. Of course we're hoping our daughter is on this next list. However, it could still be a few months. Tomorrow sounds great to me!