If you've been around awhile you've seen my blog evolve since we
began our first China adoption paperwork in 2012. It began as "Adoption
Adventure with a Little Princess" and fairly quickly switched to
"Adoption Adventure with Two Little Princesses" as a second daughter was
added to that "going to China just one time" adoption in 2013. A
Prince was added in 2014, then Princes Two in 2015! Our family has increased
far more than we ever anticipated when we began this journey.
You
may have also noticed a magnificent little girl that I've advocated for
beginning sometime early in 2014. I loved her the first time I laid eyes on her. At first I spoke up for her quietly to folks on the side that I knew were looking to adopt a child her age, then on some of the
advocacy groups. I featured her on my blog several times, and
finally ended up with being her Warrior for the Reece's Rainbow 2015 Angel Tree.
As part of the Warrior role I started a community on Facebook
dedicated to fundraising for an adoption grant for her and advocating
for her family to find her. I talked to people interested in adopting
from China (both online and in real life) but she didn't seem to be a
perfect fit for any of those families.
When we returned from China with Patrick in April of this year, I may have loudly proclaimed to God and anyone else who was listening
that our family was DONE. Done, done, done. Never say never. Even though I loved
this little beauty the minute I laid eyes on her, we thought we were too old for a four-year-old child. So I advocated for her
as "Zuza" when she was with WACAP, then as "Susy" when she had turned five and her file was with
Madison, and for the past year on the shared list. She was in my
thoughts most days, and literally haunted my dreams at night. I'm
thrilled to say my advocacy paid off - though not how I expected.
Surprise! WE get to adopt this magnificent little girl (who is now six years old) and I am at
peace at last.
Here we go again! We received our PA
(Pre Approval) from China and have begun the long process to bring our
baby home. We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we jump through all the legal hoops over the next several months. If you are counting, she completes our baker's dozen. We are thrilled beyond words. My
blog's new title is simply, "Raising the Royalty."
