Amazing......

Okay, so it seems like I've been slacking a little bit on keeping you posted via the blog but actually I've been relaxing!!  This is probably a good thing considering we might be a little busy the next couple of months :)

The Taylor family enjoyed a much needed week of rest & relaxation in Florida....

We had a great time hanging out on the beach, jet skiing, eating lots of yummy food and we even spotted a family of dolphins while taking a boat ride one afternoon.  How wonderful it was to get away. At the end of the trip, one of the kids mentioned that this was a great vacation but it would have been so much more fun with Maili.  It's so cute to see how they have already adapted to the idea of having a baby sister and are always thinking and planning for her arrival.  Hopefully the transition of actually having her with us will be a smooth one.

We have had lots of fun preparing for our trip to China....reading lots of books, eating the occasional Chinese meal (although I'm sure it's nothing like the real thing!), and learning a little bit of Mandarin.  We can all count to 5 and say hello.  That should get us real far!  And of course, we have purchased some cute little girly outfits :)

So speaking of Maili, we recently received some updated pictures.  I titled this blog post "Amazing" because the way that we received these photos is truly amazing.  In a typical Chinese adoption (meaning the child is at an orphanage or foster care home) the adoptive parents would maybe receive 2-3 updated photos of their child prior to their trip to China.  I had received some updated pictures of Maili from the Shanghai Healing Home back in May but since we had to stop all further communication with them (so as to not jeopardize the adoption) we thought that we probably would not be receiving any more.

Obviously,  I've been reading a lot of blogs and posts on yahoo groups, etc. from other families who have adopted from China.  About a month ago I came across a post on a yahoo group about a family who was in the process of adopting a little boy from China and at the same time decided to adopt a 13 year old boy as well.  Sounded like a neat story so I clicked on the link that led me to their blog and just started reading.  It turns out that this family has 2 older sons who were getting ready to travel to China to volunteer at....The Shanghai Healing Home!!!! I couldn't believe it!  Here is an opportunity for me to connect with someone who will be holding my baby in a few weeks.  This is so rare and unheard of in the adoption world.  I immediately started searching their blog for some way to contact them and sure enough the dad's phone number was right there!  The family was in the process of fundraising for the adoptions and were selling chickens (yes, chickens :)) and there was the phone number.  I contacted the dad and explained who this crazy woman was on the other end and then asked if his boys would be willing to send me pictures and updates of Maili while they were there.  It turns out the whole family was going to stop by the healing home on their way to get the boys they were adopting.   So on June 26th,  I woke up to these precious pictures in my inbox...

What a serious face!  When I look at these pictures I always stop and wonder what she is thinking.  She definitely looks content and well cared for but part of me wonders why she doesn't look happier.  It dawned on me one day that it's because she still needs to know the love of a family.  We can't wait to wrap our arms around her and show her what it means to be truly loved.

You know years ago if you would have asked me if I would adopt, I would have honestly answered no.  My biggest fear was that I could not possibly love someone else's baby like my own.  But the minute I received "the call" and opened the email that contained the first glimpses of our daughter, I was in love.  Truly in my heart this child was mine.  And every day that goes by that love grows deeper and deeper.  Maybe on another date I'll share why I changed my mind about adoption :)

We are so thankful to our new friends that were able to take these pictures for us.  By the way, they sent us about 25 pictures!  I want to show you another picture of the playroom area at the healing home....

I've already mentioned that I've been reading a lot of books on China adoptions and especially ones that talk about the conditions of the Chinese orphanages.  And I guess I'm okay with reading them at this point in the adoption process because fortunately we know that our sweet girl is not having to endure those conditions.  We sleep well at night knowing that she is being cared for in such a loving environment.  But that is not the case for so many orphans.  I came across a video the other day that a family took of the orphanage that they picked their daughter up from.  Here is the link..
http://ouraussiechinababy.blogspot.com/2006/09/yangxi-swi-video.html

Looks a little different than the above picture doesn't it?  Did you notice that there are no mattresses in the cribs?  As much as I've read nothing could prepare me for seeing it live on that video.

We are so truly amazed at God's provision during this adoption process.  From finding out that Maili has spent the critical first months of her life in the healing home to finding this wonderful family who would be visiting our daughter in China. Each step of the way we are in awe.  I never hesitate to recognize God's hand in all of this and of course I know that all of this is not just "by luck or chance" but truly by design.  Amazing.....

Ni Hao Mile High!!!!

Welcome to our blog!  We are so excited to finally get this up and running so we can keep in touch with everyone we love and share all of the exciting things that are going on in the Taylor house.  I guess we should start by explaining our title....Ni Hao Mile High or in other words Hello Denver!  This pretty much sums up what has kept us busy and excited over the past few months.

Before I begin explaining the title let me explain where our hearts have been the past few years....

In a recent sermon at church our pastor said these words..."If you never trust God with your life, you'll never really experience God's presence in your life."  I have to say that pretty much sums up our thoughts & prayers over the past few years.  We started really trusting God with all aspects of our lives and in turn we have experienced God like never before.

So back to the first part of the title, Ni Hao means hello in Mandarin.  For those of you who haven't heard....we have been in the process of adopting a baby girl from China for the past 1 1/2 years.  We started the process in late October 2009 and at the time we were seeking to adopt a healthy baby girl between the ages of 0-18 months.  After 10 months of the paperwork chase, we were officially Logged In on July 13, 2010.  The wait at the time was expected to be 3-4 years from the time we were logged in.  After many months of research and prayer we decided in February 2011 to change our file from healthy status to "special needs" status which immediately put us in the fast track to get matched with a baby with one of the three medical conditions we had specified.  At that point we were told that it could take any where from 2-18 months to be matched with a baby.

On Monday, May 16th, 2011,we received "the call" from our agency!  "Are you ready for the call?"  asked Judy at the agency.  "You mean "the call"?" I asked.  Of course we're ready!!!  In a matter of moments, we had met our daughter.  We would like to introduce you to our daughter Qian Ya Qi......

In China they always list the last name first so her name is Ya Qi (pronounced Ya Chee).She was born on November 1, 2009 in Wugang City, Henan, People's Republic of China and diagnosed with bilateral cleft lip & palate.  We fell in love with her instantly!  We received what info the agency had on her including details of her abandonment, medical records including when her lip was repaired at 9 months of age, development charts, and the name of her orphanage, Pingdingshan Social Welfare Institute.  Everything looked great except there was one concern....she had failed a hearing test at the age of 4 months.  Based on our research of cleft lip & palate babies we knew that it was very common for them to have chronic ear infections, drainage, etc. which would cause them to fail a hearing test at any time.  We weren't too concerned however we did ask our agency to get some followup info on her hearing before we made the decision.  About 2 days later, we received a call from the agency stating that her file was about to be recalled and we needed to make a decision in 24 hours whether or not we want to "lock in" her file.  Panicked, we contacted doctors, parents of babies with cleft lip & palate, and other resources to make an informed choice to move forward based on the info we had.  Basically, we had to step out in faith and trust God.  We knew in our hearts that this was our daughter and that we would accept her and love her no matter what the diagnosis.


Here is one of the first pictures that we received of Ya Qi probably taken when she was about a year old....A very important detail here....when Lauren first saw this picture she mentioned that it was so cute (of course!) but also that Ya Qi was sitting on the rug right next to the mountains!  This really stood out to Lauren because as some of you know we are also in the process of moving to Denver and obviously Ya Qi already has a tendency to want to be by the mountains!

Whew!  So that was Monday-Thursday.  On Friday, May 20th, we officially locked in her file and sent in our Letter of Intent to China which basically states that we want to adopt Qian Ya Qi.  When I called Judy at the agency to let her know we wanted to move forward she mentioned that the reason we were unable to receive any updates on her hearing was that they had recently found out that Ya Qi was moved to Shanghai from Pingdingshan.  This is a very important detail!  She mentioned that Ya Qi could possibly be at a place called the Shanghai Healing Home.  Of course, I had heard of these healing homes during all of my research on the internet and had even at one time mentioned to Keith that this would be the absolutely best place for any orphan with a special need to be.

We immediately googled Shanghai Healing Home and came across photos of the babies in their healing home.  Most of these healing homes are non-profit organizations run by Americans who receive their funding through sponsors to cover the costs of running the home, taking care of the little ones and covering the costs of their surgeries.  They give each of the babies an american name on the website.  When I looked at all the pictures of the babies, none of them jumped out at me as Ya Qi however when I got to the very end of the photos something else jumped out at me......3 cute little babies sitting on a colorful rug right next to the mountains!  It was the same rug that Ya Qi was sitting on in the pictures we had received.  At that moment, I knew she was at the healing home.  I immediately looked again at all the photos and came across Rachel....born November 1, 2009.  Could this be her?  We immediately pulled up our photos and compared them to the pictures of Rachel and yes indeed this was Ya Qi.  We continued to explore the website and came across a video showing the 1 year anniversary of the healing home and with tears running down our cheeks, we witnessed the first glimpses of our daughter.

Now I can't begin to explain to you the intense emotion we felt at that moment.  Remember, if you never trust God with your life, you'll never experience His presence.  Talk about experiencing His presence!  Here we are trusting God throughout this whole adoption process....being nervous about what was in store, what will she be like, how will she react when she meets us, what kind of care will she have had, will we have a lot of attachment issues to deal with, you name it and here we have been given the best news of all.  She has been in a loving environment, cared for around the clock by 3 nannies assigned to her, held, played with, exposed to Americans, and so on and best of all someone who has taken pictures, videos, and has a record of all of her milestones.  This is incredible news!

Of course, I immediately emailed the healing home in hopes of confirming that this was Ya Qi and getting an update on her hearing.  They replied immediately and confirmed what we already knew...this was indeed Ya Qi.  As for her hearing, they gave us every indication that it was related to her cleft palate.  After a few emails back and forth with the healing home we realized that we were truly blessed to have this kind of contact with her caregivers and after a few days came to the conclusion that this contact could potentially jeopardize our adoption and the work that the healing home is doing. So, unfortunately our communication has been stopped.  We look forward to the day that we might be able to meet the missionaries who started the healing home and thank them in person for the work they do and the love and care they have shown our daughter.  Until then we will wait patiently knowing she is in good care.

About a year ago, way before we were matched with Ya Qi, we came up with the name Maili Grace (pronounced Miley) and we all decided this would be the name of our daughter/sister.  In Mandarin, Mai means "elegant" and "ocean".  Perfect we thought!  When we were matched with Ya Qi we looked up the meaning of her name... Ya means "elegant" and Qi means "wondrous" or "jade".  Hopefully you noticed the coincidence :)

So of course you are wondering when we will travel to get her!  We are currently waiting for immigration approval, visas, and travel approval before we can travel to China.  We will keep you all posted on our progress on all of these important milestones that bring us one step closer to meeting Maili Grace.   Once we get our travel approval, the whole family will be off to China for 2 weeks.  Right now the estimated departure will be late August/early September.  We can't wait to introduce her to all of you!

Well, onto the second part of our title...Ni Hao Mile High.  Yes, we are headed to Denver.  When?  That's a good question!  It all depends on.....

The sale of our home!!!!!  We are hoping and praying to be there by the start of school in late August but we'll just have to sit back and wait and see what God has planned.  We are really looking forward to a new adventure in our lives and of course 300 days of sunshine and no humidity!

Believe it or not that is all for now :)  Hopefully you check out our blog periodically as we post updates and you'll be able to track us as we travel across the world and across the country.  I promise the rest of the posts will not be this long :)