When I picked Eliana up from afternooncare last Tuesday, it was hard not telling her about Karys - you just have no idea how hard - but my lips successfully remained zipped. Carmi and I agreed that we would give Eliana the good news about her baby sister when we came home from our church’s revival service later that night.

Well, I actually did tease her a little bit with, “Mommy and daddy have a surprise for you!” I’m mean like that.

She immediately closed her eyes and stuck her hand out, fully expecting either some candy or a toy.

“No...we’ll give it to you tonight.”

“Why?”

“Because your mother won’t let me give it to you now.” Hee.

As soon as we walked in the door Tuesday night, I ran over to the computer and called for Eliana. I pulled her up onto my lap and covered her eyes with one hand while manipulating the mouse to open Karys’ pictures with the other. I think she peeked. At least she claimed to.

When I uncovered her eyes, she focused on the monitor and I asked, “Do you know who this is?”

She thought for just a second. “Me?” That was interesting because Carmi and I both think that Karys resembles Eliana when Eliana was the same age.

“Nooooo. That’s your baby sister.”

Boy. You could almost hear the wheels turning in her head.

The three of us ‘ooohed and aaahed’ for a while. Carmi and I explained to her that we should be able to travel to China later this year and bring Karys home in time for Christmas. Then I told Eliana that I would print Karys’ pictures so she could show everybody at school the next day. As she jumped down from my lap, she said, “That would make me happy.”

The next morning, Eliana had been dressed and we were preparing to leave for preschool. I went into her room to get her shoes and socks. Walking back through the living room on my way to our bedroom where I thought she was still watching cartoons, I noticed that Eliana was sitting quietly in the dark on the living room floor and looking at Karys’ pictures.

Then in the car on the way to preschool, Eliana pulled out the pictures again and began singing, “I love the baby...I love the baby...”

Oh yeah...I think she’s excited.

Well, not literally but here’s the story…

On Wednesday, April 18th, our adoption agency made a new Special Needs list of 20 children available which we requested and received on Thursday, April 19th. On all previous Special Needs lists, pictures were provided of the children along with a fairly detailed description of their “special need”. This time around though, there were no pictures and only a thumbnail sketch of the childrens’ condition. We printed out the information and glanced over it on Thursday night but didn’t really discuss any of them.

I called Carmi at work around mid-morning on Friday, April 20th, and in casual conversation asked if she was interested in any of the children. She mentioned two in particular so I encouraged her to email our agency. As lunch approached, I hadn’t heard back from her so I called our agency just to let them know that Carmi had sent an email. One of the little girls already had a waiting list of 7 families and the other only had 1 family currently looking at her information which meant that we were first in line if the family decided not to pursue her. A family looking at a child’s information has 5 days to decide whether to adopt or not so we just sat back over the weekend and waited.

I was busy working in the office on Tuesday morning, April 24th, when my phone rang. On the other end was a lady from our agency’s office. My heart skipped a beat when she identified herself.

“Doug, the family who was looking at #6 on the list desires an older child so I just emailed you pictures and more detailed information on her special need. She’s yours to consider.”

In the midst of her news, I glanced down and saw the little “incoming email” icon going to town on my computer screen. Surely she heard me gasp.

“You and Carmi have 5 days to make a decision.”

I blathered something like “Oh my gosh” and “Thank you” and “Unbelievable” and “You’re a jewel” before our short conversation ended. Hopefully I made some kind of coherent sense but I doubt it.

As we hung up, the email had arrived and my hands trembled a little as I opened it. I scrolled down and there, at the bottom of the email, were two pictures of a little angel.

“That’s our daughter! That’s our daughter!”

I started laughing and repeated that phrase once or twice just in case I didn’t hear myself correctly the first time. It’s a good thing that no one came into my office because for the next few minutes, I cried a little. Then I picked up the phone and called Carmi while simultaneously forwarding the good news.

“Check your email!”, I almost screamed when she answered and her first words were something like “Oh my gosh!”

Great minds think alike.

After giggling for a while like school kids in a crush, I honestly don’t remember if I suggested it or if Carmi did but we agreed immediately to inform our agency that we wanted that child. That was our little girl. There was no thinking about it overnight. We didn’t have to pray about it. The fact is that we had been praying about it since the previous Friday and God, once again, answered our prayers.

Our daughter is being cared for at the Baoding Social Welfare Institute in the Hebei Province. Her birthday is February 1st, 2005 which means that she is just over 2 years old. Eliana’s birthday is February 20th so there is exactly 3 years difference in their ages. In our opinion, that’s just perfect. Her special need? She has a “rectovestibular fistula”.

I know, I know...shut up and show us the pictures of Karys!

Carmi and I have some great news about a little girl but we can’t tell you just yet.   

Today is my lovely bride’s birthday.

Happy birthday, sweetheart.

Eliana came home this afternoon and started begging for Heelys because a few of her classmates evidently wore them to preschool today.

Nice-looking shoes. Only problem is, they cost a small fortune. I strongly dislike having to buy shoes for myself. Now one day I’ll probably end up shelling out the big bucks for her a pair of shoes that will only serve to mow down unsuspecting shoppers in Target.

Welcome to parenthood, eh? So when did you buy Heelys for YOUR kids?

The CCAA website has been updated and the new cut-off date for referrals is October 26, 2005. This batch covered a whopping period of 2 days!

Only 237 more days until June 20 which is our log-in date. 

This journal offers a peek inside the Henderson home where you'll find two Little Empresses. Eliana stole our hearts on October 29, 2002 and Karys forever became a part of our family on September 17, 2007. Is a Little Emperor in the future?