Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Our First Year Together

Our First Year Together 2012-2013

Here is a book I put together of our first year together! I think I will do this every year!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Growing Together

Well, here I sit with this precious little girl beside me. She is such a sweet and precious little girl. We can not imagine our lives without this precious little one! She has learned to trust us, depend on us, and love us! Each day I watch her vocabulary growing, her independence blossoming, and her understanding soaring! She has learned so quickly, I am amazed at her progress. God made her our daughter and I can not express in words how thankful and in awe we are of our Creator!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Gotcha Day 9/10/2012

We got up very early to catch a plane from Beijing to Guangzhou, China. We were about an hour delayed taking off from the airport. We arrived in Guangzhou around 1:30 pm and met our guide, Amy, who drove us to our hotel. We stayed at the China Hotel by Marriott.
 

We had about 40 minutes until we met Khloe for the first time! To say the least, I was in a panic, do I have everything, did we exchange the money right, will she cry, scream, or be indifferent? A million things were going through my head but I know God gave me a peace that I had never known before. I felt as if HE were carrying me through this joyful yet scary time in my life! Eric helped to keep me grounded although I think he was as scared and nervous as I was!


When Wendy, one of the orphanage workers from Guangzhou SWI, brought Khloe out we felt like we were in a dream! We had waited and prayed for this moment for over 15 months! We had cried for this girl and dreamed of who she would be, what she would look like, and how she would act for so long. She was a pleasant, beautiful, and quiet little girl when we met her. She studied our faces and was open yet guarded toward both Eric and I . About 20 minutes after we got her she pointed to Eric and said, "BaBa" which means daddy in Chinese. She only a few minutes later touched me and said, "Mama". I know she didn't know what that meant just mostly repeating what she had been hearing, but to Eric and I it was the first breakthrough! A baby step toward the day she will know we are her Mama and Daddy. The first step into her forever family, a precious little guarded girl had taken her first step into a life she would have only dreamed of in an orphanage. That is not to say that we are the best parents, we make so many mistakes with our kids and eachother! But God knew Khloe belonged to us, He made a match in heaven and who am I to second guess His plan!!

 
The next 9 days went by so slowly, but looking back they went by so quick. I think they went slowly because we so wanted to sweep that little girl up and fly her home to the rest of the Peacock clan! We deeply missed our boys and were so proud to finally have our baby girl! We enjoyed China and hope to get to go back one day. To show Khloe her homeland and possibly go back to her orphanage so she can remember the place that took her in and cared for her the first 2 years of her life! We are so thankful for that orphanage, which is not the best place for children, but because of the care they give children and gave Khloe, our baby was taken care of and seemed to come from a clean, caring facility.





Those 9 days were spent seeing sights, going shopping, finalizing adoption steps, a medical exam for Khloe, and many other things. We took a walk to a park, we shopped for souvenirs, went to Shamian Island, and had a cab ride that was off the chain crazy!!






Sightseeing

The Forbidden City
 

At a Tea House

At The Great Wall

Sunday, October 28, 2012

3 Week Anniversary


Well all the little Peacocks are settled into bed hopefully dreaming sweet dreams! We have had a full month this past month. I am so sorry I haven't been posting much lately it has taken this long to get over jetlag, get adjusted with our new little one, and mourning the loss of our wonderful Pepaw.

I want to give you a trip down memory lane of our trip to China and our last 3 weeks with Khloe:

We arrived in Beijing around 10pm on 9/7/12. We were so tired, but tried to rest the first part of the flight and stay up the last part so we would be ready to go to bed when we got to our hotel. China is exactly 12 hours ahead of us.

We spent the first three days acclimating to the time change by being very busy!! They took us to the Great Wall at the Juyong Pass, the Summer Palace, Tiennamen Square, the Forbidden City, and a charming Tea House. Sunday we got to go to a wonderful Christian church service!! It was amazing seeing people from many nationalities praising the only true God. I sat by a beautiful teenage girl, most likely Korean. I couldn't help but think this will be my girl standing by me in church  in 11 years. Very humbling and yet makes me realize how fortunate I am, when I can worship God in this communist country but Chinese nationals can not. Our first chance to take Khloe to church will be something she could have never done in China.




Saturday, September 22, 2012

Home!!

We had an awesome trip and brought home our precious girl! She is doing amazing, I think she knows she is HOME!! It is like she has always been here, the transition has been so amazingly smooth. I know God has answered all of our prayers! “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. (Matthew 18:19 NLT). I believe in the true God who gives abundantly to those who ask for things in His will! Thank you all for praying with us throughout this adoption! God is so much more than good!!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

China is Great but I am home sick!

Ready to be home! I am so thankful for our time in China! It has been such an amazing journey! I have experienced and seen things I never imagined! Getting Khloe Lan is amazing beyond words. It has been miraculous the change in her since her Gotcha Day! She has quickly become our daughter and has even begun to want me over Eric at times (mom\'s more fun, lol)! She has begun trusting us and loving us! Watching this unfold has been incredible! She is so sweet and the temper fits have almost disappeared! She is still pretty bossy and strong willed. She is very personable and likes to wave and even introduce herself at times (pointing at herself and saying Lan !
Keep praying for her and us we are so homesick for our family! Thanks for your prayers!!!!