Monday, August 17, 2009

Our Daughter Maggie !

We are so AMAZED that we have a daughter !! We are still pinching ourselves and staring at her pictures ! She is so beautiful ! We can't wait to see her smile - in all her pictures she has her pretty pouty lips closed with a sad expression that is so common in the photos of children in orphanages.

She was born on Oct. 29, 2008 and is actually just 9 and 1/2 months old ! She weighed 6.6 lbs at birth and at 6 months old weighed 13.5 lbs. she is described as "lively and gets on well with friends, not afraid of strangers and has a strong curiosity". She "likes sound toys, playing games with adults with great interest and happiness. She'll smile and ask for huggs." She "laughs aloud,has an active personality, a ready smile,fond of listening to music and playing with toys". How perfect for our family !
We are so in LOVE !!!!

She has three minor special needs :
1. Her right ear is under developed
2. Her Right ankle turns in
3. She has a small VSD

We do not see her as a special needs child. We see her as our daughter, complete and perfect. Her ear can be fixed if she chooses when she gets older, her heart should heal on its own or through a catheter procedure and her ankle will need either surgery,casts, braces or nothing. We have a wonderful International Adoption Clinic nearby and will have her evaluated by all the specialists there.

Looking at all the different special needs was intimidating when we decided to pursue a special needs adoption. We first started out considering only minor SN, then slowly we researched club feet, missing limbs, complex heart issues, and other SN. We researched, talked to doctors,read blogs and talked with families that had adopted SN children. But, the best thing we did was pray. It was a constant prayer in our hearts for wisdom. We also prayed specifically that we would both be in agreement when the time came. And we were in agreement on Thursday, Aug. 13th 2009 when I saw her picture for the first time and knew she was our daughter. There is so much more to her story and I am still so AMAZED how it all happened.

7 comments:

Gavin's Family said...

Kathy she sounds WONDERFUL! I can't wait to see pictures. I have been told by my agency that it is the CCAA that wouldn't let us post the kids pictures until we are about to travel, have you been told the same thing or will your agency let you post them soon? Isn't it amazing how in our mothers hearts we know they are our that first second we see their little faces. It's such an overwhelming feeling. I have thought the same thing about Gavin's serious look in all his pictures too, I can't wait to see him smile. Have a great week ahead my friend!

MamaHen said...

Kathy, I just can't wait to see her picture. I can tell you are already in love with her!

TanyaLea said...

She sounds PERFECT to me!! <><
So excited to see her precious face!

Sherri said...

She's so young! That is amazing! I'm happy for you!

Julie said...

Sweet Maggie!! I am so excited!! I loved reading all the little details about her. You may be in trouble with the "strong curiosity" part!! "Smiles and asks for hugs", ohhhhhh!! Just precious!! Can you believe it's real???

Congrats again Kathy.

Blessings!!
Julie

strandfam said...

Congratulations on your sweet baby girl! I wanted to let you know that we also adopted through AWAA and traveled to China last Nov to meet our baby boy. He was also from Gaozhou. If you have any questions at all feel free to email me at strandfam@verizon.net. Hoping you get to travel very soon. Can't wait to see photos of your little beauty!

Unknown said...

Congratulations! A friend sent me a link to your blog. Looking forward to following your journey!
Kelly
LID 7/23/2007
joined sn program 3/2009

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3
We have a daughter !!!!!!
Maggie Caroline was born Oct. 29, 2008.
She is in the SWI of Gaozhou City,China.
(
Guangdong Province)