No more surgery (we hope)!

Marygrace had her second implant surgery yesterday. She now has two good ears!!! They won't program the second implant until Jan. 18. The second surgery went as well as the first. If you saw her today you would have no idea she had anything done and I haven't even given her tylenol. We are so blessed to have this litttle girl be apart of our family! We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with lots of joy, hope and peace!!!

Second implant surgery is scheduled for tomorrow

Marygrace has been doing well. She is learning to listen and make sense of sounds. She is babbling and making clearer sounds. Tomorrow morning she is scheduled to receive her second implant. We are excited that she will have two good ears! Please pray she stays healthy (she has had a slightly elevated temp 99.2) and that surgery will go as planned and without complications. We hope you all are doing well during this busy time of the year. God Bless you all! I will update tomorrow.

She Can Hear!

The device is programmed and on! She responded by looking up and turning to look for the source of various sounds during the programming appointment. She does'nt seem upset or scared. She is wearing the device and not pulling on it at all. We are so excited! The device is turned up gradually. She will wear it at this level for a couple of days and then we will bump it up every 2-3 days as tolerated. Now it's time for the hard work - learning to listen and make sound associations! At home she responds to several noisy toys, the phone and microwave. She makes the funniest facial expressions demonstrating her shock and amazement. We will try and post some videos soon! Please praise the Lord with us as we rejoice that our daughter can finally hear us say "I love you" and hear us sing "Jesus Loves Me" to her. There is no doubt that he does love Marygrace! How blessed we our to have her be apart of our family and experience this incredible journey with her!

Sept.- Oct. 2007

Marygrace is doing great!!!

Marygrace is recovering amazingly well! The surgery began at 3:00 P.M. yesterday and we left the surgery center at 7:00 P.M. We could not believe how quick the procedure was. Marygrace was easily comforted in daddy's arms (of course) with a few kisses from mom where her IV was. She is very dramatic and wants everyone to kiss the spot where her IV was. She is eating and drinking and slept a full 12 hours! Praise God!!!
If you saw her, you would have no idea that she had surgery yesterday. We are anxiously waiting for Nov. 7 when the implant will be programmed and turned on. We can't wait to see her face when she hears our voices for the first time! Thank You all for your prayers. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family! I will try to post some pictures from the past month later this week. There was a shower for Marygrace at church earlier this month. It was so much fun for both of us and we were very pampered and spoiled! Thank you to everyone who made that such a special day for us!

Surgery has been moved up to Oct. 15!

Marygrace's surgery has been moved up to Oct. 15. There will be a three week recovery period before the device is turned on and programmed. This is scheduled for Nov. 7. We appreciate prayers for Marygrace and the surgery to be successful! We will continue to update her blog with any news.

Aug. - Sept. 2007

Surgery Scheduled!

Marygrace will have have her first cochlear implant surgery on Oct. 23. This is the same day that we decided she would become part of our family last year. What a special day for Marygrace! We are thrilled that she will have the opportunity to hear and we are especially thrilled that she is a part of our family!!! Please pray for the surgery to go well with no unforeseen complications. They will turn on the implant 3 weeks after the surgery and Marygrace will have to learn to listen and connect sounds with the source. It will be a very scary and exciting time for her. We will measure her progress over months not weeks, but hope that over the next year her speech and language skills will develop. Also, please pray that we will be approved for her second implant before the end of the year. We would love not to get hit with a new deductable and have to hit our out of pocket limit next year. Merck is also switching insurance Jan. 1 and there is some concern that a second implant may not be covered. Thus, it would be great if we could do it before the end of the year!

Daddy took these great pics!

Family Camp July 2007

Marygrace is a candidate for cochlear implants!

Yes, we found out the good news on Friday. The results of the MRI and CT scans Marygrace had on Aug. 1 were normal for both. These were the last tests that needed to be done to determine her candidacy. We are thrilled! The doctors office is now working on insurance approval. The first implant may take place in Sept. or Oct., which is just around the corner. We are so grateful to all who have prayed for Marygrace to have this opportunity. The technology today is wonderful and we are optimistic with the implants and therapy our daughter will experience near normal hearing and speech-language skills. We appreciate continued prayers for success and no complications! We hope you are all enjoying your summer, my boys have only one week left before school starts. I'll try and post more pictures soon!

I'm Caught Up!

I'm caught up posting pictures through July 4th! We are having a great summer and hope you are too. We will be going to Family Camp for a week on July 15 and our looking forward to our first vacation with Marygrace! I may not post for awhile, no news is good news!

Misc. Pictures June 24 - July 4th

June 2007

Pictures from Grandpa's Camera

We saw the cochlear implant specialist on Mon. and the appointment went well. She ordered an MRI and CT scan of Marygrace's ears and brain to help determine if she will be a candidate for the cochlear implant. Marygrace also saw the audiologist in the afternoon and received her hearing aides with hot pink swirl ear molds. Scott says she likes to wear them because she thinks they are pretty accessories or jewelery! She actually has been doing really well keeping them in, but it's only been 24 hours. We think she is responding to some sounds, but it is really hard to tell. We will see an auditory-verbal therapist on Thursday and the audiologist will retest her on July 23. They do not expect her to improve very much with the hearing aides, but we need to try them to prove to the insurance company that cochlear implants are medically necessary.

Have a Happy & safe 4th of July!!!

Yeah, Pictures At Last!

It's About Time!

Hi All,

I know it's been way too long, but four kids and the summer activities have been taking all my time and energy! However, we are all doing great especially Marygrace! She is such a happy, easy going child. She loves her brothers tons and gives us all real kisses now (she puckers up her lips, it's so sweet). Of course the boys are keeping track of who has the most kisses. Marygrace has now met most her extended family and a lot of our friends. She has been to Sunday school three times and stays by herself. We love when she runs to us when we pick her up. She spent lots of time getting to know Aunt Lynne (Scott's sister from MN), Uncle Chris, Sarah and Laura when they came to visit Father's Day weekend. She has also had play dates with cousins Sarah and Gwen (both 2 1/2 years old). Cousin Sarah had so much fun with Marygrace and the boys she spent the night (giving her mommy and daddy a much needed break after the birth of new baby Eric Thomas). These sweet little innocent 2 year old little girls (ha ha) ran around in bathing suits shooting each other with squirt guns in the house and Kelley actually allowed it (they had so much fun together)! Marygrace already has a social calender and has been to cousins Caden and Colton's birthday party and her friend Anna' s Princess Party (Kelley's friend Melanie's daughter who just turned 3!). Marygrace was a Chinese Princess in one of her silk and toole Chinese dresses. I really will try to post pictures soon!

Marygrace had her hearing tested at Children's Memorial Hospital and as expected has a severe-profound hearing loss in both ears. She consistently responded at loud levels to the frequencies tested indicating that the auditory nerve is functioning, thus she will hopefully be a candidate for the cochlear implant. We will see the implant doctor on Monday July 2 and Marygrace will also get loaner hearing aides the same day. She needs to have a hearing aid trial before she can be considered a candidate for the implants. We will know a lot more on Monday!

Thank for all the prayers and support we really believe things would not have gone so smooth thus far without them. Please continue to pray for Marygrace's adjustment and hearing issues (especially that she will be a candidate for the cochlear implant if she needs one) and for Scott and I as we walk this journey, learn all about hearing aides and implants and make difficult decisions (it's never easy when it's your own child)!

We hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

God Bless,

Scott, Kelley, Matt, Josh, Andrew & Marygrace

Finally, An Update!

Dear Family and Friends,

I will try to continue to update this site as there is new information about Marygrace's hearing, etc. We will be going for an audiological evaluation next Tuesday and will see Dr. Young, the head of otolaryngology at Children's Memorial Hospital on July 2. Marygrace is adjusting well to our family and we are all enjoying having a toddler in the house. We have been busy with out of town visitors and getting together with family and friends. Marygrace is very social and does pretty well with others, although she doesn't let others hold her for very long. She loves the park (especially the swings), bike rides, and her favorite is the pool. We have a major water bug! Whenever we are upstairs she takes off her clothes and points to the bathtub. We have been going to our public pool and she has a fit at rest break and when it's time to leave. We had a playdate yesterday with her friend, Sheehan who has been home from China since Sept., it was fun! I'll try to post more pictures soon. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

God Bless,
Kelley

Check out my Slide Show!

We're Home!

Scott and I came home on Friday as scheduled. The boys and grandparents met us at the airport. It was amazing to see them all and let them finally meet Marygrace in person. Thank you so much for all the prayers for our trip (safety and health), Marygrace and bonding, the boys and grandparents (while we were gone). We have been so blessed and cannot believe how well everything went. Marygrace is a happy child and appears very comfortable in our arms, home and with the boys. When I met Josh in his classroom the children were all excited to meet Marygrace. Even among all the faces she recognized Josh right away and went right to him. He was beaming and was so proud of his sister! Matt and Andrew are equally proud and all three are competing for the title - Favorite Brother (they are not competitive like their dad)!!!

I will try to post pictures by the end of the week of our final days in China and Mary's first week at home. The jet lag has been difficult coming home, both Scott and I are exhausted (which is Not Allowed with four children)! Hopefully, we will feel back to normal soon. I cannot end this post without praising the Lord Jesus Christ for all He has done for us - We are so amazed at the work of our awesome God!!!

We do not believe for one minute that we just happened to be led to this child, that she just happened by chance to be hearing impaired (for those who don't know I am a speech pathologist who specialized in college in working with the deaf and have experience with deaf children and cochlear implants), Marygrace was not diagnosed with hearing loss until three months after we identified her as our daughter and were already well into the process of adopting her. Given Marygrace's age and obvious attachment to her caregiver in the orphanage we are amazed at how smooth her transition has been thus far and how well her personality fits perfectly into our active family. Most children would rightfullly be completely overwhelmed.

We have completely felt the Lord's hand and His leading throughout this process. There have also been hurdles to this adoption experience-just as we were getting ready to send our dossier to China, Kelley required surgery to remove an abdominal tumor (72 hours after surgery we found out it was benign-a surprize to even the surgeon who removed it). In hindsight, what a blessing it was discovered and removed and that I am fully recovered prior to bringing a two year old into our family. I am so enjoying holding, hugging, carrying and chasing after her (all which even a month or so ago would have still been painful and difficult).

The Lord faithfully used the most trying time in both our lives - the devastating brain infection that attacked our oldest son's cerebellum 3 years ago. Without the connection and relationship we built with Neurologist, Dr. Swisher during Matthew's 13 day stay at Children's Memorial Hospital Marygrace would have never come home! He helped us understand her diagnosis, the surgery she had, reviewed MRI's and CAT scans and even video clips. He was open and honest and researched the prognosis of other children around the world who had a similar condition (bilateral subdural hematoma with corrective surgery at 5 months old). He went completely out of his way to educate us and help us make an informed decision without compensation and did not reveal until his last correspondence with us that he has three adopted children. What a blessing this physician has been to us and two of our children! Both Matthew and Marygrace have made remarkable recoveries. Matthew after almost 2 years of physical therapy is a completely typical, active and even athletic 11 year old boy and Marygrace at this point appears to be on target for a two year old in every way except speech and language which is a result of her hearing loss. Please continue to pray that she will be successful with hearing aides or a candidate for a cochlear implant.

Did you see the video of the little boy we saw in China who received his implant less than a year ago and sang a song for our group. His teacher said he will go to a regular kindergarten this year-How amazing is that!!!. Well it makes me want to break out in song too,
CHORUS- "I'M AMAZED AT ALL YOU'VE DONE FOR ME, WHO AM I THAT YOU'D BLESS ME SO-I STAND IN AWE OF ALL YOUR WONDEROUS DEEDS YOU'VE DEALT WITH ME SO GRACIOUSLY."
BROKEN BY ALL THE TIMES I'VE FAILED AND THE DAYS I'VE HUNG MY HEAD IN SHAME TIME AND AGAIN I'VE DRIVEN TO MY KNEES AND I FIND YOUR GREAT COMPASSION THERE FOR ME.
CHORUS
YOU'VE BLESSED ME WITH MORE THAN I DESERVE MERCY AND LOVE AT EVERY TURN. ALL THAT YOU GIVE FLOWS OUT OF WHO YOU ARE AND I THANK YOU LORD FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

For those of you who have known us long enough these are the words to a song that was sung at our wedding ceremony 14 years ago. I cannot stop singing these words as ponder my life and how God has perfectly knit and continues to knit each and every stran of my life (good and bad) together. To know with all your heart God exists and cares about your life and is using even the good and bad to draw you nearer to Him brings true fulfillment, contentment and peace! "I'M AMAZED"

We're Leaving Tomorrow!

This will be our last post from China we are leaving for the airport tomorrow at 5:30 A.M. (China time). The bags are packed, the shopping is done and we are anxious to come home. We can't wait to sleep in our own beds, eat American food, see our friends and show off our beautiful new daughter. Most of all we can't wait to see Matt, Josh and Andrew. We miss the three of you more than you can imagine. It won't be long now. We love you!!! See you soon,
Mom & Dad

Tuesday in Guangzhou

Hi All,
We started our day talking to the boys. Andrew's quote for the day "Mom- four more days until you come home, tomorrow three more days, then two more, then one more and then MY LIFE IS CHANGED." We have been wondering all day if he thinks this will be a good change or bad change (we're sure he has been spoiled by grandparents). Either way he may change his mind once we get home. We posted some new pictures. We hope you enjoy the many expressions of Marygrace, she is a drama queen and communicates very well!
Lots of Love,
Scott & Kelley

Check out my Slide Show!

Deaf Child with a Cochlear Implant Singing at Hutong School

Check out my Slide Show!

We're in Guangzhou!

Sorry again that it took us so long to post. We are doing really well and enjoying our trip to China very much! Marygrace is a trooper and her silly side is really coming out. She loves to play peek-a-boo, hide n seek and to be tickled. She has a hardy laugh and the boys enjoyed hearing her be silly on the phone. We left Hunan Province yesterday and flew to Guangzhou. We were sad to leave our guide, Vicky. She was wonderful and shared so much of the culture in Hunan with us. We hope we will able to bring Marygrace back when she is older for a homeland tour. Before we left Changsha we saw an ancient Chinese University, it was very beautiful and interesting.
We also had some traditional Hunan food (very spicy). Kelley liked the fried rice and Chicken soup. Scott tried turtle (yuck!). Marygrace and Kelley (not by choice)modeled for the photo studio. She loves playing dress up. They put both of us in very fancy dresses with tiara's in our hair (these type of princess pictures are popular in China). They gave us a CD with the pictures, we'll try to post some. Last night we ate at Lucy's, an American restuarant on Shaimen Island where our hotel is. Scott had a burger and Kelley grilled cheese and soup, it was a nice break from Chinese food. Marygrace liked french fries with ketchup and ate a couple bites of grilled cheese, but she likes noodles and rice best. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, which is one of the World's Nicest Hotel. It is one of the fanciest hotels we've ever seen. There are American couples with Chinese babies everywhere. It has been fun getting reconnected with the rest of our travel group that had all traveled to different provinces to meet their babies. Many our first time parents and it is so cool to witness families being born. We attended a Christian Church/ Bible Study this morning with several other families from our group. It was an amazing experience to sing and worship with fellow Christians in China. I will try and post pictures and update more frequently this week. We love and miss you all tons, especially Matt, Josh and Andrew!

Good morning to you & Good night for us

Hi all,

We hope you enjoy the new set of pictures. We are absolutely exhauted! Today was emotionally draining. We went to see the orphanage where Aimee Mei, one of the little girls in our group spent her first two years. It was very difficult to see. Please pray for the all the orphaned children in China. We praise the Lord for our sweet daughter! Marygrace continues to amaze us, she is a very happy and easy going baby. However, she definately prefers her dad. She lets Kelley care for her (bathing, diapers, dressing, feeding), but if Scott's around only he can hold her. She cried for the first time today since we got her because Scott was taking a picture and mom had to hold her. She loves her baba (daddy in Chinese), it's actually very sweet to see!

We love and miss you Matt, Josh and Andrew. Please be good boys!
xoxoxoxo
Mom, Dad and Mei Mei

Sightseeing in Changsha

Marygrace The Model!

We aren't too proud, but we took our daughter to have professional pictures here in Changsha and they asked us to come back Friday. They want to take more pictures for their store. The photography studio is a small chain here and she will be the studio's new model! So even when we leave, Marygrace's photos will remain here. Sorry we could not post yesterday the internet was not working. Thank you to all who have left us a comment, we love to read them! Miss Marygrace is absolutely amazing! She appears totally at ease with Scott and I (now). Until yesterday she was a total daddy's girl! She has no problems communicating with us, she points to what she wants. She has already used the sign for "more" and has learned to blow kisses. She is a very social and happy little girl. We love to hear her giggle, which she does often. We know she hears some loud noises and it's obvious she is very smart. Don't worry Grandpa Ollie, you now have six smart grandchildren!!! Marygrace is sleeping through the night and taking a 2-3 hour nap, eating tons (like dad), wearing pull-ups and using a mini squatty potty. She loves congee, fried rice, watermelon, apples, noodles and McDonald's french fries (yes, Scott risked his life taking a taxi to McDonald's). The drivers here are the craziest we have ever seen!!! Well it's a good thing this is not a Christmas letter, because we know that we are bragging a little too much! Hope you don't mind. We can't wait to introduce you all to the newest Seafield. We'll try and post pictures tomorrow. We miss you all!

We have "Mei Mei" !!!

Matt, Josh and Andrew,

We have Mei Mei (little sister in Chinese). She is more perfect and precious than we all could have ever imagined. Dad and I keep saying she is absolutely the perfect addition to our family! God is so Good!!! Other than being frightened and having some separation anxiety from her Aunties she has been doing great all day. She will now come to both of us (initially just Scott), but definately prefers daddy. This is definately the best Birthday and gift dad has ever had. We love you all tons and appreciate everyone's prayers. Happy belated Mother's Day everyone!!!

Lots of Love,

Mom & Dad

Gotcha Day!

We made it to Changsha!

We are in the same city as Marygrace. She made the 5-6 hour bus ride from her orphanage today. We will meet her tomorrow at 9:30 A.M. so it will still be Mother's Day in the states. We are excited but nervous and very very tired. Please pray for us, we really need a good nights sleep, because who knows what tomorrow will bring. We will post pictures as soon as we can! Matt, Josh & Andrew we will hold your little mei mei soon. We love and miss you guys tons! Mom & Dad

Hi all, sorry it's taken us so long to post. We don't have our own computer and it has not been that convenient to post here! The last two days have been very busy, but we have seen lots of sights in Beijing. One of the highlights, yesterday was our guide took us to the Hutong village in Beijing where we toured a school, that just happened to be an oral deaf school. We both felt like this was not just a coincidence. At the school we met two beautiful children-a boy and a girl that had cochlear implants! They were adorable and spoke like any other child their age. The little boy even sang our group a little song. We will post this later when we can download it to you.

Kelley and I really appreciate all of your comments. Please feel free to keep them coming. We have had trouble at times responding to them and even viewing them because of the computer situation. We will get it together soon we hope! Tomorrow we fly to the province where Marygrace lives(Hunan) and we will meet her the following day!!!

Hi to the boys and grandparents. We love you guys and can't wait to see our little girl and show her to all of you. We will catch you all later.

Love,
Scott and Kelley

Sightseeing in Beijing

We're Here!

Well we made it to Beijing. It is 7:40 A.M. (13 hour ahead) here on May 11. We will be doing some sightseeing with other people adopting through Children's Hope (CHI). We met a nice couple from Lexington, Kentucky who are adopting their first child. They were on our flight and it was nice to have company through customs, etc. We have a cell phone and Matthew has already called us, everything is fine he was just excited to tell us a couple of things. We love you boys and take good care of grandma & grandpa and Mingy Sue!I'll try and post pictures of our sightseeing adventures tonight. Bye for now.

We're leaving tomorrow!

We're still packing and hoping we've covered everything. Please pray for the boys and grandparents as we travel, 16 days seems like a very long time! Also, pray for our safety and little Marygrace, whose whole world is about to be turned upside down.
We would love to hear your comments and have them for Marygrace to read when she is older. To leave a comment, just click on comments below our post and leave your message. If you choose other or anonymous you do not need a password or account. Just press publish message and you're done!

Confirmed Travel Plans

Wed, May 9- Leave the US
Thur, May 10- Arrive in Beijing
Fri, May 11- Sightseeing in Beijing (Temple of Heaven, Lunch at Dai Jia Cun Restaurant, Hutong Tour and Chinese Acrobat Show)
Sat, May 12- Childrens Hope International Orientation & Sightseeing in Beijing (TianAnMen Square , Forbidden City , & the Great Wall).
Sun, May 13- Fly to Changsha, Hunan Province
Mon, May 14-GOTCHA DAY!!! (Scott's Birthday & it will still be Mother's day back home with the time change).
Tues, May 15-Adoption procedures
Wed, May 16- Sightseeing: A kindergarten and YuLu Academy
Thurs, May 17- Sightseeing: Hunan Provincial Museum
Fri, May 18-Official paperwork returned
Sat, May 19- Fly to Guangzhou
Sun, May 20- Free day
Mon, May 21- Medical exam
Tues, May 22- Free day
Wed, May 23- American consulate appointment; Farewell dinner
Thurs, May 24- Go to American consulate to take oath and get visa
Fri, May 25- Return home.

Look at our Surprise-New Pictures!

We have Travel Approval!

Our agency received our travel approval today and is requesting a U.S. consulate appointment for us as I write. We should be leaving Wed. May 9. We are very excited, but have lots to do to get ready! We will update our final travel itinerary probably at the end of the week.

Yong Lan Fei

No News

We are still waiting for our final travel approval to arrive from China. Our agency would like us to be apart of the May 10 travel group, but we need this final approval to schedule a U.S. consulate appointment before we will be allowed to leave China with our daughter. Due to Chinese labor day all government offices will be closed the first week of May. Thus, the rush to get travel approval. Please pray that it comes on Monday or Tuesday. We really want to be apart of this May 10 group. We are so anxious to meet our daughter and can not imagine a more special Mothers Day gift for me and birthday gift for Scott!

Tenative Travel Dates

We signed the seeking confirmation letter on our fourteenth wedding anniversary 4/3/07. I just received word that the letter was sent back to China this afternoon 4/4/07. If we receive travel approval in the next 2-3 weeks, we may be able to travel on May 10. This would mean our "gotcha day" could be Sunday, May 13 (Mother's Day) or May 14 (Scott's Birthday). We are making tenative travel plans and are praying all works out!

We got seeking confirmation letter!

We are so excited! We got the call this morning from our agency that they received our seeking confirmation letter today. This is wonderful news and means that we have been approved by China to adopt Yong Lan Fei. They send this letter seeking confirmation to us to make sure we still want to adopt this child, we will both sign the form and it will be sent back to China. Then we are officially waiting for travel approval, which typically comes 2-4 weeks later. We are hoping to travel in May, which now seems possible. We're coming Marygrace!!!

Day 60

Tomorrow will be day 60 waiting since our Log In Date. The average wait for travel approval (TA) is 90-100 days. We will get a seeking confirmation letter first (approx. 2-4 weeks before TA). This letter could come any time, we are praying for sooner than later. It was Marygrace's second birthday on Sunday, March 11 and the wait is getting much more difficult! Please pray we will hear something soon and that we will have patience during this long wait. We are ready and waiting to be this little girl's parents, we have known who she is since October. We originally thought we would bring her home between March and May, but due to the long process of receiving the 171H form from Illinois May is now the earliest we will get to travel. Come on TA!!!

When You Sent Your Letter of Intent to Adopt Marygrace Did You Know She Was Hearing Impaired?

No, we knew Marygrace had bilateral subdural hematomas that were drained when she was five months old. We had lots of medical reports and an 11 minute video of her, which all seemed to indicate that Marygrace was a fairly healthy child exhibiting minimal delays (which were not to be unexpected given her history and environment). We both new the risk, but were equally convinced and are still convinced this is our daughter. As Lan Fei became older and her speech skills continued not to develop the nannies became increasingly concerned about her hearing. In December she was evaluated at a hospital in Hunan. At this time, a significant hearing loss was confirmed. We were notified in mid January when our adoption agency requested an update for us.

Initially, we were shocked and each took our own time to pray about the situation, but in the end there was little need to discuss what to do. We both knew without a doubt God was calling us to bring our daughter home.

"Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all ways acknowledge the Lord and He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6

What's a Cochlear Implant and Why Does Marygrace Need One?

We recently found out that Marygrace is hearing impaired. We do not know exactly what she can and cannot hear, but it sounds like it is a significant hearing loss. We will not know until we get her home and can have her evaluated by an audiologist at Children's Memorial Hospital the full scope of her hearing. The director of the orphanage indicated that the doctors who evaluated Lan Fei's hearing in China believed she would be a candidate for cochlear implants, which would be wonderful!

Cochlear implants are the most amazing tool for individuals with severe-profound hearing loss. They can help deaf individuals detect sounds at normal levels and develop almost flawless speech. As a speech-language pathologist, Kelley has had the opportunity to work with several individuals who have had great success with their implants! Not everyone is a candidate though, and we will have to wait patiently to find out if this is an option for Marygrace.

Who is Marygrace?

Marygrace is known in China as Yong Lan Fei. She is soon to be our precious daughter and little sister (aka. Mei Mei "little sister" in Chinese). We will call her Marygrace LanFei. She will be two on March 11, 2007 and we are sad we will not be with her to celebrate. We are sending a cake to her orphanage in the Hunan Province (yes a Spicy girl, she should fit in great with all the spicy food loving boys in our house) Yuck! We also recently sent a care package to her with pictures of our family.

So Where Are You Today?

We are on day 46 of our wait for Travel Approval (TA) to fly to China to officially make Marygrace LanFei part of our family. The average family adopting a waiting child waits 90-100 days for TA. We are praying it will come soooooooon! We hope to travel in May.

How It All Began

We are establishing this blog for all our family and friends to follow our adoption journey. This has been quite a year for our family. While adoption has been discussed in our home for years, everything began to change one weekend last March. Kelley had a long weekend away with the girls at the Hearts At Home Conference. Many of the keynote speakers had adopted children and were sharing their inspiring stories. While, Kelley was frustrated hearing these stories fully knowing that adoption is a huge decision and one she absolutely could not make alone, Scott was home with the boys, whose school was hosting the Children of the World Choir, made up of orphans around the world. He and the boys attended several events that weekend and needless to say this was just the beginning of God preparing our family for where we are today.