Update on Emma Kate

Tuesday we received an update on our daughter.  We got these two pictures...

 

 

We requested the medical discharge from her surgery since there was nothing in her file that indicated she had any surgery other than the picture of her with her lip repaired.  They sent the medical discharge in Chinese so we asked our Chinese friend to translate it and she was kind enough to do so free of charge. 

 

We asked for updated measurements and pictures but we only got the two pictures, no measurements.  I'm very appreciative for everything we were able to get.

 

We received answers to the following questions as well:

 

1.  Does she have a nick name or what do the nannies call her?  Xuan Xuan

2.  Can you please tell us some of her likes and dislikes?  She likes to watch TV and dance with           music.  She doesn't like to be with strangers.

3.  Will you please let her hair grow while she waits for us to come?  Sure

4.  Which language is spoken to her, Mandarin or Cantonese?  Cantonese

5.  What type of cup or bottle is she able to drink from?  She drinks from bottle.  She likes water with flavor

6.  Is she walking?  Yes, she walks pretty well

 

The reason we asked what type of cup or bottle is because children with cleft palate are unable to suck and they will sometimes only take a certain type of cup or bottle so we wanted to know which ones to take to China with us.  Oh well, I guess we will figure it out when we get her.

 

I was so happy to get an update but it also brought up more questions.  Her file states that she is in the SWI, not with a foster family, and the pictures we have of her appear to be at the orphanage so we didn't ask if she was with a foster family.  After getting these pictures, we are now wondering if those are her foster parents.  Usually the children are photographed with the nannies and not any men.  Also, the lady in the picture is carrying her purse and the nannies don't usually carry their purses around with them.  Maybe we are over thinking it but we feel like she may be with a foster family.  It is very strange to wonder where my daughter is living and what she is doing.  It is 11:45pm in China so she is in bed right now.  Throughout the day I often stop and think about the time in China and what she might be doing and then I pray for her.  I pray that someone is comforting her if she is hurt or having a bad dream or if she doesn't feel well, I pray that someone is making sure she is fed well and I pray that someone is loving her.  I haven't received a picture of her smiling, I pray someone is making her smile.  She will be 18 months old Saturday.  I can not wait to go get her.

 



Introducing....

We are so happy to introduce our precious daughter... 

 

Emma Kate Xuan Pannell

Born February 10, 2012

 

We plan to call her Emma Kate.  She is 17 months old and we are completely in love already!  She was born with a cleft lip and palate.  Her lip has been repaired but the palate will be repaired after we bring her home.  There are no words to describe how I am feeling :). 

 

Thank you all for your continued prayers as we wait to bring our daughter home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PA!!!

I'm so excited I can't even think straight!  We just got a message from our social worker letting us know we got PA (Pre-approval) today to adopt our daughter!!!  I will post a picture of her and addional information soon!  YAY!!!!! 

Exciting News!!

Yesterday I had a feeling that we would receive a referral today.  Our agency was expecting to get some partnership files in at any time and I had a strong feeling that I would hear from our social worker.  The funny thing is that I even thought I would hear from her around 10:30 in the morning, and I received an email at 10:34 this morning stating that the shared list would be released tonight (not a referral but still good news).  The shared list normally comes out the last week of each month so this was a huge surprise.  The list was not released for May or June due to some changes China was making to the database so I guess they decided to release one now rather than wait until the end of July.  I just knew we would be matched with our daughter from this list.  Then I got the call at 9:49 PM!  There was a file locked for our family and our social worker would email the file and pictures right away!  We have now seen our daughter's sweet face and I couldn't be happier!  I will give details and pictures of our daughter very soon.  Thank you all who have prayed for us.  Please continue to pray with us as we wait to bring our daughter home.

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.  1 Samuel 1:27
                                       

Sheets Fundraiser

We have a new fundraiser that will be ongoing until we raise all of the funds needed for our adoption.

We are offering JS Sanders 1200 thread count sheets for only $35 each set. These sheets are 100%microfiber and they are wrinkle free with a silky soft and luxurious touch. They are available in Twin, Full, Queen, King and California King. Each set includes a flat sheet, fitted sheet and two pillowcases (one with twin).

Available in the following 12 colors 

Any size sheet set is only $35!! Including california king!

To order sheets email me at PannellAdoption@gmail.com, please include a phone number where I can call or text you. If you know me personally, you can call me or place an order in person. If you would like the sheets mailed to you, there will be an additional charge of $10 per set for shipping.

I will place an order once we have 12 or more sets ordered and it takes approximately one week to receive them.

As an incentive to help us sell a ton of sheets, if you can gather 11 or more orders from you family, friends or coworkers, the 12th set of sheets will be free! You will need to collect $35 for each order and contact me with you order. I can have the order of 12 or more sets shipped directly to you at no additional charge if you are not local.

A couple of updates

I wanted to give some updates of what is going on.  We had tons of items left from the first yard sale so we decided to have a second one at our house and we raised $367!  The total from the two yard sales was $4 over the amount we needed to pay an agency payment.  I prayed that we would raise enough to pay an agency payment and that is what God provided!  How awesome is that?!  I want to share something that happened at our second yard sale.  A man who bought a few things wanted to talk about the adoption so I shared a little of our story and answered his questions.  Then, as he walked to his truck to leave, he turned and came back to me and said he wanted to pray for us so he reached out for my hand.  As he prayed, he clenched my hand several times and during his prayer I was really touched by him asking God for the perfect match for our family.  This probably seems like nothing to everyone, but it meant so much to me that he really thought about how he should pray for us.  I don't know who the man was, but feel so blessed to have met him.  Thank you to everyone who helped in some way.  We were very blessed by your donations and your help with our sale and we have now been able to bless another family.  We donated the left over items to a friend for another adoption yard sale.

Now, where we are in the process.  The most common question I get these days is where are you now?"  Well, we have done everything we need to do and we are just waiting to be matched with our daughter.  We don't know how long this will take, we have been waiting for exactly one month since LID (Log in date).  We were told to expect to wait up to 3-6 months but it could be less.  So I could be announcing we have been matched this month or it could be a few months from now.  We should travel to get our daughter approximately five months after we are matched.  The wait isn't fun but we have been so busy with fundraising that this last month has flown by!  I'm so happy we already have one month of the wait behind us. :)

Please continue to pray for us, we really have had such a smooth journey and I hope it will continue this way.  I'm very anxious to see our daughter's face.

Yard Sale

The yard sale was a huge success!  We had tons of donations and tons of help!  In addition to all of the items donated to sell, we also had friends grilling hot dogs, drinks, nail painting, bracelets that we made, baked goods that were all donated by friends and a lemonde stand.  We are so blessed to have so many people who care about us and our daughter.  We never could have pulled this off without everyone's help.  We raised $2,216 for our adoption!!!  This is almost enough to pay an agency payment!  Thank you for your support! 

We were super busy but I was able to get a few pictures at the sale. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                              

         My adorable nephew enjoying some of the baked goods

 

                          The cutest lemonade salesman I know!