The Best Christmas Presents

This Christmas, more than ever, the Miller family was reminded that the miracle of God's love through the gift of our families is very precious.

Merry Christmas

Just had to sneak in one more picture of her playing at the hotel. Good news! The missing luggage was delivered today! Thanks for all of the extra prayers. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Calming Down

We have only been home for a full day, but things are calming down. Grocery shopping and laundry are done. Still no sign of the missing luggage. Snapdragon has her days and nights mixed up and has a cold. Long nights ahead, but she is a true joy! Just look at those cheeks! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy the photos. (Just a few of over the 400 we took!)

Photos

Playing in the Swan Room.
At the city playground.
Guangzhou Zoo.
Two beautiful princesses.
Group 1276.

Photos

Physical exam for passport and visa.
Happy Buddha.
Old Chen House.
Peek a Boo!
Playing in the Swan Room at the hotel with friends from Jiang Cheng.

More Photos

Feeding time.
Sisterly love.
A squatty potty.
Six Banyan Pagoda
Making a wish.

Photos

In the orphanage.
Sampan in Hong Kong.
White Swan lobby.
View from hotel room.
Nannies from the orphanage.

We Are Home!

Sorry about not being able to update the site while in China. I could blog, which was difficult, but couldn't upload photos. The top photo was taken about 10 minutes after they placed Li Mei in my arms. The bottom is playtime in the hotel room. Li Mei is beautiful and healthy! A real joy. She loves to play and laugh and shows no signs of developmental difficulties. Yes, she sucks her thumb! She weighed 19.6 pounds at her physical in China.



We had a wonderful, but long trip and are very thankful to be home. Thank you for all of your prayers for safe travel. Now, one more request, pray that our missing luggage with all of Li Mei's clothes and items that we purchased is returned.

I'll post more tomorrow! Lot's of love to all!

We are in Guangzhou!

This is actually a test post to see if we can get this to work. We will go get the baby in two hours. Here is a photo of Buttercup in the White Swan! Hong Kong was like a whirlwind, but saw some exciting things and rode on a sampan in the harbor of the South China Sea. Love to all!

Leaving for China!

It's official! We have received our TA and will be leaving for China on December 6 (next Thurs.!) and will return on December 21. Just in time for Christmas. This is the best Christmas present ever! We are frantically packing, shopping and preparing. I took Buttercup to the Dr. today to make sure she was clear for travel (no ear infections) and got prescriptions for antibiotics (just in case.) Snapdragon will join her family officially on December 10. We'll get to hold her and kiss those little cheeks in less than two weeks! I try to keep this in my heart as I am not sleeping well and feel a little run down due to the stress of preparing everything. We will try to post on the blog while we are in China. Love to all our family and friends and thank you for your prayers.

We Are in LOVE!

She is even more beautiful than we could have imagined from her little mug shot photo. We just want to scoop her up and hold her. How can we wait 6 more weeks?! We will be busy with lots of preparation for travel to bring her home. We are off to return the acceptance letter! No more real information to share, just the two beautiful photos. We will be sending her a carepackage at the end of the week.

Where Is She Now?

Snapdragon is in the Guangdong Province in southern China. Hong Kong is also in this province. Hopefully, this means that travel in China will be a little easier. (LOL) Click on map to make it larger.

Introducing Li Mei Cheng Miller (Snapdragon)

Here she is! We received the call and photo at 8:51 am.
We will travel in 5-7 weeks to bring her home to her forever family.
Name: Jiang Cheng Shuang (sincere and bright)
DOB: February 7, 2007 (She will be 9 months old tomorrow!)
Orphange: Zhangjiang, Jiang Cheng District Welfare Institute
Province: Guangdong Province (see map)
Taken to the orphanage on Feb. 8, 2007

Weight on Sept. 28 was 17.6 lbs.
Length 27.17 inches
She is healthy, alert, sits on her own, holds her head up when lying on her tummy, crawls, recognizes her name and her caregiver. She sits in her baby walker. Her favorite toy is a colorful ball. She reaches and grabs for things and follows a voice. She laughs outloud and likes music. She is a deep sleeper and likes her schedule. She wakes up at 6:30, naps at noon and goes to bed at 9:30. She eats at 7:oo, 11:00, 4:00, 8:00 and midnight ( a milk and rice based formula). She also is given vitamins, codliver oil and calcium.

We are overjoyed! Thank you to all for your prayers and support through this journey. We thank God for another beautiful, healthy daughter and can't wait to hold her! We even think she looks like Buttercup when she was a baby. Especially, the cheeks, lips and even the hair (without curls)!

Tomorrow!

Our agency has posted on their website that they are translating the referrals and will contact us all tomorrow. Another sleepless night!

It's Finally Official!

We should get a call tomorrow and see our baby's face on Tuesday!

A Peek at the Nursery

The nursery has been set up for over a year. Most of the items in the nursery were Buttercup's when she was a baby. Many friends have passed toys, clothes and the rocking chair on to us. We thank them for their generosity! Snapdragon's Grammy made the Pooh lamp for Buttercup's nursery and the yo-yo quilt on the rocker was made by her Great-Grandma.

Ahoy There, Matey!

Here is a picture of Buttercup on Halloween. We went to a church festival and then went trick or treating. Next year, we can trick or treat with two! Buttercup already has the costumes planned. She wants to be Frankenstein and her little sister is going to be the mad scientist that created her!

Anxiously Awaiting

Well, here we go! This is my first attempt at creating a blog page to share information and photos with family and friends about our new little Snapdragon. We should hear news on Monday about our new little one from China. Buttercup is ready to see her little sister!