O Praise Him!

Enjoy this video and join in worshiping our Holy God.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Psalm 63:3-5

Max is 20 months old today. We love you Max! We'll be together soon!

THE HUNT!

We are on the hunt of a life time looking for this blanket. Paul and I have been looking for the

perfect blanket for sometime. We were at Walmart a couple of weeks ago and Paul found it. It is the softest blanket I have ever felt, the only problem is there was only one and we need two. Our plans are to sleep with the both blankets to get our scent on them. We are going to put one in Max's care package that we will mail to him and bring the other with us when we get him in China. Whether the orphanage sends with him his blanket or not, we feel if we give Max the identical blanket when we get him, that will be one thing that is familiar and can help him connect. We thought that we would just go to another Walmart and buy another blanket...not big deal....NOT!! We have been to ten different Walmart stores and NO blanket. We were in Houston for the weekend and on the way home we stopped at every Walmart. The blanket is on clearance so that may be the problem in finding one. We have found many pink ones like it but not this exact one. I am asking if anyone sees this blanket, grab it and don't let it out of your sight. Please buy it and we will pay you back for the blanket and for shipping if your out of our area. We can buy two different blankets if we can't find this one, but for now we are on a mission to find the matching blanket.

Nursery Transformation

before

Before we de-girled the room.

after

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(click to enlarge photo) See Max's sweet baby feet.

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Mama is creating something special for her baby Max.

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8Max is a dream come true.

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Sweet dreams baby Max. We love you!

Happy Father's Day

Paul, I hope you had a wonderful Father's Day. You are the most loving and giving dad and husband. We are all so blessed to have you.

Britney Returns from Italy

Britney waiting to board the plane.

These are a few of the beautiful pictures Britney took while in Italy.

Britney enjoyed her trip to Italy but I am glad she is home safe and sound.

Map of China and Shanxi Province

Max was born in Datong City in the Shanxi Province.

Shopping for Our Boy

(it must be a shadow but it looks like I have a beard....lol)

We were trying to hold off on buying clothes for Max until we know when we are going to China but I saw this and of coarse I had to get it!!

Trip to IKEA

Paul and I made a trip to IKEA. We bought baby Max some toys and some cute sleeping clothes. Since we don't know when we will be traveling we didn't but outfits for him because we don't know what season it will be. We thought we would wait until we get our travel approval and then buy them all at one time. Something to look forward to. We had such a good time shopping for Max. We were on cloud nine.


We also bought Max a high chair. I saw it and loved it because it's so "old school". I didn't want a big bulky chair that takes up a lot of room. This chair will pull up under the table and he can eat at the table with us. Paul was excited and put it together the very next day. I may end up wishing I had gotten the bigger chair with a tray but for now we'll see how this works. It really won't be to much longer and Max will be in his high chair. We can't wait!!!!

LOI (Letter Of Intent) Sent To China

Monday June 4, 2007, CELEBRATION!!!! We ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Our LOI packet made it to Dillon before noon, they reviewed it, packaged it up and sent it to China. YEA!!!!! June 4th, is our official LOI date. I was hoping that we could get all our paperwork in and our LOI be sent out on this date because now I share this special date with a sweet friend that on this same day, for the first time wrapped her arms around her new daughter from China. I am so honored to share this day with Annie's Forever Family Day.

Annie's Forever Family Day

This is Miss Annie, she is such a cutie. Today is a very special day, it is the first time my friend Jill, was able to wrap her arms around her new daughter. June 4th will always be a day of celebration in their home.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

Proudly Introducing:

Max Cole Yousong

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He is OURS!!! Can you believe it...What a doll!! All along we thought we were getting a girl. God knows exactly what we need to fulfill His plan. We are so thrilled about our blessing from God!!!

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Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body." This describes how I am feeling, my heart to too big for my body. My heart is so full of love for our precious gift from God that I feel like it might explode. I am filled with so much emotion and love for him that it overwhelms me.

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The Lord planted in Paul and I the desire to adopt from China early in our marriage, and it grew stronger over the years. We didn't know when, but we knew God would reveal to us his plan in His perfect timing. We were logged in to China on June 6, 2006. That's when the official wait began. During our wait a family in our travel group accepted a referral of a special needs child. This is something that Paul and I had not considered or discussed. God began to open our hearts to the idea of a child with special needs. More and more we felt that a special needs child is what God had planned for us all along. We contacted our agency and shared with them our desire.

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While traveling to Oklahoma we decided to stop by our agency for a visit. We met with Denise who is over the China program. She said that when they get the next group of special needs children they would remember us. She told us that they only had two boys remaining on the special needs list, and that Dillon (our agency) should be getting the new list any day. The Lord used that brief conversation to spark something in me. I could not get the two boys of my mind or my heart. I ask Paul what he thought about adopting a boy instead of adopting a girl, he said that he thought a boy would be GREAT!! We began praying about it to see if that was the direction God was leading us. After several days of prayer, Paul and I both felt a peace and were both drawn to one little boy on the list in particular. We decided to move forward in faith that this was God’s plan.

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God is so awesome!! We found out after we applied to adopt Max that there was a lady in Oklahoma that diligently prayed for months that our little guy would find his forever family. I deeply thank her for loving him so much. Denise shared with me later that Max's file should have been sent back to China. An agency is only supposed to keep a child's file for about 3 months and if he/she is not adopted then the file goes back. Dillon had requested that his file continue to stay with them for a little bit longer. I told Denise that his file wasn't going anywhere because God's plan was for Paul and I to be his mama and daddy, and He was going to make sure that we got together. An answered prayer!!

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Praise God!! He has given us a HEALTHY, PERFECT, BEAUTIFUL baby boy that has a special need. Max is missing three fingers on his right hand, and has a hernia on his left side. The hernia can be easily corrected with a minor surgery, and his reports tell us that he uses his right hand and can pick up objects with it and uses it a lot to assist his left hand. We will make sure he receives the best physical and occupational therapy. And about his special need.....his special need is US, and our special need is HIM! We love him so much!!!

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For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:13-16

Many of our previous post were written about or to Vivi Jo. That was before God made it very clear to us that he wanted to give us a boy. So while you are reading, please put Max's name in place of Vivi Jo. We are so blessed God has given us Max. Get ready to fall in love, he is going to rock your world!