Here is a quick summary on our journey thus far:

Mike and I have been married since 1999, and always knew that we wanted to adopt. In 2002, we spotted an advertisement at church asking married couples to consider adopting from China. I called to inquire, but was told that we were too young, as both parents must be over 30 to enter the program. In 2004, we were blessed with the birth of our daughter Emily. When Emily was a year old, in 2005, we decided that we wanted to add child #2 to our family, and that now was the time to pursue our adoption dream. We were still too young to adopt from China, so applied to a Russia adoption program. After almost a year, after our Russia paperchase was complete, the program became very unstable and we decided it just wasn't for us. By now, I was almost 30 and almost old enough to apply for an adoption from China. Chinese adoptions have a history of being one of the most stable programs for adoptions, and just really felt right to us. So, thus begins our China adoption story.

In the summer of 2006, we began our China paperchase (homestudy, immigration paperwork, gathering together documents for our dossier to go to China, etc.) By February 2007 we were "logged in" to the program in China. And so began the wait. Initially, we were told 10 months, then 16, and then (due to an improved economy and new domestic adoption program in China), we were told to expect 3+ years. This was good news for the children of China, but a litte sad for us. As much as Mike and I are eager to expand our family, Emily is just as anxious to have her sister home. We just didn't want her to have to wait until she was 6 years old to finally have the sibling she always wanted.

And then everything changed. I found out I was pregnant in the beginning of July 2007. PERFECT. We figured that now we would have our daughter in China and this new baby, and we were finally getting the big "insta-family" of our dreams. Unfortunately, this excitement did not last, as our hopes were once again dashed. The pregnancy was not meant to be. After 11 weeks of pregnancy, and after seeing our baby's heartbeat (just when I thought all was safe), I lost the baby and had to have a D and C on August 23, 2007. Our baby angel Sarah was with us for such a short time, but she will never be forgotten.

I can't even begin to describe the heartache we felt. As bad as this wait had become (waiting for our adoption from China to come through), it now became a million times harder. After suffering such a devastating loss, there was no way that we could possibly survive 3 more years of heartache. And then God answered our prayers......