A Family for 6 Months!!!

Today is a day of celebration . . . we have been blessed to be Julia Ann's family for 6 months today! She is amazing and wonderful and spunky and a joy to be around. She lights up the room and her giggle is infections.

I vividly remember the anticipation waiting for the orphanage staff to bring her up to our hotel room just a few months ago and how my heart leapt and my breath caught when I laid eyes on her little face for the first time.

She was smaller than I thought she would be and looked different from the pictures I had memorized. She was scared and curious and had no idea what was about to transpire. Nothing could have prepared her for the changes that were coming and nothing could have prepared my heart for the utter destruction that was coming my way.

If you see us now, you would never suspect that Julia Ann utterly rejected me those two weeks in China. Posting the picture above is hard and I never intended on sharing it. It was a moment caught during a hard time. Sleeping was usually the only time I could touch her without her having a meltdown. She would put up with me changing diapers and feeding her, but would scream when left with me and fight her hardest to escape my touch.

She fell in love with her daddy after 15 minutes and clung to him with all her might. Her sisters were next to capture her heart (how could they not!), but my time would not come for several more weeks. So many mommas had been in and out of her short life, she was just not ready to let another one hurt her little heart yet again.

Her story is long and deeply woven with things no three year old should have to endure, but we are slowly working wonderful bits into it through God's help. She is strong and courageous and has shown us so many things in the last half year, most importantly, she is teaching me yet another layer of what true love is and what it means to love like God loves.

I will be forever grateful for all of the people who listened to God's urging to help and support us through our adoption journey to bring Julia Ann home. You have given us the gift of family, a daughter, a gift so valuable, we will never be able to repay you for it. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! 

Tag The Bag Adoption Fundraiser!!!

I know a few days ago, I said we would not be doing any more fundraising, but . . . I came across this creative and fun way to fund the final $1500 we need to make this trip happen! It is called "TAG THE BAG".

What is "Tag the Bag" you ask, well it's simple, you make a donation to our adoption via paypal or in person and we write your name on a special, keepsake suitcase that will hold all of Julia Ann's special things we bring home from China. This suitcase will serve as a time capsule of sorts for her and will be a unique and important puzzle piece to her adoption story. Every time she looks at this suitcase, she will know just how many of you loved her long before she met her Mommy, Daddy, and big sisters and that it was because of your obedience to the Lord in caring for orphans that she now has a forever family!

Any donation amount will get your name on this bag and every single dollar, yes even $1, will help us to bring our daughter home! We are leaving on a jet plane to China in 7 short days, and we are trusting that the Lord will provide this last little bit that we need to be fully funded.

Donations can be made through our paypal @ marnsmumbles@hotmail.com. Please choose the gift option so that we don't get charged a fee. If you would like to make a donation in person, please contact me via phone, Facebook message, or at the above email.

We are so grateful for all those that have given to us over the last 18 months; without all of you, this adoption would not have been able to proceed!

With Love,

The Nollette Family

We're Leaving On a Jet Plane!!!

It's time . . . we officially have our travel dates and we are leaving to China in just a few short days! I cannot believe I am typing this as it all seems so surreal. We have been in the process of adoption for almost 18 months and it has been trying, grueling even, at times, but it has all been worth it because it has led us to our daughter.

In a few days we will see her for the first time, touch her for the first time, hold her for the first time, hear her laugh for the first time, cry for the first time, smile for the first time. As a momma, it is hard to swallow the fact that these are not any of her firsts, just the first time she will do them in her new family and I am grateful that the Lord's peace says to my heart that this is just as good, maybe even better.

My heart is full with varying emotions, but none more than the desire to pour out the Lord's love on this little girl. We pray that her heart is being readied for this scary transition and that she will be open to our love and affection. We pray that the orphanage is talking to her about what is about to happen and sharing our photos with her, explaining who we are. We pray that she will feel safe enough with us to show us that infectious smile. We pray that she is healthy enough for the long trip home and that all the paperwork goes through as expected. 

We will be updating our blog while in China, if all goes well with our internet connection, and I will be using it as a journal of sorts to document all that is happening. We want to thank all of you who have supported us through this journey to Julia Ann and ask that you continue to pray as we travel half way around the world to wrap our arms around her.

T-Shirt Fundraiser

With LOA (our letter of approval to officially adopt Julia Ann) on its way, we are getting very close to traveling to pick up our little girl and bring her home. We still have a good chunk to raise before we can go to China and so we are holding a t-shirt fundraiser in addition to a yard sale at the end of this month.

Instead of purchasing a fancy new outfit to wear this Easter, please consider buying one of our shirts and wearing it to show your support of adoption and the undeserved gift of God's grace that comes with choosing to follow him! We still need to sell 38 shirts to reach our goal and only have a little over a week and a half to do it! 

Sales end March 23rd. 

Julia Ann's Grace T-Shirt Sales 

Soft LOA!!!

We are super excited to announce, after 93 days of waiting, that we have soft LOA or have been match reviewed! This is the official document stating that the Chinese government has given us Julia Ann to be our daughter! Typing those words is so amazing! We have known the Lord gave her to us many months ago, but it will be official legally very soon. We are praising the Lord today for his goodness in helping us to be patient and strong during these last three months. He has showered us with gifts of photos, videos, and new friendships with other mommas who have kiddos from this same orphanage. We are eternally grateful for all of you who continue to support us emotionally, physically, and financially on this journey. We could not do this without our family and friends supporting us and cheering us on!

A Magical Night of Celebration!!!

 

We spent Friday night with over 150 people celebrating the Chinese New Year and the adoption of two little girls that will be home with their forever families very soon! We were humbled by the outpouring of our community and how the attending families blessed us. It was a wonderful night and watching the lanterns float off into the night sky was absolutely beautiful!

Thank you to all who came out to support us! We are extremely grateful for how you blessed both our own family as well as the other sponsored family. It was great fun and we hope to do it again next year!

Happy Birthday to our Little Wan Zhang Lou

Happy Birthday to our Little Girl!

While it is a little early, the orphanage celebrated JuliaAnn's third birthday a few days ago as her real birthday falls in the midst of all the Chinese New Year celebrations. We are so grateful to know that she is in a good place and the people there seem to truly care for the kids. 

We were blessed with a lot of great photos and a few short video clips. However, to be honest, this was a bittersweet experience. As a mamma of two little bio girls, not being present for milestones like this for our third sweet baby was hard to take. Knowing this is her last birthday without a family to love on her and that Jesus was there to celebrate with her and watch over her was enough to carry me through. 

We continue to wait on our LOA (letter of approval) to arrive. We are about halfway through that wait and are hoping to have an update before the 30th when the Chinese government shuts down for the New Year celebrations. We pray that JuliaAnn is enjoying all the festivities and that God will continue to prepare her heart for the big changes coming her way.