Gotcha Day!

Well today was the day. One less orphan. One more precious daughter.  Maryelle has never been out of her orphanage or seen strangers. She was SO scared. When we first tried to hold her, it set off a crying, screaming fit for the rest of our time there. It was really difficult. Andy had to carry her crying and flailing to the car. But then we began to sing to her and that settled her down. We've stayed in the hotel room for most of the day. She has begun to attach to both of us and we're getting smiles pretty freely. She loved hair 'pretties', a light up toothbrush, ball and food. You can tell that she's never had enough. I'll describe her more in the coming days. We appreciate your prayers. These are challenging days. 

1st stop= Beijing!

After 23 hours of travel, we arrived in Beijing on Thursday. Wow, what a city! We took these extra few days as opportunity to get over jet lag before getting Maryelle and to also experience and understand her homeland better. We've had a personal guide who has been wonderful and who has taught us much about Chinese history and culture in a brief time. The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Summer Palace were amazing. Yet in all of our travels, there has been nothing like the wonder of the Great Wall of China. It truly was magnificent and breath taking. Literally breath taking with lots of very steep climbing!  In the evenings, we've explored the city by walking and finding markets and trying to take in as many sights and sounds as possible. It's been remarkable. 
And the best is yet to come! In less than 48 hours Maryelle Nian Grace will be ours!!  On Sunday morning we take the bullet train from Beijing to Hefei where we will be united with Maryelle on Monday morning!  We appreciate your prayers for Maryelle-specifically that she would not be filled with fear on Gotcha Day. Thx!

Why we say yes...

We're finally at a one-hand countdown = FIVE days til we leave for China!!
 I'm often asked the 'WHY?' behind our decision to adopt. This blog article by No Hands But Ours sums it up in words that I can never seem to so eloquently find.
..."we take our small, mustard seed size faith, combine it with what we know to be true about God, and say yes.
We say yes because the call is whispered, or downright shouted, into our hearts.
We say yes because we have love to give.
We say yes because we prefer front row seats to God’s miracle work.
We say yes because we walk by faith, even when the future makes us quiver.
...we say YES. Yes to a lifetime of unqualified yeses. 
Yes to moving forward in our smallness and God’s bigness."
Read the rest of the article at- http://www.nohandsbutours.com/2015/03/24/yes/

Flights are booked! MNG here we come!!

The months of planning are coming to a completion and we leave for China July 15!  After a few days in Beijing, we will FINALLY get to wrap our arms around our baby girl on July 20!!  We will be in Hefei (Anhui province) for our Gotcha Day and other days of paperwork.  On July 23 we will visit her orphanage in Yingshang.  July 24-30 will be spent in Guangzhou for more paperwork, medicals and the U.S. consulate appointment that makes her a U.S. citizen and officially OUR DAUGHTER. : )  After a day+ of travel (but crossing the international date line to gain a day), we'll arrive home the evening of June 30.  We are SO ready to have Maryelle home!

Paperwork Wrapping Up

In case you missed some of the backstory, here is the Facebook update that I posted on May 31.
ADOPTION UPDATE! It’s been several months since I’ve posted anything about our adoption. Thank you to all of you who have asked, encouraged and supported us along the way. The process has been arduous and slow. It has been emotionally wrenching in ways that I can’t even explain. But God’s calling on our lives and the life of our little one has been clear. He intends for Nian Ci Min to no longer be an orphan sitting in a bare and drab institution in China. And in His grace, He has chosen us to be part of the plan He has for her life. This journey has not been easy, and I’m sure that we have some difficult months ahead of us. But God has been faithful in giving us strength and joy throughout this process and we know that He has wonderful things in store!
We are in the homestretch!! Our paperwork is wrapping up and it is likely that we will be leaving for China mid-July to get our little girl!! We are hoping for July 20th to be the day that she is finally in our arms and becomes MARYELLE NIAN-GRACE FLOTTEMEYER!! [I will get into the significance of her chosen names in a later post!]
Maryelle turned 4 on January 10. [And yes, we’ve forgotten what’s it’s like to have a 4yr old girl around the house! It’s been 10 yrs!!] Maryelle is in the category of what China calls a “Special Focus” child because of medical issues. At 2 years of age, she had heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. She has mild cerebral palsy that weakens the left side of her body. This has also affected her eyes. These are just a couple of the things that we know about Miss Maryelle. Institutional life has caused her to have numerous other developmental and emotional deficiencies, but we know that a loving home with lots of emotional and physical support will grow all of these areas in leaps and bounds!
We would appreciate prayer for Maryelle as she deals with the transition of being taken from the one building and people that she has ever known. She may not at first realize that this is in her best interest! Pray for us that as a family we would have the wisdom and strength to meet her needs. We can’t wait to love on her!!! And needless to say, she has 3 VERY excited sibilings who can’t wait to spoil her rotten!

First Pictures of Our Little Girl

These were the first pictures that we saw of our little girl, Min Nian Ci, born January 10, 2011 in the Anhui province of China.  These pics are frame shots that we got from a 60 second video.  The first time I watched as she flashed that sweet smile, my heart melted and I couldn't help but say, "hi sweet girl".  Little did I know that this sweet girl was going to be a Flottmeyer! We started the adoption process in late May and got final approval to move forward with the adoption in mid-August. I committed that on the first day that our other 3 kiddos were back in school that I would pursue with all my heart and time to bring an orphan into our family.  It was on that day, September 2, that I saw Maryelle for the first time! After a couple of months of seeking the Lord, (and watching the video 101 times!), God made it very clear that Nian Ci was to be part of our family.  At Thanksgiving, we were matched and the arduous process to get her home ensued.
Now we're in the final step- planning our trip to China to finally get that girl in our arms!