Tim has Star!

If you've been following our journey, you might remember Star from the videos of Shaling we received in May. Star is the little girl in the purple shirt. Star (Heng Xin) is being adopted by the Stowells from Chattanooga, Tennessee. You may remember that Tim came to Springfield to visit his parents in October and while here, spent a generous portion of his time with us. I posted about that visit here: http://bringshalinghome.blogspot.com/2010/10/special-visit.html

Tim & his wife, Ellen, adopted their daughter, Tian, from China nearly 3 years ago. They adopted their son, Yu-Hsuan, from Taiwan this past February. Star is right in between them in age. Yu-Hsuan is 8; Star will be 10 on December 2; Tian will be 11 on December 2 (yes, the girls share a birthday).

Yesterday was a very special day for the Stowell family. Some people call it "Gotcha Day"; others call it "Family Day". What it boils down to is this...for the first time, they got to lay eyes on each other and become a family. Tim posted about it in his blog and included some great pictures: http://tug-on-my-heart.blogspot.com/2010/11/to-have-and-to-hold.html. I would love for our family and friends to go read about it, as this is a great prelude for what is to come from us in roughly a month.

People like Tim sharing their own experiences are really helping me get through these last few weeks. My emotions are on high right now...stress from knowing we're so close yet not being able to finalize plans, buy airline tickets or book a hotel; anticipation about becoming a family of 4; nesting -- making sure we have everything we should have for Shaling; worry that we will won't forget anything when we travel; excitement about our upcoming experience while in China; thankfulness about being so blessed to be able to this; appreciation to our family and friends for being so supportive, etc., etc., etc.

In fact, I shared this with many of you, but I'm going to post it here for posterity (Shaling should know about it some day): I had a hormonal moment Sunday...no, not the angry kind...the teary, sappy kind. I'm not usually much of a sobber, however, I gave into some tears while at Kohl's shopping for pajamas for Shaling. Over & over I kept thinking "I'm about to have a daughter; I'm clothes shopping for a daughter." The tears started streaming & I quickly prayed no one would come down my aisle & see my sappy self.