It's a GIRL!!!!!

Last Tuesday, August 17th, the stork landed in Orlando, Florida. We knew that CCAA should be adding more children to the shared list soon and were hoping that we could receive "The Call", but we were trying not to get our hopes up. Last month anytime the phone rang we risked bodily injury as we raced to answer the phone. This time we were more cautious, but when the call came through and "Holt Adoption Agency" was listed on my caller ID I forgot all about caution as I raced from the room where my team (the group of teachers in my hall) was meeting to pick up a better reception. I heard the most wonderful words, "We believe we found a child that will be a good match for your family." As we prepared our dossier to send to China we were told that we would probably be matched with a boy because many families are only open to adopting little girls. I was SHOCKED when Masha said, "We have a little girl."





"A girl?" I said, it didn't really make sense.





"Yes, is that ok?"





"Of course it is!" I assured her.





Liu Rong Jie was born on March 18, 2009 and is now 17 months old. She is presently residing in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province in southeastern China. She was born with VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect) which is a mild heart condition. She received surgery to repair her VSD last October and is doing well. We believe her family chose adoption for her because they were not able to care for her medical needs. I can't imagine the heartache they went through, when they left her after caring for her for five months. This past Sunday at church I prayed for her family, that they would know peace and know that she has been treated for her heart condition and that she has now been matched with a loving family and will grow up knowing love.

We have been told that the wait to travel can be anywhere from four to nine months. We are praying fervently that we will be able to travel in four months. That would mean that our sweet baby will be home by the end of the year. Here is the much anticipated photo of our new daughter.

We will name our beautiful daughter Aryn Rachel Liu-Rong. As we paperchased we prayed for a name. We wanted a name that was strong and a name that had a beautiful meaning. We wanted the name to be a blessing for all of the wonderful things we hope life will hold. It was difficult to find a name because sometimes we would love the way a name sounded, but when we researched the meaning of a name, we were not impressed. We agreed upon the name Aaron for three reasons. First we wanted to honor Craig and his middle name is Aaron, secondly we liked that God chose to build the royal priesthood through the tribe of Levi and that Aaron was the first high priest, lastly we chose the name Aaron because it means "mountain of strength", "exalted", or "strong." We agreed that we would also like to use the name for a girl, but we didn't want to go with the traditional Erin which means "Ireland" and though I can't find the meaning myself I have heard also means "girl." So I have become what I thought I would never become. I have become one of "those" mothers who takes a boy's name and modifies it for her daughter. I'm shaking my head at the irony of it all. The name Rachel drew us in a few times in a few different ways and we were pretty sure we would not use it until we received a confirmation that it should be a part of her name. Rachel means "ewe" a female lamb. After thinking about the symbolizm and the way Jesus always says He is our sheppard and cares for our needs and how he would leave the 99 to go search for the 1, we had to use the name. We can't imagine not haveing Rachel as part of her name now.

When Aryn was found last August she was taken to the hosptial to be treated. She was named by the doctor attending her and we felt that we should keep part of her Chinese name just like we had kept part of Isaac's Chinese name. We didn't want to use her entire name because Aryn Rachel LiuRongJie Stopyra is a mouthful so we chose the names that seemed to flow with the rest of her name. So we are keeping Liu-Rong as her middle name. From my research, which could be wrong because it all depends upon the Chinese symbol used for her name and I'm not sure I looked at the right symbols as I looked online. We believe Liu means "willow" and I think that is beautiful, I love willows and my middle name means a meadow and I think a willow would look lovely in the meadow. I think it fits nicely. Rong means many things, but "honor" is a part of many definitions, "high honor" is my favorite that I have found. Rong can also mean, "flourish" and we hope she does flourish with our love. It can also mean "harmonious", "glory" or "to hold." I would like to incorporate Jie, but I don't want to make her name so long. I am really torn. Perhaps we will include it. The doctor who named her chose beautiful names. Jie means "One who rises above the rest" or "prominent" and "successful." Maybe well end up with LiuRong-Jie. I don't know!!!!