A BEAUTIFUL PRESENT!!

My dad was on one of his trips to the countryside last week and while there he bought the most BEAUTIFUL baby carrier for Kaili. We haven't actually seen it in real life but he sent us pictures of it. Apparently the women in the Chinese countryside use them all the time and you can use them to hold newborn babies and even two-year-olds. They work on either the front or the back. Hopefully I can figure out how to put it on!! I am excited to put Kaili in it!

This is my little sister holding the carrier
(it looks like it is big enough to hold her!)

Here is a close up of the embroidery- so beautiful.....I am going to be afraid to get it dirty :)

Trip to New York

Our trip to New York on Monday went well and was actually fun other then the fact that we had to walk in the rain everywhere we went and were SOAKING by the end but it was all an adventure with a good ending.


Our adoption papers are officially signed, signed again, notarized, sealed by the Secretary of state, sealed by the TECO office, and sealed again! We were then finally able to get everything sent to Taiwan and it should arrive tomorrow! That means we should be done with all the paper work on this side of the world so now it is the waiting game.


When the paper work gets to Taiwan, they apply for a court date which will be in 6-8 weeks...then after the court date they have to wait for the court papers which is another 4-6 weeks....THEN we can go get her, finish up what we have to do there and she will officially be our daughter to take home!! If you could pray for all of this to go quickly we would really appreciate it. It is so hard to wait- everyone keeps saying it will go quickly but it sure doesn't feel like it day to day :).


If all goes well we are looking at sometime in May...possible June.

Still Waiting for a New Picture

We still have not received a new picture from Taiwan yet. We check our email everyday hoping to see one but I suppose getting to bring her home will be the only truly satisfying step in the process. As soon as we do get a picture though....I will definitely post one!

Good news: we are almost finished with the paperwork on this side of the world and will soon be sending it to Taiwan. We actually have to drive to the TECO office in New York to take care of some additional, unexpected paperwork. I have to take the day off or work so we can drive up there but at least it means we can have the paperwork in our hands faster. I feel like we are constantly racing against the clock to get to get everything finalized as quickly as possible.

We also got our crib in the mail and set it up yesterday. I love it!!

Matt and I are tring to make a list of things to do before we have a baby in the house. So far we have:

1. Go to a movie

2. Go to Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster and watch the musical Joseph

3. Go ice-skating

4. Sit in Panera for 8 hours and read

5. Any other ideas?

One Month Old

Kaili is one month old today! I try to picture what she is like at this age- I assume she sleeps most of the time :). It is so hard to wait to go get her knowing that she is growing without us being able to see it. I wonder if she has smiled yet..

Right now we are waiting for a new picture. We should get one sometime in January. We only have the one picture right now and I keep looking at it waiting for her to open her eyes.

We received some of her paperwork from Taiwan the other day. It had the home study translated into Chinese, her passport application (it had her name written on it: Kaili Hope McCloskey!!), our adoption contract and a few other papers. We got them all noteraized then we have to send it to the Secratary of State. After we get it back again we send it to TECO and THEN when they send it back we send it back to Taiwan and get a court date. Please pray this process goes quickly because the sooner it is done the sooner we can go get her!

Also, if you think of it, please pray for her mother. She is 32 years old and has a five year old son. We are so thankful she decided to have Kaili but I can't even imagine the emptiness she much feel not having a baby to hold when everything was over. Pray that she will come to know Christ as her savior and then maybe we can all meet her in heaven if not before.

Kaili's first gifts

We went out shopping and got together a few things we want to send to Kaili! It was so much fun shopping for them. Here is what we bought:









We built the bear at Build-A-Bear with our family. Matt's mom picked out and bought the outfit. We love it! We also put a sound recording of Matt's voice and mine in the bear's paw so Kaili will get to hear our voices. The bear came with a pawsport :)

There is also a little photo album that says "forever held close in the love of the Lord." We thought it was fitting because even though we can't hold her right now, God is taking care of her! We are going to put pics of our family in the album for her to see.

We are hoping to get another picture of her someday soon- hopefully one that she has her eyes open :)

Our New Daughter!!

A beautiful baby girl weighing 6 lb. 5oz. was born in Lutong, Taiwan at 1:20 pm on December 10. Matt and I were both sleeping in our bed in America where the time was 12:20 am. We had no idea that the child that will someday be ours was being born!

About nine months ago we started the process of adopting from a small orphanage in Taiwan. After a long time of waiting and wondering if we were even accepted, we received an email from the orphanage with this message:

We were so surprised! Not only were we accepted but we were near the top of the list?! We did a lot of research and found a lady who would complete a home study for us. We had a finalized home study to send to Taiwan on December 9, 2009 (notice this is one day before Kaili was born).

Then, on December 24 (Matt's birthday) we got a call at 6:00 in the morning. It was the orphanage director and he asked Matt if he wanted a baby girl for his birthday!! We were filled with joy and thanksgiving.

The orphanage gave her the Chinese name Deng Ai-Li. We named her Kaili (a Chinese name meaning joyful/content Jasmine flower) Hope.