The Sixth Alexander

Gotcha Day!
Referral Photos















Well, please don't think I love this little girl more than I love my boys simply because I posted more pictures of her! I couldn't decide which photos to post so I posted more!

This is the Sixth Alexander, Lily Kathrine XiaoJing Alexander. We gave her the name "Lily" simply because we liked it, but I can't help but think of the Scripture when Jesus talks about "consider the Lillies...." I know He had a hand on her little life long before we got our hands on her! The middle name "Kathrine" is the name of a very good friend of mine so I thought it would be nice to give Lily the name of someone that has been special to me for a number of years. "Xiao" was the first name given to Lily at her orphanage and it means, "Little or tiny." "Jing" was the middle name given to her and it means, "crystal."

In December 2003 we made the committment to adopt a little girl from China. Little did we know at the time we made the decision to be obedient to Gods calling on our lives, a little girl was two months old laying in a crib in China...on a wood plank....just waiting for someone to come and get her.

Lily was born on November 17th, 2003 in Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province, Peoples Republic of China. On the day she was born, her birthfamily wrapped her up in a towel and placed her outside of the gate of the Yangjiang Social Welfare Institute. I believe she was deeply loved by her birthfamily. In all liklihood, they didn't know what else they could do with their little girl. Maybe they had other children and having another one would place them over the permitted number of children allowed by the government. Maybe they wanted a boy because culturally there is such a deep-rooted need for families to have sons and they were victims of that cultural struggle. I don't know. What I do know is that they took a risk. Abandoning a child in China is against the law. Lily's family got as close to the orphanage as they possibly could. And like Mariam who hid to watch her little brother(Moses) float in a basket on a river to the safe arms of another woman, I like to think that someone who deeply loved my little girl, hid to watch the security guard of the orphanage safely take her into his arms that morning.

We recieved our referral packet in early September of 2004. One of the photos above was in our referral information. We were set to leave in late October of that same year. We spent a few days touring China with our new friends from FTIA, the agency we used to adopt Lily. There were 12 families in our group. All families were getting girls from the same province. Nine of the girls were from Yangjiang, like Lily. These folks will be forever friends to our family since the twelve girls share a special bond. We call them "Lily's China Sisters." We have had two reunions since our return. One of the posted photos is of our last reunion.

We got Lily on November 1st. I've posted some Gotcha Day photos. That was an awesome day! For so long she was the ends to a long paperchasing endeavor...no face or name. When the referral came it became so different. She now had a face, a name, and we knew where she was. It was eight weeks or so before we could travel to get her. Those eight weeks were extremely long as we looked over every iota of every picture we had of her. To love a person without having had the opportunity to meet or to touch is an amazing thing! She wasn't an orphan in China any longer. She was our little girl. We couldn't wait to have our Gotcha Day with her! We were so anxious because we didn't know how she would do with us. She did rather well with us even though she was not physically feeling well. There is so much to our China journery to Lily that I don't know what to write about and what to skip. At nearly 12 months of age, Lily could not sit up on her own. She couldn't eat food since she had only known a bottle up to that point. She caught up rather quickly on all of the developmental delays. From day one though...she could love. She has captured the hearts of her three brothers. They all three love her deeply. I prayed that she and TJ would have a special bond since they were both brought to our families through the process of adoption. God answered that prayer. Going to China was a good experience. Once there and home, you forget all of the struggles of paperwork, travel, risky foods and the challenging job of transitioing to being home with a new one. It isn't long and you find yourself thinking about going back and getting one more child that needs a forever family. Us? We din't wait long at all!

Lily is now nearly three years old! She is beautiful....even with the short haircut as a result of mom not watching her closely one day when she had a pair of scissors! Her favorite foods are french fries, noodles, chicken (if it is fried), yogurt, apples and bananas. Her favorite activities are anything involving Eesie, Addi or Lorissa. She has proven to be a great older sister. She didn't have the opportunity to get a "baby" sister...one that she could hold or rock. She got a sister just three inches shorter, a few pounds lighter, and eight months younger. Lily's world was rocked when the Seventh Alexander came her way. She has done well....even though she has been bitten a good 25 times by this intruder she knows as her little sister. Lily has a beautiful heart. Today at the store, Sarah got in trouble for being mean to Lily in the cart. I chose to not let Sarah ride in the cart with Lily and carried the crying little sister through the store. She cried all the way home....screamed actually. When we got home, Lily said, "You are being mean to Mei Mei." In Mandarin, "mei mei" means "little sister." Lily loves her Mei Mei.

As for the pictures above: I'll start from the bottom pictures and make my way up. The bottom photo is the first photo we received from China in September of 2004. The one above it is an updated photo of Lily just before we travelled to get her. Two of the next photos above that are of Gotcha Day. To the left of the Gotcha Day photo of Lily with me is an early photo of Lily at home. Yes, she still sucks her thumb! Above that are two Easter photos from this year. Nest isT is a recent photo of her on her favorite horse. Last, but not least, is the photo of Lily's China Sisters at our last reunion. We are approaching our second anniversary of Gotcha Day, November 1st. Has it only been two years? We all feel like we've known her and have loved her much longer than that. God has certainly been good!