Austin, Jillian, Sarah and Allie Lewis
The
addition of Jillian Rose to our family has been one of the most incredible
experiences of our lives.
We first talked about international adoption in 1993.
We already had 2 children, Austin now 13, and Allie now 10. We decided we
wanted to have one more child, and really considered adopting. I decided I
wanted to have one more biological child, and Rick said that was fine, but it
was either/or, not both. That was when Sarah, now 5, came along.
Sarah was to have been our youngest.
Then, in January of 1999 we started thinking about adoption
again. I said I got my "either" (meaning Sarah), now I wanted my
"or", (meaning an adopted baby). Rick said it was just because
Sarah was going off to school soon and I couldn't stand to have no children home
with me. (He is right!)
We started checking out agencies in and around our area, and
everyone we talked to said, "use Children's Hope, they are the best."
(Now that we have been through it, we definitely agree.)
We started our paperwork in April of 1999, and turned it in
the end of July. our entire process was incredibly smooth.
The wait seemed to last forever. We were very busy with
our other three children, but our new little girl was always on our minds.
The last month was by far the hardest. Then finally, at the end of March
we got "the call". Our beautiful little girl was 6 1/2 months
old and waiting for us in Hunan Province.
From that point on time flew by, and in no time we were on
our way to Beijing. The entire trip was incredible. We traveled with
10 other families and stayed in wonderful hotels. The day they handed us
our little Jillian Rose was the highlight of our trip. We bonded with her
immediately and now feel that she has always been part of our family.
This little girl has gone from never having been on her
tummy, to rolling over, crawling, pulling up, and now at 10 1/2 months she is
walking. She tries to do everything her big brother and sisters do, and is
great at entertaining us all.
It is so wonderful to see how much her brother and sisters
adore her. They spend lots of time arguing over who gets to hold her, feed
her, sit by her, etc. (But not who gets to change her diaper.) Jillian was truly
meant to be our child, and is a wonderful addition to our family.
Rick and Meg Lewis