Meet Our Precious Esther Marie

This is Esther Marie (Chinese name, Guan Hai Mei), soon-to-be our 4th adopted child (our 3rd from China). Two of the photos I have posted when she was younger are some of her referral photos. We are not sure how old she is in these pictures, but are guessing between 6 and 12 months. She was born April 7, 2006, in southern China in Guangdong Province and has been raised in the Children's Welfare Institute of Dongguan City. Esther Marie and her daddy share the same birthday! She turned 2 this year and daddy turned 50. (ah hmm) You should have seen daddy's face when he realized he is half a century old and will have a toddler soon!

This adoption is considered "special needs" (like Joshua's) because Esther Marie was born with both cleft lip and palate. Her lip has been repaired and we think the surgeon did a fantastic job! She still has an open palate and will have surgery some time after she arrives home (probably in August or September). Since she is two now, I'm sure she is very full of energy. Based on some of her update photos, we think she looks a little mischievous and playful. (I'll post some of those soon.) We have fallen in love with her and can't wait to meet her. We look forward to you meeting her too.

We travel in about 2-1/2 weeks...leaving on June 4th for Hong Kong, heading into China on June 9th and our "Gotcha Day" is June 10th. Esther Marie lives about an hour or so from where we will be staying and the orphanage will bring her to us. The next day, June 10th, we will have her official Chinese adoption and she will be ours 4-Ever. Our course, that now brings our crew to four...4-Ever! We'll be sharing more about our wait and our journey and we hope you'll join us. Please bookmark our blog and leave comments when you feel lead to. Thanks for your interest and your prayers..........Sarah