Zheng Feng is waiting for us!

Isn't he sweet?????

My girls and I have been a very happy family of three, but I always felt there was room for more. We thought the time was right a few years ago, but it turned out there were other plans for us.

When I first started the paperwork for a third adoption, more than 5 years ago, Zheng Feng had just been born. By the time my adoption agency went out of business, and the China program that had brought my girls home to me slowed virtually to a halt, he was living in an orphanage.

Over the last few years, even with my adoption dossier withdrawn from China, my heart continued to long for another child. In the past several months I knew it was meant to be. I started researching, learning about the older children waiting for their families, learning what we would need to do and becoming familiar with the incredible group of women online who advocate for the waiting children in China. Then I found Zheng Feng, whose orphanage only recently prepared the paperwork needed to make him available for international adoption.

An American woman who lives part of the year in China and volunteers at his orphanage tells me he is smart, engaging and just precious. He is very small (not surprising in an orphanage) but on target developmentally. I am so thankful to her for telling me about him and sharing photos and video of him.

In China pink is not a girly color, so many of the boys are wearing it!

Agencies and others identify specific children with American names. He was called Alex. His special need? He has had seizures, although he has not had any in the past year. My extended family will understand why I had to look at his file!

Once the girls had seen his photo and video and read about him, their minds were made up. "We want Alex!" was the constant refrain at our house. I had to be the responsible adult, have his medical file reviewed by the adoption clinic at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, absorb all the likely scenarios and less likely but still possible ones, and make our decision. Yet the whole time my heart was echoing the girls: "I want Alex!"

Zheng Feng is turning 6 years old this month. He should be home with us before his 7th birthday, but we have a mountain of paperwork and what will feel like endless waiting between now and then. I'm tackling the paperwork full speed ahead, so we can get him home as soon as possible! Until then, I am happy knowing he is in loving care, going to a wonderful preschool.

Zheng Feng with a friend at his orphanage

He won't be named Alex because our family already has an absolutely wonderful Alex Erb! The girls and I are debating names; we have plenty of time.

If you want to see our sweet boy in action, check out his video! Watch to the end; we have several minutes of coloring followed by some more active shots. It warms my heart to see how he interacts with his teacher; you can see how secure and loved he is. http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=21da16ddbde8fb86&sid=0AatGrZq0bMWTk4

We'll keep everyone updated as we have more to share. If you provide your e-mail off on the right hand side of this page, you should be alerted to updates. (I think that's how it works; I'm new to blogging!)