Happy Gotcha Day Ben

Gotcha Day - June 11, 2010

Can't believe Ben has been ours for a year already! He has grown so much and adjusted so well into our family. He is such a active little boy who keeps me super busy. There are no dull moments in the Pierce household. He has such a great personality and a cuteness that has stolen this momma's heart!

He has undergone 3 surgeries in the last year with no more in store for a few years! He had his check up last week with his surgeon and his mouth has healed nicely, PTL!! He will begin speech therapy next week. He has learned several English words and now knows his colors. He loves to swim (last year he was terrified of water), he has grown 3.5" and gained 6lbs in the last year. He is certaintly healthy!

Tonight we will go out to eat Chinese with some close friends to celebrate his first year with his forever family. We will miss his dad and oldest brother as we celebrate as they are on a mission trip in the Philippines. We will have more celebrations when they return home.

Happy Gotcha Day Benjamen, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

We're Home

Appointment Day

Hudson and Ben in holding area...it's too early! In his room after surgery

Ben's surgery went well on Thursday. He is now home and we are keeping him loaded down with tylenol and motrin for pain. He slept better last night, only waking up twice screaming out in pain. We are also praying for his mouth to heal correctly and to not have a repeat of his last surgery in December. With his first surgery, which we thought would be his only sugery for now, his palate opened back up with a small hole five days after surgery. By the time a week had passed the hole had grown bigger. Ten days after surgery we knew he would need another surgery and that the first one wasn't successful. Please pray with us that God will heal his little mouth completely and he won't need anymore surgeries. It is such a painful recovery with so many stitches in their tiny little mouths. Hudson is the son of a dear friend of mine,Sharon, who we found out just three days earlier would also be having sugery at the same time as Ben. We first met his family while they were waiting for a referral in 5/07. We had attended an adoption seminar at their church, where they spoke about how God had placed special needs children on their hearts. This was the beginning of our adoption journey for Shayle and God used them to speak to my heart concerning adopting a special needs child. Before the conference, I was very unsure if I would be able to take care of a special needs child. However, through the words they both spoke that day regarding special needs, God began to melt away my fears of a special needs adoption. We were in the very early stages of our paperwork at this time. As I prayed over the next two months, God confirmed to me that none of us are perfect but we are all made in His image and that He would equip me with what I would need to take care of a child with a need. And so our journey began to adopt Shayle. A few months later, Sharon and her husband did get their referral for Hudson. Shortly after, we both signed up for a secret sister gift exchange through our adoption agency. I was given Sharon's name to purchase gifts for her son, but more importantly to pray for their son, Hudson, who would soon join their family. I began to love this little boy and his family very much as I prayed for them over the next few months. I couldn't believe out of all of us who had signed up for this secret sis exchange, that I would end up with Sharon's name, someone who had changed my outlook on special needs adoptions. God had picked her just for me. He's not just in the big things of this life but also in the little things. Only He knew we would end up in the same hospital having surgery together with our little China Princes four years after meeting. God is so good! This hospital stay was so much nicer having these dear friends with us in the waiting room and then we were placed in rooms on the floor right next to each other. The hospital staff were surprised we knew each other, I think they thought we planned our surgery together...no but God did! So as you pray for Ben please pray for Hudson and his healing as well. Hudson will have to go back next Wednesday to have his stitches removed and will be put under with gas. Shayle also had a follow-up appt with the surgeon to see her progress since her second surgery last April. The surgeon was very pleased with her progress which is a BIG PRAISE for her!! For the first time ever she carried on a conversation with him, and he could understand her! She will NOT need any additional surgeries at this time. He will follow up with her again next April. For now, we will continue in speech twice a week. Since she was older when we adopted her and her palate wasn't repaired until age 6, she has had a lot more catching up to do with developing the English language and the fact she didn't speak much at all before age 6 proves how AWESOME GOD is to bring her this far in just 2 years! I'm very proud of all she has accomplished since coming home. Thank you for continuing to lift her up in prayer, it has made such a difference in her life. I am confident that one day you will be rewarded in heaven for praying for these kids who once were orphans, but they are orphans no more!

New Photos

We have had a BIG SURPRISE. You can see what it is by going to Ben's website, look under Journal As We Wait.

Still waiting to hear back from the doctor regarding Shayle's procedure last week. I'll update when I have some news.

Ben Turns Two & We Are One Step Closer!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENJAMEN ZACHARY GUANG

Today our baby boy turned two and we received a wonderful gift! We received "The Call" we all on this adoption journey love to receive, We have our LOA for Ben!!! What an awesome surprise and it couldn't have come on a better day. Our agency called at 2:15 pm with the good news, just 45 minutes before Shayle's tea party. China actually processed it on Monday the 15th, Shayle and Arron's birthdays! God is so great!

Our agency is so great that they have already mailed our I800 off today as well. I had mailed all of our applications about 3 weeks ago just waiting for our LOA to come in. It was so nice to not have to sit down this afternoon and fill out paperwork. In fact, our DS230 and Article 5 will be mailed to the representative in Guangzhou, China tomorrow. I do have to say they are very on top of things and they do not waste any precious time, which means we will have Ben in our arms sooner.

We are expecting to travel in late May to early June. Please continue to pray for the rest of our process and for Ben to be ready to receive his new family.

Signing our LOA to send back to China

Ben's Care Package

I have finally managed to put some pictures of Ben's care package we sent on January 28th. I sent it through DHL like I sent Shayle's last time. We were able to track it all the way to China. It was delivered to the orphanage on Feb. 3rd. I don't know if he has received it since he is in foster care. I'm hoping he has and has been able to look at the pictures we sent in his photo book.

Happy New Year!

I decided to change up my blog as we begin the new year. We had many blessings in 2009 and are looking forward to the adventures and blessings God has in store for us as we bring home our son in 2010!

We should be hearing that we have a LID for Ben very soon. After that time, I am going to send him his first care package with his very own photo book of his family who is waiting for him. Once he receives his care package, I am going to have our agency send a request to have updated photos, measurements and a few questions sent to us. The only pictures we have are 9 months old. I sit and wonder at how much he has changed, how much taller he is and what he looks like now. I'm not sure if the orphanage will give us any information. Some have been able to get updates and some could not.

I will be creating a website for Ben soon. Once I do, I will have a link to his site from our family blog.

Wishing each of you a year full of God's blessings as we serve Him together in 2010!

Benjamen Zachary Guang Pierce

Ben turned 19 months last week on October 17th. I wanted to write about his name and why we chose it for him.

Benjamen is from the Hebrew Language, meaning "The Son of My Right Hand". The scripture given is Psalm 18:35, You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.

We believe God has a great plan for Ben, all along he has been in the presence of our Lord with God himself holding him up in His right hand, with gentleness just waiting for the day Ben will receive his shield of salvation. We also decided to spell his name with the word "men" because we feel that God will make him into a "Fisher of Men" for His Glory!

Zachary is also from the Hebrew Language, meaning "God Has Remembered". The scripture given is Psalm 25:14, The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

God has remembered him as well as all of the orphans around the world.

Guang is his given Chinese name in which we will keep. We feel it is important for him to have a part of his heritage.

When the meaning of Benjamen Zachary is put all together it means:

The Son of My Right Hand, God has Remembered!

Thank You God, that you have remembered our Ben and that you have a great plan for his life and it involves me being his forever mommy!

PA!!!

We received our PA today for Benjamen Zachary! This time it only took 3 weeks and 3 days compared to 7 weeks and 3 doctor's letters with Shayle. I am praising God for all He's doing and going to do in Ben's little life. I will post later on how we chose his name.