{tHe BegiNninG}

“Before you were conceived, I wanted you.

Before you were born, I loved you.

Before you were here for an hour, I would die for you.

This is the miracle of life.”

-- Maureen Hawkins

On March 27, 2006, we saw the photograph of her dear little face for the first time. I wept with joy and relief as I looked at our beautiful little baby. I was overwhelmed ...such a darling baby. Really, the most adorable little girl I had ever seen.

John was so happy to see her too... his face lit up. We laughed at her somber expression, her upside down smile. We took her into our hearts completely!

She was living in the YiYang Children's Welfare Institute in YiYang, China. She had been found by Wang, Yuan Zhen (in China, we found out it was actually someone else who found her) on April 4, 2005, at the "street side" of the orphanage. Her paperwork said, "She carried with a milk bottle, two pieces of dresses and some diapers. She had fewer hairs, long-shaped face, and wore with a white dress and wrapped with a red blanket" She was named "Yi, Ai Xin"...chinese for "love & joy".

Our son, James grinned wildly when he found out that she shared his birthday, March 29th... a fact which would later become so very important...