Basic Information:
Chinese Name: Ma (Ma because she is in the Ma’anshan orphanage You=chicken because she was born in the year of the chicken, Xiang= was chosen to represent the orphanage’s hope that she grows into a talented person who has ideals and ambitions and makes contributions to society).

Born January 14, 2006.
Weight 6.6 lbs, 19 inches long.

American Name: Lily Grace YouXiang
Lily is a name that we liked and it means purity and beauty,
Grace because it is by God’s grace that she survived and will be coming home to join our family.
YouXiang to honor her Chinese heritage.

Lily has a very severe cleft lip and palate. Her documents say that “she was not good at sucking due to her cleft palate so the nannies gave her more special care patiently. When the nannies gave her milk they put the nipple of the bottle on the end of her tongue and squeezed milk little by little into her mouth.” She is blessed to be alive and to be cared for by such patient and loving nannies. Many cleft children in China die in orphanages because the nannies prop their bottles and if they cannot suck they can die of starvation. Our daughter not only survived but thrived. God must have incredible plans for her and for us!

I found a person on line who was at her orphanage on Thanksgiving. She said that she looked very good and was bundled in many layers of clothing as is Chinese custom.

Other information: She is lovely and busy. She is not fussy. She likes to sway her body to music. She is active and impatient. She likes to show her excitement and happiness. She likes to suck her fingers when she sleeps. She is a deep sleeper. She rolled over at 6 months and can stand alone while holding on for support.
 

When will Lily Come Home?
We are now finishing our paperwork which we hope to have done by January. We hope to have Lily home by early this summer.

Why adopt again?
We had decided when we were in China in May that we would adopt again but really set no timeline. On Thanksgiving Day we decided that we would start the adoption process again. We knew that we wanted to do another special needs adoption. We had decided that we would start by looking on the internet at the agency waiting child postings. On Sunday, November 26th we saw Lily’s face for the first time and fell in love. We reviewed her medical file and decided that she was our daughter. We can hardly wait to bring our newest blessing home.
 

Where is she?