A letter to the adoptive parents of Zhu Lan Mei

When we received Anna on "Gotcha Day", we also received 3 pages of hand written notes from her birth mother. Our social worker translated the letters for us, and we also videotaped her. Here is what was on them.

On the first page was her birth information:
Name-Zhu Lan Mei
Nickname- Qi-Qi
Born 04/09/2005
Chinese Lunar year 2005
Born at 4:40

On the second page was the letter:
To anyone who will adopt her, a good kind hearted person, I am Qi-Qi’s mother. I love her very much. I had no way out, I had to abandon her. I and my boyfriend didn’t get married, and I gave birth to her. My parents from the very beginning rejected and opposed my dating him. My boyfriend and I raise her in a very difficult situation. At first we thought if we could save, and live in a frugal life- we could let her live a good life. But we didn’t realize she was sick. We borrowed the money from my aunt/uncle to take her to see a doctor. The doctor said she has a congenital heart disease, and also her leg- she couldn’t stand. We don’t have any money to treat her. If she followed us, it would be a road toward death. For her, I could only choose this way. Only this way may bring her some hope. She is very smart, and very lovely, and likes to laugh. Though I am already a mother of her, I myself am still a young girl. I beg you to save her; I thank you again and hope you can treat her as your own child. I will pray for her, for what you do, and blessings. And I will remember this all my life.


On the third page was her feeding schedule.
5am- 1 bottle of milk
7am- congee, rice noodles
10am- drank 150ml milk
12 noon- congee, steamed egg
2:30- 1 bottle milk
5pm- rice noodles, congee
7pm- 1 bottle milk
Midnight-1 bottle milk
Needs a pacifier during sleeping. Cries at bedtime, but if you kiss her hand, she is better.

Mickey and I are much honored to have been chosen as the adoptive parents of Zhu Lan Mei, now AnnaMei Grace Rector. Just as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ adopted us into his family, so shall we adopt her into ours as one of our own.

Needles, Okra and Barefeet

We had another great week last week, and look forward to a great one this week. Last week we went for her ordered blood work and Chest x-ray ordered by our Pediatrician. It went as good as to be expected, but could have been better if not the 1 hour wait in the registration department :( Anyway, 7 vials later, the blood was drawn- just about every test that could be ordered, was almost ordered. But being a nurse, I was glad. And a friend of ours we know drew it and did fabulous- only 1 stick.


Last Friday we went and had lunch with Zachary, Jared and Olivia at their school. She loved it! She was able to get up at the lunch table by herself and enjoyed eating with the kids friends. She only ate corn, and wasn't too excited about the school pizza. Oh well, maybe that is an acquired taste.

She also enjoyed watching 2 nights of basketball and almost all day Saturday- she loves it, and asks almost every morning if we are going to basketball. Hope she likes baseball and softball as much, because they are just right around the corner.

We have discovered that she really may have some "southern" genes in her. Anna LOVES FRIED OKRA! She is going to give Olivia a run for her money, because Olivia often orders double okra on a veggie plate. Good thing my Uncle David was there to see her eat it, because that is where our okra and corn come from in the summer- his garden. She also is a big fan of corn on the cob! Mickey is thrilled we will be putting-up alot more this summer.LOL

We have been doing our own therapy in the house until we get our physical therapy referral. We have been working on going up/down stairs, and squats to try and build those leg muscles up.

We had a sensational Sunday!! We went to church and Anna made it all the way through Sunday school with no complaints. We then had a beautiful afternoon of sunshine and played out in the yard. However, Anna will not go barefoot. She thinks she has to have shoes on and won't let her bare feet touch the grass or driveway. So once the shoes were on, she had fun with throwing the baseballs like her daddy, sister and brothers.

Then our community group came over and Anna was the center of attention. Some of the girls pushed her on a bike, and she loved it. She had dessert first and got to eat with the adults in the living room, which is not characteristic of what the kids get to do in our group. She did amazing and continues to amaze us with her outgoing personality and her "go-with-the-flow" attitude.

***Next week on Monday, March 1st- we go to the orthopedic doctor at 9:15 and on Wednesday, March 3rd we go for the cardiologist appointment at 8am. Please be in prayer for these 2 appointments and pray that they will go smoothly, and give the doctors wisdom to know how to best treat Anna with the needs that she has.

Anna and cousin Addyson. It was so sweet Sunday when I went to get Anna from Sunday School and Addyson was getting picked up too. They hugged each other and held hands going down the hallway- too cute!!

Olivia with Addyson and Anna.