Big sister Chloe took these cute pictures!

Sophia, Ai Ai, and Josie having fun for the camera!

Three Little Indian Girls!

I have decided to use this blog to keep my prayer warriors up to date on Ai Ai's health. I want to start out by saying that we are so blessed to have Ai Ai as our daughter. We love her so much. We are thankful that God has placed her in our family and in our arms.

When we started this adventure to Ai Ai we were told that she had a condition called Sponge Kidney. We took the medical records that we received from China and had our pediatrician, as well as, a kidney specialist from Vanderbilt look into the information. Based on the information from China, we were told to be looking at possible kidney infections from time to time and maybe kidney stones as she grew older. With all of that in mind, we prayed and felt peace that Ai Ai was the daughter that God wanted us to add to our family.

While we were in China, we noticed that her stomach was very distended. When we took Ai Ai for her medical exam by a Chinese doctor, he told us that she needed to be looked at further in America. One week after we came home from China we took Ai Ai for a complete check-up with our pediatrician. She made an appointment for us to have an ultrasound performed at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital the next day. Ai Ai's diagnosis is Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease, Fibrosis of the Liver, enlarged spleen, and high blood pressure.

For more information on this disease, please go to http://www.pkdcure.org/. You will need to click on the title ABOUT PKD and then click on ABOUT ARPKD. This is a very serious diagnosis, but it is treatable. (There is no cure and a transplant is inevitable)

We are trusting God to see us through this. I am begging God to heal Ai Ai. A few weeks ago I heard a gut wrenching story about a mother going through a difficult diagnosis with her daughter. This mother made a statement that was profound to me. She said, " I don't love God for what He does. I love God for who He is." I feel exactly the same way. One day I went out on my back deck and started to cry. I looked up to heaven and cried to God, " I DON'T WANT THIS! I DON'T WANT THIS! PLEASE TAKE THIS FROM AI AI! TAKE THIS FROM MY FAMILY!" I just sat outside alone and cried. I felt like in that few minutes God spoke to my heart. I realized that I have talked about my love for God and I have said many times to other people to trust God. For many years I have talked the talk and now I am going to walk the walk. I looked up to heaven again and said, " Whatever you have planned for my daughter and my family....bring it on. I love you God, not for what you do, but for who you are! "

We believe that God had a plan for a little girl named Ai Ai to have a family. A family that will love her unconditionally through this disease. God had a plan to bring her to America so she could get treatment for this disease. We are that family. Once again I say, WE LOVE YOU AI AI and WELCOME TO AMERICA!