Miller Plus One

Last week at church, someone said "Congratulations!  I saw pictures of your daughter!"  My first thought was, "I don't have a daughter."  It is still very surreal that she is ours.  We know that nothing is final until we have her in our arms, but this time, it just feels like it's really going to happen.  She is 11,500 miles away from us, but somehow, everything keeps falling into place and we believe that Amber Joy will soon be home in Tennessee!  This week, we got a brief update that she has gained a pound in just two weeks!  She has a healthy appetite, a good set of lungs that can be heard all through the house, and according to her medical records from the hospital, she is quite the little fighter.  She has some medical and other issues still to overcome, but we are hopeful, simply because of the way she has rebounded so far.   I have found myself day dreaming about the time when we get her home, the days at the zo...

From May 17th... Friends, Thank you for your ongoing prayers! I am writing this at 11:30 p.m. because tonight, just like every night for the past 12 days, I have trouble shutting down my brain. We received a brief update today about our sweet baby girl in Taiwan. She is out of the hospital, not on oxygen, though she does have breathing treatments for her lungs since she was a preemie. She is taking 3 oz of formula every 3 hours like clockwork and seems to be thriving! The Taiwanese missionary says she has "quite a set of lungs." I would not expect any less from my child! An amazing "breadcrumb" of God's hand in all of this was something that happened this morning. Justin and I have had some debate over the baby's name. We had Amber Elizabeth picked out from the time we got married to honor both of our dear sisters. However, over the past few days, with everyone referring to the baby as "Amber," I began to realize that this was going to be...

Hi everybody, It's been a whirlwind of a week at the Miller house! The bottom line is that we have accepted an adoption referral (at least verbally) for a sweet, 3-month old baby girl in Taiwan! It was completely unplanned, as we have been on the path for a domestic adoption from day #1. However, God had other plans (usually does) and now, we are scrambling to apply for passports, update our homestudy, and begin educating ourselves on our daughter's special needs. Our daughter. Wow. She is ours! Amber Elizabeth was born in Taiwan on January 30. (There are still some undecided details about what her name will be...we are honoring both of our sisters, but we may add something that reflects her Taiwanese name). She was born at 26 weeks gestation to a birthmom who is 27 years old. Amber was only 2 lbs. On Friday, May 6, I got a phone call from my mother while I was in the toilet paper aisle at Target. One of my friends commented that at least I had plenty of tissue for the...