Spring Lotus Blossom.  That is the full name of our newest child, who came three months ago from mainland China.  We adopted her because in her country, there's the one-child-per-family law, and little girls are often overlooked in favor for little boys.

It is even worse for a child who has some sort of handicap.

Our daughter is handicapped.  She was born with spina bifida.  She cannot walk (yet); we are hopeful that one day she will learn, with the appropriate therapies and support.

Yet we don't see her disability.  What we see is a child in need of love, acceptance, family.  We have taken her in joyfully; the day she came into our lives was one of the most memorable of all.  It was like the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and birth days all rolled up into one.  It was fantastic!!

My name is Glory-Anne Raleigh.  I live in Redlands, California, with my husband, Jack, and our three children, five-year-old Erynn Michaela, three-year-old Spring Lotus Blossom, and our youngest, one-year-old Teague Dickenson.  Like our younger daughter, our son is also adopted; he came six months ago from Kenya, Africa.

We went from a family of three to a family of five seemingly overnight.  It's been a whirlwind of activity, emotion, and chaos.

We wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world; we are having fun with our two newest children, and we have fallen hopelessly in love with them!

Spring is a beautiful little child, with long, silken black hair done up in two pigtails, uptilted eyes of dark brown, fat cheeks, and a pretty bow-lipped smile, as well as a round, moon face.  Braces cover her stick-thin, withered up legs.  Right now, as I said earlier, she cannot walk, but we are hopeful that she will, someday.

We don't really know what the future will hold for our child (any of our children, really), but we are willing to embrace it with open arms, and now our family is made richer, more whole with the addition of our little miracles from China and Africa!

~To be continued.~