We’re David and Lois McBeath. We live in Point Pleasant, WV – a small town along the Ohio River on the western side of the state. We have 2 sons. Austin is 15. He’s a sophomore at Pt. Pleasant High School. Darrell is almost 12. He’s in the 6th grade at Roosevelt Elementary.
We actually began our adoption journey more than 10 years ago. I saw an ad in the newspaper about Chinese babies. We called about it, but it just wasn’t even feasible at that time in our life. All these years, it was always there, stuck somewhere in the back of our minds. I don't know why exactly – it just was. The thought never completely went away.
We also talked off and on about having another child. Our house was only 3 bedrooms, and we know the boys could have been in a room together, but we didn't want to do that if we didn't have to. In the spring of 2006, for some reason (I don't recall exactly what) - it came up again. We started thinking and talking - why not? So we started checking into it more. We did a lot of research online. The more we found out, the more we felt a calling, a desire and even a need to do this.
We started the adoption and added onto the house all at the same time. It took about 6 months to get the paperwork together. Then about another month after we sent it to China for them to translate it and 'log us in' (11/6/06). That's when we started to officially wait.
We finally got "THE CALL" on 7/13/08. It was a Sunday afternoon! After 2 ½ years, we are finally going to get our baby!
Leila Ann McBeath, formally known as Shun Xi Yi, was born on Oct 29, 2007. She had a cleft lip and cleft palate. The lip has been repaired, but not the palate. (We'll have to do that when we get her home.) She's in the Children's Welfare Institute of Shunde District of Foshan City, which is located in the Guangdong Province, in the southern part of China.
Shunde, the hometown of flowers, is one of four cities under the jurisdiction of Foshan City. Covering an area of 806 sq meters and with a population of 1.05 million, Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It was set up as a county in the 3rd year (1452 AD) of the Jintai reign of the Ming Dynasy (1368-1644), and conferred with the administrative status of a city in 1992 by the State Council.
Foshan City is also where the actor Bruce Lee was from.
Last week we had the opportunity to see some of our friends from China. Mark and Kimberly Kovach live in NC, but have family up in OH. They were on their way to OH and stopped by our house on the way. It was SO nice to get to see them! Although there's less than a week between the girls as far as age goes - Anna Kathryn was much bigger than Leila when we were in China. Not anymore. They're just about the same size now. (Anna Kathryn still has WAY more hair though.) They just look so cute together. We had a great time catching up. I just wish they could have stayed longer. Hopefully we'll become a regular stopping place now on their way through.
3 comments:
What an adorable pic! Yes, look at all that hair! And Leila Ann has gotten so much bigger! Hope you are enjoying this time of year with your baby girl!
I just had to write to you to let you know that you blessed me with your ladybug story. God is planting the thought of adoption in my heart and I could not believe the ladybug story. You see, every fall we have, what we like to call, the attack of the ladybugs. They just made their attack on our home last month and we are still having to clear them our of the inside of our house. As a matter of fact, I bought the kids a ladybug land habitat so they could have a few of them as tiny pets until the end of winter.
Anyway, I never knew about the ladybug story in adoption and I see this as just another sign from God.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Hello McBeath Family! I'm so glad Leila is doing so well! How fun you guys got to get together with the Kovach's! I wish we had people from our travel group live closer to us. Hope you have a blessed New Year filled with God's promises!
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