Flyin'High

(pic from Memorial Day Weekend)

We received our Letter of Acceptance today, yippee! It's just a matter of weeks til we're on that plane.

EEK! There's a Baby in my Inbox!

We waited 2.5 years for referral day. In the adoption world, it is THE day you wait for and dream about for so many months, the day you finally get to see your baby's face for the very first time.

I spent a lot of time day dreaming about this day. Where would I be? What would I be doing when that phone call finally came? I was so prepared for this day, yet somehow it caught me completely off guard! I'd imagined every possible scenario... except the one where I'm in the middle of the grocery store and my phone doesn't get a clear signal. But, alas! That is exactly what happened.

I am just entering the pasta aisle when my phone rings. I don't recognize the number. I answer, but the signal is terrible. I hang up. A few minutes later Ring Ring. I let it go to voicemail. It's probably one of my clients. I'll call her when I get home. A while later I'm checking out. Ring Ring. Now I know I'm not that popular, who keeps calling? You'd think the thought would have crossed my mind by now, "Maybe it's my agency." Nope, not a thought.

I finally get the groceries and my child loaded into the car. I causually check my message. Holy Moly, it's my agency. I am shaking and my breathing gets restricted. Is this THE call? Then another thought pops into my head. They probably just have a question about our paperwork. I stare at my phone for a good 30 seconds, not remembering how to call back. Finally I get our agency on the line and yes, they have a baby for us.

Being the Type-A that I am, I have a list of questions all typed out and tucked in my purse for this very occasion. Do I think to use it? Nope. I find the first scrap of paper I see and I don't even know what this says, really. My handwriting is so lovely, isn't it?

At this point there is a baby in my inbox... and I'm not home. In fact I still have errands to run. This is not how this is supossed to happen.

I still have to finish errands, get the melting groceries put away, and set up a movie for my daughter so I can think for a minute. Then there is the small problem that my husband gets stuck in a traffic jam as he is rushing home to see our new baby. Finally 2 hours later we are ready to open that very special email.

AT LONG LAST...HERE SHE IS!!!

We are beyond overjoyed to finally announce the referral of our new daughter and Riley's little sister!! We'd like to introduce you to...

Sunder Qiao Yang
Chinese Name: Qiao (clever) Yang (vast, ocean)
Born on July 8, 2006 (22 months)
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

I got "the call" on Monday, May 12th, the day after Mother's Day. (We were told to not share our news until getting the official ok from China, which we got today!) But it was so hard to keep quiet. Wheewww, I'm glad that's over. Will post more later but for now, I'm off to the mountain-top so I can yell to the world. Thank you so much for sharing our joy!!

The Dusty Dossier

It was over two years ago that our mountain of paperwork arrived in China. I presume China will be ready to pull our paperwork soon. This has me concerned. I fear that our paperwork may be so covered in dust and cobwebs that they won't be able to find it. Even worse, it may have disintegrated entirely. I sure hope they have a dust-buster.

Mother's Day Tale

I will never forget my first Mother's Day. It was an unofficial Mother's Day. It was May of 2003. Our paperwork arrived in China three months prior. We decided to have a symbolic celebration by going to an authentic Chinese Restaurant. It was one of those places where there was no English on the menu. Large tanks of live seafood occupied the space next to our table.

As we were eating, the restaurant staff began coming around to the tables, handing out pink carnations to all the mothers. We did not have our baby yet. But, when they came to our table they gave me a pink carnation. How did they know I was a mother-to-be? I will never forget that pink carnation and how special it was to me that year.

Later that year, the promise of that pink carnation came to fruition. Fast-forward to 2008 on Mother's Day. We celebrated with one beautiful child... and another new pink Carnation for the little one we are still waiting for.




Mother's Day Princess

"When?" You ask.

This is the question everyone's asking us. So, here is my best thoroughly analyzed educated guess.

The earliest: The soonest I'd expect to hear something is in two weeks. China usually sends out new referrals once a month in the "traditional" program. I guess it's possible they may start doing this for the Waiting Child progam too. If they do, we can expect the next group of children to be available for referrals in mid-May.

The latest: China never does things on our timetable! I think they will let the childrens' files accumulate until they have enough to send a large group of 100+ like last time. Under the new system, it would be dumb for them to send a small group. I believe they accumulated files for about three months for this last group. Therefore, I think we could hear something in mid-July.

Our best guess: Corin thinks it will be this month. I think it will be July. Who will the lucky winner be? I actually hope my husband wins this one :)



sidenote: here's a shot of my two loves from this weekend.