We got more photos!

We received updated photos, as well as growth measurements for our girl today. We are sending a care package for Hana to her SWI. We have heard so many good things about Red Thread China, so we decided to send our package through them. We submitted our order last night, and she immediately sent us an email letting us know that she would work on our package and get it out to Hana in the next couple of days. Then today, around 10:00 AM, Ann send me an email with updated measurements and three new pictures! I can't decide which one is more adorable! She definitely likes to laugh, and she squints her eyes when she is laughing, just like her mommy! She has also grown since her referral info. She has gained 2 lbs and grew an inch. I bought a few 3-6 month outfits for her, based on her referral measurements. But I think I may need to exchange some of them for 6 months. She may grow another inch by the time we get to China. Oh how will I survive these last few weeks?!

Paperwork In... Paperwork out

Our referral documents arrived today, via FedEx. The poor FedEx guy must have thought we were crazy! The dogs started barking like crazy, and I looked out and saw the truck. He put the package on the porch and was walking off when I ran out the door and asked him if we could get a picture of us with him. He looked at me like I had three heads! Brian then explained that today, he was the stork and was delivering us our referral documents. Once we shared our story, he was a good sport and took some photos with us.

I must admit that the package was a lot smaller than I expected. Considering that I had to send off my dossier in a box, I guess I was expecting a box in return. Fortunately, it wasn't. It was a letter from our agency, detailing what we needed to sign and send. It included our agreement with them, as well as the letter of acceptance to the CCAA. It also had her medical records and her growth report... in Chinese. We signed all the docs, and Brian made copies and scanned them into the computer. And off I went into town. Lucky for me, Grace is working in Richmond this week, and she very kindly translated the reports for me. From what we could tell, she was healthy, but of course, we are not doctors. As for development, she seems to be on time with her age group, and she is very social. She laughs aloud, knows her name, responds to facial expressions, and she likes being held. She is active, restless, but she is a deep sleeper, just like mommy used to be. She is fond of music and playing games, so she will fit right into our family.

We also received the translated version of our medical report. As fate would have it, the pediatrician we selected is on vacation this week. Luckily, I am fortunate to know some very wonderful people. Neha, a doctor and wife of a co-worker, agreed to review the paperwork. Other than being small for her age, which is common for girls of Asian descent, she is a healthy baby. :)

So, after leaving work, I stopped by FedEx to send off our acceptance documents to Great Wall.  So, they are on their way! Now what? Well, we wait of course!

It's Still So Surreal

It's been three days since we received our referral, and I still cannot believe that we have finally been matched with our daughter. I must have looked at her picture 1000 times yesterday, just to make sure that I hadn't dreamed it all. I wrote the quick highlights post on Friday, but I wanted to give a little more detail about our amazing Referral Day!!!!!

My mom was actually throwing me a baby shower on Saturday, so we were at my parent's house. As I already mentioned, I had been tipped off that a package was on the way, so I already had the anxious, excited, nervous feeling going on. Around 9:30, Great Wall emailed, letting us know that they were expecting a package that they thought were referrals, but weren't sure. They also said that the packages usually don't arrive until 1:00 PM, Texas time. So, now, I have at least 4 and a half hours of sitting around waiting. I was pretty much climbing walls by this time. I was toggling between refreshing my email and Rumor Queen every 5 seconds. Poor Brian was trying to get some work done before the call, and of course, he has me pacing and hitting refresh in the background. He's so patient and understanding, but I know I had to be driving him CRAZY!!!! Mom needed a few things from the store, so I volunteered to go. I needed to get away from the house, and computer, for a little while. That was around 11:00. Luckily, that burned about 45 minutes, so I was a little closer. But it looked like we still had a couple hours until the call. Brian decided to go up and take a shower around noon, and I worked on setting up the video camera so that we could film the call once it finally came. Once we got that set up, I of course returned promptly to my computer. I was chatting with Tracy through Facebook IM where she was talking me through the "contractions". Then, at 12:37, we got the email from Beth that the stork has landed at Great Wall, and we were in! Brian and I were both a bit teary eyed, and my mom got chills, and of course, started crying too. So, we rushed upstairs to wait for the call, laptop and tissues in hand. At 12:55, the phone rang. It was Kaylea from Great Wall, who shared our referral news with us. She told us that we had a beautiful, daughter. She told us her name, when she was born, her province and SWI. She also told us that she was healthy, healthy, healthy, and she had the most adorable chubby little cheeks. She gave us her measurements and said she would be sending us a picture in a few minutes. After the call ended, we were just so overwhelmed with happiness, and of course, Mommy cried, and Daddy even shed some tears. It was just so amazing to finally know who she was and where she was waiting. And to know that she was still so young and we would be there for so many of her firsts! Of course, I go straight back to the computer and hit refresh every half second, luckily it was only about a minute, until we got the email with her picture. After so long, I finally got to see my beautiful daughter, and it was probably one of the most amazing moments of my life. She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, and I was immediately in love! As crazy as my day had been up to that point, I was immediately filled with such overwhelming peace to finally be able to look at my baby! There really aren't words to capture what I felt, but it was incredible.

We spent a couple minutes more, just looking at that photo and sharing the moment together. But, I also knew that mom, Megan, and Ethan were downstairs, waiting to learn about the newest family member. So, we went downstairs, called Kevin, and shared our news with the family. Big shocker... my mom cried!  She was absolutely ecstatic. Brian went to call his mom and Sally O, while I called Auntie Jess, who was at work. Jess got teary eyed as well, and we are hoping that she hasn't gotten poison ivy since she trying to get rid of it when we called. The remainder of the afternoon was spent making calls, sending emails, and updating blogs. There were so many people who supported us through this journey, and we wanted to share the long awaited news!

It really was nice to be at my mom's because we were able to get everyone together and have a celebration dinner. By the end of the evening, I was absolutely exhausted, and actually slept for the first time in two nights.

What can I say... it was an amazing day, and we are truly, truly blessed.

The Stork Has Finally Landed!

We are thrilled to introduce Hana Walker!

A little birdie had told me that Great Wall was expecting referrals today, and our referral counselor had sent out an email this morning letting us know that a package was on the way. At about 12:37, we got another email stating that the Stork has landed, and our referral was in the package. At 12:55, we got the call! We had been matched with a healthy, beautiful baby girl! Her Chinese name is Song Yun Tang, and she was born on 12/17/2008. She is from the Guangdong Province, and she is currently at the Yangxi Welfare home. She can already hold her head up, roll around, and grab her toys. This wait has been long and often times hard, but it truly was worth it!


***UPDATE***
I realized that in all of Friday's excitement, I had forgotten to include her height and weight stats. She is 22.84 inches (58 cm) long and 11 lbs (5.2 kg).

Could today be THE DAY?

Yesterday brought more chatter on the forums that matching is complete. Several agencies were telling their families matching is done and the speculated cutoff is 3/20 (so we would have been in anyway). Our agency hasn't actually said anything public about referrals, but they did get TAs (Travel Approvals) yesterday. And, I had a little birdie tell me she called Great Wall, and she was told that they were expecting two packages, one yesterday, which we now know is TAs, and one today, which we hope are referrals!

I found most of this out last night, so I naturally got extremely excited. I did manage to nod off a few times last night, but I was a little too anxious and excited to sleep. So, I've been awake since 6, up since 6:30, and I'm pretty tired. And yet... I still can't sleep. I guess I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve... except it will be more like afternoon until I know anything for sure.

Oh, and if you all want to have a little fun with numbers, check out the ticker on the bottom of the page. As of today.... we have been LID for 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days. I'm not normally superstitious, but that has got to be good luck for something right? Ok... maybe it's becoming evident that I really didn't get enough sleep. :)

Keep checking back, as I may make more than one post today. Hopefully I can end off my blogging day with a picture of a beautiful baby!

Rumor Has it Matching is Complete

After weeks of silence, which was beginning to drive me a little crazy, today there was finally a rumor about referrals. A couple agencies have told their families that the CCAA has completed matching, but there is no confirmed cutoff date. One agency is saying saying the 20th, but none of the others are confirming. So, we should be getting our referral in this group even if our LID hadn't changed. Today is my friend Alice's birthday, and she was hoping that we would get our referral for her birthday, which unfortunately didn't happen. However, it does mark the end of the deafening silence and brought with it a really good rumor! I'm not really sure when the stork will actually land, but I have my fingers crossed that it will by Friday. That way, I can go into the weekend finally knowing something about my baby and not fretting all weekend whether I will hear something on Monday. Mom is also throwing me a baby shower this weekend, and I can't think of anything better than to be able to share her picture with everyone.

It's almost time! Stay tuned......

Less calm, but not yet neurotic

It is officially mid-month, and there has not been one murmur of a rumor out of China. I was really hoping that this week would bring something... but not a peep. I'm hoping that we may begin to hear something mid-week, but I'm beginning to resign myself to the fact that we may not get our referral until sometime next week, or the week after. I'm a little disappointed because I am so ready to see my daughter's face. But, I also know that just a few more days or weeks of patience, and I will finally know who she is. I have been wondering if someone is looking at our file and looking at baby files, and is determining which baby belongs with us. Or maybe we have already been matched, and they are waiting for the final sign off from the director so they can get that stork flying. Wherever they are, I just hope they finish up soon.

It's 8:15 AM in China, so the CCAA should be at work. Cross your fingers that they are getting referrals ready to send.