Another Week Down....And Some Exciting News

3 weeks have now passed since we received Lily's referral! Time is moving so quickly! I would love to tell you that the bathroom is finished and Lily's nursery is in tip-top shape....but my mother taught me not to lie.

Instead, I'll share some really exciting news....Travel Approvals (TAs) are on the way! I can't believe it. I'm so thrilled!! Some of the larger agencies (not ours) have reported that they will have TAs early next week. Since our tiny agency normally receives information several days after the big guys I'm guessing we will have our TA at the end of next week or early the following week! Receiving TA allows our agency to then schedule our Consulate Appointment (CA) and finalize our travel plans. Oh my gosh....I'm forgetting to breathe again! This is really happening....soon we will finally be able to hold sweet Lily in our arms!

There is also confirmation that "The Stork" left China yesterday and is currently on US soil!! Yippe Yahoo! This means the rest of our friends with October 2005 Log In Dates (LID) will be receiving their referrals late this afternoon or early next week!! I just love referral time. I'm a lot calmer than I was with the last batch of referrals (naturally) but it is still so extremely exciting! I do realize that as long as China has an International Adoption Program there will always be families and children waiting to be joined together. I will just be so happy and relieved to see the rest of our October LID Group receive their referrals!

Godsons

When I take a minute and really look at my life I'm amazed at how lucky I am. One of the many things that makes my life so good are my 5 incredible Godsons. This past weekend I was able to spend time with each of them. I honestly can't remember the last time that happened!

Friday night we had dinner with Don, Maggie, and Charlie. Charlie is the youngest of my Godsons. At 10 years old...and just about tall enough to look me in the eye...it makes me realize how quickly time has flown! I was actually in the Delivery Room when Charlie was born. Aside from a little upset stomach and a brief fainting episode it really was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. It still doesn't seem possible that 10 years have passed since then.

Maggie and Charlie had another commitment the night of our "referral dinner" so they weren't able to join in the fun. It was great to be able to relive that night and share Lily's pictures with her new cousins!

On Saturday, we headed down to Richmond to see our friends Laura and Rich and their boys (my Godsons): Adam, Ben, and Sam. Of course, we had shared the wonderful news about Lily with them over the phone but it was so much better to be together to look at Lily's pictures, hug, laugh, and cry a little, too.

Sam and Ben were in their school's production of "Jack and the Giant". They both did an amazing job and I'm sure some day I will be watching as they accept an Academy or Tony Award. By the way Sam and Ben, remember to get your Godmother really good seats to the awards ceremony and I plan to be wearing a dress the two of you design for me!

Unfortunately, we were not able to get to Virginia in time to see Adam's lacrosse game. We were sorry to miss it but as it turns out I think I may have been banned from all of Adam's sporting events ever since the unfortunate "1, 1, that's my Godson!" chant I did at the last hockey game I attended!

As always we had a wonderful time visiting with Laura, Rich, and the boys and were sorry to see the weekend pass so quickly.

On the way back home we stopped by to have lunch with my oldest Godson, Jamie. Jamie is in his sophomore year at Marymount University. This past weekend Marymount hosted a 'Lil Sibs Weekend. What a fun idea. This gave Katie the opportunity to go down and hang out with her big brother Jamie for the weekend. The two of them seemed to have had a lot of fun together. I'm not surprised. Jamie is a hoot and it would be hard not to have fun when he's around. I asked Katie if she got any good "dirt" on Jamie. If she did....she's not telling!

Jamie really has an amazing way with people....especially little people! I know Lily will love him...and my guess is...it will be mutual. I just can't wait to see them together!

I'm not sure how I got lucky enough to have 5 amazing Godsons.....I'm just very thankful I did!

Two Weeks Down...How Many More To Go?

That's right. As of today it has been two weeks since we received Lily's referral! I can't believe it. These two weeks have absolutely flown by. Waiting to receive Lily's referral each day felt like a year...since receiving her referral I feel like we're on warp speed.

Right now our house looks like a tornado struck it. In our living room is all of Lily's nursery furniture. Why isn't it in Lily's nursery...well, because Lily's nursery has drywall, concrete board (whatever that is), a toilet, and various other bathroom fixtures throughout. I'm sure having a toilet in the nursery would come in handy when it's time for potty training...but, it's not exactly the focal point I was looking for.

Don't get me wrong, even if we hadn't had the unexpected major master bath repair I'm sure Lily's nursery still wouldn't be done. Part of it is procrastination...yes....but another part of it is that we purposely wanted to stay really busy between the time we received Lily's referral and actually going to China to bring Lily home. We've more than accomplished that!

Tony and I are not very handy around the house. However, we are very fortunate to have extremely talented family and friends that are willing to lend a hand. Our nephew, Ryan, took care of the bathroom demolition during his Spring Break....lucky him. I'm sure he really didn't want to be on a beach somewhere! Our brother-in-law, Ed, is helping to put the bathroom back together and our neighbor, Rich, is doing the tile work.

I'm really not worried. We probably have a good 2 or 3 more weeks until we hear anything about our travel approval and then it will be about 2 or 3 more weeks until we actually leave. How long does it take to paint and decorate a nursery? A day, two, maybe three? No worries. We have the bedding, the furniture, etc. It's just not all in the right place, yet!

American Idle

In all the years that Tony and I have been together he has yet to develop an appreciation for my unique vocal gifts. When I start to sing Tony's eyes roll back in his head and he makes this face that let's me know he's trying to find some way to pinch his ears shut from the inside.

Unfortunately for Tony I've been singing quite a lot since we received Lily's referral. You know how sometimes you get a song stuck in your head and you just can't get it out? Well, since the 9th the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" has been on a continuous loop in my brain.

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

You'd be like heaven to touch

I wanna hold you so much

At long last love has arrived

And I thank God I'm alive

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

Pardon the way that I stare

There's nothing else to compare

The sight of you leaves me weak

There are no words left to speak

But if you feel like I feel

Please let me know that it's real

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you baby, and if it's quite all right

I need you, baby, to warm the lonely night

I love you, baby, trust in me when I say

Oh pretty, baby don't bring me down I pray

Oh pretty baby, now that I've found you

Stay and let me love you, baby, let me love you.

I'm sure when Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio wrote this song and when Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons performed it they didn't have a 9 month old baby in mind....but when I hear the words I sure do!

In an attempt to keep this a family-friendly blog I wont provide any direct quotes from Tony's critiques of me singing this song. However, trust me when I say Simon Cowell could learn a thing or two from Tony!

I know the chances are slim and none that I will be the next American Idol. In fact, I think Tony and I are the only two people on earth that aren't faithful viewers of the show. However, if they ever create a show titled "American Idle" now that I could win! Ever since we received Lily's referral all I want to do is sit and look at her picture and daydream about the time when we are finally together.

Work? Grocery Shop? Laundry? Please people....don't you know I have more important things to do....like look at my sweet baby's picture and sing really bad renditions of "You're Just Too Good To Be True"?!?

Wrinkles and Pimples

Is it too much to ask that when you reach the age that each morning you notice a new wrinkle when you look in the mirror that you shouldn't have to see pimples, too? I'm sure it's the excitement, emotions, nerves, and stress but my face is a total mess!

I know people have real problems and I shouldn't complain about something as petty as wrinkles and acne...but I'm going to. There are countless products on the market that are advertised as anti-wrinkle and anti-blemish. So, it's obvious I'm not the only person that has this problem....but I've already been through pimple purgatory...and trust me it wasn't pretty! I was hit really hard by the acne stick as a teenager. We're talking...bi-weekly trips to the Dermatologist, oral antibiotics, vitamin K injections, blood work every 6 weeks, diet restrictions, and a shoe box full of prescription topical acne treatments.

One of my "favorite" memories from that oh so important self-esteem building time in my life is when I used yet another new prescription face lotion one night before going to bed and woke up the next morning with my skin all swollen, red, and hot. When I moved my face my skin literally split length wise right down the middle of my nose. I wish I was exaggerating....but, unfortunately, I'm not. If you don't believe that it was as bad as I'm describing ask my sister, Patti (aka Miss Peaches and Cream complexion). While you're at it...ask her about the routine she would go through on the mornings when I would wake up with a new Mt. Everest size pimple on my face. Patti would use her best WWF Announcer Man voice and say "Big zits of America...we have a zit bigger than yours....Impossible!" Maybe this was her way of getting back at me for keeping her up until 12:34 the night before. If you're reading this Patti...you know I love you....even if you've never had a pimple in your entire life!

Honestly, between the new lines showing up every day and all the red blotches on my face I'm going to look like a Rand-McNally road map by the time we go to China to bring Lily home.

17 Months And China Adoption 101

Today is our 17 month LID - a - versary. That means it's been 17 months since our dossier was logged in at the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA). Our dossier was actually received in China on September 27, 2005, but not logged in until October 18, 2005.

Tony and I started on the road to bringing Lily home during the Summer of 2004. We began by doing a ton of research and attending adoption agency open houses and workshops. When we chose the agency we wanted to work with they had a requirement that we attend parenting classes before we could start the application process. We attended the parenting classes in October 2004. Gee, I wonder if we'll even remember anything from those classes! Once we completed the parenting classes we began the application process and officially started "the paperchase". The paperchase is the term people in the adoption community use when referring to gathering all the necessary documentation required for a dossier. The dossier is the stack of documents that must be submitted to China to apply for adoption.

Below is a partial list of the documents that are included in a dossier:

Application letter
Birth Certificates
Marriage Certificate
Employment Letters
Certificate of Financial Status
Physician's Reports
Police Clearances
Home Study
USCIS Approval (Immigration approval)

Each of these documents must be notarized, then certified at the county level, and then authenticated at the state level. Just imagine jumping through hoops on fire and you get the picture.

Tony and I were so excited that we shared our plans with our family at Christmas time 2004. If we had only known how long the wait would extend we would have kept the wonderful news to ourselves a little bit (or a lotta bit) longer.

The paperchase took Tony and I a lot longer than we thought. The delay was caused by my lack of fingerprints. I was able to attain Police Clearances without too many hassles because the local and state police were willing to accept a letter from the fingerprint technician stating that my prints were not readable. They then did an alternative background check based on my Social Security Number and Date of Birth. USCIS (immigration) was not quite as understanding. Instead, USCIS required that I be printed and reprinted multiple times to come to the same conclusion....I don't have fingerprints! The cycle of being printed, having the prints fail, and being printed again delayed us receiving USCIS approval. The kicker is even if it is a documented fact that you don't have readable fingerprints USCIS still requires you to be printed, wait to receive a rejection letter, be printed again, and wait for a second rejection letter before they will accept that you don't have readable prints. That's about a 12 week process! As a result, it took about 3 months longer than we had hoped to submit our dossier to China.

At the time our dossier was submitted to CCAA the turn around time from LID to referral was approximately 6 months. Beginning in September/October 2005 the wait began to increase dramatically. There is a lot of speculation as to what is causing the slowdown but I don't think there is one clear answer. This slowdown is not limited to our agency and all families who are adopting from China are experiencing the same extended wait times. Tony and I waited over 16 months for Lily's referral and will wait over 18 months before traveling to bring Lily home. The wait continues to grow and in the future wait times are expected to increase to over 30 months.

I could lie and say now that we have Lily's referral the wait is completely forgotten but that wouldn't be the truth. What I can honestly say is that I realize now that Lily was more than worth the wait!

Who Needs Sleep??

I used to sleep....at least sometimes....but definitely not lately. Truth be told sleep has never been my strong point. When we were kids I would torture Patti every night and make her stay awake with me until our alarm clock displayed 12:34. 1, 2, 3, 4 my favorite time! Surprisingly, she still loves me!

My problem is I just can't seem to turn my brain off long enough to fall asleep. When I do finally manage to fall asleep I can't seem to stay asleep. Many nights I wake up like I've been shot from a cannon...my mind is going 100 miles per hour and my heart is right there keeping pace.

When I was little if I had trouble sleeping my dad and I would head to the kitchen and snack on Sunshine Golden Raisin Biscuits and talk until I felt ready to go back to bed. Do you remember those cookies? They kind of looked like long 2" wide planks of crust with raisins smashed in the middle. They weren't very sweet but Dad and I could eat an entire package during one of our midnight meetings. I haven't seen those cookies in the stores for years. If I do maybe I'll buy a pack and the next time I can't sleep I'll grab them and head out to my Dad's.

I know I should be taking advantage of the time now to get some good solid sleep but there is an upside....I'm thinking I can use the huge bags that are forming under my eyes for a little extra packing room on our trip to China!

It's Been a Wonderful Week

As of today it's been one week since we received Lily's referral! One week of being on Cloud 9...one week of looking at that beautiful sweet face...one week of realizing that dreams really do come true!

One of Patti's friends did a little computer magic and touched up Lily's picture to cover up the marks from where the picture was stapled to her referral documents. Thanks Ernie!

Yesterday we received a translated copy of "The Report on the Growth of Jia Yin" from our agency. This is the document we received with Lily's referral information. I'll list some of the highlights below:

Jia Yin (Lily's Chinese Name) - "Jia" identifies her birth place of Jia Yu County. "Yin" is her given name and can mean: beautiful sound, soft of voice, or cloudy.

Lily was wearing a white outfit with small yellow flowers when she was brought into foster care. This translation also mentions that the outfit had blue flowers, too, and that she was wrapped in a purple blanket.

Lily's diet is listed as: Drinking 150 ml of milk 6 times every day with supplementary food including: rice flour, noodles, steamed eggs, and soup. Maybe that explains those beautiful chubby cheeks!

Lily's sleep schedule states that she gets up at 7:30 am and goes to bed at 8:00 pm. The translation also states she takes two 2 hour naps each day. I wonder how long it will take us to get back on that schedule when we return from China?

Lily has had all her vaccinations and other then a minor cold has been very healthy.

The report closes by saying: "Jia Yin is a healthy, vivacious, smart and lovely baby and we are sure that she will bring endless joy to you and your family."

If they only knew....she already has!

Friendship

I am one of those lucky people that shares my life with built-in best friends....my sisters, Mary Beth and Patti. My family is extremely close....some might even say obnoxiously close....but I wouldn't have it any other way. My sisters and I talk on the phone every day and see each other as often as humanly possible. Since we live near each other that means at least once a week...but usually more!

My mother always taught us as we were growing up that there was nothing more important than family. Sometimes when we asked to have friends over my mother would ask, "Why? You have each other to play with." I guess that could have backfired but it didn't. What my mother created was a family that loves spending time together. We don't have to be doing anything special and it doesn't have to be a special occasion.....having all of us under one roof is special enough.

Each year my family vacations together in the Outer Banks. The whole family is together; Dad, Mary Beth, Ed, and their kids, Don and his kids, Patti, Dave and their kids, Tony and I...and this year Lily!! This is always the best week of my entire year. Not because we're at the beach...but because we're all together!

I have also been very blessed to have met my friend Laura over 20 years ago. Yes, you guessed it....we met in pre-school! I've written about Laura here before, but I haven't shared what a wonderful support she has been to me during this very long wait.

Laura is incredibly thoughtful and has taken such an active interest in our adoption. When Laura and I talk on the phone she never fails to ask how everything is going. It was never a simple "Have you heard anything, yet?". It was more along the lines of "How are you doing? I know this wait must be so hard. Have you had a Waiting Parents meeting recently? How'd it go? Hang in there. I know it must be so hard but hopefully it wont be too much longer until you have Lily in your arms." You get the idea.

During this long wait Laura has sent me countless cards. Several of them have been lovingly "modified" to exactly fit our situation. I'm thinking she could give Hallmark a run for their money. I've kept every card and someday Lily will know just how much her Aunt Laura was waiting for her, too. My hope is that Lily will be lucky enough to share her life with a friend like Laura.

I have also met some amazing "cyber-friends" during this journey. Before starting this process my use of the Internet was pretty much limited to Google, MapQuest, etc. I had never been in an Internet forum or chat room....honestly, the thought of them really gave me the creeps.

During one of our Waiting Parent meetings another Waiting Mom told me about the Rumor Queen site and suggested that I give it a visit. Part of the site has a forum that is dedicated to LID (log in date) groups. The October 2005 LID forum has been a wonderful source of support for me. Elaine, Kim, Diana, and others I have met in this forum have shared all the ups and downs of this very long and emotional wait with me. They understood firsthand the sadness of facing another Christmas without our daughters at home. They know the frustration of redoing needless paperwork. They understood the bittersweet feeling of missing the referral cutoff date by just a few days. They also understood the pure joy of receiving referrals and we are still rejoicing together. Several of my friends, with LIDs later in October, are still waiting for their referrals and we will all wait together. Even though we may have never met face-to-face we definitely have met heart-to-heart.

When?

That's the question that everyone is asking...when....when can we bring our sweet Lily home? I wish the answer was today! When we picked up Lily's referral information at the agency on Friday I wanted to head straight to the airport. Unfortunately, that's not the way it works.

I will try to provide a rough time line of what will happen from Referral Day until we travel to bring Lily home:

• March 9th - Referral day - Happiest day in our lives to date! Signed Referral Acceptance Letter and mailed it back to China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA). Submitted applications for travel visas.
• Weeks 1 - 4 - The waiting starts again. As much as I want to be able to kiss those chubby cheeks and nibble on those cute little ears having Lily's picture to look at I think will make this part of the wait easier. Remind me I said that in a few weeks when I'm crying the blues!
• Approximately Weeks 4 - 5 - Receive our Travel Approval from CCAA. At that time our agency will schedule an appointment for us at the US Consulate in Guangzhou.
• Approximately Weeks 6 - 8 - LEAVE FOR CHINA!!!!

With this rough time line we should be traveling to China around the week of April 22. Unfortunately, there are some potential stumbling blocks in scheduling our trip. The 101st China Import and Export Fair is being held in Guangzhou the weeks of 4/15/2007 - 4/20/2007 and 4/25/2007 - 4/30/2007. From what I understand this is a positively huge trade fair (I believe the world's largest) and all of the hotels in Guangzhou are booked solid.

As if the world's largest trade fair isn't enough, the first week of May is also International Labor Day in China. During the week of International Labor Day government offices are closed and it is considered one of the peak travel times within China.

As a result of the trade fair and International Labor Day, scheduling our trip is going to be a bit of a challenge. Many adoption agencies simply refuse to send their families to China until the second week of May. Our agency has told us that they will try to arrange our trip around the trade fair and International Labor Day but to expect to pay higher airfare and hotel rates. Of course, I told them that's not a problem we can always get more money (the noise you just heard was Tony's heart skipping a beat) but we can't get back the time we are losing with Lily!

I will keep you updated as our travel plans develop.

On a separate note, thank you to everyone that has sent us e-mails, posted on our blog, or called to wish us congratulations! Tony and I have never been happier and appreciate your love and good wishes so much. I imagine you've noticed that I changed the date on Lily's referral post to March 9, 2009. Hope you don't mind.....I just love seeing her sweet little face each time I open our blog and don't want her to get buried amongst all my mindless ramblings!

Daddy's Little Seahawks Cheerleader

How cute is this?? Tony's co-worker (and more importantly our friend), Janis, gave us a card yesterday with this picture on the front. Isn't she so clever! I cracked up laughing when I saw this perfect little picture! Tony's been waiting so long to see Lily in the little Seahawks Cheerleader uniform he got for Father's Day.....now he doesn't need to wait any longer!

Janis, thanks so much for sharing your creativity with us and for letting me post this on my blog!

Mom

Today would have been my mother's 70th birthday. I long for the time when celebrating her birthday didn't involve bringing flowers to the cemetery. She has been on my mind so much lately. Honestly, in the 4 1/2 years since she's been gone I don't think there's been a day that's passed when I haven't thought of her. However, in the last couple of days...since I learned that I am a mother....I've missed her so much more.

So many thoughts have been running through my mind. I wonder what my mother thinks of her beautiful new granddaughter. What does she think about me finally becoming a mother? What advice would she give me if if she were here?

On countless occasions during my teenage years my mother told me she hoped I would have a daughter just like me. I can assure you it wasn't a compliment! I just know some day 13 or 14 years from now that precious little girl I can't take my eyes off will make me wish I had been nicer to my mother!

Define Stalking....

So, say hypothetically you called in advance to find out a FedEx delivery person's schedule and then were laying in wait when he arrived to deliver a package....is that really considered stalking???

I desperately wanted a picture of the person that "delivered" our baby. Tony asked our China Coordinator when the delivery would arrive. Sandy said that FedEx usually arrived anytime between 8:30 and 10:30. Naturally, I was in the agency parking lot at 8:00 am sharp! The only reason Tony wasn't there promptly at 8:00 was because he was at Chik-Fil-A getting me my iced tea fix.

Around 10:00 am a gray SUV pulled in the parking lot and a man wearing a blue FedEx jacket got out. An unmarked car....who would've thought? Maybe someone tipped him off that I was stalking him. Both Tony and I jumped out of the car and said, "Excuse me, sir." at about the same time. I think the poor guy thought he was about to be mugged. I asked him if he was making a delivery to Adoptions Together and a little hesitantly he answered, "Yes." Tony and I explained to him that he was delivering our baby. It was so funny....he looked at the flat envelope in his hands and then he looked at us like we had 3 heads! We took a minute to explain to him that we were adopting and that that envelope contained the most important gift we would ever receive. Once he understood the importance of what he was holding in his hands he was thrilled. John, the FedEx man, explained to us that this was not his normal route and he was only filling in. Then he shared with us that he was adopted and so were two of his siblings. He also told us that he had a nephew and a niece that were adopted.

John was so happy to stop and have his picture taken and told us that he would have a wonderful story to share this weekend. He shook Tony's hand and gave me a great big hug. Who would ever guess that the stork wears a FedEx uniform??

Pure Happiness

Yesterday was the most amazing day. To finally be able to see Lily and realize that we were right...our daughter really is in China...brought us an incredible sense of peace. I can't stop looking at her pictures. I look at her and to me it feels like coming home.

Last night we got both of our families together to share the wonderful news. We met at a small local Chinese restaurant and took the place over. We had so much fun sharing Lily's pictures with everyone. Lily will be the first grandchild on Tony's side of the family and the 10th grandchild on mine! If last night is any indication Lily's extended family is as crazy about her as her daddy and I are!

My family gave us so many really beautiful gifts! We definitely weren't expecting gifts...but it certainly helped us to realize that we haven't been the only ones waiting for Lily!

My sister, Mary Beth, gave us the most perfect gift. When we first started this adoption journey I had a dream about Lily and in my dream she was wearing a precious yellow searsucker sundress and white birdcage sandals. Last night Mary Beth gave us the exact outfit from my dream!! When I opened the package it literally took my breath away. What makes the story more amazing is that Mary Beth found that dress and bought it the day after I told her about the dream. That's been well over a year ago now.

After dinner was finished, John (our friend that owns the restaurant) translated some of the documents that were sent to us from China. One of the documents provides details about when Lily was brought into foster care. I still can't quite believe this but on that day Lily was wearing a white and yellow outfit!

Call it a coincidence, fate, luck...call it whatever you want. As for me, I say it's definitely a God thing!

The Best Feelings Are The Ones That Have No Words To Describe Them

We Welcome with Love Our Daughter...
Lily Katherine Yin Parrott

Chinese Name: Jia Yin

Date of Birth: June 24, 2006

Location: Hubei Province

Jia Yu County Social Welfare Institute - foster care program

Measurements as of February 7, 2007:

Weight - 19.8 pounds

Length - 26.77 inches

Lily's documents say that she is a healthy, happy baby! Other characteristics listed state that she is quiet, fond of listening to music, enjoys playing with toys, is sometimes impatient, and loves to be held. At 19.8 pounds Mommy and Daddy better get busy lifting weights!

I am at a loss to find the words to describe the joy Tony and I are feeling right now. It is so amazing to be able to see the face of the child we have loved for so long.

We are incredibly blessed!

We Have More Information!

Talk about a roller coaster of a day! We received an e-mail from our agency this morning that we would probably not receive our referral until Monday. To say I didn't take it well would be an understatement! Thank God my sister, Mary Beth, came to the rescue. The heck with tea and sympathy....how about Cabernet and Toasted Almonds! Mary Beth, Ryan, and I headed to Matthew's for lunch and a few drinks. While we were there and I was moaning about how I couldn't possibly wait another minute to see our baby's face Tony called to say that the REFERRALS WERE IN and we would receive ours TOMORROW AT 11:00 AM!!

We know a little more information about our sweet Lily, too. Lily's birthday is June 24, 2006. Lily was born last year while we were all together on our annual family vacation to the Outer Banks. Somehow that just seems perfect to me. My niece Katie wins the poll for guessing Lily's birth date. Katie picked June 21....her own birthday. Close but not exact. Now we will have 3 June babies in our family: Ryan, Katie, and Lily.

Lily is currently at the Jia Yu County Social Welfare Institute (aka orphanage). Apparently it is a very small orphanage and I haven't been able to find any real information about it online.

In less than 14 hours we will be able to see our baby girl for the first time. I am absolutely breathless with anticipation! Come on tomorrow!!!

It's Official

It's official! The CCAA updated their website yesterday to show that they have finished referrals for families with LIDs through October 24, 2005. With an LID of October 18, 2005....we're in!!!!!!! I tried all day yesterday to get onto CCAA's site because I wanted this screen shot and I couldn't get in. Probably all the other crazy adoptive parents like me were trying to do the same thing and brought their server to it's knees!

Now can we please just actually get the referral? Please...oh please...oh please!

About Hubei Province

So what do you do when the only thing you know about your child is what Province she is from....you spend the entire day reading about it online! Hubei is the province marked with the red heart. Hey, a graphic artist I'm not...but it's the best I could do!


Here are a few facts about Hubei from Wikipedia and ChinaTravelGuide.com:

• The name Hubei means "North of the Lake"- referring to Dongting Lake.
• The World Famous Yangtze Three Gorges Dam Project is located in Hubei Province.
• Hubei covers an area of 180,000 square kilometers (about 69,500 square miles).
• Hubei has a population of 60,280,000.
• The capital of Hubei is Wuhan.
• People in Hubei speak a Southwestern Mandarin dialect.
• Hubei has a subtropical monsoonal climate with a humid and hot summer, dry winter and strong sunlight in autumn.
• Most places in Hubei enjoy four distinct seasons, with the best times to travel there being spring and autumn.

The most important thing I know about Hubei is that is where our little one is waiting for us!

We Became Parents At The Build-A-Bear Store!!!!!!

Yes, you read that right! Today, at 1:25 pm, we received a call from our agency that we have a baby! Can you believe it??? We're parents....a family...this is finally really happening!! All that we know so far is that our daughter is from the Hubei Province and our coordinator thinks our baby was born this past summer. We will have more concrete information either Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. How will we make it until then??

So, what were we doing when we got 'The Call' you ask? Why we were building a bear, of course! Tony took today off because we were hoping we would receive 'The Call' and we really wanted to be together when we received the wonderful news. We decided we would spend the day doing fun baby things. My sister, Patti, gave me the great idea of buying a stuffed animal that has a voice recorder in it so we could record a message and send it to our little one in a care package. Tony and I went to Toys R Us and Babies R Us this morning looking for just such a thing. Clerks at both stores knew exactly what we were talking about but neither store had anything like it in stock. A clerk at the Babies R Us store suggested we go to Build-A-Bear and see what they had to offer. So, off we went.

When we got to the store we were greeted by the most delightful woman named Freda. I tried to tell her what we wanted to do but I got too choked up. Tony stepped in and explained that we were adopting from China and wanted to make a bear for our daughter. Tony told Freda, if possible, we wanted to make a recording to place in the bear to tell our daughter how much we loved her and couldn't wait to bring her home. Freda was so excited and got started helping us right away. Freda gave us the voice recorder and sent us to the restroom so we could have privacy when recording our message to Lily. How funny is that?! Anyway, Tony and I talked a little bit about what we wanted to say and then decided to just go for it.

Freda helped us stuff the bear and put two hearts in it (because we need to send our daughter extra love!). Freda made us promise that we would bring Lily in once we were home and settled.

Can I just tell you how perfect Freda was?! She sort of looks like Mrs. Doubtfire....and I don't mean that in a nasty way. She was sweet and kind and if you are going to receive the news that you are finally a parent in front of a complete and total stranger this is just the woman for the job! Sorry the picture quality isn't the best....I used my Sidekick.

We had just had this picture taken with Freda when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number (it wasn't our agency's number) but I answered the call. Sure enough it was Sandy, our China Coordinator, saying "Congratulations Mommy!". I burst out crying in the middle of the store. Tony and I ran out of the store and sat down on a bench in the middle of the mall and put the phone on speaker. Sitting in the middle of the Columbia Mall we learned what little we know about our daughter. Sandy said we should receive more information either Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Once again I find myself wishing life came with a fast-forward button!

Tony and I sat on the bench....hug, cried, and made a million telephone calls. I'm sure the people walking past us thought we were crazy!

Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people that cries pretty. You know, a little sniffle here and there. Nope. Not me. I am more of the huge red blotches, runny nose, gasping for air types. I'm sure onlookers thought we had just gotten the worst news...not the best news..of our lives! Tony and I stopped two young girls that were walking past us to take our picture. They were very sweet and acted like crazy people stopped them in the mall every day asking to have their picture taken!

Tony and I then went to PF Chang's for a little celebratory lunch and to let the news settle in. It still hasn't.

When we arrived home we found that my sisters had been here. They had left beautiful flowers, bottles of wine, and Megamillion tickets (after all...obviously it's a lucky day for us!)

I can't begin to describe how happy Tony and I are. At the same time we can't wait for Thursday or Friday. We so want to see our little one's face and know more information about her!

What a wonderful day it has been!

No Phone Call

Well...we didn't get "The Call" today like I was hoping! I can't tell you how much my heart jumped each time the phone rang. I can't even imagine what my blood pressure is right now. So many people have posted their referral information online that quite honestly it's making me a little nervous. Our agency did warn us that they receive referrals after the bigger agencies....so, maybe tomorrow is our day!

Since I've imposed the 'No Drinking at Home' rule on myself after the dreaded 3 empty wine bottle incident I've volunteered Tony to take me out to dinner. No place fancy....just some place with a liquor license!

Hopefully I will be posting pictures of Lily tomorrow!

Christmas Eve on Steroids

Imagine you are 6 years old and it's Christmas Eve. Now, multiply that feeling times 1,000,000. That's how I'm feeling right now. My heart is beating through my chest...I'm about ready to jump out of my skin...and I'm not even 100% sure that we are receiving our call today!

Some of my cyber-friends have already gotten "The Call" this afternoon. I am beyond excited for them. I can't believe that after this very looonnnnggg wait we may really be seeing Lily's beautiful little face in the next 24 hours!

I feel like this little guy looks!

Tony and I have decided not to share the news that the referrals are en route with anyone. No sense in having everyone on this crazy roller coaster with us. Our family and friends know it could be any day now they just don't know...it's really any day now! Naturally, when we get the call we will be burning up the telephone lines to share the wonderful news...but until then we wait. Can I tell you how hard that is??? I have a really big mouth and want to tell everyone and I do mean everyone. The cashier at Giant...the person in the car next to me at the stop light...everyone! I'm awful at keeping things to myself. I think if we don't get the call soon I just might burst!

From what I understand our agency normally gets referrals after the big agencies receive them. I would assume that means our agency will receive our referral tomorrow. I've already cleared the slate for tomorrow. There is just no way I can work while I'm in LABOR! Now if I could only remember to breathe until then!

Fortune Cookies

I spent yesterday getting our little fortune cookie referral packages together. I'm so excited about handing these out. It sure beats the heck out of cigars! The cookies are great and the little Chinese take out containers are perfect.

I don't think I've mentioned on here before that we are absolutely drowning in fortune cookies. We (read....I) ordered 200 cookies....100 plain and 100 chocolate. I thought I'd put one of each in the take out containers and then have extras just for fun. When the cookies arrived I was so excited that I cracked open one of the plain cookies and it had one of our fortunes on the front and Lily's name on the back. Perfect! And they tasted pretty good, too. So, Tony decides to open one of the chocolate ones. Ut oh....the fortune says "TCS customers expect the best....and get it!". Who the heck is TCS and what are their fortunes doing in our cookies? Tony opens a few more chocolate cookies and they all have the wrong fortunes inside. All the fortunes have corporate "Rah! Rah!" speak on them like "TCS motto: Excellence always endures....it remains long after cost is forgotten." Kind of sounds like a company that charges too much for its services if you ask me! Anyway, I called the Fancy Fortune folks and they were wonderful and over-nighted me a new batch of chocolate cookies. If you're counting....that brings us to 300 cookies! Can you just imagine the faces of the TCS people when they opened their cookies and they said things like:

• The best things in life are worth waiting for.


• Some things are sweeter when they are slow in coming.


• Dreams really do come true.


• You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~ Desmond Tutu


• The best feelings are those that have no words to describe them.

Somehow our fortunes don't quite fit the Dilbertesque fortunes they ordered!

Oh my....

Well the rumor mill is going wild. It appears that referrals may have left China today! The Rumor Queen site has the rumor that referrals have left China rated as an R4.

Unfortunately, the RQ is on hiatus...has been since February 11....and I for one am suffering huge withdraw! I miss her level headed analysis...her calming voice (if you will). She has left moderators in charge to run the site while she is away. I'm sure they are lovely people...they're just not the Queen!

I think this might be the longest weekend of my life. Could this be the last weekend before we see our little one's face? Oh please, oh please!