First Birthday

We have been home for three months and have had the best three months of our lives. Ray and I are in awe of our little girl and so grateful for the blessing that she is. She is well adjusted. She sleeps well, eats well, loves people and is very engaging and charming. We take her everywhere as she is pretty content and easy-going.
She plays peek-a-boo, makes "funny face" and loves to clap. Anytime she hears 'yay' or 'good job' she claps. Hmmm, I wonder how she made that connection. She still shows no sign of crawling or pulling up so will start occupational therapy soon. Part of it is motivation, I think. She is so content wherever she is that there seems to be little drive to move.
Otherwise she is very healthy and thriving. She has met most of Ray's family and has met one of my sisters and her family. We'll make our first big trip to Florida next week to meet the rest of my family.
I cannot adequately describe the demeanor and personality of little Rebecca. She is just the calmest, most content, most loving human being I've ever met. She is very affirming the way she looks you right in the eye, smiles and nods and reaches out. She favors boys, but really likes everyone she meets. It will be quite an adventure to see where she goes in life and what God has planned for her.
Thank you to all the family and friends who have embraced Rebecca and welcomed her to the family. Ray and I feel so blessed by the love and affection expressed it makes our hearts full.

We're Home Sweet Home!

Whew! We made it!! I stopped blogging in Guangzhou as we no longer had free internet access from the room. I quickly sent a few emails from the business center and that was it. Now that we had adoption papers and a Chinese passport in hand, we could go to Guangzhou.
It was warmer there and we did have access to a lot more shopping right around the hotel. Rebecca was a trooper on the plane as always. Her first plane ride! I cried as we took off because as I held her in my arms, I thought, "wow, she really is ours and she is leaving WITH us!" It was a thrilling moment. Please note, that all of our intracountry flights were either on time or early and the planes looked new. Service was fantastic. So many things about China surprised me in that way. Things were better, nicer, more wonderful than imagined.
The days in Guangzhou flew by really. We submitted the paper work to get a travel visa for Rebecca and after a getting her photo taken and a brief physical we basically had free time. We toured a family compound and an active Buddhist temple. We also had a delightful dinner at a local restaurant with someone from the Bible Church. David called the concierge and gave the name/directions of the restaurant for us. The bell hop handed the Chinese note to the cab driver and off we went. We were the only Westerners in the place and certainly the only ones with a baby, so we were quite conspicuous. Nevertheless, in general, the Chinese love babies and the wait staff payed quite alot of attention to Rebecca and the meal was wonderful.
David also told us about the wholesale markets in town, so we saw where the Chinese shop owners buy the goods they sell to us! It again was quite an experience of local culture where we were definitely the minority. We always felt safe though and moved about the city with confidence and had fun.
We shopped at a local outdoor mall and found an inexpensive suitcase, to replace the one that kept malfunctioning on the way over among other things. We even saw a pet market where there were lots and lots of puppies, ducklings, chicks, rabbits, pet food and pet accessories. That was quite fun.
Friday was the big day. We went to the US Consulate where our paper work was checked once again, they verified that we were who we said we were - Rebecca too, then we took an oath. That was it. Our babies were welcomed to the US and we were on our way!
Off to Hong Kong for one night, then the flight home. We had a bulk head seat and a bassinet for Rebecca, so she basically maintained her schedule all the way home. We had an awesome welcome committee greet us at the airport where Miss Rebecca proceeded to charm everyone with her engaging stare and even a few coos and giggles. I thought she might be her quiet, pensive self in the car seat on the way home, but no. She giggled and laughed the entire way home. Something about it was very funny to her!
This is really a very brief overview of our last days in China. There are so many interesting side stories that would take a long time to write and long time for you to read, so I hope we get to share these with all of you in time. We took over 300 pictures and who knows how much video?
We are so glad to be home. We miss our travel group because we really bonded as one big family, but I think everyone is glad to be home. Rebecca continues to be a delight and shows us how to go with the flow and not worry about anything. She's adjusting beautifully and helping us do the same.

More Pictures!

Just Pictures!

Last Days in Nanchang

The rain has finally stopped and we did some sightseeing this weekend. Our group toured a pavilion on the river, a tao temple and an art museum. We thoroughly enjoyed getting out of the hotel. We also went to a local restaurant down the street and the food was fantastic. Our guide, Chris, did all the ordering. Spicy and wonderful, again served family style. We have now discovered Rebecca's favorite is Steamed Eggs. She just loves them! Its like a custard and served warm. Its very good.

There is a local tailor/laundry shop next to our hotel so we had matching outfits made for me and Rebecca and Ray got a gorgeous Chinese jacket made for him. We then took our laundry to them as they do the baby clothes for free. Its a colorful neighborhood and we enjoyed walking around the block after our purchases. Today is actually SUNNY outside so we're going back so Ray can get some good still photos. I want to go to the shoe shop and get Rebecca's shoes - great prices!

Today is our last full day in Nanchang. Tomorrow we check out of the hotel at 1:00 pm and head for the airport. Rebecca's first plane ride! We will then be in Guangzhou until Saturday, fly to Hong Kong for one night and then be home on Sunday. I admit to feeling homesick at times. I feel like we are camping out. We have to boil our water for everything - drinking, washing dishes, making formula, brushing our teeth. Our bathroom is also our kitchen. I miss western food, ice cubes and ice tea. I can't complain though. We are living in tremendous luxury in comparison to the people around us who probably are living in apartments the size of our room, full time!

I am excited about traveling south to Guangzhou which promises to be a whole new experience in weather, food, our mobility to see things and more. We are not worried about the plane ride because Rebecca seems to take new experiences in stride and as long as she's in the carrier she's content and pretty quiet. Just taking it all in. Until then...

The Orphanage

We made the momentus trip to SWI Shanggao yesterday (Thursday). What a wild ride, literally. The yellow and white traffic lines are meerly suggestions and are followed sometimes. We played "chicken" with a very large truck, and a few cyclists here and there. Potholes the size of ditches slowed our way a few times, but the driver was great and the bus was actually a nice touring bus, so we closed our eyes during the scary parts.

We arrived at the orphanage to yet another cold, rainy day, but the reception was warm and welcoming in every way. We were led to a conference room, where mayhem broke out once again as the foster moms saw their little ones. There was rejoicing and crying and just lots of noise. Fresh fruit and candy was provided on the tables which the babies enjoyed. Our nanny was running late, so Ray and I patiently waited for her to arrive and get our turn with Chris who translated questions for us. She clearly loved and enjoyed Rebecca as much as we do and she was very gracious in pointing to me and saying 'mama' and pointing to Ray saying 'baba' which is dada in Chinese. The director made a short, lovely speech about how grateful they are to us, for caring for the children and wished us well.

Then to an abundant, fabulous lunch! They just kept bringing out the dishes. Served family style, on a turntable centered on the table, it was a feast! I can't tell you everything we had, but the purple stuff was really good and we felt adventuresome for trying most of it. The fresh peas were fantastic and I don't even really like peas. They even served red wine. This must of been extravagent for them. We didn't really tour the facilities and we didn't see any children. The director says they are all in foster homes.

Ray and I asked if we could meet the cook, as he was listed as the one who found Rebecca. They all kind of giggled, then called to him to come out. He just beamed. We got our picture taken with him and the staff just seemed so amused by the scene. One other family said he found their baby also, so they did the photo op with him too.

We then got a group photo at the gate of the orphanage where all of our babies were found. I just wonder if Rebecca's birth mom watched from across the street, from behind a crumbling brick wall, to see when her baby was found. I just wonder about her alot. I am grateful to her everyday for doing a brave and wonderful thing for us and pray that she somehow knows how much we love Rebecca. We know she loved her.

We did see a lot of the elderly residents that live on the compound. Precious elderly men watched the busy, chaotic scene of families and their orange bundles and just laughed. I got a great photo of them watching.

Could go on and on about the many scenes we saw along the way, but will end now. China is such a diverse country and we were grateful to get out of the big city and see some of the countryside.

Day 2 and Day 3 Nanchang

Where do I begin? Day 2 we had a series of meetings in the morning. Miss Rebecca was a trooper. It was cold and rainy, alot of waiting around and in and off the bus. She just hangs out in the baby carrier and is along for the ride. So sweet. At 11:30 we boarded the bus for the hotel when Chris announced, "Congratulations, they are officially your daughters!" We all cheered and celebrated the great moment.

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out at the hotel. After lunch, we all went down for a very long nap. Ahhhh. Ray and I snacked in the room for supper, but I went to the lobby restaurant for some broth for Rebecca. I told them 'noodle soup w/out the noodles, its for baby" they rushed around and quickly brought me a bowl and said, "free for baby." I have to say, the hotel staff and the Chinese people in general are so very gracious and accomodating. They dote on the babies and strive to provide excellent service and care for all of us. Its really very touching and definitely appreciated! That pretty much sums up Day 2.

Day 3 was one of pure luxury. Nothing to do but be with our Rebecca all day. She is the best company. Quite a chatterer and game for anything. Ray and I also got some alone tine. He was able to go for a swim and I went to the gym and hit the eliptical for a little while. Then, another wonderful long nap. After walking the floors the first night with Rebecca, someone in our group said to try sleeping w/the lights on. That did it. She slept for 11 hours the first night. And is well on her way to hitting that right now.

Ray gave her lots of tummy time and we already see her growing and developing skills she did not have two days ago. She has attempted to roll over and almost did! She is trying to sit up, is reaching for her rattle and bottle and grabbing them! She continues to enjoy watching her hands. Its a riot to watch. She twists and twirls them and chuckles, just totally amused by them. I call it baby tai chi because of the way she moves them and watches them - its almost like her own choreographed hand dance.

She's a great eater. Meat broth seems to be her favorite. And yesterday she finally had her first bm, so we are so very proud of her and happy that everything seems to be working well. I promise no more bodily function reports unless they are truly extraordinary. I'm praying I won't have any of those stories to tell.

Today, Day 4, is a huge day for us. We actually get to see the orphanage and meet her foster mother in person. Not every group gets this opportunity so we are incredibly grateful to have this chance. Its a 2 hour bus ride from here, so it will be a full days trip. We'll have lunch there and come back this afternoon. And, now that we know that our peanut travels so well, we feel she'll just go along for the ride and be ok. So, I'll close for now, and I am sure I'll have many stories to tell about our trip. Thank you all for your loving thoughts, prayers, emails, and facebook postings. We do 'feel the love' half way round the world and know you are celebrating with us. Thank you, thank you!

Gottcha Day!

We now have our precious daughter in our arms!!! She is a delight and so brave! We went to the Civil Affairs office where there was another group of families ahead of us - the ones who got their girls yesterday and are staying in our hotel. When we got inside the room, there in the alcove was a group of 'nannies' each with a bright orange bundle, dressed identically alike. It was a sight to behold. It didn't take me long to pick out Rebecca at the far end, sitting in her nanny's lap! It took my breath away. We still had to wait, though, to make sure our paper work was in order. Chris said no baby until everything was correct, because he knew we'd be pretty worthless afterward! Ray caught an error on ours, so we had to send it back to be edited. Once it was corrected, THEN, they called our name and a nanny and the director handed Rebecca to me. She never made a sound. Just looked and looked and looked. She wanted to see everything and everyone around her and was as content as she could be. She went to Ray as easily as she came to me and he received the same intent little stare with those shiny, beautiful brown eyes! There was a lot of chaos and crying babies around us but Miss Rebecca just hung out.

She is a great eater and thus far, its the only time she has been fussy is when she is hungry. Otherwise she coos, says dadadadadadada alot and loves to look at her hands. Her hands totally amuse her. She is very patient with us as we fumble with clothes, diapers, baby carriers and baby bottles. She takes it all in stride. Like right now, she is content in her little crib, just cooing away letting mommy blog and daddy totally collapse into the bed because he's been awake since 12:30 AM. Yesterday's nap messed him up for the night.

Tomorrow we go back to Civil affairs, then on to the Notary. Then there will be lots of down time for us to spend with Rebecca. Hopefully, the rain will stop long enough for us to get out and see some sights too.

We are so very blessed with the best little baby girl in the world. God is good.

Nanchang Day 2

Well, here we are. So far our trip has been fantastic. I'll try to catch up on this entry. We get Rebecca later today, and who knows when we'll get to post again after that!
Dave and Deb picked us up at 5:15 AM Friday. Deb served as official family photographer and stayed with us at the airport until we headed for the gate. It was a good thing too. The new suitcase I bought was the one that was a tad over the weight limit. No problem. We just quickly shifted some items to Ray's carry on. Then oops. The zipper on the suitcase broke! Oh no. Deb quickly fixed the zipper and we were able to check it. I'm so glad she was there as the calming presence we needed. From there, I made the decision to not obsess about that suitcase for the entire 18 hours of travel. What would be would be. We spent 4 hours at JFK airport, got lunch, chatted with a fellow passenger and made some last minute calls to friends and family and then we were on our way.
The flight was great! We had our own personal video monitor with DVD, a few select tv shows and music on demand. The meals were tasty and overall it was a pleasant flight. Ray actually slept a good bit and I did some. We arrived in Hong Kong 30 minutes early. And the compromised suitcase made it, albiet barely! The zipper had popped open, but no contents were lost. It stayed together long enough for us to get to the hotel. We taped it up for the next day's trip and it made it to Nanchang ok.
The Hong Kong Marriot Skycity hotel has only been open one month and it was absolutely gorgeous. Ray took a swim and I walked around some. I ran into two American women on the elevator and we chatted some but didn't introduce ourselves. Then, we met up the next day at the airport and low and behold, it was Julia and her mom Sandy who were traveling with us to get Julia's baby.
The efficient shuttle service took us to the airport on Sunday where we met up with all the other families. It was great to meet everyone in person finally. We'd been emailing, talking on the phone and facebook friends for weeks. What a terrific group!
We had an uneventful 1.5 hour flight to Nanchang where our capable guide Chris met us with a van and shuttle bus. The van was for the load of luggage, the bus for the human cargo! Nanchang is cold and rainy but noone seems to care. Nothing can dampen our spirits as we recover from jet lag and anticipate getting our daughters! Most of us are on the 11th floor where there is a giant courtyard type family lounge area furnished with baby walkers and rocking horses for the kids. The hotel is very accustomed to hosting adopting families and had our rooms all well prepared too. We had a crib, baby bath and potty in our room when we arrived. They deliver steaming hot thermoses of water every day to drink, make formula, brush teeth etc.
The dining room has about 16 high chairs lined up ready to go.
The food is served buffet style and although we don't know what most of it is, we can find tasty things to eat and have ventured out some. I had 'black rice bread', fried lettuce which is delicious among other things. Ray is less adventuresome than I but I thought he was very brave last night when he ate the 'hamburger.'
We saw many babies at breakfast this morning. There is another group of families here who arrived and got their girls yesterday. The babies all seemed healthy, beautiful and quite content with their new families. We met a couple and their soon to be 3 year old son from Durham, NC and who live about 5 min. from us! We exchanged info and will be in touch once we get home. We figured we'd see them a lot here too and probably meet up with them again in Guangzhou.
Ray is at the bank exchanging money right now. We will then go to the civil affairs office and complete a portion of the adoption and also meet our babies! So, at 3 pm today, Monday March 2nd, Ray and I will officially become parents of our precious 9 month old baby girl, Rebecca. Signing off for now.

We leave Friday!

Well, the uncertainies regarding travel and when we get Rebecca have been eliminated and we know where we are going and when. We leave early Friday morning, our dear friends, the Montgomery's are taking us to the airport. We depart Raleigh-Durham at 8:00 AM and catch our connection to Hong Kong at JFK. We will arrive in Hong Kong Saturday night (their time) and then Sunday morning catch a plane to Nanchang, Jiangxi. On Monday March 2, 2009 we should have Rebecca in our arms and officially celebrate "Gotcha Day!" It also happens to be my niece's birthday so it will be a double celebration from here on out. Gotcha Day will be exactly 3 years and 1 day since our application was accepted. Its been a long wait.
We'll be in Nanchang for a number of days, then fly to Guangzhou, and wait several more days to get Rebecca's visa and passport. We will land in Raleigh on Sunday March 15 @ 5:40 PM. This trip is about 5 more days longer than expected due to the consulate appointment, but nothing else is extraordinary about the timing.
Ray and I will be posting pictures and logging in when we can, so stayed tuned to this station! Thank you everyone for your thoughts and especially for your prayers!!

Travel Dates Still Pending!

This has probably been the hardest part of the wait so far. We still do not have confirmed travel dates yet and probably will not have them until next week. So, right now we are facing the possibility of confirmed travel dates on Wed. and leaving for Hong Kong on Friday. Yikes!! The other scenario is we leave the following Friday March 6th. So either way its a bit painful. We either have two days notice and have to really hustle and probably pay more for the tickets or we wait one more week. Waiting one more week just seems like an eternity at this point. We want to get to Rebecca as soon as we can - comfort comes from knowing everything is in God's hands and He is in control and we can trust that. Its still achingly hard.
We've had fun getting ready. I bought an awesome baby carrier that will work great with our back issues but still be able to keep Rebecca close to us at all times. Ray bought a video camera and has been studying and practicing using it. I wonder if we'll have someone there who can video both of us getting Rebecca so Ray doesn't miss the moment playing videographer?
We have had another FedEx incident so they are really getting on my last nerve and I've now become a big UPS fan. I've been waiting for LL Bean packing bags that deplete all the air out of your clothes and flatten them to make more room in the suitcase. FedEx says they were delivered to our front door last Saturday. We have no package, so now have to hunt down what happened. UPS delivers packages to our back door, inside our screened porch! What Can Brown Do For You? Keep you from having to worry everytime you are supposed to get a delivery!
Time to go clean the house and wait...

Trip to Washington, DC

We now have our travel visas and can travel. The question remains, when will we travel? It could be as early as Feb. 27th or the following week on March 6th. We should obtain confirmation of travel dates tomorrow or Wednesday! In the meantime, I took a trip to Washington to get our visas. I stayed with my sister who lives about an hour away. I found the embassy ok, but was so taken aback by how plain and unassuming it was that I convinced myself it wasn't really the right address. After confirming the address with my sister, sure enough, it was the embassy. It didn't look much different from the DMV except there was a security guard and metal detector. I pictured grand halls, expensive rugs and lots of officials walking around. I watch way too many movies!!
I dropped off our applications around 10:30 and killed time until 1:45 pm when I could go retrieve our passports/visas. At Starbucks I introduced myself to a woman who was also applying for a visa and asked why she was traveling to China. She is a nurse/flight attendant who volunteers to fly to China to escort medically needy children back to the States for treatment. She was returning to China with a 3 year old who was brought to Shriners for treatment for burns on her face. Wow.
I had a pleasant lunch at Shanghai Tea Room and tried to eat my lunch with chop sticks. You know how the sticks come attached at the top? Well, I thought 'hmm, maybe if I leave them attached they will be easier to use.' My server came by and took them from my hands and said 'here, take apart' and snapped them apart. Ok, that didn't work. So, then I tried to eat my lunch with the sticks when the host saw me struggle, he just came by with silver ware and smiled. I tried!
By 2:00 pm, I had our visas in hand and headed back to my sister's house. I got a crash course in child care and the flu when I got back! Long story short, I ended up staying 3 more days to help with one nephew in the hospital and one at home (who also caught the bug before I left). It was a wonderful blessing that I was there to help and for me to get good hands on practice, plus spend lots of time with the boys. Its not all pink booties and smiles, is it????
Thankfully, both boys are home and on the mend and none of the adults appear to have caught the bug...lets hope...
Ray and I had our travel call early last week too. That was very informative and we are now so excited to go!! At times it will be hectic, at times it will be intimidating but for the most part it will be a magical time in our daughter's home country and precious time spent bonding with her. Stayed tuned for travel details posted later this week!

Tentative Travel Dates!

Ok, the solid ground I was walking on yesterday just gave way again today. We received the email this morning stating the tentative travel date of Friday Feb. 27th! If that is not confirmed, then it is likely to be the following week on March 6th. Either way, its coming quickly!! So, we will be going to Hong Kong, Nanchang, Guangzhou w/connection to Hong Kong, then home again. The trip will be 12-14 days long. We will meet Rebecca in Nanchang, spend a few days there to finalize the adoption, then on to Guangzhou for our US Embassy appointment to get her passport and visa approval. Stay tuned to this blog during that time, as Ray and I hope to post updates along the way.

I am taking a quick trip to Washington D.C. next week to get our visas processed at the Chinese Embassy. I'll stay with my sister Wednesday and Thursday night; she lives just outside the city. I'll go to the embassy Thursday morning as soon as they open and request an expedited approval. For a few extra dollars they will have it ready by 2:30 pm that same day. I'll then head back to NC on Friday morning. Nice bonus, I get to see my wonderful, fabulous nephews, Jacob and Joshua and an old college buddy while I'm there.

I also have more of the FedEx story that is rather sweet and left out of yesterday's narrative. When I arrived at the FedEx station, the man who had called me earlier to tell me the status of the package came out to the lobby to ask if I found the station ok. I said "yes, and do you know what is in this package?" And he replied, "Yes ma'am I do, that there is a life-changing package you've got!" as he grinned from ear to ear. A life-changing package, indeed!!
Stay tuned...for travel date confirmation and other ramblings from this very excited mom-to-be!

Two weeks since THE CALL

I think I am finally walking on solid ground. Since the call its been like walking on air and not really being a part of this world completely. The excitement and anticipation and sheer joy after a 3 year wait have made it hard to concentrate. I don't know how Ray gets any work done!
Some highlights of the last two weeks...first, we were supposed to receive our FedEx package on Friday, the day after the call, by 10:45 AM. It didn't come, it didn't come, lunch time came and went and it didn't come. So I called FedEx to have it tracked and had a very funny conversation with the customer service person. She struggled with the name of the agency, was distracted by a sneeze, then asked me what was in the package. I said, "my baby is in that package." And, very seriously and sincerely she replied, "we don't deliver babies." I think I was stunned for a moment, then explained it was a PICTURE of my baby with original documents. "Oh," she said, "its a letter, then." Inside I was screaming, "YES ITS A LETTER AND ITS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE BY NOW-WHERE IS IT?!" Then I remembered that FedEx "doesn't deliver babies" and chuckled to myself the rest of the day. It really was a gift because otherwise, I would have been frantic and probably not so nice when FedEx finally called me back.
So, it was decided that it would just be easier and quicker if I went to the FedEx station and got the package myself, so at 3:30 pm, I finally had the package in my hands. With permission from Ray to open it as soon as I got it, I actually shared it with the FedEx people who helped me finally get our package. They were very happy to play The Stork role and got a kick out of the whole story.
We also received permission from the orphanage to send a care package to Rebecca. Oh happy day! So, we packed a onsie (which we slept with first, so it would have all our smells), socks (to satisfy my baby sister who insisted I buy some immediately!), a wrist rattle, small photo album w/pictures of family and Schatzie (of course), lotion for the nanny and a disposable camera for them to take pictures until we get there and then return the camera to us.
The last item in the bag was a note to Rebecca from "mama" and "baba". A friend's mother graciously agreed to do any chinese translating we needed. It has been a delight getting to know Kathy and have her help us with this. She labeled all the photos, translated the note, wrote instructions for the camera and the lotion. I'm learning a lot about Chinese culture, insights she has about Rebecca, plus she's just a hoot! Its been one of many gifts we have received as part of the adoption community. Its wonderful.
I had mixed feelings as I was preparing this package. Tears of joy welled as I pulled the items together and wrote the note. I felt like I was reaching out and touching Rebecca. Then I felt great sadness as I drove away from UPS thinking about how I wanted to be going to Rebecca instead of that package - the package was never going to adequately convey how we feel about her and we are so ready to have her in our arms...but patience, we've waited this long, we can wait a little longer.
Still no word on when our exact travel dates are, which is typical. China is just now getting back to work after the Chinese New Year Holiday and there are a number of things to arrange before we find out. We have a travel meeting via phone next week to review the paper work and logistics of travel in general. Packing for this adventure is a full time job in and of itself, so keeping busy is not a problem and the best way to cope with the wait.

January 27, 2009

We have learned more about our little Rebecca but it isn't totally clear yet. She is at SWI Shanggao County orphanage in the Jiangxi province. It is likely she has a 'granny' assigned to her care from a neighboring retirement home.I spend hours on the computer learning as much as I can about the area she is from and the orphanage where she was found. They even have a Yahoo group specifically for people who have babies from this orphanage, so the flow information is overwhelming but so welcome!

I have to get off this computer sometime and get some things done, like buy this little one some clothes!!



I have found a video of her orphanage dated 2006 on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqqFCjTB724 Check it out!

Our acceptance letter was sent to China yesterday but not much will happen this week due to the New Year holiday. Please watch this blog for updates!!

New Beginnings Jan. 26, 2009

Happy Chinese New Year!!
Happy new year, indeed. We received our referral phone call on Thursday Jan. 22nd at 3:35 PM and received the delicious news about our baby girl.



Her Chinese name is Shang Guan Xin Da and she was born on May 26, 2008. So, she is eight months old today. We excitedly and anxiously await our travel date which is in the next 5-7 weeks. Hopefully we will know more when we have our travel call with the agency in a few week.

We have decided to name her Rebecca with her middle name still to be determined. We were absolutely thrilled and so thankful to hear that Rebecca has been in foster care most of her life. We have also learned more details surrounding her birth and the things that she likes but will post those once we have the all of the details translated.

We are so very grateful to all of the family and friends who have prayed for us and have traveled this long three year wait with us. Please stay tuned to this station as this is where any new information will be posted moving forward. That is, if I can figure out how to edit this blog after I've signed out!!