FINALLY - (on my 40th birthday no less) - HERE SHE IS!!!!

It is with great excitement and utter joy that I announce the referral of my daughter – and my parents’ first grandchild...

Lia Xiao Hui

I received the match from my agency on April 21, and now that I’ve received my Pre-Approval (PA) notice from China – I can finally share this awesome news! YES – it’s true – after 3.5 years of paperwork and waiting…we finally know who our sweet girl is:

Lia’s Chinese name is Xiao Hui. According to my agency, Xiao means “little or small” and Hui means “intelligent”. Her birthday is November 10, 2008, which means she is currently (almost) 18 months old. She is in the city of Xi’an in the Shaanxi Province of central China. As you can see from her photos, Lia was born with a cleft lip and palate, and her lip was surgically repaired around her 1st birthday in Nov. 2009. She will require some additional surgeries and dental work on her palate as she continues to grow.

But now on to the fun stuff…here is the (translated) description we received:

“She has bright eyes, and is curious about the whole world. She likes this world, so she smiles all the time, will giggle when being teased, and has two dimples. She does not like to eat the single food, she likes to eat the delicious food, such as noodle, bean food, potato mash, and so on. She is extrovert, happy and cute, you will like her. Her caretakers like her very much.”

Our first thought: She’s a “foodie” -- she will fit PERFECTLY into our family!!!

Our adoption agency expects we will travel to China by August, so she will likely be about 21 mos. old when we meet her.

A lot of friends have been asking about gifts and where we are registered. The truth is – what Lia needs most – more than clothes or toys – is to get home to her family where she can receive the love, attention, medical and nutritional care she needs. So in lieu of gifts, I am asking anyone who feels inclined, to please help us with a cash donation to help cover her orphanage fee, travel and medical costs. Even small donations will add up! Please see the “Chip In” widget at the top left of this page for more info – or feel free to email me directly…and please know that we are thankful from the bottom of our hearts for every friend and family member who has supported us along the way during this looooong process to our girl. We are over the moon!

You Might be Adopting from China if...

I saw this post on another family's blog - and thought it was too good (and too true!) not to share:

You might be adopting from China if...

...you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years.
...you know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways.
...you've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S.
...you know that "waiting for China" has nothing to do with Dillard's or dishes.
...your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #2 or #3 or #4).
...you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime.
...you automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl.
...you own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big).
...you look twice when you see a lady bug.
...you never know how many days will be in the next month.
...you know that babies come in batches.
...you know people who understand when you talk about 2-day months & 3-day months.
...your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years.
...you know who the Rumor Queen is ... AND ... you don't know who she is.
...you've waited so long, that they checked your fingerprints to see if they changed.
...if...while trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles.
...when you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CC@A updates & referrals...
* You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart*

Rain Storms and Ferries and Rainbows - OH MY!

This past weekend, Steve and I headed to Seattle for a quick visit with my family.  In March, my parents moved from their townhome in Kent, (a southern suburb of Seattle) to Vashon Island (a small island community of 11,000 people just west of Seattle). In order to get to Vashon Island, you have to take a 20 min. ferry ride across Puget Sound.

My parents new house sits directly across from Quartermaster Harbor and faces east. So it was really beautiful to watch the sunrise over the harbor on Saturday morning. The sky was a brilliant pink and orange, and reflecting so beautifully off the boats and water. I'm now wishing I had woken Steve up at 6 am to see it himself (and take photos!) but I decided to let him sleep.

Saturday afternoon, we ran some errands around Seattle and visited all the stores and restaurants that we miss living in Spokane. There was a short, torrential downpour in the afternoon, which cleared up just in time for our late afternoon ferry ride back to the island (complete with a rainbow):

On Sunday morning we awoke to a dense fog covering the harbor. At about 9 am, the fog started to lift, and Steve was able to catch some great photos:

After the fog burned off, Sunday afternoon was gorgeous. We headed over to Issaquah to have lunch with my aunt, uncle and grandma. They will soon be moving northwest of Seattle to a town called Anacortes, near the San Juan Islands. Steve was able to catch an impromptu photo of me with my grandma:

All in all, a very relaxed weekend - which I REALLY needed after all of last week's drama!  :)

3 Years...and Still Counting...

Another milestone complete. Today marks 3 YEARS since my log in date (LID) for the China program. Hopefully not many more months to go at this point. At least this year, I can see a light at the end of this very long tunnel. It's possible I could still be waiting to see Lia's face this time next year...but not likely. In all likelyhood, I will at least know who and where she is, even if I have not yet traveled to get her. It's possible she could be home by then! It is also likely that she has already been born and is on her universal path to me at this moment. The thought of that is very exciting, but also makes me cry because I so wish I could hold her in my arms right now.

Especially now.

Those who know me personally know what I do for a living. The past couple of days have been very difficult for me - both professionally - and as a waiting adoptive mom. Emotions are understandably high, and being caught in the middle is very hard. I found myself trying to maintain professional composure, yet in tears behind closed doors. I was thankful more than ever this week that I have the opportunity to work remotely from my home office and be removed (at least physically) from the drama and intensity as it happened. From a case study perspective, it was mind-blowing to see how much social networking now plays a part in situations like this. The ability of every person around the world to blog, FB, tweet, and comment on situations as they unfold is incredible...and overwhelming to say the least.

In the meantime, I must hold onto hope. It is easy to get discouraged month after month as I see others receive referrals and travel to their children - some who applied long after me - but just in a different "order". I still believe I have been true to myself on journey. I am still happy with the agency I chose. Since the very beginning, I have followed the path that has made the most sense to me - mentally and spiritually. But I have learned so much over the past three years. When Lia is ready, I will be ready for her. That is a certainty.

April Ramblings...

I guess pretending that I had received a referral and then going "Ha, ha - APRIL FOOLS" wouldn't really be funny. Not to me anyway. We are, after all, approaching the 3-Year mark from my LID (log in date). But that's a post for another day...

Yesterday Steve and I saw this pick-up truck in a parking lot, very artfully decorated for a little girl's 9th birthday. It was so cute I had to take a picture. What cool parents she has!  The passenger side says "See this face - this is the face of a happy nine year old" and the driver's side says "See this face - her dad feels old (so does her mom!)... Then I had to wonder if her parents are even 30 years old?  I see a lot of very young parents in and around Spokane.

Month three on our "lifestyle change" has wrapped up. At my lowest weight this month (about a week ago) I was down 20 lbs total. Right now I am hovering around 18 lbs. down. Steve is down a total of 29 lbs. Two weeks ago, we went to the Indigo Girls concert and I was able to wear a pair of jeans I hadn't worn since 2006. In fact, most of the jeans and pants I own are too big for me now. Thank goodness for belts. I don't really want to shop for new pants yet, as I am still working toward my goal weight. I am lucky because I tend to both gain and lose weight fairly evenly all over my body, so people tend not to notice changes in my physique - positive or negative - very often (or at least they don't comment on it out loud). But that becomes a bummer when people are really noticing the weight loss of those around you (i.e. STEVE) and not saying anything to you...finally last night our friend Jared (who hadn't seen us in about a month) mentioned that he could see the weight loss in our faces - plural - as in BOTH of us - HOORAY.

Meanwhile, I have been making some more friends at my aqua sport class. The teacher is great. She incorporates a lot of cross-training - running, swimming, and core-work into our 1 hr sessions and makes it fun with great music.
ALL GOOD.   :)

Steve's Birthday

Today was Steve's birthday. Yep - he's turning 29 (again!)...  :)

We went to see our Chiropractor/Nutritional coach on Friday. We've both kind of plateaued on the weight loss the past couple of weeks, so he encouraged us to "go nuts" for Steve's birthday. Cheat on the diet, have whatever we want, and then hit the diet hard again on Monday. He thinks that might "jumpstart" our metabolisms into burning mode once again...so we said OKAY!!! He actually told me the two words I've longed to hear from a doctor forever...which were "eat as much bread as you crave"! Whoo hooo...(twist my arm why don't ya?)

So we started out our Sunday morning at the Rockwood Bakery (do you hear the angels singing???) They have AMAZING baked goods. I love their scones. Unfortunately, they didn't have my absolute favorite - the marionberry scone, so I got the mixed berry, which was almost (but not quite) as delicious. I also had my first cup of coffee since Jan. 1 - an iced sugar-free vanilla latte...which I only drank half of, because immediately it made me start feeling woozy...all that caffiene and milk - whoa - overloading my sensitive digestive system!

Later on for lunch we went to a local establishment called Twigs. I had an amazing White Truffle Prosciutto pizza. It was a thin crust, with herbed garlic oil., prosciutto, scallions, provolone, mozzarella, and white truffle oil. OMG. So good. Cheese and bread...what more could I ask for in the perfect meal? We also split one of their signature toasted pecan caesar salads...delicious.

Then we decided to go see a movie. We had seen previews for "The Bounty Hunter" featuring Jen Aniston and Gerard Butler. We like both of them, and it looked like a funny premise - an bounty hunter who gets to track down his ex-wife and send her to jail...but sadly, it ended up being a snoozer. Poorly written and badly edited. The funniest scenes were definitely in the trailer. Bummer. Can we get those two hours of our lives back please?

But on to dinner - we visited Anthony's on Spokane Falls for their amazing Alaskan Sea Scallops. They are served with rice and steamed asparagus, which would actually be a fairly healthy meal on our diet - EXCEPT for the cup of creamy clam chowder and basket of warm sourdough bread they serve with it...uh, oh. WOW. I am STUFFED. As we sat near the window at Anthony's we could see the spring storm clouds gathering, and sure enough, it was pouring rain by the time we left the restaurant. Oh well, spring showers bring May flowers!

So didn't the doctor say "eat the bread"??? I think I followed his orders explicitly today. In one day I had a scone, pizza crust and sourdough bread - and now I am actually excited to get back on the diet again tomorrow...(whew!)...but most importantly:

Happy Birthday Steve!

35 Months

Today marks 35 months since my dossier was logged in (LID) in China...and tomorrow will mark 4 months that I've been logged in with the Waiting Child program at my agency. Children continue to be matched (a lot of little boys!) and I continue to wait my turn...so not much new to report in my world.

I was so pleased to see Sandra Bullock win the Oscar for Best Actress this week. "Blind Side" was definitely one of my favorite movies of the past year. If you have not seen this movie - GO. It's not a "chick flick" or a "football movie"...it's a movie for everyone. Between this movie, and the earthquake in Haiti, the agency where I work has seen more and more people opening their hearts to adoption in recent months. February was the biggest month for new applications that we've seen in almost a year (and it was a short month) - good news for children everywhere who are living without families!

My friend Bonnie is in China and has her little NiNi now. Our agency is trying to get them back to the U.S. as soon as possible so NiNi can get the heart surgery she so desperately needs. Please keep them in your prayers in the coming weeks.