Friday, January 20, 2012

Introducing...

Sweet Pea!  (Sorry, you don't get her real name.)

We have a referral!  We have a referral!  We have a referral!  For those not in the adoption world...We have been matched with a child!  We have been matched with a child!  We have been matched with a child!  (I thought since I won't be posting a photo I should make it up to you with enthusiasm.)

She is almost 6 months and waiting for us in Yugan County SWI in Jiangxi Province of China.

She has a small mop of soft hair, a sweet round face, and the most beautiful eyes.  It does not appear she has any teeth yet...I keep looking at the picture over and over.  (But nyah, nyah I won't share!)  She does look a little angry or determined; I think she'll be able to keep up with Sunflower no problem.

Because of the snow this week we were all home (though Oak was in the shower) when we got the call from our agency.  We'd made sure on Wednesday that the China Team would call us directly instead of trying to go through our social worker here in this state (who we did not expect to be at work anxiously waiting to get our information for us.)

So our China Team rep called at 12:15 p.m. our time.  I was just pouring a coke that I found 3 hours later.  I immediately asked her if it was bad news while I ran to get Oak.  She laughed and said, "no good news, very good news."  And it is.

After the call they finished scanning in all the documents and put them so we could download them.  Can I tell you when our power flickered taking out the internet BEFORE we saw the picture we were pretty stressed?  We had it back up in 5 minutes and I have many friends who have been without power overnight, so I feel bad...but if we had not gotten that picture... 

So timeline...Monday we knew we were in this batch.  Tuesday our agency confirmed the "referrals would be landing later this week."  Wednesday we had a conference call about next steps and travel.  Thursday we got the call.  Today we expect to have the hardcopy of all the paperwork in our hands.  

Next week sometime we'll have the translated documents.  At that point we get to start the countdown to travel as we send in our I800.  We are expecting (based on current travel estimates) that we will be traveling late March at the earliest and early May at the latest.  We will have 3 days to 3 weeks notice of our travel dates...so we'd better get packing.

Yesterday I printed out the little referral picture they scanned and e-mailed.  I forgot to tell the printer I was printing on 4x6 so it "filled" the paper with the top of her head and eyes.  

Sunflower pounced on the photo and asked if she could have it.  She said it would be a good idea to put it on her tall dresser.  I gave it to her because I knew I planned to print another properly.  But once I had the other one printed Sunflower decided to "trade" with me.  "Here, Mom. You can have this one.  She is MY BABY SISTER."  

I stole the picture back after Sunflower was asleep though I plan to print more as soon as I have more ink.
 Photobucket

28 comments:

Merrill said...

Congratulations!!! Even though it was almost 9 years ago, I still remember my referral call and then waiting for my referral packet with pictures to arrive the next day via UPS. It's an exciting time as you go through the final steps and prepare to travel. Happy to read your news.

Research-China.Org said...

Congratulations on your Jiangxi referral! When you are ready to get her newspaper finding ad (which has a great photo of her months younger than her referral photos!) come visit. We also have lots of photos and a DVD about her orphanage.

All the best!

Brian

Bridin said...

congrats on your Yugan princess, our daughter Enya aged just over 5 months is now 9 is also from Yugan, lovely yahoo group you can join. Enjoy this wonderful happy time.
Bridin, Dublin Ireland

Jerusha said...

Congrats!!! :) (here from WAGI)

Cailinado said...

Congratulations from another Yugan mum, it is a very loving orphanage and you can be sure your little Sweet Pea is well cared for. Join us on the Yugan Kids yahoo group

frogglet said...

OH so exciting! Congratulations on your daughter and baby sister! You are in for quite a ride enjoy every minute!

Susan said...

Yeah! Can't wait to see her!

No Greater Love said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! You know I'm hopping for joy over here for you. :)

Mer :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. We have a Yugan baby adopted in October 2009 aged six months. The children are well cared for. There is a good Yahoo SWI group. The Yugan County SWI sends us a Christmas/Chinese New Year card every year since our little one' adoption. Good luck and speedy travel.

Mary Beth said...

Congratulations!!!

Stacy H-W said...

Congratulations!!! So happy you finally have #4! We adopted from China and our lid was March 1, 2006. We have been home with our daugther more than two years now. It is crazy how different a couple of months made. My suggest to you is to take warm clothes for you and the baby. It was so cold when we were there. No heat in the buildings! Even in our hotel there was only heat in our room when we put our hotel key in the slot. We ate in the hotel restaurant with our coats on! Again, congratulations! Safe journey.

Anonymous said...

PS: We were given the newspaper page with our baby's finding ad on the day of meeting her/adoption by the Yugan County SWI, so you may not need to get it from other sources.

Stasha said...

Oh my! This is so exciting!!!!!! Cannot wait to "meet" her.

a Tonggu Momma said...

Oh, congratulations! I am so very happy for you! It's been a long, long wait - oh, how I know that - but now the time is almost now.

Melanie said...

Congratulations! Our daughter(adopted in July 2010) is also a Yugan baby! THe orphanage is wonderful and the nannies take such great care of the babies.

DiJo said...

Congratulations! Our first daughter from China, Ruby Mei, is from Yugan!!!! She is beautiful in every way!!! Blessings to you as you get ready to bring your Jiangxi Jewel home!!!

~Diana

The Johnsons said...

I can't believe it' really happening! So exciting, hooray!

Sarah said...

How wonderful!!! You'll LOVE China and of course, the greatest part will be meeting your little treasure.

Tiffany said...

Congratulations....what a special, special day!

Tiffany

Stefanie said...

Woohooo!!!
Congratulations - so very excited for you!

Stephanie said...

Congratulations!!!! I'm sooo happy for you!

PandJ_L said...

Congrats on your referral! We just came home with our Yugan princess 4 months ago. Like everyone else is saying, it is a very loving SWI and the babies are well loved!

Michelle said...

Oh, my goodnees...CONGRATS on the wonderful news! A good friend of mine has adopted three kids...one from China, the other two from Africa. They are such a blessing! Praying that the process will all go smoothly.

Dan and Karen said...

Just want to congratulate you on your referral! Many happy days are ahead for you as you plan, journey and most importantly bring your precious child home.

We are blessed with two girls from China.

Enjoy these wonderful days!

Anonymous said...

And why in the hell won't you be posting a picture???

LINDYLOR said...

Cedar,

How joyous for you and your family. Congrats and keep us updated.

Becky said...

Congrats on your referral! I also have a daughter from Yugan. She was adopted at 10.5 months old and is now 7. I pray for speedy travels!

Becky

Taylor said...

Congrats on your referral. My little sister is a Yugan baby as well! Yugan seems to be a very loving place for little ones to be. She was very well cared for and seemed to be loved very much. Cannot wait to see you with your Yugan girl and please join the Yugan Yahoo group its a great place to meet other Yugan families!

Taylor