Our Hunan Baby-Girl

Here are a couple more photos of our Hengnan Hunan cutie pie!
Mommy, Daddy & Bryan love our baby girl so very much!

THE CALL!!!

We are over the Moon!

We received the call from CCAI on July 29, 2005 at 12:30PM. We were driving when the cell phone rang. We immediately pulled over and answered, just knowing this was the call. It was Becky from CCAI with the most wondrous news ever, "You have a daughter". I cried and cried with joy. David and Bryan were more calm.

You dream of this moment in time the second you decide to have children. Now our dreams have become reality. We want to thank everyone who helped us to become a family. Thank you everyone at CCAI, Sharon Bailey, the CCAA, and most especially thank you to the birth parents who loved our little girl enough to ensure she have a home with a mom, dad & big brother who will love her for the rest of her life. Thank you, Thank you!!!

Please meet the newest Family member: Karen


Here is some information about our cutie pie:
Name: Karen
Chinese name: Nan Fu Qin
Pronounced: Nan Foo Chin
Name Means: Fu is good fortune; Qin is musical instrument
Orphanage: HengNan County Welfare Institute (CWI)
Providence: Hunan
County: HengNan
DOB: January 22, 2005
Age: 6 months 1 week
Weight: 11 lbs at 4 months
Height: 22" at 4 months
Favorite toy: Rattle

God has had his hand in putting us together. Karen was born on Susie's birthday the Aunt she's named after. She has the same birthday as her great grand father, James; her aunt Ethel, and her Aunt Joyce. She even resembles our son, Bryan at that age. So I praise my Lord for his blessings upon our family.

Enjoy today as we are,
Jenny, David, Bryan & Karen

Referrals at our Agency

They're delivered!!!

Referrals have been delivered and accepted at our agency. Tomorrow we will get the call that will change our lives. We will get to see our daughter, Karen for the first time ever!

Today our agency will get in-touch with the CCAA in China to confirm all the referral information for accuracy. Then calls will begin Friday. I can't tell you how I feel right now. If I could use one word, it would be quivering. There is anticipation, excitement bordering on euphoria, relief, love, tears; just a gamut of quivering emotions.

Check back here tomorrow to see her for yourself.

Thank you, CCAI!!!

Referral Update

I'm just a big old blubbering mess tonight.

I went to a store called Hobby-Lobby (great store by the way) today after work. When I entered I found my path lead me to a display of Lady-bugs. Not just any display, but big splashes of red, beautiful lady-bugs looking back at me. The color red is considered good luck in China; and lady-bug sittings are considered by many of us adopting parents a sure sign that referrals can be coming. Well I stood there in the glow of these numerous lady-bugs of every shape, size, and caricature. I felt an overwhelming sense of peace, happiness and pure Joy. I just knew there was news waiting for me at home. I saw this one lady-bug bank smiling at me and I bought it for Karen. This lady-bug was meant for our little girl. When I arrived home sure enough there was big news.

Referrals are in the mail which means that any day now we will see Karen's face for the very first time. It could be as early as Friday or as late as Monday. I can barely type without tears clouding my vision. Tears of true joy! All I can think about is questions. What will she look like? How old will she be? Will she have a full head of hair or be a bald baby? What is my baby doing right now? It's daytime there as I write this. Is she waiting for her mama, daddy and big brother? I know her family is certainly waiting for her.

I'm a crying mess and David is shouting for joy and its only "in the mail". It finally feels real to me. Our baby girl's picture is only a few days away...a few days, finally. Family and friends check back soon because you will see her picture here next time I post!

Where-ever you are, what-ever providence you're in my sweet baby girl may you feel my heartbeat, for I feel your heartbeat...two heartbeats, one song.

Our Home

I know that some of our family and friends have not had an opportunity to see our home, so I wanted to include a picture. David, Bryan & my brother, Donivan are enjoying the day in front of our home. You can also see our pet sheltie, Chloe. Its rare when you see me in a picture as I'm usually the one behind the camera.

I have been checking our update page from CCAI faithfully, sometimes a few times a day. I wouldn't want to miss anything. I am looking to see if there is any news about referrals. So far we are still just waiting. We could get the referral this next week or even the week after. I know that this batch of referrals will include all of the remainder of our December group and will have many of the January folks. I just don't know how far into January the CCAA will go. Having missed the cut-off date last month I know how sad the late January LID people will feel if they too miss the referral cut-off date. Its bitter/sweet because you know that next month is yours for sure (the sweet); however you so count on it being this month that when it doesn't happen it just hurts deeply (the bitter).

So here's to a big batch of quick referrals...I also wanted to let you know that if you have any questions my email is listed under my profile area. Just click on my profile and you will find it there. I hope that the next time I update I will have fantastic news.

The Wait & children's rooms

The long wait hasn’t been too difficult, except in June when we missed the last referral cut-off date by 3 days. All that means is that this month, July we will be next in line to receive referrals. Course this month has been so busy for us that we haven’t had time to realize that referrals are coming. I have stayed busy by working and getting Karen’s room ready for her arrival. I’m an artist and my home is my canvas. I painted a wall mural for my son’s room. It’s a visual map about leaving our home, traveling past the lake where we live and reaching his Aunt Elizabeth’s horse farm. It’s a great room for a little boy to grow up in; and he loves it. I have painted a fairy wonderland for Karen’s room. There are flowers for her bedding and pretty pink colors for her crib. She has a grown-up girly bed and little girl crib. It’s definitely a girls room even though my husband and son tell me she will be raised on football and basketball. I married into a big sports family.

On another line of thought, I want to mention how we chose the name for our son and daughter. David always wanted to name his son Bryan. He has a cousin of that name sake and I love the name Matthew; thus my son’s name was chosen. As for Karen Lin, her first name comes from David’s beloved sister who left us and went to Heaven (we miss her very much). Karen’s middle name is my middle name which is Lin; thus my daughter’s name was chosen. I think we may keep part of her Chinese name also. We love the Chinese culture and people. It’s exciting to know that in a few days we will get to see our baby for the first time. Goodness the “call” will be coming any day now. The call is when you get your referral information and the agency will email her first picture. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Paper Chasing/Trail

During the adoption research phase, we looked into domestic and international adoption. International adoption fit our family needs and so we began to gather information on the steps we would need to take in order to adopt. We knew friends who were adopting their daughter from China through CCAI, an agency based in Colorado. CCAI is founded by Joshua Zhong and his wife Lily Nie. We liked everything we heard about the agency. CCAI has a website located at http://www.chinesechildren.org/Default.htm. I can't count how many times we have read and explored the information on their site. I have only good things to say about CCAI and recommend them with the highest regard.

We made the call that would change our lives in 2003 and CCAI sent us an application packet which we sent back to them on November 7. The adoption process through CCAI has approximately 6 decisive factors: (1) submitting the application, (2) compiling the dossier documents, (3) waiting for the match, (4) waiting for travel arrangements, (5) traveling to China (6) and post placement/adoption validation. Each factor has its own set of sub-levels which must be accomplished before progressing to the next phase. Paper work is one reason why the process takes so very long. First we have to compile the legal documents (dossier), get them notarized, certified, and authenticated; then the documents are reviewed by CCAI and eventually sent to the CCAA in China. It is then reviewed by the CCAA who makes the final decision. We sent our dossier to CCAI November 1, 2004. It was sent to the CCAA in China on December 20, 2004, and the CCAA gave us a LID (log in date) of December 24, 2004. It is the LID date that is important to every Chinese adoption. Once we had our LID then the real wait began. It takes approximately 6 to 8 months to get the referral/match (our daughter’s photo and medical information). That’s where we are at tonight as I write: We expect the referral any day now. I know the whole process sounds daunting; but CCAI walks you through every step of the process, and the end result is our beautiful daughter who is waiting for her mommy, daddy and brother to come get her and bring her home.

Welcome

Welcome to our journal/journey for Karen Lin.

This is the first blog I have ever attempted and thus am on a learning experience. We are David and Jenny. We have one biological, nine-year old son, Bryan. We always wanted children, but being an infertile couple slowed down the process. It was a struggle to become pregnant with our son, and an even bigger struggle to carry him to term. I didn't make it to full term, Bryan was born premature in March of 1996. He has since grown into an amazing little boy. We always knew that we wanted to have more children the problem was how to accomplish the task.

As infertile couples know, one thing does not always lead to another. So after various long discussions and many years of research, in November 2003, David and I contracted with CCAI (Chinese Children Adoption International) to adopt our first daughter from the People's Republic of China.

In the many coming weeks I will slowly begin piecing together our incredible journey from the dossier (paper trail) to the "gotcha day" moment (a term used to mean the day our daughter will be placed within our arms).

We are excited and wanted to share our joy and journey with our family and friends. We also hope to encourage other families who may be interested in pursing a Chinese international adoption or are in the same part of the process.

We hope you enjoy following our journey.