Pre-Approval!

Well it took us 41 days to find out but we got the email today that we received pre-approval (PA)! Our official PA date is October 12, 2009! We are thrilled to finally be able to share the photo of our beautiful little Celia!

What's in a name? Part 2

If you read my post about this before you know we did not have a definite name picked out for our daughter prior to being matched with her. We were hoping to see her face and have an epiphany. At the same time we also wanted to give her a name that had sentiment and relevance. We were leaning towards giving her a name with the same first initial as me. Since my real first name is Hyacinth but people only really call me Cindy we were wondering what to pick. An "H" name or a "C" name? It quickly became obvious, based on our preferences, that a "C" name would give us more options. Then there was the meaning of the names. I gotta tell you the "C" names we liked had potential issues. Some of the top contenders meant "blind", "crooked nose" and "white". As prospective adoptive parents to a child with a special need, we needed to be sensitive to the fact that these names might not be a good fit for our daughter depending on what her special need was. But we did find out that the name that meant "blind" was also a derivative name of the patron saint of music and we liked that. So we figured as long as our daughter did not have a visual special need than that name was still in play.

When we got matched I put a post on Rumor Queen asking for help translating our daughter's Chinese name. Luckily a super nice woman that also got matched on the same day as us, from the same orphanage and whose husband also happens to be chinese offered to translate her name for me! I emailed her the characters for our daughter's name. Her chinese name is Jiang Qin Dan. And she told us that Jiang means river; Qin means exuding or emanating; and Dan means Peony! Peony!!!! Her name means Peony and I am Hyacinth!!! If that isn't fortuitous than I don't know what is!!! The sentiment and relevance we were hoping for with her american name was already there in her chinese name. I love it!

Her referral information also mentioned a couple times that she liked music! Horray!

And so it is with great joy and excitement that we announce our daughter's name! It will be Celia Qindan ~ our "C" named, patron saint of music inspired, peony exuding little girl!

This photo was taken by our niece Caroline, aka Cece, and another inspiration for Celia's "C" name. It is a photo of the peonies growing in my SIL's garden. Beautiful!

Seeing their sister for the first time!

The Call - Part 2

So we got the call at 9:55 AM and I could not reach Dave. The next person I wanted to reach was Mommy at The Womble Times. She has been such an amazing friend to me and despite never having met her in person (which I totally plan to change), it feels as if we have know each other for ages. Possibly because adoption years are kinda like dog years!

So Mommy is like my China adoption BFF and the problem was Mommy was all the way around the world in China picking up her sweet Mei Mei! Not really a problem for her as much as me ;) We had actually joked about this happening! A Murphy's Law kind of thing! So I quick sent her an email with the title "Of course you knew this would happen!" Not a 1/2 hour later she emails me back! (Seriously, how did people go through adoptions before the internet and email?!) In the meantime, I was calling my SIL and telling her we got the call. My SIL and niece have been uber-supportive of this whole process and it has been so wonderful to share it with them. My SIL kept saying "I really think this is it! I think she is your baby!" Our niece was in the background and I could hear them oooh and ahhh as they pulled her photo up on their computer. It was fantastic!

In hind sight, I should have known we would get "the call" that day. The stage was set for "the call". First, the Rumor Queen report was that there were few children on the list and so I was completely convinced our wait would continue. My husband was unreachable. My China adoption BFF was in... well... China. And I scheduled my carpets to be cleaned that morning which meant that I would have men here moving around my furniture and obscenely loud vacuum noises in the background. Of course these same men had to shout to each other over the noise and did so in Russian... at least I think it was Russian? This in turn triggers obscenely loud noises by my dog that is mad about the vacuum and men shouting in a foreign language. And finally my 2 youngest boys sitting next to each other with their Nintendo DS's turned on full volume and shouting to each other over the rest of the noise.

Now the stage is set... Cue skype call from Mommy from The Womble Times! Picture me holding my laptop in the corner of my living room and her huddle over hers in the darkness of her hotel room in China. She is whispering because Mei Mei is asleep in the room, "Can you hear me?" and I am screaming over the cacophony of my house "Yes! Can you hear me?!" Mommy whispers to me "I think you found your baby!" And I am thinking, you know that, I know that, my SIL and niece know that... if only Dave knew it too! I guess this is one those cases where the husband is the last to know! LOL!

We are still on cloud 9!

PS In this photo are Dave and the beautiful pale blue hydrangeas he brought home in celebration of our adorable daughter!!! Plus a balloon that is hard to read but says "It's a girl!". He has promised to bring our daughter hydrangeas every year on this anniversary - September 17! What a guy!!! Next one is Evan and Ryan with the flowers and ballon.

"The Call"

There were many points over the course of these past three years that I thought we might never have this moment but we did! Finally! We got "the call"!

It was Thursday, September 17, 2009. I had been stalking Rumor Queen all week long for news on the upcoming shared list. I had heard the shared list had come out the night before but that there weren't many children on it so I begrudgingly resigned myself to the fact that we were going to have to wait at least another month. When the phone rang at 9:55 AM with one of our directors name on the caller ID, I immediately thought to myself 'Don't get excited. This isn't it. She just has a question.' I calmly answered the phone. We had the usual 'how are you's'. And then she calmly said "Listen I may have a potential referral for you." I listened somewhat in shock as she described our future daughter!

Moments earlier, before we had gotten "the call", I had called Dave at work to ask him something. Only I didn't call his direct line at his desk. I accidently called his cell phone. He answered in hurried hushed tones and reminded me that he was in a very important, all day, off-site, can't-be-interrupted, meeting for work. I felt bad and apologized. And when he hung up, he turned off the ringer on his cell, something he never ever does! But it was that kind of meeting and of course it makes for a more interesting story for our daughter to hear one day :)

So when I got "the call" I figured this was "an emergency" and one more call to Dave on his cell would be forgiven but his ringer was off. I tried emailing and texting him too but rightfully so he wasn't paying any attention to his phone. I left voice mails, emails and texts and then spent my time pouring through our daughters paperwork. In that time I was falling in love! All the while Dave was oblivious to the fact that he just got a new daughter!

Here is what her paperwork told me. Her name is Jiang Qin Dan and she is in the Dianjiang SWI in Chongqing Municipality. She was born on July 30, 2008. She was found when she was 1 day old and is currently 13 months old. She is described as extroverted with a ready smile. She is a deep sleeper and is fond of playing with toys. Her referral picture is adorable and there is something about her expression that reminds me so much of our second son Ryan when he was younger. And although I can't quite articulate it, there is something about her that feels so familiar. It's a wonderful feeling!

And finally sometime after lunch I got a text from Dave with one word written in it. "Awesome". LOL! Awesome to say the least! Poor guy did not have access to a computer all day. He raced home around 4 PM and made a bee-line straight to his lap top. When he was done reading her file (with me hovering behind him), he swiveled his chair around with a big smile on his face. I asked him what he thought and he said he thought we found our daughter! I said that is what I had been thinking all day! We called right then and accepted her file!

Stepping back and being completely honest, for as much as I wanted to get "the call", I know there was a part of me that was fearful of it too. I can be neurotic and a bit of an over-analyzer to the point of making myself crazy at times. I worried that we would get the call and then I would spend the next few months secretly terrified of what the future held for us. In fact, I pretty much prepared myself for months of varying degrees of uncertainty and inner turmoil. But this was no ordinary day and I can honestly and shockingly say that I not only had so much excitement in my heart but I had peace too. And the inner peace was truly the best part. I look at her referral photo and it all feels right. I feel so much love in my heart for her and Dave and I feel blessed beyond belief. After all the waiting, all the uncertainty, all the tears and then to hear my husband repeatedly say "I can't believe how lucky we are" over and over just fills my heart with peace.

Guess what happened at our house today?!

More news to follow just as soon as we can share!!!! I can share this though, we are over the moon! It is the best combination of brimming over with happiness... and peace... finally after three years some peace and feeling that this is all how it was supposed to happen... at long last.

In this photo is Evan holding the lady bug he found in our back yard in spring of 2009!

Classic Ryan!

The other day we were headed out and I told the boys to go upstairs and get dressed. Ryan declared that he was going to dress "fancy". His go-to fancy look is a white oxford (even if its wrinkled, untucked and mostly unbuttoned). I guess he was feeling particularly fancy as he added the clip-on tie. In classic guy fashion he paired it with jeans, a pair of kicks and a baseball cap... seriously, he is always with the baseball cap... even with pajamas. I know I am biased but I think his "look" totally works because it is sooooo Ryan and he looks sooooo cute. Included is his other favorite "accessory" his Nintendo DS!