Last Day of January

Today is the last day of January! I'm not sure where the month has gone...it zipped by. My Baby girl turned 7 months on Thursday, 1/28...
I received a letter from a pediatric cardiologist on Tuesday, to send to CCAA; it encourages them to bring this baby to the USA quickly for much-needed surgery. A BIG Thank you to Dr. Van Gundy, Dr. Arthur, and their nurse Lorna!! I emailed it to my agency, who will have it translated and sent on to Beijing. We are hoping that CCAA will rush the rest of this process and let me bring NiNi home soon!
Beijing is closing for 2 weeks for Chinese New Year...so nothing will happen in the adoption world during that time. I think it is the 7th-21st.
I am getting all kinds of great stuff from my work friends with kiddos. I now have a crib and mattress, and stroller; today I should add a highchair to that...still to come: a play-n-pack, carseat/stroller combo, and an inflatable tub. :-) I also bought a dresser at Ikea- their stuff is awesome! Many thanks to all of my work friends...you guys rock! :-) My house is beginning to look like a baby might be coming soon!
Now I R-E-A-L-L-Y need to get her quilt finished! :-) everything is cut out, the ladybugs are put together, I just need to sew it all...
Here's hoping that this week brings LOA...and TA and CA!! :-) I can hope, can't I?!

PA!!! (pre-approval)

INTRODUCING: LiuNi, my daughter-to-be!!

Yeah!!! I received an email today, telling me that I have PA as of 1/20/10! LiuNi is going to be my daughter!! :-)

She will be 7 months old this week; can't wait to hold this darling baby girl. I have stared at this picture since October 23rd (she was about 4 months old in the picture)...waiting for permission to be allowed to share this information!

For those who haven't heard anything about this child: she has a major heart defect, called TGA (transposition of the great arteries). She will need heart surgery once I get her home, but should be perfectly fine after that. :-) In China, there is a 50% mortality rate associated with TGA repair; in the USA, approximately 5%.

The orphanage has been calling my baby "NiNi" (pronounced NeeNee), so that is how I've been thinking of her...She is in a care home that is run by my agency, so she is being closely watched as she waits for me.

Now we wait for the next steps: LOA, TA, CA...hoping they will come quickly so I can get to China!!

God is good, so much to be thankful for tonight.

3 months!

Hard to believe that it has been 3 months since I was offered my referral. Time has flown...and yet she is still in China...sigh...

Here's hoping the new week will bring LOA so I can post my baby's beautiful pictures. For everyone who is "praying this baby home", keep up the good work! :-) and thank you!

Bonnie

Locked In!!!

Good news from my agency!! Baby's file has been "locked in"...that is, her file is now connected officially to mine...the next step SHOULD be LOA!! I'm doing the "happy dance" here.
Yesteday I received NiNi's official file..."NiNi" is her nickname at the orphanage, and that is how I am thinking of her for now...I received updated photos of her, taken just a few days ago!! It brought tears to my eyes, and made her seem more real. I just cannot wait for permission to post pictures, to share her with everyone, and I REALLY can't wait to hold her in my arms...after all these years, motherhood is SO close! :-)
It was wonderful to see that NiNi is doing so well. She is in a care facility run by my agency (CCAI- wonderful folks!), and will stay there until I can pick her up. To look at her little pictures, you would never know she has a health problem. She is still tiny, barely on the height/weight charts, but she will grow once she is home...It has been stressful, wondering if this little one would survive the wait, but it looks like she is doing fine. :-)

Here's hoping the next week brings LOA!!

And, in the middle of a downpour: here's hoping that the weather dries out in a few days so I can put a new roof on the house...Yep, in the middle of all of this, the ancient, crummy roof is leaking...so it HAS to be replaced NOW...sigh...but, it could be worse...at least I have the means to replace it...and I won't have to think about it again for a very long time! :-)

God is good...so much to be grateful for, AS ALWAYS!

New Happenings...

I heard from my agency today...my paperwork has met up with Baby's in Beijing!! Baby's official file is heading towards my agency, where it will be translated and sent to me! :-) There might be more pictures, updated statistics...who knows?! But it is more info, info that I have craved these past 81 days.

Still Waiting....

Hello to all.

Well, I'm still waiting for LOA... for those who haven't heard: I sent LOI (letter of intent) for a beautiful baby girl. She has a pretty major special need that will require surgery, and she hadn't been registered for adoption when I found out about her. Two months later, I've been allowed to send LOI, and her province is registering her now. Our paperwork should meet up in Beijing any day now...then I should hear something official. :-) I am just so eager to share her little photo and the few details I have...but I cannot, until China gives me permission.

So I wait...and keep looking at that beautiful little picture.... :-)


Bonnie

First Post!! :-)

Happy New Year to everyone! I am just getting this started, so bear with me...

The whole idea of starting a blog is so friends and family can follow my adoption journey to China. People I am close to know just how l-o-n-g of a process this has been. (Hint: in April, I will officially have been waiting for 36 months!!) Wait times were 8-12 months when I was starting the process...sigh.

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's. I can't believe 2009 is history- where did it go?? I had a lovely holiday season, full of friends and family. I have so much to be thankful for, as always. The new year starts with a blank slate, and how we fill it in is up to us.

2010 looks to be a year of changes and interesting events! My BFF (Jenn) will graduate from nursing school this year! yeah!! :-) I am considering changing jobs after 10 1/2 years in CSICU...it is exciting and oh-so-scary to think about, but we will see how it works out. The biggest change is OF COURSE, on the adoption front: this should be the year that I become a mom!! That will be HUGE, and include a 2-week journey to China to pick up my daughter. My mom and 14-year old niece are planning to journey with me, so it should be an exciting adventure for us!! :-)

God's blessings to one and all for the coming year!