Referral Day

Today we finally received our referral for Elainea. She is so beautiful! We are all on cloud nine. What a day to remember. I will write more about the day later, right now I want to document everything we know about her. She was born on January 29, 2005. Her chinese name is Fu Lin Xiang. She was born in tthe Hainan Province and is currently living in the Haikou Social Welfare Institute.
We know that she is a deep sleeper, has fifteen teeth and very outgoing like her mama. She knows the word 'No' like her big sister, and has a mouth that reminds me of her Daddy. We will get a translation of her referral papers in the next few days and so we will post more information then. Most of all when you look at her picture she looks like an Elainea. I know without a shadow of a doubt that she was meant to be part of our family.
This is truly one of the happiest days in our lives. We love you Elainea and can not wait to bring you home.

We are Getting Closer

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt


Today the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) updated the website. This website is how they communicate to all those families (and agencies representing them) in the adoption process the progress they have made. This progress is measured against a Log In Date (LID) which is the date the Chinese Government logged your application into their system. Currently they have processed up to 25 August 2005 and our log in date is 02 September 2005. The current processing rate is 16 days per month. This means that our prospects are good to receive a referral at the end of November timeframe.It is exciting to think that within three to four months we will be able to include Elainea in our lives. She is born and living somewhere a separate life, she is part of our family and we love her already, but she is still just a concept. Soon our little girl will be real. Not just an idea or photograph, but real. We will get to know the funny little quirks and she will get to know ours. She will add a new flavor to our family. We are so blessed.Joe and I are not the only ones that have waited for so long. This wait has been extremely difficult for our little Hannah. She is so loving, and her heart is wide open to her little sister. She has waited half of her life for Elainea. We have tried to fill the void by borrowing other people’s children. The most sincere thanks goes out to all those that have allowed their children to spend the weekend with Hannah. Normally Hannah is a beautiful and spunky girl with lots of energy. She finds humor in many things and has the most contagious laugh I have ever heard. Add another kid in the house and this wonderful disposition kicks up to a whole new level. She comes alive in a way I have never seen before. This will be the best Christmas gift she will ever receive.Elainea we can not wait to see what you look like, but we wait for they day when you will be part of our family.