Chongqing Videos

This is a series of videos shot from a helicopter in Chongqing. It has given me an idea of the area we will be in and where our little one is.

http://chongqing.spicycity.cn/index.php/nkxcq2008series/

SCL arrived today

Christina from our agency called this afternoon. I was sitting by the phone and didn't even check caller id so had no idea who it was. I was happily surprised that it was her with very good news. Our packet with all of Lila's official information and the letter we will sign saying "Yes, we want to adopt her" will arrive tomorrow. We sign that & send it back to our agency then start waiting for them to tell us when we can travel. Hoping, hoping, hoping, it's July. I have a major birthday in July so it would be amazing to get my little girl for my birthday. This is another big milestone and it's a huge relief to have reached it.

Our Girls

I have been waiting over 2 years to take a picture of Grace holding Lila's referral picture. What a blessing to finally be able to take that picture. Don't you love that posed look on Grace's face? She is my drama queen.

Details

I was so excited to post Lila's pictures that I forgot to add any details.

In December she was 29 inches tall and 17.6 lbs

She is in the Bishan County Social Welfare Institute in the province of Chongqing. Chongqing is the largest city in China, so large that it is a province in itself. This wikipedia link gives a lot of information about the area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing

Her birthday is May 25, 2007 so she is 3 years younger than Grace. I wanted my girls to be close in age like Carol Ann and I so they can be as close as we are, we're almost 2 years apart.

Her Chinese name Bi Si Shi means she is a beautiful cute girl and full of oriental temperament. Her nannies at the orphange wrote that when asked to make another little girl stop crying, Sishi would pat her back or hold her hands. Sishi is clever and has a ready smile. she has white skin and long eyelash which make her adorable. We all love this beautiful little angel. I know they are caring for her as best they can until we can start caring for OUR newest little angel.

Here she is!

We got our preapproval (PA) late last night which was early this morning in China!! We are very excited & relieved to have reached this step. Our next step is the official approval called the seeking confirmation letter (SCL) after that we receive travel approval (TA)then we go get her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were slightly delayed getting our PA but Christina (our social worker) kept reassuring me that it would come. She said there is truly no rhyme or reason as to how quickly approvals are coming right now, it's different for every case. ANYWAY we are incredibly happy, totally in love, and more impatient than I have ever been to get my baby!

We found her!

What an amazing, exciting, overwhelming day! I took Grace to the eye doctor this morning, as we were getting ready to leave Gerry called to tell me that Christina with CHI had just called and they had a baby for us to review. As soon as I got home Gerry & I sat down with her paperwork, without a doubt we decided that THIS IS LILA! We immediately called Christina back, left a message, she called, then we told her YES! We then sent in our Letter of Intent to Adopt. Now we wait for China to respond with our Seeking Confirmation Letter. At that point I can offically post her name, location in China, and pictures on the blog.

Snoopy totally sums up our feelings!!

Penguins

We went to the zoo today with Lisa & Hudson for a class about penguins. When we arrived the teacher told Grace that there was also a Gracie in the class. We all laughed about that then got seated. I had to ask Gracie's mom, "I'm sorry, I'm going to be horribly rude, but is she from China?" I quickly followed that with "we're a waiting family." It was a great experience to talk to another local mom with a daughter from China. We had a nice chat about their experiences, the wait, and the overall joys of adoption.

Grace & Hudson had a great time. They learned all kinds of penguin facts, learned how to balance eggs on their feet like penguins do when hatching, went to the aquarium to watch the penguins in their habitat, then came back to the classroom for a snack, craft, and story. The best part by far was getting to meet & pet a real penguin. One of the zoo keepers brought in a small, South African, penguin to meet the kids. The adults got to pet her too! Her name is Louis, yes, Louis is a girl. Her boyfriend's name is Lisa. I guess the only way to find out a penguin's sex is an exam by a veterinarian. They had already been named before their keepers knew their sex. They differentiate the sexes of the birds for zoo purposes with a black wingband for boys & a white wingband for the girls. Grace & I will have fun on our next zoo visit finding the girl & boy penguins.

There is an adorable children's book about penguins. The title is "And Tango Makes Three." It's the story of 2 male penguins at the Central Park Zoo that fall in love. They try to hatch a rock so the zookeepers decide to give them a fertilized egg. They proceed to hatch the egg and are wonderful parents to their little chick Tango.