Introducing Gemma YingLian

Got the call at work at 11:30 central time. Our new daughter is Gemma YingLian. Her Chinese name means "outstanding person" (Ying) "lotus flower (Lian). She is 2 yrs and 2 months old, born in July of 2008. This is the Year of the Rat--a year we know we like bc my dad is a Rat (meant nicely!). She 31" tall and 25 pounds.

Gemma YingLian is from Guangdong province. This means we will probably remain in Guangzhou for our two weeks. We'll travel in 5 - 8 weeks.

She's shy and introverted, likes picture books, games, and music, walks steadily and can climb stairs, and is a deep sleeper. The woman who called from CCAI kept telling me that the pix we'll get tomorrow (not the mug shot above but little photos) are very, very sweet.  

Josie was in the office w/me when the call came. At first, she was elated, crying "she's so sweet!" Then she just cried for her loss--no longer the only one. Now I've bribed her w/McDonalds and television (sad but true) so I can start making calls.

We are elated!!!!!!!!!

THE STORK IS FLYING

According to our very conservative, mum's-the-word agency, matches have been mailed. That means that, by week's end, we may have a picture and some background about our baby (aka a referral).

If I appear to be a complete basket case, I am! I don't know whether to remain stoic or burst into tears, and this is just while I walk across campus. I've done some of both today.

The process: our agency translates the file before calling us, meaning that referrals will arrive, and it will be at least 24 hours before we get THE CALL. They have been giving famlies a pre-call to let them know when to be ready. I have sheets for questions to ask when we get THE CALL posted at home and at work. My first instruction to self is "breathe."

I'm sort of stunned. After all this time, it's hard to imagine that there is actually a little person at the other end of this long wait.

More when we know it.

No referrals in September

If the blogosphere and the agencies are right (and it stands to reason they are), the CCAA will not send referrals in September. FYI--there are usually abt 32 days bw referrals, so once a month is the norm. The last set of referrals arrived on 16 August.

A CCAA delegation is visiting the US. It's unclear to me if anyone who signs off on referrals is in that group, but that's probably not relevant. September was skipped last year as well. November is the end of the fiscal yr in China, and the slow down probably relates to balancing records.

As is, it is now Mid-Autumn festival in China, a wonderful holiday that features mooncakes and perhaps a re-telling of the tale of the Lady in the Moon: Tale of the Lady Chang Er I've read that you can order mooncakes at Starbucks in China. They look delish.

All to say, we probably will not hear anything until 1 October or so. Huge sigh of disappointment.

Closer, closer

First, a celestial picture of Josie, taken & manipulated by Laura (I omit last names for privacy purposes).

This has been a strange week! Monday, some in the adoption community expected referrals. The CCAA (Chinese adoption central, that is) sent a delegation to the US, so it was assumed that referrals (for us) and travel approval (for those referred in August) would arrive.

Nope. In fact, Monday was devoid of rumors.

Now, I was not a fan of adoption rumors during the first couple yrs of this adoption. I checked on RumorQueen (now ChinaAdoptTalk) periodically.

For the last few weeks, though, I've been relieved to be able to retreat to the chatrooms full of others who understand that alternate universe AKA adoption from the PRC. It's a supportive group where you can "talk" endlessly abt frustration w/the process, ask questions, vent, etc.

In the end, the process is obviously worth it. In the meantime, though, it is as if a group of people were told to run a race. After runners reached the finish line, they were told to repeat the last lap. Again. Again. One more time w/feeling. Then the rules to the race were changed; some new hurdles were added. Then the judges all moved to a centralized location (okay, that last one doesn't work very well).

Given who John and I are, given who Josie is, we are confident that the match will be right for our family. We just wish it didn't take so long.

I think we'll hear something w/in a week. Or not. But it's looking more promising, sort of.

Wonderful weekends

We've had fun company the last two weekends. At the end of August, John's fellow mentor, Philip, joined us with the two Chinese scholars from Sichuan province. Josie enjoyed practicing her hair-styling skills on Debora (who was a very good sport) and rocked the hammock w/Kate and Debora.

The next weekend, my father and his wife JoAnne visited for the Labor Day holiday. We went to Little Balkans Day, the annual street festival celebrating our town's heritage, and Josie got her face painted. Here she is w/the neighbors, showing off her rockstar make-up. They make a very photogenic trio.

We went out for dinner that night, Josie still in rockstar form.

I also got a shot of Gator fans, two in their rah-rah hats and t-shirts. Whatever.

In the meantime, school is underway for all of us. Josie has made a good start at her new school. I am re-adjusting to the pace of part-time teaching and college students. It's far less hectic, and it feels like I'm cheating to have all this freedom. Oh well. Sleep deprivation is on the horizon, so I'm enjoying the extra time to myself. John and I walk to school most days, and have a once-a-week lunch date (he treats).

We are probably one to two weeks from referral. No rumors yet today. I am trying to remain even-keeled as there have been hitches throughout the entire process. We had a giant hitch w/Josie when our referral didn't come when the others in our group did. All to say, I'm not buying any baby things (what if she's two?). Planning to shift to hyperspeed when we finally know who our number four will be.

More as we know it....

One giant leap for Franklinkind

Our home study arrived today! 

I emailed the SW to see what was up this a.m., and she said she thought we'd already have it. Taught, held office hours, went home, and there it was! I proofread and assembled papers, ready to mail it.

In line w/the process, I had forgotten a step: I needed John's sig. on the application. Got it. Mailed.

Got home and reviewed my checklist. Uh, forgot to send a copy of the original home study. Called the federal agency that handles this paperwork and asked if they could put a note in our file that info would arrive in two packages. No problem. Mailed the original home study.

And now, we wait. But this is HUGE. HUGE.  HUGE!

Now I can start getting excited about a baby. Hunh? A baby? I thought this was all about paper.

Fun, fun, fun

Over the last couple of days, I have had more fun than I can say. Insert old-fashioned sound of nails on chalkboard.

Here's a cute photo to offset the rest of the message (Josie at Rosenblatt field):

Sunday, I accosted my doctor at church to find out what had happened to the letter required for our files, the letter I had called about all week. Is this a mortal or venial sin to harass your doctor after mass? She was relaxed and pleasant--oh, I wrote that last week; check back first thing in the morning if there's a problem. Hmm, so why didn't the SW have it?

Sunday night, the SW said her home fax machine was broken. Sorry. We could email the letters instead.

Monday a.m., I called my doctor's office. They couldn't email the letter bc it wouldn't include the doctor's signature. No, of course not. I emailed the SW: I will pick up these letters in person and fax them to your agency.

Monday a.m., I also began my new/old job as a college English instructor. Spent the day running around--to the university, to doctors' offices, to Josie's school to eat lunch w/her class, to campus to fax doctors' letters. Teaching a morning and a night class bookended the day with an office hour in there somewhere.

John said he would drive to the social worker and her agency himself (150+ miles) to deliver the doctors letters if we couldn't get this settled.

Somewhere in there, the SW called me. Gosh, she didn't know what was going on, but her fax does work and it probably always did and she didn't know why her friend couldn't send her a fax so we should send everything to her. I said I would do as I'd said in my last email: fax the letters to her agency. I would also continue to fax to her home in case her machine did indeed work. And I would send physical copies by express mail or by my express service (John T Franklin) if that didn't work.


John's dr had the letter ready when I went by; mine couldn't find it (yes, I called first), but called me later, and I returned for it.


My fax to the SW's agency wouldn't go through. I called the agency. The fax number was wrong. I had included it in our emails when I told the SW I would fax her agency. Once I called the agency and had the correct numbers, the fax went through. Last night, SW also emailed that she had the faxes at home.


I don't know why that became so complicated, but it is almost over. Our agency proofreads; the SW and her supervisor sign it; it is sent to us where I have all materials assembled.


And then, hopefully, that nails-on-chalkboard sound takes a hike.