Reflecting on the past 2 days (and 9 months)

Oh! If only the last 9 months went as quickly as these last 2 days. Our "journey to Julie" began officially on August 4th 2004 when we sent in an application to our agency, Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI). There began our (ok, MY) mad rush to get all our papers together-- medical evalauations, birth and marriage certificates, police clearances, interviews with social worker, and countless other legal steps and procedures. At the end of October 2004 we were done with the "paper chasing" and turned in our dossier to CCAI who had it translated and sent to China by November. That's when the waiting began. Spencer did so patiently-- a trait I envy and admire. I, on the other hand, needed to obsessively join Yahoo Chinese adoption message boards and listened for rumors as to when we could expect the call of our lives.

This last month was the hardest. I was impatient, cranky and found myself thinking "I can't handle this wait any longer". And when the call finally came yesterday I remember thinking "What? Already?" Ha, life is funny. Yesterday's 5-10 minute phone call marked the beginning of our new life. A life that will include a little beautiful, wanted baby!! During the call, Spencer had to take over note-taking duties because I literally was too happy and excited to spell. Later that day I even crashed into a neighbors trash can with my car. Oops. My concentration is way off. All I can think about is the love for a child I've never met.

Julie is residing in Xiushan Social Welfare Institute in an autonomous region in China called Chongqing. We will be picking her up in July. Apparently Chongqing is called the "furnace" because of it's oppressive heat and humidity during the summer. Oh well. We've included a map of China that shows where the city of Xiushan is located.

We received 2 more precious pictures of Julie today taken when she was about 4.5 months. She looks a bit perplexed in the photos, but wouldn't you if you were attached to a high chair with a red string? (look at high chair picture closely).

Here are some fun facts about Julie: Her name, Xing, means Star. How wonderful that we will be reminded of our little one each night. She eats 7 times a day (like me), she poops 1-2 times a day (like me), she is active and restless (oh oh), but a deep sleeper (yeah!). She is quick to smile (except when attached to wooden and wicker chairs).

Hold on baby, mama and baba are coming to get you!!!