IT'S A GIRL! THE FIRST BITS OF INFO!

WE GOT THE CALL!

Our daughter's Chinese name is: Fu Yan Lin
This name was given to her by the Fuzhou Institute in Jianxi where she is staying. So her surname, like all of the babies here, is "Fu." Her first name is Yan and her middle name is Lin. That means she probably goes by "Lin-Lin," since the middle name is often doubled.

She is 10 months old -- July 17, 2008 is her birthday.

Now ... we wait for the translation of documents (health/medical history) and, once that is complete, it will be sent along with photos -- ETA 2-3 days -- not yet sure how the holiday weekend will factor into that.

We are especially relieved because of the circumstances surrounding the last month. Did you know that, just as a butterfly's wings can start a ripple effect that leads to a hurricane someplace in the world, a pig's sneeze can result in a completely dejected aura in our household!? Our referral is approximately 3 weeks behind schedule due to the flu and China's resulting concerns regarding matches and travel. We are so happy it was a 3-week delay and not longer.

This post would not be complete without thanks to the China team at our agency, who have been empathetic, informed and consistently responsive and helpful during this long process. We can't wait to travel to China with this expert group and our fellow travel families!!!!!!!!!

Thanks also to Rumor Queen (a professional woman, wife and mother of two girls from China) who manages a website that aggregates global information about the status / pace of international adoption from China. "RQ" has made the lives of us waiting parents more entertaining and more informed throughout the past 3 years and we are all indebted to her (whoever and wherever she may be). In fact, it will be a nearly impossible to break the habit of following her site closely each month (I know this from all the families who are long home from China who continue to post on the site!):
















WE LOOK FORWARD TO POSTING PHOTOS SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!