Sending off our paperwork

FedEx is transporting the adoption acceptance paperwork to our agency as I write this...we made the cut off tonight and it should arrive right on time tomorrow! There was no question whether we would accept her or not. We signed without hesitation and now begin the last period of waiting. We hope to get our TA soon, although four weeks is the average...come on CCAA...we're ready to travel and see our daughter!

Speaking of paperwork, we had another snafu with the government. No, they didn't mistakenly approve us for Russia again (we assume at least) or misplace something, but they did mistake us for another family and tell us that our social worker paperwork did not meet federal guidelines. That was a long 24-hour period while we sorted that out - it was also the first time I cried since we got our referral. I didn't cry or "lose it" when we got the call or when we saw her picture or when we called our families or when we picked her name. No, I cried when they told us that, after all of the work we've done and the multiple times we've jumped through hoops and after looking at her precious face, there was a potential show stopping issue with our paperwork. That brought me to tears....ugly tears. All of a sudden Makena is real to us and we can't seem to get there fast enough! The paperwork issue is cleared up now though, so it appears that we are good to go! For our drama-free house, there was a lot of drama Tuesday to Wednesday this week...ugh!

Her Referral Package

We got more information on our little "Mak" today. There are still some documents yet to be translated, but her lifestyle report said that she is an introverted and timid girl, and is very shy in front of strangers. She becomes active under the environment she is familiar with. She likes to mimic and stay in crowded places. She likes listening to music and watching TV, likes taking baths, playing with toys, and playing games with other children. Sometimes she appears to be stubborn a bit.

The meaning of Makena is "one who is filled with happiness"...one of the items translated in the referral package was her name. Name meanings are very important in the Chinese culture and we were thrilled to read that her last name means happiness. That felt like a sign that we chose the right name for her!

It's a Girl!

We got the call at 2:29pm this afternoon. We are parents! Charlie and I took the afternoon off and we both sat in the sunroom trying to stay busy until the phone finally rang! It was Stephanie from Great Wall with good news about our little one.

Chinese Name: Fu Yan E
Birthdate: May 10, 2008
Residence: Fuzhou SWI (Jiangxi Province)
Measurements (as of January): 17lb, 26in

Over a lovely celebratory dinner we discussed her American name. We are very proud and honored to introduce Makena Rumor Brown. Makena is the beach where Charlie and I got married and we couldn't resist giving her the pet name that we've used for her over the last almost four years!

Only one page of her referral was in English, so we will have to wait until Wednesday to get the rest of the information, but what we know so far is that she:

• Is a moderate sleeper
• Sucks her fingers in her sleep
• Tears paper and grabs toys
• Laughs out loud
• Likes music
• Sits on her own
• Eats biscuits on her own

We are over the moon in love with our little race car driver...

The Stork has Landed

We were just notified that the stork has landed...and has something special for us! Wow...

Still waiting...

DHL is not my friend anymore...we are still baffled on how they could lose that package! In an effort to always find the good in things, it did give us one more weekend that was not filled with baby shopping. It also allowed me to be thankful for having my business trip cancelled for today, because I wasn't thrilled when it was a few weeks ago. Now I get to spend Tuesday through Thursday of this week conducting Web-based training from 9am to 8:30pm. Woohoo! I was relatively productive at work this morning, but I'm to the point now that I will catch up with my email from the other client and then I might turn on the TV. After all, there is really no better time suck for me than the good old television and all of the TiVO programs that I've yet to watch!

It's such a strange feeling to just sit here and hope/wait for a phone call. Assuming that everything is in order, our little one was matched with us at least a week ago and her info and photos had to sit in that DHL package all weekend. There is no word to properly explain the feeling that you are a parent but you just don't know it yet!

We have still not picked an official name. We will wait to see her picture and then do it by "secret" ballot. While we like the same names, our favorites are definitely different! Anything will be just fine though; we just want her to be a happy and healthy little girl! Come on Great Wall and DHL...let us know about our little girl!

Courier Mistake

Okay. I know I just posted that we would be parents today. Well...not anymore. The courier misrouted them to the wrong zip code and we won't be able to get the information until Monday now. It will be a LONG weekend...

Any minute now...

We could be parents. Yes, you read that right! Wow. Our agency said to expect a notification message around 1pm central time and then they would call us after that. I finally broke down and printed off "The Call" list of questions so that I didn't forget to ask something important when they do call. We even looked to see if there was a Walgreen's close to Charlie's folks so that we could send a photo to them today. I also ran up to the market and got champagne; it's been a long haul - we deserve a little bubbly to celebrate our first child! Let me say it again, wow! I'm nauseous...back later...

Maybe this week!

It's all been leading up to this...unless the CCAA refers a historic one-day batch this month, we should be receiving our referral in the next couple of days! We might have a daughter! No words...just anticipation!

Just testing the BlackBerry/blog connection

In anticipation of our trip to China, Charlie and I wanted to see if the BlackBerry would post okay to the blog. We are really feeling the anticipation and just know that we'll see our little one's face in the next week. We even picked out "the name" yesterday! No sharing until we see her little face though!

Four months (or so)...

Charlie figured out that we are (unless a month is skipped, or something else bizarre occurs) about four months away from being in China. That would mean that this month China got to March 6, next month they did only one day, and we were the month after that. With the approximate 8 weeks from referral to travel, that would make us a family of three before the fourth of July! We might actually have our daughter before my birthday! Woot Woot! Here's to hoping...

Come on Rumors!

Realistically, our referral won't be in this next batch. Charlie knows that. I know that. Everyone knows that. Unfortunately, I am still planning to get on the rumor roller coaster and pray that the CCAA makes it to at least March 8th (2006) with this next batch! We don't want to be the first group of China adoptive parents who hit the 36-month wait mark!

Work is crazy and I have a two-week business trip planned for the first two weeks of March. It sure would make it easier if I had our precious daughter's picture to look at throughout the long days of training! The two weeks of hectic work would also make the time go faster as we wait for our travel approval from China. More than likely, I'll spend the two weeks crazy busy and checking for rumors every break I get. Either way, we'll be that much closer to picking up our sweetie.

I don't know what I would do without the Rumor Queen and all of the forum Marching Pandas...what a great group of people.

WARNING...It's PRS time!*

It's that time of month again...I don't mean PMS, but instead it is PRS (Pre-Referral Syndrome). This is a much more dangerous time of month than PMS is for most women, even worse than PMDD.

Typical Symptoms: Women in the process of Chinese Adoption will sit in front of their computers, for days on end trying to find one tiny shred of fact regarding the latest LID cut-off or actual date of said referrals; either through forums, chat rooms or blogs. Most women WILL lose some sleep during this time by choosing to surf for clues until the wee house of the morning, get a few hours of sleep only to get up extra early to see if anything has surfaced in the 3 hours they were asleep. Most women feel anxious, go through bouts of excitement and depression and appear to be losing her mind to those around her. When she will allow herself to be torn away from her cyber hunt, she will be prone to bouts of sobbing, shopping spree's for baby items (mostly in pink), and will tend to eat copious amounts of Edy's Slow Churned ice cream. In extreme cases some women will lose short term memory, they will forget to take care of their daily responsibilities such as letting the dog out, planning dinner, going to work, etc. Some women will even forgo hygienic rituals, skipping showers, putting hair in ponytail, or wearing sunglasses to the grocery store to hide the dark circles and pale complexion due to lack of sleep and make-up.

Cycle Duration: Women usually experience PRS symptoms from 2 days to 2 weeks before the onset of Adoption Referrals being received at adoption agencies and can show continued symptoms for 2 days to 2 weeks AFTER referral information has been officially announced.

Warning: Those experiencing symptoms 2 weeks before AND 2 weeks after SHOULD SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION or at least have an extremely supportive network of family and friends who can make sure that she doesn't go to work in her underwear or fall asleep in unusual places.

Life-time Duration: This is a chronic disorder that will continue on a regular basis until the cure is administered. Years ago experts in this area believed the duration of PRS to only last 6-8 months. Then 10-12 months, 22-24 months and now some believe it could go as long as four years. As you can see there is not a definite end to this syndrome and those considered experts actually have no idea either.

Cure: One adopted daughter, home in her mother's arms.

*This is copied from a fellow PAP, Lynn's Waiting for Hope blog...she and I are in the same boat and I really appreciate her sharing!

No luck this month...

Well, after much excitement in the Brown house over the last week after the March 23rd rumor came out, we fell back to earth with the latest rumor. The European agencies are predicting referrals for March 1 and 2 only this month. If that proves true, we will have 5 days in front of us. Two days is so disappointing, but we are thrilled for the Marching Pandas who will see their children's faces in the next week! Hopefully it is only two days because of the quick turnaround, and the rumor that the CCAA is moving quicker will prove true after Chinese New Year!

It's back to work for me until the next set of rumor referrals start to trickle out. Probably the end of February...looks like we will hit the 36-month mark after all. More time to nest, right?

Excited, Anxious, and Nervous? All at the same time?

Charlie is away all week on business and I have more work than one person can accomplish in one week. I have a sick dog (poor Scout) and it is supposed to snow today (woohoo...we haven't seen much of that since we moved back to the land of four seasons). I am signed up to run the Mardi Gras Marathon (and am totally not ready) while we are in New Orleans for our 7th anniversary next weekend.

Given all of that and the normal busy stuff, our little one is first on my mind and the thought of getting our referral within the next week is just crazy! If it is possible, I am super excited, incredibly anxious, and unbelievably nervous - all at the same time. This is either going to be a super long week while we wait for rumors (or a super short week while I try to get my work accomplished). Wish us luck!

Anxiously Waiting for Rumors

The "rumor" is that the "rumors" might start at the end of next week regarding the next batch of referrals. We know that we aren't next, but we are sure close to being next! Who knows...maybe the cards are in our favor this time! Over the Christmas break we went out for Chinese. My fortune was "Good news of long-awaited event will arrive soon." I can't think of a more long-awaited event!

We took Scout and Boo to the park on Sunday morning and kept commenting on how much we looked forward to fun park visits with our daughter. We splurged on the stroller last month and are ready for those walks! For the record, I was able to get the 2009 model at a significant discount AND it is awesome! Probably not worth the money, but with the amount of walking that she'll have to endure, we wanted to make sure that it was comfortable for her and was easy to maneuver with the pups. It's also a very unisex stroller, which will also work for any future children (?).

Since we are getting close to a referral, I sent our agency a message today asking what else we need to be doing. Our paperwork and updated home study are on the way to USCIS as I write this, but I know that there are probably other things that we should be doing. Hague treaty training comes to mind...wish us luck!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's that time again. Time to say good-bye to 2008 and welcome 2009. Charlie and I are so happy to start this new year! This is the year that we hope to see our child's face and hold her for the first time. We are closer than ever, and with this week's batch of referrals that went through February 28, 2006, we have only 7 days of families in front of us! Turns out we are the next group that our agency has...unbelievable! China and Baby Brown, here we come.

Happy 2009!

Am I losing my mind? Or is this just part of the process...

While we have a nursery finished, a name picked out, and the paper cut scars to always remember the joys of paperchasing, I have somehow (unbeknownst to me) compartmentalized this adoption in my head. I am 100% fine about 99% of the time. It's that 1% that seems to be growing and taking on more importance in my life. I have more work than I can handle, but I still find myself spending hours on the Internet reading RQ and other sites. Charlie and I spent a lot of time when we first started this process dreaming about our future as a family; that slowed down after we realized that it wasn't the 6-8 month process of which we were told. We still talk about "her", but it is more about baby stuff than the actual baby now. This will be our 4th Christmas in this process with only a smaller bank account to show for it. I was holding it together just fine and looking forward to taking a week off work over Christmas when I took someone's advice from RQ and downloaded a song. It is called "Merry Christmas" by Third Day and while the poster said to get a box of tissues, I didn't heed the warning. All of my (apparently) pent-up emotions are now showing on my face. Ugh! Just in time for me to head into the office!

I made a conscious decision a couple of years back to live my life and just hope for the best with the adoption. We adopted a couple of dogs, started participating in our new community, threw ourselves into work, and updated our paperwork as necessary. We are so fortunate to be so close compared to those who are years behind us. We really are very close; obviously closer than we've ever been. I am definitely close to my breaking point though - referrals are due out any day and my fingers are crossed (as are Scout and Boo's!) that it is for more than 2 days like last month! It is completely out of my hands, but a girl can hope, can't she?

Another round of referrals...

Referrals started streaming in today...looks like there are now only 15 days of families ahead of us! It might be 16, as the cut off date isn't confirmed, but I'll go with 15 for now.

It is so exciting to see all of the newly matched families and hear their excitement. Our agency was referred 13 beauties this month from their Feb 17, 2006 group. For our agency, there is only one group in front of us! Woohoo...China here we come! It might be several more months, but we are ready. Anytime. Anywhere. Ready for the journey...

20 to go...

China sent out referrals yesterday through February 15, 2008. There are officially only 20 days of families in front of us. We are thrilled that we are that much closer. The best prediction is to go with the typical average, which is 6 days of referrals a month. That would put us in February 2009 with travel 1-2 months later. Woohoo! Only a few more months of watching whatever television suits our moods and only doing laundry twice a week! We can't wait for the change! I even got my hair chopped off yesterday in honor of the coming change in our lives!

An Update (yes, I know, finally!)

All is well on the Brown front. We are so excited to say that there are only 27 days worth of families ahead of us in our China adoption quest. This month they referred families through February 9, 2006 and we are logged in on March 8, 2006. Officially less than a month, although it could take them 6 months or longer to get through that month...

We are so excited at the prospect. We even opened the room to our future daughter's room the other day (it's been closed for a while). Charlie and I are both traveling like crazy these days, so time is going quickly. We can't wait for the real countdown!