April 25,
2006
Almost two years to the day from the first meeting we
had with Holt, we found out that we were finally in the match
group to receive our referral. At the end of every month, the
CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) posts on their website
the date ranges for the matches of the families for the month.
“The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the
families whose adoption application documents were registered
with our office before June 6, 2005.” Our date was May 31, 2005
so we were in! We have been checking the application dates
monthly for the last several months only to be disappointed. We
were starting to joke about Annabel being an urban myth, so we
were in utter disbelief when Holt confirmed that we were in this
group of matches. However, the referrals were in transit from
China and it was not for another two days that they would have
the referral for us in their hands and we could breath easy!
April 27, 2006
“Congratulations, you have a baby girl!”
At about 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 27th I received the
call from Holt on my cell at my office . My contact at Holt
proceeded to say “her name is…” and I said “WAIT! Let me call
you back with Steve on the line!” With great enthusiasm, we
placed a conference call to Holt to receive the rest of the news
together. We were told: Her name is
Zhao Jin Shuang. She was born July 8, 2005 in the Hunan Province
and she has been in FOSTER care since a week after she was
abandoned – which is fantastic news! It was maddening because
Holt had her pictures and we were dying to see her but had to
wait another two days! They promised she was adorable (and they
were not lying!). The next two days felt like forever as we
waited for FedEx to deliver our referral with all the important
information about our daughter and her pictures!
April 29, 2006
Steve and I decide we were going to videotape the FedEx
deliveryman arriving with our much-anticipated package to
memorialize the event. The FedEx truck arrived earlier than we
had expected at 9:45 a.m. and we were running around trying to
load the video camera. The poor FedEx delivery guy was getting
the feeling that he should drop the package and run for his life
as we fumbled for cameras to take his picture. Explaining the
contents of the package only seemed to make him want to make for
his truck faster. Finally we just took a picture of him and let
him go on his way.
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Here is what our paperwork tells
us about our sweet Annabel:
She is described as a quiet child who knows how to please others
(that is a direct quote). Since she has not been
institutionalized, she seems to be on target developmentally.
Her gross and fine motor skills are normal and she can move
around while in her walker. She giggles when she is playing with
her foster family and cries when a stranger picks her up. We
have been given a sleeping and eating schedule that was last
reported at the end of January. She likes steamed buns, noodles
and fruit. She is described as a deep sleeper, which makes Steve
and I particularly happy! |
We are absolutely in love and
are so grateful she has been with a family this first year. It
brings tears to my eyes to think of taking her away from the
only family she has ever known and we anticipate a challenging
transition. Please keep us, Annabel and her Foster Family in
your thoughts and prayers that we all find some peace during
this difficult time ahead.
We are incredibly fortunate that Mimi and Popie will be
joining us on our trip to China to receive Annabel. They are
coming along to make it possible for us to bring Mia so she
can be part of the experience as well. Mia will be their
responsibility while we are in China so Steve and I can focus
on Annabel and completing her adoption.
We are absolutely thrilled to finally be on the last leg
of this journey that has been quite an emotional
rollercoaster. We can’t wait to
get our hands that beautiful baby girl and bring her home
to all our wonderful family and friends!
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