Lula Grace

more on our Fu Girl...

Received our package today with more information and photos.  Medical reports indicate Fu Le is a happy, healthy baby.  On 4/28/05, she was 23.4 inches long and 12.7 pounds, which is marvelous.  She's described as a good eater (clearly) who likes music and interacting with adults.  She is in fact in foster care, for which we are very greatful.  She gets an A+ in activity level and noise making (sound like someone we know?) and despite the seriousness in her photos, she's described as having "a ready smile".  What else can I tell you?  She's a deep sleeper (yea!), is "sometimes irritable" (like someone else, perhaps?), and is "quick in reaction" (whatever that means, perhaps a cycling career is in her future!). 

Holy shit! We're parents.

It is with great pleasure that we present the first photo of our daughter.  Her Chinese name is Gao Fu Le (which translates as "happy blessing" or "happy fortune").  She was born on 1/23/05  in Jiangxi province.  It seems she was intially placed in the Gao'an Welfare Institute  but now lives in foster care in Gao'an (50 miles southwest of Nanchang).  Our hope is to travel to China in September where we'll meet our gal in Jiangxi and spend a week there completing the Chinese paperwork.  Next, the three of us will travel to Guangzhou (for another week) where we'll finalize the U.S. paperwork. We hope to receive more information tomorrow or Monday and we'll post then.  For now, the photo will have to sustain you.   

Thanks for the ride, Lance!

"I heard there's rumors on the internets..."

While our adoption agency is typically tight lipped on such matters, rumors abound in the Yahoo groups that news of our baby is on it's way. A little background: China releases a batch of "referrals" each month, a referral being news to waiting parents that they have been matched with a child. Parents who's turn it is to receive a referral (the wait is typically 6-7 months) can expect to learn of their child's name, age, where she lives, her medical and developmental history, a description of her personality, and her likes and dislikes. We can expect to get at least one picture as well, with more pictures sometimes following in the subsequent weeks. Folks who submitted their paperwork in January, like us, are naturally very eager right now and lighting up the chat rooms. News from their agencies suggests referrals have been mailed from China. Again, if this is true, we expect we'll be getting "the call" very soon, perhaps within the next week.

He may have nine lives, but he's only getting 15 minutes.

This cat is seriously loved. I don't mean by just me and Chris. Our dogs love this cat. Our friends love this cat. People who hate animals love this cat. People who only moments earlier just met this cat want to take him home (we generally ask these people to leave after we catch them stuffing Stewart under their shirts). Most recently a stray kitten has fallen under Stewart's spell and has more or less moved in, making the kitten's worship of Stewart more convenient for both. But how does Stewart find time to enchant so many when he sleeps more than 20 hours a day?

"Congratulations! It's a blog!"

With all the chaos in our lives right now, it seemed like the perfect time to start a new project. Please forgive us as we learn the ropes. As many of you are aware, Chris and I are in the process of adopting a baby girl from China. With some practice and a little luck, we're hoping this format will allow us to share this experience (and others) with you.