Getting Ready for Ava

We had a busy weekend preparing for Ava! I had forgotten how much paperwork there is to do after we receive the referral (ugh) - but it's totally worth it!

My good friend Lisa offered to have Ashley over for a play date Saturday afternoon so Christian and I could run errands. It was so nice to be able to move from store to store relatively quickly - thanks so much Lisa!

We were able to get a care package mailed to Ava on Saturday. Thank you Jannine for the mailing address label to Yangxi (for some reason, we couldn't locate it in our referral package). The package couldn't be any larger than a shoe box, so we had to pack lightly. We sent the softest pink blanket, an adorable little pink outfit with brown polka dots, a soft/baby book with some pictures of us in it, two disposable cameras and a rattle.

We had to take our 18 1/2 year old cat, Jill, to the vet Saturday. Given her age, we didn't know what to expect. We received a call from the vet, and she is in good health - yeah. She's a little spit fire!

We spent Sunday going through 10+ bags and boxes from the basement with Ashley's old clothes and toys to see what we have for Ava (and what we still need to get). We had to complete some of the travel paperwork as well, so it's been a very full weekend - not much time to relax. Christian and Ashley did head up to the pool with neighbors, so I got a little time to unwind. Getting ready for a full week ahead of us.

More Pictures

It's been an exciting, crazy few days. I took the day off and was exhausted this morning. I got my second wind and ran errands for our China trip until late in the evening (and I have to go to work tomorrow - what am I thinking?).

We received two more pictures and are absolutely in love with her! We also received her medical information, which I am scanning to send to one of Christian's college friends, Dr. P. Thank you so very much for reviewing the medical information!

Good night!

Finally - We Have a Baby Girl!

Her name is Song Xiao Mei - soon to be Ava Grace Mei. Her birthday is February 10, 2010 (wow, six months old). She is from Yangxi, Guangdong Province (very close to where Ashley is from) and has the sweetest, most pinchable cheeks! We are all very excited and can't wait to bring her home.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

While we wait for our referral picture - how about a few pictures of Ashley when she first joined our family in December 2004?

A Family Impatiently Waiting

It's "match day" eve. For those not familiar with adoption, "match day" is the day we expect to receive information and pictures about our baby - wooooo hoooooo! Our agency said LID May 15, 2006 is in this group.

We expect to receive the call sometime early afternoon tomorrow. How am I supposed to get any work done tomorrow? It's probably a good thing that I have a presentation to give - at least it will keep my mind off of the referral for a little while!

How This Journey Started

Thank you for joining us on this amazing journey to complete our family. My husband, Christian, and I adopted our daughter, Ashley, from China in December 2004 and were very excited to add another child to our family.

We started the paperwork process for our second adoption in September 2005. When we adopted Ashley, the timeframe from application to adoption was about 15 months. We thought it would be about the same for the second adoption, so we waited a little while to start the second adoption process. We didn't want the girls to be too close in age.

Well, life doesn't always work out as we expect it to - does it? Almost five years later (yes, five years later), we think we are finally close to completing our second adoption. There are rumors and speculation regarding why it takes so long now, but no one really knows for sure. Our adoption paperwork was officially logged into China (Log in Date or LID) May 15, 2006.

Hang on because here we go - another journey of a lifetime!