Hope After China

This post is another journal chunk from the past. Enjoy

March 4, 2006: We were actually able to fly from Tokyo to Minneapolis in less than 10 hours instead of 14, so we got there earlier than expected. Paxton, on a whim, asked if there were any earlier flights to Colorado Springs so that we wouldn't have to wait 10 hours at the airport. The lady was kind enough to tell us that a plane was leaving NOW and we could try to fly standby.

We were the very last two seats in the airplane, flying out at 11am instead of 8pm that day. We were praising God all the way home!!!

We sooo praise God for the smooth smooth journey home.

FIRST NIGHT IN the USA: Hope woke up at 11pm, 12am, 1:30am, and 5am. At the 1:30am mark, mom was not able to go back to sleep until 3am. New Parent Lesson: No sleep for baby = No sleep for parent

March 5, 2006: New Parent mistake: Doing too many things in one day. We exercised at the gym (with kiddie in tow), went to the military exchange, commissary (grocery store), KFC, Babies-R-Us, and Target. Were we crazy? Yes indeed!!! Can you say exhausted parents and exhausted kid??

March 7, 2006: Feeling that sleep deprivation kick in. Hope cries until 1am, then wakes up every half hour to yelp. Mom Lisa has decided to move a mattress into Hope's room to calm her down. Dad gets some actually shut eye, while mom lies awake on a mattress with a screaming baby. "...it's just a season...it's just a season..." repeats in our heads. As soon as the baby falls asleep, the dog starts whining and barking.

March 16, 2006: Hope sleeps through the night. Mom doesn't. Mom has been conditioned to wake up at 12am, 2am, and 3am. Who ever thought a baby could condition her mom to wake up even when mom is not needed!!! Read many "sleeping" topics from authors Sears, Ferber, experienced moms ,and Weissbluth. Whoever thought that one theory would contradict the other. Lesson learned: do whatever it takes!!!

Doctor's appointment for Hope was a painful one. She had to get four shots in her thighs for immunizations. Other than that, even the doctor was surprised that she was just adopted. Hope was a 24 pounds and 30 inches at 13 months, and the doctor thought that was just great. After the shots, she was fussy and crying all day long, letting mom know how unhappy she was.

March 25, 2006: Bought Schlotsky's sandwiches and went to Garden of the Gods for a warm spring lunch. Paxton got to introduce the snow to Hope. She just held it in her hands and wondered at the strange sensation. While we were enjoying the warmth, a Chinese family walked up and noticed Hope sucking on her binky. Lisa told them that if it gets pulled out, she'll start crying. The grandma must not have believed Lisa and walked right up to Hope and pulled out her binky. Sure enough, a blood curling scream rung out across the beautiful rock formations of the Garden, and both parents looked at the grandma like, "see... told you!". The grandma just kept apologizing to Hope, but Hope just turned her head away and refused to look at her again. We just chuckled...

March 31, 2006: Today, Hope is officially a US citizen.

Doesn't she look overjoyed at her citizenship?

April 10, 2006: Hope has been toddling on her own for about a week now. She walks more than 10 steps before falling. She's added a few more goose eggs to her forehead. Her left forehead seems to take the brunt of most goose eggs. It looks permanently painted black and blue.

cool baby with bruise to head

April 12, 2006: The International Wives' Club threw a baby shower for Hope. We had such a lovely time with food, mints, nuts, coffee and tea. Hope was overwhelmed with all of her new toys and clothes. She sat on mom's lap during most of the shower and just smiled at all of the attention. But as soon as we got home, the fussy scale tipped to maximum. She knew that she was queen of the show, so she wanted to keep the act up at home. When mama wouldn't let her, fuss city! Lesson learned: Gotta have boundaries!!! Still, it was fun to have a shower with the baby there. Who wouldn't like that?

all these for me? I must be queen!!!

This afternoon, Hope was running around shouting "xiang jiao! xiang jiao!" over and over again. It took Lisa a minute to figure out that baby said her first words (besides mama and baba). She wanted a banana. When Lisa showed her a banana and asked her is this what she wanted, a great big smile spread across her cheeks and she said, "xiang jiao!" Mom and baby were the happiest people in the world.

April 16, 2006: Hope celebrated her first Easter morning in a princess dress. She was all in a pink chiffon dress sent to her by Lisa's Auntie. Hope just looked at herself in the mirror over and over again. She was princess for a day. At church, we sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness". When we sang "...bright hope for tomorrow", tears were streaming down Lisa's face. God has done such a wonderful thing by giving us Hope for today and tomorrow. We feel so deeply blessed by this wonderful child in our lives.

I'm a princess just for today!

April 21, 2006: Today, Hope corrected Mom. She was walking around the house this morning when she stopped and pointed to something in our bedroom and said "shan". Lisa didn't think there was anything in our room that was a "shan" so Lisa told her no there is no "shan" in our room. But Hope was insistent and kept pointing upwards and saying "shan...shan...shan". So, Lisa walked over to where Hope was and looked at what she was pointing at. Above our bed is a large Chinese fan (shan), so when Lisa saw what Hope was pointing at, she was overwhelmed with Hope's intelligence. The last time Lisa told her what this was was about 2 weeks ago. It's amazing what those little brains store up there!!!

She's trying to say "gou" (dog) but can't get out the "guh" sound, so whenever the neighbor's dog comes out, Hope scream "mo!" or "bo!"...what a cutie.

May 2, 2006: Today, Hope can say (in Chinese) banana, dog, cat, mom, dad. She can sign: dad, ball, more, hat, dog, cat, drink, cookie, sleep, dance, finished, water. She remains such a joy to be around. When she smiles, the sun just comes out and melts our hearts. When she cries, the end is here.

I'm signing hat for you!

She has learned to smooch (rather lip) us. In the morning, when Lisa was getting her shoe on, Hope ran over and smooched Lisa ten times in a row, running away in a bowlful of giggles. When Dad came home from work, Hope ran up to him, gave him a hug and a smooch as well. Both parents were just puddles on the kitchen floor while Hope ran off in her bowlful of giggles. She knows just what to do to melt her parents.

May 17, 2006: Mother's Day

a very happy first mother's day.

Travel to get Hope(in China)

Here's another clump of times from our journal in china. Enjoy!

Feb 15, 2006: Went to bed at 11:45pm after packing for our trip. Woke up at 2:45 am, left home at 4 am, flew out at 6 am from Colorado Springs Airport. Lisa to take Sudafed and Motrin due to the constant head cold. Yuck!!!

Feb 17, 2006: 26 hours traveling on a plane. The Victory Hotel in Guangzhou has a little crib and stroller...soon Hope will by laying in that crib. We will soon meet our child...it feels so unreal.

We flew to Hunan at 11:50am today, met our travel guide, Samuel who speaks good English but we end up just speaking in Chinese instead. Settled into the Dolton Hotel which also has a little crib. At night, we found a little hole in the wall and ate the famous Hunan glass noodles and some tasty eel. Spicy but good! Afterwards, went to the Dolton gym to work out, knowing that this would be the last workout for a long time!!!

Feb 18, 2006: Left for Yuanling at 8am, driving 8 hours over treacherous roads. Prayed "Help us, Lord through this transitioning period for Hope. Help us to help her. Let us both be patient and loving, giving her time to cry and grieve so that she can move on. Hope, our child, we come today."

van that took us to Yuanling

We were afraid that the van we were in would not make it to Yuanling, so we kept praying that the engine would continue. The driver kept shaking his head, wondering why we would want to go visit a child's orphanage that's so far away anyway... We'd occasionally wondered as well when the roads got really bad and Lisa had to keep finding bathrooms along the way...(and these bathrooms were not the cleanest holes in the ground). Ahh the misfortunes of having a microbladder!!!

We finally got to the town at 5pm, met Mrs. Zhao, the orphanage director. She was very much like Lisa's mom, full of love and joy. We were all preparing to eat dinner when in walked a family with a huge pink bundle.

our first picture of Hope

Mrs. Zhao looked over at us and said, "This is your child, Hong Qi!!!" We were both in so much shock that we didn't have the video or camera up when Mrs. Zhao said this.....

We were speechless, not believing that the huge bundle could actually be ours. All we could think about was she's so healthy and beautiful and curious. She kept looking around and showed us her four teeth. Mrs. Zhao told us that Hope was exceptionally healthy. Yes, the Lord has given us the best.

The family put the pink bundle into Lisa's arms, and we just stared at this little wondrous girl who had just woken up from a nap. We were looking at her and touching her for the first time...it was a true miracle. She was in a daze as well. Mrs. Zhao gave Hope a banana, and Hope clung onto that fruit for dear life. I'm sure she was wondering, "who are these funny looking people?".

The 8 hour bump after bump road was definitely worth it after we saw and held our child, Hope.

Feb 19, 2006: "But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children" -Psalm 103:12

second day with Hope, bundled up so she couldn't move

In the morning, we toured the "Yuanling Social Welfare Institute" and saw how very clean and kept up it was. About 100 orphans belong to this SWI and live with foster families. Also, about 20 retired adults live at this place. Mrs. Zhao takes good care of them, as they have no family to take care of them in their houses. At 9 am, we get back onto the bumpy road for another 8 hours back to the capital. Hope sat in our laps the entire time without uttering a single cry. I think she must have been in shock, since the roads were really bad, but she just sat there and stared outside at all of the people walking by.

Before we left Yuanling, we were able to go to Hope's place of abandonment. We saw the bench in the market square where she was found. We looked around and were filled with so much emotion. We prayed to the Lord and told Him that we would never leave her and that we'd take care of her from now on. I couldn't stop the pain...Hope's birth mother had to leave this beautiful child. Why would anyone leave her own healthy and beautiful child unless the pressures of family and others forced her to leave her child.

the bench where Hope's birthmother put Hope, along with a blanket, a bottle, and all of her love

At night, we gave Hope a bath, and I think that was the last thing that she could handle. She started to cry and cried for hours before falling asleep exhausted from the cry. All we could do was hold her and reassure her and each other that it's going to be all right, that we'd stay by her side.

Feb 20, 2006: We ate a quick breakfast, stuffed Hope in a special new yellow outfit and rode to the Provincial office for "Gotcha Day".

The official looked at our passports and at Hope's picture and said, "Yep, this is the right child. Congratulations! She's yours officially." They took our picture as a family, stamped Hope's foot to prove that she's who she is, and off we went into the world with a new baby.

first "official" picture as a family

As new parents, we didn't bring any diapers or food when we went to Carrefour (French Wal-Mart) and bought a lot of books for Hope. We were out for a few hours when Hope started crying and wouldn't stop. Our only hope was take-out KFC and a quick taxi ride back to the hotel. New Parent lesson: Never leave home without a diaper bag.

Feb 21, 2006: Rested, ate lunch at another hole in the wall for 80 cents. This included yummy soup, steamed buns with meat...enough to fill all of us.

Feb 22, 2006: Toured the Hunan Provincial Museum and saw a 2000 year old lady, preserved in some unknown liquid substance. Researchers are still trying to figure out how she was preserved so well. It was interesting to view all of her organs, but we won't divulge into this detail.

Hope has bonded well to Paxton. Only he can hold her before she falls asleep at night.

Feb 23, 2006: Hope has been quite the lively character when we are out, shopping. She's loud, boisterous, waving at everyone. What a cutie.

Feb 24, 2006: Went out to buy some famous Hunan embroidery and came back with shoes, a dress, and a coat and sweater for Hope. Guess we kind of got a bit sidetracked. We never did buy that embroidery. We ended up finding some street vendors that would agree to bargain with us so that we could by some good quality clothes for Hope. It was fun, and we made some friends while bargaining.

Hope started getting some bloody diarrhea and a fever, so we started her on some Tylenol.

Feb 25, 2006: We celebrate our 11th Anniversary by flying from Hunan back to Guangzhou with a sick little baby. As soon as the plane ascended in the air, Hope decided to leave a warm mess on mommy's lap. Her first blow out! And it had to be on the smallest plane on earth and right when the drink cart was blocking the bathroom!! I wanted to change the diaper in our lap, but Paxton was more civilized and waited for the cart to go by before take a drippy baby to the bathroom. He had to change the baby bent over - that's how small the bathroom was.

We didn't bring an extra pair of pants for her or mommy. New parent lesson: Always bring an extra pair of pants for baby.

Feb 26, 2006: Strolled around Guangzhou's Shamian island in a daze, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed with a diarrhea baby. But we did manage to find a great Dim Sum place!

enjoying a restful moment at the Victory Hotel in Guangzhou China

Feb 27, 2006: Hope's diarrhea is much better. This afternoon, Hope was checked out by 3 different Chinese doctors. We waited in line with dozens of other little Chinese babies who were crying or in shock. She passed with flying colors. One of the doctors who sees thousands of babies commented that Hope was a definite beauty. We just nodded humbly, but inside, we knew that she was a beauty because she was ours! Afterwards, we headed for the fabric district and ordered the tailors to make some Qi Paos or Chinese dresses.

Feb 28, 2006: Rained all day, but we still managed to visit the Chen Family Temple where in the past, the Chen males came to make family decisions, worship ancestors, and study for the national exams. Females were not allowed in because of Confucian sayings that females are inferior and need not get an education. Lisa was mad but glad that in this century, females could go in and tour the temple.

March 1, 2006: Freezing cold with rain....miserable. Hope was sleepy all day, so she made us miserable with her crying and screaming. We tried to keep her awake as long as possible, but we finally put her in her crib at 8:30pm, and she fell immediately to sleep.

We are ready to go home, but we have to wait for Hope's passport and visa so that she can enter the US legally.

March 2, 2006: Last day in China. Ate dim sum one more time...yum!!! Bought some more diapers for just in case, exchanged charity stuff (cups/formula).

Went to the US consulate and stood up with hundreds of other parents saying that what we had ascribed to was true and correct to the best of our knowledge. After we said the oath, we were given Hope's visa and passport. A huge sigh of relief was heard across the room as each parent knew that it was now time to go home with the newest member of their family.

picture in front of the US consulate with Hope's visa, her ticket to the states

In the evening, we packed up our goodies into two large suitcases and took the stroller out for one more stroll around the island. It was the first warm evening while we were there. As we stood by the Pearl River, Paxton told Hope that we were going to take her to America and give her the best care we possibly could. He just had to make Lisa cry...on the Pearl River.

March 3, 2006: Woke up at 5 am, checked out of the Victory Hotel, flew out of China at 8:40am. Hope decided to squirm on our laps for four hours between Guangzhou and Tokyo. It would not have been so bad if the family in front of us would have controlled their two boys who kept "peek-a-booing" Hope every 3 seconds for the entire FOUR hours!!! The parents just sat there like the kids didn't belong to them. I just about bonked the two boys over the head, but I didn't. When they said they had another connection...to another city in the US, I praised the Lord under by voice. I couldn't stand 18 hours of Peekabooing!!!!

Hope's Adoption Timeline

I pasted my journal entries into this one posting, to give you a run down on our process. It was tedious but worth all of the time!

Feb 26, 2005: Informational Meeting with AAC Adoption Agency. Prayed and decided that this would be the right agency for us.

Mar 8, 2005: Mailed off Preliminary Application to AAC.

Mar 10, 2005: Accepted by AAC to start the adoption process.

Mar 11, 2005: I-600A Application sent off. This is the application sent to the Department of Immigration for our adopted child. It takes several months for this application to be processed by the US government.

Mar 14, 2005: Formal Application for adoption mailed to AAC. Formal Application consisted of autobiographies, pictures of ourselves, FEES, a letter of intent to adopt. Also mailed FEES for Federal background checks, fingerprint checks, and Home Study.

Mar 17, 2005: Mailed passports off to get renewed for next year's visas to China.

Mar 25, 2005: Mailed FEES for Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates. Went to get medical physicals and blood work that had to be notarized. Also met with AAC's director who gave us the low down on what to expect during the long paper pregnancy.

Apr 5, 2005: Home Study #1: met with our social worker, Jan, who just made us laugh and laugh. She was humorous and light-hearted. Many people are nervous about the home study (stereotyped as a mean social worker lurking into your closets to find cobwebs as proof that you can't be a very good parent if you have cobwebs in your closets).

Apr 9, 2005: Requested and mailed off notarized letters of Employment from our employers. Proves we can make money to support another mouth to feed.

Apr 13, 2005: Mailed FEES for local police clearance reports. Proves we aren't criminals

Apr 14, 2005: Home Study #2. Our social worker asked Lisa about her life. We just laughed and laughed about Lisa's childhood. It was a good time reminiscing about parents who love and brothers who protected.

Apr 20, 2005: Home Study #3. Our social worker talked with Paxton about his life. Paxton was grateful for his family who loved him so much. More laughter. She made the home study so fun! Thank you, Jan!!!!

Apr 26, 2005: Mailed off our Dossier (all of that paperwork) to AAC to finish processing before mailing off to China.

May 18, 2005: Redid Paxton's letter of employment because it was notarized by the federal government and HAD to be notarized by the state only. Red Tape....lots of Red Tape

Jun 20, 2005: Received the infamous I-171H (document that allows US parents to adopt internationally). It's the formal reply to the I-600A that we mailed on Mar 11. Many prospective adoptive parents sit by the mailbox waiting for this piece of paper that give them permission to adopt. Without it, you cannot adopt a child. Lisa sat by the window everyday, waiting for the mailman to deliver this paper. She had given up hope to ever getting it, and the next day, it came.

July 14, 2005: DTC or (Dossier mailed TO China). This famous day is when adoptive parents start to count down the wait for their child. "It's been ....months since DTC"

July 29, 2005: LID or (Log in Date). This is the day that China officially recognizes that our paperwork is in their system. This is the real countdown day

Sep 9, 2005: Parenting Seminar. We learned how to be parents in two days! It contained practical things like: "they will cry", "don't use baby powder", etc.

Nov 9, 2005: Travel Meeting with AAC. At this meeting, we heard all the wonderful horror stories of traveling to China. We just sat back and laughed!!! If they only knew...

Jan 4,2006: We get the referral of Hope Hong Qi Mellinger, waiting for us in Hunan Province. This is the province that Lisa's mother was born...very spicy personalities!!! Lisa was home that day, on-call with the hospital so she was expecting to be called in to work any minute. Lisa was on the phone, waiting to talk with customer service for Brother printers and was getting impatient when she gets a call waiting signal (oh no! It's probably the hospital)

Lisa: Hello (leery that it's the hospital wanting her to come in to work)

Morgan: Lisa!!! Hi! This is Morgan from AAC

Lisa: Hi, Morgan, How are you? (totally not expecting any news)

Morgan: Well, what would you like this year?

Lisa: You know! A baby, of course!

Morgan: Well....do you want her now?

Lisa: What??? What??? What do you mean "her"? (feeling numb all over) What?? What??

Morgan: Congratulations! You're a mother.

After getting all of the news, Lisa calls Paxton at work

Paxton: Well, did you get the call from the hospital to go work

Lisa: I did get a call, but not from the hospital

Paxton: (silence)...Whaaaah?

Lisa: We have a baby!!!

tears all around

Jan 4-6, 2006: No sleep....mind going a gazillion miles per hour. We are officially going through an emotional labor until we have Hope in our arms. It's surreal to think that across this big globe called Earth, your child is waiting to be placed into your arms. We look at her picture millions of times and realize that this human being is somewhere out there...

Jan 5, 2006: Paxton and Lisa receive the official documents from AAC Adoption Agency which asks them, "Do you agree to adopt this girl?" After one/billionth of a second, both prospective parents say, "Yep!!!" We sign away our lives to welcome this girl into their lives who will change them forever. We package up our passports, visa applications, more FEES, and the signed "YES" documents into a FedEx envelope and rush it off to the agency.

Jan 6, 2006: Lisa makes a care package to send to Hope's Foster Home. She spends hours on this care package, as she writes out a letter in Chinese to the director to read, and she prints out a few pictures of the Mellinger life here and labels each picture in Chinese. The Chinese letter took two hours to write. Not bad, except it looks like a four year old wrote it.

Jan 10, 2006: Two wonderful friends tell Lisa that they want to throw some baby showers. One will be a day time shower for the women only. Another shower will be a couples shower. Men invited!! Lisa runs to Target and Babies-R-Us, and wonders why one little baby needs soooo much stuff. I think our wedding registry list was less than half of what the baby registry list was. Lisa was majorly lost in the diaper section...still is! If anyone wants to give advice about diapers, feel free!!!

Jan 11,2006: Called AAC Adoption Agency and talked with Morgan. We are now waiting for a Travel Approval (TA) from the China Government, and this could take anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks. According to our calculations, we will probably travel to China anywhere from late February to early March. Since our wedding anniversary is February 25th, we'd like to be in China with Hope in our arms by then....let's pray for just that!!!!

Jan 17, 2006: Our agency calls and tells us that the Hunan orphanage received our care package. That only took 11 days...not bad. Now, Hope will have an outfit and a stuffed animal from some strangers in America that will soon be her parents!

Jan 18, 2006: We are given an update on Hope's vital stats as of today, almost 1 year old:

Weight: 24.2 pounds, 29.5 inches

Has Three teeth, eats and sleeps well. chubby and smart and of course, PRETTY

Jan 21, 2006: The Mellinger's former small group hosts a couples baby shower with brunch yummies. Fresh flowers, delicious food, lots of laughter, and lots of love fill the friends' home. We get lots of practical gifts for Hope who will use everything given to her. We felt so utterly loved. Thanks to all the wonderful friends who love us so.

Jan 25, 2006: Lisa is working in the ER, when her cell phone buzzes. It's Morgan from AAC. The conversation goes like this

Morgan: Ni Hao (hello), so this is Morgan....guess what?

Lisa: What? What? What?

Morgan: We got your Travel Approval!!! Do you want to go to China?

Lisa: (long scream as two patients tug at her arm wanting her attention) Can we go tomorrow?

Morgan: ha ha! No, your visas aren't ready yet, but we will find the earliest trip for you to go, OK?

The rest of Lisa's ER shift is shot, and her patients have to deal with a cloud 9 nurse. Paxton and Lisa try to fit their schedules to fly on Feb 8th. We cancel a baby shower, Paxton cancels his trip to Washington DC, we start looking for flights to China.

Jan 26, 2006: Lisa gets another call while working in the ER. We are NOT able to fly out on the 8th because the US consulate in China can't give us that early of an appointment. We are a little bummed, but we are told we can fly on February 15, 2006. The baby shower is BACK ON, and Paxton will still have to go to Washington DC.

No more sleep for us for a few days...we are set to go to China in three weeks!!!!!

Incidentally, today is Hope's 1st birthday, and we know that the orphanage director and Hope's foster family will celebrate this momentous occasion with her. The 1st birthday is so important in China, and I cry, knowing that we can't be there to hold her and shower blessings and happiness on her life. We will have time to catch up...yes we will.

Jan 27, 2006: We buy our tickets to China via Northwest Airlines. It looks like we'll have a nine hour layover in Minneapolis on the WAY BACK!!!! So, let's pray that Hope won't go crazy in the airport for that long. Pray that the parents won't go crazy, either!!

Jan 28, 2006: We celebrate Chinese New Year with friends. We make Jiao Zi (dumplings) filled with ground pork, ground beef, and shrimp. Yum!!!

Feb 9, 2006: Second baby shower. Hope got a lot of cutsie girlie clothes. They are all hanging in her closet, just waiting for her to put them on. Lisa took lots of pictures with the balloons and all of the women that showed up to shower blessings on this child.

Feb 10,2006: Paxton and Lisa make the final shopping rounds to Babies-R-Us, Walmart, BX, Sears to round out the nursery. We had to discuss what size diapers to get for Hope. We still don't know. Let's hope that when we get to China, someone can help us when they look at how chunky our little girl is. We buy 100's of baby wipes, lots of medicines. Lots and lots of stuff for a little human coming into our lives.

Feb 13, 2006: Paxton decided to do a preliminary packing job to see if everything we've bought will fit. Sure enough, after using "Packmates", we were able to get everything into our two suitcases plus two back packs. Even all of the multivitamins (4 dozen) and the hats and mittens that we're giving to the orphanage, all fit into the two suitcases!!! Yeah. Yes, we waited until 2 days before leaving to pack, and it was all right. We still have time to spare if we needed to go buy something we'd forgotten. I guess for us, packing doesn't really sooth our anxious hearts. 60% of our luggage will go to the orphanage. The rest is our stuff.

Feb 14, 2006: The Lord goes before us, we are certain of that. Thank you, Lord, for giving us peace and joy for this journey ahead. We celebrate our last Valentine's Day as two. Soon, we'll have three. This is such a wonderful moment in our lives. We celebrate the LIFE that God has given us through Jesus Christ, and the life in Hope that He's let us hold onto on earth.

Paxton came home from work and brought a nice heart shaped pizza. Lisa wrote Paxton a nice poem, reminding him that this is the last Valentine's Day as just a couple. Soon, we'll be three.

We realize that the first few days of receiving Hope will be tough. We expect her to cry and grieve and mourn the loss of the one family she's known all of her life. We also expect Hope to bond at first to Paxton...it's been known that orphans from this area like the fathers first...who knows. This will give Lisa a chance to video record everything around them!!! ha ha!

Hope's Referral

It is with GREAT joy and exultation that we announce the referral of our first child. The LORD God almighty has been so good to us, raining down HIS blessings to us.

Thank you, OH LORD!!!

Name: Zhao Hong Qi 赵红琦 (red fine jade)...will be called "Hope"
Estimated DOB (date of birth): 1/26/05 (just turned one)
Hunan Yuanling Social Welfare Institute (Lisa's mom's birth province)
DTC (dossier to China): 7/15/05
LID (log in Date): 7/28/05
DOR (date of referral): 1/4/05 at 10:45 a.m., totally unexpected!!!
expedited due to Chinese ancestry
as of 9/30/05, vital stats include
Wt: 19.25 lbs
Length: 27 inches
Head: 16.9 inches
Chest: 16.8 inches
She loves to watch TV commercials, music, talking with other kids, animal toys. She is very close to her foster mom.