A Busy Two Weeks

Wow! It's hard to believe, but on Monday it will be two weeks since we got the call about Julianna. A lot has happened in the two weeks. First, we received a travel packet of documents from our agency. Have I said how wonderful our agency is??? Our agency is fantastic!!!!! Everything we have to do is completely explained. CCAI makes it so easy for us!! We had to sign, date, and notarize 5 documents, get a cashiers check and Fedex everything back ASAP. We had to start working on getting our Visas for the trip. Who knew you had to have passports and visas. We had to contact the National Visa Center to see if there was a record in China of our adoption case. Luckily, ours was there. I have heard stories of others not having a record of their case. Also this week, I gathered all our documents we have to carry with us to China.
Caroline and I also put together a care package for Julianna. We were given the address of her orphanage. We were able to send disposible cameras, a blanket, a toy, a teether, and a photo album wih pictures of us. Usually the Nannies will use the cameras and take pictures of the babies and give them back to the families. I hope we get them back.
Now, we are in the waiting mode again. Since or acceptance letter was sent to China, we have to wait for China to grant us Travel Approval (TA). Once we have TA, our agency will apply for our Consulate appointment. The Consulate will issue Julianna a visa to leave China. Once we have our Consulate appointment, our entire trip can be planned around this date. Lets hope we get TA soon!!!!!!!
Here are a few pictures. Caroline with the balloons we put on the mailbox, the flag hanging on our porch, and our care package. It should be in China by now!!

Another cute photo

Here is one of the additional photos we received in our package of information on Tuesday, June 23. Can you believe the Fedex man actually delivered our package to the wrong house??!! Luckily, our neighbor was home, and she quickly brought it down to me. Julianna is 5 months old in this picture too. This one is my favorite!!

Here she is!!!!

Introducing our new baby girl!
She is 8 1/2 months old. She is from Jiangxi Provence. Her birthdate is Oct. 6, 2008.
Her name is Guo, Dan Fen
Guo is her surname
Dan means red
Fen means fragrance
This referral picture was taken in March 2009 when she was 5 months old.
Her name will be Julianna. We have not decided on her middle name yet.

TODAY IS THE DAY!!!!!

Today is the day we get the call!! Today we will find out her age, measurements, Chinese name, and where she is living. We are sooooo excited!!! Caroline and I just made a quick run to the Dollar Tree to buy pink balloons to tie on our mailbox. Gary is on his way home to be here for the phone call and to see her picture. I can't wait to hear what her Chinese name is because part of that we will use for her middle name. Julianna ?????. We will know soon.
Only about one more hour - I think that it is going to be one long, nervous hour!!

We will get the call on Monday!!

Our agency just posted that they have received a group of matches. They will call us on Monday some time after 12 noon.
Wow!! Our file is matched with a baby and sitting on someone's desk in Colorado right now. It is weird to think that after 4 long years.

Waiting and waiting and...

All set for the call!!

Camcorder ready - check!

List of questions ready and waiting by the telephone - check!

It is hard to believe the time is finally here.

What will happen next

Once the referrals are mailed from China, our agency will receive them and then translate the information on that day. The next day someone from our agency will call us with the baby's basic information. We will find out her Chinese name, her birthdate, her measurements, and where she is living. Then, they will email us a picture.
Our agency will then overnight mail this package of info. to us.
We have our list of questions waiting beside the telephone, and the camcorder ready to record the famous phone call.