What's New?

Not a whole lot. This weekend I gathered all the information we'll need for our visas and am planning on sending that to a rep from our agency tomorrow. Since we haven't heard if all acceptance letters have been returned to the agency, we're safe to assume that they have not. I e-mailed our travel coordinator today to see what was going on with these letters. She e-mailed me back and said she has contacted the families who have not returned their acceptance letters and that they are expected to be delivered to the office tomorrow. Fingers crossed that this happens. We're ready to start our travel planning!

We met with the pediatrician on Thursday morning and loved him! He answered all our questions and even took the time to review Bella's information and called us back. He didn't have a copy of her lab results, so Brian faxed that to him yesterday and we're waiting to hear back.

News from the Orphanage

We were very surprised this morning when I opened my e-mail and we had updated measurements from the orphanage! We received this information in her referral paperwork, but it was completed when Bella was 6 months old. At the time of referral, we were told she was 17 lbs, 25 inches and did not have any teeth. Today we learned she is now 18.7 lbs, 26.7 inches and has three precious teeth.

This afternoon we received another surprise from the orphanage. They've offered to take pictures of the babies...if we provide disposable cameras. Of course we will! Harrah's contacted the eight families in our travel group and told us to send money ASAP to them and they'll have the cameras to the orphanage ASAP. This is something we've never heard of happening before, so we were thrilled to have this opportunity.

Brian and I are planning on meeting with our pediatrician tomorrow morning. We're going to take all of Bella's reports and have him look over them. We're planning on gaining insight on her hernia and see what his recommendations are. We're also going to tactfully ask for medicines for the trip. Because of the stress their little bodies are going through, the babies often times become sick with common colds, etc.

We promise to keep you all updated! Exciting times for us!

What we're up to....

Besides gazing at our daughter's picture, not a whole lot. :) What do you do when you're not "waiting" anymore?

On Friday, we received our packet of information from our agency. It included Bella's original photos and paperwork. A lot of the paperwork (including her medical history) was in Chinese and had to be translated. We received the translated medical history yesterday. We read at two months she had an "indirect hernia" and instantly went into worry mode. Me more so than Brian, but there was a worry mode in the house. After hearing more about what an indirect hernia is, we're a little more calm. We have our consultation with the pediatrician scheduled for Thursday where we'll find out treatment options, if they're needed.

This morning I Fed Ex'd our acceptance letter to Harrah's. All 8 families in our group must return their acceptance letters before our travel can be scheduled. Once Harrah's receives the acceptance letters, they'll send them back to the CCAA and they will set up our official appointments. Once these appointments are set up, our agency will be notified and our trip will be set up. At this point we cannot answer the question that everyone wants to know the answer to, "When are you going?". I'll update as soon as we know. :)

Orphanage Video

Stephanie (aka Jackson and Lia's mommy) found this video online. It's our girl's first home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X0Xzo2UPr4

We're Parents!!!

We are very happy to announce the referral of our daughter, Isabella ZiYu Smith. Born Chen ZiYu in the Hunan Province, she currently resides in the Chenzhou Orphanage. We're hoping to travel to get her in 4 to 8 weeks. We are so in love.

Maybe???

I just read in rumor-land that referrals have been mailed AND the cut-off is the 14th. :) Stay tuned.....this could get interesting.

Amen!

Can I get an Amen? This was on our rumor site today: Those who are next, or close to next, are probably very close to needing anesthesia soon. This really has gone on way too long.

Nothing really new to report. It appears some families did receive "travel approval" to travel and adopt their babies; however, China is not allowing them to travel right now. There's also a rumor we might see referrals this week.

Still Nothing

For those following along at home, we still do not know anything. The latest we've heard is that some agencies are telling their families referrals will arrive as usual. However, some agencies are telling their families they are on hold for now. As usual, our agency is saying nothing. Stay tuned....