updates and more updates

Just a quick update after my referral story:

-I finally got my passport photo a little over 2 weeks ago (my parents already had them), and we are just waiting to get the actual passport so I can get my visa.

-We are going carry-on-only. (I'll tell you how it works out!)

-I will be taking my or my dad's laptop to China to update everybody on our trip and everything. I also hope to be posting daily, as I have time on my hands and need something to do with it. (LOL) So keep reading and stick with us. We're almost there!

Referrals!!!!

OK. OK. OK. So I KNOW I haven't posted since October last year, and when is it now? Yes, it's August. Wow, that's almost a year! And...a LOT can happen in that time. Trust me! We have been so busy, because (if you don't already know) we recently went from "matching room" to "having a referral" all in the last week! That's right. WE ACTUALLY GOT OUR REFERRAL! Finally. She is a beautiful baby girl who just recently turned eight-months-old last Saturday. She is from the Jiangxi Province, and her orphanage is in Ji'an. Her full Chinese name is Ji Lu Yang. That's pronounced Jee-Loo-Yawng. Her story is rather interesting, as well. She was abandoned at the doorstep of a retirement/assited living home. There the "older people" took care of her until she was almost five months old. Then she was taken to the orphanage, where she spent nearly three months before being matched with our family. Lucky for her, she will only spend a month-and-a-half longer there! At the retirement home, they called her YangYang (Yawng-Yawng), so to help her adjust, we will be calling her that when we first get her. Right now, it is just me, my mother, and my father traveling to pick her up in China. WE are all SO pysched for the trip. We are already packed halfway, and it seems to grow every day! Oh, how I've been waiting to pack. Pretty much ever since '05!!! But we haven't just been sitting around waiting for information. We got our referral on Thursday of last week, and we drove up to Austin to pick up the paperwork on Friday. (That way we could have it before anybody else!) Late Friday night, we took it to a Chinese restaurant we like to get the lab results and other papers translated. We found out about where she was abandoned, and some things about her. Like the fact that she has chubby cheeks. (Can't you tell?) She also likes to play with blocks, and enjoys toys that make noise, which is rather surprising for them. We were actually rather discouraged when our agency (GWCA) told us that they didn't think that there was anybody who was referred a baby from that orphanage. So sad...until we were looking at other blogs, and it turns out that a family in Georgia is getting a baby girl from there, too! The girls are only one month and one day apart (ours is born on December 4, 2006, and theirs is November 3, 2006). They may actually be cribmates! They may be together right now! And, the good thing is, unlike some people, they live within a semi-reasonable driving distance from us. How cool is that?! Anyway, we already FedEx'd our paperwork back to Austin, so it can go to China. Tomorrow, they will send everybody's out, and we will be expecting TA soon. I'm so excited! The projected travel date (from our agency) is September 13th!!! Yes! It actually seems real now! Before it was, 'oh,yeah, we're adopting from China...' But now we have something to look forward to! Earlier today, me and my Grandma picked up somebody from the airport and I said, 'Think. Next time, it's us you'll be picking up with the baby.' And those words are SO TRUE!!!