New Pictures!!!

And her name is . . .

Adelyn Mei Osborne

We're glad to have decided on her name and we think it fits her perfectly. We wanted to keep "Mei" from her Chinese name. It means "plum flower". And we really like how it sounds with "Adelyn".

Hopefully we'll get travel approval and visa's within the next month so we can schedule our flights.

More about our daughter...

We travelled to our agency in Evansville, IN Friday afternoon to receive our referral package for Hui Cheng Mei. Information was limited, but we did learn a little more:

• * She is 30" tall and weighs 17.5 lbs.
• * She has 8 teeth and has a healthy appetite
• * She likes to watch kids play (she is very timid)
• * She is a deep sleeper although routine feedings include an 11:30pm meal. (Wow, sounds just like her Daddy!)
• * Her favorite toys - cars and dolls (probably the only toys available...)
• * Her favorite activity - to be held (Momma couldn't be happier!!!!)

No word yet on travel dates.

Oh yeah, no final word yet on her name either.....We've committed to decide by the end of the week. We have the list narrowed to 2 options: Dawn or Andrea...hahahaha just kiddin.

INTRODUCING . . .

Hui Cheng Mei

(pronounced Hway Chong May)

We couldn't be more excited to post the wonderful news of our daughter's referral. She was born on July 6, 2006 and is currently in the Guangdong Province (Southeastern China). Words cannot describe the emotion we feel after waiting so long to complete our family.

We have very little information at this time. We should receive our official packet in a few days with more information.

Thank you to those that have been praying for us. It has been a long road, but we are nearing the moment when we get to hold our daughter for the first time.

We're trying to finalize her American name but haven't decided for sure. More to follow . . .

News Soon!!

Hello friends, family, & fellow China bloggers,

The latest information (rumor) we have is that referrals are on the way to the agencies. Some have posted that they received their "call" today. We've heard of people with LID's of 12/14/05 getting the "call", so that means we should be in (with our LID of 12/13/05)!

We've checked the web, email, voicemails, etc. . . about 100 times today hoping for more info. Andrea was off today and I think she dusted everything in the house about 4 times to try to keep busy. Luckily, I had a couple of meetings at work today that kept me preoccupied and helped pass the day.

We're both home now having a cocktail trying to remain (hemmm, hemmm) calm!

Hopefully there will be more to come in the next day or two.

WELCOME!

Welcome to all of our family and friends who will be following our adoption journey. We began our journey in January 2005. Our completed dossier (FBI background checks, health exams, birth & marriage certificates, reference letters, home study, autobiographies, fingerprints, employer references, etc, etc. . . . ) was notorized by Nelson County, the state of Kentucky, and authenticated by The U.S. Secretary of State at Washington D.C. Our dossier was submitted to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and logged in on December 13, 2005. Then we waited...

And waited...and waited...and waited.

Each month our adoption agency, Families thru International Adoption (FTIA), receives "Referrals" from the CCAA. A referral is a picture and brief medical history of a child specifically matched to the adoptive parents. After almost 24 months, we hope to receive our referral in early December 2007.

So . . . the wait continues.