Saturday, July 30, 2005

Medical Review!

This morning we received a phone call from the pediatrician. She was thrilled to see a referral picture with a child smiling as she does not come across them very often. It makes us wonder if that is why she was chosen for our family. According to the doctor, the medical records look great. The bloodwork looks clear. Developmentally, she seems to be on target for her age. There was a discrepancy in her gross motor skills, but the doctor said not to be concerned as two different people probably filled out the forms and narrative. Believe it or not, she is considered petite. Looking at the pictures we would never have guessed that. Based on the Chinese growth chart, she is in the 4th percentile on height and 25th percentile on weight. Again, nothing to be concerned about. We will most likely receive an updated medical record before we leave and that will be evaluated as well. The information on this medical evaluation was done in April when she was 6 months old. The doctor estimates (based on some calculations) that she will be approximately 16.5 lbs. and 27 inches when we go to China. At that point, she will be about 11 1/2 months old. Well, that is the medical update.

Tonight, we signed referral acceptance letter and will send it off first thing this week.

Finally, the information everyone has been waiting for...
We are thrilled to announce that we have named her. Although I had a name picked out for months, we spent many hours between last night and this morning researching names and the meaning of names. As a family, we have chosen Rylee WenJi Reagle. We are thrilled and can't wait to bring her home!

PS Jenny chose the date closest to our referral date. Her guess was July 30th. Look for a little something in your mailbox in the next week or so!

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Our Lil' Blessing from Jiangxi



































Wow! What a whirlwind of a day...It's been exciting. Did you hear the cheering and squeals? Sorry for posting the pictures so late. We have tried to balance the day as it is also Morgan's birthday. I think we did okay. Meet our little bundle. We think she is adorable and is a great match for our family. I think she will do okay with all the boys in this household. We feel so blessed and have yet to even meet her. We have not stopped long enough to process everything. That said, we have not chosen a name yet and will probably do so over the course of the next few days. We want to do a little research and find more about the area where she is living. Currently, a copy of her records are with a local pediatrician that is familiar with international (mainly Chinese) medicine and has adopted a daughter from China. She will review the information and pictures that we have received and report back to us any red flags. At this point, it appears that her records and development are fine. We will most likely travel sometime in September. It usually takes 5-8 weeks after the referral. Check back often as I am sure we will have many updates. Good night for now! God is so good!!!

The Stork Has Landed!

We just got the call! It is a girl! Her name is Long Wen Ji and she is currently waiting for us in the Jiangxi Province. Her birthday is October 9, 2004 (estimate) and she was taken to the orphanage on October 10th. We do not have anymore details at this point as we have not picked up the referral yet. We will do so in a few minutes. So, check back later for a picture and further details. We are TICKLED PINK! Morgan, of course, is estatic! He said from day 1 that he wanted to be in China picking up his sister on his birthday. Well, going to Lexington to pick up information and to see her pictures is the next best thing! Got to go before I get more emotional!

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Stork Alert #2

Late this afternoon we received an email from our agency. Two packages are on their way from China. One is probably travel arrangements for the last batch of referrals and the other is quite possibly our referral! Yipppeee!!! The package that we believe contains referrals is not expected to arrive until Friday. Good thing we have lots of things to keep us busy until then!

Monday, July 25, 2005

Ladybug Sighting!

In some countries, ladybugs symbolize health, luck, and good fortune. Among the Chinese adoption community, ladybugs have come to symbolize hope and that referrals are soon to come. Families on the message boards are constantly posting their latest ladybug purchases that they have found in stores (swimsuits, pillows, shoes, dresses, etc), ladybug sightings, etc. There is a book out by Steven Curtis Chapman named Shaoey and Dot that is about a little ladybug named Dot that promises to stay with the a little bundle named Shaoey until she makes it to the place "where babies come to be found". I think you get the picture now. Yesterday, I turned around to get something off of the kitchen counter and found this little sight. Hmmm.... If nothing else, we thought it was a cool picture.

Friday, July 22, 2005

Cold Water

Well, as you have probably guessed, this was not our week! I won't even bother to post the latest rumors as the track record for these boards has not been very reliable. One post caught my eye moments ago. The woman simply stated:

"Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land."
Proverbs 25:25

We are thrilled that every moment is a step closer to finding out about this special child and know that this child is the one meant for our family. As we have told Morgan many times (especially in the last month) - We want the child that God has for us and don't want to go and pick up the wrong one. So, we need to wait patiently and pray for her daily. A great lesson for our entire family.

Have a great weekend! Until next week....

Monday, July 18, 2005

Referral Whispers

Whispers of referrals have begun! The message boards are beginning to buzz with news. Evidently, the Spanish site is stating that referrals will be sent out from China this week. Now, the question is...What day will they be sent out? Our agency usually receives them two days after they have been sent. This might actually be this week. We will keep you posted!

Saturday, July 9, 2005

Nesting!

With the July 4th holiday behind us and the end of the month drawing near, we figured that we should probably begin nesting. We still continue to do all of the home improvement projects (painting, organizing, etc) that have been on our "to do list" and we have officially begun preparing the nursery and going through all of the baby stuff that has taken over our storage room. Since we have gotten rid of none of Morgan's baby stuff, we have quite a project ahead of us - sorting, cleaning, etc. Today, Morgan put together the crib with very little help from Dad. Assembling the crib has brought up his excitement level another notch!! There have been no new rumors on the message boards so, we do not have any idea when we should expect referrals. We are very confident, however, that we are in the next batch and are hoping they arrive in July. Hopefully, the days til our referral will pass quickly! We certainly have enough things to keep us busy until that day.