She's Ours!

The committee was scheduled to meet this evening and Grace promised to call me as soon as the meeting was over to let me know the findings. My phone rang late this afternoon and I was surprised to see AHH's telephone number. I thought they must need clarification on one of the forms or some additional information. I was shocked when she said the committee had decided to meet early. WE'VE BEEN MATCHED WITH MYA!!

Here's what we know about her as reported at 18 months of age:

• Her Chinese name is Dang Xin Xiang. The given surname, Dang, is usually somewhat arbitrary, after the orphanage or its director.
  
  
• Her birth date is August 20, 2004 (Our Wedding Anniversary!), so she will be about 2 1/2 years old when we bring her home.
  
  
• She resides at the Social Welfare Institute of Zhangzhou City, an orphanage in the Fujian Province.
  
  
• She is 84 cm (33 in) tall and weighs 12 kg (26 lbs). She is in the 98th percentile on the Chinese growth chart and in the 92nd percentile on the American growth chart. Not being a family of significant height (TRULY), Sawyer noted how ironic it would be if she ends of being taller than any of us:)!
  
  
• She can stand steadily and walk freely by herself. She can take building blocks out of a cup and use two pieces of blocks to knock at each other. She is cooperative when "being put on clothes and take off unlined clothes and socks." (I love the translations!)
  
  
• She can imitate speaking and can speak three to five words. She responds to other's asking for her belongings.
  
  
• She has breakfast at 6:30, lunch at 11:30 and supper at 5:30. Her staple food is congee and her snacks consist of egg, fruit, milk powder blended with rice cereal, and biscuits.
  
  
• She is active and has a ready smile (I can't wait to see it -- I have a feeling it's going to light up our world)!
  
  
• Her favorite toys are a doll and a rattle.

I can't begin to tell you how thrilled and humbled we are to be entrusted with this precious girl. I thank God for His hand and love and for His ability to make all things possible. We will do everything in our power to ensure we reach her as quickly as possible.

On a side note .... Hagan and I did the happy dance:)!

She's Captured Our Hearts

We shared her photo with the boys, along with some of the limited information we have about her. We all adore her! I contacted CCAI just to see if we could all work together to bring Mya home. It seems that files cannot be shared between agencies and if we want to pursue this, we need to submit our dossier through AHH. So .... we're charging full steam ahead in hopes that we'll be matched with her. On October 9 we submitted our application form and all preliminary paperwork to AHH in consideration of Dang Xin Xiang, aka, Mya.

My Mya - And So It Begins

COMPLETELY out of the blue, I receive an email today from Grace Shelton at A Helping Hand (AHH) regarding Mya -- the little girl I requested information on in June.

Jana,
I went through my past emails of families that were interested in Mya and came across yours. I am sorry to let you know that Mya's match fell through and we are now looking for her forever home again. I do not know what your status may be at this time or if you would at all still be interested but I thought I would let you know of her availability and see if you might be interested. I have attached her photos again in the event you need a reminder of this cutie's face. If you are interested please let me know and I would be happy to work with you in submitting your application for her.
Grace

Still interested?!?! ohmygosh ... YES!! My head says no, you've already come this far with another agency, but my heart says YES, she's always been yours. This is meant to be. I called Mike to share the news, and of course, I emailed Grace back immediately to let her know that we are most definitely still interested. This is going to mean a lot more paperwork, but we'll do whatever is needed to make this happen! Praise God for this joyful news!

September Accomplishments

The paperchase is STILL on! The social worker came for our Home Study visit this month and she interviewed us all as a family, the boys as a group, and Mike and I individually. The boys were so nervous -- Sullivan COULD NOT sit still and he couldn't quit smiling:). Sawyer volunteered to take the lead, which eased some of the pressure for Hagan and Sullivan. They were all wonderful and were very open to talking with Stacie. Stacie thinks they're great boys (and they are) -- I couldn't be more proud!

1. 9/5/06 -- Mike applied for passport


2. 9/7/06 -- Jana applied for passport


3. 9/13/06 -- Home Study Visit with the Family (a lot of nervous energy leading up to this -- you never know what Sullivan might say:)!


4. 9/15/06 -- Home Study sent by Adoption Assistance for Review


5. 9/19/06 -- Home Study by me and changes forwarded for final copy


6. 9/25/06 -- CCAI approved our Home Study! It will be in the mail tomorrow!!
   

August Accomplishments

1. 8/2/06 -- Received notice from CCAI that our application has been approved! Received our orientation packet. Requested Mike's birth certificate and our marriage certificate from Vitalchek
   
   
2. 8/4/06 -- Received Mike's birth certificate and our marriage certificate
   
   
3. 8/7/06 -- Sent notarized Fee Policy Agreement and Service Agreements to CCAI via certified mail
   
   
4. 8/9/06 -- Received Dossier Packet to download from CCAI
   
   
5. 8/10/06 -- Michael's Physical
   
   
6. 8/14/06 -- Received signed Service Agreement from CCAI
   
   
7. 8/15/06 -- Mailed Request for my Certified Report of Birth to the Passport Services (because I was born in Germany)
   
   
8. 8/18/06 -- Jana's Physical
   
   
9. 8/30/06 -- First meeting with Stacie Musgrave (social worker) at Adoption Assistance.
   Received my certified birth certificate (yeah!!)
   
   
10. 8/31/06 -- Submitted I600A Form and Fingerprinted
    

July Accomplishments

The paperchase is on!! We're off to gather all the documents and information we need to complete our Home Study and our Dossier. Here's a summary of our July accomplishments:

1. 7/4/06 -- Mailed application to Adoption Assistance, Inc. for Home Study
   
   
2. 7/12/06 -- Mailed application to CCAI
   
   
3. 7/19/06 -- Mailed State Police criminal check forms
   
   
4. 7/20/06 -- Mailed Child/Spouse Abuse registry checks for Jana, Mike, Sawyer
   
   
5. 7/24/06 -- Received notice from CCAI that our application was received
   
   
6. 7/31/06 -- Sent Record Check to CCAI in lieu of local Police Clearance Report

... and that's just the beginning:)!

Choosing an Agency

We narrowed our agency choices down to two -- CCAI (in Denver) and A Helping Hand (in Lexington). Both agencies advocate for the children left behind and both are very highly regarded. It just so happened that both agencies had information seminars scheduled in Lexington for the beginning of July. CCAI's seminar was on Saturday, July 8, and A Helping Hand's seminar was on Monday, July 10. Saturday worked better for us, so Michael, Sawyer and I attended. It was fabulous -- very informative and very emotional. The room was filled with couples seeking to travel this journey and the moderator, home from China just a few months with her own daughter, shared her personal experiences along with some "Gotcha Day" videos. We left with an application in hand, feeling nervous, excited, and very eager to get started.