Join the Guessing Game!

We've devised a little game for you all that we've been playing for months now. The winner will receive a little gift from our daughter's province. :)

Object of the game: Guess our daughter's birthdate and province. Tie-breaker: Weight (as of the latest physical they give us).

How to Play:
Read the helpful hints then, when ready, post a comment to this entry. Include your three predictions: Birthdate, Province, Weight

To post a comment, click on the current comments at the end of this post. Then, if you wish to keep it simple, post as "other" and include your name within the post. Still confused? Email your entry at mbraun@cfl.rr.com and I'll post it for ya!

Helpful Hints:
Here are the different provinces of China. The ones with the highest adoption rates from our agency include Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, and Guangxi -- although there are many, many adoptions from other provinces. The following link might give you a better view: http://china.scmp.com/map/

We requested a girl, 0 - 24 months old. Most of the referrals the past six months have been 7 - 12 months for those who requested 0 - 12 months....

Most of the babies are little, but not all. We might get a skinny mini, but we might get the buddha baby!



Have fun and good luck!

The Lucky Ones

Match Day for the Group Ahead of Us!

Yesterday was "referral day" for families whose dossiers were logged into China between December 24st and January 27th. On referral day, families get THE CALL where they find out who their daughter (or son, once in a while) is, and get a picture of her via email. The agency then sends a Fed Ex package with more information, paperwork to sign (to officially accept their referral) and the next wait begins: The wait for travel dates. It was so exciting to read about all the new babies (on our yahoo group of families with January / February log-in dates).

We predict that we will be in the next batch, as our log-in date is February 26th. Melissa is so glad to be starting back at work, as she will have slightly less time to obsess over the whole thing!

Below is a poem that I (Melissa) wrote just before the referrals started pouring in. I wanted to capture my honest feelings, which include excitement and doubt -- which I suspect every parent-to-be experiences....

"Referral Day"

It is referral time for you, dear friends
Who have been hoping,
praying,
waiting,
for this day to arrive.

It is referral time for you, dear friends
Who have been talking about,
dreaming of,
and even fearing a bit,
this day of days, of the exact moment when a single phone call
makes you a parent.

And I wonder if you wonder...
...will my heart recognize her immediately or will she seem a stranger?
...will I know I got the most beautiful baby or will I believe that just maybe we've been mismatched?
...will I love her with such abandon that I cannot fathom being good enough or will I just panic because I feel no maternal instinct kicking in?

Surely, this is the day where the paper pregnancy and the biological pregnancy become one.
Surely, this is the day where contradictions breathe under your very skin.
Desperately longing for what the future brings, but
Hesitating --
Waiting to just put it all on hold, to catch your breath.

For you know that life is about to become a "Before & After" affair:
Before being a parent and
After knowing your life is so much about someone else.

And you want the After
And you're rejoicing that it's just about here,
But still --
You just want to catch your breath
To prepare yourself for the irrevocable
responsibilities,
changes,
blessings,
that are about to barrel through your well-ordered world.

But life is like a toddler: There's no standing still.

And the truth be told, you wouldn't want that anyway.
You can live through your contradictions,
mostly with great joy, great success and a great sense of humor,
Knowing that your child will be doing the same.

Your child,
who you will meet
today.


Peace,

The Lucky Ones

Why China?

Many have asked us why we are choosing to adopt from China, which is a reasonable question. I have yet to find the answer that encompasses everything that led us to where we are now, but here are a few explanations....

Why China?
Because that’s where our daughter is…. I feel her breath on the whisper of the wind, I hear her cry in my dreams, I see her twinkle in every child’s eyes. The years of infertility have led me to believe, as sure as I know that my life is blessed, that our daughter is waiting for us somewhere in China.

Why China?
There are far too many children in Chinese orphanages and there are empty spaces in our hearts and home.

Why China?
China instituted a one-child policy to attempt to deal with overpopulation issues, which has resulted in crowded orphanages. The situation is entirely too complicated for me to give a simplistic answer, but I have no doubt that China loves her children and part of that love is demonstrated in trying to find homes for the little ones left behind.

• Some useful links and informative reading:
  Frequently Asked Questions about Adoption from China
  Internet Sites of Interest about China
  Our Adoption Agency, CCAI – the best!
  The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans
  Both a historical and personal perspective about China’s one-child policy, international adoption, and what it means to be a family. Highly recommended reading – absolutely fascinating….
  Role of Women in China: Ancient Times and Today
  

Why not America?
An answer from author Terry Garlock:
My hope is that some day our foster care train wreck and imperfect laws will be cleaned up so families who want a child and children who need a home have a better chance of finding one another, right here in the US. Until that happens, a growing number of American families will reach across national boundaries to adopt because they don’t want problems, they just want a child.

And our answer:
We just want a child and feel we've been called to China, where our daughter waits for us.

Peace,

Melissa & Scott

The Lucky Ones