Did You Hear? Have You Seen Her??

Did you see her? Our new daughter?

I got a call yesterday from our adoption agency asking if I was interested in a referral. 35 days after we sent our paperwork to China. After all the hyperventilating (on my end, not hers) stopped, she proceeded to give me a brief introduction to our little girl.

This precious little girl is 2 years and 9 months old, and will be over 3 when we bring her home later this year (probably in the fall). She has been in an orphanage since she was about a week old, and was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate (unilateral left cleft lip with III degree cleft palate extending from the lip and bisecting the uvula, for those of you who are interested). As you can see from the picture, the cleft lip has been repaired, and the first of what will likely be several surgeries has been done to repair the cleft palate. We were expecting (and actually hoping) to receive a referral for a child with this type of problem, and were pleasantly surprised to learn that the surgical repairs had already begun. The most recent medical updates I have are from last October.

We were given brief medical reports and information about her growth and development, and she appears to be a healthy little girl other than the cleft. And she's potty trained. Can I get an AMEN?

As I was reading her information that was provided about her, and looking at the three pictures I had, several things caught my attention:

--She shares a birthday with GG. Baby girl was born on June 5, 2007 on my grandmother's birthday. My family is notoriously stingy with our birthdays. I share March 26 with my mother and Harper, Aidan shares a birthday with my cousin, and my Dad shares with a couple of cousins. So it seemed only fitting that our daughter should have a birthday buddy.

--I have honestly been praying for a child with a cleft lip. We had told our agency that we would be open to adopting a girl with a cleft or a heart defect, and I have been secretly terrified of having a child with a heart defect. Even a minor, correctable heart defect, I was afraid of the anxiety it would bring me. I have also been praying that our daughter would be at least a year older or younger than Harper. I knew they would be close in age, but I wanted their to be a definite "older" and "younger" sister.

--Dane is 20 months older than Aidan, and Aidan is about 3 and a half years older than Harper. This little girl is 22 months younger than Aidan, and 21 months older than Harper. She just fits perfectly.

--Um, we don't know what her name is going to be. Her name right now is Long Jing Yan, and we will be changing it. However, Brandon and I have a documented history of incisiveness when it comes to naming little girls, and the same naming guidelines apply as when we were naming Harper. We are maybe willing to consider a slightly-more-adventurous name, but I have a feeling we will be referring to her as "our little girl" more often than not. As always, name suggestions are welcomed!

As overjoyed as we are right now, I feel a physical ache more than ever today for other families, for friends of ours who are also adopting and waiting for a child. For families who have been patiently waiting and preparing for much longer than we have to welcome a child into their family. Families who are much more "ready" than we are. It's just not fair. And I pray for those parents-to-be every night.

My mind is full right now. We will send our "letter of intent" to our agency tomorrow morning to secure our referral, and I basically have no idea what the next step is from here. I haven't really been paying attention, because I was expecting to wait several more months for a referral, if not a year. I do remember reading that referral time to travel time (when we actually get her) is an estimated 5 to 8 months. We have to get approval and documents from US Immigration, and from governmental agencies in China (don't I sound all kinds of knowledgeable?), so we are expecting to bring her home before Christmas.

I've already been mentally preparing myself for adding another one into our family. I know that I will be bringing home a three year old with speech and language delays, who presumably does not understand or speak English and has been institutionalized for her entire life. A precious, beautiful little girl who will need multiple surgeries to repair a birth defect inside her mouth, and probably major dental reconstructive work.

And I couldn't be more thankful. More grateful to God for entrusting us to parent this baby. More excited about telling Dane and Aidan about the little sister they have been praying for every night (which we will be doing today).

I feel an odd sense of peace about all the uncertainties, because I know that this is our daughter, our little girl, and God selected US to be her parents. And we will be bringing her home.