IT'S HERE!

It is 9:36 am and the phone rings. I have goose bumps. It is Shelley...our proposal has arrived. I squeal. We have a sweet baby girl. I hang up and I am bawling. I try calling Aubrey at work several times...can't get through so I leave a message. I say a prayer and thank God for blessing us with a miracle and for making us a family. I cry some more.

I met with Shelley. My hands are shaking as I receive our baby girl's pictures and proposal. The proposal and medical record are in Chinese and have been sent to Bonnie for translation. I met Aubrey for lunch and his eyes are moist as he pours over the pictures. She is beautiful and perfect in every way. We have fallen in love with her! We are both in a daze. We can't wait to get her.

OK...so you are wondering what her name is. It is Xiu Fu Ying. She was born on October 20, 2005. "Xiu" is her last name. "Fu Ying" is her given name. In the Cantonese dialect, it is pronounced "Tsao Fook Un". In the Mandarin dialect, it is pronounced "Siu Fu Ying". We are told that "Fu Ying" means "Blessed Singing Bird" (a little yellow bird that sings beautifully).

We are thrilled to introduce to all of you, our precious daughter:

Madison Taylor Wong

...and this is the look that melts our hearts:

She is our beautiful little Princess!

Now here is Aubrey's baby picture:

Isn't it eerie and amazing how much Madison looks like Aubrey?! They say that CCAA match babies to the looks of the father and the personality of the mother. Wow...no kidding! As for personality, that remains to be seen...

Our little Madison is from the Xiushan Social Welfare Institute which is located in Xiushan County, Chongqing City. See general map below. Aubrey and I will have to learn a bit more about China's geography and history.

Here is a thought - on October 20, 2005, we attended our first "Waiting Families" meeting and who would have guessed little Madison was born that day!

Are we included in May's proposals?

I am sitting in front of the computer and it is 7:15 pm. An email comes in from Bonnie Wong and here is the message:

"Good news for dossiers being expedited by CCAA due to Chinese origin: if your LID is November/05 or December/05, your proposal has been sent by CCAA this week. It looks like the current wait time for expedited files is around 5-6 months between LID and proposal."

WOO HOO!!! I have tears in my eyes. I am in disbelief. I yell for Aubrey. He rushes over to read it and we are both jumping for joy. But wait...what if for whatever reason our proposal was not included in this month's batch. We thought we'd better not get ahead of ourselves until our proposal arrives and we physically have it in our hands.

PS. We can't sleep!