Seventeen Days Until Take Off

We received official travel dates. Chris and Sara will leave on October 31st and return on November 15th They will most likely be handed Zanna one day after her first birthday, which is November 3rd. Time is passing so quickly, and we have lots of packing and some paperwork left to do. I still have to put together my list of things I want Sara to buy for me in China!

Zanna with Hair Bob

Check out the updated photos we received of Zanna today! The update says she weighs 17 pounds and is 28 inches long. She also has 2 teeth. She was in foster care for the first 6-8 months of her life.
Our coordinator at FTIA said she thinks Zanna is crying in the one photo because her bottom is cold! You gotta' love those split pants! Let us know if you have any idea what that red string around her neck is.???

More Info. About Zanna

We received a detailed health report on Zanna, took it to the infectious disease doctor for review, and he said she's perfect too!

As of June 15th she weighed 15.4 pounds. The Chinese tend to weigh the babies with all those clothes on, so we can't be sure this was correct. She was 26 inches long and had a normal head size.

She's residing at the Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute that you see above. She's not in foster care like Calla was. I also included a picture of one of the crib rooms. Zanna is most likely spending a lot of her time in a crib like those you see in the photo.
If you want to see more photos that someone took of the orphanage, you can see them here.

The report also says she is a "little bit stubborn" and likes animals. She will fit right into our family!

Pudling #2

After 21 months and 2 weeks we finally received our referral for Suzanna. All we know so far is that she was born on November 3, 2006, and she is in the Fuzhou Social Welfare Institute in Jiangxi Province. We will get more information on Friday. Her Chinese name is Fu Ni Kun. We will call her Zanna (plus a lot of other nicknames, I'm sure).
When I asked Calla what it felt like to get a new sister, she said, "It feels like happy."
After everything we've been through this summer, this has brought us much-needed joy.

July Referrals

It looks like November 14th is the cut-off date for this month's referrals. With only 7 log-in dates of dossiers ahead of us, we are finally getting excited. My prediction is that the August referrals will go through November 21st, and then we will get ours in September. We have started getting Zanna's room ready--cleaning out her closet, buying some new furniture, moving my office furniture out.
Calla is waiting patiently and biding her time by swimming, playing, and worrying about getting the remaining shots she needs to travel to China.
She had a fun Fourth of July with her friends and said she is proud to be an American!

November 7th Cut-Off for Referrals

Well, the June batch of referrals is in. Another 5 days of log-in dates were referred. With November 7th being this month's cut-off date, it is still looking like with our November 22nd log-in date we will get our referral in September.
The good news is that summer is here, and Calla is in full-swim mode. She's starting to work on rhythmic breathing in her lessons, and she's very confident at the pool. It will be a fun summer for her--her last as an only child!

Referral Update

Is it good news or bad news that I am considering it good that 6 days of log-in-dates were matched this month? It's better than the abysmal 2 days that were matched last month. At this rate we would get our referral in September. Perhaps there is some symmetry in that. We received Calla's referral in September (2003). Traveling in China is quite nice in the Fall.

Calla's passport arrived today. The cover is really thick and has some type of electrical sensor in it. I wonder what data they are collecting with that when they run it over a scanner. At any rate, she now has more proof that she is an American citizen, and I am relieved to have her Certificate of Citizenship back in my possession.

So it looks like we will enjoy our summer watching our fish-girl master the pool, taking a family vacation, hobnobbing with the play group, and seeing what happens with the June, July, and August referral batches.