New Pictures of Emma Kate!

Well, we got some new photos of Emma Kate and I wanted to post them. We also got some updated information saying she weighs 16 pounds now and is 24.8 inches long. We just can't get over how very cute and precious she is!

We got our Visa's back so now we wait for our travel approval from China. Then our adoption appointments will be made for China and we will be told when we will travel. We will continue to keep you updated!

Translated Information and What We Are Up To!

We got Emma Kate's translated information.  Her current first and middle name is Mei Ran. Mei means "beauty" and Ran means "peace". She is in the Jiangxi Province which is in southern China. She was found on the day she was born with a note indicating her birthdate. She was born on 11-28-2009. Her stats when she was first examined was that she was 15.7 inches long and 6 pounds. Her most recent measurements that we have were taken when she was 3 months old show she was 22 inches long and 13 pounds. All medical tests indicate that she is healthy and normal. Her report states that she watches those around her, likes to be talked to and responds with smiles, sleeps well, likes to be rocked to sleep, likes music and toys, and likes to suck her fingers.

We have officially accepted her and sent this offical letter back to our agency. They will send all of the acceptance letters from our group back to China together. We have also completed and sent in our Visa Applications. In order to travel to China, we must get a Visa. We should receive that back by the end of this week.

We are also working on sending a care package to Emma Kate in the orphanage. One of the things we will include in the care package is a disposable camera and ask that pictures be taken of her while there. We will also send a letter to the orphanage telling them about us and how excited we are! We also hope to get updated photos and more current measurements by sending the care package.

We will have to do some shopping for clothes and other things for Emma Kate. We have purchased a carseat, a high chair and some clothes. I have been purchasing clothes during this 4+ year wait but because I did not know how old she would be, I only purchased things from 18 months and up.

The next steps for us are waiting for the travel approval from China. Once we get this, our agency will make all the adoption appointments for us in China. Once these appointments are made, our agency will then tell us when we will travel. We will then look for reasonable airfares to get to China and back. Apparently the summertime is a busy travel time for China which means airfares will probably be a bit more than other times of the year.

That is all for now....thanks for your continued support and prayers!

Much love to you all,
Kathy

Introducing Emma Katherine!

Well, we FINALLY got our referral on Thursday, May 13, 2010. We knew it was coming this week but the information seemed to be traveling via the Pony Express to our agency in Utah. We first received the phone call telling us that we have been referred a girl and that she will be 6 months old this month.We got all the information later that was scanned and sent in an email. Of course, the first thing we opened were her pictures. She is absolutely beautiful and perfect! We are so thrilled...thank you all for your encouragement helping us get through the long wait.

We plan on calling her Emma Kate.

On Friday, we received the actual official documents via our Fed Ex stork. All the documents are written in Chinese with very little English. The paperwork is being translated and we should receive the translations early next week.

We now have to work on getting our documents ready for travel while we wait for our travel approval from China. Once all of our appointments are made for completing the adoption in China, we will receive our travel approval and can make our plane reservations. We hope to travel in early July.

This should be our week!!!

We should receive our referral this week! I can't believe that after 4+ years it is finally going to happen. I don't know when we will hear this week but I will keep this blog updated and send most of you emails. Keep your fingers crossed that it will be soon!

Kathy

Waiting on Pins and Needles!

If you are checking the blog you are obviously looking to see if we have received our referral yet. Not yet but we do know it is coming...and very soon. China was on holiday from May 1-3. This is their May Day/ Labor Day holiday. They should be back to work on Tuesday May 4th. Our thoughts are that we will get our referral information next week sometime. That gives China time this week to match the children with their soon to be families and send these referrals to the various agencies. I will be sending out emails once we get our referral but will also post our information here. Please cross your fingers that we get this information soon; we are going crazy with this wait. Thanks and love to you all!!!

Kathy