Waiting to Travel

Thank you for following our journey! We received our referral March 5. The call actually came on Suzy's cell while she was out to lunch with her sister and dad for his birthday. She strained to listen as she sat in the noisy waiting area of a Mexican restaurant. What a moment! She hung on every word as the rep from our agency listed off weights and measurements, likes and dislikes, motor development, sleeping habits... of our daughter. Of course, Suzy immediately called Toby and with tears in both of their eyes she spelled out her name, Bai Xiao Hui, from Dianbai County in far southeast China. Her birthday was May 10th, 2006. This baby that we have been praying for and dreaming about is now a little girl that we can call by name. Every day since then we have been pouring over her medical records, looking at her pictures or reading about her hometown and orphanage on the internet. Words cannot express how thrilled we will be when we actually get to hold in our arms!

On March 10th, we moved (just a few houses down the alley) and as I write this I hear the pounding of construction as we are adding a playroom upstairs. The 4 of us have been sleeping in the same room for a month now and we are sadly used to living in dust and boxes. In our new house, our baby will have her own room even though Audrey was glad to share her room with her sister in the old house. After waiting 2 years for our daughter, we are amazed at the timing. We were not even thinking about moving when we saw this house for sale back in Nov. We made the decision in just a few days and had the priviledge of owning 2 houses for 3 months. We should have just about a month to get our house in order once the construction is done. We should be traveling to China in May right as Toby finishes his 3rd year in his PhD, which means that he will be done with classes and only have dissertation left. There is even a good chance that we will meet her on or near her first birthday. Life is good.