More photos...

So, Chris and I have decided that based on the footwear, the two single pictures in my earlier post are of the same twin. So, here are a few more.

Yikes! It's twins!!!!

Okay, so we're still recovering from the shock, so this post may be a bit incoherent. But I'll try to give all the details we have so far. And, most importantly, pictures of our twin daughters!

Twin #1:
Chinese Name: Le Ping Xi (pronounced 'le ping she')
Height: 62 cm
Weight: 6 kg
Birthdate: June 27, 2005
She is described as a deep sleeper (let's hope!), active and restless. She knows her name and turns her head when called. And she laughs out loud.

Twin #2:
Chinese Name: Le Ping Yue (pronounced 'le ping you')
Height, Weight, Birthdate are all the same as above.
She is also described as a deep sleeper (same comment as above!), active and restless. She too knows her name and turns her head when called. She also laughs out loud, and is described as "sometimes impatient". Hmmmm, taking after her mom already.

Pictures below. We don't have the file yet, so these photos were scanned and emailed to us. So, the quality may not be great. Don't ask us which twin is which.

Mom and dad are both doing fine (probably until it sinks in).

Oh, yeah. We're off now to try to come up with another name. And if any of you have a line on where we can get a second of everything we have or still need (crib, highchair, car seat, etc., etc.), let us know!

We've been matched!

Okay so today, just days after my mini-rant about the wait and timelines, the CCAA website was updated to say that files up to June 6, 2005 have been matched. Since we had a log-in date of May 31, 2005, that means we've been matched to a child. Wow. I was beginning to think the day would never come. And now it has.

Assuming the files were mailed out of China today, that means we may hear something this week. Otherwise it will be early next week. As soon as I have any info, I'll post again, and maybe even put up a picture.

It's gonna be a long week.

This is just a test to see if I can add images to this blog. This is a photo at the entrance of what will be the baby's room.

I'll take "referral date" for 1000, Alex.

All the talk this week, on the adoption blogs I check (several times a day!), has been about referrals -- what dates will be included and when will they come. Well, I'm no longer in the business of predictions. For the past three months anytime anyone asked (and let me tell you, I get the question at least 3 or 4 times a day) I would say we expected our referral at the end of the month. And we did. Every month. You'd think we'd learn.

So this month, I'm refusing to guess. Oh, I know... we should get our referral this month. But, we should have gotten our referral in February. And then in March. But fate, or China, or whoever, seems to be messing with me, and I'm not falling for it this month. So, if you are thinking about asking me if we have any news, don't. Or if you must, at least don't be surprised when I either a) snap your head off, or b) tell you we'll have our referral sometime between this week and Christmas of 2008.

This week I came across a site selling t-shirts and magnets and pins that said "No, still waiting. No, no news. YES, make it a double!" I think I'll adopt this as my personal mantra. At the very least, if I take to wearing the t-shirt or pin, it might cut down on The Question.

Welcome

Okay. So I've actually started a blog. I've been thinking about doing this for a long time -- ever since we started anticipating travelling to China; which as most of you know has been delayed, and delayed, and delayed yet again. Anyhow, it looks like it might be getting closer now. Close enough, at least, that it now seems like a real possibility. And so - this blog.

I'm hoping to be able to update the blog from China, so it will be a way to keep family and friends up-to-date with what's happening, without spending hours and big piles of money on middle-of-the-night phone calls. Plus, if I can figure out how, I'll post pictures.

I probably won't post a lot until we get our referral (for those of you not in the international adoption process, that's the point where we are matched with a child and get some basic information about name, age, location, etc.) And then after we get E*, I'm told I won't have time to do anything else at all. So, this blog could be short-lived. We'll see.

Feel free to post comments. I'd love to hear from you.

* I've been warned often enough to be a bit uncomfortable about using real names on the Internet. So, for now adopted daughter will be "E". Shall we start a pool on her real name? It could help off-set adoption and travel costs. :-)