12 Days

That's how long it has been since we saw our daughter's picture for the first time.  It has been crazy busy and neither one of us has stopped smiling yet.  We must've looked at her picture a thousand times already.  Here's what has been happening:

• We have decided her name will be Ariana Jaidyn Hao (+ our last name.) Through online research we found that Hao means good or perfect and our translated paperwork verified the good part.  We know she's perfect :)
• We sent our acceptance letter back to our agency the instant we received it.  We only have FedEx service as a drop box in our city.  I sat in my car and waited for the driver so I could hand it to him as I wasn't taking any chances.  I'm sure he thought I was crazy!
• We had to get a home study addendum and apply for an updated I-171H since Ariana will be older than a year when we complete the adoption. Our approval is for a child up to one year.  It seems like we've spent a lot of the last five years watching the mail for I-171H forms. (For those of you new to international adoption, this is immigration paperwork.  The baby will travel to the U.S. on an R3 American Visa with a Chinese passport.  Once the plane touches down on U.S. soil she will become an American citizen.
• We sent our passports off to a courier service in Chicago who will bring them to the Chinese Consulate along with our visa applications.
• We found and joined a Yahoo group for parents who have adopted from Ariana's orphanage.  Parents who have visited report that it is very clean and well-run and the nannies really care about the children.  It is obvious from our daughter's pictures that she is strong and healthy.  We are hoping we have the privilege to visit even though it is 3 hours from Guangzhou, where we are assuming we will meet.

Just the other day I read a thread on the Rumor Queen site where parents were talking about getting updated measurements.  I made a mental note to ask about how they got them.  Today out of the blue I opened my email to find an update!  Ariana is now 69cm tall and 16 kg with 6 teeth.  That is 27" and 35 pounds! That seems a bit heavy for an 11 month old, but certainly cause to rethink the 12-18 month clothing.  Must step up the weight lifting here.   Best of all, there were 2 updated pictures included.  Our baby is standing up on her own.  Look at that face!

I'm off to Walgreens to pick up the new prints.