Week Four: China Here We Come!

We received the exciting news yesterday that our consulate appointment has been scheduled in Guangzhou for 8/27 with the oath-taking happening on 8/28. That means that our group will arrive in China on 8/15 and depart for Wuhan, Hubei Province on Sunday, 8/17. Likely we will meet our daughters for the first time on Monday, though we haven't been told that officially. All of the little ones will be brought to Wuhan from wherever they have been living in the province, and they will stay with us the rest of the time that we are in China. Michael and I have made our flight arrangements to get to China, and CCAI takes care of the rest. Thank goodness worrying about logistics will be one thing we can avoid as their representatives take care of everything so that we can concentrate on our child. Michael's parents will be arriving on the 13th to take care of Nicholas, and my parents will drive over on the 16th as they will just be getting back from visiting Carl and his family in Montana on the 15th. Thank goodness we have such wonderful families to help out at home while we are away! The other exciting thing that has happened this week is the receipt of updated information on Sophia Cai. As of last week she was 27 1/2 inches tall and almost 20 pounds. Looks like those 12 mo. clothes I have been piling up are going to work out great! We also have new photos, which are posted, too. Isn't she cute!

Week Three--And the Baby's Name Is...

Well, I'm happy to report that our baby has a name. After much discussion and perusal of our Baby Name book, we are planning to call our little girl Sophia Cai . Sophia is Greek for "wisdom" and Cai is Chinese for "full of color." Nicholas already knows her name and will tell you if you ask him what it is. I think he is a little sad that we nixed his choices--but really, donkey, horsey, and tic tac just were not cutting it.

Bureaucratically speaking, we learned this week that our visa applications arrived safely in Washington, and we should have our visas by the end of this week. We also just received today our fingerprint appointment letter, so we can make the 6-hour roundtrip to Nashville knowing that we really will be fingerprinted when we get there. And we received our travel approval from China saying that we can officially make the trip to pick up little Sophia Cai. Now we are waiting to learn when our consulate appointment has been scheduled so that we can find out when we can travel. CCAI has told us they would like for us to be in China by 8/15 but that is dependent on the consulate appointment.

For now, we continue to stockpile "stuff" for the journey. I've spoken with a high school friend who made the adoption trip to China the summer we originally planned to go (2005), and she has been very helpful about what to bring. There is so much to consider--I think we'll just pack it all in and then revisit once we see how overloaded the suitcases are (there is a 44-lb. weight limit in China and you can only check one bag).

And, I'm happy to report that Nicholas has successfully spent the night in his "big boy" bed and claims to "love it!" Hopefully we will be blessed with an easy transition from crib to bed and he will not fight Sophia for the crib once she gets home! :-)

Week Two--Things Are Falling Into Place

What a difference a week can make. We have been so busy trying to chase down another round of paperwork and prepare not only for our trip but also for Baby Cai's arrival at our home. We've made a lot of progress, especially with the paperwork. Thankfully, I was able to learn yesterday that we've been scheduled for re-fingerprinting on 8/2, and CCAI seems to think that will allow us to travel with our group, although we may have to do some extra legwork before we leave and in China to ensure that the clearances arrive at the US Embassy. We've also sent in our visa applications and had all the CCAI documentation notarized and sent in, along with our orphanage fee. Our first travel call was Wed., and although they can't confirm anything, at this point, they believe we will be traveling in mid-late August, meaning we'll be in China during the Olympics. Even so, we will likely not be anywhere near any of the Olympic venues during our stay. On another note, we've ordered a new car seat and booster chair and are working on a double stroller and new bedroom furniture for Nicholas so Baby Cai can have the crib. I hate to move Nicholas out of the crib when he is so content, but realistically, he can't stay in the crib much longer anyway. At over 3 feet, he is almost touching the ends of the mattress when he is stretched out straight! We've had lots of good wishes from family and friends and we are so thankful for all of your support and prayers. Please keep them coming! :-)

Big Brother Nicholas

I couldn't stop for the day without commenting on our darling son, Nicholas's, reaction to being a big brother. We've asked him occasionally in the last several months whether or not he'd like to have a baby brother or sister and his response depends on his mood. Sometimes he says yes, and at others we receive an emphatic "NO!" Now that Baby Cai's arrival is imminent and he has seen her picture, he seems relatively intrigued by the idea. He has said he will share his toys (but not Pearl Kitty), and will help with her diapers and bottles. He also plans to teach her to jump and will play with her in the bathtub. We've asked him for help in naming Baby Cai. So far his entries include, "Donkey," "Horsey," "Dora," and "Tic Tac." I think we'll keep searching...

Countdown to Travel--Week 1

As I mentioned earlier, once we received the exciting news about our referral, a flurry of communications followed. Being Belmonts, we can never do things easily. Although our paperwork allowing us to travel will not expire until November, our fingerprints expire next week. You would think that once fingerprinted you would be good to go, but apparently this must be repeated every 15 months in case your fingerprints change??!! And although the fingerprints are cleared by the FBI, you cannot trot down to your local FBI office to have this done. Instead you must travel to a USCIS fingerprint center, the closest of which, for us, is in Nashville. And--no longer do they accept walk-ins, you must first have an appointment. And, you have no choice about when this appointment will be, nor do you have much control over how long it will take to be given an appointment. Needless to say, this stresses Michael out to no end, as he will have to cancel patients and/or surgeries at the very last minute and may have to talk to another ENT about covering call as his partner is leaving for vacation in 2 weeks. Not to mention, if we don't receive an appointment soon, our travel to China may be delayed. Anyway, we have a few options still left to us--such as contacting our US Senator--and hopefully something will break through next week. Other than that, I have been busy reading up on what to pack, what money we need to bring, what gifts we need to have ready for all those providing assistance in China, and trying to make sure that we are ready to welcome a second child into our home! Oh--and of course, we sent back our acceptance letter agreeing to adopt Baby Cai!

Baby Zhong Cai

What can I tell you about our darling daughter in China?

Her name is Zhong Cai (when combined together, this means "to win the lottery"). Her birth date is given as October 5, 2007, making her nine months old. Incidentally, this is 2 days after our 9th wedding anniversary! She was found abandoned in Hubei province on November 5, 2007 and has spent the last 8 months living in Jingzhou City Welfare Institute. Her last physical exam was at 7 months and according to the report everything is "up to standards." Her caregivers label her as quiet, a deep sleeper, enjoys music, sometimes impatient, happy. I've since discovered that other babies are labeled thus as well, making me think that perhaps the orphanage workers like to report what adoptive parents want to hear! But wouldn't it be great if she really is a deep sleeper!
She was nearly 26 inches long at 7 months and about 17.5 pounds. I checked Nicholas's baby book and this is about what he was measuring at 6 months. So she is obviously well fed! We are still trying to decide on an American name for this beautiful girl as well as whether to put the American name first or second. Hope you enjoy her smiling photo!

Match Day--July 8, 2008

Today started out like any other summer day in the Belmont household. Michael left for work before 7 a.m., and I was looking forward to some "me" time as this is the day Nicholas's babysitter, Susan, comes for a few hours. After picking blueberries at a farm just up the road, I met my friend, Niki, whom I haven't seen in awhile, for lunch. Among the topics of conversation was the latest in our adoption quest. While telling her about our pessimism that we would be matched before our paperwork expired a second time, my phone rang. Noting the Denver area code, I assumed it was my sis-in-law and decided to call her back later. Who would believe that it was actually CCAI calling me with news of our match! When I returned home and checked my messages, I could hardly believe it! What has followed since has been a flurry of phone calls and emails and express mail to make sure that all is in order so that we can travel on time! More on our beautiful little girl in my next post!