Another Step Closer!

We got our Chinese Travel Visas today! What a relief, too! We had to Fed Ex our original passports off to our agency in Austin, TX where they sent them to the Chinese Consulate in Houston, then they were Fed Exed back to us stamped with our Visas! Now we are just waiting for our Travel Approval! Hopefully we will hear something next week! Then off to China for Baby Bing we go! Come on TAs!!

My Hair!!

I finally got my hair cut! After three long years of waiting for our referral and growing my hair at the same time, today was the day! My daughter, Marie, and I were actually just going to go shopping for Baby Bing, but since I was having a really bad hair day she said why not cut it now! After all, that was the plan wasn't it? I was supposed to cut it after our referral! So here are the before and after pics! I really like it! I saved my hair and I am going to donate it to Locks of Love!

New Baby! New Look!

Since we have such a beautiful new baby girl, I thought I would honor her with a whole new blog look! How cute is this background?! I found the link on one of my fellow precious panda's blogs, I won't say who she is but she has two of the most precious babies on earth! It was ridiculously easy to do, too! So here it is! Tres' magnific!

Isn't she Lovely!!

Okay, since this is my blog I am taking this opportunity to brag about our beautiful baby girl! So if you can't stand major gushing you better turn back now! Yes, all babies are adorable, but seriously, have you ever seen such a gorgeous baby as our Kaelin Bing? We still just can't get over the fact that she is our daughter and sister! I still have to pinch myself every morning when I get up so I know I am not dreaming all of this! We have her precious pictures proudly displayed all over our house! It is amazing how you can edit the same three photos to look like different pics! Even her big strong older brothers are falling head over heels for her, saying, "I can't believe it, is she is really ours?" Marie and Sarah keep saying, "Mom I just can't believe how perfect she is!" And, is she ever! Her medical report is absolutely squeaky clean! Her daddy is the most smitten over her! When Gary gets home from work he can't wait to talk about her and stare at her sweet little face! I have a feeling that he is going to be just like putty in her little hands! Not that he already isn't! Heehee!
Now, that I have gushed till my heart's content, I can move on to another important topic and that is, "When do we leave?" Well, hopefully in the next 6 weeks! Our acceptance letter has already been sent back to CCAA and we have filed our visa applications. Once we get our visas and Travel Approval our agency has to coordinate an appointment for our travel group at the American Consulate in Guangzhou. Once that is all figured out they can order our plane tickets to China! So right now we are back to more waiting! We have so much to do before we leave and the time is flying by, which is a very good thing! We are trying to spruce up our kitchen with a new paint job and light fixtures, and I have been working on packing and buying gifts for Kaelin's caregivers and orphanage director. Also, Gary and I have to go to the Travel Medicine Center at the hospital tomorrow and get more shots! Those suckers hurt, too! Better safe than sorry, though! That is all for now! Lots to do! Bye, bye!

Today is Kaelin Bing Wen's 8 month birthday! We wish so much that she was in our arms right now for this big milestone! We are just absolutely going bonkers waiting to go get her! Actually, if you look at her birthday time zone wise, yesterday was really her 8 month old birthday! Oh well, it is still 11:30 pm in China so it is still her birthday for another 1/2 hour! WE LOVE YOU KAELIN BING!! MOMMY AND DADDY WILL BE THERE SOON TO BRING YOU HOME! XO

Something I've been looking forward to for a very long time!

Today was a really big day! We signed and sent all of Kaelin Bing's paperwork back to Great Wall! What a relief that was just knowing that we are getting closer to our beautiful little baby! Also, today, I put together a care package for our little "spicy" Hunan dumpling! Even though you can see what I put in it, I will list the goodies I sent the for the heck of it!
1)A soft baby doll
2)A Winnie the Pooh lovey (Gary and I have been sleeping with this for over a year now so Kaelin Bing will recognize our scent! I hope it works!)
3)A soft photo album with pictures of Kaelin Bing's mommy and daddy, brothers and sisters, our dog, Storm, her bedroom, and our house.
4)Two disposable cameras for her nannies to take lots of pics of our little beauty!
5) An outfit to replace the one that we will be wearing when we meet her.
6)A package of socks for the orphanage
7)Candy and Loreal lip gloss for her nannies.
8) A letter to the orphanage thanking them for taking care of our daughter and a list of questions for her nannies.
This past week has been so fantastic! We have photos of Kaelin Bing all over our house! Gary and I and the kids can't stop staring at them! I even keep one in my car! I can't tell you how many green lights I have sat through staring at her pic instead of paying attention to the traffic signal! I've been beeped at more than a few times! We are so excited and just waiting now on our travel approval! Hopefully we will go sometime in August. Stay tuned................

Our Little "Spicy" Hunan Dumpling!

How cute is this! My dear sweet friend Stephe made this for us tonight! This is our favorite picture of our little "spicy" Hunan dumpling! We are absolutely in LOVE with her and can't wait to go get her!

We have a new daughter!

We are so proud and honored to introduce our beautiful new daughter to everyone!
Chinese name: Chen Bing Wen
DOB: November 17, 2007 ( 7 1/2 mos old)
Height: 61 cm/24 inches
Weight: 7 kgms/15 lbs.
Date of last medical exam: May 08, 2008
City: Changsha
Province: Hunan
Orphanage: Chenzhou CWI
She is active, likes music, smiles a lot, grasps toys, she is a deep sleeper, and she responds to her name!
We are pretty sure her name will be Kaelin Bing Wen !
We got "The Call" at 3:37 this afternoon from Beth, our referral counselor at Great Wall! Our house has been crazy since then! This has been such an incredible day for our family! We are so very thankful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for this beautiful gift we have been given!

Well, we thought last weekend would be our last one without knowing who our precious Kaelin is! Obviously since I haven't posted "We have a new daughter!" that was not the case! Okay, so no biggie! Now, we are 100% sure that this is our last weekend! We are praying for Monday, hoping for Tuesday, but will settle for Wednesday! But, really looking for it to be on Monday! One thing is for sure, it won't be long now before we have our new little American citizen home! Stay tuned..............:)

NADA!

You would think that after waiting all this time, 890 days, 13 hours and 58 minutes to be exact, (not including the 7 months of paper chasing!) we would be used to it by now! NOT! These last few days of waiting are absolutely killing us! Our agency really does not know when, only that it will be soon! How soon? Well, we aren't holding are breath, that's for sure! One thing we do know, and that is God's plans for us are perfect and our referral will come in His time. To be continued...............