Letter of Intent

We received official confirmation that our Letter of Intent was sent to China yesterday!  Now, we wait for Pre-Approval.  It seems there is a National Day holiday October 1-3, so business offices will be closed in China during this time.  It will take a little longer than normal before we receive Pre-Approval, so I will post pictures as soon as we get permission.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

The day I have waited and prayed for has finally arrived!  Tonight, after 30 hours of receiving our referral, we have ACCEPTED!  Before I tell you anymore, let me go back to yesterday morning at 10:50.  For the past week, I have been anticipating the phone call and taking my cell phone everywhere and to every class.  I happened to be in my classroom with students when my phone rang.  I saw that it was Lifeline calling and my heart stopped.  I knew that this was THE phone call.  Karla said the magic words, "I have a file that I would like for you to review.  Is this a good time for you to talk to me?"  Of course it was!  I ran out of my classroom and down the hall to the counselor's classroom.  I told her it was time and that I needed her to cover my students.  She squealed and ran!  Karla said she wanted to go over a few things before she sent us the file.  I told her David and I wanted to be together when everything was discussed, so she asked if I could get him on the line with us.  Now, most of you know that I am very tech savvy, but I have no idea how to do a conference call on my iPhone.  Fortunately, Karla knew what to do and told me that she would call me right back after she got David on the line.  After what seemed like several VERY long minutes (but was probably only 45 seconds), she called me back with David on the line.  Karla reviewed the file with us and asked if we wanted to view it.  Of course we did!  David and I made plans to meet at our house, so I flew from the counselor's room to my room to grab my things.  Now, if you have not worked in a school, you need to know that news travels FAST around there.  By the time I made it back in my room, 10 people wanted to know what was happening and if this was really IT.  I tried to get everything organized with who needed what and was told it was handled and for me to get home!  I literally ran out the door! 

On the way home, I called David, but he didn't want to talk to me.  He wanted to do a few things around the house before I got there, so I called the next person on my important people list - Leigh.  I knew she was in class and would probably freak out, but I had to let her know what was going on with us.  She chatted with me until I was almost home and then had to go back to class.  When I pulled into the driveway, David was working on the landscape lighting.  Being the patient person that I am, I asked him if he was ready to look at the file.  He said he wanted to get his project finished first.  I asked him if he was serious and he said yes.  I told him I was going to go to the bathroom and then I would come check again.  Thirty seconds later, I was back outside and he still wasn't ready.  I told him I was going to pull up the email and I would wait to open it until he came inside.  A few minutes later, he came inside and said he needed a glass of wine because he was feeling very overwhelmed.  He poured a glass, sat down, and said he was ready.  We reviewed the file before looking at the pictures and things looked pretty okay to us.  After reading through everything twice and discussing it, we decided to take a little break to process what we had read and the reality that this was finally happening.  This is how our afternoon/evening went - yard work, look at pictures, discuss, yard work, look at file and pictures, discuss, yard work, make a list of questions while looking at file and pictures, Leigh came to visit (you know she couldn't stay away and we needed her knowledge of hematology), look at file, discuss with Leigh, talk to Karla, look at file, discuss with Leigh, talk to doctor friends, shower, look at file, dinner to celebrate Bailey's birthday, discussion, home, bed. 

Today, we had more discussion and waited for opinions from our doctor friends.  They were so sweet to take the time to review the file and give us their honest thoughts.  After receiving their stamp of approval and asking Karla a few more questions, we told Karla we wanted her.  Tonight, we submitted the required information (yes more paperwork) for our Letter of Intent.  The next step is to await Pre-Approval and our Letter of Approval. 

Until we are pre-approved, I am not allowed to post any pictures or information about Amelia.  During this time, please keep us in your prayers.  We trust that God created this little person just for us.  We know that He has nurtured and cared for her until he saw the time was right for her to come into our lives.  We still have a few months until we will be able to travel to China to get Amelia, so please pray that she will be cared for and loved by the nannies and will be ready to be welcomed into a family who has loved her since before she was born. 

Evie

Yesterday, I became an aunt again!  Beverly Joe Turpin was born September 16, 2012.  She weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces.  She is the second child of my brother, Gaines, and his wife, Karen.  Here are a few pictures of Evie.