WHAT A BLESSED THANKSGIVING, INDEED!

As you know, our dossier was logged in at the CCAA in China in February of 2007. We were told to expect another 3 year wait, due to improved economic conditions in China and a new domestic adoption program within the country. So we figured we'd be spending another few Christmases without our Chinese daughter.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (11/20/07), Mike happened to have insomnia and checked his email late at night, only to discover a surprise. Our agency had sent us an email asking if we were interested in looking at any of the "waiting child" files that they received from the CCAA. The "waiting children" are children who China considers to have "special needs". These "special needs" are much different from what we in this country would consider a special need. In China, you are classified as a special needs/ waiting child if you are slightly older (over 2 years), have a birthmark, scar, correctable congenital dislocated hip (like I was born with as an infant) or other minor correctable conditions such as ptosis, clubfoot, etc. As sad as it is, these children, who are healthy and lovable children, are considered less adoptable in China, so they are placed on this waiting child list.

Anyway, there was one little girl named Fu Jin who caught our eye. She is 15 months old. She has been at the orphanage since she was 1 day old. The caregivers at the orphanage were concerned about her, because at 9 months, despite meeting her milestones, her legs seemed a little weak- she would walk "slowly" in her walker, compared to the other kids. The doctors did all kinds of CT scans and assorted tests, decided that she must have had some kind of trauma during her birth and they sent her for therapy. She went to a rehabilitation facility for therapy, and upon her release, came back to the orphanage much improved. At 15 months she is now standing steadily, is much stronger and is talking (mostly about food...she knows the word for "meal", for instance...Ha! She'll fit right in here!).

We were in love from the minute we saw her, and knew that there was no way we could say "No". But the agency, being the reputable agency that they are, told us that they would put the file on hold for us until we consulted with doctors/ specialists, etc and made an informed decision. Again, there was no way we were saying "no". But, we did what they wanted and spoke with the specialists and on Wednesday, 11/28/07, we officially told our agency that we wanted Fu Jin to be our daughter. On Thursday we wrote our formal Letter of Intent to send to China (our letter petitioning to adopt her and outlining how we will address her needs once she comes home), on Friday we made final changes to the letter, and on Saturday the LOI was in the mail on the way to our agency. From what we've been told, it will probably be about 4 months until we travel to get her (so April of 2008). On Saturday, we received her original file from China (before that, all we had was copies). Our agency even sent us mailing labels so we can start sending her care packages soon.

THIS IS FINALLY HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are over the moon with excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!! Abigail Fujin Dlugozima, we're coming for you soon. :) :)