We got a daughter!

昨天早上，上班之前，我查email. 看见了我们的领养代办人发来的邮件，她说可能帮我们找到了女儿。我的心跳马上加速，迫不及待的打开了邮件，一个叫怀平的大眼睛女孩立即映入我的眼帘，我马上告诉我家先生，他由于要送儿子上学，不能同我坐下来仔细看，匆匆看了一眼照片和孩子的年龄，说了一句话“孩子太大了”就不得不走了。孩子2岁半，比我们想象的大了一岁。我在家里详细地看了孩子的各种报告和照片，很快就难舍难分了。 过了一会儿，先生开着车给我打电话说：“孩子咱们要了”. 我真是喜出望外, 赶紧联系事先安排好的各路人马，帮我们看孩子的病例，Boston 的儿科专家 Dr. Lars Erickson 很快就给我回了信儿，同时几个好友将孩子的病例发给他们认识的中国医生。 这些医生的评估，给我增强了信心。其实在我心中，一看到孩子就把她当成自己的女儿了。

过后，我问先生为什么突然不嫌孩子大了，他说“在汽车里，我满脑子都闪现着孩子的大眼睛，就对自己说，孩子要了”。他反过来问我“我早上走之前说孩子太大了，你不着急吗?” 我说“我还不了解你，就知道你会变心”！这都是后话了，我当时还真是担心先生不同意。

这突如其来的好消息，把我和先生的生活和思维彻底打乱了。 我昨天送女儿去滑冰，却带了跳芭蕾舞用的包，而把滑冰包忘在了家里。 从滑冰场回家取冰鞋，却想不起来该从哪儿上高速公路。 晚饭也没做，买了快餐吃了。今天早上，我和先生都4点钟就醒了，满头兴奋。早上起来后，先生差一点把牙膏挤到剃须刀上来刷牙。我把牛奶放到微波炉里，却忘了加热。真是糊涂透了。我们从来没有想到过，这个孩子会给我们的生活带来这么强大的期盼。我们生自己的两个孩子时，从来没有过这种感觉。我想这个孩子注定跟我们有缘，俗话说，“千里姻缘一线牵”，我们这是“万里亲缘一线连”。无论在天涯海角，她就是我们的女儿。

我门已于昨晚通过领养中介正式向中国收养中心申请领养小怀平。我们同时给孩子起了个美国名字，叫Anna (安娜)。 她中国名字有“平”，美国名字有“安”。 我们就希望孩子一生平安！

如果一切顺利，我们应该可以在明年的一月份或二月份回国将小怀平接回家。我们全家都期盼着这一天的到来。

I was checking my email yesterday morning before I left for work. I saw an email from my adoption agency and immediately opened it. A lovely girl with big eyes called Huaiping appeared in front of me. I told my dear husband (DH) right away. Since he had to leave to send our son to school right away, he could only take a look at the first picture and her age. He said to me that “the child is too old” and left. The child is two and half years old, a year older than we expected. I carefully looked at all the documents and pictures of the child and fell in love with her. A few minutes later, my DH called and said, “Let’s take the child.” I was so surprised and overjoyed by his sudden change. I then sent her files to all the people I had contacted before to review the medical files. Dr. Lars Erickson in Boston got back to me very quickly. In the meantime, some of my good friends sent her Chinese files to several Chinese doctors. The doctor’s evaluations made me feel a lot more comfortable. In my heart, from the very first sighting, I had already begun thinking of her as my daughter.

Later, I asked my DH what made him to change his mind about adopting the child. He told me, “When I was driving, all I could think of were her big eyes looking at me. My heart told me that this is the girl we were waiting for.” He then asked me, “Were you worried when I said she is too old?” I replied, “Nobody knows you better than I do, and I knew you would change your mind.” This conversation occurred after we had decided to adopt her. I was indeed worried that my DH would say no to her.

This big news completely disrupted our life and thoughts. When I sent Leah to ice skating yesterday, I took her ballet bag instead of her ice skating bag. When I was on the way home to get her ice skating bag, I forgot the directions to the freeway entrance. I was in no mood to cook and our whole family ate fast food for dinner. My DH and I woke up at 4 am this morning, feeling very excited. DH almost put toothpaste on his shaver to brush his teeth. I put milk in the microwave oven without starting the timer. We were a mess. I never thought the arrival of a child could have such a big impact on us. We never had such a feeling when we had our two children. I believe this is fate and that an invisible thread linked us to her. No matter where she is in the world, she was meant to be our daughter.

Last night, we officially submitted the pre-adoption application also called Letter of Intent (LOI) to the CCAA to adopt little Huaiping. In the meantime, we named her Anna. Combining her original Chinese name and the translation of her American name, it means “Safe and Sound.”

If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to travel to China to bring little Anna home in January or February next year. Our whole family is looking forward to the big day.