The night of "The Call"

Some say that blood is thicker than water. I say that love is thicker than blood.

Many of you know by now that we seemed to be in a perpetual wait to be matched with a child. Based on the timelines I was hoping we'd be matched by the end of 2008 but on the other hand it didn't seem real since we'd already been waiting such a long time. But, it finally did happen and it caught us completely by surprise. Here's how it went down:

Gwen: So, it was the middle of the week and I was at work assisting with a homicide investigation. It was around 5 p.m. and I'd just returned to the police department and was waiting for other detectives to get back so we could discuss the case. Jason called me and said, in a very low, odd tone: "We have a baby." I was busy and I thought he meant he picked up Anna from the babysitter. He said again "No, WE HAVE A BABY." I finally realized what he was trying to tell me and I began jumping up and down in my cubicle. Jason emailed me Julia's picture and the paperwork from our agency while I tried to recover from my shock and called family. Luckily my supervisors were VERY understanding and they let me go home so we could celebrate.

Jason: I was home with Anna when I received a call from a CCAI representative and of course I knew right away that it something important because there was no other reason for them to call. I was worried that maybe something was wrong with the paperwork. It didn't register at first what she said. She said "Hi, this is CCAI, I'm looking at a picture of a beautiful little girl that needs a mommy and a daddy." I hate to say it, but I don't remember much after that. I remember she told me the basics, such as her date of birth, and the fact that she has a cleft lip and palate. I also remember her asking if we were interested in her, as if there was any doubt. She agreed to email me the pictures and information and I told her I would call Gwen and tell her.

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We submitted our Letter of Intent to adopt Julia to our agency and it was sent to China on December 10. We received PA, or Pre-Approval, from China on December 29 and we are now awaiting the final Letter Of Acceptance (LOA) from China. A few weeks after we get LOA we will receive the Travel Approval and we will go to China from one to three weeks later. We hope to be in China at the end of February or beginning of March. We won't know the exact dates of travel until we get the Travel Approval. It's a lot of hurry up and wait, but let's face it, we're dealing with government agencies.

Once we get the dates we'll finalize our itinerary, which I will share with you of course. While we wait we are preparing Julia's room and learning about China and Julia's province. Julia, meanwhile, is being cared for in a foster home in Henan province. I'm very grateful to this foster family for loving her until we can get to her.