Referral Day reflections

It has taken me 2 1/2 weeks to fully process all of the events of February 3rd, when we saw Maddie's face for the first time. I still find myself in shock that we finally have been matched with this sweet little girl.

We were able to take the call with our girls, A was with us by speaker phone, as she was in school that day. My parents and John's mom were also able to join us. We had requested our call for 12:10, so John could be home for this very special phone call. The girls and I got up early that morning and finished school in record time. I then spent the rest of the morning cleaning and pacing the floors. Finally, at 12:00 John and our parents arrived. I then spent the next 12 minute wringing my hands worrying that they might not call or that we had been skipped.

Finally at 12:12 the phone rang. It was Beth from CCAI and she asked if it was a good time to call. I told her it was a perfect time to call! The next 7 minutes and 46 seconds were a blur, we were shocked at how young she was, we had been expecting a 14-18 month old. After we finished with the call we all gathered around the computer and watched Miss Maddie's face appear on the screen. To say it was love at first sight is an understatement! I felt bad for A, as when we saw the photo we were all screaming. We kind of forgot about her on speaker phone. We quickly hung up with her and sent her photos.

We spent the rest of the day just staring at her photo and sharing our wonderful news with family and friends.

Then on Friday the 4th we received our Letter of Approval and translated documents from CCAI. We also received 2 more photos of Maddie. We have had so much support from our family and friends. We can't wait to share our journey to Madelynn LiRu with all of you.

Now we are waiting for our Travel Approval, after that comes from China we will request a Consulate Appointment. After these two A's are obtained we will then book our tickets. We can't wait to get on that plane!