We just received our travel approval call. We leave August 7th and return August 26th. Our stay is slightly longer because we are heading to Beijing first to do some sightseeing. I am pretty much ready and have to get our clothes and such ready but I think we are good to go!

I can't wait til I have her in my arms. We will be in China for my birthday. What a birthday to remember!

We are now awaiting our travel approval to go get Mia. Mike and I are pretty much ready to go, we have purchased all the medications that are recommended to take with us. I have bought most of our baby gear. The nursery is ready, we will install the carseat just before we leave so when my parents and Mike's dad pick us up at the airport we are set. I am ordering the "new" bills from the bank tomorrow. For those of you who do not know, when we arrive in China, a donation to the orphanage is made and payment for travel, tours, meals is made in American bills. The Chinese are very peticular about the bills being new. I have already informed the bank manager at our branch and they said no problem, just give them a couple of days to get the "new" bills in. There are people who are unable to get all new bills and ironed their money!

We received our itinerary for the Beijing pre-trip that Mike and I are taking before meeting up with the rest of our group. I think there will be 3 families doing the pre-trip. It will be nice to spend some time with them before the baby mayhem starts!

My next post will be our travel dates, we hope to hear something today or tomorrow. Mike's retirement party, which is being hosted by the police department is next Friday. We are excited to see everyone, however; we may not be able to attend if we have to leave to China.
The unknown, you gotta love it!

Update on Mia!

We just received some updated information on Mia. Based on her report, she was abandoned by the Xisha Bridge on October 9, 2005 (2 days old) wearing old clothes and no other information was found. She was taken to the Qianjiang Police Station and then was taken to the Qianjiang Social Welfare Institute (orphanage). She was named by the doctor who examined her and diagnosed as a healthy newborn baby. They estimate that she was only 2 days old. She weighed 6.8 lbs. and was 19.29 inches long. She is currently in foster care, is eating rice porridge 2 times a day and eating mashed fruits. She wakes up at 6am,naps from 11:30-1:30 and goes to bed at 8:30pm. We will try to go visit the area that she was found, as it will be a very sacred place to all of us. I thank her birthmother for placing her in an area where she knew she would be found and taken to the proper authorities. I always wondered if she would be found by some sort of body of water, as Mike and I are definitely water people. I sent her care package out today which had pictures of her new home and pictures of mommy and daddy as well as her grandma's and grandpa's. We included a thank you gift to her nanny and some postcards from Florida. I was told that Chinese people love American music, so I also included an American Idol CD along with clothes for Mia. I sent quite a few outfits so whatever they do not use will be donated to the orphanage. We have sent in all our paperwork for our visas and are awaiting our travel arrangements. In the meantime, SHOP, SHOP, and SHOP!

What an emotional week Mike and I have had. I did not expect the call when it came. Norman (our agencies director) called Monday evening, I was home already and was getting dinner ready. I was on pins and needles all day and saw that others were getting their calls and when the call didn't come I said "Oh well, we'll get the call tomorrow". He totally caught me off guard and I was on my cell phone with my friend Grace when my phone rang and I saw the caller ID. Poor Grace, I dropped the phone and started screaming, "Grace its THE call" I think I just put my cell phone down and everything else is a big blur. Mike was not home, so as soon as I hung up with Norman I called his cell. What a wave of emotions from a phone call. The next day Mia's paperwork arrived at my work and believe it or not, I did not open it and drove home to open it with Mike and my parents. She is so beautiful and looks very healthy. Our agency has several children from the same orphanage and it will be so nice to travel together to get our girls.

We had some family and friends come to visit this weekend. It was wonderful and we even got to see the shuttle launch on Tuesday from the beach. We have to say that we are so fortunate to have such great family and awesome friends. The calls and emails that we have received has been overwhelming. You really get to know who in your life is important!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!

Friends Family and Fun!!!!

Mia Michele Li Harrell

We are so blessed, we now have a daughter!!

Her name is Li Tong Qian

Date of Birth: October 7, 2005 (8 months)

She weighed (at 6 mos.) 15.25lbs and is 26" long

She is in foster care in Qianjiang, Chongqing

I was shaking when I took the call and our agencies director called himself! He said, "Hi I have good news" I forgot to ask about her weight and height. They are Fed-Exing her picture, medical information, etc. tomorrow. I will post her picture once we get off cloud 9.

The wait is over and I can't wait to get our Mia in August. I am now going to get some info on her hometown. I understand that the meaning of Chongqing means 'constant celebrations' and if you know the Harrell's, there are always celebrations going on in our house!!

Thank you for the calls and the emails, I can't wait for you to meet our little girl.

That's What I'm Talking About!!!

Here is what we wanted to see. We should get the call soon. We just needed to know exactly when the CCAA was releasing the information to the individual agencies. Our next post will be information about our daughter. (doesn't that sounds good)? . . . . . .

The contractions have started. . .

Our agency just called to advise us that we are getting "the call" with the next week or so. We are tentatively traveling early to mid August. They have given us our instructions so they can get our visas and our consulate appointments once we receive our notice. Once we formally accept our little Mia, they notify the proper authorities in China and the travel dates will be confirmed. The next call is the big one! They will tell us about her age, weight, health, height and which province of China she is from. I can't wait to find out all the little details. I called Mike after I received the first call (he was fishing with my dad) and I told him my water broke. He said "what happened to your water?".

I cannot believe that the time has arrived and Mike and I will be parents soon. Being a mom has always been a dream of mine and I can't wait. I can only imagine the feelings I will have when she is finally placed in our arms or when she says mommy and daddy for the first time.

ITS SHOWTIME ! ! !

OK we just got word that we will be hearing something real soon. I am so excited that I cant even type. Mike's theory is, " I'll believe it when we get the call " Meanwhile some family and friends have sent some gifts already and we wanted to say
THANK YOU!

Last vacation as a family of 2 (hopefully)

We did our annual trip to Marco Island and everyone was expecting to see Mia. I was so sure we would have her by this year, but she will definately be there next year. Mike and I took full advantage of going out on the boat and just relaxing. We had a wonderful time as usual.

Molly came to visit us while we were at Marco. We had a great time and our Marco friends loved her. . .

OK Mike is now officially retired, he bought his first set of golf clubs.....

Because it was raining, we decided to go shopping. Mike had promised my dad that if he and my mom moved closer to us, that he would take up golf so he could join my dad. We went to a golf store that was having a closeout. Of course the guys that went shopping with us sealed the deal. We went back to the dock once the rain stopped and the guys started hitting balls into the water. What a site that was !!!!

Happy Memorial Day !

We had Mike's goddaughter Makenzie come for a visit. We had a wonderful time and she did not want to leave. We hope her and Molly can come up again anytime for another visit soon. We were able to spend some time at the beach and just hanging around. We barb-qued at our house one night and she helped my dad at the grill. She also tried to strike her uncle Mike out. . . They love our town and the drive is not that far so we hope they come up often.

Patiently Waiting !

The CCAA just updated their website and AGAIN we have to wait. It took them 1 month to complete 1 weeks worth of paperwork. That goes to show you how many people and paperwork goes through their hands. We are next in the matching room. We hope to have some exciting new soon. To all of you who have been following our blog, Hang In There, she'll be here soon. Our agency has a projected July travel date. In the menatime, I will just keep humming along. I will post pictures of Mia's room once it is in order. I hung her curtains and made up the crib. We have boxes of clothes on the floor that I can't unpack and organize until I know her age.

Kenedy and her friends by the pool

Kenedy and her friends by the pool
Originally uploaded by cygnal20.

Deanna Vince and Torey

Deanna Vince and Torey
Originally uploaded by cygnal20.

Hanging out in the pool.

Grandpa and Kenedy

Grandpa and Kenedy
Originally uploaded by cygnal20.

Kenedy is a fish. I wish Deanna and family lived in Florida. I reallly enjoy spending time with her. Torey is too young, but if he turns out to be anything like Kenedy, having them around will be great. Mia will enjoy visits from her cousins for sure. She loved the pool. She didn't want to even come out for lunch. . . .