Day 42 of the LOA wait!

Well we are on day 42 of the LOA wait. Fred and I thought it would be fun to find the average wait time which we have determined to be about 66 days. Day 66 is my birthday so receiving our LOA for Na Hui would be a great B-day present since Fred has informed me I won't be getting anything else. We just completed our second letter to Na Hui with pictures and stories about her family (that is us) and her new home. We also sent her some stickers. We can send little things, nothing heavy or bulky. Obviously we are getting excited about going to get Na Hui. She should know that she has a family by now and is just waiting like us. I hope she is excited too and not worried. I would hate it if she was spending these months worrying about the unknown. Definitely think about that later. Anyway just a quick update to say that nothing has really changed but that we are still waiting and anticipating the new addition to our family. Not to much longer and the Weiler's will be 5 instead of 4.

Update and New Picture

Yesterday we received an update and a new picture of Na Hui. Yay! She is living in a foster home with an older brother, 11, two younger brothers who are about 5, and a younger sister 3. These are not her biological siblings. It is called a foster home, but I am told that in the US we would call it a group home. The home has a foster mother and father and is located on the grounds of the institution. I am told that the father generally works outside of the home and the mother stays home and takes care of the kids. I am part of a forum for parents who have or are adopting from Na Hui's orphanages and have met (online) a few families that are adopting from Hefei and may be traveling at the same time we are. I have also met some folks that have already adopted from Hefei. They have mostly good things to say about the institution and that their children really seemed to be loved by the "Aunties". This was very nice to hear as we wait to bring our daughter home. One individual even sent me pictures that she took when she was in Hefei to pick up her son. The photos may contain pictures of Na Hui when she was younger. It is challenging to identify a 1 year from her picture when she is 6. On Na Hui's "Gotcha Day", we are supposed to receive a book of pictures and milestone for Na Hui from while she has been at the institution. I am hoping that there will be at least one picture from when she was 1 or 2 years old that I can use to compare to the picture I received from the other parent. I just have to wait and be patient.”Patients” is rather the theme these days.

We didn't get much new information, but the little we did is comforting. We know that she likes to sing and dance, recite Tang poetry, and play with building blocks. We know that she has grown 3 cm and gained 2.5 kg since her paper work was done in Sept 10, 2011 and we know she wears size 10/10.5 shoes. It is funny how much it pleases me to know what size shoes she wears. She is getting bigger everyday and we are missing it! Remember patients.

To help pass the time while we wait, as well as trying to learn everything we can, Fred and I have been following a blog of some folks that are on a forum that I am a part of. We have never talked to these people but really love reading their blog and keeping up with their adoption. They are in China right now adopting two boys, one 11 and the other 10. If you are interested in reading a long the blog is at http://www.andyweiwright.blogspot.com . It is fun to read about their experiences in China.

No new news on the LOA, not that we were expecting any, but we are still hoping to be traveling in the early part of June.

On the fund raising front, we have sold more than half of the mittens we made and are planning to make more soon. I just love my pair; they are just so warm and soft on the inside. I have been thinking about making a little jumper for Na Hui out of the larger scraps of wool (the scraps that are too small for mittens but can still be sewn together to make a fun patchwork).

Okay, I guess that is all I know for now.
Cheers