We’ve been dealing with some awful awful awful things over here and I’ll talking about everything that’s happened next week.  I don’t want the stress of the past few days to cloud the joy of today.  So let me now shift focus and think about what happened one year ago today.

May 1st, 2007

We had been on maternity hold with our adoption agency and the adoption officials in China because I had gotten knocked up thanks to the magic of Disney.  The Disney cruise we took when frustrated with the extended wait for China adoptions resulted in little BoomBoom.   She was just shy of 6 pounds and four months old when we sent our letter to China around mid April of 2007 requesting to go off maternity hold.

We and our agency assumed it would be months and months and MONTHS before China would inform them our referral was coming. That sounded just fine to us.  Let BoomBoom grow a bit.  We had made up our minds BoomBoom would be around 8 months to a year old when CHina sent our referral.   So we sent our letter to go off hold to China about Mid April and went about our lives thinking we’d hear news in about six to eight months.

BoomBoom, right before the referral came.  I told you she was tiny!

May 1st 2007 was a scheduled class for 3 year old Miss Boo at a local children’s museum. My mom offered to come over and watch little BoomBoom while I was free to run around with Boo at the museum.  When I parked the car, I noticed a ladybug crawling across the wind shield.  Many in the China adoption community feel that ladybugs are a sign that referrals are coming.

When you adopt from China, you are assigned a date that your paperwork was logged into their system.  Referrals come according to that log in date, in order received. If your number is up next, then you have a good idea that your referral is in the next batch.  Batches come once a month.  Your agency usually reminds you to be on alert, your baby’s picture is coming!

When I saw that ladybug, I laughed at her and said to fly away and find the mom who knew her referral was coming.  She had the wrong mom!  I told her to come back at the end of the year.  Then I got Miss Boo out of the car and we headed to class.

Miss Boo, in class that day.  She was in a phase where she constantly wanted to wear her back pack.

After class, I invited a friend who was also in class to hang out with us in the museum’s garden.  Our girls were running in circles around a sculpture when my cell phone rang.   My cell phone never rings.  I’m one of those rare creatures that never uses her cell phone except for emergencies.  I assumed it was my mother, calling for clarification on BoomBoom’s feeding schedule.  I picked up the phone, gave a cheery hello, and heard this, “Are you sitting down?”

It was our social worker, calling from the adoption agency.  I was indeed sitting down.  I stood right up.

“I’m sitting here looking at a picture of your daughter and she’s BEAUTIFUL!!!”

My mouth opened, but no sound came out.  Open.  Close.  Open. Close.  Then I yelled.  I’m not sure what I yelled, but I yelled.

Our social worker continued, “We are all just shocked.  China JUST got your letter. They must have gotten it and immediately given you a referral because here she is!”

I managed to pull it together long enough to ask details about my little girl.  I learned she was six months old and living in an orphanage in the Jiagnxi Province of China, was healthy, bald, and beautiful.  Could we come to the agency right away to read over her paperwork?  Yes yes yes!!

I hung up and sat there in a daze.  My friend picked up on what had happened. “I thought you had gotten a big commercial then I realized you got a daughter!”

Miss Boo was pulling on my pants, “I have to go potty!  Mommy I have to go potty NOW!”  We raced into the museum and I took her to the bathroom, all the while dialing Matt at work.  From inside the restroom, I told him the news.  He was also stunned, remained quiet for a bit, then said, “Ok, let’s do this!”

Matt met me at home and together we drove to the adoption agency.”Two months apart.  They’re gonna be two months apart.”  That’s pretty much what we said the entire drive to the agency.

Once inside the door, I felt the tears coming.  It took me back to two years prior when we filed our first papers with the agency.  May 1st 2005.  Here we were exactly two years later, about to walk down that long hallway again.  Only this time our daughter’s picture was waiting for us.

The staff from the agency was also waiting, holding red balloons and cheering.  Our social worker stepped forward, handed us the referral packet and this is what happened the moment I saw her face for the first time.

I’m not crying at my lack of fashion sense.  Why was I wearing that old shirt?  Because I wasn’t thinking clearly when I raced home to meet up with Matt.  I just wanted to get to the agency and see my baby’s picture!

This is what made us smile like that.

We were being told about her orphange and the area she was from but I didn’t hear a word.  I just couldn’t take my eyes off her.  That was my daughter!  That was the little girl I had been dreaming of for two years.  And in just two months, she’d be in my arms.  I just couldn’t stop staring at her and crying tears of happiness.

On the ride back home, we were fairly quiet except for the occasional, “They’re two months apart.”  We need another crib.  We need more bottles.  And diapers.  Lots and lots of diapers.  They’re two months apart.”

The story of our referral is certainly a unique one.  Looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  That feeling when I answered my phone and heard the surprising news is one everyone should have in their lifetime.  There are so few truly happy unexpected surprises in our lives.  Especially these days and in these times. I am so grateful I got to experience one.

Here’s to many many more happy days with my amazing, beautiful, DAUGHTER!