We received the call around 12:45pm on Wednesday, November 26th...a day before Thanksgiving. Matt and I were both at work, Ava at daycare. Just a normal day for us. Bonnie had left me a message just saying to call her as soon as I could. I wondered if this is was going to be the call we'd been waiting for but I tried to remain calm and not get my hopes up until I knew for sure. Thankfully, Bonnie answered right away when I called back. Bonnie proceeded to tell me that they did in fact have a sweet little girl who they thought would be a perfect match for our family. Our beautiful girl is currently in Hubei, China and is 18 months right now. And she lives with a foster family! She looks healthy and clean, happy, and a little sassy ;) Matt and I can't wait to see her and Ava together but we know that together, they are going to give us a run for our money!
Because Holt is amazing and truly cares about their families, they had previously told us that with any further referrals they would have Dr. Kolb review the file before they called us on a child. We are so thankful for that. So when Bonnie called us she not only had the medical information from China but also from Dr. Kolb. Our baby girl has a repaired cleft lip and a cleft palate but otherwise looks really healthy. She appears to be a very resilient baby girl because even with the cleft palate she is eating well and when I charted her on height and weight she actually is on the US chart. It's obvious that she is a very tough, determined girl.
For months now we have been talking to Ava about her little brother or sister in China and consistently she has told us that she would love to have a baby sister. So on Wednesday evening we shared with her the good news, a baby girl was joining our family and she was going to have a little sister. She is so excited!! We pulled up pictures of her to look at and it was fun to watch Ava get closer and closer to the computer screen to get a better look until she had crawled up onto the table to get as close as she could. Then she got to a picture of her baby sister in tennis shoes where it looks like she is running and Ava yells, "I want my running shoes on too so that we can run together!!" Ava then asked to have the picture printed off which she carried around all night :) I doubt that Ava fully understands what all this means but it's so fun to see her so excited!!
Ava suggested that we name her baby sister Princess Ana, but Matt and I decided to go a different direction :) We seriously threw around 3 names but ultimately felt that Ella Chun suited her the best. Ella means "light" and Chun is her given Chinese name meaning "spring".
This weekend we were celebrating Thanksgiving with Matt's side of the family and it was so fun to celebrate, Ella with family! They are so excited to have another sweet girl join the family. I walked in on a very serious conversation that Ava and Grandpa were having about flying on a big plane to go meet and bring home Ella. It was so sweet and brought me to tears to hear the love and excitement in their voices. If all goes well Ava, Nai Nai, and Grandpa will be on that big plane with us to meet Ella for the first time. I can't wait for that day!!
Baby Ella, we have waited what seems like ages to see your beautiful, smiling face for the first time. We are beyond filled with joy and excitement to know that you will soon be joining our family. We pray that you are loved, cared for, fed, and sheltered until we can get there. We pray that you are safe and snuggled by your foster family. I am filled with unreal emotion as I think about your foster family and all the time they are getting to spend with you but on the other hand I am so thankful to a family whom I have never met. They are taking care of our sweet baby girl until we can get there. For that, we can never repay them. Until we see your beautiful face in person, we will be praying for your health and safety. We cannot wait to hold you in our arms and tell you how much we love you!!
