Lights, Camera, Referral Day Video

Thanks to my nephew Kevin for helping me with the editing and upload. Enjoy.

Introducing Elizabeth "Libby" Flinn G.

I feel like Crowing!!!!!! Sorry everyone I had some trouble getting my photos to scan properly. I know my relatives have been hitting REFRESH every 10 seconds for hours.

I would like to introduce you to my new daughter -- yes a girl. Whew!! I would have been happy with a son, but I did have some concern about how I would have to explain that we all called him Libby for the 2 yrs we waited for him.

Born on March 2, 2007 (my gosh -- a very, very young one). She's about a year younger than I expected. Born in the year of the Golden Pig. At first I read her birthdate as February 3rd and started bawling like crazy. February 3rd was my late mom's birthday.

Province -- Jiangxi (That's the province most of you folks picked. Wow, You guys are really, really prescient). She's in the Poyang SWI.

Zo Peep says her new sister is "as cute as Skittles."

A high compliment indeed -- probably the highest compliment a 5 yr. old can make. I totally agree. She is absolutely beautiful. I love her eyes -- such life in them

Elizabeth/Libby does have a baby-patterned baldness thing going and a wicked comb-over. So very, very cute.

The paperwork says that she is sometimes obstinate -- said that about Zo Peep too.

The video with Zo Peep was adorable. I hope I can edit it and post it in a week or so.

I'm giddy with excitement and still shaking a little. Based on posting about referrals on my agency Yahoo site, my agency has at least 2 travel groups, so I don't know if we can all get to China before the end of the year. Now a new wait begins.

(Update: Got a request from a friend to put some larger photos of Libby on the site. Hope this works better)

Start Your Engines

My package arrived around 10:55.

Mike the Fed Ex guy (AKA the stork) was nice enough to pose for a picture with Zo Peep. He said he never had this happen to him before. I wrote down the blog address for him so that he can see what was inside this priceless package.

Funny story. I put a sign on the door that said:

Fed Ex guy or gal (aka Stork)

The package you are delivering contains information on my new baby.
Would you mind sticking around so that I can take your picture. Please
ring the bell.

At 9:50 the doorbell rang and I rushed to the door to open. On the other side was a very embarassed Water Meter Reader. Zo Peep took his photo for posterity.

Well, I'm as jittery as a grasshopper in a frog pond right now. I have to compose myself before I have Zofia open the package. She is as calm as a cucumber.

Here's the package. Pretty unassuming looking considering the life-changing contents inside.

I'll be off for awhile allowing all of this to sink in.

And the Survey Says. . .

Wanted to capture your predictions for Libby Doodle Doo's birth date and province. Thanks to all who participated.

And yes, I am so geeky that I put the results into pie charts.

Birth date -- In my posting of October 20th, I predicted that Libby Doodle Doo was born in the early part of the year of the Dog. I thought I would be matched with a child from this year because the Dog sign is extremely compatible with the Horse sign (Zo Peep's year). Now, Little Zo Peep is positive that Libby's birth date will either be July 8th or 28th, 2006. The majority of voters are expecting an even younger baby for us -- one born in the 2nd half of the year of the Dog -- Between Aug 2006 and Feb 2007.

Province -- My gut says that Libby Doodle Doo will originate from the South -- most babies in IA do. Zo Peep was born in the Shaanxi province in the north. One day last year I was looking at a list of major cities in China. Zo Peep looked at the list and pointed to a city saying, "Libby was born here." Then she pointed to another city further down the list saying, "And she's living here now." When I looked up the location of those 2 cities they were both in the same province -- Lianoning, a province in the Northeast that rarely participates in international adoption. Interesting.

Your predictions are closer to mine -- which the majority picking the Jiangxi province in the south.

Today we'll know who was correct.

Do You Hear a Peeping Sound????

I awoke to the sound of a jet flying overhead. I thought, "I wonder if that's a FED EX plane carrying the precious cargo of my Libby Doodle Doo's referral. " That was the end of my slumbers. Did any of you hear a tiny peeping sound coming from the East?

So -- as predicted-- I'm up quite early this morning. Been up for over an hour now. Brushed my teeth. Made a pot of coffee. Put some dirty laundry in the washing machine. Threw out some recyclables. Changed the batteries in my camera. Such an ordinary beginning to such an extraordinary day!!

Zo Peep is sound asleep upstairs. She doesn't know it yet - - but I'm going to keep her home from kindergarten this morning . I talked to her teacher about my plan during my Parent-Teacher conference last night. Her words to me, "Of course, keep her home. By all means."

I want Zo Peep to be part of this first view of her little sister (or brother - Oh my). I want Zo Peep to greet the Fed Ex gal or guy and take this priceless package from him/her. When our hands have stopped shaking, I'm going to ask her to open the envelope for us and describe it to me. I'm planning to capture this all on video and in photographs.

Then when Zo Peep is through I want to read and re-read every element of Libby Doodle Doo's paperwork (won't take much time since it will mostly be in Chinese) and to examine every tiny nuance in the photos -- her clothing, her surroundings, her hands, her feet, her hair, her ears, her mouth, her nose and her eyes -- especially her eyes. I'll look for curiosity, mischief, intellect, or (I hope not) sadness. I'll stroke the photos and hope that on the other side of the world my little sleeping Libby will feel the first touch of her mama.

What an awesome day we're about to have.