Getting to Know Emily

Here's the email message we sent after receiving the packet of information from the adoption agency.

Dear Friends and Family,

This afternoon we received the promised packet of information from our adoption agency that provides more detailed information about our newest addition to the family, Lin Hui (now Emily). Here's what we learned.

First and foremost, we received two additional photos of Emily. We have posted the photos on the Hocutt Family File Share, http://homepage.mac.com/hocuttfamily/public. They reveal a cute, if a little camera-shy, little girl with messy hair and a grin that will melt your heart!

We also received Emily's "State of Growth of Prospective Adoptive Child" report. We learned that she was taken into foster care, apparently through her orphanage (social welfare institute), one day after she was born. She wakes up at 6 AM and goes to bed at 8:30 PM with a couple of naps and three meals a day. She eats rice noodles, hot dry noodles, wontons, tofu, and porridge for breakfast; for lunch and dinner she eats porridge, green vegetables, dried meat/fish, and chicken soup. She also enjoys watermelon after her morning nap and a steamed egg with water after her afternoon nap. She takes milk at night. She likes playing with other children and toys that make sounds. Kind of sounds familiar, doesn't it!

Emily's "Children's Medical Examination Report" from the Xiaogan City Central Hospital paints a portrait of good health. In addition to the information we learned yesterday, we find that all of her systems are functioning normally. She responds to moving lights and sounds, and she seems to have no nervous system or heart abnormalities. Interestingly, we don't know her blood pressure - the report indicates she was "Not tested, uncooperative"! All in all, she appears healthy, and the three photos we've received seem to support that conclusion.

Today's time-sensitive activity was returning our "Letter Seeking Confirmation of Adopter" form, which indicates that we accept the match provided by the China Center of Adoptive Affairs (CCAA), the Chinese government agency that handles adoptive affairs and the all-important matching of adoptive parents and adopted children. Deborah's just returned
from putting the envelope in the Fedex box, so it's now official - we've told China we want Emily! Now how do we tell China we want her right now?!

We've learned a little more about where Emily is. Although we don't know exactly where her foster family lives, the paperwork indicates that she's under the supervision of the Xiaonan District Social Welfare Institute, which we now understand to be located in Xiaogan City. So we think Xiaogan is the city name, Xiaonan is the "county" or district name, and Hubei is the province name - similar to city, county, and state in the U.S. Looking at a map, Xiaogan appears to be relatively close to Wuhan, the provincial capital, the city in which we'll likely stay while in Hubei province. That's guesswork, but that's how it worked when we adopted Sydney.

Finally, we've established the "Hocutt's China Adoption" blog to provide up-to-the-minute details and information about the adoption process. You can access the blog at http://danielhocutt.com/adoption. We'll use the blog in the next few weeks to repeat email messages like this and to elaborate on some of the information we send out by email. When we depart for China, we'll quit sending email messages altogether and post information directly to the blog. That will help us get the information - and photos - out quickly and efficiently. You can read more about our plans for the blog in the "A Purpose Statement" entry
(http://danielhocutt.com/adoption/2005/10/purpose-statement.htm).

Thanks for your support and encouragement through this process. We can't wait to share Emily with you as we meet her in person, and we hope you'll keep on replying and commenting.

Thanks,
Deborah, Daniel, and Sydney