{"id":360,"date":"2008-11-16T16:30:15","date_gmt":"2008-11-16T20:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.handsful.com\/?p=360"},"modified":"2008-11-16T16:33:15","modified_gmt":"2008-11-16T20:33:15","slug":"special-day-times-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/archives\/360","title":{"rendered":"Special Day Times Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today was children dedication day at our church, and today’s children were ALL adopted…very cool!\u00c2\u00a0 Lainey was the only international adoption, the others were either domestic or were foster-adopt children.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s so wonderful to see so many adding to their families through adoption!\u00c2\u00a0 What made today even sweeter was the day.\u00c2\u00a0 November 16th.\u00c2\u00a0 Need a hint?\u00c2\u00a0 ONE YEAR ago today, we received the call that our agency had matched us with this sweet girl and we first saw her face.\u00c2\u00a0 So, let’s go down memory lane, shall we?\u00c2\u00a0 Here is my write-up of “The Call” that I wrote a year ago.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t want to forget any details about that day, so I wrote it all down….<\/p>\n

The Call<\/span><\/p>\n

I woke up on Friday, November 16, 2007 feeling only a little bit optimistic about getting “the call” from CCAI.\u00c2\u00a0 It had been more than a week since we thought we WOULD get a call, and the phone just wouldn’t ring.\u00c2\u00a0 I was starting to lose hope, and just begin wishing for next week.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We had a busy day planned.\u00c2\u00a0 I had Jazzercise class at 8:45 and then we were due at the Operation Christmas Child collection center at 10:30.\u00c2\u00a0 We had a great morning volunteering; the kids really enjoyed helping to pack the crates full of Christmas shoe boxes for the kids around the world.\u00c2\u00a0 I had my cell phone on top of my purse, and for the 3+hours we were there, I constantly checked to see if I had any messages…none.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We finished up volunteering around 2pm.\u00c2\u00a0 We were all hungry, but I decided to run by Office Depot to get a new pencil sharpener.\u00c2\u00a0 Our existing one was terrible, and really needed to be replaced.\u00c2\u00a0 So, we ran in, I found a high end model that I felt sure could handle the amount of sharpening we do in a day, and headed out to the truck.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We got into the truck, and I cranked it.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, I felt my cell phone vibrating in my jacket pocket.\u00c2\u00a0 Could it be?\u00c2\u00a0 Took it out…looked at the number.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a 303 area code…Colorado.\u00c2\u00a0 I remember repeating “oh my, oh my, oh my…” and Abbey (who was in the passenger seat) tells the kids in the back “it’s the call!”\u00c2\u00a0 I shushed everyone and answered the phone.\u00c2\u00a0 It was Deniece, and she asked if I had a minute to talk, that she had a little princess to tell me about to see if this is our daughter.\u00c2\u00a0 I squeaked out “yes, please!”\u00c2\u00a0 She asks if I’m somewhere where I can talk.\u00c2\u00a0 I tell her “Well, I’m in my truck, but I’m parked so let me find a pencil and paper!”\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, I had my neatly typed up referral sheet (in the plastic sheet protector) in my purse so Abbey helps me dig it out and find a pen.\u00c2\u00a0 Around now, my seatbelt signal is going off, telling me it’s time to buckle up.\u00c2\u00a0 I try to decide if I should attempt to buckle up (which I try but it doesn’t work while holding a cell phone, pen and paper) or just turn off the truck (it’s still cranked).\u00c2\u00a0 I turn the truck off.\u00c2\u00a0 My head was swimming.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Deniece gives me all the wonderful details about 16 month old Ling Qing Qin in Bengbu, Anhui province.\u00c2\u00a0 I write as much down as I can, in my “oh wow, this is really happening” shaky handwriting.\u00c2\u00a0 She asks if we want to see her file and I say “yes, definitely!”\u00c2\u00a0 I tell her that I’m going to try and NOT get a ticket speeding home to see the file and she makes me promise to do just that!\u00c2\u00a0 I thank her profusely, and hang up.\u00c2\u00a0 Immediately, the kids and I let out a few yells and screams of happiness, and then I call Randy.\u00c2\u00a0 Quick small talk and then I tell him “We got the CALL!!!!!!”\u00c2\u00a0 I tell him the basics and ask him WHEN he can get home so we can see the file.\u00c2\u00a0 He leaves right then and we’re racing to see who gets home first.\u00c2\u00a0 Okay, not racing since I did promise Deniece I wouldn’t.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m sure I had this silly smile on my face all the way home.\u00c2\u00a0 The kids and I talked about her a mile a minute, all anxious to get home.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I get home first, and call Randy to see where he is.\u00c2\u00a0 I wanted to look at the medical information and he forbids me to until he arrive home!!\u00c2\u00a0 Thankfully, it was only maybe 10 (long) minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 We all gathered around the computer to read her medical information.\u00c2\u00a0 All sounds good, no red flags, standard cleft lip\/palate that can be corrected, small hemangioma that most likely won’t need any intervention.\u00c2\u00a0 The reading takes a while and the kids wander off to do other things.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time we’re done, it’s just Randy and I and we look at each other.\u00c2\u00a0 We decide that this is, indeed, our girl and we’re ready to see her.\u00c2\u00a0 Those moments waiting for her picture to pop up were so long…first we saw her “mug shot”.\u00c2\u00a0 Adorable…her slight little pouty face and beautiful eyes, big round cheeks, dark brown hair.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s wearing what looks like a girl’s shirt with a boy’s orange\/brown sweater.\u00c2\u00a0 Next picture, she’s in a walker and has the slightest smile with an open mouth, and wearing a red velour one-piece.\u00c2\u00a0 Next, she’s in the same outfit, riding a yellow plastic horse.\u00c2\u00a0 She looks a little anxious in this one, like she’d rather the person taking the picture be beside her.\u00c2\u00a0 There are also two close-up pictures.\u00c2\u00a0 One of her full face, with someone behind her (I assume holding her up to the camera), and another with just her lip.\u00c2\u00a0 It looks like a good repair, from what we can tell.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometime during all this, the kids run back to the computer and see the pictures, everybody oohing and ahhing and saying how cute she is.\u00c2\u00a0 They ask…is this Lainey? \u00c2\u00a0We tell them yes, this is your little sister.\u00c2\u00a0 The kids are happy, all smiles and excitement.\u00c2\u00a0 Ethan comes up to me and gives me a long, tight hug.\u00c2\u00a0 I wonder if he’ll ever let go and when he does, I see tears in his eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 Talk about melting my heart…my baby, happy that he can now be a big brother.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We spend time researching her province and orphanage and then decide to go out to dinner.\u00c2\u00a0 We end up at Jackie Lee’s Chinese Bistro and have a nice Chinese meal in celebration of our little girl.\u00c2\u00a0 At the end of the meal, we all get fortune cookies.\u00c2\u00a0 The best one says this:\u00c2\u00a0 “The joyful energy of the day will have a positive effect on you”.\u00c2\u00a0 What an understatement.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re overjoyed and over the moon for our Ling Qing Qin, our Lainey.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are more pics from our morning…<\/p>\n

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Look closely to see the scrape on her nose that she got last night…she fell in the truck and her face met the console.\u00c2\u00a0 Randy said it gives her character.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Randy and Jon…two very goofy<\/span> good friends.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Our boys with their great friend, Zach…they were headed to his house today after church.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Lainey surprises Zach’s sister, Kate, with a “squeeze”.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Marley restrains…I mean holds Lainey.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Today was children dedication day at our church, and today’s children were ALL adopted…very cool!\u00c2\u00a0 Lainey was the only international adoption, the others were either domestic or were foster-adopt children.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s so wonderful to see so many adding to their families through adoption!\u00c2\u00a0 What made today even sweeter was the day.\u00c2\u00a0 November 16th.\u00c2\u00a0 Need a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsful.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}