2008: A Year in Review

The year began much like the previous one. We spent time with good friends. We also found ourselves wondering if, in fact, this would be the year that we brought Lucy into our family. We'd been waiting on her for so long. Even before we entered the adoption process. (Recap: We were accepted as clients to CCAI (our agency for China adoptions) in June of 2006. We were officially logged into the CCAA (the part of China's government that oversees adoptions) on Dec. 31, 2006. In July of 2007, we decided that Lucy was one of the many waiting children in China, so we switched to Special Needs adoptions.) We were hopeful that 2008 would be our year, but when we had no idea. In February, I called CCAI to check on our status – really to make sure that we were still on the list and had not been lost or forgotten: ). I was reassured that we were still on the top quarter of the list, and that we would meet Lucy this year. Hurray!! I watched the Yahoo! Groups to try and guess when our time would come. By my best guess, I calculated that we would probably get “The Call” in August or September. That was good. That let us have something to look forward to with and end in sight.

We went about our lives as normally as possible, but continuing to prepare for Miss Lucy. I finally started buying pink things! On March 19, 2008 at 4:30 pm we received a call that would change our lives forever. I was working at a jewelry store at the time. Brandt and Zachary were on their way home from school. Brandt called me at the store to tell me that someone from the agency had called him and left a message for him to call. I checked my phone, and I too had missed a call from the agency. It was not August, but my hands began to tremble just the same. I called the agency back. Denise told me that she was looking at a picture of a beautiful little girl with strawberry blond hair that needed a family. I was speechless! Denise went on to tell me that her special need was Albinism. In the midst of the conversation, Brandt called to see what I had found out. I told him to come quickly because I thought that we may have found Lucy!! Meanwhile, Denise filled me in on what they knew about this child and asked if I was interested in reviewing her file. Well, yeah! I waited for Brandt and Zachary to arrive before opening the email. We all crowded around the computer and opened it together. We quickly read her description. She was 19 months old and she sounded perfect. We scrolled down to see her picture. The picture was taken when she was 10 months old. She was wearing a yellow sweater over what appeared to many other layers (imagine the little kid from A Christmas Story) sitting in a red car. Zachary said, “ Oh, she is so cute! She looks just like me!” We told Denise we were definitely interested. We were given about 24 hours to look over the file, make our decision, and get paperwork returned to them. This was it!!! This was the day that we had waited for for so long. We had a doctor review her file, but we already knew that she was ours. I don't think I slept that night as I was finishing up the paperwork. From there, there was lots to do to get ready for Lucy. Aside from more paperwork, there was shopping to do! We spent the next few months waiting to see if the final piece of paperwork was going to come through so that we could travel at the first possible date to pick up Lucy. It came through at the last minute and we were to leave for China on June 4, 2008!

June 4, 2008 we boarded a plane from New Orleans to Newark to Hong Kong. Our trip was amazing! Of course it consisted of many long hours on airplanes, lots of waiting, and lots of things that were outside of our comfort zones, but meeting our daughter/sister erased all of those things. After about 24 hours of travel, we finally landed in Hong Kong. Exhausted we went straight to the hotel and to bed. We spent the first few days in Hong Kong then we traveled to Lucy's province of Jiangxi. We were traveling with another family during our entire trip, so we always had familiar people around. (We became so close to this family and feel that we will always share a special bond!) Because we arrived at the end of a major festival/ holiday in the area, we did not receive Lucy until a few days after arriving in Jiangxi. On the morning of June 10, 2008, we were met with all sorts of emotions. The children (ours and the other family's) were due to arrive at 10:30. The other mother and I found ourselves like giddy teenagers waiting for the cute guy to come by. We were looking out windows, running downstairs hoping for a peek of the babies – anything. Finally we got a call from our guide saying that they were on their way up with the girls. This was it!! It was finally happening!!! We heard the elevator ding as they walked off. Lucy was the first one in. She was precious! She was wearing green pajamas. Her eyes were wide and she looked so scared. Her hair had been shaved for the occasion, but she was precious still. I walked over to her and she shied away from me. Finally I took her in my arms, and she screamed. She screamed and kicked and was terrified. I tried to comfort her, but it was useless. After a bit, I handed her to Brandt. She soon began to quiet. During the first few days, she wanted nothing to do with me, but clung to her “ba ba” (daddy in Chinese). On our fourth day with her, an amazing thing happened. She transformed from this terrified, shy little girl to a funny, outgoing toddler. She began to attach to mama and “ge ge” (big brother in Chinese). We had so much fun with her in China! Although it broke my heart to take her away from her home, her country, her heritage, I knew that eventually she would have so many more opportunities with us. We loved her and would give her all that we could. We left China on June 19, 2008.

We brought her home to MS to meet all sorts of friends and family. She was shy, but quickly warmed to the new faces and her new home. We took her to camp two weeks after arriving home, then spent the rest of the summer getting to know each other. Now that we have been home for 6 months, it is amazing to think that she was once not a part of our family. She is the most wonderful little girl, and we love her so much more today than yesterday!

Aside from traveling thousands of miles across the world, our year has been pretty uneventful. (Thank goodness!) Brandt finished his curacy at Trinity Episcopal Church in Natchez and accepted a job as Priest Associate at Trinity and became full time Chaplain at Trinity Episcopal Day School. (He was part time there as part of his curacy.) He is also teaching some math classes at the school, so he is still in touch with his first love. He loves his new position. He is also doing some supply work in the area, so he feel as if he has the best of all worlds.

Zachary is eight, and is growing into a handsome young man. He loves reading and has for the past two quarters held the first or second place spot for the most Accelerated Reader points in his elementary school. He is also a cub scout and enjoys the meetings with the group of boys from his class. Zachary is a great big brother and loves his sister immensely. It is so special to watch them play and interact. He also loves video games and thanks to Guitar Hero that he got from Santa, he is in love with classic rock music. His favorite is Jimmi Hendrix (his dad is so proud!).

I am currently a stay-at-home-mom. I love spending the days with Lucy. She has gotten over her aversion of me and is quite the mommie's girl. She has the most amazing personality. She loves music, dancing, Dora the Explorer, and Choc Milk. She keeps me busy almost always with a smile on both of our faces because of her escapades.

Have a happy New Year!!
Love -
Erica