More waiting...

I swear you'd think I'd be an expert by now, but no, I'm not. We returned our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) to our agency and everything once again left our control. Our travel group's LOA's arrived at CCAA on 10/10. We are now waiting for TA (Travel Approval) to be issued. Our agency says the average time frame for receipt of TA is about 4 weeks after CCAA receives our LOA. This Friday will make 3 weeks, four weeks would be 11/7, next Friday. It could come later and it could certainly come sooner.

There are actually some people who received referrals when we did who have already traveled to China to pick up their children! Its frustrating. I so very much want to get to Georgie, I want to hold her, touch her and feel her soft skin. Strangely enough, Bobby is quite a bit more stressed out about this part of the wait than I am. He was so calm for the wait to referral but now that there is a real person and not just the hope of a person, he wants to get going FAST!!!

So, we wait. The one good thing about this part of the wait is that there are so many things to do!!! We've been working on G's room. The crown moulding is up (but not painted or caulked yet), the flowers and fairy are painted (but need to be finalized and in some instances redone). We've purchased the car seats, stroller, and high chair but still need safety gates, drawer latches, table corner protector, a crib mattress, formula, gifts for nannies, etc. I still haven't secured day care. Like I said, lots to do.

But, through it all, I think of Georgie... every day, every hour, I think about her. Its better than it was before there's longing and desire to meet her but not the ache of insecurity I felt while we were waiting for referral. Overall, this is a much better waiting place.

Baby G officially has a name!

~Georgiana Rose NianSheng Crowell~

When searching for the "perfect" name for our Baby G, I consulted naming books, hit the net for ideas and thought, and thought, and thought. I wanted a name that was:

--pretty but solid,

--didn't make her sound like a stripper or a ding dong,

--had some history to it,

--wasn't trendy or overtly kr8tiv,

--lended itself to a cute nickname ie. Georgie or Gigi,

--definitely not too common --anything in the top 500 per the social security baby name index was out!

--timeless--could just have easily been used in 1808 as 2008,

--and, would serve her well from babyhood to adulthood, SAHM or corporate CEO, cheerleader or valedictorian.

I like most of the common very feminine names of today: Sophia, Isabella, Juliana, Lily, etc but they are so, so common. So the secret was to find a name that would have the feminine sound I was looking for but not result in her being "the chinese (insert name here)" --that is how Georgiana originally caught my eye.

The name, a derivative of George of course, has been around forever. A woman named Georgiana Pittock had the first of what would become the annual Portland Rose Festival in 1889. Georgiana Darcy was the cultured and kind sister of Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice published in 1813. Georgiana Cavendish (b. 1757) was the Duchess of Devonshire and, interestingly, the subject of a movie coming out this year The Duchess starring Keira Knightly.

Then, what to pair it with. I've always loved the name Rose. Its classic, simple and beautiful and flows so wonderfully with a long name like Georgiana. I did consider some other very lovely options: Lorelei (kind of mouthful), Elise (this was my second choice), Lenore (after my mother), Skye (beautiful but a little too trendy for me), Sage (seemed out of place next to Georgiana). But, I always came back to Rose.

Her chinese name. People have varied opinions but, to me, it was important for our daughter to carry her chinese name if al all possible. G's name was Zhang Nian Sheng. Zhang comes from Zhangshu the SWI where she's been housed since birth and is given to all children who are placed in the orphanage. I consulted with several native chinese speakers on the characters of Nian Sheng. I originally had concerns because the name seemed like a boys name. Traditionally girls have been given pretty, nature-type names with meanings like Gentle Stream, Beautiful Lily, etc. Boys have traditionally been given names suggesting hopes or promises of success for the future. G's name means that she will grow to be an educated woman of recognition and respected prominance. I have been told that this type of name has been more commonly chosen for girls in modern China. It seems to be sign of China's greater respect for the abilities of women. Anyway, it is a "good name" and seems to fit our hopes for G so I like it!!!

I believe that NianSheng is pronounced like "N'yen Seeng" but I will have to confirm that as well as the tones once we're in China due to differences in local dialects.

So there we have it!! Baby G has a name!

Preparations:
OMG!!! What have I been doing for the last 3 yrs??? I cannot believe how much stuff we need and don't have. It doesn't seem like that much but, when a person has to research and think about every single thing like I do, its pretty time consuming. So, we've been doing the best we can and trying to tackle the must have's now and worry about the other stuff later.

Progress:
Car seats: I'm going to get a Britax, probably the Marathon, I just can't seem to figure out the difference between them all. This is one of those things I need to work on.

Stroller: heck if I know. So far, I've been leaning toward the Peg Perego Pliko P3 (say that 5 times fast!!) its fairly light, roomy, big basket, etc. I've also been looking at the Bob. We figure this is a must have that can wait. We'll probably buy a stroller in china so its not a huge deal if we don't choose a larger one until we return.

High chair: I want something that isn't hideous. Problem is, all the good looking ones have issues. I think we've finally settled on the one pictured to the right, the Combi Hero in Wasabi green. Its is height adjustable, one hand operated, converts to a booster chair, looks pretty easy to clean and is not overly huge or ugly.

Cart/high chair cover: these are the greatest inventions ever!! I so wish they had these things when the boys were small. There's a lady on ebay who does custom mades with about a million fabric choices, she also does car seat covers and they can match!! This is probably what I'lll do I just have to get my act together enough to order it.

Clothes: I've been buying clothes off and on for the last 2-1/2yrs or so. But, as anyone who is in the china nsn program knows, it is tough. You just don't have any idea what size or age (for some even gender) your child will be. So, what I've done is buy things from size 9 mos up to about 24 mos. I've only bought on EXTREME sale. Like when Kohl's has their 70% off clearance plus the 30% off coupon. I've purchased really, really nice sets and outfits for like, $1.50 each. I've also hit up the kids resale store every once in a while. Great stuff, pretty much all like brand new many still with tags for like $2 a piece. But, when you buy like this you end up with a strange assortment of stuff. Yesterday, I laid it all out and tried to sort through and figure out what we needed. I think for now, we're good. I plan to do the major clothes shopping once we return so I'll know exactly what size to get. I'm sure I'll be doing a little shopping in china as well.

Nursery: We have the furniture, I bought it over a year ago. The background color of the room and ceiling are painted and I've started drawing out the figures. Bobby got a good start by priming the closet doors but those still need to be painted. We have the chandelier but we don't have the ceiling medallion I wanted yet. We still need crown moulding. The closet is still full of stuff. Yes, there's lots to be done.

Anyway, we are slowly moving forward. I'd really like to get this stuff done with because in a few weeks we'll be needing to make travel arrangements and getting ready for the trip in general. Lots to do!! Very exciting!!