Wednesday, March 23, 2005
More info on Hallie!
It's been a few days now, and I'm still on cloud 9! We are learning more about Hallie and the orphanage she is living in. We received her medical examination yesterday, and it appears she has been given a clean bill of health! We have been so blessed!
Here are some specifics: as of 11/19/04 (7 months old), she weighed 16 pounds and was 27 inches long. She's now almost 11 months old--so I'm still not exactly sure how big she is, but she sounds about average. I think I'm going to buy a few more 12 month outfits to take on the trip, and just buy a bunch of clothes for her in China!
She is at The Children Welfare Institute of Pingnan Town in Guangxi Province. From all accounts, it is a nice, caring, clean and loving place. It is a private orphanage (not operated by the government) and I think it has fewer babies than some of the other orphanages in China. It sounds like the babies get a lot of personal attention. I have heard from several parents of so-called "Gong Girls" (all of the babies who come from this orphanage have the same last name--Gong) who say their babies were healthy, happy and well cared for. I am so relieved to know this. Also, they say if you send a disposable camera to the orphanage, you will get it back full of pictures of your baby when you travel to pick her up. We are putting 2 cameras inside her care package!
Her Chinese name is Gong Guo Hua. Gong (remember, all of the children from this orphanage have that last name, which in China comes first) means "remember your heritage." Guo is the first name given to all of the babies from Pingnan born in 2004. And Hua means "flower." We may keep Hua as her middle name. We're still deciding.
Today we are sending back our referral acceptance letter--how could we not accept those big cute cheeks?? Hopefully in a few weeks we will get travel approval. We are still expected to travel in mid-May.
Here are some specifics: as of 11/19/04 (7 months old), she weighed 16 pounds and was 27 inches long. She's now almost 11 months old--so I'm still not exactly sure how big she is, but she sounds about average. I think I'm going to buy a few more 12 month outfits to take on the trip, and just buy a bunch of clothes for her in China!
She is at The Children Welfare Institute of Pingnan Town in Guangxi Province. From all accounts, it is a nice, caring, clean and loving place. It is a private orphanage (not operated by the government) and I think it has fewer babies than some of the other orphanages in China. It sounds like the babies get a lot of personal attention. I have heard from several parents of so-called "Gong Girls" (all of the babies who come from this orphanage have the same last name--Gong) who say their babies were healthy, happy and well cared for. I am so relieved to know this. Also, they say if you send a disposable camera to the orphanage, you will get it back full of pictures of your baby when you travel to pick her up. We are putting 2 cameras inside her care package!
Her Chinese name is Gong Guo Hua. Gong (remember, all of the children from this orphanage have that last name, which in China comes first) means "remember your heritage." Guo is the first name given to all of the babies from Pingnan born in 2004. And Hua means "flower." We may keep Hua as her middle name. We're still deciding.
Today we are sending back our referral acceptance letter--how could we not accept those big cute cheeks?? Hopefully in a few weeks we will get travel approval. We are still expected to travel in mid-May.
# posted by JDonnals : 6:26 AM
