The Story

Since the first grade when we did a unit on Japan I have always known I would go to the Orient. I have had an unexplainable fascination with the people and culture. Put that with the sad predicament of millions of little girls in China with the hearts of a mother and father and you get adoption. For the last three years we have been working on this adoption but it wasn't until this last May that things have really gone into hyper drive.

Our Dossier was approved by the CCAA (Chinese government) on Thursday May 20, 2010. HongXiyue’s profile unusually showed up alone on the available list and was sent to us on Wednesday May 26, 2010. We placed a lock on the profile for 72 hours so that no other potential adopters could view it.

In that time, we researched her condition and talked with family and doctors about her special needs. We sent our acceptance in the form of a Letter of Intent on May 28, 2010 at 3:30 PM since the agency was closed Saturday giving us only 1.5 days to do all this. On Thursday June 3rd we received the pre-approval from China. On Monday July 12th we received our final approval by phone. And on Tuesday July 13th we received the final Confirmation Letter by mail. We have signed it and mailed it off to China. This pretty much finalizes the adoption to this point. In China we will receive our final approval and once we are home we will need to complete the re-finalization process.

For now we wait for another 2 or so months to receive our permission to travel. The way things have moved into fast forward it really could be anytime now. At this point, it looks like we will travel to China end of November. We just sent our fist care package to her which includes a photo album of her new family,

(so she can get used to looking at us funny faced Americans) a blanket made by Gwenn, a stuffed/magnetic elephant from Grandma and Grandpa Skidmore, a toy that sings songs and teaches basic words in English, A plush panda bear that lights up different colors and board book (from the kids), and some chocolates and thank you note in Chinese for the nannies.

Xiyue was born in the Jiangxi Province of China. She was abandoned with no note on Tuesday June 23, 2009 near one of the more than 50 orphanages in the province weighing 4.6 kg (10.14 pounds). The orphanage that is taking care of Xiyue has over 600 children. So, the need for good adoptive families is great. They estimate her birth date as Friday May 22, 2009.

Her special need is meningocele, a minor form of Spina Bifida. In a severe case the spinal cord protrudes out of the spine and is not terminated properly if at all, often leaving the person unable or with great difficulty to use any body part lower than the protrusion. Xiyue has a very minor case. Her spinal cord is intact and terminates properly. Only the membrane that covers the spinal cord protruded from her spine and it was very low - close to the tail bone. She has already had surgery and recovered for a full month in the hospital in Bejing. Due to the reports of her development and the activity of her legs we felt comfortable with this special need.

We are told she sleeps deeply from 7:30 PM to 7:00 AM (yeah right!) with a 2.5 hour nap at noon - We'll see. Developmentally, she is quite normal. She has a good appetite (unlike our boys) eating a variety of foods. This "good appetite" quality basically sold us right then and there. What a relief it will be to have a child that likes to eat. Her favorite activity is to play games and her favorite toy is a piano. Below is a translated extract written by her nannies(notice the grammar and spelling characteristics) from her growth report: "She is a beautiful girl, is very cute, she is only one month old when she is on admission, at the age of 2-3months, her hands and feet has strength, can turn up head when lying on stomach, will seek when being called, eyes will turn to the light, and will smile when being teased, can make simple sound ,such as a, o, at the age of 4-5 months, on Sep.10 2009 to Oct.12 2009 she was did the resection of meningomyelocele and the Repair of spinal meninges in NO.1 Hospital of Beijing University, and after operation, the condition is good. After operation, her development is good, she can sit for a while, can stand up with armpits held, lower limbs have strength, and can hold toys, can put the toys into mouth, and knows the caretaker, will want to stretch hands to be cuddled, will be curious when seeing the strangers, will make laughing sound when playing, will do the quick response when listen to the name, can show angry and afraid facial expression, eyes will follow the moving things, at the age of 6-7 months, she can use the upper limbs support the upper body, can roll over, and sit well, can stretch hands to catch the toys, knows to seek when the toys falling down, likes to ring the bell to make sound, knows to seek the familiar person in the group, will make sound when feel happy. Now she is 7 months¡¯ old, is nauthy (naughty), will touch other kids¡¯ hair, kick other kids, will wave the ring bell to make sound like ding ding dang dang with conscious, will say to herself, mama, dada. She has plump and round face, is very cute, she is clever and lovely, has ready smile and likes the toys with sound, likes the colorful picture books, play games, likes to listen to the children¡¯s ballads, stories, and likes to play outside. She is a cute baby! Now the main food is soft rice, noodle and milk cake, 3-4 meals per day, one small bowl each time, 2 times for milk, 200ml, 2 times for desserts, kinds include cake, fruit mash, steamed egg, kinds of vegetable soup, and meat pan cake, she has routine life, is seldom to be ill, occasionally catch cold, and will recover after treatment."

We estimate this adoption will cost about $30k plus travel. We are currently investigating several alternatives including grants, tax credits, loans, and fundraisers. If, in your circle, you are aware of foundations or charities that are interested in a special needs adoption then we would appreciate any type of lead.

We will keep her Chinese name Xiyue (meaning cheerful) as her middle name and give her the first name of Jessa. Jessa is Hebrew and means Grace. Of course we can't wait to bring her home and hope to find a way to take all our kids with us to China to give them a broader understanding of the world around them and perspective on the environment their sister is coming from. We are shooting for a character building experience that will add to the already remarkable journey we have been on.

On August 5th we received fabulous news. We got two updated pictures (extremely cute of course), a new growth and development report. (In the attachment.) We are so relieved that she is walking. Because of issues with her spinal cord we wondered if she would be able to walk. Those fears now completely gone, we hope we will be able to keep up with her when we get her home. Yeah! Her pictures are so happy and healthy. They are hard evidence that she is being well taken care of and is a joyful little person. Beyond the beautiful face, the healthy body, and the clothing with English on it, there is something in one of the pictures that I love and which brings me to grateful tears. It's the headless figure in the back. This woman in the background who is so attentive and close is my hero. How I have prayed that God would send her someone that would love her and take good care of her. I didn't expect to get an, almost picture, of that someone. I'm so thankful for the good hearted people of the world who give of themselves so lovingly.

Thanks to all you kind readers and dear loved ones. Our best wishes and hopes for good things go with you all.

All our love,

Gwenn and Nathan