Whooooweeeeee, things are crazy around our house this week. Who'd have thunk that a referral for two babies instead of one would have caused such a stir, but boy did it! We're still in complete shock, by the way. We'll be walking around doing something pretty normal, like unloading the dishwasher or giving the cats fresh water, when all of a sudden it hits and we'll blurt out "Twins!!!!" and smile wider than we've ever smiled. I bet that feeling never stops, does it? (Hope not)
Let's see, I've received a million questions (give or take one or two), so here are a few words to accompany the pictures. Sorry it took so long but I think I have just this minute finally recovered the ability to think and type.
Where are they in Hubei? Ro and Ree (the Funshine Girls) are currently in a foster care home that is associated with the Daye Welfare Institute. They are together in the same home. Daye is in the southeast corner of Hubei (according to
this map). We have asked our agency if they're sleeping in the same crib and should find out shortly. By the way, we love the folks who have written to us saying "Hip Hip Hubei!" and "Aw, look at those Hubei Honeys!"
Where are the "referral rib" pictures? Here you go Johnny, an action shot complete with greasy fingers! Good thing we didn't post this before our referral, China might have rethought its decision to entrust us with children. And thanks mom for taking such a flattering picture of me. Heh. The Dom Perignon "nectar" from June is in the champagne flutes.
How did you do those pictures like that? Easy! I am NOT a scrapbooker (no, no, far from it). I use this digital scrapbooking software called Scrapbook Factory Deluxe. You just scroll through until you find a layout you like (they have thousands), then doubleclick to insert your pictures and you're good to go with your cute little scrumptylicious kiddo photos. Looks like you spent hours on them but it only takes a few minutes. Fab!
Have you started shopping yet? Oooo yes we have! Finally there has been shopping. Glorious, joyous, celebratory shopping! TubaDad and I went out last night and bought 3 little outfits (well actually 6 since there are two versions of each one). Here they are - can you stand the cuteness?!
Someone asked me if we were going to dress the girls alike, and I think it depends. I'm sure we'll end up with a whole bunch of identical outfits, which is fine, but in general my tendency is to go for outfits that definitely go together but aren't totally identical. Which brings me to a question for you guys: where in the world do you find those great bargains I'm always reading about? These outfits were EXPENSIVE in my opinion. Where do you all find those little shirts for $3 or an entire outfit for $10, or that kind of thing? Help! And what about sizes? We bought 12 mos, and I know the girls will eventually fit into them. But I'm betting those weights in the referral packet are seriously inflated because of all those clothes. Maybe we should bring 9 mos clothes to China even though the girls will be 12.5 months when we pick them up? More help, please!
How are you going to tell them apart? We're going to bring something with us to China (name bracelets, toenail polish, sharpie pen, etc.) so we can identify who's who the second we meet them. I'm sure we'll be able to tell them apart after a little while, but we need something to use in those first critical hours so we don't mix them up (can you imagine?!).
How did you pick their names, did you intentionally make the first two letters of their names match yours? Ha, I wish we'd been that clever, in fact maybe I'll just start telling people that's why we chose them. But it wasn't. We went through at least a dozen name books, and just gradually narrowed the list more and more until we had 3 girl names and 1 boy name left. Then after we got the referral and saw their pictures it was just crystal-clear who was who.
How did you get a referral for twins?! We were just very, very lucky. I know some huge percentage of people ask for twins, and we did too, so we figured the chances were slim to none. But we did go through the whole process with a tiny part of our hearts guardedly hoping for twins. We were approved to adopt 1 or 2 children on our homestudy, specified up to 2 children on our INS paperwork, and requested one child or twins in our China paperwork, just like hundreds of other parents. And the rest came down to some inexplicable but wonderful combination of timing, karma, luck, fate, destiny, or divine power. Whatever you call it in your world, we are over the moon with happiness.
Speaking of timing, our referral came on my little bro's anniversary and we completely forgot to wish them well. (Imagine that...). So happy anniversary Bobby and Jane - we love you and are so happy that our daughters now share this special day with their awesome aunt and uncle.
When will you travel to China? We won't go until the last week in October. China is pretty much closed down the first week because of holiday, and then there's a massive tradefair in Guangdong Oct 15-30. So our agency won't schedule anyone to be in Guangdong around those times. So we'll hop on a plane around October 23rd (guessing on the date), spend one week in Hubei, then one week in Guangdong. And then it's home with our Hubei Honeys.
Ok, getting tired of typing, so I'll have to answer the rest of the questions later. Off to go get ready for the American Idol concert tonight, drool over the photos of our gorgeous daughters, figure out what baby equipment we need to double, and pack for the Australia trip. Whooboy, life is never dull around here.
Where are the "referral rib" pictures? Here you go Johnny, an action shot complete with greasy fingers! Good thing we didn't post this before our referral, China might have rethought its decision to entrust us with children. And thanks mom for taking such a flattering picture of me. Heh. The Dom Perignon "nectar" from June is in the champagne flutes.
How did you do those pictures like that? Easy! I am NOT a scrapbooker (no, no, far from it). I use this digital scrapbooking software called Scrapbook Factory Deluxe. You just scroll through until you find a layout you like (they have thousands), then doubleclick to insert your pictures and you're good to go with your cute little scrumptylicious kiddo photos. Looks like you spent hours on them but it only takes a few minutes. Fab!
Have you started shopping yet? Oooo yes we have! Finally there has been shopping. Glorious, joyous, celebratory shopping! TubaDad and I went out last night and bought 3 little outfits (well actually 6 since there are two versions of each one). Here they are - can you stand the cuteness?!
Someone asked me if we were going to dress the girls alike, and I think it depends. I'm sure we'll end up with a whole bunch of identical outfits, which is fine, but in general my tendency is to go for outfits that definitely go together but aren't totally identical. Which brings me to a question for you guys: where in the world do you find those great bargains I'm always reading about? These outfits were EXPENSIVE in my opinion. Where do you all find those little shirts for $3 or an entire outfit for $10, or that kind of thing? Help! And what about sizes? We bought 12 mos, and I know the girls will eventually fit into them. But I'm betting those weights in the referral packet are seriously inflated because of all those clothes. Maybe we should bring 9 mos clothes to China even though the girls will be 12.5 months when we pick them up? More help, please!
How are you going to tell them apart? We're going to bring something with us to China (name bracelets, toenail polish, sharpie pen, etc.) so we can identify who's who the second we meet them. I'm sure we'll be able to tell them apart after a little while, but we need something to use in those first critical hours so we don't mix them up (can you imagine?!).
How did you pick their names, did you intentionally make the first two letters of their names match yours? Ha, I wish we'd been that clever, in fact maybe I'll just start telling people that's why we chose them. But it wasn't. We went through at least a dozen name books, and just gradually narrowed the list more and more until we had 3 girl names and 1 boy name left. Then after we got the referral and saw their pictures it was just crystal-clear who was who.
How did you get a referral for twins?! We were just very, very lucky. I know some huge percentage of people ask for twins, and we did too, so we figured the chances were slim to none. But we did go through the whole process with a tiny part of our hearts guardedly hoping for twins. We were approved to adopt 1 or 2 children on our homestudy, specified up to 2 children on our INS paperwork, and requested one child or twins in our China paperwork, just like hundreds of other parents. And the rest came down to some inexplicable but wonderful combination of timing, karma, luck, fate, destiny, or divine power. Whatever you call it in your world, we are over the moon with happiness.
Speaking of timing, our referral came on my little bro's anniversary and we completely forgot to wish them well. (Imagine that...). So happy anniversary Bobby and Jane - we love you and are so happy that our daughters now share this special day with their awesome aunt and uncle.
When will you travel to China? We won't go until the last week in October. China is pretty much closed down the first week because of holiday, and then there's a massive tradefair in Guangdong Oct 15-30. So our agency won't schedule anyone to be in Guangdong around those times. So we'll hop on a plane around October 23rd (guessing on the date), spend one week in Hubei, then one week in Guangdong. And then it's home with our Hubei Honeys.
Ok, getting tired of typing, so I'll have to answer the rest of the questions later. Off to go get ready for the American Idol concert tonight, drool over the photos of our gorgeous daughters, figure out what baby equipment we need to double, and pack for the Australia trip. Whooboy, life is never dull around here.
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