Monday's story

If you're bored by the minutiae, I don't blame you. Really. But I am about to ramble and try to document ALL the details I can remember about yesterday for the sake of our new daughter and those of you who DO want to know every last detail.

It's hard to know how far back to start the story so I'll just jump in with the actual "call day". On a whim, I made arrangements with Brandi to meet a Harry P Leu Gardens in Orlando to spend the day. It's a lovely garden and it's free on Mondays if you get there before noon. The kids like to go there because they have a lot of freedom to roam in a woodsy or open atmosphere (depending on where you go in the garden).

We got there about an hour before Bran since she had to make an unexpected stop at an Urgent Care Center for her oldest who has bronchitis. So we waited:

Jack and Price rocking on the balcony overlooking the lake

Madeleine is quick to pose as requested.

Madeleine, Price, and Jack perched along a railing

Then, Brandi and her kids arrived. We started out with a picnic lunch and a few more pictures. I know...SHOCKER!

Jack and Madeleine overlooking the lake arm-in-arm, TOTALLY not posed :).

Price and I with the lake in the background.

Brandi exploring the river in the jungle with the kids

We were in Sunniland (citrus tree grove) when I got "THE CALL":

I was crying on the phone almost immediately. I was SHOCKED!! We weren't expecting a call about a referral for AT LEAST another week or two. When caller id on my phone showed that it was Harrah's, I thought I was in trouble. You see, we've had a bit of trouble getting our home study updated so that we could get the other necessary paperwork updated to adopt from China. I recently received a call from Jackie Harrah (of Harrah's Adoption Services, as in THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY) urging me to move more quickly to complete the necessary paperwork. In my defense, just let me say that I have dragged my feet at NO TIME during this process. Sometimes, things take time though. So, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the words: "You have a referral!" Jackie Harrah was so sweetly excited for us. She told me that our daughter's name is Yue Mei Hua, that she has fair skin, that she was born on June 8, 2008, that her toes were going wild in the pictures, and that she is from the Jiangxi province. That's about all I remember from the phone call. She didn't even take that opportunity to remind how serious it is now that we get done with our home study. Thanks, Jackie :).

So, I immediately called Tom. If you know us, you know our 21 month old son has had some seizures recently. Let me tell you how unhappy he was to hear me crying and speaking unintelligibly! Here's some viedo of me telling him the specifics.

I immediately started contacting my closest friends and family. This led to a LOT of wandering, aimlessy and unintentionally, around the maze that is Leu Gardens. Several times, Brandi told me that I had to focus and get us out of that place for the love of all things human and heavenly. OK, maybe she didn't use those words, but I'm pretty sure that's a good interpretation. However, before they melted down, the kids had a sweet moment of cooperation initiated by Price and Gracie.

And let me just say, THIS POST WAS A LABOR OF LOVE! Dial-up is not the easiest thing to deal with when patience ISN'T your virtue. There are more things about the day to tell that I will post later. I imagine you'v eread about enough for now. Hope you all enjoyed it!