We have PA for our daughter!

 A few weeks ago, we sent a Letter Of Intent to China requesting the honor of bringing home our daughter.  There is just so much to say about our journey these last few weeks, but I'm not sure if I have the words yet. We have our pre-approval (PA) from China, so while I'm trying to find the words to explain how incredibly excited we are about our sweet girl, I'll give a few more details about her...

• We have named her Viviane Cate Wenli McDonald.  Her chinese name is Wenli, and I just love it.  We will either call her 'Vivi' or 'Vivi Cate'.  Because we have a Caroline and a Camden, everyone thought she should have a 'C' name too.  We thought of several names, but I couldn't get Vivi out of my mind.  I thought she needed a strong, feminine 'vivacious' name. We decided to throw Cate in the mix just in case she wanted a 'C' name too.   

•  She is 15 months old.

• Her chinese name means a 'writer, scholar'. 

• She lives in Chongqing.  It is one of the largest cities in China. We will spend a week here when we travel to pick her up.  There are not a lot of westerners who live or travel here, but there will be some western comforts like Starbucks, H&M, and IKEA!

•  Her orphanage is a part of the AMAZING Half The Sky program. Vivi is blessed with a nanny who loves her dearly, and I am so thankful that she is being taken care of by this woman.

• Her nannies call her 'Meinv' which means beautiful girl.

• She likes to listen to music, which is perfect for this family!     

•  Her nannies say she is a happy baby and is always smiling

• They also describe her as clever, active, and restless.  She will manage well with her clever, active, and restless sister and brother!

• We have been told over and over again that she is the 'star of the orphanage'.  Her nannies mention this in two reports, and our social worker who has visited her twice confirms that she is 'THE star' there.  

We stand amazed at how blessed we are to be bringing this sweet girl home and CANNOT wait to meet her!!!!  We are now waiting on our Letter Of  Approval (LOA).  We could receive this in three weeks or three months. There is a possibility that we could get it sooner rather than later because of our long wait for referral... but we have no guarantees.  Our HOPE is to get to China by the end of January!