Update as of January 29, 2007

Hello everyone! Well, we have heard last week that we will not be traveling to China before their Chinese New Year (the week of 2/18).............. Hopefully, we will be able to go the end of February/early March. At this point, the clock is slowly ticking away. Now that we have a photo of her, we just can't wait to get her already. Our patience through this entire process has been tested time and time again but we are staying strong and positive because it is soooo close now. We have added a few additional pictures below of Ella's crib, items in the care package that we sent her, her dresser with some special items she has received and some new outfits that she received from the Havas family!!!! We are so grateful to have such wonderful, generous and caring friends!! Sandra (Ella's caregiver) has left the orphanage for a few weeks to travel back to New Zealand. She awaits the arrival of her grandchild so we haven't had any contact with her since she left. Please continue to keep Ella in your prayers as we wait to hold her in our arms.

Tuesday, January 16th

It has been about ten days since we updated the blog but we have been really busy consuming ourselves in the next round of paperwork (Travel Packet II). We all had to get another batch of passport photos to apply for our visa entrance into China. So now we sit and wait............. Today, I just set a date for her 1st birthday party - April 28th!!!!! A couple of my closest friends were telling me to get the ball rolling because once we come back from China it will be very crazy around here. OK - so now I want to recap the past few days as so much has developed regarding our precious little one. Last Saturday (1/6), Paul put the post about Ella out on the Yang Chun Yahoo group introducing her to any/all other children adopted from this orphanage. Immediately, we get these emails that the orphanage is looking for the parents of Yang Chun Hua Tuan (Ella) because they have additional information and a new photograph. Well, I was blown away by this request. After we emailed back and forth, they did have Ella in their care. I was so excited that I could hardly type fast enough. I/we had a direct link (in English) with the orphanage and the caregiver - what a miracle. Her caregiver is "Sandra" as shown in the photo. Sandra has a contract with the orphanage and the local goverment to provide extra care for the children. She is a wonderful woman from New Zealand whom has devoted the last twelve years to improving the lives of orphans in her care. She is a Christian and said that doing this work is a call on her life - to me she is an angel............ So now we are lucky enough to have all of this coorespondence/emails to share with Ella one day - what a special gift that will be to her. Over the last weekend, I put together a care package to send to Ella. The package cannot be bigger than a shoe box so I filled it up with some teething toys, disposable camera for the nannies to take photos of her, pink blanket that Evan picked out at the Gap, and a baby safe photo album with pictures of us, Evan, herself, our house where she will live and Grandma and Grandpa. I informed Sandra that the package was on its way meanwhile she wanted us to email her a family photo of us so she could show Ella. I emailed Sandra a photo and she taped it to Ella' crib - so sweet!!! Also, Sandra names the babies American names while in the orphanage and Ella's name is/was Debra. Since Sandra is speaking to her in English, the transition will not be so difficult - we hope anyway. She also said that Ella is very funny and has a cute sense of humor. Ella is in the "sheep" room with three other babies. Sandra emailed me that when she told Ella about us and she said that Ella just smiled as if she really understood.......... Sandra gives her hugs and kisses from us every day!!!!!!!!!!!

1-5-07 More Pictures Received

On January 5th, though I planned to come home from work early to open some additional pictures of Ella, the Fedex package came too early and, well Laura could not resist opening up the package and getting to know Ella better before me. Oh, that's OK - as you can see from the additional pictures, she is sooo cute and Laura was elated, as was I when I returned home to see more pictures of Ella for myself. We scanned these and sent them out as well this morning. Believe it or not, these were our first scans at home and this is our first blog! We really hope you enjoy sharing our journey to Ella with us as we plan to update this site often.

Match Day 1-4-07

Hi everyone, Well the wait is over! Today is Saturday, January 6th 2007 and two days ago we received our match; the referral from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) of Ella Sarah Lazar. In this post, I am going to recount the events as they unfolded that day. As we had been notified the day before that Thursday would be our match day, Laura and Evan drove down to Buckhead (Atlanta) to meet me at work so that we all could receive the match together. At 12:30, CCAI (our adoption agency) called with the news and we found out all about Yang Chun, Hua Tuan (soon to be known as Ella Sarah). They also sent over (via email) Ella's referral picture (posted on this blog). I think it's safe to say that Laura and my first reaction was "look at that hair!", but soon we were just relieved to know the beginning was near! Our wait is almost over and soon we'll be on our way to China to pick up our precious Ella!. Here is what I wrote to many of you, announcing the referral just after we received it: We finally received our first picture of Ella Lazar, Chinese name is Yang Chun Hua Tuan. She was born April 25th, 2006 and resides in Guangdong Province. She's got lots of hair (Laura wants to work on that) and chubby cheeks and is described as an active baby. She keeps a normal schedule (very regimented - like us!) and is able to hold her head up while lying on her stomach, recognize her name, locate direction, follow conversations etc... Oh and her personality is listed as active and restless (translation, the orphanage is probably relieved to be giving her away and she will fit right in with the Lazar family!) Please feel free to forward this along to anyone we may have missed. Well I guess that about sums it up. Ella, we can't wait to visit China and bring you home!