Life: Introducing Lillian

Rene:

You have seen this before, but now that we have reached the next step in the adoption process, I thought it would be OK to post our announcement on Two Tin Cans.

We are thrilled to announce that we have been matched with a little girl in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. She was given the name Chang Wei He, and when we adopt her she will be known as Lillian Weihe Bruffett (we'll call her Lily).

We like the story behind the name Weihe. "Wei" means "mighty" -- an aspirational name for a small girl (she likely was born prematurely); the name symbolizes the hope of her caregivers at the Changzhou City Children's Welfare Institute that she would grow stronger. "He" is a common name for girls and means "lotus" -- a water lily.

She is nearly 2 (her birthday is November 18). The letter we received from her caregivers in China concluded with this, and we couldn't agree more: "She is as good as pie."

We just found out this week that we may be allowed to travel as early as mid-December, or possibly as late as late January. We will be in China for approximately two weeks -- possibly over Christmas.

I have created a blog for our trip; we hope to be able to post often while we are overseas so that family and friends can share the experience with us.

We are excited and bursting with anticipation.

Take care!
Kari