Before we go....

We we have changed her name. Not just what we call her but her official name.

The official name:

Kimberly Mei Xin Thompson

We're telling everyone to call her Kimberly
Mei is pronounced May
Xin is prounounced Shin (This is her middle name the orphanage gave
her and it means Happy.)
We decided to keep the last name Thompson instead of changing all our
name to Fu. ;D

If you're wondering what happened to Mei Ling, well.... it's a long story...

Of course we'll still call her mei mei (little sister) and Reed just
calls her Happy. And her foster family has nicknamed her Xin Xin. Needless to say, she'll be confused.

We hope to blog while we're in China so keep checking back for new updates. We will have her in our arms on Sunday 7/25.

Where in the World Are We Going?

Thought you might want to see where we're going. We will be in the southeast portion of China. The port city is Hong Kong. We'll be there a couple of days. Then we'll fly to Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province where our daughter lives. She is from Fuzhou City (not the Fuzhou you see on the map.) in Jiangxi Province. We probably will not be able to visit Fuzhou City or the orphanage. By the way, I think we have decided to call her by her first name of Kimberly instead of her middle name, Mei Ling. We'll stay in Nanchang for about 5 days then fly to Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province. All adoptions go through Guangzhou (gwon joe). We'll be here about a week. This is where we apply for Kimberly's passport and visa and hopefully do a lot of shopping for souvenirs. Then we'll fly back to Hong Kong and on to Chicago then HOME!!! I am excited about the trip but also ready for it to be over so we can start settling in and just being a family.

Please pray for travel safety and pray for safety of Cate and Reed as we are gone. I am already dreading leaving them behind for so long. Check on Nanna & Grandpa to make sure the kids haven't tied them up and locked 'em in a closet.

Update for Mei Mei

We got an envelope with a bit more info this weekend. No new pictures but I wasn't expecting any so I wasn't too disappointed. I did send a care package a few weeks ago with a disposable camera so I hope to get that when we pick her up.

We now know that Fu Jiu Xin was found abandoned at the door of a villager's home in the Chengxi Township on September 25th, 2009. She was 7 months old. The villager placed her under the care of the orphanage. A doctor examined her and deemed her to be in good physical health and estimated her date of birth to be February 18, 2009. The orphanage named her. She has been in foster care almost the entire time. She is attached to her foster mom and calls her mama. Her nickname is Xin Xin.

It appears that she enjoys a variety of food and has a good appetite. She plays with toys and likes to watch t.v. I was surprised to find that she had a t.v. She likes to play games with older children. Likes to bathe. I was glad to hear this. It should make bath time more fun. She loves to talk and laugh. She can say one- to two-word phrases such as "eat, mommy, daddy, " etc. (In Chinese I'm sure.)

She is relatively outgoing, active and lively. Mischievous! :D Likes to play outside and likes to play with water. Sometimes a bit stubborn and impatient, relatively headstrong and wants adults to obey her. Ha! She can be a bit shy, but once she gets familiar with a new person she is no longer scared.

I just want to squeeze her and tickle her. "The waiting is the hardest part!"

New Pictures!

(We totally didn't expect new pictures!)

Weight about 20 lbs.) Wonder if I should get some 18 month clothes. I was thinking 12 month. What do you think?

She's in foster care. That can be a good thing because she is more likely to learn how to form attachments. It may make it more traumatic when she has to leave them. Often the foster family has such a hard time saying good-bye. Please pray for them. They have had her 8.5 months. These pictures may have been taken at the foster family's home. She looks so much more grown up in these pics that the last ones. That smile melts my heart and makes my eyes leak.

(In hindsight I deleted some info for privacy and to protect our agency.)

Xin Means Happy

Meet Xin

Xin (pronounced Shin) is her middle name.
Xin means happy, joyful.
Doesn't she look happy in this picture?

She is developing normally.
Weighs 17.6 lbs and is 27.56 inches tall which is in the 3rd percentile, so she's tiny. Even though she is almost 16 months old, she's probably about the size of a 10-12 month old. Actually I know 12 month olds that are bigger than she is.
She has a good appetite. Primary food is milk-based formula and rice-based formula. Supplemental foods: noodles, rice, eggs, cakes, fruit, crackers, meat cake soup (yummy!)...
Favorite food: steamed eggs
Favorite activity: sitting in little car
Favorite toy: cell phone
(can't you just picture her sitting in the little car talking on the cell phone?)
She's a moderate sleeper.
("we may not all sleep but we will all be changed... 1 Cor. 15:51)
She crawls on hands and knees, walks holding onto handrail or with one hand held, uses thumbs & index fingers to pick things up, imitates words, responds to others, cooperative when getting dressed, active, restless, fond of imitating, fond of music, plays with toys, fond of singing, talkative, has a ready smile, gets along with others, quick to react, fairly extroverted, obstinate sometimes, and impatient sometimes.

In other words... SHE'S PERFECT!!!

Oops...I almost forgot to say that we have been calling her Mei Mei (pron. may may) which means little sister. We are still considering naming her Kimberly Mei Ling (pron. May Ling)

Oh, and we may get her July or August. Pray!

(In hindsight I deleted some info for privacy reasons and to protect our agency.)