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01.07.2005 REFERRAL!!!
03.03.2005 Travel Plans! 03.11.2005 Arrived in Beijing 3.12.2005 More on Trip 3.12.2005 Touring Beijing 3.13.2005 Second Day Beijing 3.14.2005 We Have Maya! 3.15.2005 It's Official! 3.16.2005 Shop 'Til You Drop! 3,17.2005 AM Museum 3,17,2005 PM Mother's Love 3.18.2005 Nanning Zoo 3.19.2005 Green Mountain Park 3.20.2005 Paperwork, Park, & P 3.21.2005 Guangzhou 3.22.2005 Shop 'Til You Drop! 3.23.2005 Last Day in China! 3.23/24.2005 The Journey Home 3.24.05 DFW Homecoming |
Meet my youngest daughter and Zoe's baby sister, Jin Bing Li, soon to be Maya Noelle Bing Li. Maya is currently 16 months old, and resides at Mother's Love Orphanage in Nanning, Guangxi Province. That is the same province Zoe is from! In fact, Maya was born near Guiping, and resided for two months at the Guiping SWI -- the same Social Welfare Institute where Zoe lived for her first 11 months! Maya was transferred to Mother's Love because she was very small (6.75 pounds at 2 months old) and not doing very well. Mother's Love is one of the best orphanages in China, at least in part because it receives considerable private funds from Hong Kong, and many sick children from other orphanages in Guangxi Province are transferred there. After arriving at Mother's Love, Maya began to grow and thrive, and started hitting all her developmental marks on time! She was placed in foster care at 8 months old. I am so grateful that she is in the loving care of a family right now! When Amanda at Great Wall China Adoption called me with the referral news, she told me my baby's name was Jin Bing Li, and I immediately said, "She's from Guiping, isn't she?!" Amanda said, "No, she's at Mother's Love." I replied, "That can't be -- Jin Bing Li is a Guiping name!" Indeed, the naming convention at Zoe's orphanage, Guiping SWI, is to name all the girls Jin (something) Li [It used to be Jin (something) Ling, but in 2003, they started substituting Li for Ling]. That's why I was so sure Maya was from Guiping. Amanda insisted, though, that she was from Mother's Love. Imagine my surprise (and hers!) when I got the translated information and discovered that Maya was in fact named at Guiping SWI! I asked CCAA for a child from the same province and same orphanage as Zoe, but I knew the odds were not very good that my request would be granted. I'm absolutely thrilled that they granted both requests! I was also surprised that Maya's birthday was September 15, 2003. I really expected her to have a November birthday -- partly because Zoe and I both have November birthdays. I just had a feeling that my daughter waw born in November 2003. Well, she might have been born in September, but it was on November 11, 2003 -- my birthday -- that she was given a second lease on life by being transferred to Mother's Love! So there's my November thread after all! Here are two more photos of Maya. I think all of the photos were taken around the same time -- between May and July, when she was between 8-10 months old. We don't have definite travel plans right now. GWCA says it is likely to be in March. We'll keep everyone posted! Zoe and my mom will be traveling to China, too. We're all looking forward to going back to Nanning, the provincial capital of Guangxi Province, where we first met Zoe and will first meet Maya. |