Becoming a family of FIVE!

It is with a joyful and excited heart that we announce WE HAVE FOUND OUR FOREVER SON!

On February 16th we received a call from Kate, our adoption coordinator.  She had found a little boy on the special needs database that she thinks would be a great match for our family.  It was with cautious anticipation that we opened up the email and took a look at the photos and the health information for Ha XinRong.  I hate to say it was love at first sight, but it was pretty close.  So much about this little boy was different, and although we were scared of having our hearts broken again, we were so hopeful that this little boy would be our son.  We arranged for a physician review of his medical records the next day, which was February 17th.  This was also the day that Ha XinRong was turning two years old.  After a lengthy conversation with Dr. Jenista, we decided that we were very comfortable with his special needs, and called Kate immediately to tell her that we woudl love to bring Ha XinRong into our family.  On his second birthday, Ha XinRong found his forever family, and we found our son!

I'm not at liberty to publicly post his photo until the adoption is finalized, but if you ask I will proudly show you his photo.  He's absolutely adorable!

Matthew and I talked for quite a while about his American name.  Both of us feel that maintaining his Chinese identity is very important, but to begin a life as a Chinese American we think an American name with a Chinese middle name would be good.  The name Elliott was appealing for us, because it has a good nickname:  Li.  With help from my very good friend, Yen-Shi, we picked this name carefully.  "Li" is Chinese for "strong" or "powerful" which is what we want for our little man.  We are keeping his first name, XinRong, as his middle name.  Xin means "new" and "Rong" means "harmonious".   So our son will be Elliott XinRong Beresford. 

Elliott is from an orphanage in Harbin, China.  Harbin is in the northeastern part of China, at almost the same lattitude as Michigan.  Today the high temperature is five degrees farenheit.  It's colder in Harbin than it is in Michigan.  Harbin is known for hosting a huge snow and ice festival each February.  There are thousands of photos online if you do a google search.  The creations are VERY impressive!  Harbin, because it is so close to Russia, has a lot of Russian architecture and influence.  I can't wait to see it in person!

We are very close to submitting our Chinese dossier.  We hope to have all of the required paperwork assembled by the second week of March.  Then we send it to the Chinese consulate in Chicago, where it is authenticated and passed on to China.  It takes China approximately three months to process and review and approve our paperwork.  We hope to travel in June to get Elliott and bring him HOME!

June can't come soon enough......