Ahhh! What A Cute Face!

Here is our first official announcement of our adorable little girl - soon to travel with us from her birthland of China halfway around the world to the U.S.! She is from Jiangcheng district of Yanjiang City, born November 9th, 2005. On July 18th (at a little more than 8 months old), she weighed 19.8 pounds and she was 27.9 inches tall/long. I'm guessing that she's about 22 pounds now and 30 inches tall/long.

Her Chinese name is Jiang Cheng Huan. (Huan is pronounced like the Hispanic name "Juan" and it means "happy." It is the unique, to her, part of her orphanage assigned name.) Chinese reverse the order of the names from Western culture so last name is first ... and they combine the final two words to be the "first name." So, her first name is actually Chenghuan and her last name is Jiang ... all soon to be changed to Zoe Ann Carpenter! They also use the last word of the first name and say it twice to be the child's "baby name." So, Zoe is probably called "Huan Huan" for a baby name right now in China. :)

We will meet Zoe on October 30th! Guess it might be awhile before we need hair bows! She and I have the hair (or lack of it) in common ... I was bald until well over a year old! We will get to celebrate her birthday in China on the day that we have her swearing in ceremony as a new U.S. citizen! And, the next day, we'll be home with her!

If you've been reading the blog, you may be confused by these pictures since we announced our daughter several months ago. We received a call from the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs (our adoption agency did, actually) that our "first Zoe" was having some medical issues and that they would be re-classifying her as a special needs child. We were not approved for special needs and hadn't even considered adopting a special needs child ... not because we don't have a heart or love for special needs children but because we already have our hands full! :) We have one child that is special needs and our other children are young. Also, there are health insurance issues ... and, for the self employed, that must always be a consideration when possible.

Please continue to pray for Chengcai (her "baby name" is pronounced in Chinese like "Tie Tie") who was our "first Zoe" ... pray that her medical issues will be minor, that she will be re-classified and will be entered into the adoption process for a special needs family that is prepared to offer her the environment that she will need. I would also ask that God's hand stays on her so that she will grow in His will to her full potential.

It has been a week of much mixed emotion for us ... grieving the loss of this little girl while at the same time learning (with much anticipation) who our "new Zoe" is and all the information about her. I am hoping to get to see Chengcai while at the orphanage with our Zoe (Chengjuan). They are from the same orphanage and have probably shared the same room for the past year. I would appreciate the opportunity to see her because she is a part of our hearts and our family forever even though we are not able to adopt her.

Our three year old, Jackson, saw the new pictures of Zoe and, even though I tried to tell him that they were just more pictures of our Zoe ... he insisted "that girl" wasn't Zoe. I tried to explain to him a little of what is happening. Yesterday, he found a picture of Jiangcai and brought it to me. He told me to take it to China with me and tell them that I wanted "this Zoe." He also said that he was afraid that if we brought another baby home, that while we were busy with that, someone else might "get her" (our first Zoe) and we would lose her forever. (That would actually be a wonderful answer to prayer but Jackson doesn't think so!) Please keep our whole family in your prayers. It is an adjustment for all of us even though we are all handling it differently.