The most unexpected phone call

It's about 10 a.m. on December 26th. Dave has gone back to work after the holiday and I'm home hanging out with Ben. We're still in our pj's sifting through the aftermath of Christmas when the phone rings. I see the caller ID and my heart skips a beat. The conversation went something like this....

Me: "Hello?"

Caller: "Hi Christa, it's Hannah (our social worker)."

Me: "Hi Hannah, how are you?"

Hannah: "Great, thanks. Is Dave home?"

Me: "No, he's at work."

Hannah: "Can we conference him in?"

Me: "Is this phone call what I think it is?"

Hannah: "Yes, it is! We've got your referral. Let's get Dave on the line and I'll tell you all about her!"

After less than a minute (but it felt like an hour), Dave is on the line and Hannah proceeds to tell us all about a beautiful little girl in Korea, who will soon be our daughter! The phone call was so unexpected because we had been told by the agency in November that we still had "a few month" wait for our referral, so we weren't expecting to receive that phone call until some time in February or March. Our agency received an unexpected large number of referrals in December, so there were many surprised, happy families that receive similar phone calls.

Here's what we know about our daughter.....She was born on June 14, 2007 in Seoul, South Korea. Her birthmother named her, "Se Jin," which means, "World Jewel." We plan on keeping her given name as her middle name. We're still working on what we're going to name her. All indications are that she is healthy and thriving in her foster home in Seoul. We are now back in the waiting mode, as we have to wait for both the Korean and the US governments to finalize all the documents. We're hoping to travel to Korea to get her sometime in March. We will definitley keep you posted on our progress!!

In the meantime, take a peek at our little doll!

This pictures appears to be close to a newborn picture.

This is a more recent pictures. Check out those chubby cheeks! We've met a couple of other families who have recently received their referrals and they also got a picture of their child in this little throne!

This is a photo of Se Jin with her foster parents. The woman who manages the Korean program at our agency told us that it is very rare for foster fathers to be in these photographs! She said that was a great indication of how well she is being taken care of by her foster family. She will remain with them until we are able to travel and bring her home.

We've got to get busy getting ready! Here, Dave and Ben are painting her room!