2 more pictures......

Jesse wanted to post this picture of him & his friends Tyler & Keaton at the Fed Ex Forum for the Monster Truck Jam. They had a blast!! Thank goodness for earplugs......

Here is the memory box Gretchen's dad made for Claire...is is handmade of Chinese Elm. Thanks for the many hard hours dad! Claire will treasure it for many years to come!!

Shower for Claire!!

My good friend Carrie threw me the best baby shower this weekend complete with a Chinese Proverb Game & Fortune Cookies & a laminated Chinese Proverb for each guest. How thoughtful! I'm so greatful for such great family & friends who attended! Oops....Sorry about the sideways picture! I was opening a Adoption Memory Book....Can't wait to fill the pages!
Gretchen & Carrie after the shower.

Gretchen with both of her grandmothers. Claire's grandma! We're ready for you Claire!

Update on Claire

Hi everyone. We got an update on Claire's measurements yesterday from China. So as of yesterday Claire was:
16 pounds
26 inches
3.6 inches (foot measurement)

We will keep you posted!

Just Waiting.....

Hi everyone! We have been busy since receiving our referral of Claire. There was still more paperwork to do, visas, ect..... We should hear something in about 2 weeks from China on when we will travel. We will be ready, as Jesse is so ready to be a big brother! I will post as soon as I hear something!

Claire Song Hollingsworth

Thanks to everyone for the calls & e-mails upon the referral of Claire. We were able to have her referral completely translated last night & found out more about Claire. The orphanage named her Song which means endurance, solid, integrity. Yi Ru is the name given to many of the children in the orphanage. Thus, she will be Claire Song Hollingsworth!

We now know the following things:
active personality
listens to music from a soft musical baby doll?
all her eating & nap schedules ( i'm sure that will change)
her milestones at each month
she loves cookies, crackers

We also have found that she is in a Half The Sky orphanage, which apparently a very good thing. She has play time & stimulation from her caregivers daily. We are very excited about this. We have sent off for our visas today & will keep you all posted as new info becomes available!

We Have A Daughter!!!!

It is with great joy that we announce the referral of our daughter Yi Ru Song!! We will name her Claire Hollingsworth (we will decide her middle name when we get the translation of her name)!

We know the following information:
Born on May 2, 2006
Presently 12 pounds 24 inches
Currently in the Yiyang Children's Welfare Institute in the Hunan Province.
Healthy & was given to the orphanage on May 5th, 2006.
Wakes up every am at 5:30AM (Yikes!!!!)
Moderate sleeper
Holds her head up & rolls over
Follows moving toys
Eats biscuits without help
Knows her name
Is active
Loves music, toys, games, & Is quick to respond
Close to her caregiver.

Thanks to you all for your prayers & kind words!! We will keep this site updated as soon as we learn more info. Also, we will update this blog when we're in China daily!