Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Snugglie Practice


Snugglie Practice
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
Mark practices with the Snugglie.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT? WE’RE EXPECTING!

Last Tuesday morning, July 19, at 10.17a we got the First Call (see the FAQs for more 1st Call info). Yasmine from US Asian Affairs left a message on Nicki’s voicemail at work. Nicki was so excited that she actually fell to her knees and couldn’t play through the whole message because she was hyperventilating. Three paper bags later, she phoned Mark, who was at work at Starbucks. No, not making lattes…writing. It’s Hollywood baby. All writers worth their salt out here write in a coffee shop. Plus, with the unbearable heat wave, why not let Starbucks pick up the air conditioning tab? Upon hearing the news about the 1st Call, Mark performed a near perfect spit-take.

So here’s the news, as per the very supportive and relaxed Yasmine:

We will travel to China sometime between August 19 and September 9. Where, we still don’t know. As we are planning to take a pre-trip to get acclimated and do a little sight-seeing, that departure is actually up to a week in advance of the day the rest of the group leaves. Which means, drum roll please, we could be leaving in less than 3 weeks! Yikes!

So quicker than you can say “China is the new world power,” we FedEx’d our passports and our China Visa application forms to USAA.

So now we await our 2nd Call. The call when we get Boba’s photograph and specifics (her headshot and resume, so to speak!), including where she has been living for the first few months of her life.

We were hoping that we would have the same luck that our friends Chris and Murph had, when their second call came only hours after the first call. But the phone never rang, which is probably a good thing. So now we are waiting again, this time to finally see our little girl’s little face. Any day now, any day …

WHAT A GIRL WANTS, WHAT A GIRL NEEDS
As we get closer to getting our daughter, several friends have asked us what we need. Actually, we need pretty much everything on the registry (the link can be found to the left under Links: Boba Brown’s Registry). Okay, maybe we don’t need the Monkey Halloween costume or the Yankees mobile, but most everything else we do need. In fact, we’re using the registry as a shopping list, to keep everything in one place. So if you would like to get us a gift, that’s the place to find what we need (and what we want, too - like the Monkey Halloween costume!).

And thank you to all of you who have already given us wonderful hand-me-downs (um…certified pre-owned) and gifts. We are storing them out of the house (to ward off the Evil Eye!) until we get a little closer to leaving (like we could get any closer?).

If you would like to get us a gift, but you’re not so keen on purchasing through Felicite.com, most of the items there are also listed at our registries at Target.com (search under 'Nicki Genovese' in the Target Baby Registry) and/or at Pottery Barn for Kids, Potterybarnkids.com (search for 'Little Boba Brown'). If you prefer the old-school method, you can actually go to the stores, (we know: it’s very old-school) if there's a Target or Pottery Barn for Kids near you. If you buy something at Target or Pottery Barn, please let us know and we’ll take it off the Felicite registry.

Should you get a gift for us, please be sure to include your full name and your postal address on the shipping form, or email it to us, as we want to be able to mail you a thank you card.

We’ve also been asked about a shower (Mark usually gets asked several times a day if he’s showered in the past week). We are definitely going to have a Welcome Home Party (date and location TBD). We figure as Boba is the girl of the hour, she should be at her own shower. So shortly after we return, there’s going to be a big bash.

WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM?
In our case, the “Matching Room.” The Matching Room is located in a Chinese government office building in Beijing, the capital of China. There, someone from the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) reviews photos of expectant parents and photos of available babies, and literally matches them up. We’re not kidding. We believe that the officials in the Matching Room usually do a terrific job, because most of the little Chinese girls we’ve met really resemble their adoptive American parents in remarkable ways, like the shape of the face, or the nose or the smile. It’s like if these two Westerners had a biological Asian baby, she would look like this. It’s uncanny. So if she’s a little funny looking, it’s Nicki’s side of the family.

We’ve included a couple of photographs of the matching room so you can see where the magic happens (and you thought it was under a cabbage leaf – save the cabbage for Chinese Chicken Salad, my friend). And to help you imagine what the official saw when he matched us up with our Boba, we’ve included some of the photos we sent with our application; when we get her picture, we’ll see how well our official did in the Matching Room.

So we’re oh so close and we know oh so little. But we are oh so excited!

Gala Monkeys


Gala Monkeys
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
Here we are in our living room.

Running Monkeys


Running Monkeys
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
The funny thing is, there was no race.

Family Of 3


Family Of 3
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
It's Ebbets' couch. We're merely visitors.

Beach Couple


Beach Couple
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
California Dreamin'

Baseball Game


Angels Game
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
One of the pics we sent to China. They love their baseball.

The Matching Room #3


The Matching Room #3
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
Look at all those files!

The Matching Room Computer

The Computer Stork.

The Matching Room


The Matching Room
Originally uploaded by Little Monkey Brown.
Now where is that Jewish Italian Irish Chinese baby?