Well, that was unexpected.

So the way this is supposed to work is that when you receive your referral, you send a Letter of Intent to adopt the child, then China is to review your file and send you a Letter of Acceptance. This means that they will allow you to proceed with the adoption. The process usually takes 4-8 weeks for the Letter of Acceptance. Ours, however, came in 10 days. The agency was stunned and said it was totally unexpected. Yeah, for you and us both. So now instead of an April or May trip, we are looking at a February or march trip to China. Now shifting into the next gear.

Hi, I'm Bucky Goldstein

What to do when you have a very Italian last name and a very Chinese daughter? For our bio daughter it was ok to pair an Italian sounding first name with our last name, but we didn't like mixing ethnic names like Irish-Italian, Russian-Italian, Egyptian-Italian, but the Italian-Italian worked. However, a very obvious Chinese girl may baffle some blind dates and future TSA agents when a Chinese girl with a Pittsburgh accent introduces herself as something like Giuseppina Portobello, or Speranza Rigatoni. I think she may get interrogated as a spy. The alternative would be to use an American name. However, we can't find one that we are really all that interested in using. So I think we are now trying to agree on one that is a bit Italian, but not too much, and will also fit her looks. We thought Violet/Violetta, but she is hardly a delicate flower based on the description we were provided of her personality. (Obstinate, full of energy, extroverted) Hmmm, perhaps she can have an ironic name...