What to give a 17 month old girl?

So I woke up this morning- and just remembered that since we have our official LOA, we can now send our little girl gifts from "Mommy and Daddy."
What do you send a 17month old? We can send her pictures of us and her new home, and other pictures that may be pertinent to her new life. I am not sure at 17 months old, how much she is really going to comprehend. Any suggestions?
I also have to keep in mind that the orphanage may decide to keep some of what we send, especially clothes.

IT's OFFICIAL!

We received our official documents from China today. We have OFFICIALLY accepted our little girl! Here is what an official document from The People's Republic of China looks like

L!!!! O!!!!! A!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you that have been in my shoes, you know what LOA means! This is a big, HUGE, GINORMOUS step in the international adoption process. I have whined and carried on about wanting to get ours, knowing very well that it could take up to 40 days plus. Well today, I had just settled in to teach my CPR class - my fellow co-workers, students all around. And the call from my social worker came. Sometimes caller ID is good, but every time she calls I can't help but get that sinking feeling. And truthfully, in the back of my mind, I did not believe she could be calling to tell us our LOA was coming! Oh my gosh!! Heaven is smiling down on me today! It came exactly 15 days after our pre approval! WOW! I could hardly breathe I was so excited!!!!
So, our paperwork will be hand delivered to the house sometime tomorrow. There is one document - the one that says YES WE WANT HER has to be sent back immediately. It has to be overnighted to Grand Rapids by Friday lunch. I was told it is so important that we get it there on time- to please NOT use the USPS! We have to use FedEx. So I did not know that overnight with the USPS is not always guaranteed, even though it is? Interesting. Well, I will get it there if I have to drive it myself!
There is a lot more paperwork to do beyond that SURPRISE. We are still waiting to hear from immigration- hopefully they are working hard since they are now centralized?
Our social worker also wants me to hold off on posting her picture publicly for now. We don't want to jeopardize anything to do with her adoption. It kind of reminds me of the "HIPPA" laws. HOWEVER, I can include her in a personal email. So instead of posting her pics, I will try to post more about her as I have time. She is such a darling! Her personality, what we have been told, is such a good match. I just can't wait to meet her! ONE STEP CLOSER!

And to beat the heat-

Check out Miss Lucy's new toy!!

New Toys-

We decided that being a toddler, our little girl is probably going to need some new toys. So Mike and I went shopping. Check out her new kitchen- complete with *real* burner and cell phone, and all the cooking utensils and play food you could possibly need! I guess Mike is ready to teach her how to cook!!

The countdown begins....

The next step in our process is the LOA, or "Letter of Acceptance." This is the *official* approval from China. Once we have this, we can post our little girls photo here on our blog and share more information about her. The average wait from our *PA* to *LOA* is about 35 days. The shortest time reported recently has been 10 days. The longest is 199 days. Families that are considered *pre-Hague* have a slightly shorter wait time, as there are less steps in the whole process. Thank the Lord that we are still considered *pre-Hague.* Tomorrow will be day 10. Here's hoping that we stay on this side of the curve!

What did we get today?

PRE-APPROVAL!!!!! I got up this morning and decided, "Lord, I can't take it anymore!" I got on Bethany's website and sent an email to the *china team* and asked for some information. We have seen other folks getting their *PA* within hours or just a couple of days after the letter of intent submission. What about us? Both my social workers are out of the office, it is almost a holiday soon - I want some news!!! Yes, I am impatient. So, did not really think I 'd hear anything, but emailing made me feel a little better. Well, at about 10-ish today, Susan calls me in my office and tells me that my agency is on the phone. WHAT!!!!?????? My heart sank. The last time I got a call like that, it was bad news. However today, it was the best news ever! Jaclyn with our China Team was calling- she got my email, and was calling to say that we got our pre-approval on JUNE 28TH and she was sorry we had yet to hear! OH MY LORD! I could not believe it! We had a wonderful conversation and she was glad to hear me sounding so much better these days. Last time we talked on the phone, I could hardly speak because I could not stop crying. What a wonderful turn of events. I am so happy! Is it finally going to happen? Is our little girl finally coming home?