Tuesday,
November 7, 2006
We are so close to home we can taste it!!! Our bags are packed
(again!!!). Do you remember that song from “WKRP in Cincinnati”
that started off “got tired of packin’ and unpackin”? – that’s
us!!! More accurately – David. I have been of little use in the
packin’department since receiving Miyah.
Today was her swearing in ceremony. All went off without a hitch
and when her tiny little feet hit the ground at immigration at
Detroit Metro Airport, she will officially be a U.S. Citizen.
As excited as we are to come home, it is a little bittersweet.
There is a little bit of guilt in taking Miyah away from her
homeland. Between the four of us, we have tried to soak up as
much as we could so that we can tell her all about it. What we
cannot convey, we will try to make up for with classes and
cultural activities. We will never forget China, it’s people,
and the wonderful gift they have entrusted us with!
On a lighter note, many of you may know of our “habit” of giving
our children multiple nicknames (PokeyNut, Pretty, Bud, Deej,
etc). Miyah’s given name is YuZhu – which we called her
faithfully for the first day or so. It was quickly replaced by
YuZhu Miyah or Miyah YuZhu to give her an idea of her new name.
I’m sure it must be so hard and confusing to have a new name in
addition to everything else. Well, as we usually do, we ended up
slipping into different nicknames (each of us has one). David
calls her “Empress”. Carrigan calls her “Jigglefoot” (when she
is happy, she kicks her left foot like crazy). I, of course,
went for the rhyming nickname – which is, obviously, “Miyah
Papaya” (it’s snappy and you can sing it). That lasted for about
three or four days and has since been shortened to just Pie. So
. . . when you meet our new daughter, she will answer to any and
all of the following: YuZhu, YuZhu Miya, Miyah YuZhu, Empress,
Jigglefoot, Miyah Papaya, or Pie. Poor thing!
Well, that’s about it for now. It’s 9:25 p.m. as I write this
and I have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. so that we can leave for the
airport.
This will, obviously, be my last post from China. I’ll try to
update the “We’re Home” section every few weeks from home.
According to my calculations, we will be home in about 28
hours!!! Please keep us in your thoughts for a safe, uneventful
flight! (and that Miyah decides to take a Guiness World Record
setting nap!)
Last, but surely not least, David and I want to say thank you to
all of both of our families for supporting us and following
along on our journey – not just IN China, but the WHOLE WAY
THROUGH. We don’t know if we would have been able to get though
this without knowing that you were all behind us. We must have
seemed out of our minds when we first told you we were going
half way across the world to add a little girl to our family.
We’re sure that when you look in her eyes for the first time and
see her smile, you, too, will know that she was always meant to
be a part of the McCatty/Mooney family!
SEE YOU SOON!!!!!
David, Meg, Carrigan, DJ & Miyah McCatty |
"I'm Proud to be an American . . . "
But I'll always remember China!
Red Couch Photo - It wasn't too crazy!!!
Red couch photo - Just our kids
DJ is starting to get used to it here! |
