Maili was born on August 11, 2004, just one day before her big brother Holt’s 5th birthday. She is from Tianjin City, about 60 miles from Beijing. She currently weighs 35 lbs and is 41 inches tall, which we estimate to be about a size 4t.

Her Chinese name is Lu XinMei (pronounced Shin May), and her American name will be Maili Claire XinMei Hornbuckle (pronounced MILEY but with the Chinese spelling) We realize that is quite a mouthful but we feel that it is important to preserve her Chinese heritage by including her given name on her birth certificate.

According to the information we were given, her nickname is Da Mei, but Holt will call her MeiMei, which means “little sister” in Mandarin. He is looking forward to being a GeGe (pronounced GUH guh).

She is described as being extroverted, easygoing, and not afraid of strangers (sounds a lot like a blonde blue-eyed boy I know) Her referral states that she is...“active and outgoing, interested in new things, and has a ready smile. She likes playing outside and beautiful clothes. Each time when she puts on beautiful clothes, she will look at herself in the mirror with a smile, and looks very happy. She likes to take a photo (MeMe will be happy to hear that!) and always shows a good posture. It looks very cute. She also likes to read picture books and play with toys that she can take apart and put back together.” It is also noted that “she is not choosy at food, with a good appetite”. Sounds like she’ll fit right in with her new family!