[drmalcolm]

The question in this thread is directed at two audiences.

For those of us who are still waiting, I am curious: how do you picture your daughter (or son)? Do you think of a specific little face when you think about finally having her home? This occurs to me sometimes when I am driving in the car and I think about having a car seat again or when I imagine a future family trip. Sometimes I just see a profile or black hair in little pig-tails... other times, I have a clear face. I'm not sure if it's been because I've been looking at blogs and avatar photos and am possibly merging faces together (a little bit of Lydia, a little bit of Gwen, a little bit of Lilianna, etc!). Just curious if anyone else does this!

For those of you who have your kids... first of all, did your child end up looking anything like you imagined, and secondly, can we see her!? Another forum member and I were discussing how much we love it when people do a "picture parade." Anyone feel like showing off their beautiful children? It's crazy how it really does help those of us who are waiting (of course, then my future little girl's face in my head will become a combination of 10 other children!!).

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Christina

[stephdpenn]

Christina you read my mind-I was thinking about asking for a picture parade . I love to see pictures of these beautiful babies. It keeps me motivated and determined! I think that is why I visit other people's blogs too, for the cute faces.

As far as how do I picture our future daughter I really don't know. Till we received our 171 I refused to picture her at all. I was afraid to get my hopes up I guess. I did buy one little dress that is sleeveless and the second I looked at it I couldn't help but to picture her in it, tiny little shoulders sticking out and silky black hair. My MIL told me that she has dreamed about a little girl running with long black hair flying in the wind. The strange thing is though she had this dream long before we decided to adopt and she has no other grandaughters just grandsons. So maybe for now I will just let her vision it for me.

[foxl]

Actually I only can picture what my dd was like on meeting us ... TERRIFIED! She would not look at us at all the first day. She was 12 mos old. She fell asleep on my chest and her caregiver wanted to take her back and I said NO! I let her sleep like that so when she awoke she would understand she could trust me.

The second day, she sneaked peeks at our faces when we were not looking directly at her. We let her do this (meaning we did not try to get her to meet our eyes), and again, she fell asleep on me (it was definitely her nap time).

I think by the time we went to the airport, the fourth meeting with her, and my DH put her up on his shoulders, she started getting a sort of smug-but-considering look, "Hmmmmmmm ... I could get used to being treated like THIS!" and it was only on the plane she finally would look directly at us.

I know this is not at all what you are asking, but in truth, this IS what she looked like, because we could not look directly at her! I hope this prepares some of you first-timers. Fortunately we knew it was a healthy reaction and NOT autism (which in all honesty it resembled) or an attachment disorder!

[Momof2boysinOH]

Christina,

What a fun thread! Yes, it would be wonderful if we could see more pics posted on here for motivation. Strangely enough, I've pictured my daughter looking like my younger son. Here's a pic of him. I guess I just keep picturing him with pigtails because he's my frame of reference right now. He's 13 months old and I keep thinking, maybe our daughter will be his age at Gotcha.

Whatever she looks like, I'm in love with her already!

[drmalcolm]

Mary, I know this is something that you will understand (even if your husband doesn't)--I think your adorable son would make a beautiful daughter. What a cutie!

This was one of my favorite ages with my son. Thanks for sharing!

Christina

[andrea]

I thought about what our daughter would look like when we were waiting for our first daughter (Korea) not so much this time. From the pictures I've looked at I think she'll look a bit like Sarah. My son (20) keeps saying he hopes she is as beautiful as Sarah to which I say she will be beautiful in her own way. We'll have to wait and see her little face because we don't even have a name yet.

Andrea LID 5/24

[Lissa]

I wanted to know what she looked like so bad it hurt sometimes. She was nothing what I thought she'd be like. She was so fair and in her referral picture her hair was sooooo red!! He eyes were round and she honestly the most beautiful person I'd ever seen. But I saw her with mommy eyes...so I would think that.

Here she be!!

[MissyAmomChina]

Hi,

I remember wondering what Lilianna looked like. I also remember going to FCC events as a waiting parent and looking at all the girls and marveling at the diversity within the Chinese population.

If you will all indulge me for a moment....... We had known our referrals were in the day of Sept. 8th 2004. So, our plan was to come home early from work and get our referral information together. At 4:30, as planned, we got The Call. Xiao from our agency took my breath away with the first 4 words she said to me "You have a daughter!" After going over some basic information, Xiao emailed us her picture and waited while we opened it. Nothing can really compare to the intensity of the moment of seeing Lilianna's picture for the first time. My very first impression was she looked generally healthy/well cared for --and she looked completely disgruntled!!

Over the course of the next few days, we would receive 3 referral pictures (taken around age 7 mos) and 2 updated pictures (taken around age 11.5 mos). Those 5 pictures were my lifeline during the 10 weeks between referral and my meeting Lilianna (my husband traveled without me). I did everything imaginable with the 5 pictures. I made mini photo albums for each family member, framed enlargements for our home, made them my screensaver, and even shrunk the 5 pictures down and put them in a photo bracelet that I wore every day. If given enough time, I might have made clothing, wallpaper etc, banners (teasing).

In my heart, the 5 first pictures will always hold a special place. The great news is--now I'm able to fill my world with pictures of my sweetie everyday.


Here is our first image of Lilianna (our little disgruntled girl) and our latest picture of our precious little girl.

[kenzseth]

Thanks for the photos. I haven't really spent time thinking about how I picture her. I am sure that I have some idea in my head. We are in the middle of paperchasing, so I am pretty consumed with the tasks right now. It is so awesome to see the pictures of your beautiful girls!

[drmalcolm]

Ditto what kenzseth said. It was great of you guys to share your feelings before and after you first saw your daughters, as well as posting their beautiful photos!

Lissa, that is so interesting about Lydia's red hair--I had no idea that there could be variations in hair color, but now that you've pointed it out, I can't imagine why I thought there woudln't be!

Thanks again... please share more photographs whenever you feel the need!

Christina

[morsedonna]

Christina, thanks for starting this thread. It was really nice.
Everyone else, thanks for sharing your pictures and stories. Especially when you first saw her/him or they first saw you.
I have an employee at work that is of Chinese descent (sp ?) she knows that I am adopting, and always brings me new pictures of her little girl. She always tells me "this is what your Winter will look like".

[crg]

It is an exciting time .
well i think i picture or hope a little that she will look a little like my boys adopted from guatemala.
little larger eyes and bigger cheeks.
but honestly all the little girls are so beautiful.
carolyn
i wanted to attach a photo but it is saying that it is too large i do not know how to fix that.

[journeytograce]

What beautiful children!! I haven't thought much of what she will look like, just a generalized idea. Like when I pick up a dress or something, I think of dark hair and eyes, but nothing more than that. I have been thinking about how she will wear her hair, and how fun it will be to braid/ponytails ect (when it grows in, from what I've read she may not have much or any when she comes home )
I have 2 boys that I give buzz cuts to, so this will be too fun!

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by drmalcolm

Lissa, that is so interesting about Lydia's red hair--I had no idea that there could be variations in hair color, but now that you've pointed it out, I can't imagine why I thought there woudln't be!

Actually Lydia still has a lot of red to her hair, but it is simmering down into a medium toned brown...one of the 13 girls adopted (the other girl who was Zhuang) in our group was a dark blonde!

[twoinblue]

I haven't let myself get a clear image of my daughter's face but I can feel her little arms around my neck and slobbery kisses on my cheek. Sometimes I can almost smell her and I hear her running through the house -- little diaper rustling in her pajamas.