and that is probably how it will go for now - time sure seems to have gone by fast this past week. Angel has been with us for 3 weeks now, hard to believe that's all the longer it's been.
The kids still adore their new little sister and are having a blast showing her off. They can't seem to wait till I can go back to volunteering on Tuesday mornings at their school and taking her in with me. Should be able to begin that soon, maybe next week.
Angel is adjusting wonderfully, it has gone so much better than we had expected. We have been out and about and met many new people and she's really a "go with the flow" girl. Our days have gone well and she sure is a daddy's girl when he first gets home from work. think he's loving that cause the others are now kinda out of that "daddy's home" stage.
She has been sleeping through the night, with a few exceptions but she usually just wakes up crying or wining a little. When she does I go in and rub her back or cheek a little and she tends to calm down and go right back to sleep. So I don't know if she is dreaming or what but no major interruptions there.
We have been extremely blessed, I haven't had to make a dinner yet since our return from China. We have had a meal delivered to us almost everyday. That has really helped keep things a little less chaotic here as we've adjusted back to the time and new little one in the house. I have felt kinda guilty really because her transition has gone so much smoother than we had expected it to. We have really appreciated the thoughtfulness of all our dear friends. It's back to meal planning for me this week though.
Our bible study group threw Angel a Welcome Home shower last night, she got several new toys - which we were in need of. We really didn't have many toddler toys left in the house. I think Angel won them all over, she was such a "ham" around them, they just "ate her up"! I came across this blog post from one of the ladies in our bible study group who has a son and daughter adopted from Korea (hope you don't mind me sharing this "S"):
"Tonight was another special Sunday evening with our small group. We had a baby shower for baby Angel. Ok people I can not even begin to tell you how stinking cute this little girl is. She is the most precious little peanut you will ever meet. She has this little giggle and then she will bend over and cover her mouth, she is just so precious! She even put her arms up to me and let me hold her and gave me a hug with a double pat on the back. Needless to say she has a special place in my heart. She is just precious!"
So we have had a great week and look forward to another with 2 birthdays to celebrate on Wednesday and a special weekend with family coming to visit!!!. Michiael will turn 10 and Kailey 6 - she is counting down the days. Now if only the weather would warm up and all the snow we got yesterday will disappear, I'd be really happy. Until next post - blessing to you all!
Monday, April 06, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
1st Full night!!!
I am happy to report that Angel slept through the night last night and is still asleep now at 6:30am!!! Now if someone can tell me how to turn down the sensory of my maternal ears, that would be great. I didn't sleep well, every little noise my ears heard from the monitor woke me up. I know eventually I'll get used to her noises but I just want a good nights sleep.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Doc appt and 2 decent nights...
I began a little "Ferberizing" with Angel on Friday night. We know she can sleep through the night since she did it in China, it's just that flip, flop of a day that has her mixed up a bit - among the other changes I'm sure. So on Friday night when she woke up at 1am I held her for a bit and as she began to doze I laid her back in bed. She threw her usual fit, which I expected and then calmed down after a few minutes and I caressed her belly/cheek (even though she kept pushing my hand away, I persisted in letting her know I was there). We cycled through this a few time and after about an hour she was back to sleep and slept till about 7:30am. YAY!
Then last night then she went down at 8:30pm without much of a fight when I put her to bed and slept till 12:30am in which again I went to her when she was fussing. She then sat up and wanted me to pick her up and I told her she needed to lay back down because it was night, night time. So she threw her self down and proceeded with her fit throwing for a few minutes; I began my rubbing her belly and cheek and she settled, putting herself to sleep and slept till 8:30am this morning. Even bigger YAY! So hopefully this is becoming a trend and things keep getting better.
We attended church this morning where she was introduced to the congregation and was greeted by many people who were eager to meet her. She did really well during the service and even began to sing (in her own way) when we were singing. Very cute. She was ready to be done by the end of service but did great overall.
She had afirst visit with the pediatrician on Friday. He was recommended to us from several other families who have adopted from China because he is a Chinese doc who studied in China. We felt he would be best in knowing any special concerns or issues for those of Asian decent. We are very pleased with him as he wasn't rush, rush and really took time to ask and answer questions. Angel again was not a big fan of being weighed, measured and looked over but she didn't throw quite as big of a fit as she did at the China medical review. No major issues raised, we did discover she has a minor heart murmur but nothing to be concerned over. He said we'd keep an eye on it and if need be he'd refer us to a cardiologist but doesn't feel it's necessary at this point. Kailey had one when she was little too, I think they are fairly common occurrences and usually grow out of it. We have to take her back in 2 weeks to get 3 shots and a blood draw. The doc wants her to get a little more comfortable with us before torturing her with all that. That made us happy.
Then last night then she went down at 8:30pm without much of a fight when I put her to bed and slept till 12:30am in which again I went to her when she was fussing. She then sat up and wanted me to pick her up and I told her she needed to lay back down because it was night, night time. So she threw her self down and proceeded with her fit throwing for a few minutes; I began my rubbing her belly and cheek and she settled, putting herself to sleep and slept till 8:30am this morning. Even bigger YAY! So hopefully this is becoming a trend and things keep getting better.
We attended church this morning where she was introduced to the congregation and was greeted by many people who were eager to meet her. She did really well during the service and even began to sing (in her own way) when we were singing. Very cute. She was ready to be done by the end of service but did great overall.
She had afirst visit with the pediatrician on Friday. He was recommended to us from several other families who have adopted from China because he is a Chinese doc who studied in China. We felt he would be best in knowing any special concerns or issues for those of Asian decent. We are very pleased with him as he wasn't rush, rush and really took time to ask and answer questions. Angel again was not a big fan of being weighed, measured and looked over but she didn't throw quite as big of a fit as she did at the China medical review. No major issues raised, we did discover she has a minor heart murmur but nothing to be concerned over. He said we'd keep an eye on it and if need be he'd refer us to a cardiologist but doesn't feel it's necessary at this point. Kailey had one when she was little too, I think they are fairly common occurrences and usually grow out of it. We have to take her back in 2 weeks to get 3 shots and a blood draw. The doc wants her to get a little more comfortable with us before torturing her with all that. That made us happy.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Final 24 hours in China and adjusting back...
Tuesday morning we met up with the group to take pictures. It was great to be sure we got pictures of everyone, this was a very special time for us all! We are blessed to have met each of these families and look forward to watching each of the girls and boys grow up and adapt to their Forever Families.
In the afternoon, 12 of the 13 families met up for the swearing at the Consulate. We raised our right hand and took oath for the US citizenship of our children. Another special milestone completed.
After that we returned to the hotel to switch to the bus we would be riding to Hong Kong in. So we packed up all our bags, most ran to McDonald's quick to grab some dinner and then we were off on about a 4 hour trip to Hong Kong. About 2 hours in we had to stop at the China Customs, unload all our luggage and bags to run them through customs checks and then load it all back on the bus. This is quite a chore with little ones in tow. We then had about another hour till we arrived at the hotel. It was about 9:30pm, so we went to bed shortly after settling in.
We were up and showered by 8am, checked out of the hotel and made the trek to the airport terminal. Checked our luggage, grabbed some Starbucks and called the kids one more time before our flight and their bedtime.
The flight with Angel went pretty well, much better than expected after our prior flight with her. Our flight was at 11:30am so we kept her from napping till we were on board. We fed her some lunch after take off, she played a little and by 1pm she was off to dream land. She napped for about 2 hours and then was up, eating and playing till her usual 8pm bedtime. She again slept for about 3 hours, between she and I we just couldn't stay comfortable. Then she was up for the remainder of the flight and till we got her locked and loaded in the car. She is not a big fan of the car seat but she was so tired she only fussed a little and then zonked for the 5.5 hour drive home.
We arrived home about 7pm (details in prior post of our homecoming). Angel was up then till about 11:30pm and slept till 4am. I got up with her and fed her breakfast. Jason then got up and took her and I went back to bed. She and I then slept from about 5-7:15am, when we had to get the kids up for school. She then took a nice 3 hour nap in the afternoon, so did daddy (plus some). I woke her up from this at 3pm wanting her to sleep at night and so we could go get the kids from school.
Last night then we got her down at about 8pm and she slept till about 2am. I got up with her but only turned on a dim light and we snuggled on the coach. My goal is stay quite, not feed her and teach her that it's sleepy time and not play or eating time. She went along and we dozed off and on till about 4:30am. And we have now been up since. Still trying to keep her somewhat quite since the other kids are still sleeping. Gonna be a long day.
P.S. Thank you to our friends who brought us dinner last night and to those who will be bringing us meals in the coming days - this is a big help to us. We are so blessed to have many great friends in our lives.
In the afternoon, 12 of the 13 families met up for the swearing at the Consulate. We raised our right hand and took oath for the US citizenship of our children. Another special milestone completed.
After that we returned to the hotel to switch to the bus we would be riding to Hong Kong in. So we packed up all our bags, most ran to McDonald's quick to grab some dinner and then we were off on about a 4 hour trip to Hong Kong. About 2 hours in we had to stop at the China Customs, unload all our luggage and bags to run them through customs checks and then load it all back on the bus. This is quite a chore with little ones in tow. We then had about another hour till we arrived at the hotel. It was about 9:30pm, so we went to bed shortly after settling in.
We were up and showered by 8am, checked out of the hotel and made the trek to the airport terminal. Checked our luggage, grabbed some Starbucks and called the kids one more time before our flight and their bedtime.
The flight with Angel went pretty well, much better than expected after our prior flight with her. Our flight was at 11:30am so we kept her from napping till we were on board. We fed her some lunch after take off, she played a little and by 1pm she was off to dream land. She napped for about 2 hours and then was up, eating and playing till her usual 8pm bedtime. She again slept for about 3 hours, between she and I we just couldn't stay comfortable. Then she was up for the remainder of the flight and till we got her locked and loaded in the car. She is not a big fan of the car seat but she was so tired she only fussed a little and then zonked for the 5.5 hour drive home.
We arrived home about 7pm (details in prior post of our homecoming). Angel was up then till about 11:30pm and slept till 4am. I got up with her and fed her breakfast. Jason then got up and took her and I went back to bed. She and I then slept from about 5-7:15am, when we had to get the kids up for school. She then took a nice 3 hour nap in the afternoon, so did daddy (plus some). I woke her up from this at 3pm wanting her to sleep at night and so we could go get the kids from school.
Last night then we got her down at about 8pm and she slept till about 2am. I got up with her but only turned on a dim light and we snuggled on the coach. My goal is stay quite, not feed her and teach her that it's sleepy time and not play or eating time. She went along and we dozed off and on till about 4:30am. And we have now been up since. Still trying to keep her somewhat quite since the other kids are still sleeping. Gonna be a long day.
P.S. Thank you to our friends who brought us dinner last night and to those who will be bringing us meals in the coming days - this is a big help to us. We are so blessed to have many great friends in our lives.
We are home!
We made it home at about our 25th hour of being awake Wednesday evening, what a long day. The drive from the airport was brutal and not because of Angel, she slept the entire 5.5 hour drive, it was the staying awake. We made several stops to move a little. Glad that is all over.
Our kids were at the house upon our arrival home and got to meet Angel for the first time. After taking it all in, she took to them quite fast. The kids and our friends had the house decorated with Welcome Home signs, pictures they had drawn and balloons. So very sweet of them.
Angel is loving the attention from the kids for the most part, you'll see in the photo where she sat down with them to watch TV within a few minutes of meeting them. She and Kailey have become fast buddies, Logan loves to show her new toys and Michiael picks her up and carries her around. They are so very cute. Angel is a great motivator in getting them up and ready for school, usually the kids aren't all that quick in the morning but yesterday morning they were ready quite early so they could play with Angel. They even want to get up early so they can play with her before going to school.
Angel has her initial appointment with the pediatrician this afternoon so we hope for a good report. Crossing our fingers she doesn't throw a big fit like she did at the medical exam on Saturday. Will let you all know how that goes.
Final day in China and how Angel is adjusting in the next post...
Our kids were at the house upon our arrival home and got to meet Angel for the first time. After taking it all in, she took to them quite fast. The kids and our friends had the house decorated with Welcome Home signs, pictures they had drawn and balloons. So very sweet of them.
Angel is loving the attention from the kids for the most part, you'll see in the photo where she sat down with them to watch TV within a few minutes of meeting them. She and Kailey have become fast buddies, Logan loves to show her new toys and Michiael picks her up and carries her around. They are so very cute. Angel is a great motivator in getting them up and ready for school, usually the kids aren't all that quick in the morning but yesterday morning they were ready quite early so they could play with Angel. They even want to get up early so they can play with her before going to school.
Angel has her initial appointment with the pediatrician this afternoon so we hope for a good report. Crossing our fingers she doesn't throw a big fit like she did at the medical exam on Saturday. Will let you all know how that goes.
Final day in China and how Angel is adjusting in the next post...
Monday, March 23, 2009
One More day...
The time is almost here. I have ventured down to Starbucks to utilize their Free Internet access to call the kids via Skype and see how their post Spring Break, first day back to school went. All seems to be going with with our kids at the G's. Even M.G. says it's going better than she expected it to. So glad for them, we are so blessed they agreed to take care of our 3 kids along with their own 3. We can't wait to be back home and give our kids some big kisses and hugs. The next 48 hours can't go fast enough.
Not sure what kind of access we will have from here on out so please pray for our safe travel to Hong Kong this evening and then smooth travels and a content Angel on the 14 hour plane ride tomorrow.
Blessings to you all!
Not sure what kind of access we will have from here on out so please pray for our safe travel to Hong Kong this evening and then smooth travels and a content Angel on the 14 hour plane ride tomorrow.
Blessings to you all!
Less than 48 hours left here in China...
This morning was our Consulate appointment, the one we did the 2 hours of paperwork for, we didn't even have to attend. We just had to hang out in our room, in case there were any questions. Our guides took each family’s papers work at 10am this morning to present it and have it looked over. From what I hear, there weren't any additional questions! YAY! We got a call shortly before noon that they had returned and we could pick up Angel's adoption certificate. Tomorrow, all families will meet in the afternoon to head to the consulate to take oath for our children's citizenship and receive their Visa. Our final step here!
This afternoon we were taken to an area to shop and get some final souvenirs and gifts. It was a good experience, though annoying as well. Here they are very pushy, trying to get you to purchase this and that. Every shop you go by tries to draw you in. We purchase quite a bit of stuff, little more special Christmas gifts done. We got the girl's some traditional Chinese outfits and PJ's. We purchased Angel a pair of shoes that fit her feet, the one's we brought from home are a bit big. We had already purchased an outfit from the Silk Factory for her Baptism and found some shoes today to match. Can't wait to see her all dressed up in it!
Upon our return we ordered room service American burgers for dinner, took a little walk, gave Angel a bath and put her down for bed by 8pm.
I have begun organizing suitcases, trying to get 2 of them packed up for the remainder of the trip, leaving 1 accessible. Thankfully we are back to the 50lb weight limit each for the return home, we're going to need it. The hotel happens to have a scale in the room so I can weigh them to be sure we aren't over.
We leave on a bus for a 3.5 hour drive to our hotel in Hong Kong tomorrow evening at about 5pm. We will spend the night there and then walk into the airport, which is attached to the hotel, at about 9am on Wednesday to catch our 11:40am flight back to the states. We are so ready to come home, see our kids and introduce Angel to her new family and friends.
I am not sure if we will have a chance to update from here on so thank you to all our family and friends for supporting us through this blessed journey. We are so thankful to have each and every one of you in our lives. This journey has been amazing and will be even better once we are all reunited!
Downey kids, love you lot - have a great day back to school. We can't wait to read the journal you have been keeping, we want to hear all about your special times with family and friends as well. Miss you lots, see you soon - Mom & Dad
This afternoon we were taken to an area to shop and get some final souvenirs and gifts. It was a good experience, though annoying as well. Here they are very pushy, trying to get you to purchase this and that. Every shop you go by tries to draw you in. We purchase quite a bit of stuff, little more special Christmas gifts done. We got the girl's some traditional Chinese outfits and PJ's. We purchased Angel a pair of shoes that fit her feet, the one's we brought from home are a bit big. We had already purchased an outfit from the Silk Factory for her Baptism and found some shoes today to match. Can't wait to see her all dressed up in it!
Upon our return we ordered room service American burgers for dinner, took a little walk, gave Angel a bath and put her down for bed by 8pm.
I have begun organizing suitcases, trying to get 2 of them packed up for the remainder of the trip, leaving 1 accessible. Thankfully we are back to the 50lb weight limit each for the return home, we're going to need it. The hotel happens to have a scale in the room so I can weigh them to be sure we aren't over.
We leave on a bus for a 3.5 hour drive to our hotel in Hong Kong tomorrow evening at about 5pm. We will spend the night there and then walk into the airport, which is attached to the hotel, at about 9am on Wednesday to catch our 11:40am flight back to the states. We are so ready to come home, see our kids and introduce Angel to her new family and friends.
I am not sure if we will have a chance to update from here on so thank you to all our family and friends for supporting us through this blessed journey. We are so thankful to have each and every one of you in our lives. This journey has been amazing and will be even better once we are all reunited!
Downey kids, love you lot - have a great day back to school. We can't wait to read the journal you have been keeping, we want to hear all about your special times with family and friends as well. Miss you lots, see you soon - Mom & Dad
Sunday, March 22, 2009
China McDonald's...
Angel slept in this morning, till about 7am - yay. Now if she can continue that when we get home, that would be great!
Today we took a group tour to a Fold Art Museum and a Tea House. The museum was amazing. The artwork, woodwork, and carvings were beautiful. The warriors painted on the doors to the museum are the largest in China, they keep out evil. The large doorknobs show the wealth of the family. I loved all the carvings in the wooden screens. The details are astounding. The Chinese Government pays to have the outside artwork/carvings repainted every 4 years. That is all the longer it withstands the heat and rain. They are currently in the process of repainting; you'll see the difference in the pictures.
After the museum we went to a Tea House where we were told how to distinguish a good teapot from a not so good teapot. The critical focus is on if the pot dribbles as you stop pooring, if it stops pooring when you plug the hole on the lid handle (many teapots don't even have this hole) and if you plug the pour hole with your finger and flip the pot upside down, the lid should remain sealed on the pot. It was very facinanting. Needless to say we were drawn to purchase one of these beautiful pots that have a dragon on one side and a sphynx on the other. We were then got to sample four different teas - Jasmine, Ginsing, Rose hips and one other I'm unsure how to spell. Here in China they believe the tea bag teas we commonly use in the states is unhealthy, they brew their tea directly from the leaves. The Rose hip tea is actually brewed from rose buds, it smelled wonderful, was not our favorite as far as flavor. We ended up purchasing some Jasmine tea leaves to brew in our new tea pot.
The rest of the day was "free" time for us, nothing else on the agenda. Upon returning to the hotel we ate lunch in the room, our usual instant noodles, protein bars, and dried fruits. Then put Angel down for a nap, she actually did this on schedule today. The past few days she has taken a short morning and then another afternoon nap. We managed to keep her up through this morning’s events.
Following her nap we went ventured back down to the 4th level and walked around the beautiful "court yard" that is located in the center of the hotel - see the photos. They have a few small areas for sitting and having tea. There is also a basketball/tennis court out there; you can see our room view of this in the photos as well. Then we headed to the kids play room to kill some time till dinner. While there 3 other families ventured in so Angel had some playmates and we were able to chit chat. It was so fun to see the girls interact a little, they are all so cute.
Of the 13 families here, there is a 10 year old and two 4 1/2 year old girls adopted and then 8 toddler girls - Angel the oldest of them(22 months) down to about 16 months and then two toddler boys. All fabulously, beautiful kids.
For dinner we decided we had better have China's McDonald's since we only have a few days left. It doesn't taste exactly like home but it wasn't bad. It was very cheap, Jason and I both had meals, plus we got a side order of nuggets for Angel and it cost us less than 6 US dollars. I wasn't sure Angel would eat the nuggets or french fries from our past experience with her but she gobbled them up. (Tried to upload a video but not working for some reason)
Today we took a group tour to a Fold Art Museum and a Tea House. The museum was amazing. The artwork, woodwork, and carvings were beautiful. The warriors painted on the doors to the museum are the largest in China, they keep out evil. The large doorknobs show the wealth of the family. I loved all the carvings in the wooden screens. The details are astounding. The Chinese Government pays to have the outside artwork/carvings repainted every 4 years. That is all the longer it withstands the heat and rain. They are currently in the process of repainting; you'll see the difference in the pictures.
After the museum we went to a Tea House where we were told how to distinguish a good teapot from a not so good teapot. The critical focus is on if the pot dribbles as you stop pooring, if it stops pooring when you plug the hole on the lid handle (many teapots don't even have this hole) and if you plug the pour hole with your finger and flip the pot upside down, the lid should remain sealed on the pot. It was very facinanting. Needless to say we were drawn to purchase one of these beautiful pots that have a dragon on one side and a sphynx on the other. We were then got to sample four different teas - Jasmine, Ginsing, Rose hips and one other I'm unsure how to spell. Here in China they believe the tea bag teas we commonly use in the states is unhealthy, they brew their tea directly from the leaves. The Rose hip tea is actually brewed from rose buds, it smelled wonderful, was not our favorite as far as flavor. We ended up purchasing some Jasmine tea leaves to brew in our new tea pot.
The rest of the day was "free" time for us, nothing else on the agenda. Upon returning to the hotel we ate lunch in the room, our usual instant noodles, protein bars, and dried fruits. Then put Angel down for a nap, she actually did this on schedule today. The past few days she has taken a short morning and then another afternoon nap. We managed to keep her up through this morning’s events.
Following her nap we went ventured back down to the 4th level and walked around the beautiful "court yard" that is located in the center of the hotel - see the photos. They have a few small areas for sitting and having tea. There is also a basketball/tennis court out there; you can see our room view of this in the photos as well. Then we headed to the kids play room to kill some time till dinner. While there 3 other families ventured in so Angel had some playmates and we were able to chit chat. It was so fun to see the girls interact a little, they are all so cute.
Of the 13 families here, there is a 10 year old and two 4 1/2 year old girls adopted and then 8 toddler girls - Angel the oldest of them(22 months) down to about 16 months and then two toddler boys. All fabulously, beautiful kids.
For dinner we decided we had better have China's McDonald's since we only have a few days left. It doesn't taste exactly like home but it wasn't bad. It was very cheap, Jason and I both had meals, plus we got a side order of nuggets for Angel and it cost us less than 6 US dollars. I wasn't sure Angel would eat the nuggets or french fries from our past experience with her but she gobbled them up. (Tried to upload a video but not working for some reason)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, March 21st
Today we began our day with breakfast at the our new hotel, China Hotel Marriott here in Guangzhou. It was really good and the best we've had while here. There are many options to choose from. They have bananas here and we discovered Angel loves them, at an entire banana and it wasn't a small one. So at least we have some other option other than just Watermelon.
We got to meet all the couples children today, it is great to be back with everyone. The children are all so precious and seem to be getting along with their new families pretty well. We all have our little bumps in the road but that is to be expected.
We met the group down in the lobby at 9am to head out via bus to the place where they do the adoption medical exams for the US Visa's. But first there were two of us families who arrived much later than the others so we had to make a quick trip to get the babies Visa photo taken, this was next door to the adoption examination place so convenient for all.
The adoption examination consists of three seperate tasks: Height, weights and measurement, ENT & Medicine and Surgery. They really are a quick look over the children to be sure they are healthy to travel. As you will notice in the pictures, Angel was not happy with any of it. She threw a fit as soon as we stepped in each room and she saw the nurses. The only thing I can think is that they looked very similar to the ladies at her orphanage with the way they were clothed. Poor thing was so upset.
From there our guides, Amy and Linekar took us to a shopping center so we could get baby supplies, toys, clothes and groceries. This shopping place, the Friendship Store, had 7 levels to it. We focused on level 7 which had toys (got a few new ones for Angel as she's bored with what we brought already) and level 4 which was the grocery area. It's neat to see various product that are the same as we would buy but in Chinese and then the many different types of things as well.
After this we went back to the hotel to rest and eat lunch on our own. So we went back to our room to eat and then headed down to the hotels playroom for the kids so Angel could burn off a little energy before nap time.
At 3:30pm then one parent from each of the 13 families met in our guides room for what they call the "paperwork" party. This is where we fill out and gather all the needed documents for the Consulate appointment on Monday. They walked us through how to fill out the needed documents which took about 2 hours. Glad they helped with that though, I would have been confused doing it on my own. That is the last of the paperwork we have to do, YAY! Our guides will take it to the Consulate appointment on Monday morning and they will review it and call us if there are any questions. Otherwise, the children's Visa's will be issued and we will pick them up on Tuesday before leaving for Hong Kong.
Tomorrow we will do a little sight seeing. We can't wait to visit the beautiful park near the hotel, hopefully we can do that after Angel's nap tomorrow.
Downey kids we hope your trip back to Iowa went well. Maybe we'll catch you online in the morning (your evening)before we have to meet up with the group at 9am. Love and miss you lots. Only a handful more days to go.
We got to meet all the couples children today, it is great to be back with everyone. The children are all so precious and seem to be getting along with their new families pretty well. We all have our little bumps in the road but that is to be expected.
We met the group down in the lobby at 9am to head out via bus to the place where they do the adoption medical exams for the US Visa's. But first there were two of us families who arrived much later than the others so we had to make a quick trip to get the babies Visa photo taken, this was next door to the adoption examination place so convenient for all.
The adoption examination consists of three seperate tasks: Height, weights and measurement, ENT & Medicine and Surgery. They really are a quick look over the children to be sure they are healthy to travel. As you will notice in the pictures, Angel was not happy with any of it. She threw a fit as soon as we stepped in each room and she saw the nurses. The only thing I can think is that they looked very similar to the ladies at her orphanage with the way they were clothed. Poor thing was so upset.
From there our guides, Amy and Linekar took us to a shopping center so we could get baby supplies, toys, clothes and groceries. This shopping place, the Friendship Store, had 7 levels to it. We focused on level 7 which had toys (got a few new ones for Angel as she's bored with what we brought already) and level 4 which was the grocery area. It's neat to see various product that are the same as we would buy but in Chinese and then the many different types of things as well.
After this we went back to the hotel to rest and eat lunch on our own. So we went back to our room to eat and then headed down to the hotels playroom for the kids so Angel could burn off a little energy before nap time.
At 3:30pm then one parent from each of the 13 families met in our guides room for what they call the "paperwork" party. This is where we fill out and gather all the needed documents for the Consulate appointment on Monday. They walked us through how to fill out the needed documents which took about 2 hours. Glad they helped with that though, I would have been confused doing it on my own. That is the last of the paperwork we have to do, YAY! Our guides will take it to the Consulate appointment on Monday morning and they will review it and call us if there are any questions. Otherwise, the children's Visa's will be issued and we will pick them up on Tuesday before leaving for Hong Kong.
Tomorrow we will do a little sight seeing. We can't wait to visit the beautiful park near the hotel, hopefully we can do that after Angel's nap tomorrow.
Downey kids we hope your trip back to Iowa went well. Maybe we'll catch you online in the morning (your evening)before we have to meet up with the group at 9am. Love and miss you lots. Only a handful more days to go.
Friday, March 20th
We began our day as usual, grabbed breakfast at the hotel buffet which isn't as good as what we had in Beijing but that's because it's more Chinese than Western type foods. We then headed back to our room for a bit, waiting for it to warm up a bit outside before venturing out. At about 10am we headed out to take a walk down to Boutu Spring park - it is a beautiful place, as you will see in the pictures we took. The weather was just as nice. This park is a good size so we spent about an hour or so walking through and observing it's nature.
We came out at the opposite end of the park so we walked the streets back to our hotel, quite an experience. We get many stares for various reason I imagine - we are 2 westerners with a Chinese baby who has a large mark on her face. I am surprised there weren't any bicycle/motor bike accidents with the way some would continue to watch as they passed.
After our walk we ate lunch in our room, finalized our packing and put Angel down for an hour nap before we had to head to the airport. Then at 2pm it was off to the airport for our 4:45pm flight, which left earlier than that. But we are ok with that.
Jinan truly is a beautiful city, with many places to visit. I wish we would of had a little more time and better weather the one day so we could have seen more of it. Leaving the city at which she has lived her life so far was a bit sad.
As you saw, we arrived in Guangzhou yesterday just fine but a bit late. Angel did ok on the trip, she had her ups and down and pitched a few fits. I pray that is not a preview as to how she will act on the 14 hour flight back to the states. Guess we will find out soon enough.
We came out at the opposite end of the park so we walked the streets back to our hotel, quite an experience. We get many stares for various reason I imagine - we are 2 westerners with a Chinese baby who has a large mark on her face. I am surprised there weren't any bicycle/motor bike accidents with the way some would continue to watch as they passed.
After our walk we ate lunch in our room, finalized our packing and put Angel down for an hour nap before we had to head to the airport. Then at 2pm it was off to the airport for our 4:45pm flight, which left earlier than that. But we are ok with that.
Jinan truly is a beautiful city, with many places to visit. I wish we would of had a little more time and better weather the one day so we could have seen more of it. Leaving the city at which she has lived her life so far was a bit sad.
As you saw, we arrived in Guangzhou yesterday just fine but a bit late. Angel did ok on the trip, she had her ups and down and pitched a few fits. I pray that is not a preview as to how she will act on the 14 hour flight back to the states. Guess we will find out soon enough.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Made it to Guangzhou...
Just wanted to let everyone know we made it to Guangzhou, it's late and we are headed to bed. The whole group is going for the kid's medical exams in the morning. Will catch everyone up on today's events tomorrow.
Downey kids, enjoy your last day in Indiana. We love and miss you lots! Have a great Friday!
Downey kids, enjoy your last day in Indiana. We love and miss you lots! Have a great Friday!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day 4 with Angel...
Angel awoke two times last night crying but quieted quickly when I rubbed her belly and assured her I was there. Hopefully she sleeps more peacefully tonight. She should since she only took a 45 minute nap today, just before lunch even. She was a bit of a pistol this evening because she was so tired.
We were to have a free day today so we ventured out this morning to see Daming Lake and well, let's just say we weren't quite prepared for it to be as cold as it was. We knew it was a bit windy from looking outside but after it being in the 80's yesterday - it was like being back home. So we ran back up to grab jackets for us and a hat for Angel, and even with that it wasn't quite enough. So we put Angel's legs inside daddy's jacket to keep her warm and made a quick pass through a portion of the garden area, as you see can see in the pictures, it's quite beautiful. I wish it had been nicer so we could have enjoyed it and seen more. Angel fell asleep about midway through so we finished up, flagged down a taxi and headed back to the hotel.
We had hoped to venture out a little more in the afternoon but Angel is not a big fan of the wind in her face so we decided to stay in. Good thing we did because we were supposed to get Angel's China passport tomorrow morning but got a call from our guide, Susan, at about 3pm that it was ready to be picked up today and we were to meet her in the lobby immediately. So on we went to sign the final paper and pick it up; we are now finished with all paperwork that needs to be done here in Jinan. With some free time in the morning, I'm hoping we can get to the park nearby that has a natural spring before we leave at 2pm to catch our flight to Guangzhou, hoping it's not too chilly.
We were to have a free day today so we ventured out this morning to see Daming Lake and well, let's just say we weren't quite prepared for it to be as cold as it was. We knew it was a bit windy from looking outside but after it being in the 80's yesterday - it was like being back home. So we ran back up to grab jackets for us and a hat for Angel, and even with that it wasn't quite enough. So we put Angel's legs inside daddy's jacket to keep her warm and made a quick pass through a portion of the garden area, as you see can see in the pictures, it's quite beautiful. I wish it had been nicer so we could have enjoyed it and seen more. Angel fell asleep about midway through so we finished up, flagged down a taxi and headed back to the hotel.
We had hoped to venture out a little more in the afternoon but Angel is not a big fan of the wind in her face so we decided to stay in. Good thing we did because we were supposed to get Angel's China passport tomorrow morning but got a call from our guide, Susan, at about 3pm that it was ready to be picked up today and we were to meet her in the lobby immediately. So on we went to sign the final paper and pick it up; we are now finished with all paperwork that needs to be done here in Jinan. With some free time in the morning, I'm hoping we can get to the park nearby that has a natural spring before we leave at 2pm to catch our flight to Guangzhou, hoping it's not too chilly.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Day 3 with Angel...
She had another great night, slept through it without a peep. Her referral paperwork said she was a "medium" sleeper, we'd call her a great sleeper. Now she is not a big fan of you getting her to settle down and snuggle a bit to relax for naps or bed but with a little effort she settles and goes to sleep. You can tell when she is getting sleepy as her moodiness increases and she does this "soothing thing" where she puts her thumb or hand in front of her lips - she does this a lot when she sleeps or is going to sleep.
She had highs and lows today and was a little clingy to mama today. She can go from being a very happy little girl to being pouty, which is to be expected. She has done much better than we had expected her to. The Lord will continue to be with us and help us all along the way.
She amazes us, each day with how intelligent she is. We got kisses on the cheek (mama even got one on the lips), she mimics thumbs up and she lets us know when she wants our attention and points to what she wants. She came up to me several times today and would pat my leg or say "mama" and then grab a finger and take me where she wanted me to go. If she wants you to sit, she will pat or point to the floor/bed/chair. It is quite fascinating to watch her. This evening she took me to the bathroom and pointed to the bath tub, guess she liked last nights bath, so after dinner we gave her another. She played in there for about 30 minutes.
We noticed on Monday when we got her that she had scratches on her belly and later discovered them on her arms and upper back as well. We also noticed she had very dry skin and she would itch. So we have been putting lotion on her each day and her skin is feeling much smoother. She still scratches and I wonder now if it's not more out of habit than anything else. We have been trying to get her to stop by distracting her when she does it or start to rub her skin to stop her scratching.
It hit about 85 her etoday so we took a walk and went to a park Jinan is known for, Quancheng Square, you will see many photos in the album of it. The water fountain I hear is really neat at night because they light it up. Wish our hotel room was on the other side of the building so we could see it. We plan to visit a few other sites tomorrow.
She and I did "Ring Around the Rosie" today and she loved it.
We love and miss you Downey kids, one more week and we'll be home!!! See you online later.
She had highs and lows today and was a little clingy to mama today. She can go from being a very happy little girl to being pouty, which is to be expected. She has done much better than we had expected her to. The Lord will continue to be with us and help us all along the way.
She amazes us, each day with how intelligent she is. We got kisses on the cheek (mama even got one on the lips), she mimics thumbs up and she lets us know when she wants our attention and points to what she wants. She came up to me several times today and would pat my leg or say "mama" and then grab a finger and take me where she wanted me to go. If she wants you to sit, she will pat or point to the floor/bed/chair. It is quite fascinating to watch her. This evening she took me to the bathroom and pointed to the bath tub, guess she liked last nights bath, so after dinner we gave her another. She played in there for about 30 minutes.
We noticed on Monday when we got her that she had scratches on her belly and later discovered them on her arms and upper back as well. We also noticed she had very dry skin and she would itch. So we have been putting lotion on her each day and her skin is feeling much smoother. She still scratches and I wonder now if it's not more out of habit than anything else. We have been trying to get her to stop by distracting her when she does it or start to rub her skin to stop her scratching.
It hit about 85 her etoday so we took a walk and went to a park Jinan is known for, Quancheng Square, you will see many photos in the album of it. The water fountain I hear is really neat at night because they light it up. Wish our hotel room was on the other side of the building so we could see it. We plan to visit a few other sites tomorrow.
She and I did "Ring Around the Rosie" today and she loved it.
We love and miss you Downey kids, one more week and we'll be home!!! See you online later.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Another special day...
Note: I wrote this yesterday but due to the time it took to upload the videos, it's not getting posted till today. So below is what occured yersterday, Tuesday, March 17th.
Blessed we are. We have now been with Angel almost a day and a half already. With the way she acts it's hard to believe that is all the longer it has been.
I got up at 3:30 am again this morning, this has become a trend since we arrived. I do have to say it is the best sleep I have gotten yet. Angel went to bed very easily last night, right on schedule at 8pm. (Her daddy beat her to it though) She slept the whole night without a word and woke up on schedule as well, about 6:30am. We have discovered she is not a morning person. She takes a little bit to wake up, so we snuggled a little this morning and then got her something to eat. Once she had some Cheerios in her tummy (which is all I could get her to eat from what I had in the room), she was a happy camper.
Jason and I then got our showers in and ready so we could go down and eat some of the breakfast buffet. The buffet here is not as great as the hotel in Beijing but it works. We discovered this girl can eat. Even though she had already had some Cheerios, she ate lots of watermelon which is the only fruit I could get her to eat. As I Think I mentioned yesterday, she'll try just about anything and if she doesn't like it she will open her mouth to let you know so you can catch it when she spits it out. She also ate a bowl of Congee. Tried to feed her eggs and she didn't like those either.
350 pairs of socks for the orphanage, thanks so much to all who contributed!
From there we went back up to the room to gather up donations as we were heading to her orphanage, Jinan Social Welfare Institute, for a visit. So at about 9am we met our guide/interpreter, Susan, in the lobby and we jumped in a cab. Angel began to fall asleep just as we arrived at the orphanage.
Angel did really well at the orphanage considering she had just left the day before. She was seen by many of the ladies who cared for her and had a few hang ups with coming back to Jason or I after they held her but in all she really did well. We took several pictures of her with her nannies and some of the children in the orphanage. We were also shown where she slept. Well, low and behold she has not been sleeping in a crib, she is in a toddler bed so we may have to do a quick switch of that when we return home.
After vising the floor she lived on, we were taken back down to the directors office and they burnt all the pictures they had of her onto a CD for us. We are so blessed to now have pics of the day she arrived at the orphanage. We got a glimpse of them as she was searching for them and it brought tears to my eyes that they had saved these and shared them. We were also given a little red hat that was with her, YAY another special memento. Before we left the director also took down our e-mail address and gave us hers so that we could keep in touch. How wonderful is that.
From there we grabbed another cab and headed to the train/bus station where she was found. This was a bit emotional for me, as I pondered how her mother and possibly father must have felt as they walked in and found a place where she would be found quickly and then had to have left quickly so she/he would not have gotten caught. (It is a year and a half in jail if caught) How she/he must have felt walking away and probably hiding some where to be sure she was discovered and taken away to be taken care of. I am certain her birth parents did this out of love, knowing they could not provide her with the care and necessities she needed. My blessings go out to them and I am thankful that they loved her that much. It could not have been an easy thing to do.
On the way back to the hotel from there, Angel once again fell asleep. She took a great nap from about 10:45am till about 1:30pm. The past two days have been big ones for her, I'm sure she needed it. Then we fed her some noodles we picked up at the market. Who knew a little girl could eat that many noodles and she's really good at it too - watch...
We hung out at the hotel the remainder of the day and played then made a quick trip to the market (catercorner to the hotel, you just have to get through all the traffic) to get more bottled water and milk for Angel. She wanted nothing to do with the toddler formula we purchased yesterday. Luckily the orphanage gave us a milk while we were there so we knew what exactly to get her. We had no clue yesterday, it all happened so fast.
Her personality is really coming out and she seems to be understanding us a bit and has begun to mimic us so we can say she is now speaking and here are the first few words we have heard her repeat:
1 - Mama (she will now call me that at time too!!!!)
2 -Hello (she has been putting things up to hear ear like a phone so we would say hello, well she repeated it a few times today)
3- Baba (Daddy in Chinese)
She has also started mimicking us on some of the sign language motions we have been making with the words: more, ball, eat and all done. She catches on so quick.
We gave her a bath this evening and she seemed to like it. She sat in there fine and had fun playing in the water trickles that drained from the bath cups we brought. She didn't even cry when I washed and rinsed her hair. So far I'd say she is pretty easy going but will let you know if things aren't going her way. The only crying she has done was when I went to cradle her this evening for bedtime, she threw a bit of a fit and once we stood up, instead of sitting, she settled and fell right to sleep. Hopefully she sleeps just as well tonight.
Great giggles...
We are excited to meet back up with the other 12 families on Friday and see how all their Gotcha Days went and to meet their little ones! We only got the blog link for one of the families and are excited to see how their week progresses.
Michiael, Logan and Kailey, we miss you all lots and can't wait to see you next week. Love you!
Blessed we are. We have now been with Angel almost a day and a half already. With the way she acts it's hard to believe that is all the longer it has been.
I got up at 3:30 am again this morning, this has become a trend since we arrived. I do have to say it is the best sleep I have gotten yet. Angel went to bed very easily last night, right on schedule at 8pm. (Her daddy beat her to it though) She slept the whole night without a word and woke up on schedule as well, about 6:30am. We have discovered she is not a morning person. She takes a little bit to wake up, so we snuggled a little this morning and then got her something to eat. Once she had some Cheerios in her tummy (which is all I could get her to eat from what I had in the room), she was a happy camper.
Jason and I then got our showers in and ready so we could go down and eat some of the breakfast buffet. The buffet here is not as great as the hotel in Beijing but it works. We discovered this girl can eat. Even though she had already had some Cheerios, she ate lots of watermelon which is the only fruit I could get her to eat. As I Think I mentioned yesterday, she'll try just about anything and if she doesn't like it she will open her mouth to let you know so you can catch it when she spits it out. She also ate a bowl of Congee. Tried to feed her eggs and she didn't like those either.
350 pairs of socks for the orphanage, thanks so much to all who contributed! From there we went back up to the room to gather up donations as we were heading to her orphanage, Jinan Social Welfare Institute, for a visit. So at about 9am we met our guide/interpreter, Susan, in the lobby and we jumped in a cab. Angel began to fall asleep just as we arrived at the orphanage.
Angel did really well at the orphanage considering she had just left the day before. She was seen by many of the ladies who cared for her and had a few hang ups with coming back to Jason or I after they held her but in all she really did well. We took several pictures of her with her nannies and some of the children in the orphanage. We were also shown where she slept. Well, low and behold she has not been sleeping in a crib, she is in a toddler bed so we may have to do a quick switch of that when we return home.
After vising the floor she lived on, we were taken back down to the directors office and they burnt all the pictures they had of her onto a CD for us. We are so blessed to now have pics of the day she arrived at the orphanage. We got a glimpse of them as she was searching for them and it brought tears to my eyes that they had saved these and shared them. We were also given a little red hat that was with her, YAY another special memento. Before we left the director also took down our e-mail address and gave us hers so that we could keep in touch. How wonderful is that.
From there we grabbed another cab and headed to the train/bus station where she was found. This was a bit emotional for me, as I pondered how her mother and possibly father must have felt as they walked in and found a place where she would be found quickly and then had to have left quickly so she/he would not have gotten caught. (It is a year and a half in jail if caught) How she/he must have felt walking away and probably hiding some where to be sure she was discovered and taken away to be taken care of. I am certain her birth parents did this out of love, knowing they could not provide her with the care and necessities she needed. My blessings go out to them and I am thankful that they loved her that much. It could not have been an easy thing to do.
On the way back to the hotel from there, Angel once again fell asleep. She took a great nap from about 10:45am till about 1:30pm. The past two days have been big ones for her, I'm sure she needed it. Then we fed her some noodles we picked up at the market. Who knew a little girl could eat that many noodles and she's really good at it too - watch...
We hung out at the hotel the remainder of the day and played then made a quick trip to the market (catercorner to the hotel, you just have to get through all the traffic) to get more bottled water and milk for Angel. She wanted nothing to do with the toddler formula we purchased yesterday. Luckily the orphanage gave us a milk while we were there so we knew what exactly to get her. We had no clue yesterday, it all happened so fast.
Her personality is really coming out and she seems to be understanding us a bit and has begun to mimic us so we can say she is now speaking and here are the first few words we have heard her repeat:
1 - Mama (she will now call me that at time too!!!!)
2 -Hello (she has been putting things up to hear ear like a phone so we would say hello, well she repeated it a few times today)
3- Baba (Daddy in Chinese)
She has also started mimicking us on some of the sign language motions we have been making with the words: more, ball, eat and all done. She catches on so quick.
We gave her a bath this evening and she seemed to like it. She sat in there fine and had fun playing in the water trickles that drained from the bath cups we brought. She didn't even cry when I washed and rinsed her hair. So far I'd say she is pretty easy going but will let you know if things aren't going her way. The only crying she has done was when I went to cradle her this evening for bedtime, she threw a bit of a fit and once we stood up, instead of sitting, she settled and fell right to sleep. Hopefully she sleeps just as well tonight.
Great giggles...
We are excited to meet back up with the other 12 families on Friday and see how all their Gotcha Days went and to meet their little ones! We only got the blog link for one of the families and are excited to see how their week progresses.
Michiael, Logan and Kailey, we miss you all lots and can't wait to see you next week. Love you!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Gotcha Day!!!!
What an amazing day, it went so fast. We left the hotel this morning at 5:30am, arrived at the airport and checked in by 6:15am and were on board at 6:50am for a 7:20 flight. It was just a skip of a ride this time, 45 mintues was it. So we were in Jinan and had our luggage by 8:30am and was met by our guide Susan. As soon as we got in the car, we were told that the orphanage would be bringing Angel to the hotel at about 10am.
Well, we arrive at the Crowne Royal hotel at about 9am to learn that they would be there are more like 9:30am. WOW, we were not prepared for that. So we checked in and hurridly got our luggage up to our room, freshened up a bit and headed right back down stairs to wait for them with Susan. Luckily we had our camcorder and camera easily accessible.
Well after sitting around a bit talking with Susan, she saw them coming. We turned on the camcorder and snapped some pics....
What an unforgetable moment. They brought her in and bam bam bam it all just happened. The lady who brought her told her that we were her mama and baba and then she was handed to me so we could sign paperwork. Well Tian was not all that thrilled with the switch, she cried and stiffened her body, pointed at the lady who brought her - my mother instincts kicked in and we went for distraction. We grabbed a few toys and cheerios while up in the room so we tried cheerios first and that did not work then I pulled out a McDonald's toy (Disney mirror that makes noise), well I have to say that is the best toy MD's has ever made because she was intriged by it. Once she learned how to push the button, which didn't take long at all, she just kept on pushing it. This girl is so smart and is learning very quickly. The orphanage lady told us before she left that Tian is a very smart little girl, we are finding that out quickly.
The day evolved very quickly. Originally we were under the impression that all we were going to have to do today were get our family photo and passport photo take for Tian (Angel). Well we did do that right away and little miss was not digging it. She was not happy when I sat down with her, was fine while standing but they wouldn't take the picture unless we sat so they took it but it's not good. Then it took a little longer to get into a pose that they could take a pic of her with me holding her but not get me in the pic. Task completed though.
She took two 45 minute naps between during our waits in our arms, and has put away a good amount of food. We also discovered she will only drink for a regular cup, no sippy for her, but she sure can chug it down.
Then we learned that we were going to finish the entire adoption paperwork today - oh my! So we went from here to there and there to here and our little girl was a trooper. She warmed up to us pretty quickly and by 2pm today I was able to get a smile and small giggle out of her. And we've seen lots of smiles since. She is more of a baba's little girl than mama but that's ok - he eventually has to go back to work.
She is an absolute precious little girl and so very smart. She is already testing our limits as we speak. She keeps playing with the hotel room phone and I'm pretty sure she knows she's not supposed to from her look on her face. She's already a little stinker. So the day has truely been a great experience, more than I expected from her. See for yourself...
Check out the pic website, blogger isn't functioning properly right now!
P.S - I'm learning right now that she is also already a "ham" I keep taking her picture and she just smiles. I put the camera down and she'll point at it for me to use it again.
Well, we arrive at the Crowne Royal hotel at about 9am to learn that they would be there are more like 9:30am. WOW, we were not prepared for that. So we checked in and hurridly got our luggage up to our room, freshened up a bit and headed right back down stairs to wait for them with Susan. Luckily we had our camcorder and camera easily accessible.
Well after sitting around a bit talking with Susan, she saw them coming. We turned on the camcorder and snapped some pics....
What an unforgetable moment. They brought her in and bam bam bam it all just happened. The lady who brought her told her that we were her mama and baba and then she was handed to me so we could sign paperwork. Well Tian was not all that thrilled with the switch, she cried and stiffened her body, pointed at the lady who brought her - my mother instincts kicked in and we went for distraction. We grabbed a few toys and cheerios while up in the room so we tried cheerios first and that did not work then I pulled out a McDonald's toy (Disney mirror that makes noise), well I have to say that is the best toy MD's has ever made because she was intriged by it. Once she learned how to push the button, which didn't take long at all, she just kept on pushing it. This girl is so smart and is learning very quickly. The orphanage lady told us before she left that Tian is a very smart little girl, we are finding that out quickly.
The day evolved very quickly. Originally we were under the impression that all we were going to have to do today were get our family photo and passport photo take for Tian (Angel). Well we did do that right away and little miss was not digging it. She was not happy when I sat down with her, was fine while standing but they wouldn't take the picture unless we sat so they took it but it's not good. Then it took a little longer to get into a pose that they could take a pic of her with me holding her but not get me in the pic. Task completed though.
She took two 45 minute naps between during our waits in our arms, and has put away a good amount of food. We also discovered she will only drink for a regular cup, no sippy for her, but she sure can chug it down.
Then we learned that we were going to finish the entire adoption paperwork today - oh my! So we went from here to there and there to here and our little girl was a trooper. She warmed up to us pretty quickly and by 2pm today I was able to get a smile and small giggle out of her. And we've seen lots of smiles since. She is more of a baba's little girl than mama but that's ok - he eventually has to go back to work.
She is an absolute precious little girl and so very smart. She is already testing our limits as we speak. She keeps playing with the hotel room phone and I'm pretty sure she knows she's not supposed to from her look on her face. She's already a little stinker. So the day has truely been a great experience, more than I expected from her. See for yourself...
Check out the pic website, blogger isn't functioning properly right now!
P.S - I'm learning right now that she is also already a "ham" I keep taking her picture and she just smiles. I put the camera down and she'll point at it for me to use it again.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Day 3 - The Great Wall
So we began yesterday with a visit to the Beijing International Christian Church service, was a great experience. It is a church for international travelers.
The it was off to the Jade Factory where we learned how to distinguish pure/good Jade from the imitation/low grade. It has to do with the sound of it, pure Jade pings like crystal. It sure is a pretty material and has lots of meaning here in China. It is tradition for a mother to pass a Jade bangle bracelet to her daughter when she turns 16. Now this bracelet has been worn by the mother day and night since she was 16, likely handed down to her from her mother - how special. There is also a tradition for a father to wear a Jade in the shape of his daughter's Chinese Zodiac sign and pass that on to her when she turns 2 or 3. This represents that he will forever be her protector.
From there we had lunch, this was the one with duck as one of the dishes. I did not try it, it had too much fat on it for me. Jason gave it a shot, said it tasted like turkey, a little chewier. The food has been great, lots of options and variety of things to try. Our lunch was huge yesterday as you will see from the photo I posted of our table. Food is served family style here in China so you share a variety of dishes with everyone at the table. The only problem we ran into was that they gave you all this food but they only give you a "saucer" sized plate. So it's a little here, little there, refilling along the way.
Then it was on to the famous Great Wall. Wow, is all I can really say about this place. To know that it is man made is awe striking when you see how steep the steps we climbed were. We tackled the steepest point presented to us and made it to the first tower but no further than that. I meant to count how many steps but forgot by the time we went back down. It was tough and had to pause a few times along the way to catch our breaths. Then between the smog, altitude and intensity from climbing, Jason had an asthma attack. Luckily, I had his inhaler on me and after a few puffs and time to catch his breath we headed back down, which is kind of dangerous in itself. The steps are uneven in height so it's hard to get a rhythm going. But we can now say we've been there and did it!
From there it was dinner, which was a little small in amount than lunch. That was good because I really wasn't all the hungry yet since we didn't finish lunch till 2pm and had dinner at about 5:30.
After dinner it was back to the hotel for about 15 minutes, enough time to use the Western potty and exchange my contacts for glasses. We finished the evening with a trip to the theatre to watch a 60 minute acrobatic act - WOW, some of the things they did made my body ache, or perhaps that was just from being on my feet so much the past few days. See the photos, you'll see why.
Well today is the day, GOTCHA DAY. About 12 hours from now we should have our Tian Tian. Can't wait to share that experience with you. Time to get in the shower and be on the bus by 5:30am to head to the airport.
Don't forget to go to the photo page, link is above!
The it was off to the Jade Factory where we learned how to distinguish pure/good Jade from the imitation/low grade. It has to do with the sound of it, pure Jade pings like crystal. It sure is a pretty material and has lots of meaning here in China. It is tradition for a mother to pass a Jade bangle bracelet to her daughter when she turns 16. Now this bracelet has been worn by the mother day and night since she was 16, likely handed down to her from her mother - how special. There is also a tradition for a father to wear a Jade in the shape of his daughter's Chinese Zodiac sign and pass that on to her when she turns 2 or 3. This represents that he will forever be her protector.
From there we had lunch, this was the one with duck as one of the dishes. I did not try it, it had too much fat on it for me. Jason gave it a shot, said it tasted like turkey, a little chewier. The food has been great, lots of options and variety of things to try. Our lunch was huge yesterday as you will see from the photo I posted of our table. Food is served family style here in China so you share a variety of dishes with everyone at the table. The only problem we ran into was that they gave you all this food but they only give you a "saucer" sized plate. So it's a little here, little there, refilling along the way.
Then it was on to the famous Great Wall. Wow, is all I can really say about this place. To know that it is man made is awe striking when you see how steep the steps we climbed were. We tackled the steepest point presented to us and made it to the first tower but no further than that. I meant to count how many steps but forgot by the time we went back down. It was tough and had to pause a few times along the way to catch our breaths. Then between the smog, altitude and intensity from climbing, Jason had an asthma attack. Luckily, I had his inhaler on me and after a few puffs and time to catch his breath we headed back down, which is kind of dangerous in itself. The steps are uneven in height so it's hard to get a rhythm going. But we can now say we've been there and did it!
From there it was dinner, which was a little small in amount than lunch. That was good because I really wasn't all the hungry yet since we didn't finish lunch till 2pm and had dinner at about 5:30.
After dinner it was back to the hotel for about 15 minutes, enough time to use the Western potty and exchange my contacts for glasses. We finished the evening with a trip to the theatre to watch a 60 minute acrobatic act - WOW, some of the things they did made my body ache, or perhaps that was just from being on my feet so much the past few days. See the photos, you'll see why.
Well today is the day, GOTCHA DAY. About 12 hours from now we should have our Tian Tian. Can't wait to share that experience with you. Time to get in the shower and be on the bus by 5:30am to head to the airport.
Don't forget to go to the photo page, link is above!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Day 2 - Lots of Sights to see!
We survived our first LONG day of sightseeing. We saw and learned lots of history about China yesterday, took lots of great pictures to share (check out the above link to view). We visited Tian An Men Square, Forbidden City, The Pearl Factory and Summer Palace. We left at 8:30 am and returned at about 8pm. We were all very exhausted, the jet lag and sleeping at "odd hours" according to what our bodies are used to is catching up to us. We zonked when our heads hit the pillow last night, though I still woke up every few hours and was up for good at 3:30am again this morning. So I've had plenty of time to get our photos uploaded, camera recharged and type an update here!
There are 13 families here, 37 bodies in total. One of those is a 10 year old girl who is from a Beijing Orphanage (the first to be adopted from her orphanage I hear) and has already been received by her family before the rest of us arrived. She is a beautiful girl, you'll see her in the background of a few photos. So they have been lucky to get to do all the touring with her.
Today we will attend the International Church service, visit a Jade Factory and walk the Great Wall. Then tonight we are going to see an acrobatic show, only place here in China you can see it. And a great thing about it is all the proceeds from the tickets go to help those who were affected in the disastrous earthquake last year. We’ll be sure to take lots of pics again, so check back.
We have been able to chat and see our kids via Skype twice now and that has made our day, theirs too I think. They are having a great time with their Papaw and can't wait to hear about their time with my mom.
In 24 hours we will board a plane that will take us to our daughter's city, Jinan. We will then have a few hours to unpack and prepare to meet her. One more day, the day we have been waiting for. Am I ready? More than ready, it just seems so surreal right now. Tomorrow it's reality!!!! Please pray for Angel, she is about to face some BIG changes. Blessing to you all!
There are 13 families here, 37 bodies in total. One of those is a 10 year old girl who is from a Beijing Orphanage (the first to be adopted from her orphanage I hear) and has already been received by her family before the rest of us arrived. She is a beautiful girl, you'll see her in the background of a few photos. So they have been lucky to get to do all the touring with her.
Today we will attend the International Church service, visit a Jade Factory and walk the Great Wall. Then tonight we are going to see an acrobatic show, only place here in China you can see it. And a great thing about it is all the proceeds from the tickets go to help those who were affected in the disastrous earthquake last year. We’ll be sure to take lots of pics again, so check back.
We have been able to chat and see our kids via Skype twice now and that has made our day, theirs too I think. They are having a great time with their Papaw and can't wait to hear about their time with my mom.
In 24 hours we will board a plane that will take us to our daughter's city, Jinan. We will then have a few hours to unpack and prepare to meet her. One more day, the day we have been waiting for. Am I ready? More than ready, it just seems so surreal right now. Tomorrow it's reality!!!! Please pray for Angel, she is about to face some BIG changes. Blessing to you all!
First leg of our trip photos...
You can view photos from the beginning of our trip here...
http://triptolilchinaangel.shutterfly.com/
Will update with today's touring photos soon, we are exhausted.
http://triptolilchinaangel.shutterfly.com/
Will update with today's touring photos soon, we are exhausted.
Friday, March 13, 2009
We're in Beijing!
We just got to the hotel room after a 13 hour flight, some how we arrived an hour earlier than expected - which is fine because another hour would have been "painful". We are going to get some water at the "WalMart", exchange some money, eat a meal, get a massage, and then get some much need, hopefully good, sleep. We begin touring tomorrow morning at 8:30am.
Tracy
Tracy
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Made it to Chicago!!!
Well we arrived at our hotel for the night. Jason dad will meet us here in the morning to take the kids and return to Indiana with them; then we are off to the airport for our 14 hour flight.
Blessings to you all, we will do our best to check in and let you know we arrived in China, safe and sound.
We will miss you all but are very excited for the forthcoming journey!
Blessings to you all, we will do our best to check in and let you know we arrived in China, safe and sound.
We will miss you all but are very excited for the forthcoming journey!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
We've packed over 300 pairs of socks...
Well, we have 3 suite cases and 2 backpacks jam packed full of things. I tried to stay under the 44lb rule for China but it hasn't worked - I did manage to stay under or just at the 50lb rule for the flight from here to there though.
So we have one suite case that is just orphanage donations, including about 330 pairs of socks - thanks to Angel's papaw's office that gathered about 100 pairs themselves. We appreciate your efforts. Also included are several sets of gently used and new clothes for the kids!!!! YAY. I'm thrilled that with the help of so many we were able to triple my original goal of 100!!!! So once we can offer up that donation, we will have one empty suitcase for bringing back all the souvenirs and such we purchase.
Then we have a suite case full of all the non-clothes items we were told to travel with. And the third suite case has clothes for all three of us in it. Thanks to the inventor of those zip lock type bags you can vacuum seal, that's the only way I could have fit clothes and toiletries for all of us in one. They work great!
So the countdown is on, 48 hours from now we will only have about 3 hours left to our flight - WOW, so very exciting. The crazy thing is that it will actually be Friday afternoon there which is more than 48 hours away. Are you confused yet?
Well I had better go try and get some sleep, that hasn't been working to well for me these last few day, hopefully that will benefit me in China!
Don't forget to check our blog daily starting this weekend, we hope to share each day's journey with you and we want to hear from you so please leave comments!
Take care all and if I don't get another post in before we go, we will be in touch once we get settled in China!
Blessing to all from one very excited and soon-to-be mama of 4!!!!
P.S. Thank you Lord for this wonderful journey we are about to embark on. Bless and watch over us, be with Angel, we pray that she will adjust well to all the change she is about to face. We are so very blessed to have been chosen to be her parents. Lord you have taught me so much on this journey already, I can't wait to see what else is in store. In your name I pray, Amen!
So we have one suite case that is just orphanage donations, including about 330 pairs of socks - thanks to Angel's papaw's office that gathered about 100 pairs themselves. We appreciate your efforts. Also included are several sets of gently used and new clothes for the kids!!!! YAY. I'm thrilled that with the help of so many we were able to triple my original goal of 100!!!! So once we can offer up that donation, we will have one empty suitcase for bringing back all the souvenirs and such we purchase.
Then we have a suite case full of all the non-clothes items we were told to travel with. And the third suite case has clothes for all three of us in it. Thanks to the inventor of those zip lock type bags you can vacuum seal, that's the only way I could have fit clothes and toiletries for all of us in one. They work great!
So the countdown is on, 48 hours from now we will only have about 3 hours left to our flight - WOW, so very exciting. The crazy thing is that it will actually be Friday afternoon there which is more than 48 hours away. Are you confused yet?
Well I had better go try and get some sleep, that hasn't been working to well for me these last few day, hopefully that will benefit me in China!
Don't forget to check our blog daily starting this weekend, we hope to share each day's journey with you and we want to hear from you so please leave comments!
Take care all and if I don't get another post in before we go, we will be in touch once we get settled in China!
Blessing to all from one very excited and soon-to-be mama of 4!!!!
P.S. Thank you Lord for this wonderful journey we are about to embark on. Bless and watch over us, be with Angel, we pray that she will adjust well to all the change she is about to face. We are so very blessed to have been chosen to be her parents. Lord you have taught me so much on this journey already, I can't wait to see what else is in store. In your name I pray, Amen!
Friday, March 06, 2009
China Itinerary
*** Thursday, March 12th - Deaprt for Beijing from Chicago
*** Friday, March 13th - Arrive in Beijing
*** Saturday, March 14th - Beijing Sight-Seeing: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace
*** Sunday, March 15th - Beijing Sight-Seeing: Church Service & Great Wall
*** Monday, March 16th - GOTCHA DAY!!! Morning flight to Shandong/Afternoon meet Fu Ru Tian!!!!!
*** Tuesday, March 17th - Civil Affairs Appointment
*** March 18-19th - Sightseeting & Shopping
*** Friday, March 20th - Flight to Guangzhou
*** Saturday, March 21st - Sightseeing & Shopping
*** Sunday, March 22nd - Medical Exam & Consulate Paperwork
*** Monday, March 23rd - Consulate Appointment
*** Tuesday, March 24th - Pick up Child's Visa & Depart for Guangzhou
*** Wednesday, March 25th - Dapart from Hong Kong to Chicago
*** Friday, March 13th - Arrive in Beijing
*** Saturday, March 14th - Beijing Sight-Seeing: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace
*** Sunday, March 15th - Beijing Sight-Seeing: Church Service & Great Wall
*** Monday, March 16th - GOTCHA DAY!!! Morning flight to Shandong/Afternoon meet Fu Ru Tian!!!!!
*** Tuesday, March 17th - Civil Affairs Appointment
*** March 18-19th - Sightseeting & Shopping
*** Friday, March 20th - Flight to Guangzhou
*** Saturday, March 21st - Sightseeing & Shopping
*** Sunday, March 22nd - Medical Exam & Consulate Paperwork
*** Monday, March 23rd - Consulate Appointment
*** Tuesday, March 24th - Pick up Child's Visa & Depart for Guangzhou
*** Wednesday, March 25th - Dapart from Hong Kong to Chicago
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Learn a little Chinese...
Hello = Ni hao ...like knee and how
Goodbye = Zai jian ...start with ts like in pits, add the word eye. Then J sounds like J as in jam.
To thank = Xie Xie... Sh plus ye as in yes without the s. (do it twice)
Mother = Mama... you know this one
Father = Baba ... like the black sheep nursery rhyme
Paternal grandfather = Ye Ye ... like the ye in yes, only twice.
Paternal grandmother = Nai Nai... as in night without the t, twice
Maternal grandfather = Wai Gong or Lao Ye ... why gong; or rhymes with how, then like the ye in yes
Maternal grandmother = Wai Po or Lao Lao... why and po (as in potato); or rhymes with how (twice)
Aunt = A Yi … ah & yee
Uncle = Shu Shu … shoe (twice)
Cousin = Biao Qin … b plus ya plus oh and chin
Family/Home = Jia ... j as in jam plus ya (as in see ya)
Lovely/Cute = ke ai... k sound (rhymes with duh) and eye like what you see with
I love you = Wo ai ni... waw, eye, knee
No= Bu … boo
Please = qÃng … cheeng
Goodbye = Zai jian ...start with ts like in pits, add the word eye. Then J sounds like J as in jam.
To thank = Xie Xie... Sh plus ye as in yes without the s. (do it twice)
Mother = Mama... you know this one
Father = Baba ... like the black sheep nursery rhyme
Paternal grandfather = Ye Ye ... like the ye in yes, only twice.
Paternal grandmother = Nai Nai... as in night without the t, twice
Maternal grandfather = Wai Gong or Lao Ye ... why gong; or rhymes with how, then like the ye in yes
Maternal grandmother = Wai Po or Lao Lao... why and po (as in potato); or rhymes with how (twice)
Aunt = A Yi … ah & yee
Uncle = Shu Shu … shoe (twice)
Cousin = Biao Qin … b plus ya plus oh and chin
Family/Home = Jia ... j as in jam plus ya (as in see ya)
Lovely/Cute = ke ai... k sound (rhymes with duh) and eye like what you see with
I love you = Wo ai ni... waw, eye, knee
No= Bu … boo
Please = qÃng … cheeng
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Partial itinerary..
Well received our itinerary for getting to and from China, we are waiting on our in-country itinerary; should have that later this week. So here's what we know -
Thursday, March 12th - Depart from Chicago @ 12:33pm
Friday, March 13th - Arrive in Beijing @ 3:25pm
(looks like a really long flight huh, but it's really only about 14 hours - ugh)
Wednesday, March 25th - Depart from Hong Kong @ 11:40am
Wednesday, March 25th - Arrive in Chicago @ 12:48 pm
(now that looks rather quick but it's really about 14 hours, with a 22 month old this time)
At least we have direct flights and don't have to worry about any layovers that make the trip even longer. Though I'm sure at some point I'm going to wish we had layovers so we could move around a bit.
We will post our full itinerary once it's confirmed.
Less than 9 days - down to single digits!!!!
Thursday, March 12th - Depart from Chicago @ 12:33pm
Friday, March 13th - Arrive in Beijing @ 3:25pm
(looks like a really long flight huh, but it's really only about 14 hours - ugh)
Wednesday, March 25th - Depart from Hong Kong @ 11:40am
Wednesday, March 25th - Arrive in Chicago @ 12:48 pm
(now that looks rather quick but it's really about 14 hours, with a 22 month old this time)
At least we have direct flights and don't have to worry about any layovers that make the trip even longer. Though I'm sure at some point I'm going to wish we had layovers so we could move around a bit.
We will post our full itinerary once it's confirmed.
Less than 9 days - down to single digits!!!!
Monday, March 02, 2009
It's confirmed, we leave on the 12th!!!
Just received confirmation that we have a Consulate appointment at 9:30am on March 23rd, the day we finalize all paperwork in China and receive her VISA to come to the US!!! Want to hear something even more amazing? Our paperwork began its processing in China on March 22, 2007 - 2 years ago almost to the day our paperwork will begin and end it's process (technically in the states it'll be the 22nd right?)- the Lord loves to show us he is in control and watching over us. This journey has shown me that more and more each step we've taken with it.
Jason and I are excited that we will return on the 25th of March, in time to celebrate our being a couple for 18 year, with our 4 children on the 28th. Who would have ever guessed 18 years ago that we would have 4 kids? Of course HE knew, we are so grateful for all the Lord has given/provided us.
We will post our itinerary once we have it.
Angel, we cannot wait to meet you, two weeks from today you will be in our arms - what a blessing you are to us! We have grown to love you so much over the past few months - we cannot get to you soon enough.
Jason and I are excited that we will return on the 25th of March, in time to celebrate our being a couple for 18 year, with our 4 children on the 28th. Who would have ever guessed 18 years ago that we would have 4 kids? Of course HE knew, we are so grateful for all the Lord has given/provided us.
We will post our itinerary once we have it.
Angel, we cannot wait to meet you, two weeks from today you will be in our arms - what a blessing you are to us! We have grown to love you so much over the past few months - we cannot get to you soon enough.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
A preview of our trip
Here is a quick overview of what will happen during our trip...
When we travel, the trip will be about 2 weeks, start to finish. We plan to leave our children in IN with family during most of that time. We’ll travel in a group assembled by AWAA, leaving from Chicago on a Thursday. We’ll arrive in Beijing the next day, and allow our bodies several days to acclimate themselves to the time change. We’ll tour the Forbidden City, Great Wall, etc. and then divide into smaller groups that will go to the provinces of our children's’ orphanages. By the third day in China we will have our child (also known as “gotcha day”), and will spend several days doing paperwork to make her “officially ours” and touring the cities of the orphanages. Although it’s an unknown, we hope to receive permission to visit her orphanage, as well as the site at which she was left to be found. When the adoption paperwork is processed in the local province, we will have the paperwork completed using her American name, greatly simplifying things back here in the US. Once done, we then travel to Guangzhou. There at the US Consulate, she will go through picture taking, a physical exam, completion of her passport, and application for her visa into the US. Upon receipt of the visa and passport, we will return home to start a new paper chase to obtain her SSN, birth certificate in her American name, and ultimately citizenship. We expect to arrive back on Wednesday. We will then spend a few days acclimating to our time zone and recovering from jet lag.
When we travel, the trip will be about 2 weeks, start to finish. We plan to leave our children in IN with family during most of that time. We’ll travel in a group assembled by AWAA, leaving from Chicago on a Thursday. We’ll arrive in Beijing the next day, and allow our bodies several days to acclimate themselves to the time change. We’ll tour the Forbidden City, Great Wall, etc. and then divide into smaller groups that will go to the provinces of our children's’ orphanages. By the third day in China we will have our child (also known as “gotcha day”), and will spend several days doing paperwork to make her “officially ours” and touring the cities of the orphanages. Although it’s an unknown, we hope to receive permission to visit her orphanage, as well as the site at which she was left to be found. When the adoption paperwork is processed in the local province, we will have the paperwork completed using her American name, greatly simplifying things back here in the US. Once done, we then travel to Guangzhou. There at the US Consulate, she will go through picture taking, a physical exam, completion of her passport, and application for her visa into the US. Upon receipt of the visa and passport, we will return home to start a new paper chase to obtain her SSN, birth certificate in her American name, and ultimately citizenship. We expect to arrive back on Wednesday. We will then spend a few days acclimating to our time zone and recovering from jet lag.
Friday, February 27, 2009
We have TA!!!
YAY, we are so excited we received our Travel Approval call less than 2 hours ago - we plan to leave on March 12th, we just have to wait for confirmation for the Consulate appointment to be certain. We should know for sure by Tuesday next week. Oh my, less than 2 weeks, that sounds so fenominal right now. Thank you Lord for answering my prayers, I prayed that we'd be able to make the March 12th group, not only because we wanted to go sooner rather than later but it works out great with spring break for our kids, they will be able to spend most of the time we are gone with family in Indiana!!! We're coming Angel, can't wait to meet you!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, we will post when we know our travel plans.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, we will post when we know our travel plans.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
A new photo of Angel!!!
YAY, we have photo of her from another family that visited the orphanage a week or so ago!!! From the looks of the picture, looks like it must be potty time. We are so excited to see her walking and not being held as in most other pictures we have of her. Isn't she a cutie...
Still waiting on our Travel Approval, hoping this week yet - we'd love to be able to leave 2 weeks from today to bring her home!!!
Still waiting on our Travel Approval, hoping this week yet - we'd love to be able to leave 2 weeks from today to bring her home!!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Testing video
We just got a new web cam so we can take quick video clips of Angel and Skype with our children while in China. Kailey and I tested it out to be sure we could work it. So here we are:
No news yet on our TA, it's gotta be close though.
We are up to 188 pairs of sock though - how amazing is that!!!!
No news yet on our TA, it's gotta be close though.
We are up to 188 pairs of sock though - how amazing is that!!!!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
143 pair of socks so far!!!
Thank you to all who have contributed, we are going to far exceed our goal. We have received socks of various sizes and for both boys and girls so they will benefit all the children at the orphanage. Thank you for being such a blessing for the needs of these kids.
Have a fabulous day.
Impatiently waiting for TA.
Tracy
Have a fabulous day.
Impatiently waiting for TA.
Tracy
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day Angel!!!
We celebrated Valentine's Day with you in our hearts today, we can't wait to meet you next month and bring you home. We pray you are healthy and that we will be there soon to love on you!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Updated info on Tian Tian
She is almost 21 months old now, here are her current health stats:
Height: 30.3 inches
Weight: 23lbs
Here are some additional questions they provided answers to:
Does she have a nickname?
We call her “Tian Tian” or “Xiao Tian”. (Xiao means little).
What are her height, weight and feet measurements now?
Height: 77cm; Weight: 10.5kg; Head: 44cm; Chest: 46cm; Teeth: 12; Foot: 12cm.
What are her favorite foods and activities?
She loves sweet food. Her favorite activities is: play with other children in the play room, such as cockhorse, ball, etc.
What makes her happy?
Giving her a hug makes her happy.
What kind of food does she eat, how much, and when?
6:30am breakfast: a piece of cake, an egg or a small bowl of noodles.
11:00am Lunch: half bowl of rice or a steamed bun, a small bowl of vegetable or meat.
4:00pm Supper: half bowl of noodles or a steamed bun, a small bowl of vegetable and/or meat, and some congee.
9:00am and 3:00pm some fruit or snacks.
Does she drink from a bottle or cup, how much and when?
Now she is learning to drink from a cup. She drinks about 80ml, takes about 6-7 minutes to drink it.
When does she sleep and nap, how long?
Nap: 11:30am-2:00pm; Bed time: 8:00pm-6:00am.
Was there one person who took care of her or many?
Daytime she attends preschool class at the orphanage, there are teachers. Night time there are nannies take turn watch the children. There is no particular nanny takes care of her.
How would you describe her personality?
She is shy in front of strangers. She is active after she gets familiar with her/him. Has a ready smile.
Does she have any likes/dislikes/sensitivities?
She likes toys, such as cockhorse, dolls, etc. No sensitivity.
What else would you like to tell us about her?
She is potty training.
Height: 30.3 inches
Weight: 23lbs
Here are some additional questions they provided answers to:
Does she have a nickname?
We call her “Tian Tian” or “Xiao Tian”. (Xiao means little).
What are her height, weight and feet measurements now?
Height: 77cm; Weight: 10.5kg; Head: 44cm; Chest: 46cm; Teeth: 12; Foot: 12cm.
What are her favorite foods and activities?
She loves sweet food. Her favorite activities is: play with other children in the play room, such as cockhorse, ball, etc.
What makes her happy?
Giving her a hug makes her happy.
What kind of food does she eat, how much, and when?
6:30am breakfast: a piece of cake, an egg or a small bowl of noodles.
11:00am Lunch: half bowl of rice or a steamed bun, a small bowl of vegetable or meat.
4:00pm Supper: half bowl of noodles or a steamed bun, a small bowl of vegetable and/or meat, and some congee.
9:00am and 3:00pm some fruit or snacks.
Does she drink from a bottle or cup, how much and when?
Now she is learning to drink from a cup. She drinks about 80ml, takes about 6-7 minutes to drink it.
When does she sleep and nap, how long?
Nap: 11:30am-2:00pm; Bed time: 8:00pm-6:00am.
Was there one person who took care of her or many?
Daytime she attends preschool class at the orphanage, there are teachers. Night time there are nannies take turn watch the children. There is no particular nanny takes care of her.
How would you describe her personality?
She is shy in front of strangers. She is active after she gets familiar with her/him. Has a ready smile.
Does she have any likes/dislikes/sensitivities?
She likes toys, such as cockhorse, dolls, etc. No sensitivity.
What else would you like to tell us about her?
She is potty training.
New Photos!
Just received these updated photos and some info about her, I'll post the info in a bit. Isn't that grin contagious!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
We are next on the list for TA!!!
What a great week! we received a new photo of RuTian that was taken a month ago by a family that was there to bring their child home. She doesn't look very happy but she was probably wondering what the strangers were doing.
Also this past week the two families before us received travel approval on Thursday and one of the two said they should be leaving in about 10 days to travel, YAY for them! So we should be one of the next in a group to receive TA!!!! Crossing our fingers that we hear something in the next few weeks. Lord grant me patience. In the mean time we are rearranging the girl's room and getting all the things we need for the trip and return home.
We did receive notice that the care package that we ordered has been sent and she should be receiving it tomorrow (later today for her). Below is a picture of what we was sent: a blanket, a photo album of us so she can get familiar with us, two disposable cameras so they can take some pictures of her and those she spends time with, a letter to the orphanage director and caretakers, and some nuts and candies for the caretakers.
We hope to get some feed back as to her size and such from the letter but will have to wait and see.
Jason and I are going in this week to get our second set of Hep A/B shots and Typhoid. Then all we have left is to update our Tetanus and I think we'll be all set on the immunizations we plan to get.
We'll keep you updated.
Tracy
Also this past week the two families before us received travel approval on Thursday and one of the two said they should be leaving in about 10 days to travel, YAY for them! So we should be one of the next in a group to receive TA!!!! Crossing our fingers that we hear something in the next few weeks. Lord grant me patience. In the mean time we are rearranging the girl's room and getting all the things we need for the trip and return home.
We did receive notice that the care package that we ordered has been sent and she should be receiving it tomorrow (later today for her). Below is a picture of what we was sent: a blanket, a photo album of us so she can get familiar with us, two disposable cameras so they can take some pictures of her and those she spends time with, a letter to the orphanage director and caretakers, and some nuts and candies for the caretakers.
We hope to get some feed back as to her size and such from the letter but will have to wait and see.
Jason and I are going in this week to get our second set of Hep A/B shots and Typhoid. Then all we have left is to update our Tetanus and I think we'll be all set on the immunizations we plan to get.
We'll keep you updated.
Tracy
Sunday, February 01, 2009
I'm on a sock mission for the orphanage...
We would like to make a donation to the orphanage of something they are in need of for the kids so I e-mailed the Yahoo group I belong to of parents who have adopted from the orphanage Angel resides in. The response I received is that they need sock for the babies, toddlers and children. Something so small but much needed, so I'm on a mission to gather at least 100 pairs of socks to take over there with us when we go. If you would like to contribute, we would greatly appreciate it. You can mail them to us at: Tracy Downey, PO BOX 433, Altoona, IA 50009
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Spoke with the Nevus Specialist...
The Nevus spcialist, located in Chicago, called us on Monday evening to discuss the process we will take to remove the Nevus. This specialist is one of the top known for this proceedure. We have followed a few others through their Nevus removal and their results have been amazing.
It will be removed to lessen the risk of it turning cancerous in the future and to lessen the stares and questions as she gets older. From our discussion we expect this process to begin within a few months of us returning from China. The initial proceedure will be done to place "balloons" under the skin in her forehead and neck to stretch the skin in those areas, by filling them with saline. This will go on for about 10-12 weeks, then she will have her first removal proceedure done, they will remove some of the nevus and use the expanded skin in it's place. She will likely have to go through this process 3-4 times, all within about a years time.
That's the just of it, if you have questions, we are open to answering them - just send us an e-mail. At this point we feel educating those she will know, will help eveyone to understand what we expect to happen and help you to be an advocate for her when she's home with us.
Blessing to you all!
Tracy
It will be removed to lessen the risk of it turning cancerous in the future and to lessen the stares and questions as she gets older. From our discussion we expect this process to begin within a few months of us returning from China. The initial proceedure will be done to place "balloons" under the skin in her forehead and neck to stretch the skin in those areas, by filling them with saline. This will go on for about 10-12 weeks, then she will have her first removal proceedure done, they will remove some of the nevus and use the expanded skin in it's place. She will likely have to go through this process 3-4 times, all within about a years time.
That's the just of it, if you have questions, we are open to answering them - just send us an e-mail. At this point we feel educating those she will know, will help eveyone to understand what we expect to happen and help you to be an advocate for her when she's home with us.
Blessing to you all!
Tracy
Friday, January 23, 2009
FAQ about Angel's Nevus
What is a congenital melanocytic nevus?
Nevus (also spelled naevus; plural nevi) in the broad sense, means birthmark. There are several types of nevi: epidermal, melanocytic and connective tissue nevi. Melanocytic means that it is pigment-based. Congenital means it is present at birth. Nevus Outreach deals with large and giant congenital melanocytic nevi.
Nevi are the most common abnormality of the skin. They apparently serve no function. Normally, skin gets its color from melanin, which is produced by cells called melanocytes. Melanin is human pigment. Normally, melanin is distributed fairly evenly throughout the skin. Congenital melanocytic nevi, on the other hand, are made up of pigment-producing cells called nevomelanocytes. These cells are not evenly distributed. When many nevomelanocytes are clumped together, they can result in moles on the skin because of the higher concentration of melanin (pigment).
How common are congenital nevi?
Small melanocytic nevi are very common. One in every 50 to 100 people is born with a small melanocytic nevus. Large congenital nevi occur approximately once in every 20,000 births. Giant congenital nevi are thought to occur approximately once in every 500,000 births.
How is nevus-skin different?
Nevi are much more than simply dark skin. Besides producing increased pigmentation, the area covered by a melanocytic nevus often produces increased amounts of hair. The formation of sweat glands can be disrupted in nevi – so sometimes a person with a large nevus may not sweat where their nevus is located. Many nevi lack subcutaneous fat, a layer of fat just under the skin that pads the body everywhere. Some nevi will also have neurofibromas or other neural tumors, within their borders. These growths are not painful and are normally superficial. Nevus-skin can range from thick with a folded appearance, to thin and fragile. People with nevi sometimes complain that their nevus itches more often than the surrounding skin.
What causes nevi?
Large congenital nevi form in the womb very early in development, within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. They are caused by a defect during embryologic development. There is no known method of prevention. They appear in either sex, in all races, and on any areas of the skin.
Can nevi pose a health problem?
Having a large nevus can impact one’s mental health. Large nevi are obvious and unusual. These can be difficult hurdles to overcome.
In terms of physical health, pigmented moles have been linked to melanoma, a potentially deadly skin cancer. Also, certain children with large nevi may have melanin, melanocytes and/or nevomelanocytes in their central nervous systems (the brain and spinal cord). This condition is known as neurocutaneous melanocytosis (melanosis) (NCM). Most people with NCM do not have neurological problems. However, some do, and the complications from NCM can be very serious.
Which moles may develop melanoma?
Scientific opinions vary as to the exact risk of melanoma, but current research may show the number of children born with large nevi who develop melanoma later in life to be around 5%. Any congenital nevus, small or large, may develop melanoma, but those of greatest concern are very large or thick.
Why remove a nevus?
Most of the time, the overriding reasons to remove a nevus are first to reduce melanoma risk and second to improve appearance which can be fundamental to improving a patient’s overall psychosocial state. Other reasons to remove a nevus may be to improve the strength, texture, sensation, and sweat gland activity of the affected area.
While it is almost impossible to remove every cell of a large nevus, the goal is to remove as many cells as possible while at the same time preserving function and minimizing scarring. Remember, a nevus cannot be removed without leaving a scar.
Some people choose to leave their nevi intact, while others choose to remove them. There are good reasons for both choices. It is a highly personal decision.
If you would like to learn more please visit: http://www.nevus.org/index.php
More to come regarding our plans.
Nevus (also spelled naevus; plural nevi) in the broad sense, means birthmark. There are several types of nevi: epidermal, melanocytic and connective tissue nevi. Melanocytic means that it is pigment-based. Congenital means it is present at birth. Nevus Outreach deals with large and giant congenital melanocytic nevi.
Nevi are the most common abnormality of the skin. They apparently serve no function. Normally, skin gets its color from melanin, which is produced by cells called melanocytes. Melanin is human pigment. Normally, melanin is distributed fairly evenly throughout the skin. Congenital melanocytic nevi, on the other hand, are made up of pigment-producing cells called nevomelanocytes. These cells are not evenly distributed. When many nevomelanocytes are clumped together, they can result in moles on the skin because of the higher concentration of melanin (pigment).
How common are congenital nevi?
Small melanocytic nevi are very common. One in every 50 to 100 people is born with a small melanocytic nevus. Large congenital nevi occur approximately once in every 20,000 births. Giant congenital nevi are thought to occur approximately once in every 500,000 births.
How is nevus-skin different?
Nevi are much more than simply dark skin. Besides producing increased pigmentation, the area covered by a melanocytic nevus often produces increased amounts of hair. The formation of sweat glands can be disrupted in nevi – so sometimes a person with a large nevus may not sweat where their nevus is located. Many nevi lack subcutaneous fat, a layer of fat just under the skin that pads the body everywhere. Some nevi will also have neurofibromas or other neural tumors, within their borders. These growths are not painful and are normally superficial. Nevus-skin can range from thick with a folded appearance, to thin and fragile. People with nevi sometimes complain that their nevus itches more often than the surrounding skin.
What causes nevi?
Large congenital nevi form in the womb very early in development, within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. They are caused by a defect during embryologic development. There is no known method of prevention. They appear in either sex, in all races, and on any areas of the skin.
Can nevi pose a health problem?
Having a large nevus can impact one’s mental health. Large nevi are obvious and unusual. These can be difficult hurdles to overcome.
In terms of physical health, pigmented moles have been linked to melanoma, a potentially deadly skin cancer. Also, certain children with large nevi may have melanin, melanocytes and/or nevomelanocytes in their central nervous systems (the brain and spinal cord). This condition is known as neurocutaneous melanocytosis (melanosis) (NCM). Most people with NCM do not have neurological problems. However, some do, and the complications from NCM can be very serious.
Which moles may develop melanoma?
Scientific opinions vary as to the exact risk of melanoma, but current research may show the number of children born with large nevi who develop melanoma later in life to be around 5%. Any congenital nevus, small or large, may develop melanoma, but those of greatest concern are very large or thick.
Why remove a nevus?
Most of the time, the overriding reasons to remove a nevus are first to reduce melanoma risk and second to improve appearance which can be fundamental to improving a patient’s overall psychosocial state. Other reasons to remove a nevus may be to improve the strength, texture, sensation, and sweat gland activity of the affected area.
While it is almost impossible to remove every cell of a large nevus, the goal is to remove as many cells as possible while at the same time preserving function and minimizing scarring. Remember, a nevus cannot be removed without leaving a scar.
Some people choose to leave their nevi intact, while others choose to remove them. There are good reasons for both choices. It is a highly personal decision.
If you would like to learn more please visit: http://www.nevus.org/index.php
More to come regarding our plans.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
We have our RA, she's our daughter!!!!!
What a day, I ran errands all morning, attempted to donate blood again but I'm still anemic so couldn't do that. After returning home I checked e-mails and noticed that RA calls had been made, and we weren't one of them - I was a bit bummed. So I went to get my hair cut. Low and behold when I returned home I noticed I had a message from our agency - I got a little excited. Surprise, I was told our RA was received as well, it was just a few hours later than the first batch - YAY!!!! So we have been approved to become the parents of Fu Ru Tian who resides in the city of Jinan in Shandong Province, China. Her birth date is 5/16/2007, so she is 20 months old. She is a beautiful little girl with a large facial nevus and healthy other than being a bit anemic like her MOM (that's me now, WOW)! We are told we should plan to travel sometime in March.
We had another baby join our family today too, Jason's sister had a baby this morning - what a wonderful day it has been - the lord is grand!!! Nothing like becoming and aunt and a mom in the same day!
I am excited that we can now share photos of her, so her she is, our precious girl - Angel RuTian -
This is our most recent photo of her, taken in November
This is the earliest photo, this is her passport picture
And these were part of her referral photos, taken around June 2008
Isn't she precious!!!
We had another baby join our family today too, Jason's sister had a baby this morning - what a wonderful day it has been - the lord is grand!!! Nothing like becoming and aunt and a mom in the same day!
I am excited that we can now share photos of her, so her she is, our precious girl - Angel RuTian -
This is our most recent photo of her, taken in November
This is the earliest photo, this is her passport picture
And these were part of her referral photos, taken around June 2008
Isn't she precious!!!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The reason we adopt...
This post was made on another family's blog and is a great way to express "why we adopt":
....The people that make up The Nativity Story are all very different and very crucial to the coming of Christ. Mary, Joseph, Zachariah, Elizabeth, John, the Three Wisemen, the lowly shepards...even King Herrod! I am in amazement that God sent his son to earth in the form of a baby! And what about the humble people chosen for the ENORMOUS task of raising Christ into a man!
That is what struck my heart the most....Out of all of the people in the nativity story, Joseph was one of my favorites! He rose above prejudice from others against his unwed, pregnant, soon to be wife. He made the choice to not only marry Mary but to raise Jesus as his own son.
Isn't that the choice so many of us have made with our adoptions? We have chosen to take a child, birthed by someone we probably will never know...and raise it as our own. The essence of adoption is, to the core, a spiritual decision. In order for God to adopt all of us as his own children, Joseph had to adopt Jesus as his son here on earth.
To adopt a child is to love a child in your heart instead of your womb. To know that you know, that the child you are adopting has been chosen for you and your family by God...just as biological children are chosen. Our adopted child is destined to fulfill a glorious purpose, as we all are! Those of us parenting any children, adopted or not, have the same awesome responsibility as Mary and Joseph were given...to raise our children to glorify God!
So, just like Joseph, and following God's example, we are perservering through this challange of adoption! Not that we thought otherwise, but it has been such an uphill battle! I am thankful for the example shown in both of these stories...and I am especially aware of it this time of year. The birth of Jesus! The adoption of Jesus by Joseph...the chance for our salvation through the adoption into Gods family...
Wishing you all many blessing in the New Year! ~ Tracy
....The people that make up The Nativity Story are all very different and very crucial to the coming of Christ. Mary, Joseph, Zachariah, Elizabeth, John, the Three Wisemen, the lowly shepards...even King Herrod! I am in amazement that God sent his son to earth in the form of a baby! And what about the humble people chosen for the ENORMOUS task of raising Christ into a man!
That is what struck my heart the most....Out of all of the people in the nativity story, Joseph was one of my favorites! He rose above prejudice from others against his unwed, pregnant, soon to be wife. He made the choice to not only marry Mary but to raise Jesus as his own son.
Isn't that the choice so many of us have made with our adoptions? We have chosen to take a child, birthed by someone we probably will never know...and raise it as our own. The essence of adoption is, to the core, a spiritual decision. In order for God to adopt all of us as his own children, Joseph had to adopt Jesus as his son here on earth.
To adopt a child is to love a child in your heart instead of your womb. To know that you know, that the child you are adopting has been chosen for you and your family by God...just as biological children are chosen. Our adopted child is destined to fulfill a glorious purpose, as we all are! Those of us parenting any children, adopted or not, have the same awesome responsibility as Mary and Joseph were given...to raise our children to glorify God!
So, just like Joseph, and following God's example, we are perservering through this challange of adoption! Not that we thought otherwise, but it has been such an uphill battle! I am thankful for the example shown in both of these stories...and I am especially aware of it this time of year. The birth of Jesus! The adoption of Jesus by Joseph...the chance for our salvation through the adoption into Gods family...
Wishing you all many blessing in the New Year! ~ Tracy
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Our PA arrived this morning!!!
We have been pre-approved to adopt Fu RuTian TBKA Angel RuTian!!! Now we wait for our full Referal Acceptance letter, which will make it official! This could be a couple month wait.
Have a very Merry Christmas and wishing you many blessing in 2009!
God Bless!
Have a very Merry Christmas and wishing you many blessing in 2009!
God Bless!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
No news yet...
No news yet, I hope that as good news that no other families have submitted a letter of intent to adopt her. According to averages, we hope to have a pre-approval by Tuesday but could be longer - so at this point we are still waiting! Keep praying she'll have a forever family one way or another. Will update you when we know more. Blessing to you all!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Our Thanksgiving was even more precious after this...
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and took time to be thankful for all the wonderful things in your life. We didn't do a lot, sat around, played some games with the kids and ate a nice fillet dinner. In the midst of the day I received notice that I had been approved for access to a Yahoo group for families who have or are adopting from the same orphanage our lil Angel is currently living. I immediately jumped on to see what great information they had to offer and one of the recent posts was of a family who was there picking up their child. While they were there, on November 5th, they had a chance to visit the orphanage and took many photos of the children there. Well low and behold I went a flipped through them and found a photo with Angel being held by one of the caregivers!!! Not only do we now get to see how she currently looks, because the photos from her adoption file are about 6 months old, it also shows the side of her face we have not been able to see in the photos we have. This is important because of the birthmark, we were unsure how much of that part of the cheek it covers.
I have e-mailed this updated photo to the specialist and he e-mailed back that he'd try to give us a call today or tomorrow to discuss his suggestion for removing the nevus/birthmark.
So you can see our day was wonderful with her precious face added to it.
Many blessing to you all!
I have e-mailed this updated photo to the specialist and he e-mailed back that he'd try to give us a call today or tomorrow to discuss his suggestion for removing the nevus/birthmark.
So you can see our day was wonderful with her precious face added to it.
Many blessing to you all!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Our EA has been sent!!!!
And the excitement builds. After spending about 2 hours scanning in and e-mailing our coordinator about half of our dossier documents, she just e-mailed us letting us know that it all has been electronically sent to China. This is a big step but trying not to get overly excited yet, we have to receive a pre-approval from the CCAA first, then we have every right to be outright thrilled because she is then ours!!!! So contrinue to pray that we hear back from them sometime in the next 2 weeks with this great news. Then I can post her on our blog!
Keep the prayers coming that this little girl will have a forever family soon!
Keep the prayers coming that this little girl will have a forever family soon!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Letter of Intent heading to China soon!!!!
Check out our sonogram, isn't she beautiful?
We completed all the needed paperwork and Rehabilitation and Nurture Plan (Letter of intent to adopt) and got it all faxed to our agency contact a few hours ago. The originals will be on their way shortly. Our agency contact, "L", said once she receives our dossier, hopefully by fax and via mail, from our agency here, our documents will be sent electronically to China!!! Her goal is to get it sent before the holiday break beginning Thursday. Please pray that our family is picked to be this little girl's forever family. Now, once again, we wait to hear of a pre-approval and to receive their acceptance letter.
Friday, November 21, 2008
And the excitement grows!!!
Seems to be that I get these call just as I'm picking up from or taking the kids to school. As I was loading the kids into the car to take them to school this morning, AW called stating we have been fully approved to adopt a waiting child and that she would forward us the full medical information and additional 3 pictures or our lil china girl. Needless to say I could not wait to get back to the house and check out all this information. I called Jason on my way back to let him know the information was on the way and that I would forward it on to him so he too could review it. I printed the information out immediately, along with the pictures, read through it and headed off to the gym so I could share this great progression news with a dear friend that was waiting on me...sorry I was a little slow this morning "M" but I know you understood.
So I read through the medical info and what developmental milestone they had on her and about her "finding". I can't share details on here until we have a referral acceptance letter so if you want to know more, you will have to contact us directly.
Anyway, I e-mailed her medical details to a doctor for a medical review and heard back from the doctor within 2 hours, that was amazing to me. So she walked me through all the info and any questions or concerns she had - overall not a whole lot to be overly concerned about. I have also e-mailed the nevus specialist in Chicago and am awaiting his response, though we already received a brief response this morning stating he would love to talk to us upon receiving her full medicals. So we are waiting on that at this point.
This leaves us with some paperwork to do and Jason and I need to go get our passport photos updated and a current picture of the family to scan in and send to the agency. Hopefully we can get all this done this weekend.
Thanks again for all your thoughtful prayers, keep them coming!!!!
Have a great weekend!
So I read through the medical info and what developmental milestone they had on her and about her "finding". I can't share details on here until we have a referral acceptance letter so if you want to know more, you will have to contact us directly.
Anyway, I e-mailed her medical details to a doctor for a medical review and heard back from the doctor within 2 hours, that was amazing to me. So she walked me through all the info and any questions or concerns she had - overall not a whole lot to be overly concerned about. I have also e-mailed the nevus specialist in Chicago and am awaiting his response, though we already received a brief response this morning stating he would love to talk to us upon receiving her full medicals. So we are waiting on that at this point.
This leaves us with some paperwork to do and Jason and I need to go get our passport photos updated and a current picture of the family to scan in and send to the agency. Hopefully we can get all this done this weekend.
Thanks again for all your thoughtful prayers, keep them coming!!!!
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
A little progress today...
Heard from America World late this morning, they now have all the paperwork they need from us at this point and they are waiting to hear that our social worker approves of us pursuing this child. The agency gal told me we should be hearing from our social worker so she can ask us a few questions about the child's condition.
Finally heard from our social worker as I was picking the kids up from school. She asked me to convey to her the child's medical issue and what research we have done. She said she had no issues with us pursuing a waiting child, she just hadn't heard anything about her. So all is well there. The social worker is going to e-mail the gal at AW and let her know she approves us.
So where do we go from here, into a little bit of a scurried seek and discover from the way it sounds. When I talked to the gal at AW this morning, she said that the little girl is still available at this point. She said once she knew we were approved she could forward us what medical/health information they have and the additional 3 photos they have of her, YAY. I can't wait to see more pictures of her - I'm going to have a hard time waiting till tomorrow. Once we receive the info, we have 48 hours to let the agency know if we are interested in doing a full review of her, meaning we take what info we have to doctors to have them review it. I'm pretty sure we'll go to that extent unless there is something really surprising in there that they didn't put in her mini health status. I have a specialist in Chicago ready to review her info and pictures with regards to the nevus and there is a local pediatrician that is from China that we will take her info to for his review as well. We have 2 weeks to complete the full review, though the ultimate goal is for it to take as little time as possible as there is a chance that another family could be doing the same. Upon the results of the doctors recommendations we have to make a commitment decision, then they can close her file to their clients (she will still be on other agency lists) and we will get a letter of intent to adopt put together and to China. Then again we wait to see if we get an approval letter from them.
Please pray this is all meant to be!
Finally heard from our social worker as I was picking the kids up from school. She asked me to convey to her the child's medical issue and what research we have done. She said she had no issues with us pursuing a waiting child, she just hadn't heard anything about her. So all is well there. The social worker is going to e-mail the gal at AW and let her know she approves us.
So where do we go from here, into a little bit of a scurried seek and discover from the way it sounds. When I talked to the gal at AW this morning, she said that the little girl is still available at this point. She said once she knew we were approved she could forward us what medical/health information they have and the additional 3 photos they have of her, YAY. I can't wait to see more pictures of her - I'm going to have a hard time waiting till tomorrow. Once we receive the info, we have 48 hours to let the agency know if we are interested in doing a full review of her, meaning we take what info we have to doctors to have them review it. I'm pretty sure we'll go to that extent unless there is something really surprising in there that they didn't put in her mini health status. I have a specialist in Chicago ready to review her info and pictures with regards to the nevus and there is a local pediatrician that is from China that we will take her info to for his review as well. We have 2 weeks to complete the full review, though the ultimate goal is for it to take as little time as possible as there is a chance that another family could be doing the same. Upon the results of the doctors recommendations we have to make a commitment decision, then they can close her file to their clients (she will still be on other agency lists) and we will get a letter of intent to adopt put together and to China. Then again we wait to see if we get an approval letter from them.
Please pray this is all meant to be!
AW agency agreements signed and faxed....
We received two e-mails yesterday from the new/merged agency with their policies and whatnot so I forwarded them all to Jason at work, had him print them, sign them and fax them to me so I could sign and fax them to the agency. So they had all the documents back, signed by us within hours of e-mailing them out. I then e-mailed the director and asked "what is the next step" and she referred me to a online "Waiting Children Application" to fill out and submit so we have all the proper paperwork completed and the person in charge of that list will get in contact with us. I'm crossing my fingers she calls us today, since it has now been 2 weeks since we first saw this little girl on the list and the longer we have to wait to inquire more about her, the better the chance that someone else will already have done so and sent their letter of intent to adopt. Crossing our fingers we get there first.
I e-mailed a highly recommended doctor in Chicago who is familar with the nevus this little girl has. He has agreed to give us his opinion and recommendations as to her treatment once we have more information and pictures that we can forward on to him. So I'm hopeful we will have that soon.
Till I know more, Take care!
I e-mailed a highly recommended doctor in Chicago who is familar with the nevus this little girl has. He has agreed to give us his opinion and recommendations as to her treatment once we have more information and pictures that we can forward on to him. So I'm hopeful we will have that soon.
Till I know more, Take care!
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Lord is my shepherd...
Our Lord is sure to keep me in line and let us know that he is watching over us and will provide what we need on his time, not ours. Well the Lord has just made the process a little easier for us. We no longer need to use an outside agency to pursue a child on China's Waiting Children's list. We received a letter from our agency last Thursday stating that they have merged with a larger agency, due to things slowing down all the programs they are involved with. What does this mean for us, well this larger agency, America World Adoption takes part in the shared agency list that the little girl we'd like to pursue is on, YAY!!! So first thing Friday morning I called the agency and spoke with a gal on how we could get going with this. She said she would speak with the director and see if they couldn't get our file expedited from the agency we began with to them so we could start all the paper work to pursue a waiting/special needs child. As of Friday afternoon they didn't quite have all the needed documents formulated for the switch but are hoping to have that together today, we are praying that is the case. We will let you know when we know more.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
It's been a while...
Guess it's been a while since I've blogged our progress. I can say things have changed to an extent, we placed our house for sale in April of this year after finding a house we really liked that was only a mile away but on an acre lot. Our house finally sold in August and we moved the first of September. Settling in hasn't been easy, we had some issues with the house the first month or so but most of it seems to be under control now.
We have also changed our route a little with the adoption. As you know, we began this process right about two years ago, submitted our dossier to China and received a log in date of 3/22/07. Therefore, we have been waiting for over a year an a half already and from the looks of it, it doesn't appear as though we are closer to the beginning than we are to the end.
Well, shortly after the move Jason and I decided to begin looking into other alternatives. So we have researched about every country out there that does international adoptions, viewed waiting children's lists that some agencies have list online and even looked into the domestic foster-adopt program. Despite all that's out there we just couldn't find another fit for what we are looking for, program reliability and the length of the process. So back to the Internet I went again in search of waiting children lists. Low and behold I stumbled accross an agency that is here in the Midwest that has a waiting children's list that you can get temporary access to if you contact them, so that is just what I did last Wednesday. By Thursday morning I had the log in info and I jumped on. At the time they had about 90 children on their waiting list, about half of them girls. I read through many of them and was beginning to think we weren't going to find a child with minor, correctable concerns. Finally, half way through the list I saw a gorgeous little girl that is in China (yay), is 18 months old and has a rather large birthmark on her face but appears not to have any other health concerns. I immediately contacted the agency about her to learn more about her and find out how we go about adopting her if she is still available.
On Friday I received an e-mail that she is still available, meaning no one is/was inquiring about her or has sent in a letter of intent to adopt yet. I wish I could say we know more by now but we have yet to hear from the social worker we were told would be back in her office today from some time off. Needless to say I am anxious and eager to hear more. I left a message for the social worker today but of course that was after she had left the office early today - ugh. So I am crossing my fingers that we will hear from her tomorrow.
I think that updates us to the current, I'll update when I know more.
Take care!
We have also changed our route a little with the adoption. As you know, we began this process right about two years ago, submitted our dossier to China and received a log in date of 3/22/07. Therefore, we have been waiting for over a year an a half already and from the looks of it, it doesn't appear as though we are closer to the beginning than we are to the end.
Well, shortly after the move Jason and I decided to begin looking into other alternatives. So we have researched about every country out there that does international adoptions, viewed waiting children's lists that some agencies have list online and even looked into the domestic foster-adopt program. Despite all that's out there we just couldn't find another fit for what we are looking for, program reliability and the length of the process. So back to the Internet I went again in search of waiting children lists. Low and behold I stumbled accross an agency that is here in the Midwest that has a waiting children's list that you can get temporary access to if you contact them, so that is just what I did last Wednesday. By Thursday morning I had the log in info and I jumped on. At the time they had about 90 children on their waiting list, about half of them girls. I read through many of them and was beginning to think we weren't going to find a child with minor, correctable concerns. Finally, half way through the list I saw a gorgeous little girl that is in China (yay), is 18 months old and has a rather large birthmark on her face but appears not to have any other health concerns. I immediately contacted the agency about her to learn more about her and find out how we go about adopting her if she is still available.
On Friday I received an e-mail that she is still available, meaning no one is/was inquiring about her or has sent in a letter of intent to adopt yet. I wish I could say we know more by now but we have yet to hear from the social worker we were told would be back in her office today from some time off. Needless to say I am anxious and eager to hear more. I left a message for the social worker today but of course that was after she had left the office early today - ugh. So I am crossing my fingers that we will hear from her tomorrow.
I think that updates us to the current, I'll update when I know more.
Take care!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Every Adoption is a Special Needs adoption...
I recently ran across a blog that talks up front about how attachment in adoption is so different from having a biological child. Read what's below the initial paragraph on the linked page. I have been reading a book about attachment in adoption but she makes it very understandable: http://jenex.typepad.com/journal/2007/04/we_interrupt_th.html
Saturday, May 12, 2007
We have a LID!!!
After 2 months and 6 days of waiting, our LID (Log-in-Date) came on May 8th! We are LID March 22, 2007. Unfortunatley, we've also been hearing rumors that our wait may be 2-3 years. We will just have to waitot see if this is true.
If you would like to learn more about a typical adoption process, you can go to the link below and watch the first 15 minutes this video about an actual adoption that took place a few years ago. I love watching these, it's so touching to see the mom's, dad's and babies united for the first time.
http://leah.chinastork.com/home/default.asp?video
We can definately wait for this!!!
Take care,
The Downey Family
If you would like to learn more about a typical adoption process, you can go to the link below and watch the first 15 minutes this video about an actual adoption that took place a few years ago. I love watching these, it's so touching to see the mom's, dad's and babies united for the first time.
http://leah.chinastork.com/home/default.asp?video
We can definately wait for this!!!
Take care,
The Downey Family
Friday, April 13, 2007
My Wish
I have loved this song since the first time I heard it, My Wish by Rascal Flatts. It is everything I hope for my children, in particularly, it makes me think of our little China Angel and where I hope her life journey with us leads her. I don't ever want her to forget where she came from but hope that she can comes to terms with her past and knows she is where she is destined to be. This song explains it better than I can, it brings tears to my eyes because I think of how this song explains the many different phases in her early life - the short time with her biological mother who I'm sure loves her dearly and would wish the same things for her, for the care givers at the orphanage or foster home she is/will be in and then her life with us.
I'm sure it will touch your heart as well.....
RASCAL FLATTS LYRICS
My Wish
I hope that days come easy and moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,
More then anything, more then anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more then you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more then you take.
Oh More then anything, Yeah, and more then anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it,
To your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more then you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
I'm sure it will touch your heart as well.....
RASCAL FLATTS LYRICS
My Wish
I hope that days come easy and moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,
More then anything, more then anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more then you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more then you take.
Oh More then anything, Yeah, and more then anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it,
To your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more then you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.
Monday, March 05, 2007
We are DTC - March 1st
I am soooo happy to say we are DTC (Dossier to China) as of March 1st!!! Despite the blizzard that began Thursday morning here in Iowa our agency got it together and out - how exciting and this is the information I found on the tracking number she provided to me:
Type: Package
Status: Delivered
Delivered on: 03/05/2007
10:51 A.M.
Delivered to: BEIJING, CN
Signed by: JAO
Service Type: EXPRESS
Yes, you read it right, they received the package today - it's there!!! Now the longer wait begins. We should be reciving a LID (Log in Date) in about a month letting us know we have been logged into their system.
Have a great week!
Type: Package
Status: Delivered
Delivered on: 03/05/2007
10:51 A.M.
Delivered to: BEIJING, CN
Signed by: JAO
Service Type: EXPRESS
Yes, you read it right, they received the package today - it's there!!! Now the longer wait begins. We should be reciving a LID (Log in Date) in about a month letting us know we have been logged into their system.
Have a great week!
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